Chapter Text
Seven Anbu Black Ops agents stood in front of the Hokage, who still looked exhausted and had retreated to his pipe once more, though his gaze was as firm as ever. “The seven of you comprise the Uzumaki Protection Detail, known informally as The Fox Squad. Based on the recent developments, including the arrival of this ‘Indra Uchiha’, I would like to assign you a secondary duty of surveillance on Sasuke Uchiha. As the two seem to now be fast friends, I believe the task will not add to your schedules or warrant an increase in mission difficulty. However, I would hear your thoughts on this matter first. Speak freely.”
Mongoose stepped forward, a thin but exceptionally hairy Inuzuka. “How long would you expect this assignment to last?”
“Until Indra Uchiha wakes up and we can determine his loyalty to the Leaf. My medical team assures me he will be out for at least a week. If he is not loyal, or proves to be too great a liability we shall execute him and you will return to your standard assignments.”
Mongoose nodded as Bat stepped forward. “If the two were to split up or attempt to lose us, which would you prefer we prioritize?”
“The jinchuriki, obviously, though the mere fact would be cause for alarm. I warned them to not makes things too difficult for you, and they seemed content. On that matter, there is something I would like to ask. The children came forward in an official capacity as Leaders of a Clan, and requested answers to numerous questions, some of which trail into S-Class. Rather than have them hound me with questions, I will ask one of you to field what questions are appropriate. No need to worry, most were common enough knowledge for any jonin, so you seven should have no problems. You may discuss among yourselves.”
The Hokage sat back and waited patiently as the Anbu huddled and engaged in a quiet, but furious argument. Gradually, the masks all turned towards one ninja in particular, who groaned and stepped forward.
“Hound reporting for duty as requested, Lord Hokage.”
Hiruzen lit his pipe to hide the smug grin that spread across his face and breathed deeply of the expensive tobacco. “Excellent. Beetle, Squirrel, you have first watch tonight, correct? They nodded. Then there is nothing further to discuss. Hound, I will write up their questions for you by your shift tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”
The masked ninja bowed as one and filed out into the corridor, where a great many ninja were still waiting impatiently. The Hokage’s self-satisfied smile remained for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening.
_________________________
Once Naruto had gotten the giggles out of his system, they found themselves standing outside the Administration Building as a faint ruckus could be heard from inside. Sasuke bit back a curse as he realized the Anbu from the ceremony hadn’t shown up, so he’d lost a perfectly good sword and his-no, Naruto’s kunai shard now. They probably looked stupid again.
With no other option, they began trudging back up Blossom Boulevard, resigned to the long walk back to the Uchiha Estate. Civilians and chunin kept staring at them as they walked, but after talking with the Hokage, some stares didn’t seem like the worst thing in the world. Once the crowds had thinned and they were mostly alone, the last Uzumaki turned to the Not-Quite-Last Uchiha. “So, about that Super Sharingan Jiji was talking about…”
Sasuke tried very hard not to glare and failed. “Not today Naruto, OK?”
Something beyond the glare must have passed to Naruto, because the blonde simply nodded and hefted the Scroll slightly higher on his shoulders. “OK. I’m just thinkin’ with all these questions, we should probably make a list.”
Sasuke held up one hand. “Later. Now we’re going to go home, drop this stupid, heavy armor back in the armory, put that scroll back, and I’m going to take another shower. One with hot water this time.”
And off they went, neither noticing the two shapes that stalked them from the rooftops.
Trudging back to his house was a familiar feeling for Sasuke, especially on weekends. Without school to take up his day, the Not-Quite-Last Uchiha found himself training even more vigorously. Running in the late morning, followed by breakfast, followed by combing through the Uchiha library or his Father’s study, followed by lunch, followed by jutsu training, followed by katas in the dojo, a quick shower and dinner, then sleep.
Of all of those, Sasuke hated sleep the most. Even after a year, he still heard the screams, saw the charcoal and-chalk genjutsu sketches of his father, brother, cousins and great-uncles butcher and be butchered in turn. Usually he was too tired to dream. Usually. It was always a flip of the coin, a roll of the dice, whichever gambling metaphor Sasuke felt like using. The point was, even rest felt exhausting. At least it had used to.
