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Disguised Curses	By : Raholea Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 2438 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
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
- 25
- 26
- 27
A/N: I'm iffy on this chapter, but my beta-friend AINI liked it and.. for now, that's ok. So, please R&R. I could really use some input. And for a note- this story is officially right about 50,600 words. And it's NOT DONE!! Can I cry now???

Chapter 26

Surprisingly, even with all the edginess that would happen and was bound to periodically return, things moved smoothly for several weeks. Kimi seemed to fit rather seamlessly into general life, Naruto was handling most of his instinctive urges with an appropriate amount of control, and life in Konoha continued as normal as possible. Well, what passed for normal in a village of ninja.

Sasuke had been steadily counting down the general time frame he had left on his probation, time left as a civilian instead of a ninja. He'd had a list of rules to live by, and for the most part he'd followed them, with some exceptions. He had a strong feeling that Tsunade knew about most of his slip-ups, accidental and otherwise, and hoped she wouldn't hold it against him too much. He was craving being able to be a true ninja again, to fight and use his full potential. Civilian standards with restrictions were just too annoying. So when he finally got a missive indicating he should show up in two days for a private meeting, he was ready. Far beyond ready.

A masked ANBU in full armor escorted him from the main entrance of the Hokage tower up to Tsunade's office. There were a number of other people in the room, several clan heads, a few council members. Another ANBU stood at the window behind Tsunade's desk, and Sasuke could have sworn he recognized the white semi-spiky hair. But it would not go well to call out Kakashi as his “civilian” self while he was in black ops gear. He offered respectful nods to those people he knew and stood at attention before the large desk.

“Sasuke Uchiha. You know why you are here?” Tsunade lost little time in starting, and though her voice rose in question she didn't bother to wait for an answer. “Your future status as civilian or ninja has undergone serious debate, Uchiha. There are a few who would wish you to refrain from ever being a ninja again. However, points were raised that with such youth and history as you have, forcing you into civilian life could very well cause more problems that any good it could bring. If you wish to continue as a civilian, this assembly will not force you into rejoining the ranks. Although, I highly doubt that is the case.” She paused, but the blank stare he gave her was answer enough. He hadn't been calm or sane enough to maintain a civilian life since before he ran away. “There was concern regarding your rank upon reenlistment. You never passed chuunin exams before you left, and Sound never held officially recognized exams. Technically you would still be a genin. That status would have to remain until such time as you have continued to prove your loyalty to this village. In light of many concerns about your true loyalties, you are being offered a single chance at redemption and proving yourself. Should you wish to accept this chance, there will be multiple restrictions to ensure your allegiance, as well as opportunities to continuously prove yourself. The question simply remains, are you willing to comply with the rules set before you, or will you turn away from the ninja life?”

“I'll serve the Leaf for as long as you let me.” A quiet murmur ran through those assembled at Sasuke's wording, but a gesture from Tsunade silenced them. She was watching him too keenly, and he watched her. Underneath, there were words to be spoken that demanded privacy.

“Then this meeting decrees that Sasuke Uchiha will once again be enlisted as a Leaf ninja, with standard and additional regulations upon him. Does all assembled agree?” Half- chorused agreement met her question, and Tsunade made a shooing motion. “Bear, escort everyone out of here. Wolf, stay.”

The ANBU behind Sasuke silently oversaw the filing out of all unnecessary people, before closing the door after himself. Sasuke allowed himself to relax minutely. Tsunade he could trust not to totally thrash him without good cause. And unless he was completely wrong, it was Kakashi behind the wolf mask, and also good not to stab him in the back. First step down, ten million to go. He glared at Tsunade when she ordered him to strip, however.

“You haven't had a physical in four months, Uchiha. You are being newly released as a ninja. You get another physical before I allow you to go have a proper spar with your team.” He groaned quietly but stripped, as asked. Naruto wasn't going to let him live it down if he heard of this, for Sasuke had poked enough fun at him for all the times Tsunade had made him half strip to study the seal. He stood still as she went through the motions, noting the newer scratches here and there, marks from recent scraps with Naruto. She and Kakashi both checked his Sharingan, the curse mark on his shoulder, and the seal around it. Once they were done poking and prodding, Tsunade pronounced him fit for duty.

