Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“LEE!” Naruto can’t help but cry out with a gasp, wide-eyed. He screwed up. There’s no reason, no other piece of evidence to suggest otherwise, especially with the way Lee is suddenly careening towards the ground, pale-faced and in tears. He dashes away from Guy’s anxious grasp, expertly catching the other teen before he could even touch the ground. Was it the booster pellet? Did he not do enough testing? 

Had Naruto hurt him? 

“Lee!” Guy is beside him in an instant, pushing the boy’s bangs up and away from his face, searching for something. He peeked at the medic-in-training as if he’d grown a second head, similar thoughts running through his mind.

Naruto moved to hold out a glowing green hand just above Lee’s chest, trying to seek out any internal injuries he might be experiencing. The lack of a response so far is already making him nervous. “Are you okay?!” He utters when his diagnostic internal scan comes up with nothing. If there’s nothing, then why was Lee damn near about to pass out? Why hasn’t he passed out yet? Naruto gives him another long look, Guy still petting the boy’s head, gently trying to coax something out of him. “Does something hurt?” He asks when his nervousness takes hold of him.

“Thank you…” A wispy voice croaks out, “...thank you…” Lee manages to open his eyes, hiccuping on his words. He gives Naruto a weepy smile before burying his head into the blond’s chest, ignoring the other teen’s frantic questioning. The eight gates aura seemingly fizzled out, the energy zapped from him, his body sagging against Naruto’s. 

He searched for a second time with his healing chakra because Lee’s condition and the fact that there was nothing seemed plain wrong. He ran it over the other boy’s body, searching for something, anything to heal, but other than some sore muscles, there was still nothing. He made a weird noise in his throat that seemed to startle Guy back to life. “What?” He asked hastily, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” The medic-in-training whispered back, wide-eyed, staring down at Lee’s quivering body, still tucked carefully into his stomach. Naruto looked up at the jounin who’d been owlishly staring at him, worry in his dark eyes. “There’s nothing… Nothing.” He managed to say. “He’s good.”

There was a breath of silence before the older man managed to mutter out a weak, “What do you mean?”

He grinned, voice shaking, “It worked.” 

Guy broke out into a smile of his own when the words finally dawned on him, bending down to touch his forehead with Lee’s. “Did you hear that, Lee?” He whispered, “It worked.”

Lee chuckled, “I know… I felt it the moment I went into the sixth gate. It’s just got some… exhausting side-effects, though.”

“Are you feeling ill?” Guy smoothed his hair down carefully, taking in his student’s condition.

He shook his head, smiling, “My body feels a bit weak and… and I’m really tired.” He yawned loudly. “It feels like I just ran around the village thirty times,” Lee admitted with a whine.

Naruto hummed, holding the teen close to him, “It also seems like you burned through the booster pellet quicker than I anticipated.” He pursed his lips before sighing, “Looks like I’ll need to go back to the drawing board some…”

Guy patted his back, “You did something no one else could do for us, and I think that’s enough.”

“Guy-sensei…” He flushed bright red, dipping his head away to hide his soft smile. Once he’d collected himself enough, Naruto reached out to squeeze Lee’s arm, getting his attention. “Even though it didn’t work out exactly as I thought it might, this should at least help you enter the sixth gate… if you wanted to keep trying, that is.” He smiled before his medic side took over once more. “Do you feel any discomfort? Pain?” The blond-haired genin questioned, ticking off imaginary boxes to get through before he could clear the other teen.

Lee opened his eyes - when had they shut? - before looking at his shaking hands. He stretched them a few times, testing his range of movements despite his apparent exhaustion. “No… I’m okay.” He smiled, “I’m okay.” The way he said those words made it sound like he didn’t believe it himself. Maybe deep down, he didn’t, but the way both Naruto and Guy were smiling like idiots down at him made Lee feel at peace.

Naruto shared his sentiment, chuckling lowly, his grin wide and prideful, “For a second, I got a little worried about… you know, but it all worked out in the end.” He sprang to life as a thought struck him. “Here, this should help a bit.” His hands began to glow green for a second time, a soothing wash of healing chakra flowing through Lee’s sore muscles. He made a soft noise of appreciation, settling heavily against Naruto where he was still lying in his lap.

“Well, you three were certainly busy.” Kakashi’s voice called out from where he was standing on the sidelines, startling all occupants inside the training ground. Beside him were two incredibly battered genins, one seething as if his glare would set the world on fire, while the other wore a shit-eating grin. “I’m assuming it worked?” He asked, aiming the question at his student.

“It did!” Naruto beamed brightly, practically lighting up the entire training ground, “There are some kinks to work out, but it actually worked.” Lee tiredly gave the jounin teacher a thumbs-up, enjoying the feeling of chakra on his tired muscles. Despite not having done much of anything, the daunting task of opening each gate takes a lot more out of a person than most would realize. Plus, he enjoyed this type of pampering, not that he would ever admit it.

Kakashi seemed to melt a little, whatever tension he’d been holding in his shoulders and back seemingly flitting away. “I’m glad to hear that, really.” He smiled, voice soft, “Guy’s been a nervous wreck all week.”

Lee perked up at that, glancing at his teacher, “Really?”

The older man sighed, “Whenever my most youthful rival puts it that way, then I cannot lie. I went through the more advanced gates with the first rendition Naruto-kun presented me, and with how I reacted to it, I was… more than a little nervous to give that to you.”

“Why’s that?” He blanched, glancing up at the blond who’d willfully kept quiet.

Guy smoothed back his hair, “I’ll tell you when you get your energy back up, okay?”

Lee pursed his lips, “...okay.” There was a something in Guy’s voice, maybe the cadence or the tone he had, but it made all the fight leave him in the face of it.

“Don’t be too upset.” Naruto gently chided, patting his head with a smile, “Rest is good for the mind and body. Plus, we’ll work on this together another time.”

“Another time?” His eyes seemed to sparkle.

He bobbed his head, grinning from ear to ear, “Of course! Experiments don’t just stop after one test! I need to ensure that my booster pellet is perfect for you to use long-term. I can’t stop just because I reached a roadblock, right?”

“O-Of course!” Lee beamed, “Yosh! Your youthfulness is always appreciated, Naruto-kun!”

He flushed, still not exactly used to such honorifics in regards to himself. “We’ll have to make a schedule or something so I can see you train while using the eight gates both with and without the booster pellet.” Naruto prompted with an excited trill in his voice, “Oh! And maybe I can compare my notes on the eight gates with you and Guy-sensei to see if I’m missing anything since you two are the only people I know who’ve used them!”

He nodded frantically, “I would like it very much.” Lee lifted his gaze to his teacher, “Is that okay, Guy-sensei?”

Guy glanced at his long-term rival, quirking a brow, “I have no qualms against this.”

Kakashi looked as if he hadn’t been listening, going through the motions of picking at his ear and kicking the dirt. When the training ground continued with its impressive silence, he sighed all ragged like. “Fine, you may borrow my student one day out of the week.” He held up a finger for emphasis before muttering under his breath, “Kami knows the kid’s already busy as is.” Despite trying to be quiet, Naruto scratched at his cheek as if he’d heard him, which he probably had Kakashi mused to himself.

Sasuke, who’d stayed relatively quiet the entire time, gawked, pointing at Lee accusatory. “Kakashi-sensei, you’re just going to let another team steal our medic?” He barked out.

The words made his teacher bark out a laugh, “And who said he was our medic?” The Uchiha heir flushed bright red, scoffing and looking somewhere else, “Aren’t medics for the village? That means we should share, no?” His student bristled, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

“I’m not a medic!” Naruto cried out from where he was, equally just as red, but mainly due to embarrassment of being talked about. Everyone glanced at each other, not believing a word the blond had said. He huffed, practically pouting at this point. But there was some humor in this moment, the amusement reaching his eyes.

Kakashi smiled at his students, sharing the sentiment with Guy. “I’m glad all that work you put into this finally paid off, Naruto.” He waited until his student’s eyes were on him before sighing, “I hate to ask that you turn your attention away from Lee for a moment.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” He immediately asked, an odd twitch in his neck, a sudden clarity in his eyes as if his early embarrassment had simply disappeared. It was always amazing to watch him go from Kakashi’s cute genin who was too precious to his world to a medic, as if there was no room for excitement. He watched as the soft green glow coming from his student’s hands seemed to fizzle out as the blond stared heavily at his teacher.

“Would you mind giving these two a look over?” He laid a hand on both Neji and Sasuke’s shoulders. The former immediately tensed, glowering up at the older man before shaking the hand off him as if Kakashi’s touch had burned him. “They got a little frisky.” He mock-whispered, the comment aimed more towards Guy who was doing his best to hide his smile.

