Reading Time: 84 Minutes

Title: Whispers of Scales and Waves
Author: Strailo
Fandom: Naruto
Genre: Drama, Family, First Time, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Slash
Relationship(s): Kabuto/Naruto, Sasuke/Sakura, Kakashi/Iruka/Orochimaru, Sasuke/Naruto
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Underage, Violence-Graphic. Explicit sex, canon typical violence, manipulation, abuse of power, lying, cheating/infidelity, minor character bashing, redemption, brainwashing, discussions – multiple wives for clan revival, snakes as caretakers, political maneuvering, vying for control over a person, discussion – surrogacy
Beta: CutsyCat
Word Count: 143.274
Summary: It started with a summons from some called a traitor sent to care for a young child who was hated by the village at large. It grew into a village revived and a village brought to it’s knees because of the hubris of men in power. And a relationship that helped to shape lives.
Artist: Mizu Sage

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76

Inoichi blew out a breath as his cousin sat back after his intake appointment with Sasuke, rubbing at his face. “So, you wanna tell me how many triggers you found in that head of his?” he asked.

“Just about three dozen that I was able to discover today alone. Most of them have been interconnected and centered around how he needs to act or react to certain things or people,” Inichi said, shrugging a shoulder. “It’s going to be a bitch and a half to remove them without leaving him a vegetable. What’s really going to be hard is training him to stop reacting in the way that they trained his brain to work. How his first therapist didn’t catch them before they started, I will not ever know. The guy is dead according to the records. Died of a heart attack.”

“I’ll look into his files about the Uchiha.” Inoichi sighed and sat up. “Lay them out for me.”

“There are triggers geared towards his brother, Itachi, about not asking any questions. Mostly about not asking questions about what happened the night of the massacre. Don’t know who put those down but they will need to be removed with another Sharingan with the way they were put in. Might have to call in Weasel for a short time to deal with it. They’re wrapped up around the need to look at the reports and find out everything that went down, stopping it. Stop him from finishing or wanting to do any of the paperwork around his families death to. He hasn’t been able to even claim the full Uchiha estate because of the triggers around the paperwork. He’ll probably have to do them under supervision and under some kind of control by Weasel for that,” Inichi warned him, looking at his notes.

“You think that they were laid by someone other then Itachi?” Inoichi asked, Inichi nodding his head. “That second Uchiha we found traces of that night?” he asked.

“More then likely. Whoever it was has a very powerful Sharingan.”

“So, would Weasel be able to remove it?”

“I’m hoping so. Or at least get it loosen enough to start to unwind it from around his mind in the normal ways,” Inichi mused. “The next set of triggers are wrapped around his ego. Someone wanted him to be egotistical. To think that he had every right to everything in the village and that the laws don’t really apply to him. They don’t always trigger true, but when they do, it’s when we will see him react to those like Naruto or those who aren’t from well known, established clans or aren’t from clans when they show themselves better at something that he considers himself best at. He wants to know everything that he can and he’ll do what he pleases to get it. It does trigger every time that he has been reminded that he can’t use his Sharingan on his fellow nin to steal or copy their jutsu’s, fighting styles or anything else about them.”

“That sounds like it was from someone who is hoping to use him for their own power moves,” Inoichi stated. He frowned before he shook his head. “Do you have a chakra signature for it?” he asked.

“Yeah. It comes from the Kurama clan surprisingly. I know there were a few who would have used their powers to do this though. They added some extra layers to it so that he would be more open to a marriage between the two clans, concubine contracts, children based contracts. That sort of thing. I’m going to guess that they wanted to have an alliance with him and using the support that he’s the supposed last Uchiha that is still loyal to Konoha and has all of that supposed power at his fingertips. With the way the Hokage has been seen to dote on him lately, I wouldn’t be surprised though that he does have a lot of political power that he shouldn’t have,” Inichi stated. He shook his head with a frown.

Inoichi grunted as his fingers tapped on the desk in front of him as he thought. “Will it be an easyish task to get rid of them?” he asked. Inichi nodded. “Then make sure you get rid of those first and that they aren’t tangled with anything else. I think that getting rid of those will help weaken the other tangles that he may have, if not let them collapse without their support.”

“Yep, most likely. The other triggers are tangled up quite a bit together, but they’re not so tangled that it won’t be impossible to untangle them. It’s just gonna take me time and slapping a strong seal on him to make sure that no new triggers can’t be added to his head. As it is, neither he nor Sakura have told anyone about the visit since they made their decision last night and came in early this morning. They sent a letter to Kakashi telling him that they had an emergency meeting when I took him on as a patient, but nothing beyond that. I warned them to make sure that they were in a secured area when they do tell him though to make sure no one would be able to hear them.”

“That’s a good idea,’ Inoichi said as he took the paperwork that Inichi held out. He looked over everything before he nodded and stamped his approval of the therapy plans. “You’re going to have to put him through the de-brainwashing program aren’t you?” he asked, noting the code for that in the paperwork.

“Yep,” Inichi snorted. “Those triggers of his are a known way to brainwash someone without letting others know. They forced him to think in a certain way. Thus, the brainwashing program. He gets to go go through a week of hell for that. He and Sakura both. I’m going to meet with her tomorrow to find out what’s up with her own head. She wants to do a full walk,” he said. He stood and stretched with a groan. “I need to get both of their full files from their academy years and their monthly progress reports to.”

“Here, I made sure I had a signed request for both written up when your note came,” Inoichi stated, handing them over from the drawer that he had hidden them in. Inichi looked it over and nodded before he headed out of the office. He disappeared from the clan lands and landed soon after in front of a building that didn’t look like much on the outside.

It was actually the most heavily guarded building in the village: The Archives.

He knocked on the door and waited for the window to open, Kotesu looking out of it with a raised eyebrow. “What do you need?” he asked.

“Paperwork,” Inichi replied. He handed the signed requests over through the window. “Got some patients. This is very secret and not even the Hokage is allowed to know what I’m doing or seeing, so seals will be appreciated for this.”

Kotetsu took the paperwork, frowning as he read it over twice before he nodded. He looked back out at Inichi. “Give us a couple of hours. Come back after hours and to the back door. Iruka will be the one to give you your stuff. You know your lines?” he asked. Inichi replied in the positive. “Good. Go do shit.”

The window closed with a snap.

Inichi left as he had been instructed to, heading for dinner. He ran across Kabuto and Naruto at one of the nicer Akimichi run restaurants on an obvious date. He stopped for a moment to ask how they were doing before he headed to his own table. Ino joined him after she spotted him and they sat, enjoying their bonding time together as Ino talked about her training plans with Shikamaru and Choji. Along with her plans on her out of village missions for the next few months.

After they had dinner and a light dessert, he wandered about a little, stopping off in a book store. He walked out with some new books that talked about egos and dealing with artificially enlarged ones. With his new purchases in his hand, he returned to the building and around to the back door.

Using a bit of chakra, he opened it up and disappeared down the hole just as the person who had been following him since he had dropped off his paperwork came around the corner, cursing at having missed him.

He snickered as he walked down the hallway, shaking his head in some amusement. “Trying to catch a Yamanaka unawares? Really? What a stupid thought,” Inichi snorted. “We hang out with the Nara’s and Akimichi’s way to much to get caught by some idiot ROOT,” he drawled. He arrived at hte door and smiled when Iruka opened it, raising an eyebrow at him. “Had a tail to shake. Sorry I’m a little late.”

“That’s fine,” Iruka said, smiling as he stepped to the side, allowing him in. “We have the files with the privacy seals on them, and decoy files with fake seals,” he said as he lead the way to the room. “Why did you ask for these files in particular?” he asked.

“They came to me this morning. I saw him first and she’s coming tomorrow. His mind is a fucking mess of trigger traps and hers is a question of what the fuck I will find. I need to have any information that may have been hidden in them,” Inichi explained.

Iruka sighed and muttered about having his students go through full exams because of that class. Inichi smiled, winked, took the files and disappeared through the only other door, coming out from another building on the other side of the village.

77

Naruto blinked slowly at his friend as Ino dropped to sit down next to him, the two having gone on a short border mission to pick up some reports from the working chunins. Shikamaru and Shino had also been assigned to the mission, Nissa was lounging around Naruto’s neck, and hissed a greeting to her.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone else for another twenty minutes,” he drawled.

Ino groaned and let her head drop back. “I was asked to deliver something to you,” she told him. She handed an envelope over. It had been a week and a half since the end of the chunin exams and she knew that there were things that were going on that she couldn’t know about yet.

Her father and some of the elders had been talking with everyone in their clan and he had told her to really think about if she wanted to stay in the village. If she would want to leave to join Uzushio since only part of the family was going so that the village didn’t collapse without the clans.

They would be joining those Nara’s who were going to move along with the Akimichi’s in the satellite village of Uzu. But what she didn’t know was exactly was going on or why they were moving. Just that Naruto was going to be the one to explain things to her while they were out on their mission.

When she was getting ready to leave though, Sasuke had stopped her near the gates and asked her to deliver a thick envelope to Naruto without anyone seeing her do it. She had made sure that there wasn’t anyone else, double checking that Choji and Shikamaru were at their camp, before joining Naruto. She noticed that he was rereading the mission details.

“Don’t ask me why he asked me to deliver it, but he did and asked me to do it while we were alone,” she told him. “Do you know who our main connections are going to be?” she asked louder as Naruto tucked the letter away into an inner pocket in his kimono top.

“It’s going to be Kotetsu and Izumo. They were assigned by Iruka-san because they’re two of the best judges for field promotions by the rumors that I’ve heard. Since you’re on a field promotion track and Shikamaru is in training as a leader, they were chosen to write out reports on us,” Naruto said. The two talked about the mission in more detail as they relaxed near the fire.

The mission was a three day travel to get to the first border point, get the reports from them and then travel the next two days along the border gathering the rest of the reports. After they were done, they would then return home over three days.

As long as the weather held out and nothing went wrong, they would be back home within two weeks. Once in the village, Naruto would finish packing up everything and send it off to Uzu. After that, he would be free to leave the village for good. He knew that Kabuto was working on wrapping up a few things of his own, and he was looking forward to being out of the village for good too.

They had left the village a little after six that morning and had stopped after the sun had set just after seven. The summer hours allowed them to travel for longer in the light.

Once they had their tents set up along with the fire, they decided who would take what shift to watch over their camp during the nights. Naruto had taken first shift, Izumo and Kotetsu working on dinner as Ino and Shino had worked on setting traps around their camp.

As Kakashi had told them once, just because they were in Fire Country didn’t mean that people wouldn’t try to go after them. Especially since Naruto had become more androgynous, Ino was a pretty woman who was a budding Seduction and Interrogation expert, Shino looked very slim in his usual jacket and they were, for the most part, chunins. Despite the evidence, most nins still considered chunins barely a step above a genin.

That and animals were still a thing.

Trading spots with Ino, Naruto headed for his tent, Nissa sliding off off of his shoulders once they were in it. Settling down on his sleeping bag, the flap closed and zipped behind him, he lit a candle lantern that hung from the roof of his tent, throwing off enough light so that he could read the letter.

Naruto,

I am writing to you today to explain a few things. I know you most likely don’t want to hear anything from me in person, but I do think that you should know about these things.

If for no other reason then just to protect yourself and those who you love from the same assholes who got to me.

