Chapter 21
Asuma Sarutobi
“Shit shit shit shit shit shit,” Asuma muttered to himself pacing back and forth in front of his uncle’s home. “This is a bad idea,” he’d keep saying as he waited for Hiruzen to come home.
“Terrible idea, what am I thinking,” Asuma said, now walking back to his car to leave. “To actually ask him about that is idiotic,” he laughed at himself. “No fucking way.”
He reached his car then stopped. Kurenai’s voice rang through his head.
“You shouldn’t confront him about this,” her voice rang.
Almost a week ago, Asuma saw that Naruto’s quirk sheet was changed to include an additional quirk. After seeing this, he ran to Kurenai with his realization and when the two went home that day, they talked about what Asuma saw.
“Naruto could easily have that fox spirit sealed in him,” Kurenai said, seated on the couch. “But I thought, if the rumors were true, that Minato sealed the spirit in his wife.”
“Could be that his wife was pregnant,” Asuma said, pacing back and forth in the living room. “And the spirit was passed to the child when she gave birth.”
“But that’s if the rumors are true,” Kurenai responded. “We don’t know for sure that Minato was the one that stopped that fox spirit all those years ago.”
“Kurenai, didn’t you see the fight that kid had on the soccer field? That kid clearly has something in him, and the boy also looks uncannily like Minato. Not to mention that the fox spirit has never been found since then? 15 years ago, around the same age as Naruto? In the care of my uncle?!”
“Maybe we’re over thinking-.”
“The kids an orphan! No parents! These coincidences can only go so far.”
Kurenai paused for a second to think. He could see on her face the gears turning, trying to figure out if there was any chance that Naruto could not be a dead president’s lost son.
“So…. He’s an orphan of a dead president. What now?”
“I-…. don’t know Kurenai… I mean we won’t know for sure unless we ask or… you know.”
“I’m not using my powers on Sarutobi.”
“Why not? It’s the best and least confrontational way to know for sure.”
“My powers require touching the person to read their mind. How am I supposed to do that?”
“Maybe set up a meeting with him or something then shake his hand.”
“My powers require a lot more time than that. If I were to do it like that, he’d know I was trying to read his mind. I have to be touching someone for while to find out and depending on how prominent the thought is, it may even take longer if I have to dig through his mind to find the information I’m looking for if he isn’t constantly thinking about it. I mean shit, that’s why when I shook your hand to see if you liked me almost a year ago, it was awkward as fuck because I was holding your hand for like five minutes.”
“It wasn’t THAT awkward. And plus, I’m sure he’ll be thinking about it for sure. I know after that fiasco; he’ll be thinking about it a lot.”
“That’s not the point! I require time to look at a person’s mind. A lot of time. I can’t just have a really long, awkward handshake with a guy that knows I can read minds.”
“He doesn’t know the extent to which you can….”
“Asuma! I’m not doing it. Not with a trained killer. Especially not with my boss. I like my job. Somewhat.”
“So, then what, we just sit with this information. Kurenai, a dead president’s son is in the car of an ex-Senji leader. The Senji were a covert military group doing SECRET missions! This is recipe for disaster for sure. I mean, you don’t know my uncle. He’s a cold, cruel man. What if he’s planning something? Something bad?”
“It’s none of our business at the end of the day, Asuma.”
“The Sarutobi clan name is on the line here. I could be lumped into this mess as well. I mean, it’s family we’re talking about here…. It’s potentially your safety.”
“Who’s the one with the quirk here? I think I’ll be fine. It’s your own safety that you should be concerned with. Like what if it is true?”
“My entire clan is wiped out, that’s what. The government don’t mess around. I’m dead for sure.”
“You’re being hyperbolic, Asuma.”
“Don’t start flexing your vocabulary at me.”
“Hyperbolic is not even a fl- Asuma, I really think it’s safer to leave it be. I feel like if this was true, worst-case scenario, you get questioned and they’ll leave you alone when they see you to be the apparent dumbass you are.”
“Harsh.”
“Asuma, these are all coincidences at the end of the day… Crazy coincidences, BUT COICENDENCES, nonetheless. If you’re wrong, what does that do with your relationship with your uncle?”
“If I’m wrong, I stand to make worse a relationship with an uncle that didn’t exist in the first place. If I’m right…”
The two sat in the silence. Asuma stopped moving and came to the couch with Kurenai.
