Title: Healing

Rating: G

Pairing / Characters: Konoha's eleven, Hatake Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune

Word Count: 953 words

Warnings: Nothing in particular

Summary: Naruto confides in his friends, Tsunade is on the receiving end of a truly shocking revelation, Kakashi watches over his student

A/N: Ok, this one is done. (o) On another note, the ending is deliberate. I leave nothing to fate, believe me!

Oh, and from here on out, most of my Naruto ficlets will be post time skip… so I guess 'you are my sunshine' 'the sequel' and 'night raid on Konoha' (which should have followed this one if I actually had done it in order) would be in the place of the Kakashi Gaiden arc or the filler arcs… (and I have a KILLER coming up soon, so stay posted!)

Naruto took a deep breath of the fresh air, glad to be home despite the fact that he was, once again, on the way to the hospital.

'I should just move here, it would be easier,' he grumbled.

Neji laughed. 'Well, you do seem to be spending a lot of time here,' he pointed out.

'Very funny,' Naruto muttered.

Tsunade was waiting for him, and Naruto grimaced inwardly as she dragged him into a room and sat him down. 'Are you all right, brat?' she asked quietly.

Naruto, who had been expecting a scolding, stared at her. 'Yeah… I think so – Sakura-chan healed my arm –'

Tsunade sighed. 'That's not what I meant, Naruto.'

'I know. I… I've been thinking that I should tell them what happened. Not about the nine tails, but the other stuff. I wanted to before, but I never did. I trust them Tsunade no baachan, but I kept thinking that they would think I was pathetic… that's why I never said anything.'

Naruto hung his head. 'Kakashi-sensei told me that I should talk to them. I should have listened, I guess.'

Kakashi's laughter echoed around the room. 'Naruto, you never listen to anyone,' he said, visible eye twinkling. 'Why should this time be any different?'

Naruto glared at Kakashi. 'I do listen!'

Tsunade's eyes sparkled. 'Really? When?'

Now Naruto glared at her, but Tsunade was already examining him carefully, and she placed her hand on his head, gathering chakra into her palm.

Kakashi fought down his laughter as she scolded Naruto playfully, all the while healing the damage that had been done to his mind so many months ago.

Really, Tsunade was almost as sneaky as he was…

'Well, that should do it,' Tsunade said at last. 'Naruto, do you think you can leave the hospital and find your way to your friends without getting yourself into trouble?'

Naruto just looked at her, and beaming, Tsunade pushed him to the door. 'Out, brat.'

Naruto pulled the door open with almost unnecessary force, and slammed it shut behind him. In the silence, Tsunade and Kakashi could hear him grumbling under his breath as he stomped away.

'He's all right, Kakashi,' Tsunade said softly. 'I believe this time, he'll be perfectly fine.'

Kakashi crossed over to the window, watching as Naruto approached his friends hesitantly. 'He will be, once he learns to trust us again.'

'You don't think he does?'

Kakashi shook his head. 'No. deep down, he knows we aren't his enemies, but three months is a long time to damage someone's mind. We may never undo whatever it was they did to him.'

Tsunade stepped up beside him, and put her hand on his shoulder. 'Perhaps,' she ceded, 'but Naruto is far, far stronger than that. After all, something like this would have killed lesser men.'

'True.'

Hokage and subordinate fell silent, watching Naruto's expansive gestures as he spoke to his friends.

Naruto didn't know how to approach them at first. They were his friends, but he wasn't sure how they'd react when he told them the truth about his ordeals.

Shikamaru saw him first. 'Oi! Naruto! Over here!'

Naruto walked over, hands folded behind his head as normal. 'Yo.'

'Feeling better?' Sakura asked anxiously.

'Yeah… but you already healed me, Tsunade no baachan didn't really do anything but yell at me,' Naruto told them.

'Well, that's not unusual, she's always yelling at you for something,' Chouji said, laughing.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. 'Be quiet, you.'

He frowned suddenly. 'You realize that you all followed me into Sound territory?'

Neji shrugged. 'Hey, what's the worst that could happen? We've fought against Sound nin before, we can do it again. At least we're all together.'

'Yeah…' Naruto fell silent for a moment. 'There was something I wanted to tell you,' he said at last.

Sakura looked up at him, a sudden thought occurring. Maybe, just maybe, he was about to confide in them and tell them what had happened in the time that he had been missing…

Naruto sat down on the grass, drawing his knees up. There was a long silence as he plucked up the courage, and then he began to speak.

'I never ever saw their faces. They made sure that there was never enough light for that…

'Tsunade-sama, we've received word from the detention centre.'

Tsunade glanced up at Shizune. 'Really? What is it now?'

Shizune looked bewildered. 'They had a break in last night, Tsunade-sama. It seems that someone managed to penetrate their defenses and got inside the prison itself.'

Tsunade frowned. 'I've heard of people breaking out, but never in. What happened?'

'Mori Isamu and Murai Sachiko were killed.'

'What?' Tsunade stared at her assistant in shock. 'Dead?'

'Hai… and this is the most puzzling thing – guards say the person who broke in was a boy of around thirteen or fourteen, and all of them claim to have seen the same thing…'

Shizune's voice trailed off, and Tsunade said 'what did they see?'

'They claim the boy they saw – the one who broke in – had the sharingan…'

Tsunade stared at Shizune. 'Shizune… only one person survived the Uchiha massacre all those years ago. That could only mean –'

Tsunade turned to stare out of the window, a wondering expression on her face.

Epilogue:

Naruto slid into bed, feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. Pulling up the covers, he reached out and turned off the lamp, watching as darkness shrouded his apartment.

Turning over, he hooked an arm over his pillow, and fell into a deep, dreamless, peaceful sleep, unaware of the shadow outside his window, watching.

The moon rose, highlighting Kakashi's silver hair, but Naruto did not waken.