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KTI - Consequence and Sacrifice	By : JCooper Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 757 -:- 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
- 1-Part 1
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 5
- 6
- 7
I finally finished this part with help from Neko Kate-chan. Had some trouble with one of the scenes, but after I fixed it, it was clear sailing.

Title: Kekka to Ikenie (Consequence and Sacrifice)

Author: S.P. Kathrine

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: R-NC17 (M-MA)

Warnings: AU, BL (boyxboy), lack of uke/seme distinctions, violence, language, lack of well-written fight scenes, unbetaed (Does reading it over three times count?), Possibly OOC-ness, OC (important, but not main character of story)

Part: 6 of undetermined

Pairings: NaruSasuNaru (little-to-no uke / seme-ness), LeeSaku, HinaNeji (Hyuugacest), and others

Summary: Mizono Saigo was always considered somewhat of a mystery by the people who know him, or of him. He was a considered one of the top students in the Ninja Academy, but was also a rather normal, if more-than-somewhat antisocial child. The true mystery was the father who no one saw, no one spoke to, who no one could even confirm existed. So when Saigo suddenly develops a bloodline trait that none could expect, a secret kept for over a decade comes to light, even though the former Hokage had forbidden anyone knowing of it to ever speak of it, even to her replacement. And the truth about Saigo�s father is revealed. AU story because of changes made to canon plot.

Part Six

The training grounds were empty when he arrived, as they usually were. They were supposed to meet at eight, but Saigo always arrived at least an hour early. It gave him time to work on his charka training on his own before everyone else showed up. Removing the black jacket he always wore, he left it on the ground as he used the chakra centered in his feet to scale the large tree that he always used. The tree was also rather beaten down from all of his efforts.

The tree was tall, and but not very thick, which made it the perfect training tool. He had already perfected walking up it�tree-walking was something his team had mastered early on in their training with Konohamaru-sensei�without cracking the bark and had gotten to the point that he could walk on some of the higher, thinner braches, without breaking them. That day, his plan was to practice control upside down.

He walked along the underneath of one of the lower branches, halting in the center before pulling out a hand full of shuriken and attaching strings to each. The string was very thin thread that usually would have been cut by the sharp blades before it could be tied, but by sending a continuous feed of his charka to each string, each was strengthened to the point that they were nigh unbreakable as well as deadly. It was all part of his training.

For the next hour, he went through various exercises, all the while maintaining a steady flow of chakra. He kept himself alert, waiting for the arrivals of his teammates. When he could hear voices�one voice in particular�he wrapped up his last exercise and dropped down from the branch he had been stuck to, and put his weapons away. He wasn�t sure why he didn�t want his team to know about the extra training he did, but he knew that Lin would most definitely want to join him, and she would lead Hikoshi into it as well. And as much as he trusted his cellmates when they were on a mission, he did not wish to include them in his private training regimen.

�Hello, dear friend Saigo!�

The dark-haired pair was coming down the road, Lin at the head waving her hand wildly to catch his attention. He waited for the two to reach him giving his greeting.

�You seem rather energetic today, Lin,� he told her.

�Because Naruto-san came to visit last night and he told �Kaa-sama that he and Konohamaru-sensei were going to be sparring today! And we get to watch!�

�What?� Saigo�s eyes widened.

�It�s true.�

They all turned stare at their instructor, who stood only a few feet away with a hand running exasperatedly through his hair. �I should have known he wouldn�t keep his mouth shut about it,� he sighed.

�A match between Konohamaru-sensei and Hokage-sama?� Saigo allowed the thought to be tossed about in his mind. His knew that Konohamaru-sensei was strong, and also extremely good at stealth tactics, but his opponent would be the Hokage, the reigning strongest ninja of the village. He had only met the Hokage on a few occasions, when he had visited the Academy, the day of their graduation, and twice with his team. The man was always smiling, often loud, and very friendly.

He could feel the excitement building in his body, a twitch that left him with the desire to run, jump, or some other physical activity. A �battle� between his instructor and Hokage would undoubtedly be an intense one and he could barely hide his interest.

�Will we be sparring while we wait for Hokage-sama to arrive?� he asked instead.

