Chapter Text
'I can't stop now!' Naruto thought, mid-air, as he looked straight at Sasuke, who was about to meet him with his new technique, Chidori, as its characteristic sound rippled through the hospital roof. Even if Naruto could stop his momentum, he honestly didn't want to stop. He wanted Sasuke to see who he was dealing with now. He had gotten stronger; he wasn't the same kid who barely managed to graduate from the academy anymore.
Only a few feet separated Naruto and Sasuke; less time than it takes to blink remained before the blonde genin and the last Uchiha collided, and then they would know who truly stood above the other. But just before their techniques could meet, Naruto felt a hand grab his wrist, and his momentum shifted as he was sent flying off course.
His eyes barely caught a glimpse of gray hair. 'Kakashi-sensei?'
'That jutsu... There is no mistaking it.' A scowl crossed Kakashi's face, but he quickly schooled his features as he watched Naruto and Sasuke collide with the hospital's water tanks.
"What exactly are you two doing up here?" Kakashi asked in his usual lazy, relaxed tone, even though this time he had to make an effort to sound like that. He knew his students; both were hot-headed and prideful in their own way. Screaming at them wouldn't get either of them to calm down, not like it was his style anyway, but he was really annoyed. Still, he needed them both to be stable and in a respectful mood soon, so he kept his voice calm and acted as a pacifier.
"That was a little much for a friendly fight, don't you think?" This was precisely why he never let them spar during training. "Is there something wrong with you two?"
Neither of his students answered him. Naruto seemed troubled and reflective, but Sasuke was in a more satisfactory mood. He was grinning smugly as he compared the impact of both their techniques on their respective water tanks.
Kakashi knew he was patient, and that patience had grown over the past months since he took in the first genin team, but Sasuke's smirk really ticked him off. He could have killed Naruto and didn't look even the least bit concerned or sorry, unlike his blonde teammate. Also, Sasuke was more of his responsibility, not that Naruto wasn't, but he hadn't taught Naruto that technique, and he had his reasons. Reasons that Sasuke was now showing that he should have the same, if not greater, concerns about him.
"Sasuke, what do you think you are doing?" Kakashi asked in a more severe tone, now sitting atop the water tank Sasuke had punctured. "That Chidori wasn't the size you'd use on a test match. Were you actually trying to kill Naruto?"
To his further annoyance and now slight worry, Sasuke met his eyes, and he couldn't find the tiniest bit of remorse in them; all he saw was anger and bitterness.
Sasuke scoffed at his question and attempted to backflip down from the rooftop, but Kakashi didn't let him. Moving a lot faster than his moody student could react, he jumped to intercept him.
"I haven't dismissed you." He said, dangling Sasuke by the ankle as if he were a small toddler.
Kakashi knew he had been exceptionally lenient with Naruto and Sasuke in the past. He understood that they were still brats at the end of the day, and both of their childhood had affected them, but he needed to put his foot down here. He swung his arm and threw Sasuke back onto the hospital rooftop. Sasuke pirouetted in the air and landed softly on the ground, looking even madder than before.
"Go get presentable; the Hokage has requested Team 7 to meet her as soon as possible," he told the Uchiha in his usual relaxed tone, but it was met with a deep scowl, so he put a bit more emphasis on his next words. "Sasuke, you don't want to make me late, do you? We will see you at the entrance in five minutes."
"Tch," Sasuke complained, but headed for the door and went back down the stairs, not before giving Naruto one last glare.
Kakashi sighed and turned towards his two other students. Naruto still looked troubled, while Sakura sniffled and tried to hold back tears. 'When did it all go sideways?' he asked himself internally.
"Naruto and Sakura. I'll see you two downstairs in five too."
Naruto didn't indicate he'd heard him, other than heading toward the door. Sakura, for her part, nodded between sniffs, but her feet didn't move.
Kakashi walked towards her and put a comforting hand on her right shoulder.
"K-Kakashi-Sensei th-they... Sa-sasuke-kun he... and Nar-Naruto..."
"Calm down, Sakura. Everything will go back to the way it used to be. Don't worry about it." Kakashi told her, giving her a closed-eye smile.
Sakura gave him a watery smile in return, and Kakashi patted her shoulder. "I'll see you downstairs. Keep an eye on those two for a minute for me?"
"Yes, Sensei," Sakura answered, and the tone of her voice let Kakashi know that his words had helped, even if just a little.
