Inconvenient Truths

He is the maelstrom, the swirling chaos. It is in his very nature to inflict change upon the world.

Near the Western Coast of Wave Country
640th Year of the Sage (Thirteen years after the Kyuubi's attack)

Hatake Kakashi wasn't sure what had possessed him to continue on this fool's errand. Sure, his male student had been all too eager to test himself against skilled opponents, and his female student had been taken in by their deceitful client's sob story. And to be fair, they had both been at the top of their respective genders in the academy. But the military wasn't a democracy, and he should have put his foot down and taken his squad back to Konoha.

Instead, he was now facing one of the seven goddamned swordsmen of Kiri, with nothing more than an undermanned genin team at his back.

"Sasuke, Sakura, guard Tazuna," he ordered, and his team moved to obey. Frankly, his genin wouldn't be much more effective against Momochi Zabuza than the old bridge-builder himself would be, but he was hoping that keeping all of his charges in one place would make it easier to defend them.

Not for the first time, he wondered why he had decided to take on a genin team in the first place. Their teamwork was only good if one didn't look too deep, since Sakura was only too happy to follow Sasuke's lead. There was no real camaraderie.

"Copy-nin Kakashi, being saddled with a pair of brats fresh off the teat," the swordsmen chuckled from his position on his sword, embedded in the side of a tree. "My, how the mighty have fallen."

Kakashi's only response was to raise the headband covering his left eye, revealing the reason he had earned that nickname. Against an enemy such as this, he knew he'd have to go all out to win.

"Bringing out the sharingan so soon? I suppose I should be flattered," Zabuza taunted, ignoring the surprised expression on one of the genin. "But that fancy eye can't copy what it can't see, now can it?"

He punctuated that statement with a sudden hop onto the surface of a nearby pool of water, all the better to fuel his elemental techniques. Just as Kakashi had feared, his first move was Kiri's signature technique – the kirigakure no jutsu. The already-thick mist became unnaturally so, to the point where Kakashi couldn't see more than two meters in any direction.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi reassured his team. "When Zabuza still served Kiri, he was renowned as an expert in silent killing. Be careful."

Sakura gulped, fearing that she was in way over her head. Sasuke still looked determined, but even the normally confident boy seemed like he'd prefer to be elsewhere.

"Eight points – liver, lungs, spine, subclavian, jugul-"

A massive gust of wind suddenly tore through the clearing, interrupting the monologue and rapidly clearing away the chakra-laden mist. It was strong enough that the genin, and Tazuna, almost felt like they would be blown away, though the older ninja were able to anchor themselves with chakra.

Kakashi and Zabuza, both having been surprised by what could only have been a jutsu, looked towards the source of the wind. Approximately twenty meters to the side, on the edge of the clearing, stood a boy of roughly thirteen years. His blonde hair, expressive blue eyes, and cheerful smile served to make him appear open and friendly. On the other hand, the black cargo pants, burnt-orange t-shirt, weapon pouches, and obvious musculature gave both of the experienced jonin the impression of a tiger on the prowl.

'Naruto,' Kakashi recognized. The resemblance to his dead sensei was unnerving, as was the memory of what the boy had accomplished during his final day in Konoha. 'What is he doing here?'

"Sorry if I'm interrupting your dick-waving contest," the newcomer said, obviously not feeling the least bit sorry, "but I was looking for someone, and that mist was getting really annoying."

Zabuza, for his part, made a completely reasonable assumption given the information at hand. He knew that Kakashi must have been anticipating a battle with more Kiri defectors, after fighting the Demon Brothers. He also knew that genin teams normally had three members. So if Kakashi had a genin who possessed a strong wind affinity, it would have made perfect tactical sense to order that genin to trail slightly behind the main group in order to clear away any mist. Since Zabuza knew he would be at a disadvantage against the sharingan without the mist, he immediately charged to kill the lone genin first.

Naruto was not one of Kakashi's genin.

Zabuza's first slash seemed to confirm his assumptions by hitting home, and Kakashi was on the verge of a panic attack until the critically wounded Naruto dispersed in a puff of smoke. Then a second Naruto dashed from the nearby trees and promptly cut through Zabuza's spine with an invisible blade of wind.