Naruto frowned at the start of the letter. It was definitely written by Sasuke from the handwriting and the way he wrote. He wrote quite a bit differently then how he spoke, as Naruto had learned during their stint as a couple.

Clicking his tongue, Naruto continued to read.

The day that we were told how we did in the Chunin Exams was quite the eye opener for me. The day of the Chunin Exams started to make me think and that meeting just confirmed what I was thinking. But, it also lead me to talking to Sakura and her telling us to to go into my family house for more then just the library and cleaning purposes. I went to my brother’s room where he had been leaving letters for me since the day that my family was killed.

Those letters led me to some information that I should have known but hadn’t. I’ll get to that in a moment, but I need to do this in the right order.

The night that I got the letters, I read the first one. It was written before he had killed our family. To be precise: he had been ordered to kill those who were a part of a coup against the village on the orders of the warhawk Danzo, and the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was then going undercover in a certain organization that is after the biju as a way to try to take them down from the inside out.

He wanted to tell me that night. But something had gone wrong. Someone had killed the innocent Uchiha’s outside of himself and me. He is now sure who they are, but they carry the name of Madara. They are not Uchiha Madara, Itachi was and is still very sure about that. He is still looking for who is behind the mask and name, but I fear that they will eventually go after you.

Yes, Sakura and I have figured out a few things, including the fact that you are the holder of the Nine Tails. Hiruzen confirmed that when we asked. We didn’t care then and don’t care now. We fucked up because of other reasons that I will tell you about.

Naruto blew out a slow breath. His eyes fell shut as he let his head tipped backwards, hand resting on his stomach. Kurama rumbled from deep in his soul. He hadn’t ever really admitted to anyone that he could and would often speak with the fox. That it had been Nissa who had encouraged him to learn how to meditate and connect with him. To hopefully find a balance between them since they would be together for the rest of their lives.

He found that Kurama was brilliant and just wanted to be free to do what he had been told to do by a man he called father. But that the seal stopped him from leaving, and he was safer in Naruto. Naruto had started to work to adjust the seal that once Naruto did naturally pass, Kurama would be free to become the protector that he had been at one time.

Before he had been turned into a controlled killer.

He turned back to the letter.

Naruto…I had triggers. So many triggers that had been implanted in my mind.

Triggers that conditioned me to treat others like you like dirt. Like a means to an end.

Triggers to feel entitled to whatever I wanted, no matter who had it.

Triggers to train me to ignore my clan duties and those that were under my clans protections.

Triggers to do whatever it was that certain people wanted.

So. Many. Triggers. And my therapist is still trying to get them out of my head and untangled from around my brain. I’m going to be heading into a de-brainwashing program once they have been removed. My person thinks that it will be a month before we can do this, but these triggers have trained into me from the day after my family were killed to think in a certain way.

And now I have to learn how not to think like they want me to. How to treat others like humans worth respect and to respect bounderies.

I think that Sakura will end up helping me a lot in this, even though she’s doing her own therapy. Apparently my feelings for her are very real and were able to knock a few things loose, which allowed me to start thinking without denying everything.

The following list includes all of the triggers that were placed in my head, along with who placed them (if we could figure out who did it), what those triggers did and who you should probably look out for while you are doing whatever it is you are doing.

Good luck with your future, Naruto.

Uchiha Sasuke

Naruto took a deep breath again and put the letter down as he read over the triggers and names. He mentally prepped a letter to Zabuza and Haku about making sure that these people were denied entry to Uzu. Even if they were just visiting.

Nissa hissed as he moved to wrap around his waist, resting his head on one knee.

“You will be fine, little one,” Nissa said. “And so will the two others.” Naruto smiled as he smoothed a hand over one head.

“Yeah, we will be. This is a good step forward though. Got to admit that.”

78

When it was time for them to have dinner, Naruto joined his team and took his place, being handed a plate by Shino. “I’m guessing that your parents told you that I would tell you some of what is going on, yeah?” he asked. Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu all looked at him with their food in hands. “And that Iruka told the two of you?”

“Yep. He said that he’s gonna need people who know how to run a proper Archive after all,” Izumo said as he shrugged one shoulder, smiling. “What’s going on exactly?” he asked.

Naruto sighed, mixing up the curry and rice before he ate a bite. He swallowed. “Well,” he drawled. “To be blunt, I’m leaving the village.” He held up his chopsticks at the first sounds of denial from Ino and Shikamaru. “Let me explain things first. My mother was Uzumaki Kushina, Princess of Uzushigo, and my father was Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage.”

“Well shit,” Shikamaru breathed out, shaking his head. Naruto chuckled at his reaction.

“Due to the fact that my parents are who they were, I have dual citizenship even though Uzu fell. It came with the treaty between Konoha and Uzu. If the person held citizenship with both villages, their children and grandchildren, and so on, would get citizenship for both. Since I have this dual citizenship, I have decided that it would be a good idea that I leave Konoha. It hasn’t been treating me right for a very long time,” Naruto said. He ran his hand through his hair before finishing his plate and putting it to the side as they thought.

“What do you mean by not treating you right for a very long time?” Ino asked as she moved to sit next to her fellow blond. She hadn’t been able to spend as much time with him over the last year, but she still liked his company. Loved him like a brother even. Shikamaru and Choji felt the same way with him.

She even liked Nissa and would often ask him his opinion on how she should dress to be smart about her armor but still distracting to her enemies.

“I mean that I’m hated for something that wasn’t my fault. And called something that I’m not,” Naruto said. He sat up straight as Izumo and Kotetsu went stiff. “We have all heard of how my father supposedly defeated the Kyuubi, yes? The truth is, you don’t kill the biju. What you do is seal them or help get them purified if you can. So the truth is much different then what we were told.”

Naruto took a deep breath, Ino holding his hand, as he told them the story that he had found through his investigations and his talks with Kurama. He told them about how his mother had come to Konoha to take over as the holder from Mito, and how she had been prepared to have him held back while she gave birth to Naruto.

He told them about the masked man who had attacked her while she gave birth and forced her seal to break, freeing Kurama but controlling him. Forcing him to attack the village.

He continued to talk about how his father had sacrificed his life with his mother to reseal him. His mother had bled out, holding Kurama still, while his father had given his life to power the seal that now held Kurama in Naruto.

After a few moments of quiet, Ino broke the silence. “They’re all idiots,” she stated. Shino nodded his head.

Izumo snorted as he and his partner relaxed. “Unfortunately there was more going on behind the scenes that others won’t know was happening. As a Desk Chunin, career chunin or desk jockey as we’re called, we have learned a lot since we took up our positions,” he said. “There was a rumor mill going on hard core during that time. Someone whispered something in a few grieving civilians ears about how the Fourth just turned the Kyuubi into a human and let it run from there. That rumor took on a life of it’s own. Hiruzen didn’t do shit outside of making that damn S-Class secret law that is punishable by death if you tell someone who doesn’t know about Naruto being a Jinchuriki.’

“He did tell those who had heard about the fact that he was the holder and not the Kyuubi, but he didn’t try real hard to stop them,” Kotetsu warned them, shaking his head. “We have an idea who started it, but you know. Can’t really touch him since he’s still sucking Hiruzen’s dick.”

“The old warhawk bastard, Danzo, right?” Shikamaru asked. The two older chunin nodded. “Yeah. Dad doesn’t like ‘em and for real good reasons. He’s staying behind with a select few people in the clan while I’m heading out with some others with my uncle playing regent for the new branch of the clan. At least that’s what my letter from dad told me.”

Shino tilted his head to him. “This is why my father told me that my aunt will be regent when I leave with my family in four months time, then,” he said.

“It takes a good amount of time to set up the right kind of lands for you guys when we’re close to the sea,” Naruto said. He shifted as he relaxed against the log that he had been sitting on. “Ino, you family is coming with too. The bigger clans will be in the satellite village to Uzu while the smaller clans and those without clans are going to be in the main village. Which is how it originally worked. The thing is that most don’t know, the satellite village had also been attacked, right before the main village. The barriers seals fell before the main village but they were able to get those they could out of the village. The defenses just weren’t enough to stop the attack. And of course Konoha didn’t answer the call that we sent out for help.”

“That’s really fucked up,” Shino stated, shaking his head. “I will help to make sure that the village is able to grow properly. All of us will, I am sure.”

“Yeah! We’ll all be happy to help you rebuild Uzu,” Ino said as she hugged him around his neck, beaming. “I’m glad that daddy told me that I could stay or go if I wanted. Do you know why some of our clans are going to stay behind though?” she asked.

Naruto hummed as Shikamaru stretched his body with a grunt. “Most likely because it would be really hard to explain why an entire clan is up and leaving suddenly. Moving a part of the clan as part of the treaty work to help rebuild because it’s part of said treaty is more easily explained,” the Nara said. “Thus why only a part of us are going. And why the heirs are going with their chosen regents. When the time comes, most likely the rest of the clan will follow. Depends on the person and the way Konoha acts after we leave.”

“I know that some of my clan won’t want to come,” Ino admitted with a frown. “They’re too loyal to Konoha and have forgotten that we used to live fairly close to Uzu before we joined the village. And they give me creepy vibes anyways so not a big loss.”

“I don’t think that mom will end up following us either,” Shikamaru grunted. “Her and dad have been having some issues again. She’s been staying with grandmother more often.”

“It sounds as if she is wanting something and it isn’t going her way this time. You should speak with your father,” Shino suggested. Shikamaru nodded his head. “The plans are to slowly move our clans as the village grows and settles yes? Do we know who the Hokage is looking for to take over for him?” he asked.

Izumo hummed as he scratched at his chin. “Yeah. He’s wanting to ask Tsunade-sama to be the head of the hospital and to take over as Hokage. He’s hoping that if she does, that Naruto will stay to get to know his godmother from what we’ve heard.”

Naruto cackled, shaking his head, hair whipping. “Nah. Her and Kabuto have already decided to run the hospital with Shizune-san. She’s already told me that. She’s just shaping the hospital into some kind of proper shape so that people in Knonoha don’t suffer from incompetent medical professions and getting copies of all of the medical information that they have to bring with us. There’s a lot in Uzu, true, but she has stated that you can never have enough information.”

Kotetsu snickered softly. “So I’m going to guess that Jiraiya-sama is going to follow you guys too?” he asked.

Naruto smiled sweetly at him and took the offered cup of tea from Choji. “Considering that Orochimaru is also going to be visiting often to help build a treaty between our villages? Yep. He does still care deeply for all of his friends after all.” He took a sip of his tea and shifted, continuing on. “Of course, I would avoid Kakashi’s and Iruka’s home when they finally get to Uzu. You’d never think this as fact, but Orochimaru is a really loud lover. Not something I want to hear. Again.”

He smirked at the shocked chokes from his teammates, listening to Nissa hiss in laughter. He could faintly hear Kurama cackle deep within his mind, making him chuckle himself.

79

Stepping through the gates and into Konohagakure with a groan, happy to be back in civilization, Naruto yanked off his bandana and scratched at his head. Shikamaru snorted next to him.

They had ended up stuck in a cave for two days on the way back to the village due to a heavy storm that had made it dangerous to travel in such slick conditions. They were all looking forward to their own homes and hot showers after that. Shikamaru in particular was looking forward to seeing his fiancée, getting some good food, and a good nights rest after getting laid if he could.