Neji did not find it humor, practically stewing in his seething.

The blond-haired boy lifted his head, giving the two a once-over, but not noticing anything severe, at least outwardly. So, a simple checkup should do. “Uh, yeah, that’s fine.” He handed Lee over to Guy, who had remained squatting beside him, before standing up and walking over to the two genins and his teacher.

“I don’t need your help.” Neji hissed almost as soon as Naruto had raised a glowing green hand, dodging it expertly before marching away.

They watched him go before Sasuke snorted. Kakashi and Naruto eyed him carefully. “Don’t mind him.” He smirked, arms crossed over his chest as a hand lay over his back, the blond healing a few injuries there, “He’s just mad that I outsmarted him.” Lee seemed to startle at the teen’s words, eyes wide and staring so heavily. He outsmarted Neji?

“It’s not good to gloat, Sasuke.” Naruto was chastised easily, going through the motions of donig a thorough checkup on his teammate. 

There was a beat before a whisper filled the training ground, “He deserved it.”

“Sasuke!” 

Lee watched with a soft smile, tucking himself into Guy’s belly, who held him gently. “I’m okay…” He mumbled under his breath, low enough for only his teacher to hear.

“I know.” He smiled down at the boy, “I’m grateful.” 

“Tomatoes? You - the almighty Sasuke Uchiha - like tomatoes?” Sakura gawked, practically horrified. He narrowed his eyes at her, eyebrows furrowed so tightly Naruto thought they might fall off from tension alone, which he hoped they wouldn’t, as he’d lose his bet with Kakashi if that were the case. “Sasuke, those are like… the nastiest vegetables I’ve ever had the displeasure of eating.” Her face screwed up, fake-gagging just because she could.

“Allmighty?” He squawked out, startled by the implication of that word, staring owlishly at her.

“Correction,” Kakashi butt in, leaning in until his head was positioned between his two adorable genins, “Tomatoes are actually fruits.” He stood to his full height when Sakura glowered at him, holding his hands up in surrender. Their teacher moved to pull out his pervy book, flipping to whatever page he’d left off on. 

She huffed, continuing to glare at her teacher as they walked towards the Hokage tower. “Well, my opinion still stands.” Sakura was arguing with a wall, Naruto realized with a chuckle, falling in step with the silver-haired man who was a pace or two behind them. They glanced at each other, mildly amused.

Sasuke, for his part, merely stuffed his hands in his pockets and held his head high. “Tomatoes are delicious.” He commented loosely, “They’re good for cooking.”

“You cook?!” Her eyes were wide at the same time as Naruto poked her.

“And they’re pretty nutritious!” He piped in only because he couldn’t help himself, “Do you know how many vitamins are in tomatoes? Doctors often suggest that you eat-”

“Ugh!” She groaned loudly, getting equal parts exasperated looks and chuckles towards her dramatic display, “I don’t need a lesson on the fruits of the devil - they’re gross and that’s final!” Sakura stomped her foot for emphasis.

Kakashi smirked behind her, “At least you agree with me that they’re fruits.”

“Kakashi-sensei!” She shrieked, earning a low chuckle from the man, “You’re supposed to be on my side!” Sakura whined, hanging her head low, looking like the epitome of defeat. 

“And who decided that?” He quirked a brow at her.

She ignored him in favor of elbowing Sasuke, the other teen glaring at her, “How can tomatoes be your favorite food? I thought something like… steak would be your favorite!”

He pursed his lips, practically bristling at her comment, “I never said tomatoes were my favorite, just that I liked them.”

“Well, that’s a first.” Kakashi couldn’t help but add, especially when his loveable genins gave him their best glare, which did nothing except amuse him further. They were so easy to rile up. 

“As for steak…” Sasuke drawled, attention back on him, “It’s actually one of my least favorite foods.”

Her eyes widened in shock, “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” He blinked, not understanding the supposed gravity of the situation.

“Oh wow, I am learning so many things today…” She murmured under her breath, a thoughtful look crawling across her face, “At least I don’t have to learn how to cook a steak now.” Kakashi choked on his laugh. Sakura made sure to perfect her scariest glare ever when she caught him in her sights. He willfully laughed right in her face. “Kakashi-sensei!” She barked, face flushing a bright red, “Leave me alone!!!”

Naruto, for his part, seemed equally amused, saddling up beside her with a grin on his face, “Yeah, but that just means that you have to learn how to cook tomatoes.” A look of horror and dread filled her face before Sakura sagged completely, a total knock-out if you asked him.

“I have no idea what you all are implying.” Sasuke suddenly glowered. All eyes were on him in that moment. “What?” He asked innocently enough, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Sakura’s face bloomed even redder than before, an impressive feat considering just how bright red she was beforehand. “Not. A. Word.” Sakura pointed at her teacher and Naruto, hoping her wide-eyed glare would shut them up. Naruto was starting to turn red from trying to hide his rising laughter stuck in his chest. Kakashi, thankfully, just patted Sasuke’s back and continued pushing them up the Hokage tower’s steps. 

“What?” Sasuke squealed out again, searching for answers, but no one said a thing.

Kakashi, as if he couldn’t help himself, began to say, “Well, when two people love each other very much-”

“KAKASHI-SENSEI!” Sakura all but shrieked, face a myriad of reds and pink, but as pale as a ghost, looking as if she would pass out any moment now. Naruto gave his teacher a look, and the man just held up his hands in a placating motion.

“Okay, okay.” He chuckled, “Let’s shelf this conversation for another day, hm?” Kakashi finally relented much to Sasuke’s dismay, climbing the few flights of stairs up to the Hokage’s office, “After all, my adorable gennin, it’s time for another mission.” The jounin smiled at them before opening the door, never bothering to knock, no matter how old he got. He held the door open for his students, the trio walking in with only quiet thanks.

The Third Hokage looked up from a document after drawing in a long breath from his smoking pipe. He coughed twice in surprise before putting it away in some random drawer. “Ah, Team 7, it’s good to see you all this morning.” He smiled sweetly, his eyes lingering on Naruto, who had a look on his face that made him nervous. “Thank you for not being… too late for your mission assignment today.”

Kakashi raised a hand, “You would have to thank Sakura for keeping us on time.”

“Only because I threatened you.” She muttered under her breath.

“Well, then, thank you, Sakura.” Hiruzen said appreciatively, earning a flush from the teen who messed with her thumbs shyly, “These missions are rather time-sensitive, so it’s best if your team gets to them sooner rather than later.” He reached over to a stack of papers, putting on some glasses to read from the list. “Well, let’s see what we have for today…” He began, reading off a few missions, and Kakashi claimed eight for his team to complete that day. Even Hiruzen was a little shocked, “Are you sure your team can handle that many?”

“Of course, they’re all extremely competent.” Kakashi drawled, not missing the sly smiles he got from his students. He flashed them an eye-smile of his own, basking in their joy.

He chuckled, plucking his glasses off his face in favor of shaking his head in exasperation, “Well, if you’re sure, then fine, have it your way.” 

The jounin teacher walked up to the desk, grabbed the mission scrolls with a short bow. He clapped his hands, garnering his students’ attention, motioning for them to follow him. “Alright, kids, let’s get a move on.” He cheered, heading for the office door, “We don’t have all day!”

“Um… Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto suddenly spoke up.

“What’s up, kiddo?” He tilted his head to the blond, showing that he was listening. Sasuke and Sakura gave the blond an odd look, noticing his meek appearance. They shared a glance with their teacher, who seemed equally aware of it.

“Can I meet up with you guys outside? I need to ask… the Hokage something.” He hesitated, the notion picked up by everyone in the room.

Kakashi gave him a long look before glancing at Hiruzen, a look in his eye, something dark, something challenging. “That’s fine.” He said a bit too quickly, perhaps with too much bite in his tone, “Don’t be too long, okay?” He tried to lighten his voice, giving Naruto an eye-smile. He spared another long glare at the Hokage before ushering his other students to leave with him. Sasuke and Sakura gave their lone teammate a long look as the door slid shut behind them.

Naruto watched them go, his back turned towards Hiruzen, whether it was intentional or not, he neither knew nor cared. They were both quiet as they waited for the door to slide shut, the sound of the door shutting making the room echo painfully. He almost flinched at the sound, but pure willpower kept his muscles intact. Oh, geez, this was going to be awkward.