But Zabuza hadn't survived a fight with the Mizukage by being stupid, and he was a big fan of the decoy clone strategy as well. The cut on his back bled only water before the mizu bunshin collapsed into a puddle, and Naruto once again found himself the target of a charging swordsman. Kakashi was torn between staying to defend his team or rushing to aid his sensei's unacknowledged offspring, and his indecision chose the former.

Zabuza had anticipated many possibilities from this surprisingly talented 'genin' when he made his next attack, anything from dodging, using another wind jutsu to try and blow him away, or preferably dying in agony. It came as another surprise, then, when the boy merely raised his left hand to intercept the massive blade. He had just enough time to notice a glowing seal inscribed on the blonde's palm, before his sword made contact with a floating shield of transparent blue chakra, roughly thirty centimeters in diameter, that stopped his momentum cold.

'A barrier!? Impossible!' Zabuza thought. 'How could a lone genin erect such a powerful barrier so quickly?' Unbeknownst to him, Kakashi's mind was in similar turmoil.

Naruto, unaware or uncaring of his opponent's shock, raised his right hand towards Zabuza and caused an identical seal to glow. His face, which had previously been stoic during the battle, now bore a victorious smirk.

"Bad boy. Time out - five minutes."

Zabuza didn't have time to respond to the odd statement before chakra flowed from Naruto's right palm. This time, rather than forming a small shield, it formed a tiny dome prison with the swordsman trapped firmly inside. It also cleaved off a huge chunk of his outstretched sword in the process – a chunk which was now supported only by Naruto's left hand.

"Ohhhhhhh shit," Naruto grimaced, looking genuinely surprised. "I seriously didn't mean to do that. Sorry about your sword. Hope you can get it repaired." He dropped the sword fragment, and lowered his hands. Zabuza was disappointed to discover that the barrier didn't require constant contact.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he growled, giving Naruto his finest death glare. "I know just how to fix it."

One of Naruto's eyebrows rose in response to Zabuza's bloodthirsty gaze. "So why are you looking at me like that? I don't know how to reforge a sword."

Their pleasant chat was interrupted when Kakashi arrived on the scene, keeping a close eye on Zabuza. For the first time, Naruto got a good look at the man's headband. 'Wonderful. Konoha ninja,' he sighed. 'And the day was going so well.'

"I don't suppose there's any way to kill him from the outside, is there?" Kakashi questioned, earning himself the next round of Zabuza's glaring.

"Well I could just strengthen the barrier until it stops air transfer, then wait until he suffocates," Naruto replied in a lecturing tone, "but I was actually considering letting him go."

"What!?" Kakashi almost yelled, his head turning so fast that Naruto was surprised he didn't hurt himself.

"How do I put it...?" Naruto mumbled, bringing a finger to his lips in thought. "This whole battle is pointless. Observe."

The two jonin paid close attention as Naruto started digging around in one of his pockets, before he pulled out a storage scroll. After unraveling it, a small dose of chakra caused it to disgorge its contents.

"Tadaa!" he grinned, seeming very pleased with himself as he held up a severed head for the older men to peruse. In the distance, Tazuna collapsed on his ass and gaped in surprise, while the genin were left wondering what all the fuss was about.

Zabuza pursed his lips behind the bandages covering them, and let out a breath. "Gato. So my client is already dead."

"Yep," Naruto nodded. "I normally try to stay out of local politics, but I was in the area after my trip to Water country, and this asshole really had it coming. Call it an act of charity. Everyone started celebrating as soon as I showed off his corpse." He took a moment to reseal the head before he continued. "I killed off his top lieutenants too, but I figured I should stick around a bit to make sure his thugs didn't try anything. Then I was approached by someone who told me her dad might still be in danger from assassins that Gato hired, before his untimely demise."

He took a moment to look over towards Tazuna, and waved. The genin and old man, being too far away to overhear much of the conversation, simply looked confused by the gesture.

"So the lady I was talking to begged me to find daddy bridge-builder and make sure he gets back home. And when a cute MILF asks me for a favor, I have a hard time saying no." He blushed lightly and refused to meet the the eyes of the older men. "Call it another act of charity."

"Well this has been a complete waste of time," Zabuza griped, sheathing the remnant of his sword on his back. "How am I supposed to get a decent paycheck now?"

"You're Momochi Zabuza, right?" Naruto queried. "I think I heard this other guy say that name, and you're obviously a rogue swordsman." Upon hearing Zabuza's grunt of affirmation, he continued. "Have you considered going back to Kiri? I hear they have a new Mizukage, and she's remarkably sane. No bloodline purges, murdering political rivals, or anything."