Ino just wanted her chocolate stash. As she had told them, just because she didn’t have a period due to her birth control didn’t mean that she didn’t get some issues that came with it. Like the craving for salty and sweet things, moodiness, and the occasional bloating.

Shino just wanted to be dry, along with his bugs, and to read a good book.

Izumo and Kotetsu had admitted to wanting some privacy to actually have sex with each other. They hated when they had to deal with a large team on missions. That usually meant that they couldn’t get together to scratch some itches they had when it came to post-mission relaxation.

“Alright. Let’s head out to turn in our reports and the reports that we collected. Then we can all fuck off for home for the night,” Izumo stated. He lead the group to the Hokage tower. Iruka was at the mission desk, taking the reports and files from them with a nod. He checked over each report before he stamped them and placed them into the boxes.

“You all did very well. You are cleared for a few days off since you were unlucky enough to get caught in that storm,” Iruka said, smiling at them. “Naruto, I will be by your house tomorrow if you don’t mind.”

“That’s not a problem,” Naruto said as he waved a hand. He turned and left the building, heading for his estate. He just wanted to get into the house and in a shower to wash off the mission dust, dirt and sweat.

Arriving at the house fairly quickly, he opened the door and stepped inside. He sighed his pleasure as he yanked off his sandals, dumping them into a basket to give them a good deep clean and see if they were worth keeping. They were caked in mud and other things seeing as his other pair had worn through on the way to the third border spot.

He could smell miso and spice along with the sweet scent of coconut milk. Which meant that Kabuto was making miso soup, curry and coconut rice for dinner.

“Tadaima!” he called out.

“Okaeri nasai!” came the return call from the kitchen. “Go take a hot shower, Naruto. I left out some soft clothes and by the time that you’re done with your shower, dinner will be ready to eat.”

Naruto smiled softly and nearly melted on the spot that his lover had done something like that before he called out. “I’ll go do that then.” He headed down the main hallway and into their bedroom, finding that the bathroom had been set up for him with fresh clothes on the sink and fresh towels on the racks.

He returned to their bedroom, putting his sealing scrolls and weapon pouches on his table. He would go through everything the next day. He needed to review hi weapons, find out what should be replaced and what could be sharpened or repaired, but that would wait. His clothes landed in the hampers, along with the clothes that he had worn during the mission.

Either he or Kaubto would have to set them to soak later that night since they were so encrusted with the sweat and dirt of his mission.

Naked, he unwound his hair to let it fall down his back, placing the hidden senbon in his braid on the table. He then brushed his hair out and wrinkled his nose at how oily it felt. “Shower. Very much taking a shower,” he muttered as he walked back into the bathroom. Turning on the water and letting it run until it got hot, the steam filling the room, he stepped under the hot fall of water.

He allowed himself to just relax under the hot water for a few long minutes before he started to wash off the mission. He started with his hair, scrubbing at his head and working the shampoo through every inch. Once he had rinsed out the shampoo and washed again, he slicked the conditioner through and put it under a shower cap to sit as he washed his body.

Naruto took his time in cleaning every inch of his body then rinsing off and turning to his face. Once he was done, he removed the conditioner from his hair, turned off the shower, wrapped his hair up into a hair towel and dried off. Opening the door to let the steam out, he then pulled on his clothes.

He finished with his skin care, knowing that even though he didn’t really need to do it, doing so was a good habit to keep. He then dried his hair, brushing it out. Leaving his hair loose to finish drying, the smell of food drew Naruto out of the bedroom and made his stomach grumble.

He smiled when he walked into the dining room, finding Kabuto laying out the food and humming softly. “Hey there,” he greeted softly, walking up to his lover. Kabuto chuckled and pulled him close. Naruto wrapped his arms around the other’s neck, kissing him for some time before he pulled away, leaving them breathless. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too. I’m glad that you’re finally back,” Kabuto hummed, stroking his cheek.

“So am I. I wanted to do something special for us, but I was called away for the mission,” Naurto told him, pouting softly. He pulled away from the warmth of his lover and sat down. He took note that Kabuto had also made them their preferred jasmine tea to go with the miso soup and curry over coconut rice, soft fluffy steamed buns and various smaller finger foods that looked like random left overs that they had frozen.

“What was it that you were hoping to do before the mission?” Kabuto asked. He sounded rather interested in his response as he poured the tea.

“I was hoping to have sex with you,” Naruto stated. Kabuto went still as his entire body flushed hot with the thought of finally being able to take that final step with his partner. Taking a deep breath to settle himself, he shook his head and started to dish up the food.

“If you are feeling up to it tonight, then we can probably do that later today. Otherwise we can always wait until tomorrow,” Kabuto suggested. Naruto smiled at him and nodded. They turned to their food. They ate and talked about how the mission had gone, the storm that they had ended up waiting out in a cave for two days and how it felt to be home.

After they had eaten, they cleaned up the dining room, doing the dishes and putting any leftovers away for the next day before heading to their bedroom. Naruto yawned as the door was pushed open and Kabuto chuckled softly.

“Come along, into bed with you. I will sleep next to you, promise,” he said softly. Naruto hummed but happily climbed into the bed and under the blankets. Kabuto did a quick walk around the house, using a clone to deal with the clothes in the hamper as he turned lights off and closed the bedroom door. He left a single electric candle flickering on the night stand for some light.

Naruto shifted the moment that Kabuto had gotten into bed, curling against him and sighing in pleasure as his eyes fluttered shut. Kabuto held him close with one arm, feeling sleep calling to him after nearly two weeks without Naruto’s body in his bed.

They both fell asleep and it was late into the night when Naruto woke up, stretching his body out and getting up for some water. He came back and found himself staring at his partner, smiling at the sight of him.

He felt the need to actually have the sex that he has been wanting to have with Kabuto and he decided that he wouldn’t walk out of that bedroom until that happened. Putting his water onto his bedside table, Naruto crawled back into their bed and sat over his lover’s thighs, leaning forward to press a kiss to a faded mark on his chest that he had left before his mission.

He felt Kabuto move under him and rumble a question as he woke. He smiled instead of answering, nipping at the mark, intent on getting him to fully wake up and fuck him.

80

“Naruto?” Kabuto slurred as he woke up feeling his lover move. He blinked a few times as he shot awake at the movement of Naruto shifting to sit on his hips, smirking down at him. “I see that you have woken up and then decided to wake me up. Is there a reason?” he asked as he placed his hands on Naruto’s hips. His lover chuckled softly and rolled his hips.

Kabuto groaned, hands squeezing the hips under his hands, thumbs digging lightly into the skin as he breathed out slowly, reigning himself in.

“I’m fairly sure that you can figure out why,” Naruto purred. His eyes sparkled as Kabuto chuckled, shifted and flipped them over. The blond yelped and landed on his back with a huff of breath, eyes wide as he stared up at the other man, a smile playing on his lips even as he wiggled to get comfortable. Kabuto chuckled softly as he settled between long legs, sitting on his own knees, stroking his fingers over the tanned skin that was exposed by the sleep shorts that Naruto had worn to bed.

“I suppose that I can do that,” Kabuto mused, running his eyes over the lean body that was laid out under him. Naruto lifted his upper body just enough to pull his hair free, allowing it to fall to the side before he stretched his arms over his head, his muscles pulling taut before he relaxed on the bed.

“You’re a smart man,” Naruto hummed. He rubbed a leg against Kabuto’s side, teasingly. Kabuto chuckled and bent down to kiss him, tasting the sigh of pleasure that came from the other, lapping into his mouth. Pulling away from the kiss and leaving his lover breathless, Kabuto smirked as he licked his lips.

Reaching down between them, Kabuto pulled Naruto’s top off of him, remembering that he had laid out one of his own house shirts that he often wore when he was relaxing. He loved to see them on his partner after all.

He tossed it to the side and took in his lover’s body once more.

With previous lovers, he had gotten bored with the relationship rather fast. Mostly because they clung and couldn’t keep up with his libido, but with Naruto, it was as if it was the perfect relationship. Despite how long they had known each other and how often they had played together, he found himself more and more in love and desiring his lover every day.

And he loved the way that Naruto still blushed ever so slightly under Kabuto’s heated look as his breath hitched, and his nipples hardened in anticipation and the coolness of the room. Kabuto purred, sliding a hand up Naruto’s ribs and over one pec, feeling the nipple under his palm. Naruto shuddered softly, pushing up into the touch. Kabuto licked his lips at the soft moan that escaped his lover.

“I do so love just how reactive you are no matter what we have done together,” Kabuto chuckled.

Naruto wiggled under him, his arousal creating a visible bulge in his shorts, pulling the fabric taut. The silver haired male chuckled and teased the fingers of one hand over the length that was still covered by sleep shorts. Naruto mewled as his hips rocked up into the touch.

Kabuto pulled his fingers away with a teasing laugh. “Behave, Naruto. We have all night to play together after all.”

“Damn tease,” Naruto groaned as he melted back against the bedding, pouting up at Kabuto. He got a chuckle in return as the fingers teased along his hardness once more.

“Of course I am. I love the way you writhe in pleasure under me, begging for more. It makes me feel so good knowing that you can lose yourself in pleasure. That I can bring you to heights previously unknown,” Kabuto hummed, leaning down to nip at Naruto’s neck. His lover tilted his head back to give him more room. “Perhaps I can put marks on your skin. Maybe I’ll be able to put my clan seal on your hip so that any who think that they can have you will know that you are mine. I don’t ever want to give you up. I want to keep you in my life even beyond this lifetime.”

“Kabuto,” Naruto breathed, reaching up to pull him down into a deep kiss full of love. His hands tugged at Kabuto’s clothes, tossing them to the side but not able to get his pants off due to their position.

Kabuto smiled, laughing softly, as he pulled away from the kiss and stroked at the whisker marks on Naruto’s cheeks. He slid off of the bed, taking Naruto’s shorts with him and dropping them to the side. Naruto sighed in relief as his prick was fully released to twitch against his stomach. Kabuto smirked, running a finger up along the underside of it, Naruto’s stomach sucking in at the butterfly kiss of a touch. Lean hips rocked up into the touch, a whimper escaping from him and making his silver haired lover chuckle as his hand moved away from the dick.

Kabuto quickly stripped out of his own clothes and rejoined Naruto on the bed, sliding between long legs with a groan of delight.

Kabuto hummed and set himself to rediscovering all of the places that got the best reactions from his partner. A nip to one nipple as his fingers traced light green paths over an exposed neck, creating prickles that drew a moan from the other man. A long lick up his abs, as the muscles twitched under the chakra directed through the slick muscle, left behind tingles of promise. Hickies sucked and nibbled into dark skin that would darken and leave before the next evening were left scattered over skin.

By the time that he was reaching into his bedside table for the lube, he had reduced Naruto to a mewling needy mess on the bed under him, cheeks flushing red with his lust as he tried to return the touches. Kabuto kissed him, slow and deep, distracting, as he uncapped the lube, squeezing out a generous amount onto his fingers. He reached down and stroked his fingers over the ring of muscles, having done this to him before.

One of his fondest memories of their sexual exploration together in the last few months was Naruto fucking himself on Kabuto’s fingers before he came from the new sensations.

