Reunion

The Hokage’s office was crowded and in a general state of uproar. Tsunade sighed as debates turned into heated arguments; people speaking over one another, each convinced they knew the right thing to do. The majority of the rookie nine from Naruto’s genin year were there, as well as Team Gai, Jiraya and Shizune.

“We need to find them,” Sakura said.

“Them?” Kiba replied with a snort. “Uchiha made his decision years ago. Fuck him. We need to go find Naruto, kick his ass, and then drag the idiot back here.”

“He really just went with him?” Ino asked, looking over at Shikamaru, who was standing next to Sai with his arms folded across his chest. He’d pulled his mask off and it was attached to his hip, so his serious expression was visible to everyone in the room. “Maybe Sasuke used the Sharingan and made him?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Kakashi said to her.

“Naruto knew what he was doing,” Shikamaru said. “He helped Sasuke escape.”

They’d heard this before, but it still caused the people in the room to stir uncomfortably.

Now that it was finally quiet, and Tsunade had had adequate time to think, she spoke. “Kakashi, you’re the only one who’s trained and fought with both of them, separately and together. If we do find them – will we be able to stop them?”

Tsunade was no idiot. Both Naruto and Sasuke were terrifying in their power. And that was on their own.

“None of us know even half of what exactly Sasuke’s capabilities are at this point,” Kakashi said from where he was leaning against the wall, his one visible eye focused on Tsunade. “He can copy any jutsu, has the Sharingan, and trained under Orochimaru for three years. Naruto, while we’re all mostly aware of his abilities, does have a reputation for being Konoha’s most surprising ninja. As for the two of them together – when they weren’t fighting with each other or competing they worked more fluently than any ninjas I’ve ever seen.”

There was a long pause before Sakura spoke up. “It’s like they knew what the other was thinking. When they fought together they were completely in sync.”

Kakashi looked at Shikamaru and Sai. “You said they did a jutsu together?”

Sai nodded. “Their hands were bound, so they did the seals together instead.”

“Is that even possible?” Lee asked.

From the corner he sat in, Jiraiya finally spoke. “It takes great concentration. You have to channel your chakra just right to match the person you’re doing it with.” He looked at Kakashi and Sakura. “Have they done that before?”

Both shook their heads. “Not as far as I know,” Kakashi said.

“So basically,” Kiba said. “What you’re all saying, is that letting the two of them prance off together into the sunset was the worst fuckup ever.”

There was silence, and it was obvious they were all in agreement, though no one wanted to voice it.

“We need to find Naruto and convince him to come back,” Sakura finally said.

“He’s made his decision,” said one of Tsunade’s advisors. “He’s a missing nin now. If he’s found he needs to be treated as such.”

Sakura rounded on him angrily. “He is not a missing nin! He’d never abandon Konoha! He’s just helping Sasuke—”

“Another missing nin,” he said.

“Enough!” Tsunade barked. “Naruto is an Anbu of Konoha, a damn fine ninja, and I’m not planning to let him get away that easily.” Her advisor looked ready to argue but a stony glare silenced him. “Kiba, Hinata, I want you two to track them.” Kiba and Akamaru’s nose and Hinata’s eyes made them two of the best trackers she had.

“There’s like twenty five different paths,” Kiba said.

“Naruto can’t keep up the clones forever. Find them.”

“Hokage-sama,” spoke up a young man with long black hair, eyes as pale as his cousin’s. He was dressed in an Anbu uniform, a bird mask at his hip. “Shouldn’t an Anbu go with them? If they are forced to engage—”

“No,” Tsunade cut him off. She looked at Kiba and Hinata, who was standing next to him quietly, her hands folded together in front of her. “You will not engage. You are to find them and send word back. Stick with them until others arrive. Nothing else. Do not let them know you’re there. Understood?”

“Yes,” they both said.

“Good. Everyone’s dismissed. Stay on alert, I may call you at anytime.”

