Sparring
Naruto ran through the Hokage Tower, crashing into rooms and throwing things into disarray, cackling as he dodged his chuunin pursuers. A month into this life and they hadn’t yet learned to send ANBU. He kicked the Hokage’s office open, but the old man wasn’t there. Naruto took the opportunity to steal Yondaime’s portrait.
“Naruto!”
He smirked. They’d pulled Iruka from the Mission Assignment Desk, a sign they were getting desperate. Naruto dove under Iruka’s legs and sprinted down the hallway, opening every door he saw. He was starting to think the stupid crystal ball was in the Hokage’s private chambers, which really creeped him out.
Naruto struck gold on the first floor. The Hokage was holding court in the jounin meeting hall. Over what, Naruto had no idea. He didn’t care. He ran through the legs of surprised jounin, ducking under attempts to capture him.
“Jiji!”
“Naruto, get back here! Hokage-sama, I’m—”
Naruto broke out from the crowd of jounin, lifting Yondaime’s portrait over his head. Sarutobi was sitting on a plush purple couch, gawking at him, pipe hanging from his mouth. In front of the Hokage was a crystal ball on a red cushion.
“Naruto,” Sandaime said. “I’m in the middle of a very important meeting.”
Naruto set the portrait down, their beloved Yondaime staring at the jounin, and clambered onto the desk. He accidentally kicked the crystal ball as hard as he could in his struggle to get to the Hokage. He heard a satisfying crack as it collided with the wall.
“Jiji, I think I figured out who my dad is!” Naruto reached back and dragged the portrait up, presenting it to the Hokage
The old man’s lips thinned, the only reaction he had to this little revelation. “Naruto, I told you, no one knows who your parents are. They died in the kyuubi attack.”
“But—”
He was grabbed from behind by Iruka. Naruto put up a token struggle, but allowed himself to be carried out of the room. Iruka kept apologizing to everyone, while Naruto forced tears to his eyes—he was a child, he had to keep reminding himself of that wretched fact—and covered his mouth with his hands. But behind that poor mask there was a grim smile when he saw the shattered remains of the Hokage's crystal ball.
Naruto had put a ton of chakra into that kick, as much as his small body could muster. He had no idea what the crystal ball was made out of, only knowing that it was a one-of-a-kind, priceless artifact. Or so Tsunade had told him, theorizing it was the same material as Shodai’s crystal necklace. The ball was some relic of the Sarutobi clan, possibly a gift from their monkey summons.
Naruto didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t going to be spied on by the Hokage. Not by a man who had the audacity to lie to his face when the proof was right in front of him.
Sasuke was justifiably paranoid. What he and Naruto had done was unprecedented. The power they selfishly wielded was intoxicating, and only their indifference to it, and mutual disgust for anyone trying to control them, kept it in check. Power for the sake of power had never appealed to either of them.
They weren't geniuses, they weren't prodigies. Whatever their gifts of fate and circumstance might be, both Naruto and Sasuke had worked themselves to the bone for years, forging themselves into that tool called shinobi. And while it would have made things easier to reveal themselves, to display a sliver of the skills they had honed over the years, it would have been far too suspicious. Dead last Naruto and less talented little brother Sasuke couldn't transform overnight into scarily competent children. They had to improve in slow increments. And it was slow, tedious, arduous reclaiming their former abilities. It was the work of a lifetime.
If anyone knew they were from the future, they'd be in T&I in a heartbeat. Not that Konoha would be able to hold them for long, but Sasuke didn't want to be a missing-nin at six. It hadn't exactly been a walk in the park at sixteen.
There was such a thing as plausible deniability, which was why he and Naruto were bundled up and cradled in the branches of a tree, watching jounin blast each other across a training ground.