Kabuto kind of wanted to see it happen again but he knew that they both wanted more.

Breaking the kiss, he licked his lips as Naruto gazed up at him, dazed and with his love shining clear in his eyes. Stroking his dry hand over one whiskered cheek, Kabuto once more stroked over the ring of muscles before he pushed a finger inwards. Naruto groaned and his eyes fluttered shut. Since they had already played like this before, he knew how to relax under the feeling, how to enjoy the stretch and slide of the calloused finger sliding in and out of his ass.

Naruto rolled his hips down as Kabuto worked his finger in and out, testing the slickness and adding more to his fingers before he put the container to the side. The blond gasped as the long finger was joined by a second finger, the two twisting and sliding in and out of him. He groaned as he moved his hips with every thrust of the fingers into him, encouraging his lover to do more.

Kabuto chuckled softly and added a third finger, working them slowly, loving the way that Naruto’s body was so easily opened for him. He spread his fingers with each slide of his fingers out of his lover, stretching him and watching the way Naruto was lost in the feelings. His body moved and responded with each slide, hands clenching at the headboard and using it to push himself into each movement of the fingers in him.

Kabuto let out a slow breath as he worked to open his lover, loving the way the muscles around them started to relax and twitch under his strokes. Naruto moaned as he went limp, still moving with the fingers and their movements. The soft, sweet moan from Naruto made him smirk. He worked to keep him on edge as he reached out once more and grabbed the lube again, slicking his other hand, coating his own cock with some of the slick substance.

Once he was coated fully and nearly dripping with the amount of slick on his cock, Kabuto shifted as he pulled his fingers free. He licked his lips at the moan of loss as he pushed Naruto’s legs up, pressing the tip of his length against the stretched hole.

He slowly slid inwards, Naruto gasping as he twitched in Kabuto’s grip, the other man grabbing at the other leg once he was far enough to not slip out, and kept a steady pace pushing into his lover, watching his partner’s face.

As soon as he buried himself fully, he stopped moving, allowing Naruto to get used to being full in such a way for the first time. Kabuto stroked his hands over tanned, toned thighs. Neither of them cared about the slick that was still on his fingers, Naruto shifting slightly. He gasped, lost in the pleasure that the burn just seemed to add a different feeling to.

“Are you okay?” Kabuto asked, the words heavy in the air. Naruto looked up at him with his eyes that had darkened to a deep sapphire color, and nodded. “Good.”

With that, he slowly pulled out, feeling the way that Naruto’s body seemed to squeeze around him in protest of his leaving before he pushed forward. The movements were smooth and easy with the amount of lube and preparing that had gone on.

Stopping his movements, Kabuto shifted on his knees, settling into a better position to start moving again, finding it easier to move that way. To drag their pleasure out. He wanted Naruto to be mindless by the time that they came. He wanted his lover to remember just what had happened with every step that he took and every time he sat down the next day.

He kept his movements sure and controlled, loving every moan, keen and reaction from Naruto, pulling all the sounds that he could from his lover.

“Please,” came the broken little plea from Naruto, his dick hard against his stomach and leaking heavily. Growling softly, Kabuto curled his fingers around the hard length and gave it three hard strokes in time with his thrusts into his lover’s body. Naruto came. He arched and screamed loud enough to wake the dead as pleasure rushed through him.

Kabuto clung to his hip with one hand, pressing bruises into the others skin, as he pushed himself in as far as he could, allowing the twitching, squeezing hole to drag his own climax out of him.

Naruto twitched at the odd feeling of wet warmth in him as he melted into the bed, moaning softly and dazed, staring up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. Panting harshly, Kabuto gently pulled out of his lover, checking to make sure that he hadn’t done any damage with how hard he had taken Naruto. He only found his come leaking out of the red and puffy hole, making the darker parts of his mind preen at how used it looked.

Pressing a kiss to the leg that was still resting on his shoulder, Kabuto slowly lowered it before he started to rub at Naruto’s limbs, coaxing him back from the pleasure fueled fog.

Done with his impromptu massage, he stood up, Naruto watching him with dazed eyes. Kabuto smiled before walking into their bathroom, the sound of the tub running along with the shower filtering out. A small flare of chakra later and the sound of a soft pop as Naruto moved to lay on his side told Naruto that Kabuto had called up a clone to watch the water in the tub for them.

Kabuto came back out of the bathroom, looking like he had taken a moment to wash his hands and dick off. He swept Naruto up into his arms and got a groan for it. “A shower and a nice hot bath will be just what you need,” he stated, his lover huming, nuzzling into his throat. Naruto noted that his whole body kind of throbbed and he rather liked it.

“Kay,” he hummed.

And if after the shower, while they were in the hot bath, Kabuto bent Naruto over and took him again without any protests but enthusiastic pleas for more, that was between them and the clone that had to clean up the sloshed water.

Muttering the entire time that he was glad Naruto had gone for a wet bath making it easier to clean up things so much easier.

81

The following morning found Naruto perched in Kabuto’s lap for most of the morning, still feeling sore after his night with his lover, but buzzing with his pleasure. Jiraiya had teased him for all of two seconds before squeaking when a senbon had landed a bit to close to certain bits. He eyed everyone around the table, including Kakashi, Iruka, and Orochimaru, who had come to visit the lovers, but couldn’t pinpoint who had thrown the senbon.

“What’s your plan now that you’re officially free for the next two weeks?” Jiraiya finally asked.

“I plan on finishing my packing and sending things off via Haku and Zabuza. They’ve been doing some smaller missions for Uzu as tests for how the village would handle things without certain people. It’s going well as far as we can tell, and the missions are helping to start the flow of money in,” Naruto said as he picked up his rice bowl and eating a bite of it as he thought. “The smaller gardens have started to produce food. The family’s that live there right now worked out how best to grow enough for everyone without relying on just one or two of them until the main farms get up and going. They’re preparing patches for others who will be arriving over the next year. They also have the apartments all set up for those who don’t need houses right now. Making sure they have their own plots in the rooftop communal gardens that they found on some of the roofs.”

“They have been sending us updates for the last few months and the village is almost ready for more to arrive,” Kabuto said as he watched Naruto eat, occasionally taking the offered bits of food from his lover. “The satellite village, for the most part, has been cleared out and is ready to be rebuilt to the specifics that we got since none of the clans want high walls. They just want some protected dedicated areas to train. And a place for the deer to roam or shelter in that is protected,” he continued.

“That’s all been set up as of yesterday. The Nara’s used to have land that was close by so the deer and their caretakers are going to rotate who live near there,” Naruto explained. “A couple of their single caretakers are heading that way once I leave though so that they can make sure that the land is still good for the deer and they’ll be able to set up a home there. They’re hoping that there will be a still standing house since they built with rock and concrete, but they’re not really holding their breaths,” he said.

“Plans are being settled this week with those who are coming and in what chunks. Those who aren’t active nins at this time and their families will most likely head to the village first because they won’t be missed as much. Some are going to stay behind though, act like spies in the village for the Daimyo. They’ll also be keeping us updated on things just in case something will end up affecting us for some reason,” Kabuto said.

“I’ll be traveling with Naruto and those who are going with him to the island. During that time, we’re going to work on the basic treaty that will be created between Oto and Uzu,” Orochimaru stated. “I know that Iruka is going to be joining us on the trip but I am not sure about Kakashi,” he mused, looking to the silver haired man.

“I’ll be traveling with Tsunade and Shizune the day after you leave here,” Kakashi drawled. He sipped at his tea, the henge of his mask shimmering slightly but not showing anything. He piled his finished food dishes together. “I’m going to be their escort with all the right paperwork on the face of things.”

“I’ll join you that day then, give some excuse for me heading out to check on my spy network. We have to stop by the capital on the way though so we can finish off the transfer paperwork,” Jiriaya said, rolling his shoulders.

“That’s the plan that’s set up for us. And why I’m heading out with Tsunade and Shizune. This bunch already has their paperwork done,” Kakashi snorted, teasing the younger two males, Naruto rolling his eyes. “They got it done a while ago. We’re heading that way first then we’re heading to Uzu with a side mission that’ll help to bring in a good chunk of money we think. Naruto signed off on a court regent for Uzu until we can figure out the Kage situation. They’ll be the ones who will do the mission paperwork for the time being. Kabuto has already sent the basic stuff for paperwork as far as I know.”

“He, Iruka, and I have consolidated it down into something that will work well for the village and not create so much paperwork. Naruto found the original ways of doing it and Iruka was able to update a few things for the modern day,” Orochimaru stated. “I’m thinking of doing the same with my own villages paperwork but we have been working on some new tech that will make it much easier to file certain pieces of paperwork, like mission reports and the such.”

“That’s still in the works though,” Kabuto stated as Naruto stood and started to gather up their breakfast dishes. “Kakashi, it’s your turn to wash the dishes.”

“I’ll help you,” Iruka said as he wiped his mouth with a smile. “It is going to be a lot of work getting everything set up but from what Naruto has been able to do, it’ll make it easier for all of us. He’s already found all of the accounts for the various families and figured out what families have died out completely. Those accounts were added to the main village account per the family charters, and since right now we’re all bringing huge amounts of food to help us with things while the various farms are set up, it will help quite a bit.”

“I’m trading you a quite a bit of rice for access to certain plants on a yearly basis too,” Orochimaru stated. “The plants, even in small amounts, are worth a kings ransom. I’ll also be sending new animals for the farms to start raising, and to trade to keep the bloodlines fresh.”

“Chickens, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkey, ducks, quails. That sort of thing. Some of the creatures will be raised by families for their own use, like some of the smaller milking goats for those with the space. Chickens and ducks for meat and eggs. Quail for some of the smaller eggs and meat for dogs. Kakashi, I have several lines of quails that have proven to be good breeders, and I will teach you how best to take care of them. I am sure that Iruka-san will help.”

“I use to care for quails when my parents were alive. I take it that we have a large house with some land to live in while in Uzu?” Iruka asked. Naruto nodded and left the room to grab the village layout so far and the plans that had been sent with it.

“Yes. It’s near the edge of the village and it’s a fairly large house,” Naruto said as he came back in. He spread the layout onto the table and pinned the corners down with small weights. “Three bedrooms, two baths, two offices, kitchen, living room, dining room and an attic. Orochimaru will have access to a specialized bunker lab that came with the house for his work so it’s not inside of the house. That way you don’t have to worry about something going up in flames or an explosion,” he said. Kakashi smiled at the pictures that Naruto also laid out, chuckling at the one of Karin painting the wall with the specialized paint that all houses were covered in to stop the salty air from degrading the buildings.

“There. That would be a perfect place to hold the birds,” Orochimaru said as he tapped one picture. It was near the edge of the property with several bird houses already sitting there. “The smaller one would be best for the quail once it’s been checked over to make sure it’s still useable and is still secure. The bigger of the buildings would be good for the ducks and turkeys, again after it’s been checked. And the medium looks like it’s set up for chickens already. I’m sure you know how to take care of them?” he asked as he looked to Iruka and Kakashi.

Kakashi chuckled, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “My father did teach me how to raise most prey birds for meat. Maybe we can also get a goat or two and let them wander?” he asked.

“Kabuto and I are going to be living next door to you guys. You raise the birds and we’ll raise the goats,” Naruto stated. Kakashi shook his hand with a smirk. “Now do the damn dishes, you lazy ass. You didn’t help with making breakfast so you get to wash dishes.”