With nods and affirmations everyone disappeared. Neji looked a bit disgruntled that she’d sent his cousin, who was a chuunin, and Kiba, a jounin, without any other team members. He’d become extremely protective of her as the years had passed.

When everyone had cleared out of her office, she turned to Jiraya, who hadn’t moved from his seat in the corner. “What?”

“Why not just send Neji?” he asked. “He’s got the same eyes, and he uses them better. If they did hit trouble it’d be better to have him around.”

“Kiba and Hinata have been on the same team for six years,” she said, tossing a blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “They work well together.”

“Neji and Kiba have worked together on plenty of missions,” Jiraiya pointed out.

“He won’t fight her,” Tsunade said. She didn’t have to specify the he. “She’s the safest one to send.”

“He’s not going to come back without a fight,” Jiraiya said. “Shikamaru and Sai said it. He gave Sasuke his word.”

“Do you think Naruto would have beaten him?” she asked. “If I hadn’t told Sai to interfere would they both be here right now?” It was a question that had been bothering her since Shikamaru and Sai explained what had happened.

“What it comes down to is whether you believed that he could,” Jiraiya said with a shrug. “You didn’t. You made the call.”

That didn’t make her feel any better. “And you? Do you believe he’s powerful enough to have beaten him?”

“He’s been waiting for six years to get him home,” Jiraiya said. “Power has nothing to do with it. Naruto has always persevered against enemies much stronger than he was through will alone.”

“You think I made the wrong call.”

“You made the call you thought was right,” he said, standing and stretching. “Keep me updated.” With that he strolled out of the room.

“That wasn’t an answer,” she muttered once he was gone.

~*~*~

Naruto and Sasuke hadn’t spoken to one another since leaving Konoha. Sasuke kept thinking to himself how nice it was, not to have Naruto chattering away like an idiot the entire way, at the same time trying to shake off the entirely wrong feeling the silence elicited.

They didn’t stop for hours, making their way tree to tree through the Fire Country, until Naruto finally spoke. “What exactly is the plan here?”

“Wind Country,” Sasuke said. He braced himself for the ‘Why?’ but it never came.

The sun rose and morning faded into afternoon, and still they did not stop, Sasuke wanting to put as much distance between themselves and Konoha as possible. Eventually, as the sun started to dip once more below the horizon, he pulled to a stop and leapt down from the high braches of the tree he was in. Naruto followed, landing as silently as a cat next to him.

“Let’s stop here for the night,” Sasuke said, lowering his hood and using the Sharingan to make certain they were truly alone.

Naruto’s fox mask gave a brisk nod, and he raised his hands into a seal. “Some clones were followed for a little while, but looks like they managed to lose them.” He lowered his hood and twisted his mask to rest on the side of his head, blonde hair becoming disheveled as he did.

Sasuke’s face betrayed none of his surprise to see Naruto’s eyes were now the brilliant blue of their youth. He realized that Naruto had only just released the shadow clone jutsu, and he had to wonder how much chakra he’d had to use to keep it up for that long.

“I doubt they just gave up,” Sasuke said.

“Most likely regrouping,” Naruto agreed. He flopped onto the ground, leaning back so his weight was on his palms and he was looking up at the canopy of trees above them.

“Who will she send?” Sasuke asked, taking a seat with much more grace, folding his legs beneath him.

“Kiba,” Naruto said with an air of certainty. “The different trails might throw him for a while, but he’ll find us eventually. We’ll need to think of ways to mask our scents if we want to keep him off our backs.”

“What about your team?”

“Unlikely,” Naruto said, gaze on the bits of sky he could see through the branches. “Shikamaru and Sai are both ideal for captures, but I don’t think she’ll send them.”

“Too many emotions?” Sasuke asked. Teammates, as he well recalled, had a tendency to get over attached. Not one of his particular character flaws, fortunately.