That first night Naruto had slept in Sasuke’s room on a collection of couch cushions and some spare blankets, he hadn’t thought much of it. They were both tired and by the time they had replaced the Uchiha artifacts, showered, and had a late lunch, it was too dark for Sasuke to send his friend (his friend!) walking back to his apartment knowing what the district was like. So Sasuke had insisted he stay the night, even as Naruto had protested that he was fine, really, that he’d always been fine and that Sasuke didn’t need to take pity on him.Sasuke had replied that it wasn’t pity, but common courtesy and that he still needed time to come up with a punishment for Naruto after his stunt with the kunai had nearly gotten them both declared missing-nin. Naruto had scoffed that Sasuke had been overreacting and Sasuke was forced to break out the Scroll again to explain to the Last Uzumaki the seriousness of Konoha Clan Politics. By that point, it was too late for them to go home anyway. Neither of them noticed that the lamp in the corner had seemingly lit itself, or the way the trees in the back garden seemed to rustle slightly less in the wind. That night Sasuke had no nightmares of his brother.
Behind a cage of golden bars and seals, the Kyuubi bared his teeth in grotesque parody of a smile. He had been grievously wounded by the Fourth, torn in half and starved of half of his chakra, his very essence. His Yin Energy had disappeared alongside that damned human into the stomach of the Reaper God and he had slumbered for years to stave off the agony. But yesterday, when Naruto’s rage began to drip down from cracks in the ceiling, as he and Sasuke rolled across the floor of a shabby apartment, then stood in the blazing Konoha sun to answer a dire insult, the Kyuubi licked its lips. The boy’s negative energy, the sin and wickedness of humanity the Sage Himself had charged Kurama with eradicating and devouring, was soaking down through the very walls of his prison. Kurama couldn’t get out, could not touch the mortal world with a single claw or wisp of fur, but he had been made to feed on hatred and darkness. And the Uchiha Estate of his most hated foe fairly dripped with it. And dreams…as far as the Kyuubi was concerned, bad dreams were perfectly fair game to devour, if he couldn’t have the Uchiha they spawned from.
The next morning, when Sasuke and Naruto were arguing over what counted as a good breakfast, they were surprised by a knock at the door. Sasuke in particular was surprised, for there were still wards around the Estate that meant only the Uchiha bloodline would be able to pass through. They opened the door to find a masked Anbu with the face of a Hound and grey hair, hands in his pockets.
“Yo!”
They both stared. Anbu were supposed to be silent killers. Certainly all of Naruto’s Anbu-sans had been. They certainly didn’t say “Yo.”
The man pulled two rectangular boxes from his pockets, wrapped in grey cloth and offered both to the children. He was fighting to be formal, but they could hear the cheer behind the words. “Hokage-sama apologizes for not returning your weapons to you, especially after Uzumaki-san was trusting enough to offer the first exchange.” To his credit, Naruto did look sheepish. “Wish that in mind, the Hokage has ordered me to act as a temporary guard to you both until this current matter has been resolved.”
“You mean with Indra Uchiha? Where is he anyway?”
The man did not reply, so Sasuke tried a different track.
“What are you allowed to tell us?”
“I am unable to directly divulge any information of S-Rank or above. The Hokage has permitted this operative to answer certain B-class questions with personal discretion, though A-Class questions are to be submitted to the Council in writing. S-Class questions will be ignored.”
Sasuke poked Naruto in the side, eyes shining with excitement. “So he’s allowed to tell us some things.”
“What’s your name?” Naruto asked. Sasuke felt like an idiot for not thinking of it. He’d assumed Anbu didn’t have names. That was the whole point of the masks right?
The Anbu relaxed fractionally and tapped his mask. “I am known as Hound.”
Naruto frowned for a moment, then brightened once again. “I recognize you! You were one of my Anbu-sans, the one who ran away with me when the Uchiha fell out of the sky!”