Kakashi cackled at his student but did take the dishes and head into the kitchen, Iruka shaking his head as he followed his lover to the sink. The others all turned back to the pictures that Naruto was pulling out to show them their own homes.

Jiraiya was told that he, Tsunade and Shizune would be getting their own one bedroom, one bath with office space apartments. The apartment buildings weren’t horribly tall but stood strong and had just needed to be cleaned out and blessed.

Zabuza and Haku had taken over a larger apartment on the upper floor and would set them up with communal gardens so that they could grow their own vegetables, herbs and medical supplies.

Haku had started to grow his own herbs already to make salves, creams, and have dried herbs to start stocking the village hospital, and use the extras to sell for some money. Zabuza had found that he was good at growing vegetables and sold the extra through one of their smaller families that still traveled outside of the village.

Jiraiya told Naruto that he was pleased with the apartment that had been chosen for him and agreed to make sure that he was fully packed so that he was ready to leave in two weeks.

82

Walking through the house that had been emptied of everything, from the scrolls in the library and basement all the way to the furniture and knickknacks, Narurto let out a quiet sigh. He and Kabuto had turned the home into nothing but a basic house, and were going to sell it to whoever wanted to buy it. The Nara’s who were going to stay were buying it from him, the deed already under their name, and Shikamaru would sell it to someone in his family when he was ready to leave. The traps and seals had all been removed from the land, leaving it ready for their own traps and seals.

“Kari-san is going to use it to store food and supplies that they’re bringing with them for the next six months, right?” Kabuto asked as he joined him. Naruto nodded his head.

“Yeah. She’s been working on stock piling things like medicine, non-perishable food, clothes. All sorts of things. But to keep it safe from people finding it, she’s going to be stashing it here and using the house to make the needed scrolls to travel with it. She’s been making them since she was itty-bitty with her mother apparently. I hadn’t known that it was some of the Nara’s that made the higher quality sealing scrolls actually,” Naruto admitted, shrugging a shoulder. “She said that she’s not going to seal anything until the week that they are planning to leave though. Mostly so they don’t arouse any kind of suspicion. Her and a bunch of the other Nara’s will come to the house and seal things up during that week.”

“Is that why you painted the chakra hiding seals all over the walls in the barely matching wall paint?” Kakashi teased as he squinted at one such seal, standing by the door.

“Yep,” Naruto chuckled. “She asked me to. It’s so that they can hide what they’re doing here at the time. We’re going to head out in an hour once the sun starts to rise,” he reminded him.

He and Kabuto had finished packing up everything for the long trip home the night before. They wouldn’t head straight to Uzu, instead they were swinging through Wave to visit Tazuna and the other’s before heading onto Uzu.

Naruto had gotten into very strong travel clothes that were made for nins who wanted to travel under the radar. They were made for protection against the elements and during fights, allowing for easy movement. Kabuto was wearing something much like Naruto’s outfit in his own style.

Both of them had made sure that their weapon pouches and chosen tantos were on their body. Kakashi had taken some time to help them learn how to wield them so that they could have a different option in hand to hand combat.

While they knew that Hiruzen wouldn’t dare to push things, they couldn’t say the same thing about others in the village. They were taking precautions until they could get settled in Uzu and get things started there.

For them though, it was just before dawn, and their camping supplies were sitting outside in the fire pit to make breakfast. They had slept in their travel hammocks in the guest bedroom since their bed was packed up.

“You came to say goodbye I take it?” Naruto asked as they opened the back door, finding Kakashi standing there with a smile.

“I have to meet up with Sasuke and Sakura in a couple of hours so I can introduce them to their new jounin sensei, and them I’m going home to finish my own packing. Orochimaru is waiting for us about a day out at a base camp that he and his teammates had created when they were still genin. Hiruzen doesn’t know about all of their bases for various reasons, so he’s safe for the moment from the man. If he’s not there, we have another place to meet that not even Jiraiya or Tsunade know about though,” Kakashi said, tucking his hands into his pockets so Naruto could do one last sweep of the house.

Ever since Naruto had moved into the house, he had carefully hunted for every single nook and cranny of the house to make sure he had found everything. He had even found the room that his mother had set up to do a recall on anything that had been loaned out by the Uzu people or hidden by the village.

Naruto had made sure to use the room to recall everything, not surprised at all that there were dozens of items, books, scrolls and weaponry. He had packed them all up and sent them off with Haku nearly a week before.

He would go through everything that had been recalled once he got to the village but he was pleased to have his parents things that Hiruzen had kept from him. It had been another nail in the coffin for the relationship between Naruto and the old man.

“Everything all good?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto tapped his chin. “I’ve set timers on certain seals to go off after a week of us leaving. If the old man doesn’t do what I told him to do in the letter that will be delivered in a few hours, which is change all of the seals on the list I gave him in a week, they’ll die, leaving him without any kind of sealed protection. I know that they have other seals that were created by the First Hokage, the Second, and of course dad, so they’ll be able to use those,” Naruto said. “Considering that I gave him this warning two months ago, it should have been more then enough time to find them and implement them.”

“You think that he will try to ignore your warnings until the last possible moment?” Kabuto asked as they started to check the bedrooms.

Naruto snorted. “Oh, he’ll find them very weak until they fully die seven days after we have left the village,” he said as he made sure the sliding window doors were fully locked before they headed into the main bedroom. “He’s going to find that he will absolutely have no choice in the matter. We’re ready to go though, so let’s finish locking up the house and make some quick breakfast before we leave. Kari-chan will be by in a while to replace the locks and add her chakra signature to the wardings so that the old man can’t try to claim the house as his own. Not that he could in the first place.”

“He would try,” Kabuto drawled as they walked out of the back door. He locked it behind them as a yawning female dropped down and took the key. “Good luck with the man, Kari-chan.”

“Yeah, thanks,” she hummed, trudging up to the door as they created a small fire in the fire pit and started breakfast. “Please say that you left me a way to make coffee though.”

“I did,” Naruto promised her. “There’s a kettle and a drip filter with a holder waiting for you with the pot and some coffee,” he told her. Kari breathed out a happy ‘yes’ before disappearing inside. Breakfast didn’t take long and once they were cleaned up, they took to the trees, the sun barely touching the horizon.

They came to a stop just outside of the village wall, finding Sakura standing and waiting for them, holding a letter.

“Sakura,” Kakashi hummed. Sakura looked up from where she had been standing in a little nook in the wall.

“I’m not here to stop them, or tell anyone that I saw them,” Sakura said softly. “I’m just here to deliver these for when you get to your destination. As far as I know about anything, you two are heading out on a mission from the Daiymo.”

Kakashi snorted, smiling at her. “You’ve been working with Ino about how to arrange your mind so that it’s protected, haven’t you?” he asked. Sakura smiled softly before she handed the letters written by her and Sasuke over to them.

“It’s for when you get to your destination, Naruto. You will need to be in a secured space before reading them. But also, good luck on your mission,” she said before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto looked down at the letters, frowning, before he nodded and tucked them away.

“I take it that their therapy is going good?” he asked. Kakashi nodded his head. “Is their new jounin sensei going to make sure that they are going to keep up with that? Work on their issues some more?” he asked.

“They are. Genma has finally taken that promotion that he’s been offered a dozen times,” Kakashi drawled. “Just to take over their team. He’ll keep putting them through their hell training and make sure that they are going to therapy. Eventually he’ll join us in the village, but not for quite a few months. Possibly around a year.”

“He’s one of them?” Naruto asked, Kakashi nodding his head, knowing what he was asking. “Thank him would you?” he asked.

“Of course I will. Now get going. It’s almost sunrise and you don’t want to be seen around here,” Kakashi said. Naruto and Kabuto smirked at him before they disappeared into the trees and further into the thick forest, leaving Kakashi standing on the wall.

Kakashi waited for a few minutes before heading back to his own house, finding that Iruka was sitting at the table with his coffee. Rice was in the rice cooker and tofu miso was warming on the stove. “I thought that you’d stay in bed while I was gone,” he greeted, kissing his lover’s cheek. Iruka snorted and shook his head with a smile as he put his cup down.

“Yeah, well I’ve gotten used to having someone in bed with me until it’s time to get up for the day,” Iruka drawled. “I also need to make sure that I have everything ready for our traveling anyways,” he mused. “So I figured I’d use some of our left over food and make a light breakfast. And since we don’t have much in our fridge that we’d order lunch, dinner and breakfast for tomorrow too.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let me make myself a cup of coffee and then I’ll dish up the food,” Kakashi drawled. He moved to do just that, knowing that by now Kabuto and Naruto had gotten fairly far from the village. They were fast like that.

And that by the time that Hiruzen learned of them having left two days early, there was nothing that he could do about it.

They had been cleared to leave the village and couldn’t be labeled as missing nins after all. Not if Hiruzen didn’t want the Daimyo crawling up his ass.

83

Stepping foot into the now thriving Wave, Naruto took in the changes that had happened in the last several months since Gato had been taken cared of. The buildings were still being updated to be better stand against the wet of the land. People were already looking so much healthier then they had been during Gato’s reign over the village. Children were running around being children, happy laughter filling the air. Their parents were doing the jobs that they had lost over the years.

Fish was being processed for their parts to be shipped off or frozen whole for restaurants. Specialized plants and crops that grew best in wet areas were also being processed, readying for travel.

Wave grew some of the best wheat and oats that anyone had ever seen before, their crops growing well in the rich soil that came from being so close to both salt and fresh water.

“The village is doing a lot better from what they were,” Kabuto mused. Naruto nodded as they headed down the street, stopping by a fruit stand and picking up some of the rather large apples and grapefruit. Naruto remembered that Tsunami and Inari had enjoyed them quite a bit. Kabuto also selected some of the gold kiwi’s, various berries and a pineapple. They stopped by another stall and picked up local honey before they headed for Tazuna’s house.

They were greeted by a smiling, bright eyed Inari, making Naruto smile in return. “Hey! What are you guys doing here?” Inari asked as he rushed over, having been beating a rug with a paddle to get the dust knocked out of it.

“We’re here to visit for a day or so before we head towards Uzu,” Naruto told him, patting his head. “Is your grandfather and mother home?” he asked.

“Yep! Mom is making dinner and grandpa is going over some of the building plans for the houses and buildings,” Inari said, taking Naruto’s hand and tugging him towards the house. “I’m sure mom will be happy to see you before you guys leave. She got your warning note and wants to know what made you leave Konoha though, but she doesn’t think that it’s her place to ask.”

Naruto snorted as Kabuto followed after them, shaking his head. “Well, it’s a good thing that I’m willing to tell you all then, ain’t it?” Naruto asked. He tweaked Inari’s nose with a smirk as they walked into the house.

“Mom! Grandpa! Naruto is here!” Inari called out. “And so is that Kabuto guy!”

Kabuto chuckled lowly as Naruto smiled up at him. “It seems I’ve been regulated to ‘That Kabuto Guy’. Just my lucky day I suppose,” he teased. His lover shook his head with his own laugh as Tsunami came out with a smile, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“Naruto-kun! Kabuto-kun! A pleasure to see you both again,” Tsunami greeted, smiling and pulling first Naruto and then Kabuto into hugs with a chuckle. “Come. Sit. I’m sure that you are both hungry,” she said. The two men followed her.

