• 1-Part 1
• 2-Part 2
• 3-Part 3
• 4-Part 4
• 5-Part 5
• 6-Part 6
• 7-Part 7

It was quieter, when Saigo was gone. Unlike when he was simply gone to school and would return home near the end of the day, and would return home near the end of the day, missions as of late would take him away for days, or even weeks at a time. It had been a difficulty--although he would never admit just how difficult--the first time that his had gone on a long term mission. But he had adjusted, just as he did when any variation entered his routine. He cooked meals for one, rather than two, and spent hours training himself, when before he would have been training Saigo. The long term quiet was neither harsh nor unbearable; simply something he was no longer accustomed to after so many years.

They’ll be here soon, he thought to himself, based on the passing of time measured by his internal clock, which had also been adjusted and perfected over time. There were no calendars or clocks in his home-none were needed when both he and his son were capable of going on without them-but he still knew what day it was and what time of day exactly. As the year went by, it had become like second nature. And so, when he heard the near inaudible footsteps on his back porch-they attempted to neither hide nor expose themselves-he was already waiting with the door open.

“You’re late,” he spoke before his two visitors.

“Only by ten minutes,” the first replied, his face covered by a hawk mask that was not needed, while his partner bore one of a wolf.

The second stepped forward, brandishing two brown bags that she set down on the kitchen table. “Your groceries for the next week, Tezuka.”

The man nodded and reached out to remove packages from within the bags. He noticed there was also more food present than what he was usually brought to him when he was home alone. “Saigo is not due home until the end of the week,” he reminded them.

“The mission to Suna finished earlier than expected,” Hawk replied. “Konohamaru-san and his team shall be in Konoha by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I see,” the man said, not emotional inclination present.

“Godaime-sama has decided to enlist the help of another medic-nin,” Hawk told him. “She specializes in treatment to the eyes and has proven herself trustworthy enough to maintain the code.”

Tezuka didn’t really care about the efforts of the former Hokage, seeing as her experiments were for medical benefit rather than his own. He had already come to accept his position and saw no point in the continuous attempts on her part to fix it. Perhaps it was her own guilt that drove her ambitions, but that was also due to her own honor system that meant very little to him.

“You may tell her that it is not necessary, although it is unlikely that she will care about my opinion in the matter,” he said. Of course she wouldn’t. His opinion had not mattered in the past ten years.

Wolf seemed confused at the raven-haired man’s words. Tezuka knew from her scent and demeanor that she was a recent addition to the team that was ordered to watch over him. “Do you prefer being blind?” she asked.

Tezuka moved to put away the groceries in the places that he knew they belonged: all cold packages and vegetables in the fridge, all boxes in the two cabinets, and the fruit in the basket on the counter. Most would not believe he was blind, because of the absolute precision in which he moved about his home and was able to decipher actually what went where, but there were many tricks that he had learned over the years. There were times when even he himself forgot his ‘handicap’ and would open his eyes to complete darkness. But they were not often, as he usually made sure to never open them. He had found that out the hard way.

“It something that I have already become accustomed to,” the man said. “I am no longer in a position where sight is required.”

Hawk gave a brief nod, stepping back so that he and his partner could leave. “I’ll relay your message, but as you said, she probably won’t care,” his tone was like that of a smooth drawl, uncaring, but willing to do as he was asked. “Until next week, Tezuka.”

The man finished setting the last apple in the basket, but didn’t turn in their direction. The two walked back out onto the back porch and Hawk wasn’t sure if he heard the quiet, “Until then, Shikamaru.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hokage-sama!”

Barely anyone paid any mind to the blonde who was running through the halls of the Hokage Tower, eyes wide as if he had seen the most terrifying thing in his life. To the ninja who worked there, it was a common occurrence when their leader—known, perhaps ironically, as the strongest ninja in Konoha—was trying to sneak off into the village, but his assistant wanted him to work. To some, it was amusing to see the great Hokage ruin in fear of his rather petite, but strong-willed young assistant, Moegi. To Uzumaki Naruto, it was a daily reminder of the worst decision of his life.

I should have KNOWN that Sakura would get to her! He berated himself once more as he ducked down another corridor and into a room filled with books, blank scrolls, and other stationary and literacy items. A study. She would never look for him here. With a small smirk on his face, he quietly shut the door behind him and hurried over to the window.