“I did not run away with you, Naruto. I relocated my charge to a safe location then doubled back to secure any intelligence. There is a difference.”
Still feeling foolish, Sasuke realized they were still standing in the doorway and slid the door open further. “You can come in if you want, Hound-san.”
The man bent and began undoing his sandals. “Just Hound, please. I needed to secure this area anyway.”
“Why?” asked Naruto, drawing out the kunai fragment, “Does Jiji think something might happen to us?”
Hound made a derogatory grunt. “The Hokage does not reveal all his thoughts to his Anbu. We are instruments of his will to protect and defend the village. He is simply being careful. Additionally, he has likely sent me to answer questions so that you will not bother him like this again. He wishes me to remind you to ‘please just make an appointment next time’.”
They moved slowly through the house as Hound carefully inspected the black stains on the floor and ceiling. The Anbu sniffed once, then ran outside to vomit into the grass. Naruto and Sasuke shrugged and helped him carve the offending areas out of the wood. Hound continued his search of the house, but paused at Itachi’s room, which was still closed, and a thick film of dust covered the door. The wiry thin Anbu looked down at Sasuke. “I’ll need to enter this room to complete surveillance operations. Do I have permission?”
“What happens if I say no?”
“Then I’ll make note of it in my report to Lord Hokage and you will have the wonderful responsibility of justifying an obvious hole in our defenses through pages and pages of paperwork, while I shall have to remain paranoid and jumpy every time I move by this door.”
“Fine. But I’m staying out here.”
Hound nodded and Naruto squeezed Sasuke’s hand in reassurance. Despite themselves, all three sneezed when they opened the door. The dust was perhaps a quarter-inch thick across every surface. The room was spartan, with no wall scrolls or misplaced books.
The bed had been neatly made and set against the wall next to a desk and chair which were lit by a single window, just the right size for someone to sneak in or out of. They were silent as they examined the room. Naruto was slightly disappointed. It didn’t look like the bedroom of someone who’d slaughtered his clan. He’d expected writing on the walls or a bunch of weapons. He went to step forward, but Hound shoved him back.
“STOP!” he bent down, one arm still holding Naruto back who had frozen with his foot in the air. Hound reached down and pointed, revealing a thin cord stretched across the hardwood and nearly invisible even when Sasuke was looking straight at it. Naruto gulped and lowered his foot back down. “Booby traps.”
“Obviously. No idea how Anbu missed this earlier. Someone’s going to get raked over the coals for this. And look,” Hound traced the line back behind the door hinge, then up underneath the bed. “It’s unbroken. Somehow two successive Anbu teams missed this and didn’t set it off.”
Hound avoided saying the last part of his thought out loud. Or Itachi could have come back afterwards, without the Anbu noticing. He quietly resolved to double-check the barriers surrounding the Uchiha Compound.
“So, what are you going to do about this, Hound-san?”
The grey-haired ninja gestured for them to move back down the corridor as he drew a sword from the sheath on his back.
“I’m going to carefully trip it.”
All three held their breath as the blade silently parted the string. Nothing. No explosion, flying shuriken, nothing. Hound sniffed the air experimentally.
“No poision gas and,” he pulsed his chakra, “no genjutsu either.”
Naruto perked up. “You can put genjutsu into a trap?”
“Rarely. It’s very difficult, but Itachi was a master of genjutsu. If anyone knew how, he would have learned.”
The boys remained in the corner as Hound entered the room, blade drawn. Sasuke was sure if Hound tried, he could have cut the tension in the room with that blade. “Did you ever meet my brother?”
Silence from the room.
“Hound?”
The voice returned to the formal, rote quality it had when Sasuke was asking the right questions. “I knew Itachi Uchiha in Anbu Unit Rho. Mask Designation: Weasel. Sent on 253 missions, all marked above S-Class in the wake of his actions. Subject has been designated a missing-nin, to be killed on sight. Bounties commensurate with his threat level have been placed with the other Great Nations in addition to Waterfall, Hot Springs, Grass, and Tea Country.”