“We brought some fruit for all of you. And some new fruit to make a mixed fruit dessert. One of my old teammates learned how to make it and taught me,” Kabuto told her. He pulled out the apples and grapefruit, bowing to her. “Thank you for accepting us into your home for a time.”

Tsunami smiled brightly as she took the fruit, carrying it into the kitchen as Naruto carried the food for the dessert into the kitchen. Kabuto sat down at the table with a sigh. They had traveled hard for the last three days, having gotten notes from Kakashi that first night that Hiruzen was pissed, and couldn’t do anything about them leaving. As they had thought would happen.

That still hadn’t stopped Danzo from trying to get Naruto back in any way that he thought he could get away with. He had already sent his ROOT nins after him. Unfortunately for the old warhawk, they wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. Naruto and Kabuto had worked together to disable them. Then Naruto had placed a nullification seal on the seals that were on them, sealed them into specially built scrolls and sent them to the Daimyo with information on what had happened.

They had gotten a missive from the man just that morning that he would be visiting Uzu in the next month but that the ROOT nins had arrived and were under watch and care.

They had figured out the hidden message that Danzo was finally being investigated, Sarutobi Asuma leading the investigation along with Genma, meaning Genma would be late in arriving to the village.

Naruto came back from the kitchen a bit later with Tsunami, laying the food out as the woman called for her family to come greet their guests and eat. Tazuna happily greeted them and they all settled down to their food, the old man agreeing to allow Naruto and Kabuto the time to wash up and start some laundry before they talked about the future plans of building in Uzu.

Naruto took his shower first since it took him some time to wash his hair properly, and to dry it out while Kabuto took their clothes and started the laundry. Tsunami went to work on mixing the fruit together with the honey and put it in the refrigerator to sit for a time.

Naruto took over washing the dishes while Kabuto took his own shower. Inari just stared at the long hair that was reaching Naruto’s ass when it had been still fairly short when he has last seen Naruto.

“Wow. Your hair is getting so long,” Inari breathed as Naruto put the last dish into the drain. He laughed and turned to him.

“From the pictures that I was able to find, my mom’s hair once went down to her knees. She used it as a part of some of her Uzumaki techniques that I’ve been working on since before I became a genin,” Naruto told him as he ran his fingers through his hair. Mostly to test to see how dry it was.

He hummed to himself and moved to stand before the fireplace and allowed the heat of the fire to dry out the rest of his hair before he easily swept it all back and into a braid.

“She could split her hair into nine pieces and use them to attack or defend depending on the situation. I’m good to do that with three pieces of hair but the technique takes time and practice,” he continued.

“Wow,” Inari breathed, following Naruto as he moved the now clean clothes from the washer into a basket to hang in the drying room off of the kitchen.

The room itself was ingeniously warmed by the fireplace that warmed the entire house by use of a heat conducting build that could also cool the house during the warmer summers. The room itself had small vents that were opened to allow the moisture to escape so that it didn’t build up.

Naruto had asked that if there weren’t any rooms like that on the island, then to do the same for the houses that were being rebuilt and built. The apartment bathrooms had already been set up with a drying function for their clothes.

‘Did you know that the Daimyo is thinking of having us start up the nin academy here again?” Inari asked. “I was thinking I might join the civilian side of it. I wanna teach history and they’re offering to teach us too. I really like history.”

Naruto smiled, patting his head with a laugh. “If you work hard at it, I’m sure that you’ll make a great history teacher. Just remember, kids don’t really like to sit still for that long. As you probably know. So make history interesting. Get them involved in the lessons. If you’re teaching future nins, follow after the steps of the Konoha academy. Do interactive group projects. Give them a mission, have them plan it out and then present it with figures and maps,” he said.

Inari gazed up at him as he started to shift through the clothes to hang, eyes wide with curiosity.

As Naruto hung things up, they talked about the Konoha academy and how the lessons had been made interesting in his later years. Once the clothes were up, Naruto pulled out the chess set that he knew Inari liked to use and sat down with it, some maps, and a few pieces of paper, showing him how they had been taught. He taught Inari like Iruka had taught them: he gave him information when he asked, making him work his mind and body at the same time.

By the time that dinner was fully ready, Inari had learned something new about Uzu’s history and the fighting techniques that they had used on past missions. He was fully set on becoming the best civilian history teacher for the future nins of their village to and he couldn’t wait for that day to come.

Naruto just smiled and packed their things away.

84

Having just left Wave, arriving at Seashell and heading to Uzu on their pre-arranged boat, Naruto smiled to Kabuto.

Tazuna had promised that he would be in Uzu with his new crew in three months time to help those who were going to live in the satellite village. He would be helping them set up their homes to their specifications due to the nature of the village. It was going to end up being an around the clock operation with three crews working on the homes and payment had been processed already.

While the homes were being built, those who were going to live there would set up everything else, including the fields and animal pens for those that didn’t wander.

Naruto sighed as he leant against the railing of the boat that was taking them to the island, Kabuto chuckling softly at him as he wrapped his arms around his waist. “It’s very surprising just how much has changed, isn’t it?” he asked. He pressed a kiss to blond hair.

“Considering that all of this started with a snake who was sent to me as a way to fulfill a promise?” Naruto asked as Nissa hissed from his blanket nest that Kabuto had made for him. In the last few months, the snake hadn’t been around Konoha quite as much as he used to be.

Naruto knew that he had started to do some training with his mother in the summoning lands, learning how to use the new abilities that came with age and growth. He was now a rather long and thick snake for his species, summons or not, and he said that it was probably coming from his anaconda based father. But he was also preparing a travel tunnel from Uzu to the summons lands for himself.

It didn’t suck that he hadn’t seen his friend as much, but he figured it was because he had Kabuto to fill the space. And all of his other friends that he had grown closer in the last few months.

After the first two chunin exams, he had sat down with Neji and Hinata and helped them hash things out before fixing the seal. All of the Hyuuga were now wearing the new seal, the old seal removed from them by Naruto before the new seal could be put on. The new seal could either be triggered by the one wearing the seal or by their death and only then. If someone tried to remove their eyes, the seal would trigger the moment it started.

He had also gotten to know Choji in a deeper way when they started to talk about agriculture and how to feed everyone without straining the land. How to can, jar, and pickle food so that it would help the village through lean seasons and how every house had a set up that could hold their own supplies. How everyone that came to the village should work on having enough stuff for a year at the very least, two to five years at a better point when they first moved there.

Shikamaru and Naruto had found a mutual distaste for politics as they had gone over possible trades between villages and treaties that would go into effect over the next six months. They also had standing shogi and go matches.

Ino had been named as the main Plant Mistress along with her father when he got to the village,. She was looking forward to working with the natural plants that grew on the island and what would grow there. She wanted to also experiment with things. Her and her father would also set up the T and I department when they got there as well.

Even Kiba was really looking forward to learning the wilds that surrounded Uzu, planning on learning how to hunt and raise animals in a new place.

Naruto sighed as he thought of his friends that would eventually join them on the island, breathing new life into it. They were all well connected to the island in general. The Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka and Hyuuga had all lived somewhere in the area where Uzushio had done business off the main island before they had joined Konohagakure.

Kakashi, being the last in his line, was happy to leave Konoha as it was, but he was talking with his lovers about finding someone who would be willing to be a surrogate to carry his child for him.

Or seeing if Orochimaru would be willing to help all three of them be the biological parents of their children since the Snake Nin had admitted to wanting children himself.

Naruto personally was looking forward to getting the time to really get to know Orochimaru though. Their letters had been a good base and the small amount of time they had spent had been good, but he wanted to know the man better. Bond with him closer. Naruto felt as if Orochimaru really did look at him as a student who did their very best and treated him like the growing friend and fellow nin that he was.

Kabuto chuckled, tugging on his braid as he pointed to the island that was coming into view. “It looks as if Zabuza and Haku are here to greet us,” he said.

Naruto hummed as he stood straight, taking a moment to stretch his arms before he picked up Nissa, allowing him to wrap around his shoulders. He hissed in a pleased manner once he was looped around his neck and settled.

“I’m sure that Haku will be very happy to see you again, Nissa,” he said, stroking a hand over the soft scales. He found a few dry patches and made a thoughtful noise. “And that he’ll be more then happy to show you where he set up for you to shed.”

“That would be very nice,” Nissa said, nodding his head before he settled in, blinking once as the boat carefully pulled up to the dock. The ship hand lowered the gangplank for them once the ropes were tied and watched as their passengers walked to the dock. Naruto and Haku hugged with bright smiles.

The blond pulled back and looked at the sight of the village that at one time had been nothing but ruins and skeletons scattered about.

“Welcome home, Naruto,” Haku giggled.

“It’s good to be home,” Naruto sighed. He took a deep breath of the warm, salt filled air and smiled, shaking his head. “Come on. Let’s get to the house so I can start unpacking some things and get settled in for the night,” he suggested, turning to the captain. He smiled at finding that Zabuza was paying him and giving him a handshake. “You’re all ready for our friends who will arrive in a few days?” he asked.

“Yes, of course, Uzumaki-san,” the man said. He smiled and shook Naruto’s hand. “I’m gonna head back. Gotta train the other ships on how ta travel the whirls that are startin’ up again so I’ll be seein’ ya often,” he said. Naruto chuckled softly and nodded.

“Thank you for all of your help,” Naruto said. The man nodded and headed back onto his ship. As the gangplank was pulled up and the ropes pulled free, the captain waved at them before heading off. Once the ship was past the whirlpools, they turned to the street as Naruto eyed his friend. “You grew.”

“I am not that much older then you, Naruto-kun,” Haku reminded him. Naruto groaned softly. “I did have another foot in me,” he continued.

“You’re now six foot two aren’t you?” Naruto asked after he narrowed his eyes and looked his friend up and down. Haku smiled smugly as Zabuza snickered. “I hate being short.”

“You are hardly short,” Kabuto told him, taking in his lover’s height with a smirk. “You’re perfect for me to pick up and pin against a wall after all.”

Naruto went bright red as Haku cackled, the other male blushing just very slightly. He had met Kisame himself three months before when they had met with Itachi to bring him back to Uzu and under Tsunade’s care. They often met for their own personal fun and he knew why Naruto was blushing if Kabuto was anything like Kisame.

The two young males shared a look when Zabuza muttered about making shark fillets if he hurt his apprentice. Naruto shook his head and took in the buildings, the few people that were already there tending their small gardens, waving in greeting.

“Quite a few families have already returned,” Naruto mused.

“Mostly just those who don’t want to travel or can’t currently are living here. Their families come by to visit every month or so, bringing extra money and food that they bought outside of the village. They pick up the wool and leather that has been gathered so far. There are three families that work together to create some of the softest blankets and clothes that you will ever find,” Haku told him. “They also create our nin class fabrics that they sell to those who want to spend the money for a better class of clothes. They bring in quite a bit of money from that and know that their taxes are going towards rebuilding the village.”

“That’s good,” Naruto hummed. He tipped his head back to look at the cliffs as they headed to the edge of the village where their home was. “Are the animals here and settled?” he asked.

