It started in the middle of the mission room. Team seven had just handed in their report. It had been half assed, covered in dirt and blood. Naruto had once again been injured and belligerent.
"Shizune, take Naruto to the medical wing and have him checked over." Tsuande was at the end of her rope with the jinchuriki.
"But granny...." The blonde whined.
"Don't 'but granny me' brat, you will do what I say. Sakura, you and Sai stay here." She watched as the blonde left, his head downcast. She glanced around the mission room. It held the regulars, Iruka, Genma and Kotesu on duty receiving and handing out missions. Ibiki and Owl were there to talk to Asuma's team about some of the surprising aspects they had run across recently. Most of the rookies of Naruto's year were there either to hand in missions or waiting to receive them. "Kakashi, Yamato. We need to do something about him."
There was something in the tone of the Hokage's voice that had everyone standing still. Even Guy kept his comments to himself.
"What is it you need from us, my lady?" Kakashi asked carefully.
"I had hoped that he would grow and mature, but he is still a brat. He doesn't listen, he charges ahead without thinking. He acts like a spoiled brat of an academy student. Every time he messes up, it is always one of you who cleans up after him. I am ready to pull him from the roster and lock him away somewhere." Tsuande looked around the room as the others started to talk amongst themselves nervously.
"Look, Lady Tsunade. I think we can agreed that Naruto can be one of the biggest pains in the ass the village has seen, but isn't locking him up a little extreme?" Shikamaru considered Naruto to be one of his best friends. Sure there were times when he wondered how the guy had ever managed to make genin, but his heart was always in the right place.
"He can be forgetful and brash, but it's never malicious," Shino piped up.
"Look, we could go on for quite a while listing traits of his that annoy us. The question is why is this coming to a head now?" Yamato was scared that there was something deeper at work here, something that would really harm Naruto. Was it the Akatsuki? Danzo and the foundation? Or was Orochimaru at work?
"I think the bigger question is," Ibiki piped up, "do you want to actually understand what it is that Naruto is going through or do you just want to complain?" The head of T & I was still in awe of the loudmouth kid who left his Chunin exam completely blank.
"Understand what he's going through? Explain yourself Ibiki?" Tsuande was ready to beat some sense into the blonde jinchuriki.
"What I'm saying is that Owl has a genjutsu that will literally allow you to experience another's emotions."
"It only lets people see how the other is feeling for about ten minutes and you don't actually get the memories behind the emotions, kinda useless really, but I can put all of you in Naruto's shoes." Owl had done it before and knew that while it might be a close call it wouldn't be an invasion of privacy because he didn't have access to any real memories. It would be like knowing the level of pain someone felt but not knowing how they hurt themselves or seeing the wound.
Tsunade tapped her fingers on the desk. She wondered, Owl's jutsu could be beneficial. "You know, Owl, maybe we'll take you up on your jutsu."
"I think Owl should put all of you under if he can," Gemna spoke up. "Between you, his teachers, his team mates, and his friends no one else would benifit more from a better understanding of him. Kotesu and I can stand guard." The senbon user looked over at his co-worker and watched him nod.
Owl looked around, there were seventeen people in the room, if Genma and Kotesu backed out that would be fifteen to put under. It was more then he had done before but not outside his limit. "If anyone wants to back out, now would be the time to do so. I would suggest you leave. If we're going to do this, I rather do this now."
Hinata was the first one to leave the room, she was soon followed by Kurenai, Kotesu, and Genma.
"Let's do this." Kakashi looked at the others and then over at Owl, "what do you need us to do Owl?"
"If I could get all of you to at least stand together, that would make things easier." The ANBU watched as the thirteen shinobi stood together in a group. Each one of them had a different reason for wanting to understand Naruto. The hand signs where simple but the results were remarkable. "I'm going to do this in stages, ok."
The walls wavered and the amount of chakra flowing through their cells skyrocketed.
"Is this how he feels all the time?" Choji felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.
"This is his reading from when he dropped off the report an hour ago. His chakra levels were only about 75% of normal." Owl watched as everyone's jaws dropped. "Alright, now adding in the nine tails chakra."
"Wait! What!" Neji's outburst surprised Owl into stopping. "You mean this feeling right now. This feeling of being hopped up on a sugar high with eight cups of expresso running through my veins is Naruto chakra alone?"
TenTen looked at her team mate, he said nothing about how the light seemed brighter and the sounds louder. Even her clothes felt heavier and scratcher. All of her senses appeared heightened, how did Naruto handle this?