"Are you sure that thing's gone?" he asked, pulling up his scarf. The wind blew right through him, and the pathetic amount of chakra he forced through his limbs was barely enough to keep him seated. Sasuke had told his mother in no uncertain terms that he was going to play with Naruto. Playing, of course, meant spying on jounin and hoping they'd use one of the techniques Naruto or Sasuke favored. An excuse to learn things children their age shouldn't know. Naruto had gently suggested some minor acts of treason—stealing scrolls, something of a specialty for them—but Sasuke had shot it down. He was sure he could whine a few jutsu out of his family. In fact, his father had finally shown him the classic Uchiha fireball a few days earlier.
"It is," Naruto said, leaning forward. "I saw a genin trying to piece it back together."
"Fucking D-ranks," Sasuke muttered into his scarf.
"These people suck," Naruto said, sitting back. "They aren't using any high-level jutsu."
Sasuke snorted. "Are they really jounin?"
"Maybe they know they're being spied on."
Naruto latched onto Sasuke, and they both gaped at the new addition to their tree.
"Nii-san," Sasuke said, surprised that an eleven-year-old could sneak up on him. Surprised, then immediately annoyed. His senses were as dull as his skills.
"Nii-san?" Naruto asked, playing the idiot he wore like a second skin.
"I'm Sasuke's older brother," Itachi said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Naruto-kun. My brother talks about you frequently."
Naruto's bright blue eyes were wide and guileless. It could have been an act or genuine surprise. Sasuke couldn't blame him for the latter.
This Itachi didn't have lines on his face or the destruction of his clan weighing him down. This Itachi sounded and looked like a child, despite the grey ANBU vest he hadn't bothered taking off, the ANBU-issued tanto peeking over his shoulder. He sounded like a child, a high pitched voice that puberty had yet to crack. It wasn't the deep, mournful tone that haunted Sasuke's nightmares.
"We haven't learned any jutsu in the Academy," Sasuke said stubbornly, slipping back into his role. Itachi’s abrupt appearance had reinforced that they were being watched. That Naruto had ANBU dogging his every step. That their pitiful chakra control couldn’t yet mask their signatures. That for all Naruto had been Hokage, Sasuke his right hand, the two most powerful shinobi to walk the earth, they were trapped in six-year-old bodies, suffocating in the pall of childhood.
“You need to be patient, otouto,” Itachi said kindly. “Kaa-san wants you home for dinner.”
“Can Naruto come?” he asked hopefully, looking up at his older brother with big eyes.
Itachi frowned, such a slight expression most would miss it. “I’m sorry, he can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Yeah!” Naruto said, raising his chin defiantly. “Why not?”
Itachi ignored them, picking them both up and jumping out of the tree. Another ANBU appeared to take Naruto, who kicked ineffectively at this new guard. Between the spiky grey hair and fox mask, Sasuke knew it was Kakashi, and Naruto didn’t rail against this abduction as loudly as he might another.
“Naruto-kun will be fine,” Itachi said, slinging Sasuke over his back. “Senpai will take him home.”
“He doesn’t have a home,” Sasuke said, clinging onto his brother as Itachi ran towards the Uchiha compound. It was later than Sasuke had realized, and the forest was shrouded in darkness. Time passed more easily when he was with Naruto. It had always been like that.
“What do you mean?” Itachi asked.
“It’s not a home,” Sasuke said. “It’s just a place he lives.”
Their first slip up was inevitable.
Naruto couldn’t find fault with either of them. Their fights had always been intense, brutal, throwing themselves against each other with unrestrained violence and passion. It was never just a fight between them, never just training or a spar. There was significance in every step, in every breath, each move another line in a conversation Naruto hoped would never end.
Their teachers rotated the spars. Sasuke at the top and Naruto at the bottom rarely had the chance to fight during class. Naruto was regularly paired with the likes of Kiba and Shikamaru, Sakura and Ino, while Sasuke faced marginally more talented opponents like Hinata and Shino. And the teachers didn’t have them spar every day. They led their charges in practicing various practical skills. Shurikenjutsu, plant identification, tracking disguised as games of hide and seek. A ninja needed a breadth of skills to survive, and these lessons were driven in at an early age. Those from clans or smaller shinobi families often continued their training at home, a privilege Naruto never had.