“You wanted to ask me something?” The Third Hokage prompted when the silence stretched into something thick with tension. Naruto considered thanking the man for speaking first, but it only seemed to exacerbate his anxiety.

Naruto sighed deeply, the noise rattling in his chest, the whole motion making his body shake. Hiruzen observed him as the teen turned around, walking stiffly until he could plop down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. The Third Hokage kept quiet, hand itching on the table, as if he wanted to reach out to the boy but was forcefully stopping himself. He could tell something was gnawing at the teen, but, surprisingly, Naruto seemed to push the comment aside, something else entirely coming up, much to the older man’s surprise. 

“Do you know how bad smoking is for you?” Naruto asked with a mock bored expression on his face, as if it would stop the bile from climbing up his throat, unable to meet the other man’s eyes.

Hiruzen raised a perfectly arched brow, “I beg your pardon?” It wasn’t said maliciously or with something darker, just exasperation. Maybe that’s what made the teen feel a bit more confident with his question.

“Do you know how bad smoking is for you?” He reiterated with a bit more force.

The Third Hokage was quiet for a long time, practically dumbfounded, before coughing gently. “You’re not the first to tell me that, Naruto.” He lowered his confused brow, settling for a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The blond leaned heavily in the chair as if he couldn’t be bothered to hold his own weight. His head toppled over the back of the chair until he could only stare at the sparsely decorated ceiling. “Yeah, well, you’re going to hear it again.” He barked out, a tinge of something else in his voice that made Hiruzen stiffen up.

“If I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure where… this is coming from, Naruto.” He admitted hesitantly, motioning between the two of them, “You are concerned for my well-being?”

Naruto stared at him, an icy blue glare practically intent on burning the older man. He flinched away from those eyes, looking away. The blond rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment back, moving onto a completely different train of thought. “Did you know that smoking from a pipe increases your risk of heart disease by thirty percent?” He asked in a chastising tone, “I don’t think I need to tell you, of all people, your risk of lung cancer; your coughing gives it away plenty.” He gave the Hokage a pointed look from the corner of his eye. There was something bitter in his tone that neither of them commented on.

“Naruto.” He tried, growing a bit aggravated.

“One in about five people die from conditions caused by smoking.” He spoke as if he were reading from a textbook, the ceiling above him practically a swirling mass of nothingness, his chest feeling something equally as empty. “Not to mention the fact that you do this around other people. Second-hand smoking, you know.” Naruto waved a hand in the air, swirling it around for emphasis, “Didn’t peg you for a person dishing out cancer to people.”

“Naruto.” Hiruzen warned, tone low in his throat before sighing heavily, “Are you just going to continue about my smoking habits, or did you actually have a reason for this impromptu visit?”

The medic-in-training sat up at that, staring at the older man with such intensity. “Whatever I need, just ask.” He said slowly, “Your words, not mine.” 

The Third Hokage startled to life, blinking in surprise. He stared and stared, recollection coming fast, almost like a punch in the gut. “Yes, of course.” He coughed discreetly, “What did you need, Naruto?” There was a weird tinge in his voice, a seriousness in the way his eyes caught the boy’s in a blinding grasp.

For a moment, Naruto held firm, tight-lipped, a furrow in his brow, fire in his eyes. Next, he deflated, looking years younger, with a quiver in his lip. “Take care of yourself?” His words were quiet, somber-sounding.

“What?” Hiruzen’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. He itched to round the side of his desk and scoop the boy up like he did when he was so much younger, but he held back, knowing the consequences of doing such a thing.

He shifted in his seat, frowning deeply. “Just… take care of yourself. That’s what I…” He trailed off, “Dr. Teruya worries about you.” He said instead, looking away.

The old Sarutobi man stared at the boy, eyebrows furrowed together, the feeling of a vice wrapping around his heart. But there’s something dark in his eyes, something age had only worsened. “I’m aware of the risks, Naruto.” He managed to say, jaw tight.

Naruto stared, “Are you really?” 

There’s something in his voice that startles Hiruzen, a myriad of thoughts that takes his breath away. Did he know? No, he didn’t know. The only one who knew was Kakashi, and surely he wouldn’t have told his student such a thing. He’d kept that bit of knowledge tucked away, so much so that even the council was unaware of it. But the way Naruto was staring at him, accusatory, prodding for something, Hiruzen was nervous.

“What do you mean?” He asked after a long breath of silence.

“You say you’re aware of the risks, but then you go and do stupid shi- um, stuff like this.” He huffed, voice rising in suspicion.

And Hiruzen actually sighed in relief. Blessed Kami, he didn’t know. “Some people smoke just because they want to.” He argued, trying to keep the smile off his face.

“I wasn’t talking about smoking,” Naruto said calmly, eyes meeting the older man in a suffocating stare.

Just like that, all the tension rose back into his throat. Hiruzen stared and stared and stared, until his vision threatened to swim. “It’s not that simple, Naruto.” He said carefully, a weird trill in his voice, one that did not escape the blond, who merely narrowed his eyes at the older man. Hiruzen was teetering on the line between wanting to know what Naruto knew and being desperate to play a little dumb. He didn’t know… he couldn’t. Hiruzen can’t have that talk with him yet, please, Kami. He just needed more time. The Third Hokage’s eyes slid shut, a headache blooming somewhere behind his eyes, unable to look at the boy. Kami, please.

“Do you even want to quit?” He asked in an accusatory tone.

There was a pause, “Quit what, Naruto?” 

“Smoking.”

He held back his sigh, knowing that giving in to relief early caused him grief once already. “Sometimes.” The Third Hokage said, cracking an eye open to look at the medic-in-training, “But that’s not for you to decide for me, is it?” Did he know?

He narrowed his eyes, “No, but you’re the Hokage. You can decide whatever you want, whenever you want, and for whoever you want.”

Hiruzen held back his surprised jolt, masking his panic for something calmer. A quirked brow, using intrigue to stop the creeping tension pooling into his bones. “Oh?” He tried, “And where do you get that idea?” Did he know?

“You’ve decided a lot of things for me whenever you saw fit.” Naruto shrugged, but something in his gaze told Hiruzen that he knew something. But it couldn’t be that, no… 

“Maybe not my best decisions.” The Third Hokage offered. He knows something.

“No, probably not, but you… I-” Naruto swallowed thickly, abruptly standing up when the urge to flee suddenly took over. He took a deep breath, holding himself carefully, “I’ve been cruel, haven’t I?” His voice was quiet, startling Hiruzen so severely that he flinched. Naruto stared and stared.

“You’ve not been cruel, Naruto.” It was an automatic response; the words were uttered so fast to mask the tone Naruto’s voice held, sounding so young, so incredibly young. It reminded Hiruzen of the little boy who’d see him early in the morning with questions about medical ninjutsu, who paraded around a big green book with a grin on his face, and demanded to know why he couldn’t control his chakra yet.

“Choose someone else!” It was Kakahi’s words that echoed back to him now, practically a slap in the face as Hiruzen stared at Naruto with wide eyes, overcome with memories of the boy’s youth. Little Naruto, with a smile, when he’d beamed up at the older man and said, “Thank you so much, Jiji! I won’t let you down!” And how young he’d been then. 

He’s always been young, hasn’t he? He should be thirteen soon, Hiruzen realized.

“But, I’ve hurt you just as much as you’ve hurt me, right?” Naruto’s voice piped up when the silence stretched into something thick and palpable. But all Hiruzen could see was little Naruto clutching scrolls in his small arms, beaming up at him and telling him, “I’ll make you proud, Jiji.”

“Maybe.” He choked on his words, Kakashi’s angry eyes peering into his soul, yelling at him to, “Choose. Someone. Else.” Could Naruto tell how haunted he was? Was that what he knew? “I am much older than you are. It is something I can handle without you worrying about me.” He offered, “And you are a child who has been in the firing zone of my… wrongdoings.” Of past and future ones, Hiruzen realized with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Yeah…” Naruto sagged, eyes downcast. Hiruzen swallowed. He’s so young. He’s only twelve, thirteen soon. He’s practically a baby doing an adult’s job.

“If you make him do this, you will kill him.” Kakashi looked on the verge of pleading, his lone eye blown wide, damn near manic looking. Hiruzen bit back the bile that rose to the surface, opening his mouth to say something, but the jounin teacher wasn’t done. “He… He is so compassionate, and he loves to help people.”

And didn’t Hiruzen know that, of course, he knew that. Having it so blatantly stated to him felt like an insult, his blood pressure rising to match the anger pooling in his chest.

