56

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Naruto eyed Sasuke cautiously as they approached the Academy. The other boy's face was blank and motionless as a carved statue, his eyes as lifeless as cut glass; even his chakra was too still under his pale skin.

Naruto didn't like it.

Sasuke was supposed to be crackling fire that tasted of lightning storms on the back of Naruto's teeth. He was supposed to be bright, burning passion and brilliant bursts of colour, not washed out and empty.

"Take care of him," Ko-ane had said before they left the apartment, speaking to him in their special language. She had kept her face clear as Sasuke watched on in confusion, but Naruto could feel the old pain-hurt-grief twisting in her chakra. "He's just learned that he's a hostage in this village, his only use as leverage over his brother and as a future stud for breeding. He's been betrayed by everyone he trusted. We're all he has."

Naruto knew bits and pieces of Ko-ane's past, from before she had been Ko-ane. She'd told him stories, when he was smaller, of Queen Sansa. That was how he knew that Queen Sansa had once been a hostage. That Queen Sansa had been sold to men for 'breeding'.

It made him angry. Naruto knew that Ko-ane was older than him, but she was still his twin sister and he loved her more than anything else in this entire world. He would do anything for her and it made the burning-fire-red chakra pour through him at just the thought of someone, anyone, daring to hurt her. Realising that Ko-ane saw part of herself in Sasuke just made him feel even more protective over the other boy than he already felt.

Naruto wasn't sure why he felt so protective over Sasuke. He'd always been aware of the other boy, even before the massacre– there was just something about the dark-haired Uchiha that had drawn his attention, a pull deep inside Naruto as his chakra reached out automatically for Sasuke's.

Naruto wasn't upset by it. He liked Sasuke and he liked the idea of being friends with him. It was just really weird.

"I wish we didn't have to go to the Academy," Sasuke muttered, finally breaking the silence that had settled so heavily over him since they'd left the apartment that morning.

Naruto grimaced. He didn't really like the Academy either– even if Iruka-sensei was okay, sour-Mizuki was shitty and mean. He used to just ignore Naruto and pretend he didn't exist, but after all the fuss with Danzo, he'd gotten real nasty. He was rough when pulling Naruto's limbs into position during taijutsu practice, and Naruto knew he wasn't even teaching him right because Sasuke showed him how to do the katas properly after. He also kept making Naruto run laps during class, even if he hadn't done anything wrong, and would lose Naruto's homework and assignments then lie to Iruka-sensei about it, saying that Naruto hadn't done them.

That didn't bother Naruto too much, really. He was used to adults outside of the Yūkaku being total jerks to him. But Iruka-sensei automatically believing sour-Mizuki, and not even listening when Naruto tried to explain...

That hurt. Naruto didn't even bother trying to defend himself anymore– he couldn't bear the hot, acid taste of disappointment, the churning in his stomach, as Iruka-sensei frowned down at him and scolded him for lying.

"I don't wanna go either," he muttered. "But we don't wanna look suspicious."

They'd already missed two days of the Academy, to give Sasuke time to grieve for his clan and his brother, and to rage at the Hokage and the village. Any longer and the Hokage might start to get suspicious about why Sasuke was avoiding the Academy, and if he thought that Sasuke knew the truth, then he'd definitely kill Sasuke, and he might kill Ko-ane too.

That could never happen.

Walking into the Academy, Naruto let the well-practiced shift settle over him, slouching his shoulders even as he donned a goofy smile and stomped his feet slightly as he walked, forgoing his previous silent, prowling steps.

"Hey Kiba!" he shouted 'cheerfully', waving to his classmate.

"Yo, Naruto!" Kiba waved back. "Iruka-sensei's pissed you've been skipping!" Naruto laughed loudly, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Ha! The future Hokage don't need ta go ta stupid baby ninja classes!" he boasted, puffing out his chest. Beside him, Sasuke shook his head slightly.

"Can't believe I ever fell for this," he murmured, near silently. Naruto turned his head so that only Sasuke could see his face and winked. Tama-neechan and the neesans at the Palace of Flowers had taught him well– there was no better actor, after all, than a whore worth her gold.

"Naruto!" That was Iruka-sensei's angry shout and Naruto turned back to face the approaching teacher with a mask of obviously false bravado that hid the very real amusement he felt underneath.

Iruka-sensei looked angry as he approached them, his chakra roiling irritably under his skin. "Where have you been?" he demanded. "And Sasuke too! I can't believe you! You've had a near-flawless attendance record, and suddenly you're skiving off?"

"We've been celebrating," Naruto announced, not having to fake his pride. "My sister's back an' she's a chūnin now!"

