Chapter 31
Sasuke was the second one up. Shisui being the first, having taken the last shift the night before. Hoping to get some extra reading in before the others awoke, he reached for his bag and gave a considering look at the books inside. A folk book they had picked up seemed interesting and he took it with him towards the campfire, he was having a good time even if he had to glare at Shisui from time to time when his cousin tried to go near the deer jerky Naruto had prepared.
“I’m Hungry,” Shisui pouted. Sometimes Sasuke wondered if he really was older or maybe just casting an elaborate genjutsu to fool them all.
“Naruto wanted to cook this morning.” Sasuke pointed out blankly as he again slapped the older boy's greedy hand away. Sasuke did well for himself in the kitchen but his improv skills were nowhere near Naruto’s level. The blonde boy could make anything taste good and find a way to cook a full meal in the desert.
“Yeah, but he’s still asleep,” Shisui pointed out. Sasuke gave up on finishing the story about a rabbit on the moon and put the book away.
“Why don’t you wake him up then?” Sasuke was getting a bit hungry as well. He was already thinking of a way to wake Naruto up but Shisui beat him to it. The older boy began to run to the opposite side of the fire where their two sleeping teammates were and beautifully dive bombed both of them while letting out a truly ferocious war cry.
“Ahhhhhh!” Shisui cried as his elbow hit Itachi’s stomach and his lower body landed on Naruto.
“AAAahh!” Naruto shrieked as he became an unwilling landing pad.
‘Poof,’ went the substitution of Itachi as the older boy disappeared and a log took his place.
Shisui didn’t seem to mind having one less victim and started mercilessly tickling Naruto. Sasuke tried to control his laughter and search for Itachi at the same time. He scanned the trees for a spot of black hair or a silhouette and even activated his sharingan but could find no trace of his big brother.
“Ah!” He let out a yelp as a hand landed on his shoulder. Of course it was Itachi’s.
“Looking for something?” the older boy asked in a deadpan but Sasuke could tell he was super smug on the inside.
“No,” he denied. “I was just thinking about who would win today,” He gestured towards the other two. A perfect distraction.
“You weren’t looking towards them,” Itachi pointed out mildly and gave Sasuke’s eyes a look. His sharingan was still active.
“Well, I was practicing before Shisui woke him up.” That lie was completely unconvincing and Sasuke couldn’t help but look away.
“I see,” Itachi didn’t buy it for a second.
Thinking quickly he focused on the ‘fight’ in front of them. “Hey,” Luckly, Sasuke's call got Shisui’s attention.
“What about breakfast?” Shisui jumped up and dragged Naruto to the fire pit.
The blond must have been punishing them though because he took his time checking on the jerky and meat they had set out. They were going to stay in this clearing for a couple of days to get some training done and away from prying eyes. Bodies of water were becoming more frequent too and Sasuke enjoyed fishing and would catch some so Naruto could smoke them.
Naruto made some oats and put some fresh berries they had found yesterday in it along with a strip of bacon from the general. Shisui grabbed the first bowl. “Wow, I’m glad we get to eat real food now.” Shisui spoke around the food in his mouth.
“We could have been eating like this the whole time we were in the village,” Itachi stated. He was still holding a grudge about their gift of food and spices from the General. Apparently he could be generous and chose not to be.
“We got what we needed in the end,” Naruto added.
“That’s not the problem,” Sasuke could see his older brother would hold this grudge for a good while yet.
Still, there were other things Sasuke was more interested in. “How do you think the village in Mist will take us?”
“Hard to say,” Shisui mused. “They're not the friendliest bunch to begin with so I wouldn’t expect a warm welcome. Best case scenario, we get a non aggression pact similar to iron.”
"And worst case,” Naruto had to ask.
“They chase us out with pitchforks on our first day?” Shisui sounded like he was asking. “The good news is that none of us have been caught doing anything illegal there so we SHOULD be fine.” He looked at Itachi and the other boy shrugged.
“Have you done anything illegal there?” Sasuke felt the need to make sure, but he already knew the answer.
“We haven’t been CAUGHT doing anything illegal,” Shisui repeated and Sasuke figured that was the most confirmation he would get.
After breakfast, they did physical training for about two hours. Sasuke hadn’t had so much trouble running in weeks. The clearing they were in was apparently perfect for it, but Mist’s humidity only made his sweat cling to him and make the experience uncomfortable. By the time Itachi called for a break his legs and lungs were burning.
