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The Fall of the Dogs of War	By : dolphina23 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 941 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Author�s Note: Nothing
extra special to report, except reviews are lovely . . . but chocolate, as of
now, is way better. Caffeine is a dark, obsessive lover and this is turning
into the longest trial run of novelization of prose
I�ve ever undertaken. Cheers to me for keeping up with it. Cheers to all of you
for bearing it all and one more round for anyone who came away from it smiling,
laughing, crying or holding some other emotion that I fully intended. �We Will
Go Home Across the Mountains� from Hans Zimmer (King
Arthur Soundtrack), appears here. I do not own the song. I listened to all
manner of dramatic movie themes and tracks from Hans Zimmer while writing. I
won�t bore you with more details. Gifts, in the form of URLs to find them,
however, I have.� http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ob6N7sVGSg� http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYoqJyVkLxU

Also, thanks to El-Gilliath for
cleaning up Chapters 15 to 17 and looking over this one as well.

Chapter�� 18
All That Heaven Allows
��
�� Sasuke slid
open the only window facing east from inside their bedroom. A cool breeze that held a hint of the storm from two nights before
wafted in and played with his hair. Sasuke leaned back a little and inhaled
deeply. His thoughts could not hold onto the melancholy of the self-enforced
isolation in the past. So, he reached a hand outside and let the wind buffer it
back and forth. A rustle of cloth from behind him made him smile softly though
he did not turn around.
�� What are
you doing, Sasuke?� Naruto asked curiously from behind him. Sasuke turned the
soft smile on his lover and he knew that it reached his eyes. He could feel
that it was real, so it should show, right?
�� Nothing, Naruto. Just playing around.�
�� Naruto
looked momentarily confused, but brightened considerably when he felt the
breeze himself. His eyes closed, though Sasuke wished he wouldn�t do that so
often. Sleep was one thing. Anything else was unacceptable.
�� Mmmm,
that�s nice. How about we take a quick dip in the spring before breakfast? It
feels warm enough,� Naruto said hopefully, mentioning the small pond in their back
garden.
�� The smile
he sent Sasuke wasn�t at all playful or devilish, just happy. He still had no
control, apparently, and couldn�t hide enough to be at all devious. By its very
nature, it was meant not to be found out, after all. Sasuke knew all too well
about that kind of thing. He studied Naruto�s face for another few moments, until
the smile there began to slip. He felt his mouth spreading out wider and
laughed softly. Why not?
�� Alright,
we�ll go for a quick swim. But then we need to practice. And we should probably
go see that old woman, too,� he replied lightly.
�� Naruto
lowered his eyes a little at the obvious allusion to Tsunade. He perked up
quickly, though, as Sasuke got off the window seat and helped drag him out of
bed. Excitement, barely contained if only because it would rip the house apart
if it were tangible, grew with every step from him. Sasuke tried to let some of
it rub off on him and found that he didn�t mind it so much. The two of them
quickly slid on boxers they could afford to ruin and inevitably turned the walk
to the pond into a race. Naruto whooped loudly as he leapt into the chilled
water. Sasuke followed a heartbeat behind him, albeit quietly. He had been
grinning though.
�� They
laughed and splashed, and once, kissed, under the early morning sunlight.
Sasuke leaned in to grab another just before they had to get out or risk
shriveling up, desire heating the water faster than anything else he could
name, when he heard the clearing of someone�s throat. Turning, he was not
surprised to find Kakashi standing at the lip of the pool, smiling.
�� Hello,�
Kakashi said cheerily. He waved down at them and Naruto groaned.
�� Go away.
We already saw you yesterday. That�s enough for now. I�ll go see the old bat
later today.�
�� Ah, but
Naruto, you said that yesterday, so I was told to check up on you two,� Kakashi
pushed monotonously.
�� And
anyway,� he continued without waiting for an answer, �I have a gift.�
�� Naruto
stared at him and blinked. Sasuke sighed, bored with the older ma and his
childish antics.
�� Unless you
don�t want it?� he pushed coyly. Naruto was up, out of the pool and at
Kakashi�s side in a flash of color.
