A/N: I somehow got behind by a chapter on this site, so I'll be putting another part up in just a few days.  I apologize for the mix-up!  Also, the art for this chapter isn't really a "title art" just a silly doodle I did a while ago.  I didn't have time for title art this time around, but I wanted to leave you with something.  ;)  

Chapter 18: The Beginning of the Middle

Jiraiya and Naruto were in and out of Konoha several times during the period between their departure from Suna and the promised permanent move back to the village. Naruto didn’t improve nearly as much as he’d have liked within that time – his standards were pretty high, but his mother’s necklace and the non-stop leaf-cutting chakra exercise he was doing to get a grip on his wind ability had made it possible for him to be in a forest without getting molested by the greenery. …if he were really careful not to draw the attention of the plants.

He’d actually been really confident when he’d left Suna that the wind training was already paying off, but the extra marking on his hand he’d gotten in his fight with Gaara, while still not fully dark, had given his annoying kekkei genkai enough of a boost to throw his estimations off once he got out of the desert. Sometimes he felt like he was getting kicked two steps back every time he managed to stagger forwards a little. Intellectually, he knew that power boosts were never bad in the long run, but he wished he could stop getting them long enough to get control of what he already had. This was ridiculous!

Despite that, he WAS making progress. He still couldn’t cut a leaf entirely in half, but he was beginning to get a “feel” for the difference between the elements. It was just a few more steps until he could separate out the wind affinity and consciously access his bloodline limit. It felt like it was on the tips of his fingers, just out of reach. Like if he could just learn forwards a little bit more, he could grasp it in his hands.

He’d noticed a hyper-awareness of botanical things lately, like a muted sixth sense, and sometimes Ivy actually seemed to anticipate what he needed her to do instead of just acting on her own. He COULD run some chakra through her now, but he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to try elemental chakra. He didn’t want to end up shredding her to bits instead of performing a jutsu…

Aside from the wind training, and practicing the jutsu from Temari’s book, he hadn’t done much else. Jiraiya felt it was too important for him to have control of his kekkei genkai to muck around with other things, but he was dying to work out some other combos with Ivy. The leaf cutting exercise was pretty convenient as far as training techniques to be stuck on though, with all the travel the old sennin had made them do. Naruto could practice with a leaf as they walked, as Jiraiya talked to his contacts, or while the old pervert was performing his perverted ‘research’ for his latest novel.

As far as the Toad Sage was concerned, with this regimen everyone was a winner, though he knew Naruto was thoroughly SICK of it. So what if it was kind of the lazy way out? Jiraiya hadn’t had an actual apprentice since Naruto’s father was a cute little genin; he grudgingly had to admit to himself that he was a little out of practice and maybe a little too old for this. Training the kid here and there, every now and then, whenever he was in town had been fun, but there was just so much he needed to do that he was afraid to drag Naruto into for fear of the danger to an genin in general and someone in Naruto’s peculiar position in particular.

Nevertheless, it was in much better spirits than the first time that the Legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin and his newest protégé reentered the Village of Hidden Leaves. The kid was practically bouncing to see his mother and aunt again. It had been almost two months since they’d caught up with the women in a comparatively large tourist and trading town near the southern shore of Snow Country. This had been the longest the brat had ever gone without some contact with the female portion of his strange little family and he was getting antsy.

“Calm down, Gaki. They probably aren’t even here yet. If they got caught up in helping out with the avalanche victims – there’s been an unusually high amount of those lately, they may not get here for a while.” Jiraiya chided his apprentice as he riffled through his pockets for their paperwork.

“Really? Damn it.” Naruto sighed, “I knew they were bad this year – there’d already been a few last time we were up there – but I didn’t know they’d gotten worse. I wonder what’s causing them? The weather hasn’t been any harsher than usual according to the ice-fishermen I talked to while we were waiting for the boat.” He pouted for a moment, then began to tap his foot impatiently as Jiraiya continued to dig unfruitfuly through his various scrolls and books. What was taking his sensei so long? The old pervert insisted that Naruto couldn’t be trusted with the paperwork, but they went through something similar to this every time they tried to enter a ninja village.