“So what is this single chance you're giving me?” Sasuke asked, smoothing his shirt down into place. He always felt more relaxed in clothes when he was in front of most people. He'd never comment on it though.

“Seal the room.” Kakashi's hands flew together at the command, before Sasuke felt the familiar tingle of a silencing jutsu go up against the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room. It would keep things from being overheard by stray ears, and it cautioned and comforted Sasuke.

“You have a single unwritten mission. It will remain unwritten for a number of reasons, the least of which being the circumstances of all involved. I talked to Naruto last week and informed Kakashi of some of what has been happening with the brat. He has agreed to be your 'senior mentor' on this, in case you cannot reach me for any reason. You are being assigned a semi- permanent place at Naruto's side until such time as his personal issues are over. The fact you two are living in the same house and have been in this situation for a while now should help this feel less like a proper mission. In addition, you will both get missions and the like, so you won't be bored. But here's where things change.” She pulled a scroll from her desk. She cracked the seal and let it roll off her desk toward Sasuke's feet. Black kanji filled the page, feet of written line, so that it took a minute for Sasuke to understand what he was looking at. It was a list of restrictions and demands, some from his first meeting in front of the council, others that must have been added or mentioned since. He scanned through them, list after list of punishments, restrictions, potential hazards. Finally he came to the end where a different stroke showed a much smaller list. But it was chilling and cruel in itself.

“This makes no sense.” Sasuke spoke low, coldly, before quoting off pieces. “ 'Sasuke Uchiha will not take missions outside the Leaf nation without at least a three-man team to ensure cooperation and discourage betrayal.' 'Sasuke Uchiha shall not be permitted to travel outside the Leaf nation and work for any other nation, even allies, without complete and express prior permission.' 'Sasuke Uchiha is permitted to marry and even procreate, but is forbidden from ever rebuilding his clan.' 'Any subversion or threat to Konoha residents from Sasuke Uchiha will result in immediate expulsion from ninja ranks and possible death sentence.' 'Failure to acquiesce to these rules will result in immediate repercussions and possible extermination.' ” His grip on the scroll turned his hand blotchy as he resisted throwing the damn thing across the room. “They want me dead. They truly want me gone and dead, don't they?” The wooden core creaked before snapping, the paper suddenly crumpling between his fingers. He'd have expected it when he first came back, but he'd been trying, for once in his damn life, to make a decent impression. Nothing so obvious as to be out of character, but he'd tried.

“I haven't signed it yet.” The paper crunched a bit more as fingers flexed in reaction. “If you can keep yourself out of trouble for six months, I will destroy that. Never existed, gone. Step out of line once and I will not be able to curb the demands of the council. I need you to keep Naruto out of trouble as much as possible. They have one like that for him, too, but it's worse. Right now both of your futures are hanging by a very fragile thread. Stay out of trouble, keep him from doing anything stupid. Do not disappear with him without getting word to me or Kakashi first. But remember that the village is not always safe for him or others. I need this from both of you.”

Sasuke was proud that his hand wasn't shaking when he put the scroll back on her desk, because he knew he should have been shaking with rage. But he snapped to attention before Tsunade. “I will do my best, Godaime Hokage. I cannot promise less or more than that.”

“Accepted. Go away, Uchiha. You're excused.” She looked up when he didn't promptly leave. “What?” she sighed.

“I want permission to break some of the seals placed around the Uchiha compound after the massacre. I want to dig into the family vaults and see if I can't understand more about why Itachi did what he did. There must have been something, and I want to know what.”

Tsunade about shrugged him off, but paused. There was a pointed and firm determination in the boy. He'd do it whether or not she approved. “Let me get one of the older jounin out to check the seals on the places you want to enter. I’ll let you know next week if you can start breaking them safely.”

He nodded, apparently satisfied for now with the decision. She watched him leave before slumping back onto the desk.

“Those boys are going to be the death of me.”