Sasuke and Naruto digested that silently as Hound began opening drawers.
“So Sasuke, if your brother’s wanted pretty much everywhere…Um, what would happen if someone else killed him? Or if he just, dropped dead tomorrow? Would your clan be avenged that way too?”
Sasuke leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Not really, Naruto. Could we not talk about him right now?”
“They say the best revenge is living well,” piped up Hound.
“I don’t think Anbu Black Ops should be giving that advice.”
“Now, now, whatever happened to respecting your elders?”
“I’ll let you know when I find elders to respect, Hound.”
“Aren’t you two a bunch of cheeky brats? Really now.”
.....
“Find anything Hound-san?”
“Spare pens, a pile of ash in the top drawer, an old shuriken.”
“Are you done yet? I thought this would be more interesting y’know?”
“Now now, I’ll be done when I walk out of the room, or it explodes. Until then, just sit out there and ask me questions.”
Naruto mentally counted off questions on his fingers, skipping anything related to the Uchiha.
“Hound-san do you know anything about a guy called Hatake Kakashi?”
There was a harsh crunch from inside the room, followed by muffled groaning. The boys rushed to the door to see Hound’s legs sticking out from underneath the bed, next to his mask and what looked like a tool kit.
“Hound-san?” Sasuke took a step forward, then remembered the invisible wire.
“I’m alive.” Hound’s hand flapped weakly but he stayed where he was. “Now now, Naruto, you really have a knack for asking questions, don’t you? No wonder Danzo hates you so much.”
Naruto stuck out his tongue and pouted, a sight which oddly cheered Sasuke up slightly. “Councilor Turnip-Head can go suck on an egg! He was rude to Sasuke and he thinks I’m the Nine-Tails, when I’m not! I’m Naruto Uzumaki, and ‘cause I’m going to be Hokage, he’d better get used to it!”
A chuckle emanated from under the bed, followed by heavy coughing. Hound groped around blindly until he found the screwdriver and brought it under to presumably continue taking the bed apart.
“You certainly are Kushina’s son, Naruto. She was in the Anbu too, a bit before my time. And I’m glad, because she probably would have beaten me to within an inch of my life if I had been.”
Naruto’s face creased in worry. “Why’s that? She doesn’t sound very nice at all.”
“I’ve given you the wrong idea, sorry. Just that when she was in Anbu, I would have only been your age, just after the start of the Third Shinobi World War. She was fiercely opposed to having any genin teams join the war at all and lobbied fiercely with the Hokage to prohibit the idea. Of course, the war didn’t allow us that luxury and whole classes of genin were graduated and sent out on missions as soon as the projected survival rate of the class went above 50%.”
The clinical manner Hound had lapsed back into made both boys look at his legs with concern. They were only nine and to them, Genin graduation was as far away as the moon. The idea that the Leaf had been that desperate at the beginning of the war…It was disconcerting.
“Of course, when Kushina got angry, like you Naruto, that made it harder for her to keep the Kyuubi chained up, because he thrives on negative emotions. So rather than laze around behind the front lines to be a strategic warning to Sand and Stone, watching children march by, she marched up to the Hokage’s office and shouted at him for two hours straight until he agreed to let her join the Anbu. Like I said, a lot like you, Naruto. That’s why the village called her the “Hot-Blooded Habanero”, because of her temper and her red hair. Step back, I’m sending part of the bedframe your way, just drag it into the hall.”
A long wooden beam poked out from underneath the bed and the boys maneuvered it into the hall with some difficulty. Naruto had slammed his end into the walls twice and left some black marks that Sasuke knew would take forever to scrub out. They trundled back in to continue Hound’s story.