Jiraiya finally found the wayward things tucked between the pages of his latest manuscript right at the part where Haruko confesses to Taku that she—

Naruto cocked his leg back and sent Ero-jiji sailing into the wall, forming a nice sized crater slightly larger than his body and sending messily scrawled pages of erotica floating gently on the breeze. He wasn’t about to wait for the pervert to giggle over his own crappy writing when he could get getting inside the village and finally settling in to one place. A year of traveling had seemed like fun at the time, but it had gotten old. He wanted to just be with his family again. Hearing that they probably weren’t waiting for him put a huge damper on his mood.

“Hey Ero-sensei! Stop perving over your own dirty novels and give the men the papers!” He snipped, patience gone, as he bent over to snatch up a random sheet from the small stack now fluttering by.

Jiraiya peeled himself out of the stonework with practiced ease and dusted himself off, “Meh, so impatient! Can’t you show some respect for your poor Sensei?”

“Poor? Those dirty books make you richer than some of the smaller countries’ daimyo! Give the chuunin the damn papers!” Jiraiya was willing to swear the kid got more and more like his mother every day.

“Jeeze, don’t rush me!” The manuscript was quickly gathered back into a messy stack, and tucked back into his vest with habitual ease. Jiraiya straightened up and sent a glare at his student before turning back to the gate guards.

The chuunin with the spiky black hair and loose bandage over his nose – the Toad Sage never could remember his name – looked torn somewhere between his job of verifying their passports and gaping at the 4 and a half foot tall brat that could put a Sannin through a wall with a single hit.

Kotetsu guessed that answered his question from last year as to the kid’s ability to use his mother’s strength.

“You’re scaring the poor gate guards, Brat!” Jiraiya pointed out.

“Eh?” Naruto blinked at Kotetsu and Izumo, his whole attitude doing a 180 as a grin split his face, “Oops! I guess I’m so used to fulfilling my promise to Kaa-san that I don’t even notice when I have to beat you up.”

“Che’ Brat.” The Sage growled and swatted at the boy’s head. It had been Tsunade’s contribution to Naruto’s training that she’d made him promise to hit Jiraiya with freakish strength every time he was perverted or stupid. He got in a lot of practice, and his chakra control had become pretty damn good. When he stopped putting chakra through those weight straps of his, he was actually nearly as physically strong as his mother was without chakra enhancement, and definitely a good deal faster. “As if you could beat me up. You’ve got about a 100 years to go before you get that good.”

Izumo tentatively inched forwards and took the paperwork from Jiraiya so he could start validating it while they continued to banter.

“That’s only because you’re about 100 years OLDER than me, PERVERT – OLD PERVERT!” Jiraiya was going to strangle that kid someday, godson and Minato’s legacy or not. He couldn’t wait until the brat got through puberty. No mature man could deny the awesomeness that was his Icha Icha series!

“I’ll have you know your precious ‘Kaa-san’ is three months OLDER than I am! And how many times do I have to beat it into your head before you show your sensei some RESPECT?”

Kotetsu watched the proceedings like a spectator at a tennis match.

“Yeah, well I’ll respect you as soon as you start respecting women! AND at least Kaa-san doesn’t look all wrinkly and gross like you do! It’s no wonder you have to stalk girls all the time. If they saw you coming, they’d definitely run away!”

“Er, your paperwork looks fine Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-sama. If you want to go on in now…” Izumo bravely attempted to interrupt after clearing his throat.

“LADIES LOVE ME YOU LITTLE BRAT! Every man wishes he were as charming and handsome as I am! I’ll have you know, I score ALL THE TIME.”

Kotetsu looked a little like he was going to be sick.

“Paying for it doesn’t count! If being a man means aspiring to be like you, I’m more than happy to be a BRAT!” Naruto took their papers from the nervous looking chuunin without even glancing in his direction.