�If you want,� Konohamaru-sense shrugged. �Otherwise I guess we�ll just be sitting around not doing anything.�

Saigo nodded at his response and then turned to Hikoshi. The raven-haired boy didn�t bother to nod to his silent request, but instead turned away, walking towards the center of the training grounds. Saigo followed after him, knowing that a spar against the older Hyuuga would do well to keep him distracted for more than the allotted time. It wasn�t often that they sparred together anymore, unless it was all three of them at the same time. For some reason Konohamaru-sensei usually sparred with him�obviously going easy on him because he wasn�t knocked flat on his back in less than five minutes�while Lin and Hikoshi sparred together instead. If not with Konohamaru-sensei, he would spar with Lin, as they both excelled at taijutsu.

It was a rare occasion for Hikoshi and Saigo to spar with one another after their first year as a team, and yet they never truly displayed all of their capabilities when they did�Saigo knew he was holding back and was not stupid enough to believe Hikoshi was giving it his all. His teammate was a prodigy after all. They were all holding back, awaiting their nomination into the Chuunin Exams to fully display their skills. None of them had spoken about it�not that Saigo knew what Lin and Hikoshi talked about when he wasn�t around�but it seemed like it was a unconscious agreement to hold back and wait for when the time was right.

�What about me?!� Lin exclaimed. �I don�t want to sit on the sidelines!�

�Oh, you don�t want to sit with me, Lin-chan?� Konohamaru gave a fake pout. He then asked in a voice too low for the boys to hear, �You spar with Hikoshi all of the time anyway. Are you jealous that Saigo gets to?�

Lin�s eyes widened comically. �No!� she shook her head furiously, although he could see the hint of color in her cheeks. �Of course they can spar each other, Konohamaru-sensei! But I, too, would like to enjoy this wonderful day! It would be a waste of my youth to merely to do nothing when I could be training myself productively!�

Konohamaru laughed, purposely ruffling her straight-cut bangs. He recalled the day of their genin final, when he had to push their limits and decide if they were actually ready to be ninja, even though they had passed their genin exam he still had to give their that last test. She had come to the meeting with her cut down into a bowl-shaped style just below her ears, all of the lengthy black locks that had trailed down her back gone.

He had been thankful that she had not come wearing any form of leotard or spandex, but he knew that her mother would rather burn all of her father�s similar clothing than allow her to join him in wearing them. As much as Sakura accepted Lee�s idiosyncrasies�all of which she blamed on one Maito Gai�she put her foot down on her daughter following too closely in his footsteps. The �Speeches of Youth� she could handle, green spandex and fatalistic taijutsu was another subject entirely. Since then Lin had allowed her hair to grow back out, just enough to pull back into a low braid, but she had complained that she wanted to cut it again, for practicality�s sake. She didn�t want to get caught on a mission because her hair was too long. At the same time, when Hikoshi had mentioned cutting his hair, much as his mother had done for most of her childhood, she had become hysterical with protests.

It was interesting, Konohamaru thought, watching the two as they danced around each other. Lin, he knew, was a smart girl and had probably already figured out that she had feelings for her closest friend, although she seemed content not to do anything about it. Hikoshi, for all his ninja genius, was rather naïve when it came to �relationships� and he didn�t see Hyuuga Neji as being someone willing to give his son �The Talk�. He wondered if he would have to be the one to open the door for them both. I hope not, he shuddered inwardly. Maybe I just give them some Icha Icha volumes and tell them to ask their parents questions later. Calendar girls aren�t going to be much help� at least for Lin-chan.

�C�mon Lin-chan,� Konohamaru soothed her. �You can sit with me and enjoy the nice shade of this tree until Naruto shows up. You don�t want to leave me sitting here alone, do you?�

There was a look in her eyes that said she saw through his �pitiful� act far more easily that he gave her credit for, but then she smiled in that enthusiastic way that was so much like her father. �All right, Konohamaru-sensei!� she stated. �I�ll stay with you and watch their sparring. It is easier to catch someone�s weaknesses from the outside anyway, and I should be prepared if we fight each other in the Chuunin Exams. Is that not correct, Konohamaru-sensei?�

The brunette let out a laugh, slapping her on the back, although without much force. �You know I think I�ve misjudged you, Lin-chan,� he stated with a grin. �You really are your mother�s daughter.�

Back on the training field, the two boys faced off against each other.