Kakashi swallowed thickly, staggering away as if he was too sick to even look at the Hokage. “He won’t tell you no if you ask him to save the village, and he will die trying to help everyone in need. I know that, you know that…” 

Hiruzen didn’t say anything; he couldn’t find the words to defend himself.

“Is that a sacrifice you’re willing to make?”

“You look a lot older than the last time we actually talked like this…” Naruto suddenly blurted out, having moved to sit back down in the chair, not that Hiruzen had noticed, too busy drowning in memories that threatened to take him.

“How nice of you to point out.” He drawled.

He shifted uncomfortably in the chair, fiddling with his thumbs. “Have you been sleeping well? Eating enough?” The blond-haired genin asked cautiously.

He raised a hand as if he could placate the boy, “Yes, everything is in order.”

“Then why do you look so… stressed out?” Naruto asked, the words like a dagger in the older man’s chest.

If only you knew.

Because that was the final thing that made Hiruzen realize that Naruto didn’t know, he hadn’t known this whole time. In fact, he was just… worried about the Hoakge. Nothing else. 

“You need not concern yourself with me, Naruto.” He managed to say, jaw stiff.

“But I…” Naruto’s voice rose an octave, wide-eyed and almost shameful, “I’ve missed you.” There was a glassy look in his eyes. “Like all the time.” He blurted out, “But I’ve been so… angry at you. I feel so… sick with grief.”

“Grief?” The word sounded hollow in his own voice.

There was a long stretch of silence between them, Hiruzen staring unblinkingly at the boy who couldn’t meet his gaze. “It feels like I’m grieving a living person.” He finally managed to whisper out as if the words hurt to say. “I want… I want my Jiji back…”

Hiruzen’s breath hitched, “Oh, Naruto…”

“I’ll try!” An eight-year-old Naruto nodded frantically up at him, giving the older man a broad smile, “Thank you, Jiji! You’ve already helped me so much, how could I ever repay you?”

He smiled so softly, reaching out to pat the boy’s head, smoothing his wild hair down, “The only way you could ever repay me is to just stick to your dreams, kid, and become the great person I know you’ll turn out to be.”

Hiruzen blinked back the tears threatening to rise, glassy-eyed staring at the boy before him, “Naruto, you… I…” What can he even say to that? What was there even left to say at this point? 

“You’ve been trying to apologize for so long, you’ve kept your distance, you’ve been trying to help me, and I’ve pushed you away at every turn and… and I’ve been cruel to you.” Naruto almost whimpered, and the Third Hokage damn near leapt out of his chair to pull the boy into a tight hug. But he didn’t. He couldn't. “And I want to forgive you.” Hiruzen sucked in a breath, jaw tight. “But I can’t.”

Kakashi’s face glared back at him, “But you’d choose the village over him?”

Naruto startled to life, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Hiruzen managed to mumble out, whatever energy he had before completely zapping away. He must’ve had something on his face, some kind of anguish that made the boy panic. 

“It doesn’t look like nothing.” He narrowed his eyes, but there was a weird twinge in his eyes.

The Third Hoakge held up a hand, “It is nothing, or at least nothing that you should worry yourself over. I’m… taking care of it.” He can’t know.

Naruto gave him a long look, “Whatever, keep your secrets.”

He jerked, the words almost like a physical blow, “Naruto-”

“I’m not knocking on you this time, promise.” He shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. He stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets, “We aren’t as close anymore, so you don’t have to tell me.” Neither of them seemed to like that response. “Just… take care of yourself, old man.” Naruto hesitated long enough before heading for the door.

Hiruzen didn’t stop him, didn’t have the words to even beg him to stay. He slid down in his chair, a miserable man as his thoughts ran a mile a minute. All he could think about was the impending chunin exams, guilt gnawing on him. Kakashi was right; he really is a horrible Hokage. 

He swallowed, blinking back the rising tears as he pulled out a piece of paper, intent on writing yet another letter. Hiruzen still had time to make this right, and maybe this time she’d reply.

And maybe Naruto would finally forgive him.

Sasuke dashed to the side with a grunt, barely missing a kick, Lee’s sandal passing mere inches from his face. He hissed as he tumbled into the dirt, a bit aggravated at having been on the defensive for the better part of the last twenty minutes with no real way to get into the fight. He jumped as far as he could, getting out of the way of the follow-up attack Lee sent him, a barrage of kicks and punches. The teen didn’t falter when his attacks didn’t connect, merely bouncing back with a twirl of legs and arms, the movement hard for Sasuke to get a read on.

He refused to lose, especially while Naruto and Kakashi were watching.

Maybe it was pride, a sprinkle of ego somewhere in there, but Sasuke allowed himself to show off every now and then, especially when paired against Lee. It helped curb his instinct to be better than the next person, and it was, unfortunately, very fun. Naruto liked to poke fun at him as he healed his training injuries at the end of the day. “Do you really need to show off?” He’d always ask with a grin on his face.

And wasn’t that rich coming from the same kind who used to do the same thing in the academy? With his flashy medical ninjutsu, Naruto always had a gaggle of kids around him, begging to be healed next. Sasuke remembered watching from the sidelines as the blond would show off, often healing his classmates with a wide smile and urging everyone forward. So, yeah, he was allowed to show off. That’s all he was doing now, barely letting Lee get his hands on him, expertly twisting and turning out of the other teen’s grasp as Sasuke carefully crafted a plan to get back at him, to get the upper hand.

He refused to lose.

Plus, Lee was fun to fight against and was a truly talented taijutsu specialist. Sasuke would give him that much. He had a lot of energy as well and paired nicely against the Uchiha’s own taijutsu speciality and stamina. They weren’t exactly an even match, depending on the day their spars would take place on, or if Naruto had a hand in tasking Lee with some odd eight gates training. They were currently looking at a pretty even scoreboard despite not having too many fights thus far, but it was enough. 

Sasuke could learn a thing or two from Lee, and to some extent, he hoped Lee had learned something from him as well. 

He’d seen the way Tenten and Neji treated Lee during their own training regiments under Guy’s watchful eye, and Sasuke didn’t like what he saw. None of them were even matches against one another, often just doing solo training sessions, or they were just unwilling to fight one another for whatever reason they’d come up with on any given day. It was obviously a disheartening thing for Lee, who often tried to get his teammates to spar with him, but was frequently shot down. And, sure, Sasuke wasn’t exactly an even match for Naruto or Sakura, but they all still liked to spar. It was a good way to get the blood moving, Naruto liked to say.

Maybe it was his attempts at team bonding, he mused to himself as he distractedly dodged a kick. He guessed it was similar to how Sakura liked to pull the rest of Team 7 to get some good food in town after a long day of missions. So, as Sasuke slid in the grass, kicking up dirt in his wake, he hoped that this was as beneficial to Lee as it was for him. Guess he could tack that down as another good idea of Naruto’s for suggesting Team 7 and Team 3 train together, not that he would tell the medic-in-training that much.

He hissed in surprise as a fist connected with his nose, a resounding crack filling the training ground. Sasuke tried not to see the way Kakashi flinched sympathetically, a lingering betrayal of embarrassment creeping up his neck.  He held his bleeding nose, hopping back a few steps to collect himself, his ears ringing after the hit. Okay, note to self, don’t get distracted in a spar with Lee. The Uchiha chose not to look at Naruto at the moment, knowing his worry-wart of a teammate was likely already itching to heal his nose.

Was it broken? He wouldn’t know, as he’s obviously not a medic, but he at least could remember some vaguely helpful things his teammate had mentioned once or twice. Naruto would probably chastise him as Sasuke touched the tender skin, but a sick sense of curiosity was suddenly filling him. His mouth screwed up at the pain radiating from the middle of his face the moment he made contact. Okay, nose later, spar now. He can worry about this later.

Sasuke and Lee walked around one another as if sizing each other up; maybe to some degree, they were. To Lee, the Uchiha was still rather enigmatic, especially for the taijutsu specialist who was used to the sometimes monotonous movements of Tenten, the methodical ones of Nej,i who often liked to play mind games against him, and Guy’s overall persona. To him, Sasuke was a pillar of strength, but not the kind he was used to. Plus, he’d so confidently said that he outsmarted Neji. And that made him interested. 

For Sasuke, though, Lee was just crazy, like crazier than Naruto of all people, if that means anything. Completely and wholly bat-shit crazy. And Sasuke was saying this as a compliment. And doesn’t just give out compliments on a regular basis.