Opening it as wide as he could, he realized that it was rather small, but still big enough for him to squeeze through-and he did literally mean squeeze. Naruto let out a weary sigh. The things I go through to get a ramen break, he thought. Pushing himself through the window head first, arms out before him so he could channel chakra and hold onto the outside wall. It was slightly harder to fit the rest of his upper body through the rectangular opening, particularly due to his broad chest that was getting stuck. Stupid body…won’t fit…he thought in frustration, pulling with his arms and using chakra to force it. He knew that if he didn’t manage to get out soon, someone would recognize his charka signature and his attempt would be ruined.

After a few more moments of desperate struggling, he was able to force himself completely out the window and got to his feet, still sticking to the side of the building as he quickly scaled down the wall. He jumped when he neared ten feet from the ground and landed in a smooth, although not very graceful, manner. Standing up, he patted himself down, shaking the dirt and dust from his clothes and gave a quick look around. He had exited at the back of the building, which meant that less people would be watching, and of those that were, none would actually squeal on him. That meant he had only so much time before Moegi realized he was out of the building and hunted him down at Ichiraku. I have to move fast.

With a sigh of relief, Naruto walked down the nearest alley and then down another, using the back ways to make his way as quickly and as unnoticeable as possible. Once he reached the alley just behind the ramen stand, he knew he was in the clear so he stepped around and pulled back the waist high curtain…

Only to get a fist to the face.

The shock and unexpectedness threw him backwards, but he knew it lacked the power behind it that could have been there, so it was not hard to catch himself.

“Sakura!” he cried out, clutching his abused cheek. “Why did you do that?!”

“That’s what you get for making poor Moegi chase you around all day just to get you to do your JOB!” she raised a fist as if threatening to hit him again. “Need I remind you that it is a job that you have been insisting you would get since you were five?”

“But I need my ramen!” He told her, eyes wobbling with the tears of a crocodile. “I changed my diet like you told me to, I do finish my work all of the—well most of the time—and I just spent three days putting up with annoying nobles from Mountain Country! All I ask is to be able to have ONE hour, just ONE hour, to eat as much ramen as I want at Ichiraku. Is that so hard to ask?”

It was the eyes. He knew that it was his eyes that did her in. Over the years he had become very adept at knowing which empathies of Sakura to appeal to. Sometimes she caught on and tried to beat him to a bloody pulp, but usually he was able to garner reluctant agreement. Of course, Sakura didn’t see it as giving in and if he were ever to tell her so, a fist to the face would be more akin to being flicked on the nose by your elderly aunt-although only if said elderly aunt wasn’t Tsunade or Sakura as a flick on the nose from them was likely to break said nose and throw you back a few kilometers.

Sakura was purposefully not looking at him. This always meant that she didn’t want to give in. I guess I’ll have to work harder, Naruto decided.

“Please, Sakura,” he begged, eyes widening with what appeared to be tears and desperation. “I just want to eat some ramen.”

And she was his.

“All right,” she sighed, “but only an hour here. After that you have to get back to work.”

“Yes, Sakura-chan!” he grinned, “Why don’t you join me?” He took her arm and led her back into the ramen stand.

She gave a brief shrug. “I was coming to see you anyway,” she replied. “That’s how I found out that you ran out on poor Moegi.” With that she gave him a cutting stare.

“I needed to get away for a while,” he told her. “I know ‘Baa-chan got more breaks than I do. Shizune’s got nothing on Moegi.”

“That’s because she has a more idolized vision of the Hokage than you do,” Sakura stated. “You filled her head with all that stuff about how great a Hokage you would be as a kid, and now she’s making sure you follow through.”

“Hey! That was Konohamaru!” Naruto retorted. “I filled his head and he did it to Moegi and Udon.” He then turned to the young woman, Ayame, who had taken over running the Ichiraku when her father became to elderly to do it himself. “Ayame-nee-chan, how about two orders of miso?”

“Coming right up, Hokage-sama,” she gave him a wink and immediately went to task. She called him by his title no matter what, even though he had often told her not to. Perhaps she did it on purpose. Scratch that. He knew she did it on purpose.

Unlike his younger self, who would have drooled in impatience while waiting for his food to be ready, Naruto didn’t even bother to watch the ramen-making process and instead turned his attention to Sakura, once more. “Why were you looking for me?” he asked.