�Name the style,� Hikoshi told him.

�Taijutsu only, no weapons or special techniques not taijutsu-related,� he said. �We don�t want to injure each other and have to go to the hospital. We�d miss Konohamaru-sensei�s match.�

�All right,� Hikoshi agreed.

�Good,� Saigo gave a small little smirk before taking the offense, rushing forward towards his opponent directly. He was going to enjoy this match, short though it would be.

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�I would like to see the seal,� Hinata asked. �Perhaps I can find a way to alter it, without causing any other damage or side effects.�

�It�s something I tried before,� Tsunade replied, �but I am not a seal expert, although I feel like I should be by now.� She turned to the dark-haired man that sat in his usual place, in the small chair away in the center of the room. �Show it to her, Tezuka.�

The Hyuuga heir moved to watch as he pulled the hair away from his neck and shoulders, bending so that she could see the seal that she had long ago learned had been placed on him by Orochimaru. It had been two days since she had agreed to be part of the team working to reclaim this man�s sight and today was her first chance to actually get any work done. She had spent a few days looking through the scrolls of the Hyuuga Main House, for the Hyuuga were efficient and proficient in seal-making�although many of them she would never even contemplate using on another human being. The Branch Seal was too dark for her tastes as it was.

She was surprised when Tezuka didn�t lower the collar of his shirt, but instead quickly tied his hair up into a high bun, away from his neck and moved his head downwards. Moving behind him, her eyes widened at the sight of a different seal that was at the very base of his skull, right below his hairline. It was shaped much like a triangle shuriken, surrounded by symbols related to doujutsu and chakra seals. To her, it appeared that the seal was meant to suppress his charka�and more definitely his sharingan�but due to how deeply his vision was connected to his chakra, the result led to it affecting his sight as well. It makes sense, she thought. Whoever did this even placed the seal near the occipital lobe and medulla to make sure it would work. And it did, but far better than anyone expected, I bet.

And then she understood why the seal could not be removed.

�This was put on you when you returned,� she stated. He didn�t bother to reply because he knew it wasn�t a question.

Tsunade gave a small frown, one that disappeared almost instantly, but the twitch of her cheek muscles was enough of a signal for her. She must not have agreed with the placing of the seal. �It is part of his sentence,� the blonde woman explained. �He only had two choices.� It wasn�t hard to figure out what the other option had been.

�They� probably meant the Council Elders. She wondered who else was in on this tightly kept secret. Why had Sasuke returned in the first place? Had he thought to return to the village that he had abandoned and make amends, only to be given this stiff and�in her opinion�inhumane punishment? No, for she knew that if Uchiha Sasuke had truly returned to rejoin the village and his friends, he would not have allowed himself to remain secreted away for so many years. Instead, it had been Tezuka who had agreed to these stipulations. But why?

/ �Why did you return?�

�That is something I cannot divulge. Ask Godaime-sama.� /

Perhaps the reason for his return was the key to everything in the end. But Hinata was not sure she was willing to take that step and ask. This man was not the Uchiha Sasuke, but at the same time there were many similar attributes, protection of privacy most likely one of them. He did not appear to be one to divulge information freely and actually asking Tsunade-sama seemed like a betrayal.

�Have any tests been done on the chakra channels in his brain?� she inquired.

Shizune stepped forward to rather thick manila folders in her arms. �These are the notes Tsunade-sama and I have taken over the course of the past eight years,� she said. �So far most of it is conjecture and speculation with very little progress. It�s obvious that it has to do with the fact that his genetics have wired many of his chakra channels to his eyes in a way that blocking them possibly affected his optical nerves. The problem comes in finding a way to return his sight without causing more damage to the chakra channels in his brain. One ill-prepared or under-calculated procedure and he could end up paralyzed and/or mentally �incapacitated�.�

It was obvious that both of them had put a lot of thought and time into this. Tsunade would not have asked for her assistance unless she had exhausted all other roads of action. There was also the fact that neither the former Hokage nor her assistant could see into the raven-haired man�s brain, as Hinata could with her Byakugan. They could scan it and look over images of it afterwards, but they could not see it active and working. They could not see which chakra channels had been closed off by the seal.