As soon as the hospital roof door clicked shut, he turned toward the water tank where Naruto had landed and examined the scar he had left on the metal. 'There is no doubt about it.' Kakashi thought before sighing. 'Whatever happened to teamwork?'
"I suppose it was you who taught him the rasengan?" Kakashi asked without turning to face someone who hadn't announced his presence, yet he knew he was there. "Naruto is too... young to handle it. He could have even killed Sasuke if something had gone wrong. Even to defend himself against the Akatsuki, he is not ready yet for such a technique."
"That Chidori looked pretty powerful to me. Any comment on that?" Jiraiya, the legendary sanin, answered. "Although I have to admit I never thought he would ever use it on a friend. Did I miss something between those two? I thought they were friends."
"It's... complicated," Kakashi responded as he turned to face the sage from Mount Myoboku.
"Complicated?" Jiraiya repeated.
"I think it's similar to how I've heard your relationship with Orochimaru was."
Jiraiya's face turned sour, but he hummed in understanding.
"Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi began, searching for the right words for the complicated relationship between his students. "They are friends and rivals. They understand each other in a way no one their age can, yet they are also motivated to close or widen the gap between them. They clash heads a lot, but it's never resulted in this. I'm guessing Naruto couldn't ignore some of Sasuke's cheap provocations. Ever since the academy, beating Sasuke has been a goal for Naruto that goes deeper than being the best in their year, and he has never been closer to that goal than he is now, and he knows it. Naruto wants to be acknowledged, but not just by you or me; he wants Sasuke to recognize him. At the same time, Sasuke sees the change in Naruto, how he has improved at an even faster pace than Sasuke, and feels insecure. Even if Sasuke doesn't understand it, he feels left behind and has begun to question his own progress, as if he hasn't grown at all."
"Is it because of his revenge? Do you think his encounter with Itachi is what is making him act like that?" Jiraiya asked.
Kakashi nodded in affirmation. "If Sasuke acknowledges Naruto's progress, he will end up questioning his own," Kakashi answered with a sigh. "Rivalry can be difficult."
"Mhm. Regardless, I don't like this behavior. I'll probably have to talk to him after you visit Tsunade-Hime. I taught him the rasengan after all; it falls under my responsibility."
"I'll still have to do some scolding, but I'm not too worried about Naruto. He knows he crossed a line, but I'll leave mostly to you then."
Jiraiya nodded. "Speaking of Tsunade, she also happened to summon me. Any idea what it's about?"
"No. I expected it to be a mission for me, but since I'm required to bring my team, I'm not sure anymore."
"Well, I'll get there when I get there. I need to do some important research for a specific scene I'm working on for my next book."
Kakashi nodded and started to head out, but Jiraiya lifted his hand in a dramatic motion. "I would tell you more about it, but I don't want to spoil one of my biggest fans." Jiraiya grinned lasciviously, then vanished in a puff of smoke.
"At least some good news," Kakashi muttered before heading down to meet his team. He found them at the hospital entrance, and the tension was so thick that even Kakashi didn't have a quip or witty comment. Naruto and Sasuke stood a few meters apart, pointedly looking everywhere but at each other. Kakashi had always been good at being unbothered by awkward silences or situations, but this was going to be uncomfortable.
'At least the Hokage's office is not far away.'
Naruto didn't even realize when they had begun walking behind Kakashi. His body may have been currently moving through Konoha's empty streets, but his mind was still in the hospital. He knew he had been close to beating Sasuke; he had never been able to trade blows with him on such equal ground. But this wasn't how he'd ever envisioned it. In his mind, any scenario where he beat Sasuke was exhilarating, and any defeat was deeply frustrating. He was neither happy nor frustrated. He wasn't sure which word or blow had changed the reality of the situation, or whether it had been like that from the beginning and he hadn't realized it, but he knew the fight hadn't been between two rival teammates. Still, victory had been so close that he could compare it to smelling the rich aroma of a good bowl of ramen right before digging in. That annoyed him. He had told Sakura as much. This wasn't an issue she should have stuck her nose into.
"That technique you used..." Kakashi's voice sounded beside him, and only then did he realize his Sensei had slowed to match his step. "You know who created it?"
It was hard to place his tone. It wasn't the lazy, laid-back tone he used most of the time, nor the sharp yet calm way he addressed them while fighting Zabuza back in Nami no Kuni. It was quieter, softer, partly sad and disappointed, though genuine curiosity lay beneath the question.