While Zabuza seemed cautiously optimistic at the news, Kakashi turned his gaze on Naruto and narrowed his eyes.

"That reminds me," he began, drawing their attention back towards him, "Konoha recently got hold of a copy of Kirigakure's latest bingo book edition. You feature quite prominently – something about defeating the Yondaime Mizukage..."

Zabuza's eyes nearly popped out of his head, such was his surprise, though his ego was somewhat soothed by the knowledge that the boy who'd trounced him had previously done the same to the Mizukage. Naruto had a different reaction.

"That bitch!" he shouted in outrage, shaking a fist in the air. "She acted all sweet when I took him down, but now she puts me on her village's hit list!? I'll shove my foot up her ass if I see her again!"

"Actually," Kakashi interrupted, "your entry in the book describes you as a national hero and instructs all of their ninja to avoid combat with you, unless you directly threaten Kiri's safety."

A bingo book wasn't just for telling ninja who to kill, after all. It was an identification guide, so anytime a village thought its ninja needed to be able to identify a foreign combatant on sight, that person got an entry in their book.

Naruto, never having been a registered ninja, hadn't known that detail.

"Oh," he visibly deflated. "Well alright then. Kinda surprised they got the word out so soon."

"Let me guess," Zabuza said in a mocking tone, "another act of charity?"

"What can I say? I'm a really nice guy." Naruto seemed almost embarrassed by the admission. "So are we friends now, or are you going to go into a murder frenzy and make me have to kill you?"

Zabuza pretended to ponder the question for a moment, though the choice was obvious. "I think I'll let you off the hook, just this once." As the words left his mouth, Naruto let the barrier collapse. Zabuza ran off without wasting any more words, while Kakashi kept a close eye on his retreating form.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, as the swordsman disappeared into the trees. "You forgot half of your sword!" With no reply to be heard, he shrugged, picked up the chunk of metal, and called out to the genin team. "Anyone want a souvenir?"

Wilderness Trail
Five Minutes Later

Seeing as everyone remaining in the clearing had the same goal, they ended up walking towards Tazuna's home together. Even so, a blind man could have seen the tensions in the group; the genin remained wary of the strange boy after his display of skill, and Naruto himself was bothered by Kakashi's speculative glances, whenever the older ninja could tear his eyes away from his pornography. Oddly enough, Tazuna himself was the member of the group who was most at ease; with Gato dead, and his hired ninja convinced to abandon the job as a result, the bridge-builder was rightfully convinced that his problems had been resolved.

Naruto was a take-charge kind of guy, though, so he decided to attack the rising tension just as he had attacked every other problem in his life.

"So," he began, clapping his hands together, "I think some introductions are in order. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, seal designer and merchant."

"And part-time hero, I take it?" Tazuna jumped in, his pleasant mood rendering the old drunkard more polite than usual. "Anyway, I'm Tazuna, building designer and foreman."

"Ah, a kindred spirit," Naruto smiled back at him, and shook his hand. "And something of a hero yourself, given what you've been up to recently." Tazuna was appropriately flattered by the praise.

Kakashi snapped his book closed and put it away before joining the conversation. "Hatake Kakashi, jonin of Konohagakure, and commander of genin team seven."

"So, I don't mean to be rude," Naruto interrupted, glancing at the rest of the team, "but did someone die on the way here? You're one short."

Kakashi shook his head slightly. "Their graduating class wasn't evenly divisible. Normally an older genin would be slotted in, but the admin people seem to be running a little slow."

Naruto then turned expectantly towards the two genin, waiting for them to introduce themselves. Finally, one of them took the bait.

"Uchiha Sasuke, genin."

'Well he's a wordy bastard, isn't he?' Naruto thought, waiting a few more seconds before facing the final member of their entourage.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," the sole female chimed in, "also a genin." She bowed politely, before a hesitant look crossed her face. "Um, would you happen to be the same Naruto who released the Kyuubi inside Konoha a few years back?"

"Yeah, that was me," he exclaimed nostalgically, the demon having become something resembling a friend during their time together. "I was also in your academy class for a while, but you might not remember since I kept to myself. So how much have you heard about that Kyuubi business?"

"My parents said that you were supposed to keep it under control, but you nearly killed us all by releasing it," she answered nervously, no longer comfortable looking directly at him after her admission.