Putting her hands together in a familiar gesture, hearing the routine words in her mind and she felt her eyes widened and the pull of the skin of her face as suddenly everything appeared different. For an instant she could see everything, from the floor below them where boxes were piled with extra supplies and equipment, to the top floor of the hospital where an injured ninja was being rolled out for fresh air in a wheelchair, both of his legs in castes.

It was so easy to get lost in the power of it, losing her own personal self as she floated through the various images and knowledge she collected. She couldn�t read minds, but she could see every movement the world made. The flutter and texture of a woman�s eyelashes as she blinked. A caterpillar as it slowly developed into a butterfly within its cocoon. It was enough to drive someone insane from the overload of information. When she was younger she had always thought about going further, pushing the Byakugan to its limit and see if the future was within her eyes. But control was what dictated the use of the Byakugan, for without it the mind couldn�t handle everything that the eyes would take in.

And then Hinata focused, pulling her mind and Sight to one area, that being the man sitting in front of her. She expected much and yet knew not what to expect at the same time. The bright, practically glowing streams that circulated through the entire body, flowing around vital organs like ropes of light, were rather standard for most people and yet she knew that such would not be the case with her patient. Even so, the sight of it left a stone in the pit of her stomach. Most people had chakra of various colors of blue, some bright and pale enough to appear white, while other dark near black. But Tezuka�s was black. There was no way that the ebony shadow-like trails meandering throughout his body like poison could be mistaken for anything else.

How had she not noticed this menacing darkness? Perhaps the seal did more than just suppressed his chakra, but also hid the dark aura that it would have given the raven-haired man from obvious detection. What things had he endured that even his chakra had been twisted beyond recognition into something that many would fear for its seeming ill-intent. She purposely avoided looking at the other seal on his shoulder, closing her focus on the main point of her scrutiny. It was a technique that most Hyuuga learned by the age of seven, how to close off all other vision and lock onto one point with all of your concentration. It was a good technique to avoid information overload.

Rather than allow her shock and curiosity to rule her examination, Hinata returned her concentration to the task at hand. She focused even more on Tezuka�s head, seeing the chakra channels and immediately noticed the discontinuity. There was still chakra going to his brain, but there was also a build-up in the back right where the seal had been placed. The blockage was putting pressure on his occipital lobe. This had to be what was affecting his vision.

For a doujutsu user, Hinata knew that chakra to the eyes was very important, and she assumed that an Uchiha�s chakra was ingrained into their eyes due to the bloodline limit. After using the sharingan for so many years, his eyes might even require the chakra to continue functioning. A small trickle of chakra still traveled from where the seal had been place to the brain and eyes, but it was so small that Rock Lee most likely had more chakra to spare. She now could understand why he hadn�t lost his sight instantaneously.

�Hinata?� Tsunade waited for her to report.

�The seal blocked too much chakra from his eyes,� she replied. �Whoever made this didn�t take into account that his eyes were attached to his chakra channels more than the average person, even more than a Hyuuga. His eyes actually require chakra to work at all. You were right about it being due to his genetics, but I�m not an expert on them and so I can�t actually say �how� the seal affected him precisely.�

She then gave a frown. �There is also a chakra build-up on his occipital lobe, because it stops the chakra from going to his eyes completely, rather than rerouting it to somewhere else in the body. That could also be a reason for that he progressed into blindness rather than having it occur immediately after the seal was placed.�

If the object of their conversation minded that they spoke of him as if he was just another test subject, he hid it well. Although, Hinata guessed that he was used to being poked, prodded, and analyzed after so many years under constant supervision. He remained still to the point he could have faked catatonia, head still bent downwards, long bangs dangling like a curtain around his face. She surveyed the clot again noticing its size and realized that something didn�t make sense.

�The clot should be much larger,� Hinata replied. �After so many years of building up, it should actually be the size of a large melon. But it is actually only the size of a small smoke bomb.�

�Could the chakra be rerouting itself naturally?� Tsunade asked.

�Possibly,� she nodded. �It would just take longer to return down the same channel and change course.�

�It�s the seal.�

It was the first time that she had heard his voice that morning.

Tsunade stared at him, her eyes cut in a look that showed open disapproval. �How long?� she asked.

�Since he died,� the man replied.

�It was inspected, nothing appeared wrong,� she stated. Hinata understood that this conversation did not include her and yet she could make her own assumptions from the words spoken.