“Good, because with an attitude like yours, you’ll probably be a gaki forever! Someone’s definitely going to kill you for your mouth one of these days you stupid punk!” They turned and started into Konoha proper.

“I get the feeling that happens a lot.” Kotetsu told his partner. They could still hear the arguing pair going at each other as they got farther away.

“Yeah. It might be cute that they show their affection like that…you know, if there weren’t as many swear words and crude references to anatomy involved.”

“And the threats of grievous bodily harm.”

“Oh yeah, those too. I think they’ve been traveling together just a little too long.”

†

“Here are the keys to your apartment, Naruto-kun.” The Sandaime handed them over his desk. Jiraiya and the boy had arrived with their usual fanfare and immediately been shown in so no one else had to put up with them while they waited. Naruto had done a lot of growing up in the past year aside from the obvious physical differences. His hair was a bit more spiked back at the front, probably as a concession to his mother to try to look a little less like his father while in Konoha, and he’d gained several inches, though he was still rather short.

Sarutobi privately thought Jiraiya was having a hard time dealing with the fact that a child he’d had a hand in raising was trying to gain more independence and growing away from his mentors, as all children eventually had to do. Sarutobi was very familiar with the consequences of not knowing how to let go and trust one’s son. In the end, you could only give your children the tools they would need to strike out on their own, and have faith in them to use those tools well.

He hoped the Toad Sage learned to deal with their new roles before it developed into a rift they couldn’t easily bridge as it had between he and Asuma. He had no doubt that Jiraiya thought of the boy like his own blood, and as such, was a little too close to the situation to see the whole picture. Naruto was turning into a fine ninja, developing a careful balance between efficiency on the battlefield and not losing himself or his values. Still, some time apart would undoubtedly serve the two rather well.

He wondered how Tsunade was dealing with her ‘precious baby boy’s’ changes? The thought almost made him chuckle.

“I know your mother and aunt will be moving here as well rather soon, but I’ve received word that they were caught up with an emergency in Snow Country and may not make it back until the season changes enough to cut back on the occurrences. Their weather has been harsh, as I’m sure you know, with several strange disasters. They’ve been caught up in helping to aid the victims and can’t in good conscious, leave right now. That’s why I’ve taken the liberty of finding you a place to stay near the training grounds where many of our shinobi live. If you like, you can move in with Tsunade-chan and Shizune when they return, but I thought a smaller flat might suit you better for now.”

“I’d recommend you keep your own place, Kid.” Jiraiya said. “You and your Mom are probably going to be keeping pretty different hours if she accepts a position here as Sensei’s successor or at the hospital. You’ll be gone for missions and training with your new team. Besides, this might be your only chance short of getting hitched. If it were up to Shizune-chan and Tsunade-hime, you’d NEVER be allowed to move out.”

“I dunno, Ero-Jiji. I was really looking forward to seeing Kaa-san and ‘Zune again,” he sighed, “but thanks for the apartment Old Man. Hmm, if it’s just me,” A sudden notion seemed to strike him, and his demeanor did another turn around, “…this means I can get a CAT!” Naruto grinned. Ivy wouldn’t be pleased, but she’d have to deal because he’d always wanted a cat. His mom had just never let him have one. Cats were awesome and mean, and he’d heard they sometimes ate bees. Also, they slept on your feet and kept them warm. Naruto shared his mother’s hatred of the cold, and while he had grown grudgingly fond of Ivy and now found her pretty useful, she wasn’t a good bed warmer.

Jiraiya and Sarutobi sweat dropped. “Um, yes, Naruto-kun. The apartment complex does allow small pets.”

‘He’s grown up a lot, but he’s still very young.’ The Hokage thought with a slight smile. It was good to see it. He had grown fond of the child the few times they’d met, and he always felt a little guilty at the lost childhoods of ninja like Kakashi. Naruto showed similar promise, but he seemed to have retained some of that bright spirit. He was truly a remarkable boy.

“Awesome!” Naruto did a little victory dance. Ivy rustled in irritation.