"Yes. The Uzumaki's were well know for their massive chakra reserves and control. It's why they were sought out as jinichuriki's in the beginning." Tsuande thought of her grandmother.
Owl went through another round of hand signs.
"This is like a blanket of bees," Ino mumbled she was starting to get a headache.
"Not just bees, " Shino amended, "but angry, extra large bees."
"Do you hear that?" Ino looked towards Shikamaru and Choji. "That sound just under the buzzing, it's a voice. I can't make out what's being said but the tone is..." The blonde mind walker broke off. Tears running down her face. She'd heard that tone before. It was degrading and humiliating. That Naruto had to hear that. She knew instinctively that the muffled words would be clear to him.
Shikamaru stood still, watching the six shinobi closest to Naruto. Sai was always a hard one to read, but Sakura let every emotion play across her face. She was heartbroken. Kakashi and Lady Tsuande looked like they held the weight of the world on their shoulders. Captain Yamato was staring at the floor, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, and Iruka was crying openly.
"I'm sorry, I can't replicate to level of chakra the Nine tailed fox emulates in his sealed state." Owl's admission had the group looking at him again.
Ibiki voiced the question that everyone wanted to know but was afraid to ask, "so this is the resting state of the Nine tails? How far off do you think you are?"
Owl took a minute to really think about his answer. He had a vested interest in Naruto. He had been one of the ANBU to watch over Naruto as a child, and had seen things about the youngster that many others over looked. He had gone to Shikaku Nara about his concerns and the two of them had done what they could to mitigate the damage. He knew that there were shinobi in the village that he couldn't trust with Naruto's life. As for the other rookies, he didn't really know them that well individually, but by reputation alone. They were a close knit group who seemed to back each other without question. He wasn't sure of their motivation for this, he'd have to talk to Shikaku later. Kakashi, Yamato and Tsunade needed to understand Naruto in order to stop underestimating him. "If I had to guess, I'd say the nine tails chakra level is about 60% and the background noise that Ino picked up is at about 75% volume, although as you have guessed, Naruto is able to understand what is said the majority of the time."
Tsunade gripped her desk. She had known about the amazing chakra control of the Uzumaki clan, after all she was a descendant of Mito Uzumaki and it was that blood line that allowed her to store her chakra into the strength of a hundred seals. The fact that Naruto was able to withstand having the Nine tails imprisoned in his soul as an infant just went to show how strong his bloodline was. She looked down at her files, trying to read the mission report in front of her. Her mind wouldn't let her focus. If the brat had to put up with all of this and try to listen, well it was no wonder he kept acting like he did; and that was without Kurama acting up. She went over every talk she'd had with Jiraya, every note and report he had ever handed in about the training he had done with Naruto the last couple of years. She couldn't remember anything about this. It was something to corner him about when he returned from his latest mission.
Owl released the jutsu and everyone in the room seemed a little shell shocked, not quite sure where to look or what to say. A knock on the door and all eyes turned to watch as Hinata, Kurenai, and Genma entered with trays of food and drinks.
"I've seen Owl's genjutsu in action before," Genma spoke quietly, knowing that everyone's emotions were going to be raw and on edge. "Eat and relax. Kotesu has set up a temporary work space just down the hall." Kurenai and Hinata set down the trays and walked out again, as Genma continued. "Kurenai and Hinata will stand guard outside, I'll go help Kotesu. Please Lady Tsunade, everyone; give yourself some time, at least a couple of hours if not the rest of the day to assimilate what you have learned." With a small bow the special Jonin left the room.
The silence was almost as hard to bare as the intense pressure of the genjutsu. The rookies gravitated towards their teammates and the comfort they could find there.
Tsuande took a deep breath, she needed to make sure there was no ill effects because of Owl's genjustu. "Neji, I would recommend that you refrain from using your Byakugan for a good 24 hours, Kakashi the same goes for you and the sharingan. Shino, how are your kikaichu? Any issues?" Tsuande went directly into diagnosis mode and looking at those who would be affect the most due to their kekkei genkai.
"I'm fine Lady Tsunade, they are agitated but will recover quickly." Shino leaned against Kiba, both of them feeling weak and exhausted.
Choji was helping Ino to a chair, the mind user had one massive headache.
Sakura powered through the pain and exhaustion to pass the tray of tea around to her friends. She was also subtly checking them over. They would all need something to help them through this. Shikamaru was the first to recover. He made a small gesture with his left hand and Choji, Neji, Shino, and Sakura nodded. Message received.