�You didn�t use someone who could see chakra,� he replied. Years ago, she believed the words would have been taunting and condescending, but now they were simply honest and blunt.

�If you had mentioned something sooner, I would have,� she replied. �You left it for eleven years.�

�You couldn�t.�

It was true. Although probably not something that Tsunade was willing to admit. Hinata wasn�t sure if she would have been prepared to deal with this sort of secrecy all those years ago.

�I would have brought in Kakashi.�

�He wouldn�t have come.�

Hinata filed this away for another time of pondering. The implications were there, but she was not ready to look that deeply into it. She might forgo her vow of patience and ask questions that the two before her weren�t ready to answer.

Suddenly Tsunade�s eyes widened. �It�s both of them isn�t it?� she said. �The seals are feeding off of each other.� She moved to stand beside Hinata. �Remove your shirt,� she commanded. Tezuka didn�t bother to argue with her, he never did.

He unfastened the black buttons easily and shifted forward so that the shirt slid down his arms rather than removing it completely. Hinata stared in near shock at the sight of his porcelain pale skin, back littered with scars of various lengths from wounds of various severities. The life of a ninja was perilous�she herself had a large burn scar across her thigh from being stabbed with a burning stake of wood. But by his own words, Tezuka hadn�t been a ninja for over twelve years.

He spent more than 3 years with Orochimaru, she reminded herself. Did you think he would be pampered?

And the answer was that many believed that way. Hinata knew nothing of Orochimaru personally, save everything she had seen with her own eyes and heard through the rumor mill. There had been spies within his organization of course, but none of them were close enough to Orochimaru or anyone of importance to report much on the Uchiha while he was in his care. He was naturally a loner, and whenever Orochimaru thought it safe to let him out his sight, Kabuto was there in his stead. Hinata herself knew next to nothing about what transpired in the years after Uchiha Sasuke had defected to Otogakure, but the scars that trailed over his entire back and even on his shoulders, gave her an insight into something that was probably best left unknown to her.

She moved her gaze away from the his back to his shoulder instead, staring at the three black, tattoo-like tomoe that curved towards each other in a circular formation. The thought came to her whether or not the seal in all its Sharingan similarity was tailored specifically for Uchiha Sasuke, or if it had been pure happenstance. Hinata had never seen it on anyone else, although she had heard that Mitarashi Anko had been Orochimaru�s only student�the only one that survived anyway.

Once more, she used the Byakugan, this time centering her Vision on the place she had dared not to look the first time. On the surface, the seal didn�t even appear to be a seal�lacking the usually symbols and words that came with the commonly known varieties�but rather a stylish tattoo one would get in his youth. But as she stared at it, watching as the tendrils of black energy that was Tezuka�s chakra connect to it, even though no chakra channels were close, she knew it to be one of the darkest things she had ever seen attached to the human body.

It eating his chakra, she assessed and by following the direction the majority of the chakra it consumed came from, she could see that it was eating the build-up from the other seal.

�The seal is eating the chakra,� she finally spoke aloud. �But if it wasn�t, the seal on his neck would actually have killed him already from the chakra blockage, because it would have gotten to the point that it would have overloaded his nerves and probably even his medulla oblongata in the process.�

�So that man�s seal is what�s keeping him alive?� Shizune was obviously surprised.

�Yes, but if it doesn�t take away all of the chakra, which if it did, would actually eliminate the problem altogether,� she replied. �I don�t know what the seal is supposed to do, but it only takes away a proportioned amount and so the blockage is never removed completely. Perhaps if the seal were modified to take more chakra, the clot would be dissolved after so long and remain gone.�

Tsunade nodded at her assessment and prediction. �But the problem is that neither seal can be tampered with. Orochimaru made sure that his could never be removed and he even �perfected� it, so that other seals couldn�t be used on it again.�

Again.

Once more Hinata was trapped by the fact that she had not been close to Uchiha Sasuke, and that much of what occurred all those years ago had been kept from public knowledge for some time. It was only after the Uchiha had left that much of what had been kept hidden had come out, most of it through �leaks�. While the civilians were still rather oblivious about transpired, it was considered common knowledge for all who had been ninja before his departure.

How was she supposed to help him if there was so much that she didn�t know about what was going on?