“Er, well. I’ll let you go and get settled in. Iruka can show you where it is. Do you remember him?”

“Hmm,” Naruto thought, “OH, yeah, he was the teacher who gave me my Academy tests!”

Sandaime nodded, “Yes, he was. His students graduated two days ago, and since the teams have been finalized, he is helping out at the Tower until school goes back in session in a few weeks. Maybe he can tell you about your part-time teammates and their Jounin-sensei. Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan passed their genin test earlier today.”

“Wait a minute, their Jounin-sensei, and part-time teammates? How’s that work?” The blond frowned a bit.

“Well, I’m sure he and the other Jounin around the village will be happy to teach you things as well, but Jiraiya is still officially your sensei. According to the progress reports he’s been sending me, you are a good deal more experienced than a typical academy graduate, as you should be after officially being a genin for a year, so we are treating this more like a team transfer and loose assignment than a permanent position as sometimes happens with ninja after their first chuunin exam. Kakashi will be more like your captain than your sensei, when you work with Team 7, and they will be working as a three-man cell instead of the typical four when you are assigned other things.”

He puffed a few times on his pipe, and then continued, “You will have a short introductory period with your ‘official’ team before we start giving you other things to do. Learning to cooperate with small groups is a large part of being a rookie genin in Konoha, but they will do just as well with three instead of four for lighter missions, and you will get to learn to get along with a variety of groups rather than a single unit. I talked it out with the Jounin sensei of teams around your age group, and they agree with me that it wouldn’t necessarily be good for any of you to lump someone with you r experience permanently in with a greener team, nor would it benefit the village to restrict your skills to rookie missions. Specifically, Konoha is rather low on battle trained medic-nin at the moment, and while I understand that isn’t your forte, you may be called on in that capacity.”

He exhaled a ring of smoke and threw Naruto a grin, “I know I would sleep better at night knowing there was someone with medical experience along on some of the rookie’s first C-rank missions.”

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. It made sense to him, and he was glad he wouldn’t have to give the kid up to someone else for good, even if it was someone he genuinely liked and trusted like the Copy-nin. Speaking of…“Hatake Kakashi is his new captain?” The Sage raised an eyebrow, “I never thought he’d pass a genin team!”

Naruto looked confused.

“He was your dad’s student, you know. He’s never passed a team before now, though he’s been given several to try out. Remember the stories I told you about the bell test? ”

“Oh yeah! I’m really glad I didn’t have to do that.” He grinned sheepishly. He had no idea if he would have been able to figure out the trick in time.

He wasn’t disappointed in the Hokage’s choice of a captain for him, even if it sounded like he wasn’t too fond of the idea of being a Jounin-sensei. “If Tou-san taught Hatake-taicho, he must be pretty good.”

He was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to really get to know one team and bond with them after all of the cool stories he’d grown up hearing about his dad’s team, but over all, this didn’t sound too bad. It was almost like a promotion, really, and he’d be able to learn a lot about and get to know many of Konoha’s ninja instead of just a few. That was something he had been a bit worried about, not having grown up in the village like the rest of the rookies. He had very little practical idea of what his peers were capable of. “Do you think he knows any of Tou-san’s old moves that he could teach me?”

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Well, he does have a Sharingan, so it’s possible that he knows how the Hiraishin works, even if he can’t perform it. He definitely knows Rasengan, but I don’t want you getting started on that until you get a grip on your kekkei genkai.”

“I’ll never learn anything cool again at this rate. I’m so sick of trying to cut that leaf in half.” Naruto sighed. He knew it was important to learn to access his Mokuton abilities but he felt like he’d stalled a bit, despite the huge spike in skills he was likely to get once he could control plants , “at least teach me to summon!”

“Maybe after you take the chuunin exams if I can convince your Mother you’re more suited to toads than slugs. I should be back in town by then. I’ve got to check in with my contacts in the places that were too dangerous for me to take you, so I won’t be staying long in the village.”