For a moment, he seethed with resentment. However absent Naruto had been from the lives of his children, they still had their mother, their aunt, their grandfather. They had friends in school. They weren’t hated by the entire village. Naruto had felt, for years, that Boruto was too spoiled, too unsympathetic. Naruto hadn’t even known the names of his parents until he was sixteen. And these children around him now, despite being ninja, despite the harsh realities to come, were pampered. Sheltered.
That anger was easy to embrace standing in a ring across from Sasuke, facing that smirk Naruto had seen so many times, so strange on a small face softened by baby fat. Most of his classmates were cheering for Sasuke, imploring him to win.
“Is he the one?” a girl asked.
“My parents said not to talk to him,” another replied.
“Sasuke-kun!”
“Do your best!” Ino shouted
“Pound your opponent!” Sakura cheered.
“Kick his ass!” Kiba yelled, one of the few on Naruto’s side if only because Naruto was the lesser of two evils. Naruto rolled his eyes as Iruka chastised Kiba for his language, giving Sasuke a feral smile.
“Bring it on!” Naruto said, punching his fist out.
“Let’s get this over with,” Sasuke said.
“Settle down, everyone,” Iruka said. “Now, proper etiquette is important…”
Naruto tuned him out, stretching as he waited for Iruka to finish.
“Naruto! Are you listening!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto said, standing back up. He raised his hand in the required sign, watching as Sasuke mirrored him. It was reminiscent of the very first time they had fought, something Naruto could never forget. A superior opponent, the conviction never to lose again, pushing himself further and further, always chasing, always a step behind…
“Start!”
Maybe Naruto could be forgiven for going all out.
It was just taijutsu. No shadow clones, no Sharingan, though Naruto thought he saw a flash of red when Sasuke blocked his first punch, dropping down to kick at Naruto’s legs. Everything was so much slower than he remembered, so much weaker. He knew how he wanted to move, but his body wouldn’t comply. Sasuke was having the same issue, trying to land strikes with limbs shorter than they should be, eyes darting around but failing to commit every detail to memory, to interpret the smallest twitch of Naruto’s muscles and predict where the next hit would land. Naruto reached for a weapon’s pouch that wasn’t there, laughing when he saw Sasuke do the same. They needed to practice more, badly. Trading a few hesitant blows with the other children wasn’t cutting it.
“Sasuke!” Naruto shouted, jumping back and landing in a crouch.
“Take it seriously, Naruto!” Sasuke snapped, fingers twitching. No Chidori for him, not yet.
“I am, asshole!” Naruto said, charging at him.
“Too slow,” Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto’s leg and swinging him around. Naruto twisted midair, knocking Sasuke back. Sasuke didn’t have the strength for throws, not yet.
“Speak for yourself,” Naruto said, scooping dirt in his hands and throwing it in Sasuke’s face. The students around him screeched in indignation. How dare Naruto play dirty?
“I was,” Sasuke muttered, landing his first clean hit. It barely moved Naruto, wasn’t even hard enough to bruise. Still, Naruto wrapped an arm around his stomach and glared at him.
“Are you finished?” Sasuke taunted.
Naruto cracked his knuckles. “Not even close.”
In the end, they had to be pulled apart. Neither had heard Iruka calling time, neither noticed the awed silence of their classmates. Naruto was bent over at the edge of the sparring ring, heaving deep breaths of air clouded with dust kicked up by their fight. His clothes were torn and caked with dirt. Sasuke’s head was tipped forward, a cloth stained red pressed to his nose. Naruto rotated his shoulder, wincing at the pain. Over extended joints, underdeveloped muscles. He was a mess, they both were.
“Detention!” Iruka barked.
Naruto gaped at him. “What? Why? I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You kept fighting when I told you to stop!”
“Sasuke wanted—”
“Don’t blame Sasuke-kun!’ one of the girls shouted.
“Stupid Naruto!”
“My parents were right about him.”
