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The Blessed Realm	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1746 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the world he lives in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story only for my pleasure and I don't make any money with it.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Chapter
Eight: Interview with Danzou

Slowly
Sasuke returned to the present, the waiting-room of the hospital,
Juugo and Naruto sitting next to him and looking at the pictures of
the parade. Juugo was asking Naruto questions: “Why do they
dress up as women? Why do they wear chains?”

Sasuke
enjoyed Naruto's embarrassment, as he did his best to answer the
questions, but he took care not to open his eyes and show that he was
listening, lest he should have to answer some of the questions
himself. He wondered what Juugo knew about sex, given that in reality
he was eighteen, not twelve; on the other hand Juugo had spent most
of his life in Orochimaru's dungeons (not, as Sasuke himself, in
Orochimaru's entourage where he had learnt rather too much.) Still he
would not put it past Juugo that he was just making fun of Naruto.

“There's
a picture of the two of you!” Juugo exclaimed, and suddenly
Sasuke was wide awake: There they were, sitting side by side on a
bench in the darkness, watching the play, nothing compromising, still
it gave Sasuke the creeps.

“Do
they read the paper in Konoha?” he asked.

Naruto
was troubled too, and it took him several seconds before he answered:
“I don't think so. Ordinary people read hardly any foreign
newspapers there, and I guess that at the Intelligence Service they
prefer the more intellectual papers.”

He
hoped that he was correct. Better not worry, he could not find out
about it, nor could he do anything about it. He liked the picture:
Sasuke and himself, peacefully watching the play, nothing showing
that they had only recently met after years of separation. He would
cut it out and keep it so that once Sasuke had left he would be able
to look at it and remind himself that Sasuke had really been there at
his place, and that it had not only been a dream.

Karin
returned to tell them that things were going well and that they no
longer had to worry about Suigetsu.

“It's
been a bad alcohol intoxication, but he's stable now. He will wake up
some time in the evening, or at the latest tomorrow morning. I will
stay so that he will see a familiar face when he wakes up.”

Sasuke
doubted that Suigetsu would be happy to see her. “We can
relieve you”, he said. “Juugo?”

He
did not want to take the next shift himself as he was burning to read
the other articles, and to ask Naruto for some explanations.

Juugo
seemed at a loss. He shifted from side to side in his chair and did
not look into Suigetsu's eyes.

“What's
wrong? Sasuke asked, not used to this behaviour.

“The
boys I met yesterday asked me to teach them some more juggling. I
told them it was impossible as we were going to leave today, but as
we are now staying for another day...”

sighed. Juugo was correct, of course, and Sasuke was glad that he had
had some fun at the festival. He could not deny him this wish.

“Go
and juggle!” he told him, and then Karin: “We will
relieve you in the evening.”

He
and Naruto went back to Naruto's place, Naruto glad that Sasuke and
his team would stay at least for another night, Sasuke resigned. It
did not matter that much, he told himself, searching for that Blessed
Realm was as much a waste of time as staying in this town. If only
Suigetsu had remembered that he was seeking healing and had not
worsened his state of health by getting completly drunk...

At
least there was one advantage, he thought while Naruto was preparing
tea: Now he was at leisure to read the newspaper Naruto had bought.
He still had to integrate it into his system: that Konoha had been
destroyed, that this Danzou, who had probably been the driving force
behind the murder of his clan, had become Hokage. The latter was, in
a way, welcome news: If the people of Konoha had made the murderer of
his clan their leader, he did not need to have a bad conscience if he
destroyed the village and killed them all. Only that the village had
already been destroyed, and even though his Amaterasu was much more
thorough than whatever jutsu had destroyed Konoha, there was little
greatness in turning the debris left from the destruction into mere
dust. It seemed that most inhabitants were still alive, so he could
still dream of hunting them down with his Amaterasu, but the fantasy
did not give him much satisfaction. He was not in a particular
vengeful mood anyway, not now while he was sitting on Naruto's bed
and Naruto was passing him some tea.

“Are
there any pictures?” Naruto asked.

“Yes,
even coloured ones”, Sasuke answered.

Naruto
got a box of biscuits from the cupboard and sat down next to Sasuke
to have a look at the pictures too.

“They
had not finished the wall when I left”, he said, “and all
six portraits were still covered in scaffolding.”

“Isn't
this the most superfluous thing to rebuild when everything is in
ruins?”

“They
need the symbol”, Naruto replied, repeating what Danzou had
said when he had ordered the portraits to be put on top of the
priority list. “They need the portraits as a symbol that Konoha
is still firmly rooted in the past and that the new Hokage will
protect it just as former Hokages have. They need people to trust in
their new leadership.”

He
wanted to defend Konoha against Sasuke's accusations, but silently he
wondered whether quickly rebuilding their homes would not have made
people trust in their new leadership too.