"Lady Tsuande, if it's alright with you, I think that we will take Owl and Genma's suggestions and take our time to understand just what we have learned today. You have our word that none of us will talk about this to anyone outside of this room and that includes Naruto." They left team by team, leaving their Senseis behind. Sakura and Sai were the last to go.
"Sakura, Sai, I will come and talk to you later. It will work out." Kakashi tried to smile, but they both could see that it was forced.
With the door closed the room now held Tsunade, Kakashi, Yamato, Iruka, Ibiki, Guy, Asuma, and Owl.
"Kakashi, Naruto's chakra, even at 70% is at a higher level then when my eight inner gates are open." Guy was amazed, the memory of his battle with Kisame of the Akatsuki with his Shark sword still fresh in his mind. He had opened the eight inner gates in his battle with the former swordsman of the mist to help free Neji, TenTen and Lee from a water prison jutsu on their mission to help rescue Gaara.
Kakashi's mind was reeling. He had just finished helping teach Naruto about the change in nature for his chakra. He'd had Yamato come help supervise as Naruto used his shadow clones to train and develop what he hoped would a higher level of the rasangan. He remembered the discussions and his dismissive tone when Naruto didn't realize that he could have utilized the shadow clones as learning tools all this time. It's amazing the kid could walk and think at the same time let alone focus on some of these more mundane points.
Naruto's injuries from Tenchi bridge and his confrontation with Orochimaru and Sasuke were still front and center in Yamato's mind. What his charge must have been going through when Kurama's chakra had taken over and the cloak had appeared. No wonder Naruto had no memory of his action at that time. His mind was shutting down as a self defense mechanism. "So his injuries and the way they heal, is that help from the Nine tails or from the excess chakra he has?"
Tsuande shook her head. "With as many time as he's been in the hospital and under my care, how have I missed this? How is it that chakra levels that elevated have not been noticed by any medical ninja. I mean it's possible he could have consciously hidden it, but he's been admitted numerous time unconscious as well."
"That maybe something as simple as a jinchuriki survival technique." Ibiki had also examined the blonde a couple of times and he hadn't noticed anything either.
"My question is how is he still sane? IS he still sane? Is Naruto a danger to the village like the elders feared all those years ago?" Asuma wasn't trying to be an ass, but someone had to ask the hard questions. He'd had many conversations with his father and Shikaku over Naruto's care through out the years. He had been one of shinobi who had wanted Naruto imprisoned and controlled at all times. Being in charge of squad ten had lead him to more exposure to the jinchuriki. Shikamaru and Choji were good friend with Naruto. It was that exposure that lead him to slowly changed his mind. After having the kid come and ask for help with his wind nature chakra, he'd gotten to see just what it was that Shikamaru and Choji liked about the kid.
"The only thing I will tell you is that safety and protection of the village is the first thing that crosses his mind at all times." Owl knew where this could lead, and he wanted to make sure they understand the teen was not a safety issue.
"He has both Minato's and Kushina's will in his soul. I don't question his sanity or how trustworthy he is. That is not a line we will be following do you understand me?" Tsuande glared across the table at the younger Saratobi.
Iruka had remained sitting in his chair behind the desk the entire time. Sitting with his head held in his hands he tried to stem the flow of tears. All of these years he had admonished Naruto to try harder, pay attention and stop goofing around. All of these years and it was all the poor kid could do just to function on a daily basis. He had been such a harsh teacher. Why hadn't he seen how much Naruto had truly needed him?
Kakashi looked around, no one seemed to really know what to do with the information they had just received. A flash of movement outside had him suspecting that Shikamaru was gathering the group. That was a mind that wouldn't stop. It was possible the Nara heir had a plan involving Naruto's classmates. Oh well, he'd worry about them later, right now he was more concerned with what the Akatsuki knew for certain. Were they after the chakra of the Uzumaki clan or what the Nine tails could do. "I wonder how much of this Master Jiraya knew?" His gaze went to Lady Tsunade. Kakashi knew that the two had met multiple times to discuss Naruto and his training.
"Nothing of this magnitude was in any of our discussions." Lady Tsunade sat behind the desk and closed her eyes in frustration. "We've all seen the shadow clones he can produce."
"For a kid who failed the academy exam three times because of that jutsu; the sheer number and quality of his clones now never cease to amaze me." Iruka spoke up for the first time.
"Why do you think he gets it now, Iruka?" Yamato was honestly curious.