Naruto grimaced at the last one, spoken too softly for most to hear. He took in the fierce look on Iruka’s face, and it reminded him that this Iruka still thought of him as the kyuubi. How anyone could look at a child and see a monster was beyond Naruto, would always be.
Maybe if someone else had been the jinchuuriki, maybe if Naruto had been just another villager, he would feel the same as Iruka and the other. He liked to think he wouldn’t. Sasuke had never shunned him like their peers. There were a few other children who never listened to the rumors, who didn’t judge Naruto for what others said about him.
Naruto looked over the crowd, spotting Hinata who turned away and blushed. Naruto tried to find it cute, but it was disturbing to know her obsession with him had begun at such an early age. He was some kind of symbol to her, an ideal she aspired to, someone who succeeded despite the odds, despite the world being against him. Hinata had never been good at communicating, and Naruto had never cared enough to try. If there was anything more to it than that, Naruto didn’t know and likely never would.
He looked away from her, reminding himself that she was actually a child, just a little kid in school, not someone to project his resentment on. The girl didn’t deserve it. Naruto instead watched Sasuke being led away by another chuunin.
“Is Sasuke getting detention too?” Naruto demanded, glaring at Iruka. Iruka flinched, but quickly recovered. Naruto had no idea what had scared the teenager. Iruka was old enough to have clear memories of the kyuubi attack. Obviously little Naruto didn’t look like a mountain-sized nine tailed fox burning with caustic red chakra. Naruto had the urge to growl and jump at Iruka, just to see what happened.
“That is none of your concern,” Iruka said, turning away from him. “Go stand in the hall, I’ll deal with you later. Next up, Ami and Tobio!”
Naruto skulked away, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed him. That had never really gone away, even when the reasons changed. People who had spat on him lined up to lick his feet.
For a brief moment in time, it was vindicating. Naruto had the acknowledgement of his village. He was their hero, their savior, their absolution. He embodied the dogma of the Sage, passed down and forgotten, reborn in their time of greatest need. But that moment when Sasuke's name was cleared, when Naruto watched him walking away from the village their ancestors had built, walking away from him and everything they had, Naruto knew that the acknowledgement of a village meant nothing without the only thing he had ever truly wanted.
Naruto reached the hall, finally shaking off the accusing eyes of his classmates and teachers. He sank down to the floor, not caring to stand, beating dirt out of his clothes and brushing it from his hair. He wondered where the hell Sasuke was. The rest of the day passed slowly. The only events of note were the mocking laughter as the other children were sent home, and Iruka kicking his legs so he would stand. Naruto slouched against the wall, staring blankly at the floor.
He was startled from his thoughts when an ANBU appeared next to him.
“Hokage-sama wishes to see you.”
“Naruto, you have to take it easy on the other children.”
“I know that, old man!”
Sasuke glanced at his ANBU escort, who he knew was his older brother. He had no idea why an Academy spar needed the oversight of the Hokage himself.
“Come in,” the Hokage called out. Sasuke found it amusing that Itachi’s ANBU mask was a weasel. They couldn’t exactly call him by his mask like the other ANBU. So much for anonymity.
“Sasuke-kun,” the Hokage said with a welcoming smile. “I was just talking to Naruto about your fight today.”
“It was a spar,” Naruto said, crossing his arms. “A spar.”
“Does the Hokage really need to be involved?” Sasuke asked, moving to stand next to Naruto. Naruto beamed at him, and Sasuke resisted the urge to brush away the grass still stuck in his hair. Their old dynamic had died along with their old lives. They were simply best friends, for the foreseeable future.
“This is a special circumstance,” a woman said.
Sasuke looked around and was surprised to see his mother in the room. What the hell was going on? Iruka was there too, looking a little out of his depth.
“Iruka, could you explain what happened?”
As he listened, Sasuke realized that perhaps they had gone a little too far in their fight. Naruto brought out the best and worst in him, and he just couldn’t give him a half-assed fight. He had been distracted keeping his Sharingan from activating. There was absolutely no reason for it to manifest during a friendly Academy spar.