�� Sasuke
stared down at the tiny ripples in the water, impressed. Naruto hadn�t
displaced enough of it for him to even feel it. And he�d only been a few feet
away. Kakashi held out a very thin case, too small to hold much. Sasuke eyed it
curiously and Naruto�s blank confusion made Kakashi smile. It held edges of
sadness though. It made Sasuke wonder just how far Kakashi had let his training
slip. Or maybe that had been something not tied to his ninja training, like a
personal preference, never to show much emotion at all let alone in battle.
�� For you, from your father. I gather you�ve already got
something else of his . . . from the Ninja Research Facility? I always wondered
where it had gotten to,� Kakashi eyed Naruto from the corner of his single eye
sharply. He didn�t seem angry, so Naruto just smiled and ducked his head.
Kakashi swiped at his hair anyway. He turned thoughtfully to stare at Sasuke
while he did it.
�� You might
want to watch it, too. Just for curiosity�s sake,� he said. And then he
disappeared. But they heard his voice on the wind, an echo bouncing off the
trees delightedly, as if they laughed with him.
�� I�ll see
you two at twelve sharp tomorrow. I�m sure Tsunade will fill you in on why. Have fun . . . boys.�
�� Sasuke
snorted and eyed the space where Kakashi had been a moment ago disgustedly.
When he turned to glance back at Naruto he found him staring down at a vid disk. It looked like one of the older types.
Thankfully, the electronics equipment they�d bought at the store on their
day-long foray had included a model of a vid-player
that could adapt the disc to a newer version. And now he was curious, Kakashi be damned. He swiped the disc from Naruto as
he passed him. He�d been looking so lost and more confused than Sasuke liked.
He�d have to teach him how to use everything once they got inside.
�� Not until
after breakfast, a shower, and I�ve had a chance to complete the set-up for the
vid-player, Naruto,� he scolded.
�� The look he
got, all melting eyes and sad frown almost made him cave. He shrugged it off
and told himself he should have left the village the moment he�d caught sight
of Naruto after he�d arrived. Sasuke traipsed wetly into the living room and
then the bathroom, shutting the door in Naruto�s face as he tried to follow.
�� Sasuke!�
he complained from outside the door. Sasuke smiled amusedly from his side and
left the disc on the counter as he prepared to shower.
�� When he
came out again, Naruto danced in front of the door on the balls of his feet.
Sasuke shoved him into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He listened to
the wood nearly crack as Naruto shouted at him and pounded on it for all of
five seconds. The moment he heard the water turn back on, he headed for the
kitchen. About an hour later and Sasuke and Naruto had both eaten, showered and
dressed. The vid-player was set up and had converted
the disc and copied it onto one of the blank ones Sasuke had had the foresight
to buy. Naruto hovered over the play button for an instant before Sasuke
pressed his finger down for him with his own on top of it. They sat back and
watched the screen come to life, first in electric blue and then the start of
whatever his father had recorded.
�� A woman
with long, red hair and a shapeless tan dress on hummed in front of the camera.
She turned and twisted to dance across the floor, her arms encircling her waist
protectively. The face that came into view when she whirled to meet the
camera�s eye was familiar. Sasuke had seen her before, inside Naruto�s head.
She was Kushina, Naruto�s mother. He heard a gasp from next to him on the couch
and reached a hand out to play along the ridge of Naruto�s knuckles. They had
tensed up and curled over to form a fist atop his thigh and Sasuke eased the
fingers out to clasp them in his own. He swallowed when the woman turned again
to smile for the camera though it didn�t seem she could see it. Her singing
drifted through the speakers a little louder. It was a haunting, lilting ballad
that Sasuke did not recognize. Although, to be fair, he�d never gone to any of
Konoha�s festivals let alone any from the various towns he�d been in.
�� Land of bear and land of eagle.
�� Land that gave us birth and blessing.
�� Land that called us ever homewards.
