Chapter Text
When the group of battle-worn ninja returned to the village the day before, they'd all once again made camp in Naruto's apartment for the night. Exhausted, Naruto hadn't put too much thought into it, although, thinking back, it served as his first clue they'd put him back on the babysitting roster.
The next morning, only Iruka remained, but right after the academy teacher made breakfast and headed out, Kakashi showed up with an invitation to spend the rest of the morning training. After he left, Shikamaru decided he needed a companion for lunch, and, on the heels of that, Yamato insisted on more training in the afternoon. Even Sakura showed up that evening with a new batch of red bean soup, under the guise of improving the recipe and needing someone to taste test it.
Naruto wished he could call the constant visits unwarranted, but, in all honesty, they weren't. Kakashi's words about staying to protect his precious people had given him pause, but they didn't erase anything. While it had opened up a new direction, he still didn't know what path to take.
Without the constant visitors, he may have very well tried to sneak off again. The thought had occurred to him a handful of times already. After all, action was far more appealing than the agony of waiting, even if only for one more day.
Despite the temptations, his teammates always appeared to clue in on his shifts in mood, demanding his action or attention, and never permitting him to dwell on the idea long enough to implement it.
It was a kindness drawing him towards them, as much as it did away. It harbored a guilt in him, not unlike the kind he'd felt at the ‘welcome back’ party. A knowledge that, the more he leaned on his friends now, the more the responsibility would weigh on him if something happened to them later.
Those fears spoke to him in the same, persistent whisper that taunted him, reminding him that any moment he might wake up and realize the last twenty-four hours had existed as nothing more than another genjutsu, and the nightmare had never ended.
He argued with himself that it wasn't true.
Sometimes, he even won.
The other times, he still managed to convince himself that, regardless, it would still be worth it to do everything he could to protect those he loved, no matter the outcome for himself.
It would always be worth it.
“You have to stay here and keep protecting them.”
He repeated it like a mantra.
***
The morning they were to meet with Fukasaku, everyone granted him more space than they had since this whole mess began. Maybe they knew him better than he realized since, with only hours to go, he now found himself too invested in the idea to keep entertaining any other avenue.
Still, by the time Kakashi and Yamato finally appeared at his apartment window, Naruto had devolved into a restless ball of buzzing energy.
Yamato's hand hadn't had a chance to so much as tap the windowpane before Naruto yanked it open, the wooden edge slamming into its frame with a hollow crack. He rocketed through it and onto the road, his feet marching the moment they had earth underneath them.
“You seem better today,” Yamato observed, catching up.
He didn't know how true that was. He hadn't quite escaped the nightmares last night, although they, like the persistent doubt tugging at his mind, had become a little more muted.
“Granny better not try to tell me I can't do anything, you know?” He meant to come across as confident, but couldn't quite overcome the waver in his voice. “Does she...” he breathed in through his nose. “She knows about what happened?”
“She does,” Kakashi confirmed.
He blew the breath back out, harsh and choppy. Kakashi continued plodding forward, but his step leaned in closer to Naruto's side. “I think she understands more than you're giving her credit for.”
The trio rounded a corner, Naruto’s shoulder grazing the edge of the wall as he whipped around it.
Kakashi stuck to his side, matching his accelerated pace. “Tell me,” he prodded, “How much have you found out about Pain since our last meeting with Lord Fukasaku?”
“I know about the chakra receptors, and that the person controlling them has to have a lot of chakra to use them.”
“Anything else?”
Naruto threw him a sidelong glance. “What else is there?”
“Hm,” Kakashi craned his head back, angling his view to the bay window of the Hokage tower peeping up above the rest of the village. “Between the code and the receptors, I think you know the most important parts.”
Naruto held him with an appraising stare.
“Really,” Kakashi deflected, “anything else we need to know, I'm sure Lady Tsunade will bring up in her brief.”
Naruto continued, unrelenting.
“What?”
“I have another question for you, Master Kakashi.”
“I couldn't have guessed.”
“It's just… I don't really know how to ask it.”
“I think your usual, blunt manner will get the job done.”
Naruto slipped his hands into his jacket, his fingers curling around fistfuls of fabric.
“You knew my parents, didn't you?”
Kakashi straightened. “What makes you think that?”
Naruto shrugged. “Master Iruka can't tell me who they are, so I doubt you can either, but did you know them?”
Kakashi kept his attention straight ahead as he answered. “I did.”
