Chapter Text
Sasuke woke up the next morning laying tucked into his bed. He shifted slightly under the sheets, arching his back as he stretched his well-worn muscles. He let out a light sigh, bringing his hands up to rub his temple. There was sunlight pouring in through his window, so he reached his arm up to cover his eyes for a brief moment. It was odd how bright it was, and he wondered for a moment how late he had slept in. He got up after a moment and headed to his closet, picking out some clothes for the day since he didn't have training.
The teen slid on a blue T-Shirt and some navy sweatpants, his body thankful for the less restricting clothes. Normally he wore training or fight ready clothing, so he would be ready to attack and defend himself. Then the bandages which usually were wrapped around his joints to keep his moves solid and strong now lay neatly on his end table. So wearing a nice comfortable outfit for once was nice. He brushed through his hair quickly before heading out of his bedroom.
Once he was out he was met with Hashirama's thin smile from the kitchen. "Good morning Sasuke." he greeted. Sasuke's room came directly out into the area between the kitchen and living room, so he didn't have to move far before he was standing over by Hashirama and offering him a nod of greetings as well. He noticed the man was busy cooking up some breakfast, much to Sasuke's confusion. Wasn't Itachi in charge of breakfast? He momentarily wondered if his brother had been called away for an emergency mission for the Akatsuki.
Instead, he was assured otherwise by a very confused Itachi coming down the stairs. The older teen soon joined them in the kitchen, looking over at Hashirama's cooking and apologizing quickly "I apologize, I don't know why my alarm never came this morning." obviously, he felt bad about not being awake to make breakfast as he should have been. Sasuke was more than confused now, especially as he didn't see Madara anywhere.
Hashirama turned to send Itachi a light chuckle, waving it off with the spatula in his hand. "Don't worry about it. I turned off your alarm. You don't get nearly enough sleep, barely two hours a day if you're lucky. I can hear you getting up every hour or so and it isn't healthy. You needed a chance to catch up on some sleep." he explained. He glanced at Sasuke and playfully bopped him on the head with the spatula "And you need a break from all this training as I said last night. Both of you are much too stressed for someone your ages." moving to finally slide the corn fritters he had made onto a plate. He gave them each a plate, which they accepted with a slight bow of thanks.
Soon they all headed over to the table, Sasuke sitting on one side of the table with Hashirama sitting in between the two Uchiha. They slowly began eating, Itachi glancing around before asking "Where did Madara go?" not sure where the man could have gone or if he was upstairs still. He didn't sense him even when he was focusing on the chakra in the house, and he didn't think he would be missing him. After all, it was one of his many skills he took pride in.
A sly smile covering Hashirama's face, the man explained "He's down at the area off to the side of the road that links the compound to Konoha. He thinks he knows where a perfect spot for today's events to happen but wants to make sure it's still there. Madara should be back soon, he's been gone for about an hour or two." moving to wipe his mouth off as he spoke, "He looked excited, in his own way, to show it to you both."
Sasuke, however, had other matters on his mind. "What do you mean today's events? Are we training again or something?" he asked, trying to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. He really wasn't in the mood for training. He just wanted to sit on the couch and watch television or read some of his books. He wouldn't complain however, knowing only a little over a month ago he would have sold his soul to go out with his family again.
"No, not training. We were thinking of heading out for a picnic at an area Madara and I used to enjoy going. It's hidden fairly well in the woods, near a stream. It used to be where our territories divided all those years ago before we decided we should be closer to the mountain so we had better coverage. It's nice and peaceful there, though it has been a while so we aren't sure if it's still intact." he noted, "We have been gone for nearly fifty years now."
Nodding in understanding, Itachi smiled thinly "I think that sounds like a great idea. But don't we need to be working on the Hokage plan? It's been over a month since the word started spreading as Madara said, we need a plan ready and proof fully assembled for the public in a nice clean format so everyone knows it's the truth." not wanting to get behind on the plan even if a day off sounded amazing. After all, with work like his, there weren't many breaks to catch.