Naruto went to make them lunch, mumbling about the deer he had caught in one of his traps . Sasuke grabbed the book Shisui interrupted that morning and a fishing pole. He managed to wrangle in a few catches before Naruto brought him a plate with ribs on it. “Bon appétit,” He handed it to Sasuke with a flare and took the pole from his hands. Sasuke hummed appreciatively, foregoing the fork sitting on the plate and they quietly enjoyed the moment.
“Tanks,” He tried to say with a mouth full of meat. It was savory and fell right off the bone. Naruto beamed at the praise and waited for Sasuke to finish his plate.
“Ya know…” Naruto started, but trailed off. Sasuke did a quick glance to the side and set his plate down, not offering to take the pole back. Naruto had a strange look on his face, pensive? So what he was thinking must be important.
“I never ever even dared to dream I could have this some day.” He finally finished in a monotone that sounded strange coming from him. It made Sasuke hesitant to interrupt.
“Have what?”
“A brother, a chance to leave the village, a chance to do something I want to do, to be….”
When it became clear Naruto wasn’t going to add anything else. Sasuke spoke.
“I’m really happy you came with us. Konoha didn’t know what they were doing when they shunned you.” He paused to consider his words. He really didn’t want to mess this up, so he waited.
“Everyone is so great. Shisui is the greatest big brother ever. Aunt Mikoto even told me about my parents.” At the last comment the weird haze seemed to melt away and instead a soft smile appeared on his face. “ You’re pretty awesome too, sometimes.” He quickly added the last part while looking at him, the smile shifting into his signature mischievous grin, but Naruto quickly turned to face the water again.
Before Sasuke could think of what to say, Naruto continued on. “Belonging feels nice. I think it’s really precious”
Sasuke tried not to grin too much but couldn’t help his words. “Well, you’re almost right.” He could see Naruto’s face fall a bit before he continued. “Only Shisui can’t be the best big brother because Itachi is!” And he must have done something right because the smile that followed might actually split his friend’s face.
“You deserve all of this and more.” Nothing more needed to be said.
They sat in silence until the next fish was caught. Sasuke ended up leaving Naruto to fish while he went to restock the firewood and clean the campsite. Garbage wasn’t a normal part of shinobi with their spartan camping styles but Naruto and Shisui could clutter a hotel room in a matter of two days. He sighed and picked up some stray Kunai and put them in their owners bags.
Once finished with cleaning, he summoned Kaja. They had a bit of time before chakra training this afternoon and he really enjoyed talking to his summon.
Red and orange filled his vision as the smoke cleared.“Great to finally spread my wings,” was her sarcastic way of greeting as she flapped them pointedly.
Sasuke ignored her complaint. He had been to their world and knew she could fly as much as she wanted there. She griped a bit more but settled comfortably in her small form on his shoulder.
“How is everyone doing?” Sasuke asked. He tried to take an interest in her. Itachi said it wasn’t good to have such a personal relationship with his summon but he conveniently forgets that when he’s talking to her.
“Fushii has been pretty rattled lately over some other summons. We can’t really interfere in the human world apart from our summoners but some of us have been extending their stay longer than they should.”
“I summon you all the time?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t you worry about that. That’s an added bonus of this form. I guess you could say it doesn’t really count as summoning, so it’s fine.” She added unworriedly.
“Huh?” That only made him more confused.
“This form is small. It hardly uses any chakra either. I’m hardly more powerful than your common pet.” She flipped her wings at the word pet even though she’s the one that said it. “Don’t get me wrong. If I truly wanted to, I could use your chakra to attack. I could also summon more of my own strength from home, though that would put a burden on your body.”
“So it’s fine,” he double checked.
“Yes, it's fine,” she reassured. “The biggest concern is a snake summon. He’s been summoned in this world for a long time now. Almost three months! I’m surprised anyone has the chakra to summon Manda for that long.”
“Why does it matter on timeframe,” Sasuke asked.
“Well, summons draw most of our strength from our summoner or our world but as far as we can tell, he hasn’t drawn any of his strength. He’s living off his summoner and this world's chakra. Our chakra is much more pure than this world’s so it’s similar to being drunk for us if we were to draw in the tainted chakra. It has driven summons mad at times and made them take leave of their senses. It’s an ugly thing to see.”