Iruka-sensei's eyes widened. "Oh, Naruto!" he exclaimed, all his anger rapidly disappearing. Naruto couldn't help the flare of warmth he felt– he didn't trust Iruka-sensei, he couldn't, but he also couldn't help the affection he felt for the teacher who tried so hard for him. That was probably why it hurt so much when Iruka-sensei still fell so short. "That's wonderful news," his sensei said warmly.

"She won th' whole Exam!" Naruto continued to boast, "Kiri didn' know what hit 'em!"

Iruka-sensei stiffened slightly. "Kiri?" he repeated, his voice just too tight to be casual. Naruto carefully did not smirk, or bare his teeth in vicious challenge, instead keeping the ignorant, beaming, boastful grin in place, as if he was entirely ignorant to the wider implications of what he had just said.

"Yup!" He gloated. "No one can beat an Uzumaki! She beat Kiri's ass!"

Iruka-sensei managed to force a smile on his face in the face of what he clearly believed was a child's ignorance. Did he really think that Naruto didn't know Kiri was one of the Hidden Villages responsible for destroying Uzushio? Naruto wondered, even as he continued to grin widely up at his sensei. Or did he just think that Naruto wouldn't care, about some distant village destroyed so long ago?

But Uzushio had never been just some old, forgotten village, not to him– Ko-ane had raised him with the knowledge that they were the last heirs of Uzushio, the last of the Uzumaki; that they had seastorms in their souls, and tides in their blood, and eddies in their hearts; that they carried on their shoulders the weight of the legacy of a once-great, now-shattered village, but that as long as they remembered Uzushio, Uzushio could not die– no matter how the other Hidden Villages might try.

Naruto hid his sharp teeth behind soft lips as he met Iruka-sensei's eyes, all childish innocence and obliviousness to hide his rage.

Iruka-sensei's smile was very nearly pained. "That's wonderful news," he repeated his earlier statement. "I'm very happy for you, Naruto, and for your sister. But don't think I'll let you miss any more class!" he threatened, clearly trying to steady himself. "You either, Sasuke!"

As Iruka-sensei chivvied them along into the classroom, Sasuke leaned into Naruto. "You're meaner than you look," he whispered.

"Yep," Naruto agreed. He would never turn down an opportunity to strip back the blinders people wore to Sarutobi Hiruzen and his choices. Iruka-sensei taught their class that the Sandaime Hokage was the God of Shinobi, that he was their wise and caring leader who they should trust and obey. Naruto took a vicious glee in tearing that reputation to shreds. Maybe Iruka-sensei would think twice now before blindly parroting what Ko-ane called "Konoha's propaganda to make the citizens believe the Hokage is somewhat competent". Or at least Naruto hoped it made the words taste like bitter ash in his mouth.

"Vicious and vindictive," Sasuke decided, his mouth curling up slightly in the corners, breaking that blank, emotionless mask as life sparked in his dark eyes.

"'S only the truth," Naruto murmured back, with a slight shrug, even as his mouth curled into a matching smirk, lips pulling back just enough to bare a sliver of teeth.

Sasuke's dark eyes glittered. "That's right," he said, quiet and intense. "It is the truth. And they can't take the truth away from us– no matter how hard they try."

They entered the classroom together and Naruto held back a wince as some of the girls started shrieking.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Where have you been?"

"Sasuke-kun, come sit next to me!"

"No, sit next to me, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke scowled darkly, moving briskly over to one of the desks at the back of the classroom, next to where Shikamaru was slumped over his desk. Naruto followed after him, stepping neatly in between one of the clamouring girls and the free seat next to Sasuke and sliding down onto it before she could.

The girl scowled viciously at him. "Move!" she ordered, slamming her hands down on the desk. "I was here first!"

"Um," Naruto said, looking down at himself, sitting on the chair, then up at her. "No ya weren't?"

"Yes I was!" she practically screeched. "You pushed me! You stupid demon!"

Naruto felt a growl build up in his chest, rumbling in his throat. He had to swallow it down, knowing it would do no good here. He wondered how this spoilt little brat would feel if he showed her a true demon, if he brought out the burning-red-fire chakra and snarled in her face, but he pushed away the urge, knowing that sort of rage would do him no good. He almost wished he had at least flashed fiery-red eyes at the girl, though, as she continued to carry on instead of sitting down when he ignored her and sour-Mizuki came over. 

"What's going on here, Ami-chan?" he asked, practically dripping faux-concern.

"Naruto-baka pushed me and stole my seat!" the girl, Ami, immediately told their sensei, adding a sniffle just for good measure. Naruto was almost impressed, but mostly just felt frustrated. Sour-Mizuki immediately scowled down at him, glee-resentment-hate twisting in his chakra.