He’d watched as the other teen had made great strides in his eight-gates training, especially after Naruto’s involvement in some weird balancer pill he’d created - the term coined by Sakura, surprisingly - not that Sasuke understood any of it. The words Naruto used to describe his soldier pill went in one ear and out the other. On another note, just how many soldier pills was his teammate going to create? He hid a snicker as his brain fed him an imagined idea of Naruto not being able to put his shoe on and creating a soldier pill that helped his brain with motor movements. Of course, getting distracted allowed a solid punch to catch him right in the cheek.

How often does Sasuke have to remind himself not to get stuck in his head when paired against Lee?

Still, though, he let his mind wander as he hopped around, Lee giving chase. Even though the balancer pill wasn’t for Sasuke, he was still intrigued by it. He and the rest of his team had talked about it after their first mixed training day with Team 3 because Kakashi and Naruto had kept such a big secret from them that Sakura demanded they explain. He’s glad she demanded it and not him, because he was curious, but he didn’t want them to know that he was. So, they all talked over some dinner.

And Naruto was just amazing, wasn’t he?

He saw an issue and just decided, “Oh, I need to fix this,” like a sane person would do, and then did it. The way Kakashi described the issue was that it’d been a problem that had been present since… who knows how long for shinobi who used the eight gates, and then Naruto just up and fixed it! How long had Naruto worked on this? Is this why Kakashi always lets Naruto leave training earlier and earlier? Sasuke had assumed something was happening at the hospital most days, and maybe to some extent it was, but maybe it hadn’t been. Maybe it was because of Lee.

Sasuke didn’t understand any of the inner mechanisms of the balancer pill, not like how Sakura absorbed the information and even helped Naruto figure out some odd mishap in the… what did he call it again? The biology of the pill? That didn’t seem right, but it's not like the Uchiha had anything to base it off. All he knew was that Naruto helped Lee in a way no one else could and that it worked.

To him, that’s as good as perfect.

It also helped when he and Lee sparred that Naruto was on ‘muscle-watch’. Tenten had started calling it that after the blond had explained to her about how opening any of the gates could easily tear muscles and ligaments, something Lee had dealt with for who-knows-how-long. Sasuke couldn’t help but cringe when he’d overheard them talking about it, having just a bit more respect for how his sparring partner would put himself through pain to achieve his goals. Sure, he himself got hurt here or there when using any of the Uchiha clan jutsus, but he can only remember a few select times when it hurt him beyond a few cuts and scratches.

Did he mention that Lee was crazy? He did? Well, it feels like something he constantly has to say because Lee was fucking crazy.

Since their teams’ first merged training session, Kakashi and Guy had worked out a schedule for their students to work together. They’ve even gone on a few mixed missions. That week had probably been the worst one so far in Sasuke’s entire genin career. He liked to blame it entirely  on Neji’s 'better-than-thou' attitude and not on the fact that the teams were halfway unwilling to work together. But the training sessions continued.

So, they scheduled meetings. Sundays apparently were Naruto’s only day off - from missions, training, working at the hospital - and no one seemed willing to take that away from him, much to his dismay. “I can help!” He’d tried to tell them, but everyone willfully ignored his comment. They’d chosen Mondays as their set day to train, as Guy had said something along the lines of “The beginning of the week is when you need to get your blood pumping! For the power of youth!” Or something like that. Sasuke wasn’t exactly listening.

Guy and Lee were a lot more days than not, and tuning them out helped enough when he and Lee weren’t sparring.

So, Mondays had been their mixed training days with some random, spur-of-the-moment days throughout the week, which usually saw maybe a handful of them working together. More often than not, it was Naruto and Lee meeting up to continue working on the balancer pill. Sometimes Kakashi or Guy joined them, even Sakura had gotten curious a few times, but everyone usually had other things to do. Sasuke had sought out Guy a few times when he wanted some pointers on his taijutsu, and, surprisingly, without Lee or by extension Kakashi, Guy was actually very knowledgeable and down to earth. 

He yelped when his feet were kicked out from underneath him, his instincts barely catching the ground and using it to vault away from Lee. Oh, right, he’s still in the middle of a spar. How long had they been going at it today? Lee didn’t even seem all that phased by their activities, maybe a little sweaty, but he wasn’t even winded. He glowered at the idea, a pang of envy hitting him where it hurts, which also seemed to be the place Lee had broken his nose.

At the thought of the broken appendage, he glanced over at his medic. Naruto had expressed how it was vital that he and Lee continue their sparring so that he could visualize what he needed to tweak with the balancer pill because, for some reason, it wasn’t perfect. Sasuke didn’t quite understand it, but before their teams’ meetings, his teammate would always announce that he had ‘tweaked’ the balancer pill and wanted Lee to try it out. The Uchiha couldn’t help but wonder when Naruto actually rested in between missions, training, his work at the hospital, and working on a pill at every waking moment.

Should he bring this up with Kakashi?

A perfectly placed fist barely touched his eyebrow before Sasuke was bending backward, desperate to avoid Lee’s frontal assault, bending back enough to press his hands into the ground and kick up at the other boy. He grinned widely when Lee stumbled to avoid his feet, spinning in turn as far away as possible. This was his chance to go on the offensive. Sasuke dashed forward faster than the blink of an eye, noticing for a second when his sparring partner’s eyes widened in shock. Not that that didn’t shock Sasuke as well.

Had training with Lee made him faster? He was a rather slippery foe. It was sometimes hard to get a hold of him when they trained together. Granted, they’d been sparring like this now for the better part of four and a half weeks. He would be ashamed of himself if he didn’t learn anything. And he had learned a lot, he liked to think. Well, between Lee and Guy, that is.

Since that fateful day when Sasuke had dished his - rightfully so - vengeance against Neji and won - thank Kami for gloating rights, of course - the Hyuuga had since stopped showing up to their teams’ merged training sessions, not that Guy would ever say where he went. He liked to think he’d embarrassed Neji enough for the teen to leave Naruto alone, or maybe he was too embarrassed to even be around Naruto. Sasuke didn’t know which line of thinking he liked best - was it because of him or Naruto? 

Whatever it was, it kept his rather horrid attitude away and kept Naruto happy.

As for Tenten, she actually came around to being a rather great sparring partner. Whatever she and Sakura did certainly seemed to warm her up to the idea of mutual training sessions with another team. Hell, she even apologized to Naruto, so that made her better than Neji in Sasuke’s book. Of course, Naruto forgave her instantly, which did bother him, but if he was happy, then Sasuke was happy. Or, he liked to think so.

He and Tenten didn’t often spar together as their fighting styles were quite different, but when they did, Sasuke often found himself enjoying her company even though she was sometimes as loud as Lee when she spoke. She never held it against him when he continued to win all of their sparring matches, taking the loss with grace. 

Surprisingly, Tenten and Sakura seemed to get along quite well, similar personalities and whatnot, often getting into frantic conversations about weapons and the like. He may have once overheard them talking about boys, but the minute his name came up, Sasuke was out of there, scampering off to Kakashi’s side as if his teasing teacher would ever allow him to live that down.

Sakura had tried to train with Lee when they’d first started their training sessions with Team 3, but they all quickly realized that her taijutsu just wasn’t on par with the other boy's. The other boy also struggled to hit her during their brief match, not because she was as fast as Sasuke or as slippery as Nauto, but because he felt upset about hitting a girl. Guy had gone on a rather long, boisterous tangent after his student’s comment, telling Lee that it’s almost an insult to Sakura to not fight her with the same intention he’d fight Neji or Sasuke with, that she was deserving of a fair fight. Does he not give that same fighting spirit when paired against Tenten?

But that wasn’t it exactly. If Sasuke had overheard Lee meekly whisper in his teacher’s ear that he had a small crush on Sakura, he kept his mouth shut. Not even torture could’ve gotten that information out of him.

The teachers tried to brainstorm a way for Sakura and Lee to train together properly, even with such a large gap of power between them, until Naruto butt in. He’d immediately put a stop to future thoughts of spars between the two that first day. He said that if Kakashi or Guy forced Sakura and Lee to spar together, Sakura was likely just going to get unnecessarily injured with every fight. They could have that conversation another day when Sakura got stronger, but until then, Naruto put his foot down.

There had been a long silence that day before Guy patted him on the back. “Whatever the medic says, goes!” He had boisterously called out, getting a flushed exclamation from Naruto that he ‘wasn’t a medic yet’ as he often spouted out.

Ludicrous, if you asked Sasuke, the kid was practically a medic already; he should be proud to have people call him as such.