"We know that Naruto opened and read the sacred scroll, he had studied the jutsus inside. I talked to him afterwards and he admitted to trying the others, but that only the shadow clone jutsu seemed to 'stick' is the word he used. I think the nine tails helped him understand that particular jutsu. There are times when I think either the Nine tails or some other hidden aspect of Naruto either comes out or quiets down enough for him to focus on what it is he needs to learn."
Kakashi and Tsunade silently nodded their agreement of his assessment. Guy and Asuma hadn't dealt much with Naruto, only seeing him whenever their students hung out together or if the mission had their teams overlapping.
Ibiki, had been in the Third Hokage's confidence with regards to Naruto's upbringing. The amount of chakra the kid had access to was a total surprise, but he would question Owl later. He wasn't sure if Owl was exaggerating the kids power levels or not.
"So I guess the question is back to Asuma's. Do we try to limit his activities or let things go as they have been?" Kakashi really didn't want to try throw Naruto under some type of house arrest now. Not only would the blonde balk at it, but his friends would rally around him.
Tsunade steepled her hands under her chin and thought about it, "if this had come to light ten years ago, I'm betting that the answer would probably be yes. However, with how things are now, I think if we tried it would just end up in disaster." She went on to explain, to stem the questions she could see coming, "Naruto, himself, would fight confinement and I'm betting his teammates would aid him. All that would do is alienate him from the Leaf. He'd leave and we'd have another situation like Sasuke Uhchia on our hands, only this would be worse because the Akatuski are actively searching for Naruto. No, I think our best course of action is go on as we have been. We're going to have make sure that none of this becomes public knowledge or even official knowledge. Owl, please don't report your use of this genjutsu in any document. I would like all of you to treat Naruto as you have been to the best of your ability, and forget what you have learned today." Tsunade had her own suspicions about the group of genins that had also experienced the genjutsu but she would leave that to them, plausible deniability and all that; beside Shikamaru wasn't a genius for nothing, might as well put that brain to work for the leaf sooner rather than later. The group spent the next hour going over village security as it pertained to Naruto. "We'll take Owl's suggestion and take the rest of the day to relax, everyone head home. Dismissed."
Owl and Ibiki were the last to leave.
"Owl a word if I may." Tsuande stopped them as the door closed behind Yamato and Iruka.
The ANBU officer bowed, "yes?"
"How close were you on estimations?"
Ibiki raised an eyebrow, so Tsunade had her own suspicions.
Owl looked at the two people who knew his true identity in the village, the two people who could make him disappear without question, and answered truthfully. "I did exaggerate a little, but I did so to make the others feel a safer."
"So what were the true numbers." Tsunade wanted to know what she was dealing with.
"Naruto's own chakra levels closer to 60% of normal not 75%. Kurama resting chakra is closer to 40% not 60%."
"So you overestimated the chakra levels, Naruto is actually much more powerful then you explained. Why the deception?" Tsunade thought she knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it.
"The Jonins were already so scared of him. I didn't want to give them more reason to ostracize him. Given the way the genjutsu works, everyone would notice higher levels of chakra that Naruto had even as exhausted as he was from his mission."
The three of them continued talking strategy and possible uses for Owl's genjutsu. Kakashi let himself slowly fade from the side of the building. So, Naruto was much stronger then was reported. Why wasn't he surprise? The jonin instructor thought about the others who had been in that room. If he knew Yamato, his friend was off to check on the rookies; they'd connect later. He needed to talk to Guy and Asuma but at the moment it was possible that Iurka was the one that he would need to talk to the most. The two of them were closest to Naruto, that they had missed this was troubling.
*****
Up on the academy roof, all of Naruto's friends gathered, "Is everyone alright?" Hinata joined her friends.
Shikamaru rubbed a hand across his face, he was still feeling a little shaky, "Hinata, can I ask why you didn't want to be involved?"
"It felt wrong, like spying. There was no real benefit here. We know that Naruto is different from us, but that is no different then the fact that Ino is a mind walker, Shino has control of insect and Neji and I can use Byakugan. I wouldn't want you to see into my mind without my permission." Hinata blushed, "I'm sorry I don't mean to criticize."
"No, I get it. We each had a different reason for wanting to do this." The Nara took a deep breath, "Sakura could I trouble you to help Ino out, she's suffering from a major headache but won't say anything at the moment. Neji please listen to Lady Tsuande. Shino if your insects seems at all off to you tomorrow will you let me know?" No one questioned Shikamaru taking the lead, he did so naturally.