“So what you need to understand about ninja is that Anbu isn’t only a super-secret black ops group. That’s most of what it does, but it’s also sort of a testing ground and a who’s who of the village’s top jonin. Most of the ninja who become jonin do some time in the Anbu Black Ops, though what they do and for how long depends on their skillset, the state of the Five Great Nations, and if the ninja is willing to stay. Once we’re accepted, we stay for six month terms in peacetime, longer if there’s a war. After each term, we get an option to stay in or to leave, no hard feelings either way. It’s more dangerous if a ninja doesn’t want to be there and loses focus. What I mean is, because it’s the toughest place to be a ninja, anyone who wants to become Hokage since the Second established the Anbu has spent at least one term under a mask.”
Hound’s clay mask stared up at them with blank eyeholes, its curled mouth suggesting some private joke. Naruto stared back at the mask, warring feelings flashing across his face. “So the only way I can be Hokage is if I join the Anbu someday?”
“Not necessarily, you could buck the trend. The position of Hokage is also influenced by the damiyo of the Fire Nation, the Jonin Commander, the existing Councilors, and the Clan Heads. Because it’s a position with a lot of power, and because the Hokage acts as the face of the village, it’s also important that they are well known and liked by many people. Working in Anbu means the civilians don’t see you, but it helps give a greater understanding of the shinobi world.”
There was a ripping noise as Hound tore open the bottom of the mattress.
“Being Hokage means different things to different people. The Third Hokage thinks it means being the head of one big Leaf village family, helping settle differences and family squabbles, while Lord Second thought the Hokage’s duty was to strengthen the structures and governance of the village, not just its military. Kushina thought that as Hokage, she could use that position to right the wrongs she saw within Konoha’s shinobi system, like those young genin, or the villager’s hatred of the jinchuriki.”
“Those sound like great reasons for my Mom to be Hokage, how come she wasn’t chosen? Was it ‘cause she was a jinchuriki like me?”
Underneath the bed, Hound weighed his words. He would have to be very careful.
“A little bit, yes,” he admitted. “Some of the civilians, who’d only heard the legends of the Kyuubi and hadn’t seen Kushina fight, were worried about her as Hokage just on principal, bunch of idiots. Some of the more cautious members of the village felt that Kushina would change too much too fast and upset the balances of power the Third Hokage had maintained in the village. Most of the jonin and Anbu who had fought with Kushina in the war were all for it. Some of them had been chomping at the bit for things to change. Unfortunately, some of those people talked about their ideas for change a little too much and in the wrong places. Word of this made its way back to the damaiyo of the Land of Fire who didn’t like women at all. He made it clear that he would only accept a male candidate for Hokage, which almost set off the rebellion he was afraid of in the first place.”
Another chuckle came from under the bed. “Sasuke, your mother, Mikoto, was best friends with Kushina and they both were nearly ready to charge over to the Capitol to have words with the damaiyo who had been favoring Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin for the post. But the Third wouldn’t approve of Orochimaru, even though he’d been the Third’s student, and the damaiyo wouldn’t approve of Kushina, while the civilians just wanted a new Hokage. Lord Third had wanted to retire for a while and the Leaf needed a new face once the war ended. So there was a whole lot of politics and compromise involved and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was accepted. Like Kushina, he’d made a name for himself in the war as the “Yellow Flash of Konoha” and they’d fought together across the entire Northern Front, because she was the only one who could keep up with him. Because they were close, people thought Kushina’s ideas could have their day while the damaiyo and the reluctant members of the village kept their restraining influence and tradition junk for a few more years. Only Orochimaru wasn’t happy, and he ended up becoming a missing-nin himself.”
Naruto had his arms crossed, face scrunched up in thought. “So what did the Fourth do? Did he listen to my mom? What did he want to do as Hokage?”
“Well he was a very busy man for the first year of his government, adding new Councilors and helping manage the drawdown from the Third Great Shinobi War. Cloud still refused to sign a peace treaty though they had also drawn down their own forces from the northern border. Minato-sen, excuse me, the Fourth Hokage, made appearances there to remind our ninja and Cloud’s that he had not forgotten about them.”
“Sounds tense,” piped up Sasuke.
“It was, but not as much as you’d think. Both sides had dug in and with all the losses, it was obvious no one’s hearts were in it enough to strike out in force. Cloud also had its own internal politics to deal with and needed to re-seal one of their Jinchuriki.”