So, Sakura set her sights on training with Naruto and Tenten more often than not, sometimes getting pointers from Guy on her taijutsu stance, Kakashi often correcting her footing when he got the chance. She and Sasuke still trained when it was just a Team 7 day, but on their mixed days, she sought out Tenten the moment her feet touched the training ground. It got to a point in their partnership that she would often call dibs on sparring with the girl the moment their teams made contact, not that Sasuke minded; she seemed to have gotten incredibly interested in throwing weapons as of late. And with his few spars against the girl, Tenten was a great fit to teach her such a thing. 

Even now, the two girls were hopping around in the treeline, training their movement speed with target practice Tenten had thrown together before their meeting today.

Sasuke couldn’t help but smile when he heard the girls’ laughter above him, their cheers at what he supposed was a successful shot filling the training ground. He dodged Lee’s badgering attempt to get back on the offense. His grin widened as he dashed forward at incredible speeds, startling Lee for a moment. He grunted under his breath, the Uchiha landing a solid punch or two before the other boy was twisting away. He barely had any time to react as a leg connected with his lower abdomen, sending Lee flying towards the trunk of a tree. Sasuke could see that Lee couldn’t react fast enough to stop his momentum, the tree cracking underneath his body weight as he fell to his knees.

Lee moved to stand, but stopped at the twinge of pain echoing from his stomach, face screwing up for a moment before collecting himself. He held a hand there, though, the two teens staring at one another, a breath of silence stretching out between them. Well, that was until Lee all but launched himself at the Uchiha, managing to grab hold of his abdomen and push them into the dirt. He raised a fist at the same time as he calmed down on top of Sasuke, who was trying to buck the teen off him, knowing that he was about to lose his advantage.

Had he been distracted practically the entirety of their fight? Probably. Did it piss him off? Greatly. Lee swung with everything in him, Sasuke easily catching it as their fight slowly devolved into something less sophisticated, something that he would later tell his teammates did not happen.

“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough.” Guy’s light-hearted voice pulled them out of their animalistic desire to pummel the hell out of one another, “You both fought well today!” He clapped to get their attention. 

“Yes, sir!” His student called out immediately, scrambling to get off the Uchiha with great effort, the energy from the second gate practically fizzling off him. He took a few seconds to catch his breath now that he was standing, sweat starting to dribble down his forehead, now that the tension and adrenaline had been released. He wavered a little bit and grabbed his head, a twinge of a headache starting to appear. 

Sasuke studied him with wide eyes as the adrenaline petered off, being able to finally taste that metallic tang of blood pouring down his nose, to feel the bruises on his face. If he were in a much more sane state of mind, he might’ve been awed by the clear display of power above him, still just as amazed by the eight gates as the first day he’d seen it. However, currently, he was doing everything in his power not to let rage take over him. There was a seventy percent chance that he lost that fight, but pride was telling him that if Guy had just given them another minute, he surely would’ve won.

Lee staggered again, sucking in a stuttered breath just as Naruto was running over to them in an instant, the moment the fight was concluded. “You two okay?” The blond asked gently, holding an arm to grab Sasuke’s shoulder when he went to stand up, “No, stay down, I need to look you over. You took a couple of nasty hits.” 

“C’mon, dobe, it’s nothing.” He crossed his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes, but stayed down despite his irritation. He glared up at Lee since it was his fault that he was now being pampered by his worry-wart of a teammate. At least the other teen had the decency to look sheepish.

“A broken nose is nothing?” The blond quirked up a brow, tentatively touching Sasuke’s face with care just as the Uchiha had tried to do before with much less accuracy, the blond examining the injury. It reminded him of that night with his arm, a warm feeling suddenly blooming in his chest. Was Naruto always this gentle?

Lee startled as the words finally sank in, “I broke your nose?!” He hovered anxiously nearby, unsure of what to do, but apparently hovering too close for comfort. Naruto gave him a look, the teen immediately backing off to give the medic-in-training some space. “I am so, so sorry, Sasuke-kun.” He frantically apologized, holding his hands tightly against one another.

“It’s nothing, really.” Sasuke hissed exasperatedly, flinching when Naruto touched his nose a bit harder. He takes back what he thought; he wasn’t gentle at all. Did he have to prob him so hard? “That hurts, dobe.” He glared at the blond.

Naruto waved his hand, ignoring the comment for the moment, sitting back on his haunches. “Well, the good news is that it’s not a big break. I should have it healed in no time.” He smiled, eyes squinting shut. He looked like Kakashi doing that. Sasuke spared his teacher a glare, knowing that his doe-eyed teammate had picked that up from him, the traitor.

“And the bad news?” He frowned, trepidation settling in his chest.

Naruto tilted his head, feigning innocence, “Who said anything about bad news?” There was a devilish look in his eyes. Oh, yeah, he one hundred percent picked that up from his teacher. Sasuke spared the man a worse glare, not that Kakashi noticed.

“You’re an ass.” Sasuke shook his head, a chuckle just barely on his lips.

“Sasuke-kun, l-language!” Lee hissed under his breath, glancing at his teacher. Who knew Guy was a stickler for cussing? The thought almost made him laugh, almost.

“I can’t heal you when you avoid me!” He chastised, reaching out with a finger, tilting his teammate’s face up and back in view. The finger stayed there, keeping Sasuke’s head perfectly level as a green hand waved over his face. Sasuke tried not to sweat. “I swear, between the two of you, I can’t get any training done when you both decide to pummel each other to death every other second!” Naruto fussed, an exasperated tone in his voice.

“And what kind of training have you been up to?” He balked at the blond, “Isn’t healing us enough training for your medical mumbo-jumbo? In fact, you should be thanking us.” 

His eyebrow twitched, his jaw tight, “Sasuke-”

Lee, for his part, seemed incredibly sheepish, “I’m sorry, Naruto-kun.” Both boys looked at him as he bowed apologetically, practically at a ninety-degree angle. “I will try to be more careful next time.” He muttered.

“What? No.” Sasuke argued, meeting his teammate’s glare with his own, “How else are we going to get stronger?”

“Yes, well, that’s exactly what’s causing Naruto’s ire…” He stood up from his bow, staring at his training partner carefully. Why did it look like he was swaying? Did Sasuke get a concussion on top of a broken nose? Was it causing him to imagine stuff? He wouldn’t put it past him to get a concussion from how hard Lee hits. It’s almost a guarantee at this point.

The Uchiha glanced at the two of them, stuffing his thoughts away, eyebrows furrowed together. “So? He’s still getting some kind of training out of this. I mean, he wants to be a medic, for Kami’s sake. How can you be a medic if you don’t have any experience in healing?” Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, shutting his eyes in his aggravation, “I mean, for one thing, letting Naruto heal in a controlled environment like us sparring is better than just throwing him to the wolves. We haven’t even had our first C-ranked mission yet, so who’s to say whether Naruto has the backbone to heal his teammates?”

“Isn’t that a little… mean?” Lee hesitated to ask, rubbing his stomach absentmindedly, “Naruto-kun has been very gracious to us so far. In fact, this has been the only time he’s complained about healing us.”

Naruto’s eyes widened a fraction, “I wasn’t complaining.”

Sasuke ignored the blond’s comment, practically waving him off. “I didn’t intend for it to sound mean, and I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate his work.” He shook his head, “Do any of the other teams have a healer half as good as Naruto? No, they don’t. That means we have the advantage of being able to work harder without the risk of injury stopping us from training to the best of our abilities. Whenever we hurt ourselves, Naruto’s there to make it better. So, why shouldn’t we take advantage of the help?” The training ground went quiet following his declaration. He peeked an eye open, “What?”

“That’s actually… really nice of you to say.” Naruto muttered out, red in the cheeks, “I didn’t realize you held me in such high regard, Sasuke.”

The Uchiha’s eyes widened. “I… I wasn’t complimenting you!” He hissed, turning an equally bright shade of red.

Lee held up a finger, a wide grin on his face, “You clearly said that Naruto is the best healer amongst the genin teams.”

“No, I didn’t!” He hissed, standing up abruptly, away from the green glow of healing chakra, away from the smile his teammate gave him. “And Naruto’s the only genin healer. Not much of a competition if you ask me.” He grumbled out, balling his hands into fists.

“Thank you for your compliment, anyway.” Naruto chuckled, moving to stand with him, his job done.

“It wasn’t a compliment!” Sasuke argued, voicing in a rising octave. If his voice cracked, no, it didn’t.

“Sure sounded like one.” Lee laughed sweetly before he seemed to stagger, moving to clutch his head with a low groan. The medic-in-training saddled up to him, arm propping up his back. “You okay?” He asked softly, “Are you in pain?”

“It’s the same as it usually is - headaches, drowsiness.” The genin shrugged, trying to lighten the mood with a small smile.