“Just wait until they try to pass the chuunin exams again.” Her sake cup flew over her shoulder, missing Kakashi's ANBU mask by inches. He chuckled and left her to the disturbing thoughts of what those boys could do in the exams again. It was, indeed, disturbing.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Naruto was on edge. He knew it, could feel it down to his bones. Which was why he was currently fighting about a dozen of his clones while multiple others were running around the house. A few were doing chores, but most, quite literally, were doing laps around the building. It was keeping him preoccupied until such time as Sasuke got back from his meeting with Tsunade.

A breeze picked up around him and his nostrils twitched, inhaling the twin aromas of bird. He turned to face the scent, knowing but not caring that his clones copied him in a way that made it very, very creepy. Pack of hungry wolves, creepy. But he was nervous enough that there wasn't a true intimidation factor, and he counted on Kimi and Neji to understand that well enough. Slow inhale, slower exhale, and most of his clones dissolved in clouds of smoke. Apparently one of the clones inside disappeared, a crash echoing outside. Clones still standing around dashed inside to check out the problem as Naruto stood sheepish. “Hey guys.”

“Hey. Is the ugly duckling back yet?” Neji scowled at Kimi's newest nickname. She'd been trying to find one suitably annoying for Sasuke, and it was driving both boys nuts. Not only did it rub on Neji's impeccable attitude, some of the slurs were nearly offensive toward himself.

“He's not back yet. Shouldn't be much longer, but still...” Naruto stared off toward Hokage tower, like suddenly expecting to be able to see through the walls. He whiffed swan as Neji stood beside him. “He was leaving the tower not five minutes ago. He'll be here soon.” The familiar gesture of a hand on his shoulder took Naruto off guard. Neji was never that casual with him. He turned his head to gawk, but Neji had already moved back a little, outside immediate arm reach. He had a slight grin on his face. “Dude, what the heck?”

Neji shrugged, a really vague gesture that meant so little. “Control. You're not sending out creep vibes, so I'm not feeling like a kid.” Coded, of course. It meant he didn't have that rush like he needed to run away in terror. An improvement, surely. “We were wondering if you might be up for a spar after he comes back.”

“I'm always ready for a spar!” Suddenly, his old exuberance was back in force, and nearly missed it when Sasuke appeared before them in a swirl of wind and leaves. “Teme! You used jutsu!” Sasuke merely smirked at him. Suddenly Naruto's eyes got big and he grinned, a shaky finger pointing at the Uchiha. “You're back! She gave you rank back!! You can come with me for proper missions now!”

Sasuke merely nodded, a rather smug look pasted on his skin. “Here,” he pulled out a length of very familiar black cloth from a pocket. “I thought you’d like to help me tie this.” The headband slithered toward the ground, flashing a shiny new plate with the Konoha symbol etched into it. The laughter died in Naruto’s face, and it was a long moment before he reached forward and relieved Sasuke of the Leaf headband, folding the layers of cloth into a wide strip. “Where?” Sasuke tapped his forehead. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on in Naruto’s mind, but he remembered Valley of the End, and the claw scratch that branded his old headband. He could only imagine that the irony was not lost on the blonde. Naruto wrapped it around his head, circling behind him to tie it under the unruly blue-black spikes.

“Never forget this, Sasuke. I will always be at your back, to defend you, at your side to fight with you, ahead of you to light the way. But if you ever hurt me like last time, I will not hesitate to destroy you. You will not get a third chance.” The voice whispered into his ear, harsh and warningly, and Sasuke nodded. He knew exactly what would happen if he ever pulled the same foolishness as last time. He wouldn't be able to get up and walk away like he did at Valley of the End. And Konoha would have every reason and excuse to put Naruto down like a rabid beast.

But Naruto backed off, the tense vibe fading like it had never been. Then he grinned, and everything seemed to settle into place. Sasuke wasn't just here, he was home. It finally felt it bit more official.

He'd do his damn best not to fuck the whole thing up.

_____ End Chapter ___

Already working on chapter 27. Tempermental Kyuubi/ Naruto next chapter. and always, please review. I need input!!
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Disguised Curses