Naruto perked up again at the mention of others like him. “Do you know anything more about that?”
Hound considered. “Sorry, that probably falls under more S-Class information. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Dang, I wanna know more about what other people like me are doing or if we could write letters.”
“Naruto,” warned Sasuke, “they’re enemy ninja too, don’t forget.”
“Well, from what Hound-sensei and Jiji said, it sounds like my mom an’ I weren’t treated very well, even when we protect the village.”
Sasuke had nothing to say about that as his companion turned back to Hound.
“Well, keep going with your story! I wanna know what happened with my mom and the Fourth Hokage, what they did to change the village.”
Oh boy, thought Hound. Here it comes.
“Well, Kushina had you.”
There was silence as the statement permeated the room.
“Well, I know I’m pretty great, but how did that change the village? Was it something to do with the Kyuubi?”
Sasuke looked over sharply. Naruto’s fake smile was plastered back over his face as he asked the question even though Hound couldn’t see it, but he was beginning to tap his fingers together the way he did when he didn’t know a question in class or when other kids refused to sit with him at lunch. They all knew he had arrived at the most important question.There was silence from under the bed for a very long time and the longer it stretched, the more Naruto’s mask cracked. By the one-minute mark, the smile was gone, by a minute thirty his eyes had welled up and he turned away. As Hound finally slid out from under the bed, Sasuke didn’t even bother to sneak a peek at his face, which was covered in another, dark blue mask. The Anbu levered himself up in a crouch, gaze fixated on Naruto’s back just as Sasuke’s was. The boy’s breath had begun to hitch and he clearly was trying his hardest to not cry. Sasuke backed away towards the entrance, but something stopped him. This was a very personal moment, but he’d bared his own soul to Naruto the night before. Surely, he needed to stay if Naruto wanted him to. And the boy hadn’t said anything at all.
“Naruto.” Hound’s voice floated there in the silence, no longer devoid of emotion or showing a distant cheer as he’d discussed Mikoto and Kushina’s lives. It was weighted, heavy, and trembling with emotion long suppressed.
“Naruto, please look at me.”
He shook his head, so Kakashi lifted a hand towards the orange jacket, hesitated, then placed it gently on Naruto’s shoulder. The blonde tensed, but Hound made no move to turn him at all or tighten his grip.
“Naruto, none of this is your fault. Absolutely none of it.”
“It’s mine.”
Hound’s sentences were short as the man forced them out from behind the mask, a dam of emotion finally cracking.
“It’s my fault Kushina died, that I couldn’t to save her. The Fourth Hokage had asked me, ME, Friend-Killer Kakashi, to keep her safe and I failed at that too!”
Naruto whirled around and struck Kakashi full in the face, an open-handed slap that even Sasuke winced at as Hound’s head snapped to the side.
“So it’s your fault my mom and dad are dead?! That I have to have this…this thing inside me? Why? WHY? Why did this happen?”
Naruto’s cry was just as raw as Hound’s confession, just as pained. They were both crying now as Sasuke stood frozen, knowing he had to stay, even as he questioned what Hound had said. “Friend-Killer Kakashi? As in Hatake Kakashi on the Scroll? So then-
“It was the Kyuubi’s fault. As she had you, the seals on the Nine-Tails weakened, and something happened, the creature broke free. I knew she had left the village to have you, just in case something would happen, but I should have been there, could have done something to stop-“
“They said the Kyuubi was taller than our buildings, almost as tall as the Hokage Mountain” said Sasuke. He felt like someone else was saying the words, as if his textbook or perhaps Iruka-sensei was spilling out of his own mouth in response to the scene. “That only Lord Third, Lord Fourth, and the Clan Heads could even move it. I don’t think you-“
“You weren’t even there,” spat Hound. “What do you know?”
Naruto slapped Hound again, this time with a backhand, which refocused the Anbu’s attention on the child in front of him.
“Don’t talk to him like that! He’s my friend!”