�� We will go
home across the mountains.�
�� The last
line repeated a few times before she half-hummed, half-sung the last lilting
notes. Sasuke could hear strings come up behind those notes, even though no
music accompanied her. The smile she gave off, so full of majesty and hope, it
shone from her. It was then that Sasuke realized she was pregnant. Not heavily
so, but enough for anyone to notice. Her face canted to the side and down to
shed that same glow on her swollen belly. Sasuke sucked in a quiet breath and
turned to search Naruto�s face. He watched the delight, and the pain, war with
each other. He watched the glistening, unshed tears color his eyes. Naruto�s
hand came out to trace along her hair. Though his fingertips never touched the
screen, his eyes slid closed for a moment as though he could feel his way
through it. They opened again quickly and Sasuke knew it was because he didn�t
want to miss a single thing. That was silly, of course. They had the disc now.
But Sasuke fought the urge to turn his head back to the set all the same.
Instead, he lifted his eyes up and down, back and forth, tracking all the
changes. So many, too many emotions for any one person, but Naruto�s eyes were
lit by them all from within. It was close to that same glow. Sasuke envied it.
A gasp from the television brought Sasuke�s attention back to the screen in
time to see Kushina grab her belly and rub at it.
�� Now, now, Naruto. Quiet down. I�m almost done with your
room, don�t worry. I�m so excited to see you. Your father is too,� she crooned.
�� Though, if
he gets too excited,� she whispered down at her unborn son, �you can always
shout at him to calm down, or yell for me. I�ll smack him a good one until he
does.�
�� Kushina!�
a male voice shouted from off-screen. Naruto�s mother gave a very un-lady-like
squawk that had them both laughing at her. Her eyes had gone doe-like and wide
as she spun up to stare at the camera.
�� What on
earth are you doing?� the same man from before said amusedly. Sasuke got the
feeling he was trying very hard to hold in his laughter.
�� Kushina�s
eyes turned hard and glinted in the overhead light of whatever room she was in.
Sasuke studied it momentarily and decided it was supposed to be a nursery. That
made sense from what she had just said. White curtains, a pale, bright blue painted
on the walls, and were those blue bunnies on the border? Yes, definitely a
nursery.
�� Sasuke
watched Kushina throw the paint roller from a nearby cabinet draped in a
painter�s cloth at, presumably, Minato. It fell short, apparently, as they
heard rich laughter and then giggling,
again off-screen.
�� Oh no,�
the man gasped out between fits of giggles, �I�m,� more laughter, �I�m sorry,
my love. But it was too good.�
�� They heard
a rustling and the voice came clearer and from further up, as if he�d bent over
to try to curtail the mirth and had now stood. A hand came on-screen and held
her chin so her eyes tilted upward. They were very blue, but darker than
Naruto�s, and filled with boundless anger. The hand rubbed at the skin beneath
them and they softened. Naruto�s hand stretched out again and Sasuke felt
sorrow well in his stomach. There was also some manner of resentment too. But
he ignored it, and soon, it died. A swath of gold hair came into view as the
hand on the camera must have twisted or moved around to get a better vantage
point. All they saw for a few seconds was a lot of blue and light pouring
through the large window behind the two adults. Then, a slightly blurred kiss
came into view between a smiling face very much like Naruto�s and Kushina. The
same blue eyes Sasuke saw every day now turned toward the camera. There was a
lot of expression in those eyes as well, and Sasuke felt almost angry that they
could do that. The man laughed and hugged Kushina to him from around the
shoulders.
�� Good night,
Naruto. I have to go see about putting your mother to bed now.� A finger waved
in front of them suddenly and Minato�s eyes turned stern.
�� But you
listen to her. Or she�ll blame me and I�m not about to put another wall back up
in this house.�
�� Sasuke shuddered
a little. He could almost imagine the strong aura a woman such as that could
give off.
�� Don�t say
those things, Minato. He�s not going to see any of this, especially not with
you man-handling me!� But the quick peck on the cheek she gave him said differently.
Minato turned to beseech his wife, hurt playing up in his eyes even as he
fought not to smile.
�� Huh? Wha-? But
I promised I�d show him everything, Kushina! You can�t make me a liar! It
wouldn�t be fair!�
�� Kushina
snorted good-naturedly and smiled, squeezing Minato�s shoulders in a warm hug.