"Uzumaki! Detention!" he barked out. 

"She's lying," Sasuke said, voice flat and cold.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, still face-down on his desk, before sighing, "Yeah, she's lying."

Naruto didn't bother to hide his smug grin as sour-Mizuki visibly floundered. It was obvious that sour-Mizuki wanted to punish him, but at the same time, it wasn't as if he could just ignore the testimony of two clan heirs.

"Ami-chan, find a seat," he said finally. Not apologising to Naruto, of course.

"Fucker," Naruto muttered, as soon as the sensei was out of earshot and Ami had flounced off. Sasuke grunted his agreement and Shikamaru snorted quietly.

Naruto shifted his hand, hidden by the desk, to join with Sasuke's, their fingers linking together, the whooshy-whirly-wild chakra inside him reaching out for Sasuke's spark-bright-crackle. Sasuke squeezed his hand and Naruto turned his attention to the front of the classroom as Iruka-sensei started lecturing for the day.

He didn't let go of Sasuke's hand under the desk.

Sasuke didn't let go either. 

~

Sansa met her teammates at the hospital. Chiyoko was being released today and she was eager to see the younger-older girl outside of the white-walls.

Chiyoko looked too thin, Sansa thought, watching as she tipped her head back and inhaled deeply as soon as she stepped outside the doors of the hospital, tulip-pink eyes half-lidded as she gazed up at the open sky. "I don't know how you work in there," Chiyoko told Kabuto. "I hate the smell. It's awful."

"I like it," Kabuto said, shoulders rising slightly in a half-shrug. "It reminds me of my adopted mother."

Sansa blinked, startled at the uncharacteristically open confession. Chiyoko's eyes widened as she turned to Kabuto, and Kabuto's mouth twitched slightly, the older boy amused at their reactions to his sudden disclosure.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, the only one not too surprised to speak.

"How about our old training ground?" Sansa suggested, and as the other two didn't have any better ideas, that was where they headed.

They didn't train, of course. Chiyoko was fresh out of the hospital and none of them were dressed for it. Instead, they sat together under a wide-trunked Hashirama tree, Sansa leaning against Chiyoko, Kabuto slightly apart, his thumb idly tracing circles around Sansa's bare ankle, a touch that would have been so scandalously improper in Westeros.

"I don't even know who I am anymore," Chiyoko admitted, looking up at the stretching branches above them, reaching up to the pale blue of the sky, greyish clouds drifting across, blocking the sun. "My friends, my parents... they don't understand what I've been through. They don't understand what it's like to fight with death just a whisper away. What it's like to kill or be killed. 

"My sister called the scars on my stomach ugly– but when I look at them, I feel proud. They show me what I survived. They show me that I am strong. And–" here she twisted slightly, so she could face Kabuto, "they show me that you cared enough about me to scrap your plan to hide just how skilled you are, just to keep me alive. When I look at those scars, they show me I have a team. A team that, despite the fact we were sent to die, survived."

"Survival is never pretty," Sansa murmured. "It's ugly and desperate and everyone will judge you for the depths you sink to. But you should be proud– because you are strong. You are a survivor. And I never expected it, but we are a team."

"I left Konoha a stupid, ignorant little fool playing ninja," Chiyoko muttered, "and I came back a monster."

"Yes," Kabuto agreed. "You came back a shinobi."

Chiyoko snorted then laughed, the sound almost incredulous. "I can't tell if you're trying to comfort me or not," she said.

"He's right, though," Sansa said. "All shinobi are monsters. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar."

"Konoha is filled with liars," Chiyoko said bitterly.

"Is that news to you?" Kabuto asked and Chiyoko snorted again.

"No," she said. "Not anymore."

"Come over to my apartment for dinner tonight," Sansa said. "Both of you. I want you to meet my family."

"Okay," Chiyoko said, after a brief pause. "I'd love to."

Kabuto's pause was longer, but then he dipped his head. "I would be honoured," he said. And it sounded like he meant it, too.

~

Their apartment wasn't empty when Sansa returned. She wasn't afraid, though– she recognised the chakra. 

Inu, Kakashi, was back.

Sansa couldn't quite describe the relief she felt, knowing he had returned to Konoha. Not just because of her affection for him, but because of the safety he offered– he was the only near-adult in the village who she trusted had her and Naruto's best interests at heart. The only shinobi who she believed would defy the Hokage himself for their sake. There was a security in that, a relief– the weight on her shoulders no longer felt quite so crushing when she had someone to share it with.

Kakashi had spent the last night at their apartment and Sansa had allowed herself to be held, to feel protected, in his arms. Kakashi had been half-feral when he first arrived, stinking of dried blood and infection, barely speaking, but the desperation with which he'd clung to her and Naruto had told her everything she needed to know, far louder than any spoken words.