“That’s horrible,” Sasuke felt sick to his stomach at the thought of poisoning Kaja just to spend more time with her. “Is there any way to help Manda?”
“He’s been with his current master for years and many have tried getting him to break his contract. He’s being….” she thought for a moment. “Stubborn about keeping him. Sometimes we get attached to the wrong people or they change over time and we don’t want to see it. There may come a day where I dread the idea of you summoning me.” She said thoughtfully.
“I never want that to happen. Can we change the contract so you don’t have to come when I summon you.” He summoned Kaja often but never considered his chakra would force her into his world. She looked stunned at the very idea.
“It’s never been done like that. You are the summoner, you call and we answer. That's just how it’s always been.”
“Yeah but I don’t want to poison you or hurt you.” The thought of it almost brought tears to his eyes.
“I’ll talk to Fushii and see if we can adjust your contract. In the meantime, how about a story. I’ll tell you about the dragons,” she offered in a silent apology for upsetting him. He finished off his break listening to her talk about the different types of dragons. She swore she had seen them once upon a time but Sasuke wasn’t sure he believed her.
Itachi called their break to an end and they separated into two groups for chakra training. Sometimes, they would work in one group but the Sharingan made things different in training.
Where Sasuke had perfect recall and slowed down on the practical. Naruto had to have things explained a few times. He then bulldozed through the practical with the sheer size of his chakra reserves. Needless to say Sasuke learned new things much quicker.
“It’s not that one of one is better than the other,” Itachi explained. “It’s just different styles of teaching. We don’t want either of you feeling like you're holding the other back.” It sounded simple when he explained it like that. They went over the hand signs for two new jutsu.
One was a common one taught in Anbu for travelling. It brought water up from inside the earth. The other one he demonstrated was a flipping water dragon!
“Where did you learn that!” Sasuke stared in amazement as the water dragon dissipated.
“An…. Acquaintance of mine in Anbu really liked this technique. It was one of his favorites so I saw it often enough to copy it.” Sasuke was too concentrated on running through the hand signs to comment on the pause. Itachi was quick to interrupt though.
“This one is a bonus, though.”
“A bonus?” Sasuke stopped to look at Itachi.
“We need to focus on the other one right now. I’ll show you the water dragon if you master this one today.” He offered.
“But the other one is so boring!” It wasn’t quite a whine but the glare Itachi sent him meant it was close enough. Sasuke quickly closed his mouth and ran though the other jutsu signs to Itachi’s approving look.
“We’re going to the village hidden in the sand after the mist. On the off chance you get lost, I want you to be able to at least have a water source. A true water master can summon water from 20 miles away. Jutsu, like the water dragon, also uses a lot of water. If there isn’t a pond or river nearby, you can use the first jutsu to summon the water to use the second.”
It sounded reasonable when he put it like that. They worked for about an hour on it before Shisui came and retrieved Itachi. Now that the kids had something to keep them occupied they could do their own training. Sasuke had tried watching a few times but even with sharingan, he was too slow to participate. They really were strong. Kaja stayed quietly on Sasuke’s shoulder.
He was so focused on the jutsu it was well after dark before he realized it. His stomach growled in protest and he looked up to the black sky and then to Kaja. “Why didn’t you tell me it was getting so late?” He questioned.
“You were busy,” she said, in a matter of fact, and Sasuke didn’t have a retort. “Besides, you’ve gotten pretty far haven’t you?” She gestured to the swampland that Sasuke had created. There were already animals starting to sniff the water he pulled up. Sasuke preened at the praise before a thought hit him.
He looked both directions and sensed his brother's location before he continued. Seemed like Naruto was training in the opposite direction too, so there’s no way he would be caught. He went though the signs for the water dragon and molded his chakra.
The drain was instant and tremendous. Sasuke’s legs shook as a worm-like form started to appear out of his swamp. It was muddy and had grass in it. It was almost there before Sasuke got distracted by a chakra spike from camp.
Specifically, Itachi’s. He dropped the jutsu so fast the water rushed at him and covered him in the grass and mud. It was disgusting. Kaja had the sense to fly into a tree when she noticed his lapse of focus and laughed from the safety of her branch.
“Busted,” she crowed. Sasuke scowled and wiped his face before he peeked towards his brother’s chakra. It didn’t flare again but he was suspicious of that timing. Did Itachi sense something? Maybe it was just a fluke or he was responding to Shisui. He decided not to risk it and trudged over to where Naruto was training. That last attempt drained his chakra and if he kept going now, it would hinder his recovery.