They looked exactly as Sasuke thought they would, like a family. Little Naruto,
safe in the womb, was pressed firmly between them. They shared another kiss as
Minato glanced at the camera out of one eye. The picture froze on their faces
then, blurring them again slightly before turning to the electric blue that
signaled the end of the disc. But what they had seen of them at the end had
remained clear enough to take in the joy and that same glow Kushina had donned
at the start. It was all so beautiful that Sasuke had trouble keeping up with
it. And if he felt like that . . .
�� Sasuke
shifted and grabbed for Naruto�s face, tilting it up to search it quietly and
deftly. He felt the sorrow for his friend reach his own eyes and he ached to
pull it all away from them both. Naruto grabbed for his wrists and pulled his
hands away gently. He smiled and it was one of joy tempered by only the tiniest
bit of sorrow. His chest hurt. He didn�t want Sasuke to see it. His whole body
was at war with itself. His mind wanted to scream for all the overwhelming
things turning inside it. He felt his throat burning and closing up, making it
hard to speak. But that was fine. He didn�t think he could find the words
anyway.
�� When he�d first
seen his mother alight on the screen he�d been surprised, almost unpleasantly
so. It had been so sad, so beautiful, so wrong, to see her so clearly and not
be able to know what her touch felt like. He missed it. That sounded odd but he
did. He missed many things that people had told him he shouldn�t, because he�d
never known them to begin with. He missed her smile, her laugh, and her touch.
He wanted to know them. He couldn�t wrap his mind around having seen his father
as of yet, still unable to fully take in who he had been. He felt the ache grow
and the sorrow he�d been fighting off filled his heart to brimming. Still, no
one on earth could take this from him now that he had seen it. And for that, he
would thank Kakashi until the day he died. He smiled at Sasuke wider, fighting
to keep from grinding his teeth. A lone sob escaped his mouth, traitor that it
was. Sasuke pulled Naruto�s head down to his shoulder and held it there, for a
very long time. And though neither of them shed any tears, it was just as
cathartic. He heard Naruto mumble something against the cloth of his shirt and
had to lean back so he could catch it the second time.
�� What was that, Naruto?�
�� Naruto
shook his head and looked away. He couldn�t handle his feelings betraying him
again, not right now.
�� Never
mind, I shouldn�t have said it to begin with,� he whispered.
�� Sasuke
tipped his head up with his slender fingers. They felt cold on his skin, a
welcome relief from the sudden heat he knew had risen when he�d fought to hold
everything in.
�� Tell me.�
Sasuke�s voice was quiet, strange and quiet.
�� Naruto
hesitated again. He did not want to test the fragile limits of their budding
affair. They had been through enough of them already.
�� Do you
love me?�
�� Sasuke�s
question caught him by surprise and Naruto swiveled his head back to stare at
him.
�� Yes,� he
whispered, his heart pounding out of his chest.
�� Then you
can tell me. Besides, I want to know. I do.�
�� Naruto saw
the concern in his eyes clearly now. If he could just find the right words to
ask . . . He angled his head to the side, trying to escape Sasuke�s eyes. They
followed him anyway.
�� What . .
,� he started then sealed his mouth, lips thinning into a grimace. Sasuke held
his breath, sure that the sound alone would chase away whatever Naruto found so
hard to say.
�� What did
it feel like, when she held you?� Naruto asked quietly.
�� Sasuke had
to strain just to hear him. He released the breath he�d been holding as
silently as possible and took in another. His brow creased in thought. He�d
never been close enough to any of the other kunoichi to allow contact. Then it
hit him. He glanced back at the blue screen and sighed. Naruto, away from the
intense scrutiny of Sasuke�s talented vision, flinched.
�� Turning his
head back to face his lover, Sasuke smiled a little, remembering. His eyes slid
closed and Naruto watched, unable to stay the fascination from overreaching the
sorrow. Well, it almost did anyway.
�� It felt
warm, and good. It was . . . ,� Sasuke paused, searching.
�� Safe,� he decided
finally.