“…Am I overreacting,” he pleaded, looking for a yes but wanting a no. He wanted to validated without the consequences from it.
She sighed. “I think you might be… but I can get why…”
She lit a cigarette and leaned back into the couch.
“As much as I want to calm you down, Asuma… The fact that they changed the quirk sheet is bothering me. If it wasn’t a big deal, either it should’ve been already added on before or left alone. To change it within a day is baffling to me. They-.”
“My uncle,” he corrected, grabbing the cigarette from her hand and smoking it.
“But we need to be calm about this,” she continued. “Getting worked up like this does nothing for anybody.”
“Even though the coincidence is absolutely insane.”
“Even though the coincidence is crazy…”
He passed the cigarette back to Kurenai and stood up, hands rubbing the back of his head.
“…I’m going to confront him,” he eventually said.
“I still don’t know if that’s the best idea,” she replied.
“It’s the only idea I’ve got. I have to know for sure,” he said.
********
His fingers retracted from the car door and eventually, so did he. Slowly, he ascended back up the lawn till he reached the front steps where he sat and continued to wait. He needed to know if his suspicions were correct or was he (as usual) overreacting. Another cigarette he lit to calm himself. The anxiety was boiling within him. His hands could not stop shaking as he lit the cigarette. Smoking still would not calm him down either, but it kept from going insane.
Hours passed. Asuma checked his phone to find the device lying to him, claiming it had only been ten minutes. Another hour and finally, Asuma saw Sarutobi walking down the street.
…with Naruto.
That’s a bit odd, he thought. He looks… cheerful?
The principal and Naruto walked towards the home.
What should I say, Asuma thought as the two got closer. What should I say to Sarutobi? Or Naruto- fuck I forgot I hit him in the face with a fire extinguisher! I called him a fuck face! Will he still be mad about that? Shit what should I say?!
The two finally reached the front door.
Asuma looked at the kid and put on a cool, mature smile.
“Hey kid,” he finally said.
“What are you doing here,” Sarutobi asked. “At this hour?” Asuma was about to apologize but Sarutobi interrupted him before the nephew got a chance to speak.
“I-… tried calling you but you never answered,” Asuma responded. It was true. Meeting face to face was not his first resort. Throughout the week, he’d sent calls, messages, and attempted to talk at school. Each time he was brushed off either by Jiraiya, the front desk lady who he was starting to suspect was actually into him, or Sarutobi himself. “I’ve tried talking to you all week and the same.”
“So you come to my house late at night and you smoke outside my home,” Sarutobi snapped.
“It’s outside, no big deal,” he said, trying to sound calm but was scared shitless.
The principal let out a frustrated sigh.
“Naruto go inside, I’ll meet you upstairs,” he said in an uncharacteristically warm voice.
“Are you sure,” the kid asked.
“Yeah, I won’t be long,” he said, letting out a quick smile at the kid before Naruto proceeded inside the home.
“Uncle, I just wanted-.”
“Wait a second,” Sarutobi said, letting up one finger. He then opened the door quietly and peered into his home. He then closed the door quietly and turned to his nephew. “You can continue.”
“Uncle I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
“I know.”
“Why have you been so hard to reach lately,” Asuma chuckled. “I mean, I know I’ve never really tried to talk to you, but shit I’m your nephew, I feel like it shouldn’t be this hard to talk to my own uncle.”
“Don’t say that word,” Sarutobi said. “It’s inappropriate.”
“Sorry, it shouldn’t be this hard to talk to my boss,” Asuma corrected.
“That’s not what I mean- Look kiddo, I’m sorry I’ve been hard to reach.”
“An entire week I can’t talk to you. I have to wait outside your front door just to have a conversation with you?”
“I know… I know,” Sarutobi looked sad. “Nephew… Lately I’ve been reevaluating my relationships with my peers and… my family. And I know that this relationship has not been… ideal. Just know that I want to work on that… That I am going to work on that. Just know that… I’m sorry.”
Asuma was shocked.
“I-… uh… wow. That’s not what I was expecting.”
“I’ve changed, nephew,” he said with a slight smile. “At least, I’m trying to change.”
“Clearly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize. Like never.”