“Did you know them well?”
“Mm,” he hedged.
“Would they have been okay with a kid like me? I mean...” he exhaled and began again, “Would they have been disappointed?”
Kakashi reached over to cuff him on the back of the head.
“Ow, what the heck, Master Kakashi?”
“Never.” A gloved hand snuck across Naruto's shoulders, pulling him into Kakashi's side in a split second hug before releasing him.
Kakashi walked on. Naruto followed.
***
Shikamaru met them with a casual wave as they approached the Hokage Tower doors. Without a word, the Nara stepped in beside him, hovering close to his side.
It reminded Naruto of the other night, when Shikamaru had offered his shoulder as support on their way back to the village. This time, Naruto could manage on his own, though he sensed that, should he lose his footing, Shikamaru would be ready to steady him again.
They filed into the Hokage’s office together, Naruto squeezed between the two spiky haired men on either side of him, Yamato stationing himself behind.
He caught sight of Sakura as they entered. She stood, leaning over the side of the desk, head angled and ear attuned to an inaudible discussion with Tsunade. She took note of their arrival, and her stoic professionalism broke long enough for her to offer an encouraging smile.
On a front corner of Tsunade's desk, the old toad sage, Fukasaku, sat, nodding to them in greeting. The casual attire he wore offered an odd contrast with the more stately image in Naruto's memory. Not that it had any impact on the sage's commanding presence. When he spoke, the whole room still stopped to listen.
“I was hopin' to see ya again,” Fukasaku addressed him.
“You… were?”
“Yep,” Fukasaku answered, matter-of-fact. “I'm told ya gone through quite the experience since we last spoke.”
Words bubbled up in Naruto, uncertain and defensive. Kakashi leaned in far enough to intercept his line of vision, a nonchalant wave of a hand behind his back signaling Naruto to hold his tongue.
He had to bite it instead, but he managed.
After a moment, Tsunade cleared her throat, the sound echoing over the quiet of the room. “Naruto, you're here at the request of Kakashi and Shikamaru,” she steepled her hands and leaned forward. “However, while I trust their judgment in this matter, they are not the only reason I called you.”
Naruto’s eyebrows pinched together, his mouth opening to speak, when he noticed Yamato watching him from the corner of his eye. He closed his mouth again, this time biting his cheek.
Tsunade's hands pulled apart, gesturing to the corner of her desk as she spoke again, “You are also here at the request of Master Fukasaku.”
“The old frog?” Naruto blurted out, earning him sighs from each of his seniors in a chorus of surrender.
“As a matter o' fact,” Fukasaku answered him, unfazed and almost cheerful, “I did.”
“Why?”
“Hm,” the old frog considered him, his tone sinking to a more somber note, “I heard ya wish ta fight Pain, is that right?”
Naruto advanced a step, jaw tightening. “Yes.”
“Pain is a very formidable opponent. Jiraiya-boy wouldn't have been defeated by just anyone, and I doubt you've ever faced an opponent that comes close to this level.”
“That doesn't matter, I can take him on!”
An amused huff came from the old sage. “As you are, ya don't stand a chance. Yer just not strong enough.”
He marched closer, ignoring Sakura's warning glare. “Are you saying I can't do it, Old Geezer?”
“What I said is that you're not strong enough to defeat Pain yet.”
“So, what about it?” He snapped, squaring himself up with the frog.
“Come along with me,” came the measured reply.
Naruto blinked. “Wh- what does that mean?”
“I'll train ya in sage jutsu at Mount Myoboku,” Fukasaku explained. “The same way I hammered it into Jiraiya-boy, if it's okay wit' you.”
He paused. Then, both curious and wary, asked, “Will it let me win against Pain?”
“That I can't guarantee, but right now ya ain't got a chance at all.”
The offer sank in, Naruto absorbing it, latching onto it.
A chance to get stronger, to stay and still protect everyone...
Hope tightened his throat.
“Ya all right with it, Tsunade?” The toad sage inquired.
“Of course...” her gaze found Naruto's, something knowing and hopeful resting there. “Naruto, go get trained.”
The desk between them denied his impulse to tackle Granny Tsunade with a hug, but it did nothing to dim the smile he shone back at her in thanks.
“I'm warnin' ya right now, sage jutsu trainin' is unbelievably rigorous. Yer up for it?”
"If Pervy Sage was able to master it, then I'm going to give it my best shot too! I'm in!”
.
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