“Ergh, if I’ve still got to wait for you two to fight it out, I might never learn it, but at least I’ve got a timeframe now. The exams are every six months, right? When’s the next one?”

“Hey, I said, ‘maybe’. Your best bet is to convince your mom on your own that you want to call up toads. She never listens to me! Besides, if Team 7 isn’t ready for the tests, you can’t enter, Gaki. It takes a three-man cell to test to become a chuunin when Konoha is hosting, so even then, it’s not a sure thing.” Jiraiya burst Naruto’s bubble.

The boy sighed, “So…back to the leaves then?”

“You got it, but hey, at least you’ll have cool missions to work on now.” Jiraiya grinned a little evilly and Sarutobi snickered behind his hand.

Naruto had a bad feeling about that. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

Sandaime shook his head, “No. Take a few days to settle in and meet the other members of Team 7. As I mentioned before, I’ll give you that long to get to know them and learn your way around the village before I start sending you out on other things.”

†

“So! Tell me about my new teammates Iruka-sensei! Are they pretty bad-ass?” Naruto walked along beside the chuunin with his hands interlaced behind his head. He was hoping they’d be able to keep up with him, at least a little bit, since they’d managed to pass Hatake’s bell test, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He hadn’t been too impressed with the other rookie genin from last year.

“Bad-ass? Er, not exactly…they DID just graduate from the Academy, Naruto-kun.” Iruka found himself feeling oddly guilty when his companion’s face fell a bit at that, “Sakura-chan is very smart though, and Sasuke-kun was the number one rookie of their year. I’m sure you’ll do very well with them.” He hurried to reassure the boy.

“Really?” That didn’t sound bad, but not particularly good either, “Er, first in the class…does that mean they’re nerds?” He hoped they weren’t nerds. He’d get enough lectures about bookwork once his mother found out he was behind on the reading assignments she still insisted on giving him.

“Um, no. I definitely wouldn’t call either of them nerds. Sasuke-kun is very dedicated to improving himself as a ninja because of a tragedy that happened in his past, and Sakura-chan, well, she’s not really very interested in getting stronger, but she’s definitely not a nerd.” Iruka opened the door of a large and relatively nice apartment building and gestured towards the stairway. “You’re on the top floor Naruto-kun.”

The boy started up the stairs, his brow furrowed, “Why’s she a ninja if she doesn’t want to get stronger?” He asked. “Hey, this place is pretty close to that awesome ramen stand Ero-Jiji and I visit whenever we’re here! Have you been there, Iruka-sensei?” Iruka was glad to see some of the enthusiasm he remembered in the blond ninja returning to him, and he instinctively found himself returning his grin. He’d never met a kid quite like this one. He was glad Naruto would be sticking around this time.

The chuunin instructor struggled with how to describe the fangirl aspect of Sakura. He didn’t want to give Naruto a bad impression about her from the start, especially since he’d been warned by the Hokage that Naruto didn’t have much experience with dealing with others his own age. He didn’t want to bias the Senju against the kunoichi right off the bat. She really did have quite a lot of potential. In the end, he just avoided the question, attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction. “You mean Ichiraku’s? Yes, I go there often. Maybe I’ll treat you sometime since it will be a while before your family can join you. I know what it’s like to be alone.”

Naruto glanced back at the chuunin as they reached the top of the stairs with a sympathetic look in his eyes, “I’ve never really been by myself before now, and I already miss Ero-Jiji, Kaa-san, and ‘Zune. Do you live alone, Iruka-sensei?”

The older ninja knew he let his face slip for a moment, but he really couldn’t help it. “Yes, I’ve been alone as long as you’re been alive, Naruto-kun. My family was killed in the Kyuubi attack.”

He was unlocking the door, so he missed Naruto’s sudden look of horror; it had changed to one of sick guilt by the time he got done opening the way into the new apartment.

“I-I’m so sorry, Iruka-sensei…” the boy murmured.