“Sorry for breaking your nose,” Naruto whispered, cupping his hands around Sasuke’s ear.
Sasuke blushed. “Idiot. It’s not a big deal. It got healed.”
“What are you two whispering about?”
Sasuke jerked away, scowling at his mother. “Nothing.”
She smiled at him, then looked at Naruto. “It’s nice to meet you, Naruto. I wish the circumstances were better…”
Naruto turned his radiant smile on her, and Sasuke watched his mother’s expression falter. Sasuke had seen pictures of Uzumaki Kushina. He knew how much Naruto looked like her. He had the same smile, the same bright and expressive eyes, even if the color came from his father. It was hard to look at Naruto and not see his parents. Sasuke didn’t know how the village had managed to lie to itself for so long.
Sasuke could also see how Naruto held himself back from hugging Mikoto. Naruto had soaked up stories of Sasuke’s family, filling the blank spaces where Naruto’s own family should have been. He loved her, if only for being Sasuke’s mother.
“I don’t understand what I did wrong!” Naruto said, expression shifting to outrage as he turned on the Hokage and their teacher. “It was a spar! This bastard wanted to fight too!”
“Bastard?” his mother said, making Naruto blanch.
“I…I mean…”
“Just ignore him,” Sasuke said. “I always do.”
Naruto gave him a betrayed look.
“Naruto,” the Hokage said. “I thought you two were friends? Why did you take your spar so far? Mizuki said it looked like you two were trying to kill each other. The teachers had to break you apart.”
“Best friends,” Naruto corrected. “Of course I’d fight with everything! It’s Sasuke! It’s what he wanted!”
Sasuke nodded.
“You scared the other students,” Iruka said, only addressing Naruto. Sasuke took a step forward, placing himself between Naruto and their teacher.
“So?” Sasuke asked. “We did what you wanted. We sparred. It’s not our fault if others can’t handle that level of fighting.”
“You’re children,” Iruka said in a far gentler tone. Sasuke knew that Naruto looked up to Iruka as a surrogate brother, as one of the few people who saw Naruto as more than a monster, long before Naruto had used the very power they feared to protect them. Right now, Sasuke saw no evidence of that enlightened man. Iruka was just a sixteen-year-old chuunin not suited for fieldwork, just another villager who hated Naruto for something he had no control over. It was unacceptable to lay the blame entirely on Naruto.
“We’re shinobi,” Sasuke said.
“You’re not even genin yet!” Iruka said. “Sasuke, Naruto was smashing your face into the ground! You were concussed!”
Sasuke shrugged. “I threw him off eventually.”
“See?” Naruto said, waving at Sasuke. “He’s fine. Now can we go?”
The Hokage chewed on his pipe, looking at him and Naruto. Sasuke suddenly realized that a normal child would be a little nervous in the presence of their Hokage. Sasuke had never even met the man before. He just…didn’t care. He hoped the others in the room attributed it to Naruto’s irreverence. Still, it wasn’t good to have your Hokage too interested in you. Sasuke needed to distract him.
“We’re like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara,” Sasuke said.
Naruto roughly grabbed his arm, squeezing it in warning. Perhaps those two hadn’t been the best comparison…
“Why do you say that?” the Hokage asked, turning his full attention onto Sasuke.
“Shodai-sama’s wife was Uzumaki Mito,” Sasuke said. “Naruto’s an Uzumaki, so he must be related.”
“Right?” Naruto said excitedly, pointing at Hashirama’s portrait. “I told you, jiji! I knew I was related to a Hokage!”
“Sasuke,” his mother said, “Uchiha Madara…”
“He helped build Konoha,” Sasuke said, sidestepping the whole attempting to murder his closest friend before fleeing the village thing. Sure, there were parallels, but unlike Madara, Sasuke had gotten over himself. Somewhat.
“They were best friends too!” Naruto said, punching the air.
“Exactly,” Sasuke said, smirking as Naruto shook him around.
“And Sasuke wants to be Hokage!”