"Well isn't that special," Naruto pouted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "That kind of bullshit is why I left in the first place. Everything is Naruto's fault. Let's hate him for holding the Kyuubi, then let's hate him for not holding the Kyuubi. Never mind that no one died; clearly Naruto is the root of all evil." He paused, before glancing at the jonin. "Do you agree with that assessment, Kakashi?"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye, not liking where the conversation was going. "Not really. Konoha hasn't exactly treated you fairly." He turned his head so that he could look Naruto in the eyes, ignoring the boy's snort at his understatement. "Even so, standing orders are to capture you on sight."

Everyone else, Tazuna included, tensed in preparation for a fight. Naruto narrowed his eyes and commenced a staring match with the jonin.

"You have a genin team and are escorting a civilian," Naruto growled, his voice warning against any hostile moves. "Do you really want to start that shit now?"

"No, I don't," Kakashi replied, "but I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten my charges."

Naruto returned his eyes to the trail. "I'm not threatening anyone. But battles are chaotic, and people can make mistakes. If you start a fight while they're standing right next to us, they'll get involved. Doesn't matter what we want."

That was enough to calm things down, and after a few moments Naruto decided to resume his talk with Kakashi. "So I'm not a living weapon for Konoha to use-and-abuse anymore, and I can't be a missing-nin if I was never a ninja. Do you even know why you've been ordered to capture me?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Does your team know?" Naruto asked, looking at the two genin. The lack of comprehension in their expressions was enough of an answer for him. "I'll take that as a negative. Good. At least the old man didn't blab to everyone. I don't need that kind of attention."

"Hokage-sama was concerned that your safety would be jeopardized if the world learned about it, so only jonin have been briefed," Kakashi explained, before pausing to collect his thoughts. "He still cares, you know."

"I stopped giving a damn about his feelings the moment he threatened to have me tortured," Naruto grumbled, eliciting gasps from the three other listeners. "He acts like a kind grandfather, but he still does some pretty nasty stuff."

His sad gaze towards Sasuke managed to confuse everyone else, but he didn't offer any elaboration, and nobody was willing to ask. "We're coming up on the village soon. Let's wrap this job up."

Tazuna's Home
One Hour Later

Tazuna's family had been thrilled to see him arrive safe and sound, and his daughter Tsunami had insisted that everyone share a late lunch, ignorant of the potential for conflict between Naruto and the Konoha team. It didn't escape Sasuke's notice that Naruto and Kakashi had seated themselves opposite each other, and both were eating light in anticipation of getting a good workout. The Uchiha idly considered asking if they would allow him to observe, then quashed the impulse. He didn't want to seem like a starstruck child, even if he was certain it would be amazing.

Once everyone had satisfied themselves, Kakashi decided it was time to begin the festivities. "Well, Naruto, since you were kind enough to clear out any likely danger to my client, I think I can afford to spend some time working on my secondary mission." He rounded off his statement with a cheery eye-smile that made Naruto want to punch him.

Tazuna, who had been hoping they'd put that subject behind them, started looking nervously back and forth between the two. Tsunami and Inari had no idea what the jonin was talking about, but Sakura twitched in her seat, apparently thinking they would just leap onto the table and start hitting each other.

Naruto settled on a feral grin and slowly got out of his chair. "Let's take this outside. No sense breaking our host's stuff." He calmly walked out the front door, and Kakashi followed, leaving his genin with orders to defend the house in their absence.

Nearby Forest Clearing
Three Minutes Later

After a short but pleasant stroll through the woods, Naruto and Kakashi were satisfied that they had found an acceptably secluded place for the upcoming hostilities. Even so, Kakashi decided to give the diplomatic approach one more try, if only for his own peace of mind. It helped that this was the first chance they had to speak in private.

"You know, Hokage-sama would be happy to prove your lineage to the world once you're safely behind Konoha's walls," he opened, altering his body language to appear nonthreatening. "He seemed pretty certain that a decent PR campaign would be enough to change public opinion in the village, once the announcement was made."

"Yeah, well, I'm not willing to sacrifice my freedom just to see if he's right," Naruto countered, taking the opportunity to do some stretches. "Besides, I've never wanted to be trapped in that man's shadow."

Having had a well-known father himself, Kakashi could sympathize with that. But he still had a job to do. "Your father would've wanted you to be a Konoha shinobi, Naruto. With your potential, you could be even greater than he was."