She cut off the Byakugan, closing her eyes to allow them to readjust and then opened them again. �That�s enough for today,� she stated. �We should meet again in three days. I need to do some more research and that will give me enough time to look into more alternative routes.�

Tsunade nodded in agreement to her statement. She looked down at the man that had already pulled his black shirt back over his shoulders and was being fixing the buttons. �Hawk and Wolf shall return you to your home and will be there to get you at three in the morning.�

�Hai, Godaime-sama,� he said. The two ANBU that had been standing inconspicuously against the wall stepped forward and, as before, it was Hawk who placed the hand on Tezuka�s shoulder. Then they were gone.

Tsunade and Shizune backed away. �I shall see you in three days, Hinata-san,� they both turned to leave the room, only to be stopped.

�Wait,� Hinata called out to them. �Tsunade-sama I do not feel that I can properly treat this �patient� unless I know more about what is going on. When you spoke to each other, I was caught completely off guard. If you truly want me to help him to the best of my abilities, then I need to know everything.�

Tsunade gave what could have been a snort and a bark of a laugh all at the same time. �Everything?� she repeated. �Even I don�t know everything about what went on in the years that Uchiha Sasuke was with that man. While he gave enough information to spare his life, he didn�t give it all. Every man has his secrets.�

Hinata frowned. �That doesn�t explain what I want to know,� she told her. �It doesn�t even make sense as to why he would willingly return to Konoha in the first place. What happened?�

Tsunade turned to her, an �end-of-the-subject� look in her eyes. �You want to know about the seals and Orochimaru I will tell you, but I don�t think you need to know anything else. If it seems like you need to know, I let you know. Until then, just leave it be. Some things aren�t meant to be known.�

Hinata watched as the two women walked out the door and shut it behind them, leaving her alone in the dark room on the second-to-the-last floor of the Konoha Hospital. She couldn�t say that she hadn�t expected the response she received. But that didn�t mean that it abated her curiosity. Whatever happened was obviously something critical. Why else would so many be so willing to keep it all a secret? It also made her want to know more.

Perhaps Naruto actually rubbed off on me after all these years.

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By the end of the hour of sparring, both boys were covered in cuts, bruises, and Saigo has blood dripping down his chin from where a punch to the face has cut his teeth into his bottom lip and cheek, while Hikoshi was favoring his right leg, the ankle having been hurt by Saigo kicking it with more force than was probably necessary to knock him off his feet. To them, the injuries seemed minimal. They were only using taijutsu after all.

�That�s enough!� a voice called out from one of the larger trees on the edge of the clearing.

They both turned�although slowly and stiffly�towards the direction the voice and looked upwards instinctively. Sitting on one of thick branches with his back propped against the tree was the Rokudaime, blue eyes twinkling with excitement and laughter.

�You know, Konohamaru, I thought you and I were supposed to be sparring!� he called out.

�We would have started sooner if you hadn�t decided to sit on you ass for the past half-hour!� the brunette shouted back.

�But they were enjoying themselves!� Naruto defended. �It would have been mean to break them up!�

He then seemed to disappear, body moving so fast that not even Hikoshi could catch him. Suddenly he was standing beside Konohamaru, one arm draped over his shoulder in a friendly manner. �Man, these are some kids you got here,� Naruto said, obviously impressed. �And you�re not sure if you want to put them in the Chuunin Exams?�

Lin jumped forward, more energetic now that the final person had arrived. �But Naruto-san, Konohamaru-sensei is-� her words were halted by the hand that immediately covered her mouth.

Konohamaru let out a distracting laugh and then winked at her. �You know, Lin, maybe you should check on the boys and make sure they didn�t cause any permanent damage,� he suggested.

Lin was gone instantly, already shouting words of comfort and praise to her two teammates.

Naruto watched as Konohamaru scratched his nose, a habit he hadn�t lost from his childhood that made the blonde want to snicker. �I get it,� he said in a low voice, although it was obviously meant to be teasing.

�Are you ready to have your High-and-Mighty ass handed to you in front of me team,� Konohamaru was once more his usual self.

�Only if you�re willing to have Sakura patch you up after Lin runs homes crying about how badly her sensei was beaten by the great Hokage,� Naruto replied.

�Bring it,� the younger man taunted.