Kakashi dropped his hand, which had still been hanging limply in the air and went into a bow of contrition so deep his head touched the floor. Sasuke remembered Itachi in the street outside, face down on the cobbled streets as his Father and three other Uchiha glared at him.
“I am deeply sorry and apologize for my rash actions, Uzumaki-sama.”
“What else?”
Naruto’s voice had gone from teary and angry to the voice he’d used against Danzo the day before. Hard, sharp, tempered anger, with that same unidentifiable pitch. Dangerous anger. Sasuke remembered the gaze of hatred Itachi had sent after his Father once his back had turned and stiffened in anticipation of another attack from Naruto. But there was nothing. The boy grabbed the shoulders of Hound’s armor and dragged him upright.
“What else happened? What did you do to my mom?”
Hound’s voice had quieted. Where before he sounded like a man whose heart was breaking, now he sounded like it had been buried in a ditch many years earlier. Back to the cold clinical Anbu operative, though the tears continued to stream down his face.
“Lord Third had ordered myself and many of the Village Jonin to act as a cordon between the beast and the rest of the village to limit civilian casualties and save who we could. The Uchiha had been posted behind the line and behind Hokage mountain as a last-ditch defense against the Kyuubi’s rage. But the Nine-Tails went through us like we were nothing. Buildings, crushed, trees used as clubs. Only Lord Fourth and Kushina’s jutsu prevented the destruction of the Leaf.”
“What did they do?”
“The reason your mother had been chosen as the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails is because of her clan. The Uzumaki were powerful seal masters, but only the women of the clan could summon forth their bloodline technique: The Chakra Chains, their will formed upon the world itself. With them Kushina brought the Kyuubi down, dragged it outside the village with Lord Third and Fourth, who performed a sealing jutsu with the intent to kill the beast alongside himself. However, he knew the village needed a jinchuriki to be safe, so he stored half the Kyuubi’s chakra inside the nearest living soul he could find, the newborn Uzumaki Naruto.”
“So he just used me? Because I was there?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Hound. “Minato never did anything without a reason. He must have hoped you could contain or use its power just as Kushina did, or maybe he really was just desperate.”
“Well, he was a horrible Hokage then!” declared Naruto, arms crossed, and some of the deeper anger beginning to drain away from him. “He should have just died with the Kyuubi like he meant to and my Mom and I could be here now, instead of you.”
He shoved at Hound, but because they were both already on the floor, it didn’t do much. Kakashi’s hand came up, but Naruto slapped it away.
“They both died to protect you, Naruto. Lord Fourth and Kushina. The Nine-Tails did not want to be sealed again and sought to kill its only viable host. They both jumped into the path of its claw to protect you, knowing they would die, because they wanted you to live. They died heroes, protecting the village.”
“Well, their deaths didn’t help at all did they? I still have the Kyuubi inside me and they don’t have to deal with this!” Naruto’s mouth quivered again. “I want my mom. I don’t want her to be a hero. I don’t want her to be dead.” He collapsed into Hound’s chest, clinging to him even as his fist pounded against the Anbu’s shoulder.
“I want my mooom!”
“I don’t want to be alive, if it means I have to deal with this. I don’t deserve to be Hokage if I can’t even get the Clone Jutsu right, if because I have the Kyuubi it means no one likes me, if I screw up Sasuke’s big meeting when he was nice to me.” He sniffed. “I don’t think I’m a good person.”
Sasuke cleared his throat. Not only was this starting to sound like his own thoughts in the dark of night, alone in the Uchiha Estate, he had to speak up. “That’s not true!” He repeated it. “That’s not true Naruto! You got angry at Danzo, but I was angry too, and you stopped me from doing something, which could have been worse. You gave me your mushrooms and believed me about Indra Uchiha, and helped me through your window when I was going to fall. You want to be Hokage, right? I think…” he said slowly, realizing the words were true as he said it, “I think you are a good person, or you’re trying hard to be. My brother’s a bad person, he never cried. Because you’re crying now, because you miss your mom, because I miss my mom, I think that makes us good people.”