“Ah, no, Naruto-kun! Don’t feel bad for asking, I brought it up, after all.” Iruka rushed to reassure him, utterly aghast at the distress on Naruto’s face. The poor thing was much more sensitive than he’d originally thought; you’d almost think he felt responsible for the disaster.

A subdued Naruto followed him into the main room and slipped off his shoes reflexively without looking up from the floor. His windswept bangs obscured his eyes, but Iruka was sure they were still shining with sympathy. “Oh, um, yeah… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It was really rude.”

Iruka frowned, wishing he could get back the cheery mood they’d started with. “Well, don’t worry about it, alright? Let’s get you settled in, then I’ll take you to Ichiraku’s and buy you some ramen. How does that sound?”

Naruto raised his head and a small smile replaced the sad look on his face, “That sounds great. Thanks, Iruka-sensei.”

The chuunin felt an upwelling of something akin to brotherly affection for this boy for reasons he couldn’t understand. Naruto just seemed to have a quality about him that made Iruka want to mother him a bit. He thought he’d better look out for him while Tsunade-hime and Jiraiya-sama were out of town. The kid obviously had burdens he wasn’t sharing, and he’d be willing to bet a paycheck that the boy could really use a friend. His plant seemed very protective, but there was only so much companionship you could get from something like that. He’d definitely have to take care of him. He wondered if Naruto liked lasagna – he’d been planning to make one sometime this week...

“Great! Well, your bedroom is through here – we’ll have to buy you some furniture, but this futon will do for now, and over there is the kitchen. Sandaime gave me money to stock it when we found out you’d be arriving today. I’m glad you like ramen; I bought lots of that, but you’d better eat other things too! And this is the bathroom…”

†

Naruto knew he was bound to run into the Nine Tails’ victims, but he hadn’t really prepared himself for how he’d feel knowing that a part of him had caused nice people like Iruka-sensei so much pain. He was so caught up in his own thoughts about it, that he only ate three bowls of ramen that night. He could tell Ichiraku and Iruka were both kind of worried about his subdued attitude, but he’d never been good at the blank face all shinobi are supposed to be able to pull, and the prospect of an uncertain amount of time without even Ero-Jiji around wasn’t helping his darker mood, much.

He envied his godfather and mother being able to tell how he was doing whenever they wanted through the complex seal array on their earrings. It would be much easier not to feel quite so alone if he could use a bit of chakra and know his loved ones were okay. He’d have to write to the Suna Siblings later. They were really good about writing back and Temari always seemed to know what to say to make him feel better.

Ivy petted his stomach consolingly.

As he lay in bed that night, all alone in his room with all of his guardians miles away and not returning any time soon, he had to wonder if this loneliness was what Iruka had felt for the past 12 years. Was this the pain people might blame him for, when they discovered his secret? He’d only known the chuunin for a little while, but already he knew he’d find it way too painful if the man suddenly started to hate him. That would be nothing though, to the pain he must have felt all those years ago when he lost his mother and father to the demon. Naruto absently stroked Ivy, taking comfort from her presence.

He couldn’t even imagine suddenly not having his Kaa-san, ‘Zune, and even the old pervert to eventually come home to. He already had nothing but respect for Gaara, but thinking about being that alone and hated…he was amazed his friend had survived it. He didn’t think he’d have been that strong in his place. He knew there was a difference between never having something to miss, and losing something you’ll never have again, but he still couldn’t even fathom what that pain would be like.

Naruto sighed. He knew he wasn’t the Kyuubi, just as much as Gaara wasn’t Shukaku, but how easy would that be for the Nine Tails’ victims to believe? He’d known about the fox since the Bee Incident, and his family had been very adamant about reassuring him that the jailor and the prisoner were two entirely different beings, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of unease and shame he’d felt, hearing Iruka say he’d lost his whole family that night, the very night he’d been born. When people found out about the fox, would they understand or hate him or fear him like they did the sand’s Jinchuuriki?