“Yep,” Zabuza grunted. “Itachi took up taking care of ‘em and will do that whenever someone has to leave for their own missions if there isn’t someone who can’t do it for them. Tsunade-san stuck him on light duty for the time being. Only village protection and in village work while he takes his meds and undergoes healing,” he said. He smirked as he shook his head.

“That sounds fine. As long as he’s willing to show us what he has learned about the animals,” Naruto said as they walked up to the house. It had been painted a lovely sunset orange color, a simple and beautiful shade that mingled in with the cliffs of the island. He could feel the weight of everything that had sat on his shoulders in Konoha sliding off.

He knew that there were still many things to be done but it didn’t have to be rushed. Not any more

Kabuto smirked before he swept Naruto up into his arms, the blond yelping and clinging to his lover as he carried him into the house and over the threshold. Haku stopped Zabuza from following after with a hand to his arm.

“I don’t think you want to go in right now. They’re going to fuck on every single surface that they can in that house, clean it up and then unpack,” Haku told him.

Zabuza shivered, deciding that he really didn’t need or want to know about his future Kage’s sex life. He saw Naruto as their future kage and a good friend, nothing more. He didn’t need to know such things about his private life. “I need a very strong drink.”

Haku just laughed as he followed after the older man.

85

It was nearly six months after they had left before Danzo tried to go after them again. He learned quickly that his people had been swiftly taken down and his power base destroyed soon after. The Daimyo took over the case of him trying to attack one of the Fire Countries villages, forcing Hiruzen to stop interfering with everyone.

Kakashi and Orochimaru had been out on night patrol the night that dozens of ROOT agents had tried to invade the now built satellite village that was thriving. Because of the danger of such an attack, those who patrolled were always higher chunin and jounin. Due to that plan between the two of them and the three high level chunin that had joined in the fight, they had easily found the ROOT agents in the area and had taken them down without much issue.

ROOT apparently hadn’t expected that the Yamanaka and Nara were good at night time attacks. What no one had known except those in the know was that most of those who had come in the first wave had been the assassins of the clans. And night time was a good time to kill.

After the nins had been taken down and sealed, the seals that were placed by Danzo neutralized by Naruto, Karin, Jiraiya and a few of the others who had experience with seals. Once the seals had been dealt with, they were shipped off. A large cargo ship held them and took them to the court to face punishment.

Naruto, Kabuto and Kakashi had been asked to come to the Fire Court while Orochimaru called in via the new computer connections that had been set up slowly since Uzu’s rebuilding had been started. He was back in Oto for a time.

Mostly because he and Jiraiya had to gather more supplies to run the wires and seals that were needed to fuel the connections.

After that meeting with them, the Daiymo had then called Hiruzen to the court and chewed him out for allowing Danzo to do as he pleased for so long. Telling him that it seemed as if it was high time for him to choose a new Hokage to take over the village. Seeing as most of the main nins from clans had already left, and anyone that he would have chosen were leaving as it was, he was not left with as many options as he had been hoping.

From what Naruto heard from those still within the village, he had ended up choseing one of the Kurama clan members, the third heir. It seemed as if the heiress had gotten free of some kind of control that had been placed on her and dealt with the curse that had haunted her family. They were staying, for the most part, out of village politics.

Things had started to go downhill though and Naruto was due to meet with Hiruzen one last time before he gave over the hat. Apparently the man was hoping to create a solid treaty between them.

Naruto had already read over the treaty that was being offered and had thoughts.

While Iruka was officially the acting Kage of Uzu, Naruto had the power as the next in line for the position to sign things. And he often did. Between his missions, getting other things set up, and his own training, they were all very busy so they rarely had free time. Naruto made sure though that he had the time to talk with Hiruzen through the communications system since the man was still in the capital to do a few things.

Naruto groaned but smiled at his lover as Kabuto put a pot of tea onto a warmer after pouring him a cup of tea and took his seat in front of the computer set up. It was starting to get chilly with the coming fall and Naruto enjoyed being able to have a hot cup of tea during his meetings.

He had carefully dressed, pulling his hair up and out of the way, held with kanzashi, a spiral hanging from the end of the stick while a lotus flower bloomed. His hair was getting longer every day and he liked to wear it up in a bun during the meetings. He had also chosen a kimono that was covered in his families pattern, created by one of their new tailors.

Taking a deep breath as Kabuto sat at his own desk, always willing to support Naruto during his meetings but out of the way still, Naruto pulled his microphone towards him. He made sure it couldn’t be seen by the camera and accepted the ringing call.

“Daimyo,” he greeted, nodding his head.

“Naruto-san, a pleasure to see you again,” the man said, nodding his head in return. “My wife sends her well wishes and assurances that while she can not personally attend your wedding due to prior engagements, she is sending her wedding gift to you in the next week. As am I,” he told him. Naruto smiled as his fingers played with the bracelet that sat on one wrist.

Kabuto had asked him to marry him just two days after they had settled into their home and he had accepted. They were looking to do something small with their close friends and a few select guests for the ceremony but a bigger celebration as the first wedding in Uzu afterwards. There were already schedules being drawn up for those who had to be on shift for when they worked and got off during the celebration.

“That is lovely of you both, thank you, but you do not have to,” Naruto said, waving a hand. “The fact that your court all pitched in for us to buy the food for the reception was the best kind of gift that you could give us.”

“Shush. We’re sending it,” the man huffed with a smile. “Now, shall we get down to business?” he asked. Naruto nodded, pulling the copy of the treaty and his notes towards him.

“We shall. Sarutobi, I do not know what you think you were trying but this treaty is lacking in mutual respect and power,” Naruto started, the man sitting up straight now that he had their attention.

The blond then carefully went through everything that he, Iruka and the council that they had created had issues with. From the uneven trading of herbs and medical supplies, Uzu sending more then Konoha, to the uneven power structure of the entire thing, he talked.

He explained why they had issues with each point then gave a better, more balanced alternative, Hiruzen frowning but not trying to interrupt Naruto. He knew that if he did, the Daimyo would cut him off.

By the time that they got to the point where only Konoha could break the treaty, Naruto had a feeling that Hiruzen wasn’t going to change a damn thing about it. He either thought that they wouldn’t go over their treaties with a fine tooth comb or allowed the next Hokage write it.

It was soaked in arrogance.

“I will also not close my borders to anyone who leaves your village, nor stop them from joining ours as long as we have permission from the Daimyo to do so and we can take them in,” Naruto stated. He placed his papers down.

“I see,” Hiruzen said after a moment of silence. “Unfortunately I do not think that I will be able to sign anything but what I have handed you. My heir wrote that and I fear that he will refuse to honor it.”

“Then you are once more being a push over for those who are yelling at you the loudest and this is just a waste of my time,” Naruto stated. “I have animals to care for, a village to learn how to run, and a wedding to plan. I had to rearrange my already busy day to meet with you. My tailor doing my wedding kimono had to rearrange his own day for this. And all because you refused to do this later in the day.” He gave him a look. “I hope that the village is able to last under your chosen replacement’s rule if this is how you are going to act,” he stated. He cut off Hiruzen’s feed with a tap on one of the keys on his keyboard. “Daimyo, I am sorry about leaving this…mess in your hands.”

“Do not be so sorry, young Naruto,” the man said. He snorted. “I will keep an eye on the village and should things come down to it, I will gut the power structure personally as per the village charter and rebuild it so that it returns to what it once was. From the stories that my father and grandfather told me as a child, the first two Hokages had taken vows that were sealed to their very being by a seal on their skin about how they could act and did things for the village.

“The same had been done by their advisers and their councils that they built. I will look up the copies of the information that we have here to see if we can get it used again should the future Hokage prove to be dangerous for the healthy growth of the village,” he promised.

Naruto hummed. “I would suggest that you look at the villages nins and make sure that they don’t have some kind of seal like you had to do with the ROOT nins that were in your court. How are they all doing?” Naruto asked. He sat back and sipped his tea, ready to catch up with the gossip of the capital, making mental notes on everything.

Kabuto just shook his head with an amused smile as he worked through the hospital paperwork for the night.

86

The next six years seemed to fly by for everyone. Uzu continued to grow and settle into becoming a strong village again. And as they proved, stronger then Konoha was showing itself to be. A lot of their civilian based nins had ended up packing up and left to the court or to other villages including Uzu if they were approved. All of the Konohana Nine and Team Gai had long transferred from Konoha to Uzu.

Even Sasuke and Sakura had done so after some time.

The two had worked on getting better during their time in Konoha, going through some heavy therapy. Sasuke had finished getting his triggers removed during that time and talked with Sakura about moving. They hadn’t moved into the main village, not wanting to make it uncomfortable for them or Naruto. Instead, he and his new wife, Sakura, had moved into the satellite village.

While the triggers had been removed and a lot of his learned manners had been changed out, he was still working on some things. It was easier to remove himself from those the triggers were geared towards

Sakura was also working on herself along side her husband, and had taken a spot on the hospital branch that had been set up in the satellite village. She had taken a few months to learn even more under Shizune and still took lessons with her and occasionally Tsunade after they had worked on their own relationship.

She was thinking of having their first child in the next year or so once things calmed down.

Naruto had finally taken his place as the new Uzukage, showing that he was willing to work just as hard as everyone else in the village. He still took on his own missions, usually the shorter ones that wouldn’t take him out of the village for very long. Mostly since he didn’t want to let his council deal with his paperwork for more then what should be needed.

Especially since the first thing that Iruka had set up was that two secretaries always went through the paperwork to make sure that only the proper paperwork would land on his desk. The rest went to the right departments to be dealt with by them.

Granted, Naruto was still dealing with the people who were after him, trying to drag Kurama out of him, but he was working on some seals that he was hopeful would protect him. And hopefully protect other jinchuriki from the group that was after them. The fact that two of their own had been taken and changed sides had helped, more so since there was a few Uzumkai’s who knew how to remove supposedly un-removable items from a person’s body.

Like a ring. Naruto had mounted Itachi’s and Kisame’s rings in a box on his wall, surrounded by suppressant seals all over the box itself.

Kabuto had ended up as the co-head of the hospital, Tsunade working as the main head mostly for paperwork but she had moved her focus to the research side. Orochimaru was helping her with that whenever he wasn’t at his own village. The silver haired man had found that he enjoyed running the hospital compared to working with patients and teaching those who were interested in learning about medical practices.

With so many who had joined the village, there were quite a few who had taken the time to learn field medicine but hadn’t ever had proper formal teachings. Kabuto had decided that he would be the one to teach them all that he could and make their hospital one of the forefronts of medical learning and research.

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji had become one of their best front line teams along with their best information gathering teams. They often went out on missions that required either a lot of stealth or a lot of big explosions so that another stealth group could get in. Their other information team and the team most often chosen to work with the InoShoCho team was made up of Genma, Iruka and Raidou. The three had worked together as chunin in Konoha before Iruka had taken on a desk chunin job. But in Uzu, they had come back together and honed their skills once more.

Shikamaru and Choji had gotten married a year after they and their clans had moved to the villages and made sure that things were settled down. An Okami woman, a distant cousin of Kabuto’s, had been the one who had agreed to carry their kids since she didn’t really want to marry someone anyways.

She liked having kids though. Her branch of the Okami family were built to have kids without many issues, and she found that she liked helping those who couldn’t have children themselves.

The two already had a son that was a perfect blend of them, Orochimaru and Tsunade helping to create that technique in their research collaborations.

