Shine Bright, My Light
Yamato has had it. This idea, lingering in his mind. The one that tells of freedom and granted wishes, of running and never coming back. It’s midnight and he’s in bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating if it would actually be worth it. There is no moon tonight, only the stars that shine down on them from above.
His eyes dart to the bag that rests at the foot of his bed. It contains enough supplies for a week and a half. He sits up and rests his head in his hands, sighing deeply. His mind drifts to the Uchiha incident, to Itachi who looked so small in his ANBU uniform, to the little brother who looked so scared when they found him that night. To Danzo, who had smiled cruelly at him as he told him about the plans he had made and how much better the village would be for it. To the Kyuubi, who had been sealed in a little blond boy, the one with big blue eyes and a sweet face, who he hasn’t seen since the boy was two.
Yamato rises from his bed, a frown marring his face as he grabs his bag. There is nothing of significance he needs to take with him here. The leaf headband is left on the bedside table. He opens the window and travels on the rooftops in the inky blackness of the night. He is careful to not draw the attention of other passing Shinobi. When he sees the walls, he hesitates for a moment, there is someone he must get. He will not leave them to suffer here in this rotting place.
He arrives at a small apartment, not too far away from the Hatake clan lands.
“Kakashi,” His voice is quiet and solemn as it travels through the air.
A whisper of wind tousles his hair and the door opens to reveal Kakashi with his hair a mess, his clothes rumpled from wearing them too long, and both eyes open.
“I’m leaving,” Is all Yamato says. His voice is soft and his face is kind.
Kakashi turns around, leaving the door open as he goes to get something. He comes back with two children and a bag for the three of them. It’s the Uchiha boy and the blond one.
“I couldn’t,” Kakashi cuts himself off for a moment, “I can’t just leave them here. They were outside alone and I just,” He makes a noise of aggravation in the back of his throat.
Yamato nods in agreement and kneels in front of them, “What are your names?” He asks softly. Of course, he already knows but he and Kakashi are about to take them away from everything they’ve ever known and it’s good to give them a sense of normalcy.
The blond one steps forward and quietly tells him, “I’m Uzumaki Naruto! Grumpy pants over there is Uchiha Sasuke.”
Yamato ruffles his hair and stands up. He takes his bag, puts it on his chest instead of his back and turns around to squat. “C’mon, Naruto,” Is all he has to say before the kid is jumping on his back and firmly latching himself to him. Yamato turns back around to see Kakashi has done the same thing with Sasuke. “Time to go. We have to be really quiet, okay?” He tells the children. They can’t be any older than seven or eight years old but Naruto is so small against his back, too thin for any child and it makes Yamato angry.
Kakashi and Yamato first quickly stop at the Hatake clan lands and Kakashi sets Sasuke down and heads inside to get something of importance. Sasuke shuffles closer to him and Yamato rests his hand on the boys head.
“What is he getting?” He asks softly.
“Everything of importance to the Hatake clan,” Yamato answers.
“Will we get the things for the Uchiha?”
Yamato hesitates half of a second. “Do you want to?”
“It would be the smart thing to do, if we’re leaving. The Hokage and the Daimyo won’t have the rights to my clan or their lands or the clans’ riches,” He tells him.
Yamato considers that for a moment, finding his words to be the truth. “Then we will, Sasuke. You’re pretty smart for a child.”
“They would have stolen it if I wasn’t,” Is all he says in response and Yamato accepts that.
Kakashi comes out with a scroll that’s only slightly bigger than a regular storage scroll and tied with a silver ribbon. “That’s everything,” He says as he slips it into his bag. He gestures for Sasuke and turns around so he can easily climb onto his back.
They make their stop at the Uchiha compound after a short conversation of why they are going there. It barely takes five minutes to collect the small amount of clan secrets and artifacts, to sign papers and store everything in two different scrolls bound by blazing red wax stamps with the Uchiha emblem.
It takes even less time to sneak into the office and put the papers through so that they would bypass the Hokage’s notice. Yamato has no pity for the fools who will suffer for this.
They take to the rooftops, avoiding the two patrols they pass with practiced ease. All is well and quiet as they pass through the boarders. They travel in silence for hours and they only stop when the sun has risen and has started to fall once again. The boys are both asleep, they have been for a while now, they’ve set up a small camp and the boys are both resting on bedrolls.
“Where do we go?” Kakashi asks softly, as if he doesn’t want to break the peaceful silence. “We didn’t exactly plan this through.”
Yamato squints at the horizon, ideas and locations whirring through his mind, suddenly he catches on one in particular. “Uzushiogakure,” He whispers. He turns to Kakashi in his excitement and continues, voice rising slightly, “The ruins are already there! I can easily use my mokuton to grow housing, we can sculpt a new village from the very ground itself. You and I both know that there are plenty more that will leave Konoha once word gets out, let us make a place for them. Any surviving Uzumaki will also come, too. So many people are in need of a new home, let’s give it to them. Let’s rebuild Uzushiogakure.” By now Naruto and Sasuke have woken up and are both watching Yamato with wide eyes.
“Uzumaki? There are more Uzumaki? What’s Uzushiogakure? Are we going there? What do you mean rebuild? Was it destroyed? Where are we now?” The questions fall out of his mouth as easily as water falls down a waterfall.
Kakashi chuckles a bit behind his mask. “There will always be more Uzumaki, Naruto, they are incredibly resilient. In the war, one Uzumaki duo had as much force behind them as an entire Konoha platoon. Uzushio was a small shinobi village near the sea. We might be going there,” Yamato shoots Kakashi a look and Kakashi corrects himself, “We are definitely going there. When Yamato says rebuild, he means that it’s currently in ruins, destroyed by Kiri and Ame near the end of the second war when Hiruzen refused to answer Konoha’s sister village’s call for aid. As for where we are, we’re near the coast of Fire but we’re also close to the boarder of Hot Water.”