�� Naruto
tried to smile, even though he didn�t fully understand what that meant. He
supposed it was close to the feeling he�d had when Iruka had held onto him
loosely after the Forbidden Scroll incident. Sasuke�s instincts told him what
his eyes couldn�t see. He reached out and gathered Naruto�s shoulders to him
and helped him off the couch. Smiling again to reassure him he held up a hand
and asked Naruto to wait. The stereo they had purchased along with the other
electronic equipment had been the first to get set-up in their home. He�d
thought about it when he�d realized a piano would probably be out of his reach,
at least until thy could get a few missions to off-set all the spending.
�� When he�d
set the music to play and lowered the lid, Sasuke turned to grab hold of
Naruto�s hand. Naruto stared at him curiously.
�� Sasuke,
what are you doing?�
�� You�ll
see,� Sasuke intoned. It�s far past time
for that, he thought to himself.�
�� Sasuke lead
Naruto onto the hard wood of the floor near the dining alcove. Placing a hand
at his back, he changed the position of their joined hands until thy rested on
his chest. Leaning his head down to Naruto�s shoulder, he began to sway to the
soft jazz flowing out of the speaker. The music cast out and over them like
cool water. A gentle wake followed them as they shifted and progressed along
the floor. Naruto shifted in Sasuke�s grip to lean his own head onto his chest
and bring their bodies closer, until they touched. Sasuke�s arms left their
place to curl around Naruto�s shoulders firmly. Circling the room in gentle,
nonsense patterns, they held onto each other. Arms came around Sasuke�s waist
lightly and swirled circles at his back before settling just above his
buttocks. He felt the shaking in the body close to him subside completely and
smiled. They had stopped moving and yet continued to embrace as the music
swelled and swam through the air. Both of them ignored it when the tracks
changed, when the disc began again, even when the light changed subtly around them.
An eternity of moments later, Naruto looked up at Sasuke�s face and smiled
warmly at him. This time, there was nothing there but a flash of gratitude.��
�� Thank
you,� Naruto murmured, reaching up to curl his knuckles against Sasuke�s cheek.
Sasuke leaned forward to kiss his fingers as Naruto took his hand away. He
leaned forward more to grasp his lips in a tender kiss.
�� You�re
welcome,� he answered back softly.

�� The next
morning dawned gray and cool. Whether it was the loss of the sun or the
emotional tides of the day before, Naruto could not seem to drag himself out of bed until far past ten. Sasuke standing over
him and frowning grimly had helped. Naruto chuckled and threw a pillow at his
head, the stuffing all bunched up in one corner from his restless sleeping
habits. Sasuke caught it deftly and threw it back. A playful smirk had
blossomed on his face in the interim and Naruto jacked his body out of the
covers to slide into the bathroom before they could start a full out pillow
war. A nervous excitement had started in his stomach since he�d realized it was
morning. They would have to see Tsunade today. He hadn�t spoken to her at all
yet. Though, he had a feeling she�d been keeping tabs on him and not with any
of her trusted ANBU either. Naruto recalled Sasuke peering at him from time to
time while they�d been away, as if he were committing things to memory to
analyze later or something. But maybe that had been about Sasuke and his
uncertainties. Naruto knew how worried he�d made him; just as he knew that more
than only Sasuke had begun to feel that way lately.
�� Turning the
faucet in the shower, he inhaled deeply as he stepped into the spray of hot
water. That would definitely have to change. A leader, a compassionate
protector, did not need to be looked after so closely. He would have to make
sure Tsunade and the others understood that. Today was as good a chance as he
would get. Shaking the water from his shoulders and hair worked to release the
rest of the nervous edge from his muscles. Naruto dressed quickly in his
training gear and left the room, calmer and brighter than before, to walk down
the stairs and greet his lover properly. The mood of the evening before had
settled into a comfortable atmosphere and neither of them, it seemed, had
wanted to break it. They had merely relaxed for the rest of the night and
turned in to bed without more than a few chaste kisses between them. Naruto
found that he already missed the intimate contact of more passionate kissing
and guileless sex, even if they had just recently done it. ��
�� Humming as
he whipped around the corner to the kitchen, he caught Sasuke up in his hands
and delved into his mouth deeply. The kiss had surprised the other boy. His
muscles had stiffened at first, only to relax and play into the firm pressure
of Naruto�s mouth on him. Their mouths opened and closed to nip and seal
against each other sporadically. Sasuke felt desire stir in his groin, but
ignored it and pushed back at Naruto�s chest lightly. They were both breathing
heavier and Sasuke swallowed as Naruto backed off to lean against the counter.