Again, she shrugged. “It’s my day off,” she explained. Of course, Naruto then understood. Lee had just left on a mission two days ago and Lin had been gone for two weeks. Sakura always showed up when the house was ‘empty’. It wasn’t like they didn’t spend time together otherwise, but when she was alone—with no work or family to occupy her—Sakura always flocked to Naruto for companionship. It was something they had done for almost fifteen years. Routine born of not just being cell mates, but also from their shared loss.

Sasuke…

The name, and its owner, was a part of his thoughts more often than not. It had been nearly seventeen years since his defection and thirteen since he completely disappeared. No one knew what became of him after the reports that he had escaped from Orochimaru. He had simply faded into the background and was rarely talked about, let alone searched for. Naruto always hoped that since the death of Itachi, Sasuke had gone somewhere to live peacefully, move on with his life. He tried not to acknowledge the pangs in his chest that Sasuke was moving on without them…without him.

“Naruto,” Sakura’s voice pulled him from his musings. He shook the thoughts form his mind and grinned his same, wide smile he was so known for—well, not including the orange clothing and ramen obsession.

“Guess what?” he told her with a wink. “I just got a report from Konohamaru the day before yesterday. They’re done early and should be back tomorrow.”

The pink-haired woman’s eyes widened before she herself gave an elegant smile that was filled with relief. “Really? That’s great. I’ll have to prepare a good meal for Lin. Perhaps I should invite her entire team to dinner—except that brat Konohamaru.”

“Damn Sakura!” Naruto exclaimed. “So the kid called you ugly and stuff a few times. He was like nine!”

“He’s also a bigger pervert than Kakashi who likes to try and corrupt young children by teaching them Sexy no Jutsu. I wonder where he learned that from?”

Naruto gave weak laugh, hand running through his shoulder-length hair embarrassedly. For a moment, he reminded himself that he needed to get it cut. It was starting to get too long. “Well Sakura-chan…” Naruto smirked. “You never know when a kid might need a better disguise than just henge.”

“Then perhaps it’s best that I teach Lin the Reverse Sexy no Jutsu.” By the look in her eyes, Naruto couldn’t tell if she was serious or not.

“No!” he shook his head. “You promised never to reveal that jutsu after Ino tried to hit on you!”

“Well, a better disguise would be for to act like a boy, not a girl with huge breasts no brains.”

Naruto didn’t know whether to laugh or feel insulted. The Reverse Sexy no Jutsu was a technique the two had come upon completely by accident while doing an undercover mission in Grass Country. Naruto had been parading about as a flamboyant, air-headed young waitress and Sakura had been keeping a low profile. She had finally gotten fed up with hiding around while Naruto did all of the work and told their mission leader that she wanted to participate more. Said leader had told her that henge wasn’t enough, because the mission required being in close quarters with people, most of whom were ninja. Henge was a disguise than any chuunin or higher level ninja could see through. That was when she told Naruto to teach her Sexy no Jutsu.

It had only taken a week for her to get down the technique, but Naruto had boasted to teaching Konohamaru in just one day. And Sakura, being Sakura, did not take well to the not-really-criticism. In her anger, she done the hand signals too fast and mixed one up, therefore not transforming into a big-breasted girl, but a tall, well-built—and rather well-endowed—young man. Of course their mission leader had found the entire predicament hilarious. If he had been any slower, Kakashi would have dealt with a male version of the freakily strong Sakura’s fist.

After realizing exactly where and how she had screwed up the jutsu, Sakura had actually used the new technique for the mission and once they had returned to Konoha. She was fascinated by how no one had recognized her-not even Kiba and Akamaru, seeing as Sexy no Jutsu actually changed your physical make-up and therefore your scent. It was only after she had walked into the Yamanaka Flower Shop and been promptly ‘molested’ by her other best friend, Ino, that she swore never to use it again. She had not needed to know that Ino found exotic hair colors sexy.

“How has Lin been doing anyway?” Naruto tried to change the subject just as their meals were served. “I haven’t been over in a while so I haven’t gotten to see how she and her team have been doing.”

“From what she says,” the woman replied, “wonderfully, although she uses more descriptive words for it.” Shaking her head, “She’s starting to act more like Lee everyday.”