Of course, he knew. The Yondaime Hokage had created the technique. The man's presence had a way of seeping into his life, strangely; he had begun to notice it lately. Tsunade had been unimpressed by him being the next person Jiraiya decided to teach after the Yondaime, and Jiraiya boasted that his former student had been a prodigy without parallel, a popular and brilliant man. The way everyone in the village spoke about him in such a reverent tone was unlike any other Hokage. When people talked about the first two Hokage, they did so with admiration, but their time was long ago, and their words carried a detached tone. Almost as if they spoke of them that way only because it was the normal thing to do. The Sandaime, before he had died, was always spoken of with respect, but also with a distinctive fondness that the first two hokage lacked, as if he had a personal relationship with everyone in the village. Naruto understood that the third had been a constant presence in the village longer than Naruto cared to count. Even when he scolded him for one of his pranks, he didn't use a harsh tone like the villagers did when complaining about him, nor was he annoyed like Iruka. His reprimands always carried a hint of suppressed amusement. It had been easy for Naruto to like the old man, and he guessed it was the same with the rest of the village, because now every time he was mentioned, everyone's voice carried deep sorrow. Now, Tsunade was Hokage, and people spoke about her differently than they did the other Hokage. Excitement, relief, and hope filled every word about her. The Yondaime was like a mix of everything. Fondness, deep admiration, respect, and reverence mixed with a twinge of sadness in the voices that spoke of him. He was the village hero who laid down his life to defeat the Kyubi.
A myth that had lived among them not long ago and died to protect them. Not too long ago for time to have made their names lose much of their mystique, nor too close to today, when grief or excitement dominated everything.
"Yeah, I know," Naruto answered his Sensei after a long pause. "Ero-sennin told me. It was the Yondaime Hokage who invented it."
Kakashi hummed and walked silently next to him for a few steps before speaking again. "More than a technique, the rasengan was a gift he created for the person who was dearest to him. It's a high-level technique that can be fatal, yet the Yondaime never thought of it that way. More than a weapon, it was a shield meant to protect."
Naruto didn't miss the mention of how the rasengan could be fatal. He understood what his Sensei was trying to tell him, and imagining a scenario where he could have seriously injured Sasuke made his stomach flip. However, the second part of his statement also got his attention.
"What do you mean by a shield meant to protect?"
"You think about that on your own." He told him and patted his shoulder lightly.
"How do you know that about the rasengan?" Naruto asked just as Kakashi started to quicken his pace.
The copy ninja froze for half a second and turned back to face him. "I also gave my Sensei headaches when I was your age, and the Yondaime had plenty of talks with me." He finished, and his eye turned into a half moon, and Naruto could imagine the smile beneath the mask before he turned around and continued walking.
Naruto watched his Sensei walk and realized that they were now at the entrance of the Hokage's mansion. It took a few seconds for it to click. Kakashi had told him who his Sensei had been. The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. It was strange hearing that Kakashi had been a headcase as well. He always looked like nothing could get to him. His voice almost always had a casual, bored edge, and his posture suggested someone taking an evening stroll on a lazy Sunday, even when he was fighting a dangerous opponent. Still, it was weird how the Yondaime Hokage managed to come up even more. He spared a glance at the faces carved into the monument he had vandalized a few months ago.
'You really are everywhere.' He thought, focusing on the Yondaime Hokage's face before entering.
They walked up the stairs in silence, and Naruto remained deep in thought when he heard a couple of familiar voices.
"What a drag, you guys are here too?" Shikamaru's voice rang through the corridors.
"Why the hell are you wearing a chunin vest?!" Kiba shouted back as he turned the corner.
Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he took in the people in front of him. Everyone was there: Team 8, Team 10, and even Lee's team with their respective Senseis. They were all gathered just outside the Hokage's office door. It was brief, but he saw the jonin present exchange looks, as if they were having a mental conversation that lasted only seconds. His eyes then landed on the green vest that Shikamaru was now wearing.
"No way!" Naruto shouted and made his way towards Shikamaru. He passed Sasuke, almost brushing his shoulder, and they exchanged a glance of pure contempt. When he broke eye contact, he turned toward the young Nara, whose eyes shifted between him and Sasuke. It wasn't the only pair of eyes he could feel on him; in fact, he felt every set of eyes in the narrow corridor dance between him and Sasuke.