He looked stunned.
�� What was
that for?� Sasuke asked, finding the subtle hint of amusement he heard in his
own voice suddenly annoying.
�� Uh, just a
good morning greeting?� Naruto answered hopefully. He shook his head free of
the pleasant buzzing the contact had set alight there.
�� Huh,�
Sasuke answered. He turned back to the eggs in the fryer he�d been turning and
set them on a plate. �That�s some way to say it.�
�� He didn�t
sound pissed, so Naruto relaxed. Soon though, he was jiggling a foot on top of
a thigh and pushing the eggs around aimlessly as he watched Sasuke eat from
across the table.
�� Stop that,
Naruto. I know you�re nervous about what the Godaime has to say, but it�ll be
fine. So don�t worry,� Sasuke had finally snapped.
�� Naruto
jumped a little before frowning and crossing his arms.
�� I�m not
worried. Who said I care about that anyway?� But he was considerably less
agitated when they finally made it out the door some fifteen minute later and
began the trek across the rooftops to the Hokage Tower.
��
�� Tsunade
gazed out the window, waiting. Naruto was scheduled to see her in a few minutes
and she wondered how he had progressed. Oh, she�d been kept in the loop by
Kakashi and Sasuke, but that was not the same as seeing it for herself. A knock at the door broke her from her meandering
thoughts and she turned to greet her most troubling, and most promising, Genin
ninja.
�� Come in,�
she called, not able to keep the authority out of her voice completely.
Balancing the needs of the village against the possible detriment of a few had
both weakened and hardened her. She knew that it could not show, but when it
came to her favorite brat she could at least moderate that much. Naruto and
Sasuke entered the room in the same stride. They both looked well, or healthy
at any rate. Naruto would not look up from the ground as he came in and that
surprised and alarmed her. She studied them as they stood before her and made
her decision.
�� I
understand that you�ve been training while living in that village to the south,
Gure-pu Sawa was it?�
�� Naruto
looked up at her quickly, and then at Sasuke before glaring angrily at him.
Sasuke had motioned to him with his hands, resolutely facing the side wall at
the same time. It was a promising sign, if not a bit confusing.
�� I�m going
to test that training. You�ll meet with Kakashi at Training Field 10, in half
an hour,� she finished. Her fingers came up to steeple at her desktop while she
sat back to observe them for a moment. Naruto was staring at her as if he
wanted to say something. He cast his eyes to the side, frowning, and she leaned
forward again.
�� I�m sure
that you are very angry with me. You have every right to be. Both
of you.� She included Sasuke with a look but he bowed his head
stubbornly.
�� I don�t
have anything to say to make it any different. Or rather, there�s nothing I can
say that will make any of it disappear or that would atone for my actions. I
cannot speak for any of the other elders or Kages
either. I�m not looking for redemption here. I don�t deserve it, not from you.
But I can apologize. I did only what
I thought was best for you both, not just physically, but to protect your state
of mind as well,� she paused, unsure of whether or not she should keep going.
Pushing the issue just a little further, hoping it wouldn�t create a rift in
their mending, she moved on.
�� I know
that it is not enough, that it will never be enough, but that�s all I�m able to
offer you. I�m sorry. I�m sorry, Naruto, Sasuke, for what has been done to you
and your families.�
�� Naruto
clenched his fists at her words. They seeped through his skin into his bones
and he was suddenly very tired. It was far too much work, staying angry for so
long. He wondered how Sasuke had managed it and not died from the exhausting
effort. He looked up to try to find Sasuke�s eyes, but they held nothing for
him. Sasuke�s fingers played out words instead. �I�ll leave it up to you. It�s
your decision, what we do next.�
�� Naruto had
no idea how hard that had been to do. He had no concept of what lay in Sasuke�s
mind, or the strength he had lost in giving in to defeat, to the anger, only to
let it all pass away. Sasuke knew it was that, or perish while still breathing.