Sasuke slid his arm underneath the teen’s back on the opposite side, glancing at Naruto, who stared at him with curiosity. “You should know by now that Naruto doesn’t like it when people try to downplay their symptoms.” He sighed, the whole motion making him deflate a bit, “Just be honest, or he’ll pester you until he knows.”

His teammate swatted him from where he was standing. “Hey!”

He gnawed on his lip for a moment before Lee hung his head in defeat. “I mean… I do have to regular symptoms I usually do. It’s just…” Lee’s words pittered off, looking almost embarrassed, “It’s my stomach.”

“What about it?” Naruto tilted his head, concern clear as day in his eyes. That odd look he always got on his face was there now, the one Sasuke had become accustomed to when his medic brain started turning the cogs.

“It just feels a bit tight, that’s all.” There was a long stare from Sasuke before Lee seemed to shrink in on himself, “Okay, it’s… it really does feel tight, I promise, but it’s also like… firm?” Naruto furrowed his brows, thinking carefully. “Is that bad?” He muttered when the medic-in-training hadn’t said anything.

He didn’t answer, instead motioning with his head towards a stump, “Sasuke, help me bring him over there.” 

“Whatever you say, dobe.” He muttered, securing his arm a bit more firmly around Lee’s back.

By the time they’d gotten the teen seated on the stump, Guy and Kakashi were already on them. “What’s going on?” The silver-haired jounin had asked the minute they were within grabbing distance, his pervy book nowhere in sight. And if that didn’t immediately clue his students that he was at least partially worried, then they didn’t know what would.

“I… have an idea, but I won’t know until I actually look into it. Just gimme a second, ‘kay?” Naruto muttered out, squatting in front of the other teen, “Lee, would you mind lifting your shirt a bit?” He did as he was instructed to, holding the fabric up just enough. The blond-haired genin tilted his head, eyes squinting as he observed the smooth expanse of skin. There were a few bruises, likely from his spar with Sasuke, but nothing to be overly worried about. 

“Is it bad?” Lee asked again, voice just a tad higher.

“Calm down.” He reached out to pat the boy’s head, “Can you lean back a little- yeah, just like that.” He pressed a hand against the firm expanse of his belly. Naruto used the two-finger method of pressing deeply into the meat, searching for something that was lost on everyone. They were quiet while the medic-in-training examined Lee, trying not to distract every time the teen flinched when Naruto pressed too hard. “Oh.” He pulled back with a blink.

“What is it?” Lee frowned, wide-eyed, staring down at his belly, “Am I dying?”

“What? No!” It was so absurd he could’ve laughed. Instead, he leveled his gaze with his teammate, glaring at him, “Just how hard did you hit him?!”

Sasuke balked, a defensive look on his face, “What are you even talking about?”

The medic-in-training sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, shaking his head exasperatedly, “First, Lee breaks Sasuke’s nose, and the next thing I know, Sasuke’s caused a diaphragmatic rupture in Lee!” 

“Lee broke Sasuke’s nose?” Kakashi raised a brow in surprise. While he hadn’t exactly been paying that much attention to his student’s spar, the very notion that Lee hit him hard enough to cause a break was definitely startling.

“What’s a diaphragmatic rupture?” Guy asked, staring at his student in shock, “Is it lethal?!”

Naruto sighed, practically melting into the grass, looking ages older as he muttered under his breath, “What is everyone’s deal with thinking everything wrong with them is deadly?” If they heard him or not, he didn’t care. He looked up at Lee, who’d been patiently sitting there, quiet as can be with his shirt still lifted up. “It’s okay, Lee.” He smiled softly, “Please don’t worry, I’ll take care of it, okay?”

He nodded at the blond, “Sorry if I freaked out a little…”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” He waved a hand, hoping to calm the other boy’s nerves, “Would you mind lying down in the grass? It’ll be a lot more comfortable if you’re horizontal rather than sitting up.” He instructed gently.

“Of course. Thank you for taking care of me.” Lee smiled softly, shimmying off the stump carefully, flinching when his stomach muscles flexed. Sasuke reached out, letting his arm be a steadying grasp for the other boy as he helped Lee lie down in the grass when he looked as if he were going to sway again. He looked up at Naruto, who moved to kneel beside him, “You’ve taken care of me quite a lot these last few weeks.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged, “It’s my job.” Naruto smiled, scooching closer to him. He prodded the teen’s ribcage a few notches up to find something that was lost on everyone else. “Now, be quiet for a moment. Vibrations from you talking can mess with my work, and it’ll just end up taking longer. I’ll let you know when you can talk again, okay?” He let his hands hover over Lee’s abdomen, waiting.

“Okay.” He nodded, signaling for the teen to begin. “I trust you.” 

It always amazed the group watching a medic heal someone, the soft glow of green that was able to mend and heal. The effect of Naruto’s healing chakra was immediate inside the boy’s body, Lee’s face screwing up in discomfort. It wasn’t exactly pain, but it didn’t feel great. It was almost like an itch he couldn’t scratch,his  body nearly trying to jump away from the chakra entering him. It reminded him of entering the eight gates, the pressure and tension in his muscles that just teetered on being too much.

A hand touched his forehead, the chakra swooping in and pooling in his belly, lessening enough for Lee to open his eyes. Naruto regarded him carefully, smoothing back his bangs, the motion unconscious. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you when you’re clearly uncomfortable, but I need you to stay still. Can you do that?” He asked with such a kind smile that Lee almost felt bad for disturbing his work.

Could he, though? He pursed his lips, his hips aching to move, to get away from the medic-in-training’s touch. The rational part of his brain tried to tell him that Naruto was only trying to help and that he could stay still long enough for him to finish. But the more instinctual one inside of him cowered away from the green glow. His stomach ached, and that chakra was so heavy inside him. He shook his head, the motion stiff.

“You can’t?” Naruto sounded concerned, and Lee almost felt bad, felt the need to turn around and tell him that he was only joking, if only to wipe away the crease in the blond’s brow.

“I got him.” Sasuke suddenly popped up in his vision, moving to his other side. There was a question in his eyes, one that Lee automatically read and nodded, giving his permission. The Uchiha laid his hands against the other boy’s chest, pressing him down into the grass. He took steadying breaths, trying not to panic when he couldn’t get away, desperate to calm himself. 

They were only helping, Lee tried to remind himself.

“Naruto’s the best at this,” Sasuke whispered, garnering the teen’s attention. And yeah, he was, Lee would agree if he were allowed to speak.

Naruto willfully didn’t comment on that, having heard those four words that betrayed the fact that Sasuke’s words were, in fact, a compliment, one he had tried to argue wasn’t one earlier. He worked his healing chakra into the crevices inside Lee’s diaphragm, trying to ignore his tight features when his chakra worked to mend the tear.

“Is he alright?” Kakashi asked after a long moment of silence.

Naruto nodded rather quickly. “Ruptures are always uncomfortable. There’s not much I can do about that.” He shrugged, falling silent for a quiet while before piping back in, “You’d think healing chakra would be pretty relaxing, but that’s not always the case, depending on the injury. This is the best I can do, though.”

Guy was quick to bob his head, arms crossed over his chest with a wide, albeit nervous smile lighting up on his face, “And we appreciate it, Naruto-kun?”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” The other jounin teacher asked.

He spared the two teachers a look, “Not really, except just let me concentrate.” He caught Lee’s eyes as Naruto’s fingers twitched, and a rather big wave of medical ninjutsu spilled from his fingers. Lee flinched. “Medical ninjutsu isn’t just all about healing the body; you’ve got to know which body part you’re trying to heal. And I can’t do that if I’m talking as well.” There was a light chastising tone in his voice, but they let it go. 

Who wants to argue with a medic while they are healing someone anyway?

So, they all fell silent, letting Naruto concentrate. It was strange to watch him go from one extreme to the other - this bouncing ball of pure energy to a rather stoic, clinical medic - but nonetheless awe-inspiring. Sasuke hadn’t really given much thought to how a medic’s ability to heal was connected so heavily with their ability to stay focused. Maybe that’s why Naruto never entertained much conversation when they’d been training over the last several months.

Everything was quiet for quite a while before the sound of footsteps stood out to them. The two jounin teachers looked up, seeing Sakura and Tenten returning from their training session. Upon spotting Lee in the grass, Tenten seemed to come alive. “What happened?!” She called out, running the rest of the distance until she could hover as close as possible to her teammate without getting in Naruto’s way.

Similarly, Sakura rushed the rest of the way until she was standing beside Kakashi, peering over her teammates’ shoulders. “Is he hurt?” She asked cautiously.