Iruka, Kakashi and Orochimaru had had two children, a year apart, but theirs in blood and love. A very lovely lady who had joined the village had agreed to carry them for the children that they wanted. She was considered a close aunt to the two children and spoiled them senseless. Orochimaru was already looking for a good replacement in his ranks for Otokage so that he could move full time to Uzu.

The last that Naruto had heard, Rin was training to take over even as she was growing her and Zaku’s kid, already having had one with their third, Dosu.

Gaara had happily moved to Uzu as Suna’s full time liasion, Temari taking over as their Kazekage after their father had managed to piss off the wrong person. She had called him a pincushion in that missive. Kankuro on the other hand often visited when the academy in Suna was off for a time. He had become a teacher in chakra control and puppetry for those who wanted to learn and showed promise.

He had been able to find Sasori’s lab once Temari had access to the full layout of the village, Sasori’s grandmother having fought that. But she had lost that fight and Kankuro had learned even more then what he had learned from the scattered scrolls that he had access to.

The old woman had been so pissed she had threatened to leave but Temari had called her bluff, telling her to leave. That she had to understand why they needed the information in the lab so that they could defend against her traitor son and create a new generation of puppeteers. The old woman had backed down and helped them take down her son when he had made a move.

After Gaara, Kiba and Hinata had moved to Uzu, Kiba had ended up falling for the red head, despite loving Hinata with all of his heart. After some talking, the Sand nin had joined them as their third partner. Hinata had come to love him just as much as Kiba and was happy to have both of them as lovers. Especially since Kiba had stamina when it came to the bedroom and she did need the occasional break.

Shino had started to date a very nice Yamanaka woman and he was planning on asking her to marry him in the next month. He had started to learn how to teach so that he could stay home with their future children.

While Shino was planning his future, Neji was carefully courting Lee. They were taking their relationship rather slow since Lee had been with someone who had unfortunately passed while giving birth to his surprise child. He was still healing after that and Neji knew that it would take time.

Tenten though wasn’t dating anyone and didn’t want to date anyone. She liked being able to do what she wanted and was happy to act like a surrogate for Kabuto and Naruto as long as they were willing to eventually give her her own child whenever she was ready for a child.

She, along with Asuma, Genma, Raidou, Anko, Ibiki, Yamato, and others had all come to Uzu after some time in the capital just a year after Uzu had finished setting things up. Their stories about how the village had fallen had sent the Daimyo into a frenzy to clean things up even more, pissed at how things were going. Ibiki had been the last to flee the village after the rest of the clans who could leave had.

The Daimyo had told Naruto that the Kurama who had been handed the hat as Hokage had turned out not to be the best of choices. When it came to positions of power, it hadn’t mattered what your rank was, if you were of a clan, you were first pick for high ranks or positions of power. The Archives had been stolen by the ROOT nins that worked for the Daimyo now that Danzo had been taken cared of once he had heard word of things going on.

He had admitted that it was mostly so that the village couldn’t use the things within it against others. The copy Archive had been put into a locked down warehouse until the the Daimyo had finished clearing out things in the village. It had been quite the mess and Naruto kept up with what was happening even to the present day.

The last of the refugees, including Tenten, had tried to hold out to help, even as they were continually denied their rights or raises. The Kurama Hokage had finally gotten tired of Tenten asking why she wasn’t allowed to raise in rank and told her that she was a no name bastard child. And that she should be glad that she had become a chunin before he took power.

She had then spread that information around and packed up her stuff when she landed a mission to the capital as a messenger girl. She found herself joined by the others as soon as she arrived, signed the paperwork to switch out her citizenship to the captial until she was able to be processed to move to Uzu and settled down.

Only the barest of the bones of the major clans had stayed in Konoha. Those who hadn’t left only stayed because they had liked being treated like royalty or were spies for the rest of the clan. The ones who had stayed to be treated like royalty didn’t know that soon their so-called power was going to be stripped from them by the Daimyo and their clan ‘heads’. They had already been disowned from the main clans and were considered bastard branches.

At least that was how Hinata had explained it to Naruto when he had asked her.

Naruto and Kabuto though, they didn’t really care about what was going on in Konoha as long as it didn’t affect them. Naruto had sent the current Hokage a strongly worded letter of warning that he would have no issues declaring war on the village if he continued to try to mess with Uzu though. It would have ended up very deadly for him and Naruto had explicit permission to do whatever he had to do to keep Uzu safe.

Even assassinate the man with the Daimyo’s explicit permission.

Apparently that letter had been enough of a kick start to the full gutting of Konoha and change on how things were run. Inoichi, Choza nad Shikaku were asked by the Daimyo to return to the village as the new council and hopefully the temporary Hokage to help set things up just over a year before. Shikaku was taking the Hokage position while his teammates would be his council. They would clean things up and reset how the village was run.

Naruto knew that they would most likely be there for a long time but they would do what was needed to be done. Once the village had been fixed, Naruto would send out the pre-written treaty to them. For the moment though, he had a pile of paperwork to finish off and a family to go home to.

87

Taking the clipboard from his personal assistant for the day, Naruto smiled and looked over the new family based building plan, nodding. He signed off on it before he looked up at the structure. “I had wondered what this building had been once upon a time,” he chuckled softly. Tazuna smiled as he stretched his arms over his head.

He had long stopped doing the hard work of building, but still ran his company with his daughter, keeping a sharp eye on things. His daughter tended to help by dealing with the accounts and the communications while he worked with the employees. He was still Uzu’s go-to for their building needs and he loved working with them.

“Papa!” came a sweet little squeal, followed by pattering of tiny feet. Naruto turned around quickly and caught his four year old daughter up in his arms, laughing softly as he hugged her close. Tenten had been the one to carry her, just after he had taken up the hat as Uzukage, having time to spend in the village to help raise her the first year.

“Hello, my little Kushina,” he cooed in greeting. He pressed a kiss to her bright red hair and smiled. The moment they had seen the bright red hair on their daughter, Kabuto had suggested that they named her after Kushina. He said that the woman had passed on her endless strength and self-worth that had just needed a nudge to awaken in their daughter.

The fact that their daughter also looked like a normal Uzumaki had made the decision easy for Naruto. So she was Kushina and heard all sorts of stories about her grandparents from her loyal friend and companion, the Nine-Tailed Kurama.

Naruto had figured out how to loosen the seal on Kurama just enough to allow him to take a the form of a small fox a year after they had arrived in Uzu. He had found that he had the time and peace to focus on that project, something he had never been able to do in Konoha. He had known in his heart and soul that if he had tried to loosen the seal, Hiruzen would have found a way to stop him from doing it. He didn’t know how it would have affected not only himself but also Kurama at the time anyways, so he hadn’t tried to work it out as long as they had been there.

Both Kurama and Nissa though told her all sorts of things that they knew about her parents that a child could know. Even if she was a future kunoichi.

Luckily for all of the jinchuriki, including Gaara and B, the seal had been able to be adjusted and used for them, allowing their own bijuu time to get out and enjoy being somewhat free.

“I’m good!” she chirped happily, smiling a bright smile that showed a gap in her teeth, drawing him from his thoughts.

Smiling at her, he was glad he had learned that his mother had been much the same way in looks and attitude from Orochimaru and Tsunade. She was so much like her grandfather and father in how brilliant that she was that Kabuto had worked out the best way to keep her busy without alienating other children at the same time. She was, unsurprisingly enough, best friends with Choji’s and Shikamaru’s first son, a little boy of three years and just as smart as his Nara father. “Me and Daddy are going to the ‘pital for tests.”

“Paperwork for tomorrow’s tests actually,” Kabuto said as he walked up, stealing a kiss from his lover. “And to visit her baby brother now that he’s been cleared for visitors. Tenten is doing well too, and wasn’t as bad as we had thought. It’s just that our little one took after my Okami blood just a bit more this round,” he told him. Naruto beamed at his husband.

“I think I’ll be able to come visit with you if you don’t mind waiting just a few minutes for me to finish up here,” Naruto said. Kabuto chuckled and shook his head. Once he was done going over things with Tazuna and signing the rest of the paperwork for the building, the little family headed to the hospital. They filled out the paperwork for their daughter to create the start of her official paperwork for her full physical. All children going to the academy, either as a civilian or future nin, had to be cleared for it with all their vaccines and physical exams.

The academy that they had built from the ground up was a mix of nin and civilian students, teaching them side by side. Since most of those in the village had chakra, even from a young age, they had to know how to use it in some way. To control it just in case. They didn’t have to become nin, but they did have to have the basis of chakra control and weaponry down.

There was one hold over from the original way the village had been run that they all agreed with. In the children’s last two years of school, those who were graduating at thirteen or fourteen, those that were going for nin training would end up in more in-depth weapons, jutsu and chakra training. Those who were interested in a specialized classes would be taking classes during Saturdays about what interested them most, able to sign up for four classes each weekend.

The academy started at age four to start the basic things for the students, like getting along with others, light meditation exercises that usually ended up in nap sessions. Those sort of things. They would learn how to read and write, learn how a village like Uzu was run, world history, everything that every student needed to learn to be a good citizen. But they were set up to be as interesting as possible to keep the children’s attention.

“I have to work out the new teams tomorrow unfortunately, so I can’t come with you to your physical,” Naruto warned Kushina after they had filled out the paperwork. Tsunade had sat with her and told her just what would happen so she wasn’t afraid of what the tests included.

Kushina pouted at that but nodded. “I know, papa. Your papers are important and the new teams are just as important for the village. Daddy says that a good team will make or break itself,” she said, carefully reciting what Kabuto had told her once. Naruto smiled down at her.

“That’s right. A proper team will be able to work together well but also cover each other’s weaknesses and work on them together. Your Uncle ‘Kashi and Uncle Oro are going to take on teams this time. Since all of their little ones are now in the academy so they have some free time to train new teams,” Naruto told her. “Your Uncle ‘Ruka is teaching the new academy students for a few years.”

Kushina oohed at that. Kabuto chuckled as they walked down the hall to Tenten’s room, finding her talking with a heavily pregnant Ino who was cooing over little Haru, the baby was napping off his mid-morning meal.

They stayed around in the room, visiting with the two friends for a while. Ino admitted that she had a craving for strawberries a lot, but it seemed as if that came with a baby that was heavy on the Akimichi side of the family. She wasn’t that surprised really, but rather pleased to be able to help her friends have kids. She promised to stop by the next day to tell Naruto all of the gossip from her father and her cousins that had gone with him to fix Konoha the next day.

And to help him build the genin groups.

The small family stayed after she had left, bonding with their newest member, Kurama taking over as his protector for the night since Nissa had bonded so hard with Kushina. If she was somewhere, it was likely the now very large summons was hiding somewhere nearby most days.

Naruto reminded himself to send out a ‘thank you’ basket to Orochimaru again for having sent Nissa to him. And for getting Kabuto to talk to him, even if it was just to give him a friend. Without any of them, he had a feeling that he would be stupid, stuck in a village that hated him, and married to some woman who he didn’t truly love.

Orochimaru’s choice during a day of clarity had changed his life for the better and he was so very happy with his life. His issues with a pissed off Kurama clan member sending him threats from his jail cell notwithstanding.

He’d have to tell the Daimyo about that sometime soon.

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