Shino nodded, and Shikamaru continued. "Like I mentioned to Hinata we all had different reasons for agreeing to undergo Owl's jutsu. I won't ask you to reveal what your motives are, but for myself it was so that I could understand my friend better. We've all been on missions with Naruto and have all dealt with the fallout when he's gone off on a tangent. That's not to say his tangents aren't important and produce some surprising results, but they are troublesome. I thought that if I could understand what he was going through that I could then factor that into my strategies when dealing with him. I can say now that not only did I fully under estimate my own ability, I was way off the mark when it came to Naruto. My respect for him has increased."
"How he has managed to deal with competing chakra types as well as that background noise and still remain the sweet guy that he is...." Sakura voice was quiet as she knelt behind Ino, helping with her pain. "The number of times that he has encouraged me, helped me, told me everything would be ok...." She looked up at Shikamaru from where she was. "The number of times he's brushed off his own injuries to make sure that no own else was hurt, or put himself in harms way for one of us. Owl said the we were only feeling his chakra levels, but there was more. Ino could here the murmuring in the background. I didn't hear those until she said anything."
TenTen spoke up then, "did any of you notice the increase in sensitivity?"
Everyone shook their heads, "TenTen, could you please explain?" Shikamaru knew that this was going to be important.
"It felt like every nerve ending was hyper alert. Like I had been kept in a dark and silent cave then brought out into a bright, noisy arena. Colours were bright enough to hurt my eyes, I could hear Shino's insects moving around, even my clothes felt super heavy and scratchy."
Shikamaru thought that over, "what about taste and scent?"
TenTen shook her head, "Well I could smell everything stronger but realistically it was sight, sound, and touch that seemed affected the most." TenTen tried to really put some thought into her answers.
"You may not have not noticed a difference in smell and taste, but I did." Kiba scratched the back of head. He thought his sense was of smell was the keenest in the village, but Naruto's was right up there. "His sense of smell isn't any better then mine, but that still puts it above almost everyone else outside of my clan." It wasn't a boost, but the truth. The Inuzuka clan was well known for their superior sense of smell partially because of how close their relationship was with their ninja hounds.
"Hmm. Ok everyone take a minute to really think about what you learned. It seems like this affected each of us differently and if we put all the information together we'll get a bigger picture." He set up a sealing jutsu around the group, "I don't think I have to say that this information goes no further then us. I don't want to pass this on to anyone including the Hokage. We all know that there are still factions in the village that would love to have Naruto under their thumb or expelled from the village. I'm not saying that anyone we left in that room falls into that category, but.."
"We get it Shikamaru, those still inside are those with power, and those with power are ones with enemies would will try to find a weakness. Naruto could be seen as a weakness." Sakura had a good grasp of what Shikamaru wanted to do. "Alright, I'll go first. While I want to say that I was least surprised with sheer volume of chakra Naruto deals with on a daily basis, that would be a lie. I knew it was extraordinary but that still blew me away. What I noticed was the level of pain he was dealing with. I thought I had healed him on the journey home of all injuries, but obviously he was either hiding the degree of pain he was in or Kurama was masking things so that I couldn't see them. I could feel breaks and fractures that were old and healed, things I don't remember him being treated for." Sakura wasn't sure how she could improve her medical ninjutsu enough in order to help Naruto get passed the level of pain he was in on an almost hourly basis."
"I don't think the fault lies in you medical ninjutsu Sakura," Shikamaru had picked up on where her thoughts would naturally lead her, "I think that this is just the reality of living with a jinchuriki. I could see about contacting Gaara and asking him some questions on the side, but I'd like to wait and try and do that face to face if possible."
"Power and the struggle to keep it under control, like a leashed lion." The respect and admiration in Neji voice was clear to everyone in the area. "Like harnessing a typhoon."
"I felt confusion." Lee was the next to speak. "It seemed like Naruto truly was unsure what was wrong with mission report he had handed in."
"Yeah," Kiba tilted his head to one side much like Akamaru. The dog nin was never happier that the puppy hadn't been in the room at the time, the poor guy wouldn't have known how to react to a genjutsu like that. "Remember how we talk to Naruto when he joins our teams on other missions. We need to explain things to him slowly, step by step."
"Naruto is not stupid." Lee was starting to take offense on behalf of his friend.
Kiba held up his hands, "whoa; Lee, that's not where I was going with this. I mean we all know Naruto isn't the smartest one of the group, if we're being honest I'm not much smarter. The thing is; it feels more like Naruto is so focused on being able to breath and walk and do the amazing jutsus he does that the middle stuff like paperwork is just too difficult to remember."