“Sasuke made his diaphragm rupture,” Kakashi answered for the teens, pointing towards the three boys.

“Is that what a diaphragmatic rupture means?” Guy balked, getting an elbow right to the ribs from his rival.

“Sasuke!” Sakura hissed, the urge to smack him over the side of his head rising to the surface.

Her teacher held up a hand to stop her from working herself up into a frenzy. “Calm down.” He started, resting his hand on her shoulder, “They were just sparring. It was an accident.” He raised a brow at her. “And plus, Naruto’s handling it, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Why is it that when Sasuke trains with Lee, they always come out injured?” She pouted, kicking the dirt, “I mean, me and Tenten-chan never get that crazy.”

“It’s ‘cause they’re boys.” She called out, sending Sakura a pointed look, “I dealt with this all the time with Neji and Lee. And this was before we had a medic to deal with it.” Lee flashed a sympathetic smile up at her.

Naruto looked over his shoulder. “Medic-in-training.” He corrected.

Sasuke actually laughed, a surprise to himself and everyone else. “Just how many times are you going to say that?” He coughed to hide the bubble of amusement rising in his chest.

He shook his head, not dignifying his teammate with a response. The green glow of the healing chakra coming from his hands became nothing more than a few strands before ultimately disappearing. Naruto sat on his haunches, “All done. You’re good to talk again, Lee.”

He blinked in surprise. “That didn’t take very long,” Lee grunted out as Sasuke helped him sit up. He expected something painful in his belly, but there was nothing that shouldn’t be as shocking as it is. Naruto is, after all, a good medic. 

“It was just a torn muscle. They stitch themselves back together with a little encouragement.” Naruto shrugged, waving the teen off as if it was just a regular occurrence, “Usually, you’d have to have surgery to fix it and at least six weeks of bedrest, but medical ninjutsu works just as well, depending on who you ask?”

Lee nodded, holding his chin in thought, “Are you sure it’s all gone?” 

“Are you in pain elsewhere?” He raised a brow. The other teen shook his head. “Then, I’m positive that you’re all good.” Naruto smiled, “In fact, between healing this and Sasuke’s nose, I’d say you two are good to go for another round.” Sasuke and Lee glanced at each other for a long while before shaking their heads. No, they were done for today.

Tenten shuffled, the motion drawing the medic-in-training’s attention. “But what if there’s another spot you missed?” Tenten asked.

“There’s not.” He said automatically.

She pursed her lips, “But what if-”

“I guarantee you that when I scanned him, I couldn’t find anything else except the tear.” Naruto expressed, using a hand to support himself, as he moved to lounge in the grass. Two medical issues in a day. While he wouldn’t say it was exactly a record, it bothered him that it had happened in the first place. Maybe Sasuke and Lee were too aggressive not to cause bodily injuries to each other. He should probably bring this up with Kakashi and Guy, now that he thinks about it.

“How?” Tenten challenged. Sakura smacked her shoulder with the back of her hand, the other kunoichi glaring at him. “How do you know?” She reiterated.

He pursed his lips, tilting his head to look up at the sky where a few clouds were waiting for his gaze. He wondered if Shikamaru was gazing into the clouds today. “Well,” Naruto started, “It’s kind of like… pouring water into an anthill?”

“What?” The entire group asked back.

“Anthills are large systems of tunnels and caverns, but with usually only one exit hole. If you were to pour water into that hole, it would spread into each of those tunnels until the entire ant’s home is filled with water.” Naruto pondered thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he continued, “Dr. Hana has always expressed to me that you should always scan patients before ever treating them with medical ninjutsu.”

“Dr. Hana?” Tenten whispered to Sakura.

“The head medic.” She answered back quietly.

He scratched the back of his head, looking away from the moving clouds above him. “When I scan people with medical ninjutsu, it’s essentially the same thing. I just push my chakra into someone’s body, and when that chakra eventually comes back to me, it gives me a signal about the entire body and what’s going on in it.” He said carefully.

Tenten thought on it for a while, “So, can you like… see any illness or injury?”

“Yes, well, as long as I know what it is.” They all stared at him. Naruto sighed, messing up his hair as he tried to figure out the best way to explain this. “Say… a ping comes back that there is this illness somewhere in the brain. I can know the terminology and the exact spot of what part of the brain the illness is located in, but if I don’t know what the illness is, I’ll have to find out what it is and how to treat it from other sources.” He pursed his lips, “I hope that made sense…”

“Medical encyclopedia…” Sasuke muttered under his breath, covering it with a cough.

Of course, Naruto heard him. “I told you to stop calling me that…” He flushed red.

“So, it’s not just like dumb luck?” Tenten scratched her head, “I just always assumed that medics just healed and hoped it all went back to normal.”

Naruto balked, eyes wide, “Oh, no, no! Absolutely not! Who told you that?!” He actually looked rather panicked, a visual neither of his teammates liked. “Luck and medicine have no business being near one another.” He pressed, “Every time I handle a patient, I make sure that I know what I’m doing or have some idea of how to achieve it. If I don’t, I find someone who can. I never leave it up to chance!”

There was a brief silence as Tenten stared at him, her face blank, before she slowly nodded. “Neji was wrong about you, you know?” She tilted her head to the side. Sakura smacked her again.

He swallowed, surprised, “I… I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I wasn’t meaning to make it sound like I did want to talk about it.” Tenten rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Even Lee was giving her an odd look. “I was just making an observation. You’re actually a really good guy, Naruto.” She offered with a smile.

Naruto looked away, “Well, um, thank you. I try?” 

Sasuke lifted his head to start speaking, but something lingered at the edge of his consciousness, pulling Naruto away from his teammate, away from his team, pulling him as far from the training ground as possible. His breath stuttered out of him as his eyes widened, glossing over. What was that? There’s something - someone? - near them. His heart squeezed tightly in his chest.

He moved stiffly, staring off into the distance. There’s nothing out there, but it feels like there should be something. The birds cawed, and the critters in the forest, moving around, called out to him, meandering through their daily lives without noticing the terror hiding out there. There’s something out there. He shuddered out a breath. Something dangerous.

“Naruto?” Kakashi’s voice was low in his ear, calling him back to the training ground, “You okay?” There was a weird cadence to his voice.

He swallowed thickly, glancing up at the man before his attention ultimately pulled his gaze back towards the forest. But it was gone? “Um… Yeah, I’m good…” Naruto muttered.

“You sure?” His teacher asked, and it was only then that he noticed that Kakashi had a hand on his neck, a comforting gesture that seemed to make his entire body warmer.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.” He tried to smile, but the jounin seemed to see right through him.

But Kakashi didn’t push it. Instead, the hand slipped from Naruto’s neck, instead moving down to his back and patting him between his shoulder blades. “Well, then, you'd best get up off the ground. Everyone’s leaving without us.” He motioned with his head towards the left.

Naruto followed his gaze. Guy had his arm slung over Lee’s shoulders, steering him away from the training ground, a large smile on his face. Lee, for his part, seemed adamant in listening to whatever Tenten and Sakura were suddenly arguing about. It didn’t seem to be a malicious argument, he noted; maybe it was something petty. If it were Sakura, it probably was. As for Sasuke, well, he seemed to at least be partly enjoying the entertainment, his arms stuffed in his pockets. 

“Oh, sorry.” He muttered under his breath, moving to stand up, the hand never leaving his back. He was about to follow after them, but was stopped. “Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto tilted his head up at the man.

Kakashi stared down at him, a blank expression on his face. “Are you sure everything’s alright?” He asked once more.

Naruto nodded, but couldn’t help as he glanced at the forest bordering the training ground. It’s gone. “It’s fine, Kakashi-sensei.” When he smiled this time, the light actually seemed to reach his eyes.

He pursed his lips, sighing, looking ten years older. “If you say so…” He managed to say before pushing him towards the group ahead of them, “C’mon, we’re getting ramen. It’s Guy’s treat.”

“Really?!” His eyes seemed to sparkle, “We haven’t had ramen in forever!” 

Kakashi ruffled his hair affectionately, “Then thank Sasuke for suggesting it.”

“Okay!” Naruto grinned as they headed out of the training ground.

From the depths of Naruto’s mind, buried within the mindscape, the Kyuubi no Kitsune stirred from his slumber. His crimson red eyes peered open, glaring off into the distance, pinning something with his gaze. “I see you.” He rumbled out, thunder crackingly along the mindscape, a strike of lightning electrifying the water as the fox rose to the challenge.

And where his red eyes stared, another peered back.