Naruto rolled restlessly over onto his other side and blinked into the quiet darkness. Several dogs barked in one of the apartment below him, but he didn’t feel any less isolated for hearing his neighbor’s noise. He thrived on human interaction…the thought of these people ostracizing him someday for something he’d had no say in…

He carefully lifted up his shirt to stare at the seal on his stomach. It was as dark and innocent looking as always. Looking at it, no one but a seasoned seal master would be able to guess what it did; it was simply too complex – too layered. His dad had been a master among masters of the craft. There was hardly any danger of people learning about what he contained just from looking at it, but Naruto could feel it sometimes, a stirring presence just behind his navel, and he hated it.

Kyuubi had never caused anyone anything but pain. Himself included. It was the fox’s fault that he’d been a sickly kid and had to watch his chakra use so closely until his reserved had reached their currently huge level. If it weren’t for his prisoner, he wouldn’t have so much trouble with his bloodline, and he’d have lots better control. He wouldn’t have to work so hard to keep up to his family’s expectations.

Sure, he had more chakra than he would have had without it, but it was a constant drain on his resources, so who’s to say he wouldn’t have been just as strong? Also, there was no telling what the thing would do to him as it continued the merge into his system.

He bit his lip and continued to brood. These were things he’d thought often about since meeting Gaara, but he never really found any answers.

His bloodline was forcing the drain much faster than the Yondaime had intended, and though he hadn’t told anyone about it, he’d had a sort of, well, an attack the other day even though he hadn’t been using much chakra. He’d felt the Kyuubi stir a little, then a gotten slightly dizzy. The pervert had been busy watching girls at the stream and hadn’t even noticed him sit down with his head between his knees until the beast had settled down a few minutes later. He’d had a mild headache for the rest of the day and overloaded every jutsu he tried for the next hour and a half. He had no idea what it could mean, but he didn’t like it.

He rolled over again and forced himself to stop gnawing on his lip, instead burrowing under the covers and settling Ivy more comfortably around him. There was no use worrying about it anymore right now. He’d just have to take things as they came. That’s what he’d always done, and it had worked out pretty good so far. It was probably a fluke anyway.

He closed his eyes and forced himself to meditate until he began to fall asleep. He had a big day tomorrow, so he forced the negativity down and focused on the positive. He was excited to meet his Tou-san’s surviving pupil. Being taught by someone who his dad had turned into a great ninja – it was sort of like indirectly learning from his father. That was pretty damn cool.

†

“Danzou-sama.”

The war hawk turned away from the impressive fire in the hearth in front of him to acknowledge the masked ANBU who had appeared so unexpectedly in his private quarters. He frowned. It was seldom good when they came directly to him, here. “What is it?”

“You asked to be informed immediately when Senju Naruto returned to the village.” The kneeling boy answered.

“Ah. Wonderful.” That was much better news than he’d been expecting. “Have you been able to determine what team he’s been placed with, and his living arrangements?”

“Yes, sir. The Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, was seen leaving the village by himself shortly after the boy was shown to one of the empty apartments in the Jounin housing near the training grounds. He has been assigned tentative placement on Team 7 since there was an uneven amount of rookies this year, though Hokage-sama does not intend to make him work exclusively with them. He is to be assigned missions like a more experienced genin.”

A small smile curved Danzou’s lips. This was better than he could have hoped for when his initial plans had fallen through a year ago, as he’d mostly expected them too. He knew he lacked political power right now after his disgrace at the hands of the current Hokage just a few years ago, but he was making progress, regaining connections, and the time was ripe to start taking more risks behind the scenes again. The last Senju would make a good ally if he could be persuaded to Danzou’s point of view. If this worked, there was a still a chance to salvage the village which had grown far too soft under Sandaime’s reign. They could return Konoha to the splendor of its earlier days under Naruto’s ancestors.

“Excellent. Very good. Keep me informed.”

“Yes, sir!” The masked ninja spoke respectfully.

“Ask the boy to see me when you leave, please. I have a task for him that his current commander cannot know about, but may be unwittingly useful in making happen. Also, check in with Owl and find out how we are coming with locating Nidaime’s relic. We may need it soon, to further the plans.”

†