Shikamaru nodded. "Okay, I think I get where your coming from. The level of chakra at rest takes an great deal of focus. Just managing to get through his daily tasks takes on life or death aspects. On top of that he has the shadow clones and rasangan which require so much attention to detail. Stuff like getting the paperwork right just isn't on his radar as important. That is going to be an area where we're going to have to back him up without bitching about it." He watched as everyone nodded, "Sai, Choji did either of you notice anything?"
"Loneliness." Sai voice was flat, "he doesn't want to loose anyone else the way he lost Sasuke."
"Choji?" Shikamaru looked over at his oldest friend who just shook his head. Choji had that look, the one that said he wanted to say something but was scared of how it would be taken. "Spit it out Choji, I think that we're going to need everyone's perspective on this. It's too important to everyone to leave something out." It hadn't escaped Shikamaru's notice that what everyone had picked up on also leant towards individual strengths. That meant whatever Choji noticed was going to showcase something personal as well.
"I think the thing I noticed most," Choji's voice took on a timid nature that had been missing in the last couple of years, "was a feeling of alienation. He saw our groups and the closeness and wanted that." He looked towards Sakura and begged her to understand.
The pinkette's smile was small but kind, "I get it Choji, it's not that Nartuo and I aren't close, we are; it's just after Sasuke, we've both been afraid to let others in. Sai, I know you've tried and we trust you and value you as a team mate, but at the same time I know I'm so afraid that you'll leave too, or that you'll be so hurt I don't know what to do." She took a breath, there was more but she wasn't ready to let all of Naruto's secrets out friends or not.
Choji moved to closer to Sakura, he so wanted to reach out and give her a hug, to hold and comfort her. He knew she would feel the blame and he wanted her to know that it wasn't her, or at least it wasn't all her.
"Alright, we keep this too ourselves and away from Naruto. Let's try and treat the idiot the same way we always do. If he questions and changes in our attitude stick as close to the truth as possible. We got a talking to by some ANBU officer about how we treated our teammate and leave it at that." Shikamaru wasn't all that worried, he wasn't sure is Naruto would even notice, but on the off chance he wanted everyone to have at least a plausible excuse in mind. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, Yamato or a clone of him. Well at least he wouldn't be able to hear what they were talking about and he was fairly certain that he hadn't been there long. "It's a bother, but we'll do what we must just like we always do. If any of you have any questions or any residual issues from the genjutsu come and see me at once."
Slowly the group dispersed. "Shika, I'm heading home." Ino still felt a little shaky, but she knew that Sakura and Choji both had things they wanted to say without an audience.
"I'll make sure you get there," Kiba volunteered, he could see how Shikamaru was torn between talking to Sakura and his team mate, the fact he had a crush on the blonde had nothing to do with it.
"Thanks Kiba," Shikamaru knew they were pressing their luck staying on the academy roof this long. "Choji, my place." He watched Choji give a quick nod and head off. "Come on Sakura, let's head out. We can talk more at my place. "
The Nara compound was quiet and secluded, no one could approach without being noticed. Shikamaru was glad that Choji was as comfortable here as he was at the Akimichi household. By the time the two of them had arrived, Choji had tea ready just outside the workroom. Shikamaru handed Sakura a cup, "Look, I know things are still a little dicey. Sai is still trying to fit in and you're still trying to find Sasuke. On top of all that; dealing with the injuries he had received from Orochimaru and seeing just how the Nine tails cloak affected him. I'm pretty sure that when he was dealing with Sora, he didn't realize that half of what he was saying, he was saying out loud." Shikamaru sat beside her on the deck. "I mean we all know that Naruto is a Jinchuiki, but I have to say, seeing the Nine tails cloak thrust in my face like that was something really scary."
"I think that's one of Naruto's biggest fears. He's waiting for one of you to turn your back on him. Waiting for the villagers to start shunning him again." Sakura looked over to Choji for confirmation, "he's waiting to be abandoned again and if he is, I fear that this time it will break him."
"I don't think that is something you need to fear." Choji was glad he could finally reassure the medical ninja the way he wanted to. "I know that Shika and I won't be turning our back on him any time soon."
"I think you can count on our whole group to have his back. The things is, feelings of alienation can fester and turn bitter if they're not resolved. We need to let him know that we accept him without letting him know why. This might be something we keep to a few people and not the whole group though. Give me a day or two to come up with a real plan."
"Shikamaru, I hope Naruto knows what a great friend you are."