Naruto scoffed, not at all impressed by the sentiment. "If he wanted me to care about his opinions, he should have lived long enough to express them in person. I'm not going to be ruled by a man who died the day I was born. I've rejected worthier masters."

"Do you... hate him that much?" Kakashi asked, sounding very much like his puppy had just died.

"Hate?" Naruto responded, genuinely surprised by the question. "I never said I hated him. If anything, I pity him; he found himself in a bad position, where his loyalties conflicted with each other."

Seeing that Kakashi didn't grasp his meaning, he paused his stretching to explain. "His duty as a father was to protect me, and that meant getting me out of danger and sticking around to raise me. But his duty as a Hokage meant he had to sacrifice himself, use me as a jinchuriki, and leave me to the mercies of a hostile village. He had to choose between those duties, and he decided to be a Hokage instead of a father."

He spent a few seconds organizing his thoughts, not always being entirely sure of his own feelings when it came to the Yondaime. "I don't hate him, and I respect his skills as a ninja, but I can't love him." Seeing that his opponent seemed upset by his words, Naruto decided to get to the bottom of it. "Why are you taking this so personally, anyway?"

Kakashi sighed, losing himself in memories of happier days. "Your father... was my jonin-sensei, and since my own father died when I was young, I looked up to him as a surrogate."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, taking a moment to scratch an itch on his back. "Funny. I'm pretty certain we've never met before today."

Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto had intended to wound him with that statement, but it cut deep all the same. 'Just another person who should have been there for him, but wasn't. That's all I am to him. That's all I'll ever be.'

Naruto, not being the sort to kick a man when he was down (not emotionally, anyway, unless he really had it coming), saw the faint signs of distress in Kakashi and decided to shift the conversation back to safer territory. And maybe win their battle before it even started, if Kakashi fell for his next trick.

"You know, I wasn't kidding about respecting the Yondaime. You could even say he helped inspire me." He slowly pulled out a seemingly-ordinary kunai from one of his pouches, and began lazily twirling it around by the ring. "Even if the seal he put on me was a pain in the ass to get rid of, fuinjutsu is truly an amazing art. Here, have a look."

Naruto made a slow underhanded toss towards Kakashi, careful not to trigger any well-honed instincts the experienced ninja would possess. Even so, the jonin knew something was wrong with the kunai the moment he caught it and got a closer look at it.

'There's a seal engraved in the handle, similar to a design I've seen before. But it can't be...' He looked up in shock, only to see Naruto disappear from his previous position and reappear right in front of him in the same instant. 'Hiraishin!'

Kakashi leaped backwards, too slowly to escape, but was surprised when Naruto squandered the advantage by performing a gentle palm thrust against his chest, which only seemed to cause a temporary itching sensation. He immediately tossed the rigged kunai far to the side and raised his headband to reveal the sharingan, expecting that he would need the advantage in reflex time to cope with Naruto's superior speed.

Naruto failed to meet his expectations, instead choosing to stand still and smirk at him.

"Why did you waste that attack?" Kakashi asked, bracing himself in anticipation. "You had me. You could have ended the fight then and there."

Naruto's smirk transformed into a grin. "I did end the fight. If you disagree, come and get me."

Kakashi knew there had to be some trick, but Naruto was the defender in this battle and under no obligation to make the first move. Since Naruto didn't have any hiraishin kunai in his hands, Kakashi decided to risk triggering the trap. He charged forward at his best speed, mindful not to let the boy get a lock on him with those barrier seals which had defeated Zabuza.

When he was halfway to his opponent, the blonde emitted a pulse of chakra. Kakashi's muscles went slack, and he collapsed bonelessly onto the soft ground.

Naruto chuckled at the sight, and began casually strolling up to his fallen adversary. "That little love tap back there was me inscribing a seal onto your chest with my chakra. Neat trick, that. Only the best fuinjutsu users can do it, and only if they know a seal intimately." As he reached Kakashi, he knelt down and carefully rolled the man on his back to make sure he could still breathe. "This particular design is actually one of my more recent creations, though I've used variants before. The new Mizukage commissioned it for dealing with an especially volatile prisoner."

He pulled out another kunai and held it gently to Kakashi's throat. "I win. Admit your defeat, and I'll let you up."

"...huurghhh."

"Close enough."