“Hey,” Naruto laughed; his mouth filled of noodles. He swallowed his mouthful and wrapped a hand around her shoulders. “She took after you in all the ways that count.” Now, he wasn’t sure if that was exactly true, but Lin did take after her mother quite a bit. While she had her father’s dark hair, she had her mother’s eyes, physical build-meaning no bushy eyebrows, and talent with genjutsu. Her prowess in taijutsu was only due to the training she insisted she take with her father from the time she had learned how to walk. Lin was most definitely a daddy’s girl. To her, Lee walked on water, even though he didn’t have chakra.

Sakura smiled at him. “Lin and Lee have more in common,” she said. “But that doesn’t matter, as Lee pretty much worships her and gives her whatever she wants. I’m glad she’s not a rotten brat by now.”

“And what about her team?” Naruto asked. “From the reports, they’re working well together, but you probably see more of them than I have.” Actually, he had only seen Konohamaru’s team together twice. While he might be Naruto’s second-in-command, Konohamaru was rather enigmatic when it came to his team. If someone saw them together on the street, he or she wouldn’t realize it, but Konohamaru took his role as leader of his team very seriously. And that was why he knew he had made the right decision in forcing him to become an instructor that year.

“Actually, I don’t see her team together all that often either,” Sakura replied. “Hikoshi is around to train with Lin, but her other teammate is the very solitary type. Lin says that he doesn’t stay around long after finishing a mission or training session.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Who is he?”

“What?” Sakura stared at him. “You mean you don’t even remember who you put on which team?!”

“Hey!” he looked affronted. “It’s hard to remember EVERY team after doing this for so long! I bet Sandaime couldn’t do it!”

“You would think that you would remember who you put on MY daughter’s team,” she huffed. “Mizono Saigo.”

“Oh, is he a nice kid?” Naruto asked. “I can’t seem to recall much about him.”

The pink-haired woman nodded, “Very kind and polite, but he just doesn’t try to spend time with them outside of their ‘work’. He says that he needs to get home and just leaves.”

Naruto shook his head. “Strict parents?”

“Wouldn’t know,” Sakura shrugged. “I’ve never met his father, who seems to be his only parent, because I’ve never heard him talk about his mother. And even then, he doesn’t say much.” Sakura cupped her chin with her hand in contemplation. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen his father, even at Parent days at the academy. He must not be a ninja.”

Naruto was finishing off his bowl of ramen, sipping down the last of the broth with a smacking noise. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “Some people don’t like mixing work and fun. He’ll come around eventually. You can’t spend so much time with Lin and not loosen up a bit. It might take a while, though. It took Lee years to get to Neji.”

Sakura smiled at his optimism. She still couldn’t help but think that something should be done soon. Long hair and blue eyes aside, Saigo reminded her so much of-

“He just seems like he should be a rather lonely boy,” she said, not willing to let her mind turn down that road.

“Should be?” Now Naruto was officially confused.

“He doesn’t try to socialize with his teammates, refuses any offers I give him to visit, and yet he doesn’t seem lonely at all,” she explained.

The more Sakura talked about the odd teammate of her daughter’s the more curious Naruto became. One thing he had never lost throughout his years was his insatiable curiosity, although it had been significantly subdued by his Hokage responsibilities. But now here was something that he could sink his teeth into, a mystery genin who seemed to have family, yet no one had ever seen his parents, and antisocial behavior that contradicted with his content demeanor. Damn Sakura… he thought. Now I’m going to go crazy thinking this over.

“I’m just worried, I guess,” Sakura finally admitted. “He seems like such a nice boy.”

The blonde stared at her, wondering just how to alleviate her motherly concern. Of course he couldn’t just go up to the boy and ask him how he was-

And suddenly he knew what he could do.

“Don’t worry, Sakura-chan,” he winked at her. “I’ve got everything figured out.”

Sakura blinked, unsure whether or not she should be concerned by his words. Instead she decided to simply ride out her best friend’s plot. It’s not like there was anything people could do to stop him. He always had been the Number One Unpredictable Ninja.

“Good,” she told him. “Because your hour is up. Time to go back to work.”

Naruto jumped up, eyes wide. “WHAT?” he exclaimed. “But I only got one bowl of ramen! And you didn’t even eat yours! YOU WASTED RAMEN! HEARTLESS!” There were even tears in his eyes.

Sakura blinked at him again. And then she started laughing so hard that she almost fell off of her stool.