And that was something he would not, could not accept as a possible future
anymore. Naruto sighed and Sasuke turned to look at him.
�� I don�t
hate you. I�m just not sure . . . ,� he grimaced as if the words were foul,
�I�m just not sure if I like you right now.�
�� Tsunade
nodded, satisfied.
�� I
understand.� And she did. If it had not been for the losses she had suffered in
her own life, she might not have. So she had that small compensation for all
the heartache. It served her well, apparently.
�� You don�t
have to do anything you aren�t ready for, or don�t want. But if you no longer
feel you are able to do your job as a fellow guard and soldier, I need to know,
Naruto. Sasuke, as well. Do you wish to accept a new
mission from me, and follow my orders from now until I am no longer able to
lead you? Can you trust my judgment?�
�� She was
asking honestly, from what Sasuke could see. He knew enough of politics to
understand that openly allowing for a subordinate to make the choice she had
offered was akin to raising them on the same level. She held that much respect
for them. He nodded to Naruto who raised his head and gave her the same
defiant, determined stare he�d held so many times before.
�� We
accept.�
�� Good.� She
nodded at them in dismissal before turning to smile out the window. That had
gone far better than she had hoped. Now it was up to Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke
to find their way onto a solid perch among the community. Naruto�s
perseverance, while not surprising, had shed more light on the man he was fast
becoming. It was worthy of remembering, and not just so she could let the
counsel in on her plans.
�
�� Kakashi
leaned against the post in the middle of Training Field 10. He�d arrived at
twelve sharp. So where were his young charges? The book he so jealously guarded
and re-read at every chance lay on the stump at his feet. He had not felt the
urge to pick it up in ages. Only recently had he thought to re-visit the
characters inside the pages. Although, he knew of at least one romance that he
could stand to see more of instead. The thought made him smile and chuckle
softly. A voice from his left drew him away and he winked into the shadows.
�� What�s so
funny, Kakashi-sensei?� Naruto boomed at him from the treetops. A brisk wind
blew hard at the Jounin�s back and he felt two bodies come in to brush against
his shoulders before pulling back to materialize in front of him. Well, that was interesting, Kakashi
mused. Sasuke smirked up at him and
Naruto tilted his head to the side, a serious glint in his eyes. Kakashi
approved immensely.
�� Right,
you�re late. Let�s get started. A training exercise.
The two of you will fight each other until I call for a stop. Got it?�
�� They both
nodded.
�� Kakashi
waited until they had assumed a fighting stance while facing each other.
�� Go!�
�� Sasuke
disappeared in a whirl of motion to reappear near Naruto�s body only to be
driven back by wind. He skittered on the ground, his sandals finding purchase
in the rough earth and then leaping up to counter a thrown kunai with one of
his own. The speed at which they both moved was amazing. Fluid muscles working
and bunching under their clothes carried them forward and back across the area
effortlessly. Naruto held his hand out and called up a slicing wind that rent
the trees apart behind where Sasuke had been standing moments before. Sasuke
had called out a fire technique and Naruto used a minor water bomb to quench
it. Where he had gotten it Kakashi had no clue. Probably a side note in
Minato�s journal. The next attack came from the ground as Naruto repeated a
move he�d used in the Chunin exams to come up behind Sasuke. But he�d been
ready for it, or had simply moved fast enough away in order to spin on his toes
and catch Naruto in a roundhouse. But the clone poofed
as it dissipated from a chop to the throat and Naruto was now standing behind
Sasuke, a kunai at his throat. Sasuke, however, smiled. He threw an elbow back
toward Naruto�s head, who then ducked, twisted and dove under it to slam his
fist into Sasuke�s side. But it didn�t fully connect. Kakashi knew that Sasuke
had seen it coming and managed to shift his weight to the right enough to make
it a glancing blow.