“Oh come on,” he chuckled. “I’m sure you’ve heard me do it once.”
“Nope.”
“What about that time I bumped into you and made you spill your coffee? It was at school I think two years ago?”
“You told me I should’ve been watching where I was walking,” Asuma responded, irritated.
“Oh… well I apologize for that nephew.”
“I accept your apology…”
The two stood in silence for a moment. Asuma had his hands in his pockets, his eyes looked everywhere other than Sarutobi. Eyes looking for what he should say.
“Boss…”
“Just call me uncle,” Sarutobi sighed.
“Uncle, I’ve wanted to talk to you about Naruto…”
Sarutobi sighed again, this time much deeper than before. All of the baggage that came with being a father finally shown on his face and body.
“Sometimes,” Sarutobi started. “I believe that there might be a god.”
“You do?”
“After all the things I’ve done, during the military and after, I put away the idea that there were any gods out there watching over us. It troubled me. The idea that a higher power allowed a man like me to exist. All of the things I’ve done… I’ve ruined families. I’ve killed many. I cannot even remember how many. Killing became so ingrained in me that I stopped counting- hell I can not remember the first person I killed. To me, it’s like asking you to remember the first time you ate food. So to have a higher power watching me do these… vile things to people… to have a higher power watch me leave ditch my family to join the military. I know my wife prayed for me to stay home. She prayed to have a loving husband; I know it. A husband who was there for her. For his family. No way god could see this and not do anything. Especially considering that I left her to ruin the lives of many.
So, I dropped the idea that god could exist. No way, not a chance. But then, my team is demolished, all of us, Orichimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunadae, and myself, are dishonorably discharged. And eventually, I find myself in the care of this orphaned child.
A doomed child. Doomed to circumstance. Doomed the moment he was born. A child who was never given any blessing. I was made to be in the care of this child because of a dying wish. But, his destiny is one of pain and sorrow, Asuma. So I told myself I have to be cruel- I needed to toughen him up, I told myself. Leave him in the cruel world during his primitive years. Have the pressure of this world turn him into a diamond. Or so I thought. But now I know why I really did that. I didn’t show him love not because I wanted to make him tougher. It was because I did not want to love him. I felt I could not love ever again. Not after what I’ve done.
But after that incident at school, Asuma, to see that I almost lost my boy…”
Sarutobi’s voice faltered. It seemed shaky, but he continued on.
“I… I knew that there might be god after that… Because this was their punishment to me. To make me care for and love a doomed child… To make me realize that I could love again and that I have to capacity to change, but because of myself, I refused to. I refused to love him because I made myself believe I was not capable. And now, my boy is damn near grown and I’ve spent most of his life not caring for him like I should…”
He stopped. Asuma could see the weight on his uncle’s shoulders. Asuma knew of the things his uncle did during his time as leader of the Senji (Sanin). They were cruel but it was times of war, at least that’s what he was always told about them. Sarutobi never seemed to be bothered by his time in the military. A cold, cruel man is how Asuma viewed him, so a cold, cruel, military group would be the perfect match for him. So, to see Sarutobi not be cold and cruel, but emotional was shocking.
“…so that kid is the son of Minato,” Asuma finally said.
“He is,” Sarutobi responded.
“Do you think I should be concerned? Or our family should be concerned?”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about that… Any plans that I had for the kid in the beginning are long gone now. For now, I just want to be a good father to him for the few years that I still have him.”
“You said he was a doomed child though…”
“There are some who… disagree about these plans being over. A child of a dead president is doomed to political influences wanting to use him. But trust me. We’ll be fine.”
His uncle patted him on the shoulder.
“Uncle?”
“Yes nephew.”
“You’ve really changed huh?”
“I’m trying to,” he said grinning.
Asuma descended the lawn towards his car, satisfied and surprised at what he heard. Once he reached his car, he turned around.
“Uncle,” he said again.
“Yeah,” Sarutobi responded, front door open.
“I noticed that Naruto hasn’t been coming to football practice. Or any other after school activites. I think you need to let the boy socialize with his peers. He looks lonely at school. Maybe let him come to the rally tomorrow after school? All the kids are going to be there. Or just allow him to participate in these clubs.”
“You might be right on that,” Sarutobi said as he shut the door. Asuma got into his car and drove home.