A second pulse of chakra signaled the end of the seal's effects, and Kakashi was allowed to pick himself off the ground. Naruto dropped the kunai at his feet, disappeared, then reappeared a second later with the kunai his opponent had thrown into the woods, before putting them both away.

"So where was I?" Naruto continued, enjoying the opportunity to chat about his favorite non-ramen subject. "That particular seal links a user with a target, and allows the user to disrupt the chakra network and voluntary muscle control of said target."

"So I noticed," Kakashi grumbled, not particularly happy to have experienced such helplessness firsthand. "Any chance you could take this seal off of me?" he asked, as he covered his sharingan. They began walking sedately back to Tazuna's house.

"I could, but I won't," Naruto answered. Upon seeing Kakashi's pout, he elaborated, "Konoha wants me captured, and I don't want to be captured. Since you're one of Konoha's top mobile assets, it would be stupid to let you keep trying. You might actually win someday." He breathed deeply, clearly basking in his victory. "You're just going to have to live with being my bitch for the foreseeable future."

"Guess this means I need to pay a visit to Jiraiya-sama next time he's in town," Kakashi mumbled, though Naruto was able to hear him.

"Go ahead. It'll be interesting to see if Konoha's best seal master can break the protections on that design," Naruto replied with a smile. "In the mean time, don't worry. Only I can activate it, since I'm the one who applied it. At least this way, I don't have to hurt you."

"As far as crushing defeats go, this was certainly the gentlest I've had," Kakashi admitted.

Tazuna's House
Three Minutes Later

When they opened the door to Tazuna's home, neither of them were surprised to see that the inhabitants hadn't moved much, with the exception of Tsunami and Inari wandering off somewhere. Even by ninja standards, their duel had been a quick one, with the short pre- and post-battle conversations - and the walk to and fro - actually taking up most of their time. After closing the door, they both took the same seats they had occupied during their meal.

"So..." Tazuna began hesitantly, "you two decide not to fight after all? You don't look like anything happened."

"It takes less skill to kill an opponent than to defeat him without inflicting injury," Naruto sagely replied, not really answering the question.

Sakura looked towards her sensei. "So does this mean we're taking him back with us? He's not exactly restrained."

Naruto snorted with restrained laughter; the girl's faith in her sensei's invulnerability was simply adorable. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a little quicker on the uptake, and spun his head to face the blonde sitting next to him.

"How?" he asked breathlessly, torn between admiration and envy at the thought of someone his age besting his sensei.

Naruto took a few moments to decide how to answer that. "Fuinjutsu," he explained, "is, at it's core, a method of altering reality to suit your needs. A user with enough skill, creativity, and preparation can do almost anything; the Yondaime Hokage's greatest achievements were dependent on seals, you know." He gave a knowing glance towards Kakashi, before continuing. "And in your sensei's defense, I cheated. Fair fights are for suckers."

The blonde sighed gently, before returning his attention to Sasuke. "I should probably be getting back to my room at the inn, but I'm debating whether I should enlighten you first."

"Enlighten me?" Sasuke asked, eyes widening slightly. "About what?"

"They say ignorance is bliss," Naruto said, seemingly ignoring the question, "and if my theory about your clan is right, that knowledge could destroy you. Sure you wanna know?"

A deathly chill permeated the room, one which had nothing to do with temperature.

Sasuke glared frostily at the evasive blonde. "You don't get to say something like that and then keep the rest to yourself."

Naruto gave a morbid laugh in response. "No, I suppose keeping it to myself is no longer an option." He then turned to the bridge-builder, the only civilian - other than himself - in the room. "Tazuna, you should probably take a walk or something. You're better off not hearing this."

"Yeah, I got the impression this is going somewhere unpleasant," the old man replied, before standing up and vacating to a different part of the house.

Sakura looked like she was tempted to follow, but the desire to support her crush kept her rooted to her seat. Kakashi was merely intrigued, wondering what fresh new revelation Naruto would add to the pile he already had to deal with today. This mission report was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, placing both hands behind his head. "First, I have some questions for you all," he stated, adopting the mannerisms of a professor interrogating a student. "What do you think the odds are for a ninja clan of hundreds to all be home at the same time? What are the odds that one man would then be able to kill them all, without anyone outside the compound noticing the commotion, or anyone inside the compound escaping?"

"You're saying Itachi had help," Sasuke cut in. He realized that his previous case of childish hero worship had blinded him to the possibility that Itachi might not have been capable of murdering his family without assistance.