Making
Konoha appear strong, Sasuke thought, even if it is all in ruins, so
that no other country might make use of the opportunity to attack it.
Just what they had told Itachi: Konoha must not look weak. He looked
for the area where the Uchiha clan had lived – only small
stones and mere splinters of wood were lying around. He wondered what
they would do with it now – probably not rebuild it, as no one
was ever going to live there again. Would they turn the area into a
park, or clear it up and build new houses, for other people? But who
would want to live there?

The
guy who had called himself Madara had told Sasuke that the clan had
not always lived in that area close to the walls of the village, on a
space that was too small for the people living there so that it
always had been crowded and poor, compared to the other major clans
of the village, but Sasuke had not noticed this, nor had his parents
made him feel it – for him it had always been home, and there
had been woods and ponds nearby where he had loved to play with his
brother or his cousins. Now soon all traces that the Uchiha clan had
once been a supporting pillar in the edifice of the military power of
Konoha would be gone – he looked for the place where the head
quarters of the military police had been; they had not begun to
rebuild it, why should they, the building had stood empty since the
murder of the clan.

Coldness
gripped at his heart, his clan had been wiped out, it had been
eradicated as if it never had existed, and he had escaped the
destruction only by mistake. If things had gone Danzou's way, he'd be
dead as well, denied the right to exist just as the rest of the clan.
He felt even colder – he had to remind himself of his plans for
revenge – he would not simply disappear – he would set a
sign and see that Konoha would disappear with him, showing the world
again that the Uchiha clan had once been one of the most powerful
ninja clans and that it would not dissolve into nothing as ripples
dissolved after a stone had been thrown into water.

“Are
you alright?” Naruto asked, gently touching Sasuke's arm and
bringing him back into the present. “It's terrible, I know. I
was not there when it happened, I arrived just a few minutes too
late, and I could not believe my eyes when I saw it. I thought we had
taken the wrong way. Luckily, most people had survived.”

“How?”
Sasuke asked, glad about the distraction. Naruto's presence felt
comforting, but also a bit confusing. He had difficulties thinking
clearly when Naruto was sitting so close to him, but he liked it, and
he thought that he could afford enjoying it as tomorrow he'd have
left anyway.

“Tsunade,
the Fifth Hokage sacrificed herself. Via her summon she transmitted
her chakra and her cell regeneration jutsu to the villagers and saved
them, at the price of using up all her chakra and ageing in no time,
so that she now appears as a woman of ninety years.”

He
paused, wondering what else might be of interest to Sasuke. “Sakura
is fine. She survived the explosion without being injured. Kakashi
got severely wounded, not from the explosion but from fighting the
invader. He'll survive, but it's uncertain if he'll ever again be
able to work as a ninja.”

Who
else? “Our former classmates are well. Master Iruka too.
Shikamaru has broken a leg, but it has healed by now. He'll probably
have to marry Temari from the Sand; he got her pregnant.”

“Oh,
has he?” Sasuke asked, as if this information was more
interesting than anything else Naruto had said. Naruto realized that
there had been indeed few people Sasuke had cared for.

“What
about you?” Sasuke asked. “Did you get hurt?”

The
sudden warmth in Sasuke's voice caught Naruto unaware. “As I
told you, I only arrived when the destruction had already occurred. I
got a bit hurt in the aftermath, when I fought to drive away the
attacker. It's already healed; the kyuubi is looking after my wounds,
as you know.”

“Sure,
I forgot.”

Sasuke
turned the paper to read the interview with Danzou: One last glance
at the portrait – it would help to remember what his enemy
looked like. Naruto remained at his side, reading with him, pouring
him some more tea.

Interviewer:
Danzou Sama, Rokudaime Hokage, Konoha has been struck badly. What
will her future be?

Danzou-sama:
Konoha might have been struck badly but it won't be her end. Thanks
to my predecessor's, Tsunade-hime's efforts, most villagers have
survived, and the ninja organizations are still largely intact.
Konoha's strength had never consisted in the thickness of her walls
but always in the courage and patriotism of her shinobi.

Interviewer:
So how does this go together with putting safety structures on top of
the priority list? Why not see that providing the population with
essentials, as food and housing, is guaranteed first?

Danzou-sama:
Nobody remains hungry, and no one has to sleep under the open sky.
But people's most immediate need is not housing, but safety. They
need to know that the government is doing everything to prevent
another attack as this. We are willing to ensure this.

Interviewer:
Other countries might see this focus on defense as a potential threat
after the long period of peace and signs of mutual goodwill and
understanding under your predecessors.

Danzou-sama:
My predecessors, for all they did in order to further the prosperity
of the village, have not been able to foresee and prevent this
attack. Their policy of reconciliation and disarmament has been
proved wrong: They failed to see that there are forces out there who
don't care about peace but only have one aim: Destroy Konoha and what
it stands for. Peace talks won't do when we are dealing with them. We
have to show them the full extent of our power and make them clear
that we won't tolerate their actions.