He went to the clearing and saw the blonde sitting on the ground surrounded by small puddles. It wasn’t the swamp Sasuke created but looked more like Naruto had dug holes to hold the water first. Sasuke kicked himself for not thinking of that.
Naruto was so focused, he didn’t notice Sasuke until he spoke next to his ear. “I’m hungry.”
Naruto jumped slightly. He looked bewildered, first at Sasuke, then the sky. “What time is it?” He squinted.
“Food time.” Sasuke pulled Naruto to his feet and let him lean on him. He was smart enough to leave some chakra and stamina to get back to camp. Apparently Naruto hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Oh, okay.” He leaned into Sasuke unashamed and Sasuke hauled him back to camp. There he almost gently put Naruto by the fire and started looking for leftovers from lunch. With all the training, neither boy wanted to cook.
He passed the food around and tried not to look at Itachi when he sat down between him and Naruto. They chatted about their days and the area. He was almost finished eating before Itachi brought it up.
“I felt something strange during your training session.” He said it mildly but was looking straight at Sasuke. For some reason, Naruto got fidgety as well.
“I didn’t feel anything,” Naruto said.
“Me either,” Sasuke was quick to defend.
“That's strange, because I felt some evil chakra coming from somewhere over there,” Shisui added, pointing towards where Naruto’s clearing was.
“Wait, What?” Sasuke thought they would bust him for the water dragon. Maybe Itachi wasn’t looking at him.
“Did ya,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head and started his own personal staring contest. Even Sasuke stared at the blonde.
Unable to hold silence for too long, Naruto broke first. “FINE, alright. I may have been looking at the seal in my stomach and sorta kinda ….”
He mumbled the last part so Shisui prompted. “Care to repeat that?”
“Not really,” was the petulant response. At Itachi’s look, he folded like a deck of cards. “I may have accidentally broken something.” this time he rubbed his belly.
Itachi looked downright alarmed. Shisui was pulling up Naruto’s shirt before Sasuke could blink. The seal was plain to see and was a deep red color. “What happened? Shisui demanded.
“I was using my chakra for the water jutsu but I was running low. I felt a bunch of it and kinda…poked it.” Itachi paled. “One second I was in the clearing and the next I was in some sort of dungeon. There was a giant cage and something was moving around inside it.”
“So of course, you went to check it out?” Sasuke activates his sharingan and lightly touches Naruto’s seal as he explained. Itachi smacked his hand away but Naruto didn’t seem to mind.
“Yeah!,” Naruto was too nervous to read the sarcasm apparently. His explanation got faster, like if he could get it all out quickly, he would be in less trouble. “There was a giant fox behind the bars. He was really grumpy, like the old man that used to throw stuff at me at my old apartment…” He trailed off as if lost in thought.
The spell was broken when Shisui snapped his fingers. “Focus,” He demanded.
“Oh, sorry. He was yelling and beating at the bars. He demanded I let him out and got mad when I told him I didn’t have the key. I was surrounded by all this orange chakra but it didn’t touch me. So I just, sorta, waited for him to finish yelling. Then we got to talking and now I think I wanna talk to him again.” Naruto put his hands up in a ta da gesture.
Itachi held his head in his hand and Shisui started laughing.
“So are you and the Kyuubi friends now?” Sasuke continued to question. There was nothing else that giant fox could be after all.
“Not right now. Now, he’s too mad. Maybe in the future though.” Naruto acknowledged.
“Gotcha,” Sasuke felt numb to Naruto’s shenanigans by this point, so he just added friend to the giant demon to the list and was ready to move on. He started cleaning up dinner.
“What should we do about this?” Naruto asked, pointing to the now red seal.
“I don’t think there’s much we can do. Don’t use your chakra unless you have to for a while. That means no jutsu training. We’ll leave in the morning to go to Mist and ask around for a seal master to look at it.” Itachi decided.
“We’ll have to be discreet,” Shisui added. “We don’t want to draw unwanted attention to our village.”
Itachi nodded but didn’t say anything else.
With that they started cleaning up most of their camp except what they would need to sleep and eat breakfast. Before they laid down, Itachi turned to Sasuke. “Don’t think this means you're getting away with using the water dragon before you mastered the first jutsu I gave you.” He sounded stern and Sasuke looked away again.