Kakashi had found out what happened with the Chūnin Exams– and he had panicked. 

Tenzo confirmed it, after Sasuke and Naruto left for the Academy that morning and two ANBU had arrived to escort Kakashi to the Hokage to give his report on the completed mission. Sansa would have been more concerned if Kakashi hadn't left looking like he was prepared to rip the Hokage's heart out with his bare hands if the old bastard didn't answer to his actions– he wouldn't be rolling over and baring his throat to any disciplinary actions against him, not for this. 

It had been mildly amusing, in a distant, tragic way, how starstruck Tenzo had sounded, describing the incredible violence Kakashi had wreaked in order to return to Konoha, blowing the ANBU team's deep cover so as to apparently slaughter his way through a Daimyō's palace. He really shouldn't have been giving her any of the information, but Tenzo still wore her (Danzo's) seal and with a little trickle of chakra, it was easy enough to coax answers from him. 

Sansa wondered if Tenzo even realised how loose his tongue was– or if he just trusted her and thought his uncharacteristic, illegal openness was an extension of that trust, and of his loyalty to Kakashi. 

It didn't matter either way, not truly. It just served to vindicate Sansa in her previously held opinion– Kakashi was hers. He was damaged and broken, but he was Pack; kin to Kushina, to Minato, older brother to Naruto, protector to her. 

Kakashi looked better as she stepped into their apartment. He'd had another shower, scrubbing away the last of the dried blood, and was dressed in clothes other than the jōnin uniform, the soft, loose folds of the yukata doing little to hide the hard, dangerous lines of his body– or the sharpness of the weapons strapped against his scarred skin. 

There was a small dog standing by Kakashi's foot and Sansa tilted her head slightly, vaguely recalling Kakashi's canine pack of summons from their escape from Konoha, after he killed Danzo. The pug was wearing a blue shirt with a heno-heno-moheji on its back and it blinked up at her with dewy eyes framed by little curling lashes. 

"Yo," it– he– said, voice startlingly gruff and deep. 

It really was a strange world, Sansa thought to herself, where talking animals didn't even startle her anymore.

"Hello," she greeted the pug politely, inclining her head slightly in lieu of the traditional bow.

"Ah, this is Pakkun," Kakashi said, a little awkwardly. He looked almost uncertain. Hesitant. Sansa waited with a patience borne of raising three strong-willed, intelligent children and Kakashi cleared his throat then spoke. "Pakkun is good company." He said.

Pakkun looked as amused as a dog could look.

"I couldn't really say either way," Sansa humoured Kakashi. Kakashi let out a sharp sound between his teeth, a quick exhale.

"He's a ninken," he said. "Not a battle-type, but that doesn't mean he isn't good in a fight. He's fast and strong and smart."

"Anija," Sansa said, partly because she liked how the title made Kakashi fluster, partly because she liked how it felt on her tongue, "why does it sound like you are trying to sell your ninken to me?"

Pakkun chortled as Kakashi turned an almost pleading look down at him. "He wants me to be your security detail," the small dog said, finally taking enough pity to put Kakashi out of his misery.

Sansa would have been more amused if she wasn't so suddenly disturbed at the knowledge that Kakashi thought she needed one.

"There's no new threats," Pakkun assured her, apparently able to read the sudden stillness of her body– or perhaps a shift in her scent.

"No new threats," Sansa murmured, wry and edging on bitter. It felt as if this village held nothing but threats; from the day she and Naruto had been born (or reborn, in her case), they had been under threat from the very citizens that they were being trained to protect, and now the very leader of the village wished her dead.

Kakashi stepped closer, his movements careful and slow, so as to be entirely nonthreatening. When she didn't react negatively, Kakashi crouched down in front of her, one hand gently moving to rest on her nape, his fingers spanning across the curve of her neck.

"I'll keep you safe," he promised, low and dark, the undertone of a snarl rumbling through his words.

Sansa breathed out slowly, let the tension ease from her limbs. Kakashi had disobeyed his Hokage, his king, had committed treason and fought battles and waded through rivers of blood, all for her and Naruto.

No one can protect me, she had believed for so very long. No one can protect anyone. But she also believed Kakashi.

"Pakkun-san and I will become very good friends," she said aloud and Kakashi visibly relaxed, a tension easing from his body at her unspoken acceptance– both of Pakkun acting as her security detail, and of his promise of protection. 

Only time would tell if he could keep it, when Konoha would inevitably force him to choose between his promise to her and the oaths he'd sworn to serve his village.

Sansa could only hope– could only believe– that he would choose her, and Naruto. That he would choose their Pack over the Hokage.