Naruto made a noncommittal noise and his shoulders moved in a shrug. “I know their styles too well. I know their weaknesses. Plus Shikamaru’s jutsu won’t work on me.”

Sasuke remembered with suddenly clarity the fight from the evening before. “That jutsu last night,” he said. “What was it?”

“Why?” Naruto said, looking at him finally, a grin spreading across his face. “Want to copy it?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say he already had, but he realized, (rather belatedly for the supposed genius that he was) that the particular jutsu was not one currently in his arsenal. He’d been watching Sai, not Naruto.

That’s what happened when you paid more attention to your enemies than your allies. It was a common mistake. A rookie mistake.

Take from all around you, Sasuke-kun, Orochimaru had told him. It’s the right of those pretty eyes.

Despite his constant teasing, constant put downs, even from their early years, Sasuke had recognized something in Naruto. He was one of the only people worth sparring with in all of Konoha, and if he’d grown as much as he’d seemed to in the past years…. If Sasuke should be watching anyone, it was him.

“I’m hungry,” Naruto announced, successfully pulling Sasuke from his thoughts. “Make a fire, I’ll go get us something to cook.”

Sasuke merely nodded, and the Anbu stood, disappearing into the forest.

It was then it occurred to him that not only had Naruto just bossed him around, he’d also just taken off. And Sasuke hadn’t even thought to stop him. What the hell was it about the dobe that made him sloppy?

It had to be all that loser aura that was around the blonde. It rubbed off on him.

Still, when Naruto returned a little while later with a deer draped over his shoulders, there was a fire waiting. Sasuke was sitting, back against a tree, having managed to tamper down the urge to go after him, though he couldn’t even begin to say why.

Trust only yourself, Sasuke-kun.

“Took you long enough,” he said, with that same smug inflection he’d always used as a child. “One deer too much for you?”

“Bite me,” Naruto replied, tossing it down near the edge of their little clearing. He slid off his white jacket and hung it on a nearby branch before setting to work skinning the deer with a kunai.

“You’re the fox, not me,” Sasuke replied. He didn’t flinch as the kunai Naruto had been using whizzed by his cheek and imbedded in the bark of the tree with a thunk. He could feel some of the deer’s blood on his face.

Sasuke met Naruto’s glare evenly.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Naruto said, reaching into the pouch attached to his leg and extracting another kunai. He calmly returned his attention to skinning the deer. “I’m not here because I want to help you. I’m not even here because I like you. I’m here because I gave you my word.” Sasuke watched the blood pour over Naruto’s hands as they worked methodically. “Do me a favor and remember that. And remember that you came to me, not the other way around.”

Sasuke shrugged. “Fine.” There was a long pause. “Dobe.”

The second kunai was closer than the first – Sasuke’s hair fluttered as it passed.

~*~*~

“The kitsune is gone.” A tall figure wearing a black cloak and a wide-brimmed hat dropped silently out of the trees. A similarly dressed man was sitting cross-legged on the ground and appeared to be meditating.

“Hn?”

“He’s not in Konoha anymore.”

The man on the ground opened his eyes – in the dark it was almost hard to make out their red color. “No?”

The other grinned, baring wicked sharp teeth. “No. And guess who he’s rumored to be with?”

“The suspense, Kisame, it kills,” the other said blandly.

“Uchiha Sasuke.”

This drew the other’s attention. He stood. “It’s time.”

“I know he’s not as strong as you, but don’t you think your brother might be a pain in the ass if we try to take his new partner? He’s so annoying to fight.”

“Why? Because he actually requires a little bit of effort?” Itachi said, sounding amused. “And Sasuke didn’t seek out the kitsune for a partner. He wanted bait. What better time to get Uzumaki than when he’s away from his entire village of babysitters and with the one person who would give him up in a heartbeat just to get a chance to fight me?”

“Wow. I don’t know which one of you is more of a bastard.”

“As with all things, my baby brother is consistently in my shadow.”

Kisame grinned. “Yup, it’s you.”