In
a perverted way Sasuke enjoyed reading this interview. So this was
the way of thinking of the man who ordered the murder of his clan. It
felt good to associate a face and some words with him, it felt good
that there was again a person whom he could blame for his clan's
sufferings, it felt good that there was again somebody he could hate.
He went on reading.

Interviewer:
Another question, if this is okay to you: The kyuubi's jinchuuriki
who took it upon himself to drive away the aggressor, lately hasn't
been seen by anyone. There are rumours that he has left the village.

Danzou-sama:
He has not. He is staying in a secret place within the walls of the
village. We are not going to tell the public where he is, as the
fewer the number of people who know his location, the fewer are able
to betray it. He is protected by the most sophisticated traps and
genjutsu devices imaginable to conceal and guard the entrance to his
hideout. Where he is training and preparing himself so that he can
truly fulfill the jinchuuriki's original purpose of being the
village's ultimate weapon in a situation of desperate need.

Interviewer:
Some people would suggest that this is mainly a measure to keep him
under control.

Danzou-sama:
Well, during his fight he was again overcome by the kyuubi. People
were scared. Not only for the village's safety but also for his own
it is preferable that he stays at a place where the kyuubi can be
kept in check. If he fully transforms, and he was very close to it,
he will vanish as a person and won't be able to retransform. It is
for his own protection.

For
a second Sasuke believed what he had read: That Naruto had been shut
away to keep the kyuubi under control. He had to look to his side to
assure himself that Naruto was still here, reading the newspaper, and
very obviously not hidden away in Konoha. Or maybe here was the place
where Naruto was being kept, in this town where no one would expect
him?

“It
can't be”, he said, thinking loudly. “He's not well
guarded here, or I wouldn't be sitting at his side.”

“What
are you talking about?” Naruto asked – he had read the
article at a slower pace than Sasuke.

“Danzou
is not protecting you particularly well, is he, letting me get this
close to you?”

“What's
the matter? You are not going to hurt me, are you?”

“What
about Akatsuki?” The idea had just come to Sasuke's mind –
considering that Akatsuki was still chasing after him, Naruto was
behaving in a dangerously careless way.

“Danzou
does not have to protect me against Akatsuki – it was me who
defeated Pain, their leader, not Danzou.”

Wasn't
Madara their leader? Sasuke thought.

“Do
they know where you are? What if they come searching after you?”

“They
won't. This town is too far off track of anything. And if they come,
I will defend myself, and the town.”

A
vivid image of how the town would look like after Naruto had defended
it in its narrow streets appeared in Sasuke's mind.

“What
if they prefer not to be defended and rather turn you over?”
Probably not to Akatsuki, however, who were well known as a gang of
criminals, he thought. “What if they realize that the kyuubi's
jinchuuriki is living among them, and tell you to return to Konoha to
avoid a conflict with that Danzou?”

It
was still a speculation, based on the fact that Naruto was obviously
not in that well-hidden place Danzou had been talking of, and that he
was not the type who would be happy with such a confinement.

“They
won't! Most of them don't even know my full name.”

“What
if that Danzou sends it to them, along with an accurate description
and some photos?”

“He
won't. He doesn't even know I am here.”

So
that was it, Sasuke thought. No long-time mission, if Naruto had not
suddenly become an exceptionally good actor, which he doubted. Still
Naruto was too careless, he thought, both about Danzo and about
Akatsuki.

There
was a natual solution for this problem, but Sasuke hesitated to
suggest it to Naruto, as it would make his revenge much more
complicated.

“Anyway,
he wouldn't send for me”, Naruto continued, “even if he
knew that I am here. If he did, he'd have to admit that I have never
been hidden away in this secret place of his in Konoha.”

Just
as with Itachi, Sasuke thought. At all costs avoid giving the
impression that you might be more vulnerable than your neighbours
think you are.

“Have
you finished the article?” he asked. “Can I turn the page
to read the comment and that other interview?”

A/N:
I am sorry, I think that I got a bit self-indulgent in this chapter.
I am thinking of posting two chapters this week (there is another
holiday, so I might have time) to make up for fact that I enjoy
writing fake newspaper articles better than writing smut. It's
probably that I am an old woman who thinks that politics is more
fascinating than sex.

I
promise that I will hold in mind that my protagonists are young boys
for whom this is still the other way round.

Sneakyfox:
Thanks again for being such a faithful commenter! It means a lot to
me that I don't only get plusses and hits, but also a review from you
every week.

Naruto
has of course some advantage over Sasuke as he has been living in
that town for some weeks already, and adapted to their lifestyle (and
got drunk at least once), so it is easy to give him victories in
their dialogues.

I
hope you don't mind that in this chapter I granted Sasuke a small
victory!
- 10
- 11
- 12
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The Blessed Realm