“Close enough to the coast to go straight for Uzu, right?” Asks Sasuke, who has been quiet the entire time, even since they very first left the village.
Yamato blinks before nodding, “We could, if we really wanted to,” They probably shouldn’t, but. “We’ve got ANBU and Root on our trail, if we go straight over the water,” he trails off.
“It should throw them off completely,” Kakashi finishes for him.
“You think we have enough chakra for that?” He turns to Kakashi. “If they come after us on the water, we won’t be able to make it, especially if we’re forced to fight.’
Yamato receives a shrug as an answer.
“What other choice do we have?”
Yamato looks to Naruto in surprise, his steely blue eyes have a determined glint in them, his mouth is set in a stubborn slant and Yamato knows that they will be crossing the ocean either way.
“None,” He says grimly.
So, they cross the ocean. After resting for an hour or so, they pack up camp and step out onto the water. The run is long, wet and grueling, but it is nothing that they can’t handle. Yamato almost wants to say that he has had worse days while in Root.
The wind is rushing past his face, tearing through his hair and he is briefly thankful he had the thought to put it in a braid beforehand. The pause they take is a nice reprieve from the sea mist that has been getting in his eyes. Kakashi has long since abandoned the mask hiding his face so that he can breathe easier without the wet cloth that now hangs around his neck.
“Land ho,” Yamato jokes as they start a slower pace. They’re not too far off from the coast of the island and will have to start jumping over crashing waves in a moment and it’s better for them to rest slightly before they do. The water and the wind has been their constant companion for hours now and at certain points, it even seemed alive. As for the boys, they’ve been looking on in awe and there was a bit of commotion earlier when dolphins came up beside them for a while before parting off.
“Land ho!” Naruto repeats enthusiastically, bouncing on Yamato’s back, causing his feet to sink in the water. “What does that mean?” He asks sheepishly.
Yamato smiles helplessly at Kakashi, who gives him a slight shrug. “It means there’s land in sight,” He answers. He can feel that anger again, white hot, crawling up his throat at the simple fact Naruto has been so deprived of any sort of childhood that he doesn’t even know the simplest of common phrases.
“Oh!” And Naruto sounds so delighted to get a kind and true response, an answer that isn’t a lie. It makes him wonder what the actual fuck is going through the Hokage’s mind.
“Let’s get you two to some dry land, how about that?” Kakashi asks. He doesn’t wait for an answer, he takes off with Sasuke tightening his grip and jumping over waves. Yamato follows after, Naruto cheering as they go.
A long fifteen minutes later, they’re all on the beach. They are tired, wet, and free. The taste of the air on Yamato’s tongue has never been sweeter. Kakashi is sitting on the ground, getting sand all over himself.
“We made it,” He murmurs as he watches the boy run down the beach, glad to be able to move around and run again after so long sitting still. “We made it!” He cheers, both hands in the air. The grass on the dunes looks a little greener, the sky looks a bit bluer, and the entire world is crystal clear.
Kakashi smiles fondly at his cheering friend, just as glad as he is. Any of the ANBU or Root would have to be absolutely insane to come here. He remembers the stories Kushina used to tell them. The stories of how the island will reject any who it deems unworthy, how its people are mostly dead but its spirit is very much alive.
Yamato turns to Kakashi with a wide smile on his face, elation coursing through his veins like. “Feel like exploring?” He asks.
“When do I not?” Kakashi asks in turn. He stands up with a quiet grunt, sand falling off of his clothes as he pats them down. “Boys!” He calls down to where they’re playing in the sand together. “It’s time to go find the ruins,” He tells them as they run over. They’re laughing at something they’ve done, playfully running around each other and making faces.
As Naruto gets close and they both calm down, he asks, “Do we have to ride on your backs again? I want to walk,” The stubborn slant of his mouth is back again and Yamato despairs. He will never be able to say no again.
“You can walk.”
Naruto cheers, throwing his hands into the air. “What’re we waitin’ for, let’s go!”
Yamato laughs softly and ruffles his hair as he passes. “We’re not waiting on anything,” He murmurs. He looks at Kakashi, who is picking Sasuke up. The boy looks tired, resting his head on Kakashi’s chest, but there’s a small smile on his lips as he tells Kakashi about the weird joke Naruto made earlier. Naruto has grabbed Yamato’s hand and they’re all making their way up the beach.
“C’mon!” Naruto says. “There’s sand all on my feet and it feels weird, let’s get off of it.”
Warmth spreads in Yamato’s chest, all the way to his toes. He hasn’t felt this light in a long time. It’s nice.
“Let’s go inland,” Kakashi suggests from beside him.
It’s a logical choice, any sane person would build a village inland, away from the raging storms and the beating ocean. But Yamato has a feeling that it isn’t as far inland as most people would assume.
“Keep the ocean in sight.” He tells Kakashi as he gets pulled along by Naruto. “These are Uzushio’s lands, I have a feeling that the nin here respected that enough to build without fear of the ocean and harsh storms.”
Yamato looks over to the lush greenery of the island. It’s so alive here. Not like Konoha, Konoha feels brown and dull to his senses, like a plant that has drowned in blood, too tame and old to feel like anything but half dead. Here though? Here it feels wild, the plants are absolutely thriving, and there’s a faint undertone of something more. He doesn’t know what it is but it feels like it’s a pulse under his skin, the sound of the wildlife, the joy of coming home for the first time.
He looks back over to their little group, they’re all a bit worse for wear but, Yamato thinks, they look a little something like family.
Kakashi catches his lingering gaze and gives him a lopsided grin, visible eye crinkling, smooth skin giving way to dimples, his face not used to such an expression.
Yeah, family.