Naruto ignored the stares; years of practice made it easy, and he grinned as he lifted a hand to point a finger at Shikamaru's chest. "Why are you wearing that?"
Shikamaru's eyes pivoted between Naruto and Sasuke, and then he sighed as if he had just carried the world on his shoulders. "I got promoted."
"But you didn't even win a match in the finals," Naruto said bluntly but with no intention to offend. "Why did they pick you?"
Shikamaru slumped even further. "I asked the same thing," he said, sounding miserable.
"I would have never imagined you would be the first of our year to make chunin," Kiba said with the same type of dull honesty Naruto had used.
"Shikamaru-san might not have come out victorious in his match, but he demonstrated the mental acumen and strategic forethought anticipated of a chunin," Shino explained as he adjusted his glasses.
"What?"
"Huh?"
Naruto and Kiba spoke at the same time.
"Shino-kun means t-that Shikamaru-san showed that he thought like a chunin in the finals, Naruto-kun." Hinata's meek voice came from behind her Sensei.
Naruto crossed his arms and frowned as he digested the explanation. "I guess you are right. Thanks, Hinata."
Hinata's cheeks turned light pink as she averted her eyes and covered a pleased smile with her hand.
"It was never a requirement to win," Kurenai added. "Winning and advancing would only allow you to show the judges more of your abilities."
It was a vague memory, but Naruto remembered that the Sandaime Hokage said something like that after the preliminaries.
The door to the Hokage's office opened, and Naruto turned toward it and saw Shizune's head poking out.
"Oh, all of you came at the same time?" Shizune said in her trademark, worried voice.
"Shizune Nee-chan!" Naruto waved at her as he approached. "What does Tsunade no Baa-chan want with all of us?"
"Hello Naruto-kun." Shizune tried to smile, but her face was a mix of a smile and a concerned frown. "Umm. I think it's better if all of you come in." She replied, not sounding completely sure of herself.
Naruto was the first to walk through the door and saw Tsunade sitting in her chair, frowning deeply. The second thing Naruto noticed was the paper in her hands, which seemed to mystify her, along with a strangely shaped kunai resting beside her hand and a crystal ball.
"Baa-chan? What did you call us for?" Naruto asked, but Tsunade kept her eyes on the paper as if she hadn't heard him.
"Jeez, Baa-chan, I think you are already going deaf from your ag-"
Just before he could finish his sentence, he felt a gloved hand wrap around his mouth, Kakashi's, no doubt.
Tsunade lifted her eyes from the paper and looked at them. "What?" She asked, her tone clearly indicating she hadn't caught what Naruto had been about to say.
He felt Kakashi sigh in relief behind him as he dropped his hand from his mouth. "We have arrived, Tsunade-Sama."
Tsunade's eyes locked onto Kakashi as her posture straightened, and her gaze took on a severity that made everyone in the room stand a little straighter.
She stood from her chair and walked toward Kakashi; the click of her heels was the only sound in the room.
"Read this," Tsunade stated bluntly as she shoved the paper into Kakashi's hand. Naruto tried to peek, but he couldn't make out anything.
Kakashi grabbed the paper, and as soon as he held it, he felt something. The paper felt... ancient, yet it didn't look like it. Like something a historian would discover in the catacombs of an ancient civilization, yet it was in perfect condition. Another thing he noticed was that the paper somehow held a weight to it, not physically, but in a way that made Kakashi feel like he was holding the future in his hands.
He held the paper at eye level and read it in his mind.
'Senju Tsunade, please heed my request. The future that is to fall upon the great nations is beyond your ability to imagine. If the heavens allowed it, my words should reach you in your early days as Hokage, precisely on the day when my mistakes become apparent again in the long line of succession. This is all I can do now to shatter the chains of my shortcomings. I beg you to call upon the presence of Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yūhi Kurenai, and their respective pupils so that they can lay eyes on my advice.' Ōtsutsuski Hagoromo.
Kakashi finished reading the letter and couldn't avoid the cold feeling forming deep in his stomach. Usually something like this would be shoved into a file room deep in the village's archives and forgotten. However, there was something about the feeling the paper gave, the familiar-looking kunai and crystal ball on Tsunade's desk that made his gut prickle uncomfortably.
Putting it all together, a wild theory began to form in his mind.
"Tsunade-Sama..." Kakashi began, but a knock cut him off.
Behind Tsunade, Jiraiya opened the office window and let himself in.
"Why is there a crowd in here, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked, curious and grinning.