Hound sent Sasuke a look of relief and gratefulness over his shoulder as he tentatively patted Naruto’s head. “You forget Naruto, that I was or am your Anbu-san. I’ve watched you for years now, even when you were painting the Hokage monuments or hiding glitter bombs all around the Anbu Headquarters. You’re Kushina’s son. You have her fire, her rebel spirit, but you’re not a bad person. You’re a kid. Kids do naughty stuff sometimes, but that’s ok. The Kyuubi doesn’t make you a bad person and,” he added, “a Sharingan doesn’t make you a bad person.”
He turned, with Naruto still clutching to his torso like a limpet, and Sasuke saw that his left eye had the same red glow of his clansmen, the curved tomoe of an active Sharingan.
“My comrade who gave me this Sharingan wasn’t a bad person and he made me promise to use it to keep my comrades safe, to protect the Leaf. I think the Fourth and your mother wanted the same for you. The Clone jutsu doesn’t matter, Naruto. If you want to become Hokage, like Kushina did, if you want to help Sasuke, whatever you want to do, then I think you’ll make a splendid ninja.”
Naruto looked up at him and sucked some snot back into his nose. “Hound-san, why do you think I can do that, when I hit you?”
Hound’s smile was visible even through his mask as his eye crinkled in synch. “Because you’re Naruto Uzumaki, right?”
Naruto nodded hesitantly at first, then as the thought took root, a real smile, shaky though it was, began to bloom on his own face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right Hound-san. My mom got really close to being Hokage, except for some stupid old damaiyo, and dumb ol’ Fourth gave me the Kyuubi, so I’m gonna have to do something about him too! I’m gonna show that damaiyo, Danzo, and everybody else that Naruto Uzumaki’s gonna be Hokage! I’m gonna be such a good Hokage they won’t even remember the Kyuubi’s in me, I’ll be so good! You’ll see Hound-san!”
He poked Hound in the nose, who blinked in surprise, then swung Naruto up on his shoulders, laughing and practically dancing out of the room as Naruto ducked the doorway, cheering along. Sasuke felt a small Uchiha smile break across his own face and followed them down the hall and through the living room, then out onto the street, mimicking Naruto’s proclamations the day earlier.
“Make way for Lord Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage! Make way, make way!”
On top of Hound, Naruto was waving, cheering, and blowing raspberries at an imaginary crowd in equal measure as a figure dropped down in front of them. Another masked Anbu, this time with long purple hair and her own sword drawn.
“Hound, I heard shouting, wha-“
“Cat-san, Cat-san,” crowed Naruto, “When I become Hokage, will you be in my guard like Hound-san? I’d put Sasuke in it too, but he’s got to be the head of the Uchiha, so he’d be too tired.”
“I would not!” butted in Sasuke. “I could do all sorts of things and be on your Council too!”
“But you have to drag that heavy Scroll everywhere as Clan Head and that would be super tiring, even for a strong ninja like you!”
“I don’t have to carry that scroll everywhere, idiot, I told you that was just for the ceremony!”
“We’ve had a lot to think about, you rich bastard, can’t you cut me a break?”
“You’ll have a lot to think about when you’re Hokage, I’m not cutting you any breaks got it? Especially not when I’m Lord Uchiha!”
As the boys continued bickering, Cat shot Hound a questioning look, who gave her a thumbs up. Deep down, he felt himself lighten, just a bit. He’d told Naruto the truth and the boy had every right to be angry. But he was also up there on Hound’s shoulders, chattering away with Sasuke about his Hokage celebration. He doubted Minato or Kushina would be pleased with how long it had been, but he’d finally started to take care of their son. He hadn’t failed them completely, not yet. He was Anbu and thus too cynical to ever voice it aloud, but a part of him, a part that sounded a lot like Obito, quietly told him that things were looking up from here.
“Get it Bakakashi? Because you’ve got my eye, and…”
And so Sunday shone on.
Cat ended up cooking lunch, Itachi’s bedroom forgotten.