�I will,� Naruto smirked. �Now let�s just see if you can handle it when I do.�

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/ It seemed very familiar those first few months he was confined to the home that had been chosen for he and his son, so much like the last months of their time in that place when he had been all but confined to the dark, damp underground halls that he could never think of as home. Saigo didn�t notice the change of location, so use to their nomadic lifestyle was he. There were times that he wondered if chance he had taken had been the wrong choice�if his son would have been better off with someone other than himself. The uncertainty was not something he entertained often, as it was far too late�and rather detrimental to his own health�for him to choose differently.

He couldn�t use chakra, or even mold it, without excruciating pain that would leave him in bed for hours. It had happened twice already, times when he had been distracted by past events and taken action that he shouldn�t have. But that was in the beginning, and he hadn�t made that error in over three months. Even if he chose to leave again, there was no way he could make it out of the village�let alone Fire Country�with Saigo. Taijutsu would only go so far against ANBU order to kill him on sight should he leave his home without an �approved� escort.

It wasn�t like he was bored. Saigo had already learned to walk, although still wobbly on his feet, but that didn�t stop him from getting into things as he pleased. He had to pay very special attention to him, particularly at night to make sure he was asleep before the dark-haired young man laid down to rest himself. If not, the little boy had a tendency of climbing out of his crib, which was directly beside his bed.

It didn�t surprise him that the boy was developing so quickly. It had been that way ever since they had left that place. Before then he hadn�t done anything but cry, but within a few months he had actually learned how to make other sounds and babbling words that Sasuke would never be able to understand. That was also when he learned to crawl, which�from the books he had �borrowed� and various women sympathetic to the plight of a �first time mother��he was supposed to have learned months before.

There was a noise, a creaking wooden sound of something being moved. He didn�t bother to move or even open his eyes. He just waited. The noise happened again, loudly, and accompanying it was a rough exhalation of air. A sound of effort and frustration. He waited.

Finally there a muffled �thump�, a shifting of the pressure and weight on his slightly upraised bed. A sound that seemed to resemble a high �oomph� and then there was movement. A small body crawled over his own, knee hitting him in the back and hand shoving against his cheek. He opened his eyes and watched as the tiny figure made it to his other side�as he was lying on his right side�only to close them again before the child turned to stare at him. Seeing that his eyes were closed, the boy proceeded to climb his way into the blankets he lay under.

Once he decided he was suitably �comfortable�, the child lay almost against him, back pressed within centimeters of his chest, and pulled his limp hand over so that he could hold it between his own small ones. He spent some time playing with his hand, moving the fingers about and petting it like one would a domestic animal. But it wasn�t long before the movement stopped and he knew that Saigo has fallen back to sleep.

This was when he would usually lift the boy and put him back in his crib, as he would then sleep through the night peacefully. It seemed he was still too used to sleeping beside him, or on top of him, as he did before they had come to Konoha. Perhaps he was trying to keep him near, still unsettled by the weeks that they had been separated. Saigo had not taken the weeks he had spent in incarceration well, at least if what Kakashi had told him hadn�t been embellished�although Kakashi hadn�t really �said� anything at that was why he knew it to be true.

He really should return the boy to his own bed. He needed to learn to sleep on his own anyway. He was getting to old to be sleeping in the same bed with him. And yet he didn�t, and didn�t move his arm either, still kept in that tiny, loose grip. He opened his eyes, gazing down at the small being that held him as if he was precious and needed. It was something he still did not understand. Of course, when they had been traveling, he had been the one protecting and providing everything for him, but now it was different. Now they were in Konoha, and Saigo could have a real family, without ever being tied to his dead clan, or himself. He didn�t need him.

He did move then, bringing the boy nearer to him�Saigo seemed to accept the close contact without complaint�and closed his own eyes. He fell asleep easily then, and for the first time in weeks his night was thankfully dreamless. /

The explanations about the seals might seem a bit confusing, but more will be explained later. The flashback turned out unexpectedly. I was planning on something else, but I think the angsty-fluff is okay too. I made a nice length update to repay you for your patience.

And the picture that inspired me for the chakra seal that is on Sasuke is on my lj: http://sp-kathrine.livejournal.com/19310.html. Hope it helps it imagining it.
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KTI - Consequence and Sacrifice