"That is what I'm saying," Naruto confirmed with a melancholy smile, "and considering that the sharingan can supposedly control the Kyuubi, my money's on the Hokage ordering a purge. How else could Itachi ensure they were all in one place, if not with his help?"

Needless to say, the Konoha ninja were shocked. Before now, they had always trusted in the overall benevolence of their leaders. Even Kakashi, who had seen the darker side of the ninja world, hadn't expected to find such nasty skeletons in Konoha's closet. Suddenly, Naruto's antipathy towards the Hokage made much more sense.

"It... it can't be," Sakura feebly protested. Naruto couldn't help but pity the naive girl, who was clearly unprepared to cope with such information.

"I could be wrong, since all of my evidence is circumstantial," he confessed, "but the facts are damn suspicious. I wasn't kidding about this knowledge destroying you, though. If I'm right, and you try to confront the Hokage, you'll die. The old man can be brutal when he thinks it's convenient."

"So why did you even tell me?" Sasuke demanded, his fists clenching tightly on the table. "If my brother was following orders... what am I supposed to do about this? What can I do?"

"Shit's fucked up, I know," Naruto replied, his gentle tone not quite meshing with his choice of words. He was tempted to place a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder, but he didn't think the Uchiha was the sort who would appreciate the gesture. "Even if a member of your clan was behind the Kyuubi attack, that was still just one person out of many. I don't condone the murder of innocents, so I felt you deserved to know."

"So what now!?" Sasuke all but yelled. "Am I supposed to just keep serving the man who probably ordered the massacre of my entire family?"

"If you're honestly asking for my advice, confront your brother," Naruto answered. "Talk to him. He chose to slaughter his family, yet he spared your life. If you want closure, figure out why." He shrugged before continuing his train of thought. "As for the old man, he's... old. He most likely won't be in power much longer."

Kakashi let out a breath, glad that Naruto's reply seemed to reduce Sasuke's anger to a manageable level. "Your theory is... disturbingly plausible, and this is one conversation I'll be leaving out of the mission report, but you took a bit of a risk telling him in front of me, Naruto. What if I'd been in on it?"

Naruto smiled softly. "A secret that important isn't something they'd tell to anyone, even you. I figure less than a handful would know besides Itachi and the Hokage himself. Not even the full council would be told, since a purge like this would make the clans nervous." Suddenly, killing intent flooded the room, and Naruto's expression turned malevolent. "But I already said I don't condone the murder of innocents. If you had orders to terminate Sasuke if he found out, well... we already know I can kill you."

'So that's why he waited until after our fight to spring this on us,' Kakashi mused, closing his visible eye in concentration. 'Right now, he could stop me with a thought.'

For about ten seconds, there was dead silence.

"Anyway," Naruto clapped his hands and stood up, partially dispelling the grim mood brought on by his threat, "I think I've shattered your worldviews enough for one day. Try not to do anything stupid with the information; I don't need your deaths on my conscience. And tell Tsunami I appreciate her hospitality."

As he made his way to the front door and opened it, Kakashi interrupted.

"Naruto... I don't know if it means anything to you, but I think your father would've been proud."

Naruto merely nodded before closing the door behind him.

The total amount of time he would spend in Wave was less than a week. In the wake of his passage, he left behind a country freed from tyranny, a man filled with regrets, a boy who doubted his chosen path for the first time, and a girl who didn't know what to believe in anymore.

Next Chapter

He despises war waged against the innocent. In its place, he wages war against the guilty.

Author's Notes

Naruto - Maelstrom

Some parts of this chapter were a little more angsty than I originally planned. Poor, poor Kakashi. Everything you touch turns to dust. Everyone you care about leaves you.

Yes, Naruto is already S-rank. The previous oneshot established him as genin-level at the age of seven (for comparison, Kakashi was a Chunin at six). In canon, he went from genin to S-rank badass in about three years. He's had roughly twice that here (and he knows how to abuse kage bunshin), only he substitutes the Kyuubi for a thorough education in fuinjutsu. Less raw power, but more tricks and traps, though the ten years spent with a bijuu inside him still guarantees him more chakra than most will ever have. Also, he cheats.

As the summary said, this 'story' will be presented as oneshots within the same continuity. I previously mentioned not having the patience for writing a longer story, so I felt this was a good compromise.