Tsunade started to turn to address Jiraiya, but before she could move her neck, the orb on her desk flashed purple, and a series of concentric circles with a dot in the middle appeared on it.
Jiraiya's eyes widened as recognition flashed in his mind. "Cover your eyes!" But his words were too late, and he could feel a foreign chakra enter his body through his eyes.
Naruto was confused; he saw the orb begin to glow and heard Jiraiya's words, but he was too stunned to react, and now he found himself in a dark, seemingly endless abyss.
"What the hell happened?" He asked out loud.
"Genjutsu." He heard Tsunade's voice; more than an answer to his question, it felt like a realization she had spoken aloud.
Tsunade brought her hands together and prepared to dispel the genjutsu. "Kai!" Nothing happened.
"Tch." Tsunade then bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, but again the genjutsu didn't even buckle.
"Jiraiya and the jonin with me. Shizune, stay with the brats; everyone stay vigilant!" Tsunade ordered, and all the adults, minus Shizune, moved toward her.
"Kurenai." Tsunade addressed the red-eyed jonin, and she received her undivided attention. "What do you think?"
"We definitely fell into a genjutsu, Tsunade-Sama. An extremely powerful one. For all of us to be in the same place and still talk to each other... unless everyone is part of the illusion and not your actual selves, I never even thought this was possible. A genjutsu that keeps someone like you under it and drags other people in so they share the same illusion... it sounds outlandish." Kurenai spoke analytically yet disturbed.
Tsunade scowled; she had been so reckless calling everyone else in, but the orb hadn't seen anything dangerous or even the slightest hint of chakra until Jiraiya entered the room.
"Kakashi, can your sharingan detect anything else?"
"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed, exasperated, as he took in his surroundings. The only possible benefit was that he might have been placed under genjutsu with people far more capable than him, but that wasn't enough for him to relax. Genjutsu didn't work that way; genjutsu shouldn't work that way, yet when he saw his peers act like their normal selves, he wondered.
"Yo, Shizune nee-chan, what's happening?" Naruto asked Shizune as he watched the worried face she usually wore.
"I don't know, Naruto-kun," Shizune said honestly, then realized this probably wasn't the most comforting explanation for the genin. "B-but I'm sure Tsunade-Sama will figure it out!" She added quickly.
Naruto threw his arm behind his head and laced his fingers together as his neck cranked from side to side. Aside from the adults a few meters away, it seemed like an endless black void as far as his eyes could tell... an idea exploded in his head as he turned towards Neji. Feeling smart, Naruto opened his mouth, only to realize Neji had already thought of it.
"Did you see anything?" He asked in Neji's direction.
Neji closed his eyes as his byakugan deactivated. The question caught him slightly off guard, but he answered with a slight pause so as not to give too many details about his eyes. "No. Although Hinata-Sama should check as well, the range of her byakugan exceeds my own."
"Wow, is that true, Hinata?" Naruto asked as she walked in her direction and tried to peek into her eyes.
"Y-yes." Hinata squeaked out, her face burning.
"That's so awesome!" Naruto asked with a grin. "Can you check if you see anything, please?"
Before Hinata had a chance to activate her Byakugan, the sound of rushing water filled her ears, and the surroundings changed in an instant. She was no longer in a dark, endless room. She looked down at her feet and saw she was standing on top of the water, even though she hadn't channeled chakra to her feet. Another sound, this one far louder than the water, pierced her thoughts. It was almost like a flock of birds chirping, but it was far too loud to be real. She looked up from her feet, and what she saw froze her body.
Naruto was there, but instead of looking at her, he had his back to her, held up by the collar of his jacket by no other than Sasuke. The chirping noise came from Sasuke's left hand, which glowed blue, with several strands of chakra erupting erratically.
An orange glow started to envelop Naruto, but before he could do anything, Sasuke moved.
"It's too late now, Naruto!"
Time seemed to warp, and everything slowed down for Hinata. She saw Sasuke's hand stab and pierce through Naruto's chest with a sickening squelch. Something warm splashed her face, and she unconsciously brought her hand up to touch it, then looked down. Blood. Her hand was stained with blood, Naruto's blood. A quiet eternity passed as her eyes shifted from her tainted hand back to Naruto.
Her body began to shake as the weight of what had happened in front of her set in. Something in her brain and chest shattered as the crackle of lightning began to fade, and a horrified primal shriek tore its way out of her throat.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"