�� The
Sharingan blazed and it was wholly different from the one Kakashi had seen him
use before, even stronger than the Mangenkyo. He
could feel the pull as Sasuke fought to counter moves Naruto threw at him
ferociously. Naruto was smiling as well and the fight continued into the air.
Sasuke gasped and struggled against the wind catching at his feet. It swirled
around him and he could no longer control the chakra necessary to hold the
Ultimate Sharingan, as he�d dubbed it. The wind chakra faded and wavered.
Naruto appeared below Sasuke to catch his foot, breathing heavily. They both
rose in the air then. And Kakashi held his breath at the sight of them
battling.
�� Swinging
Sasuke�s leg down and then back around so his head pointed at the earth, Naruto
twirled them both a few times before slamming Sasuke back to the ground in a
furious, bone-crunching hit. Before Sasuke could bring the Sharingan back into
play to steal the movements, Naruto brought his hands together in a series of
seals and called out a massive wave of air that slammed into Sasuke, who
countered with a fireball that cut threw it. The wave of heat and flames
morphed and changed from the extra oxygen. A living entity more dangerous than
the dragon it took the form of, it let out an ear-splitting roar as it charged
down Naruto. Or, the clone he had set up at the start. Kakashi had seen it,
which meant that Sasuke had too. More water enveloped the dragon from seemingly
nowhere and the hissing mist it created blanketed the ground before whirling
into nothing.
�� Kakashi,
his own Sharingan activated, saw the two of them dodging kicks and hits strong
enough to put a Jounin out of work for weeks. Kunai swiped the air in front of
their faces and Sasuke looked ready to spin out the wire for another fire
technique he was fond of. A smile from Naruto, and he hesitated. Arms came to
wrap around him from behind, a whisper even Kakashi�s well trained ears
couldn�t catch and Sasuke barked out a laugh before flipping Naruto over his
shoulders onto the ground and holding him there with his foot.
�� Alright,
enough,� Kakashi called out. They had been going at it for more than two hours
as it was and he had one last mission to deliver the new Genin training
assignments to Ibiki before the end of the day. The fact that he still hadn�t
done them was not his fault. Naruto�s clone disappeared in a hail of smoke and
Sasuke looked around for a moment. He hid the surprise well, but Kakashi had
not let on how well he still knew his students. Naruto jumped down from a
branch in the oak tree to their left and three more clones alighted from
various perches or crouches around the field. Sasuke seemed to be counting them
and nodded. So, he had seen those, as well, and where they had gone off to. Yes, this will make for a very interesting
week, indeed, thought Kakashi. Kakashi smiled at them as they approached,
still out of breath.
�� Good. Now,
I have one more thing to say before you can go off and do whatever it is your
little hearts desire.� Sasuke dropped his head and Naruto muttered under his
breath while stealing sideways glances at him. Kakashi smiled wider.
�� Report
here tomorrow at six a.m.
sharp. I have a form for you to fill out. You�ll need it, for the exams.�
�� Kakashi
released the technique to let his clone disappear without explaining further,
not that he felt he had to. Sasuke stared at the place where Kakashi had been
with his mouth open slightly. A snickering that turned into full-out, belted
laughter caught him up and he turned the stare on Naruto. Delight and pure
excitement burned in his eyes. Sasuke smiled, feeling it rub off a little on
him. Well, now this should be fun, he thought as he struggled to drag his
erstwhile teammate away. Naruto, meanwhile, had started to babble in his ear
about what they would do, and how they would do it during the upcoming fights.
Sasuke listened with only half an ear. But the grin on his face spoke loud
enough for Naruto to understand just fine.

AN: Finally! I�ve
been waiting for this coming chapter to get here for forever! You�ll all be in
for some great fun now! That is, those of you that have read up until now. I�ve
been wanting to do this part from almost the very beginning, cause really, Kishi never let us know how the Exams would go if you don�t
have a full team, like when Sakura made it. And I wondered, and then I
wondered, and next chapter you get to read what came out of it!
- 18
- 19
- 20
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The Fall of the Dogs of War