Hashirama nodded in understanding "While it is important that we keep going with the plan, a day off won't hurt anyone. If you keep sprinting and never stop to catch your breath you'll likely pass out. Stop to take water and breath breaks, and you'll find yourself there before anyone else." he advised, Itachi nodding and taking his words into consideration. After all, even if Itachi was a prodigy he still knew to give heed to the words of someone as strong and wise as Hashirama. Even if the jokester never really gave the time to focus on acting as strong as he was.
Soon after the front door opened, revealing Madara. He came in, leaning on the counter across the room as he spoke "So they finally decided to wake up, eh?" he smirked. Sasuke felt his ears redden at the comment, Itachi quietly scoffing and looking away from the older Uchiha. "Mhm, anyway, the area down there is all cleared. Though, looks like it's been used since we were there." his smirk widened and he glances sideways at Sasuke "I was walking back using the road since I figured no one would be headed this way anyway. Well, I was wrong. As I was walking back I had to split up a fight."
Sasuke raised a brow at this, along with the others. "A pair of girls. Blonde and pink-haired. Both had a present box with them. They ended up squabbling on the road, nothing too serious, but still. So I pulled them apart and asked what the hell they were doing. Turns out they were going to deliver their 'feel better presents' to their friend. Anyone have any guesses over who they were delivering to?" he snorted.
The youngest in the room moved his hands to his temple. Ino and Sakura. Fucking great. Damn fangirls must have finally caught wind of the massacre after all the rumors started to spread about Hashirama, Madara, and Itachi. He had been lucky enough that most of his peers had no idea about when it happened, besides Neji or Shikamaru since they were all only children at the time and didn't have conversations with the adults who would have known. They had only really known that it had happened sometime during the year. That and the ANBU did their best to keep it quiet. Now that the fangirls knew, he had a feeling he was going to wish Itachi had ended him that night too.
Hashirama was holding in laughter, while Itachi repressed a smile. Hashirama likely jabbed Sasuke's side "Feel better present. You didn't tell us you had such hardcore fangirls. I know the Uchiha men are popular but damn." he joked. Sasuke lightly smacked his hand away in his annoyance, looking away and puffing out a single cheek as he did so. He made a small scoffing noise at the news, deciding not to give it any acknowledgment.
Madara chuckled lightly and came behind Sasuke, lightly squeezing the younger Uchiha's side as he used to do to his little brother. Sasuke let out a noise that sounds somewhere between a squeak and a growl. "Looks like theirs hope to revive the Uchiha clan yet." he smirked "You're the perfect example of an Uchiha. Smart, handsome, and strong. What lady wouldn't want a piece of that." he teased lightly, much to the younger's humiliation.
Giving no response to that, Sasuke only glared back at the older while protectively holding his sides to prevent a further assault on them. He felt the heat rising to his face, from both the ego fluff and the idea of him going out with any of those girls. They were all just brainless vermin in his mind. More than one had no goals in life besides marrying and have children with Sasuke to become 'Mrs. Uchiha'. While many men would enjoy being given all their attention and having girls throw themselves at them, Sasuke did not. He found it to be weak, feeling a person should live their life for them and them alone.
Sasuke finally spoke "I would rather the clan go extinct than be with any of those girls." he snorted, knowing they would also treat him like a trophy if they got him. "Not to mention if any children did come of it the clan would recede into stupidity. I don't have enough smarts for the both of us," he grumbled the last part, though the others heard and seemed to find it amusing enough.
Madara chuckled lightly and gave him a rough pat on the back before finally, he let it go, much to Sasuke's relief. Hashirama put his hands together. "So then, let's start heading out after we pack a few things. I and Madara will handle food. Sasuke, get the basic medical supplies just in case and Itachi go look for a blanket we can all sit on so we don't get the food dirty." he assigned each person, before standing. The two younger ones nodded, Sasuke getting a bag for the medical supplies and Itachi going upstairs to get the spare ones out of his closet.
The two older ninjas quickly made a few sandwiches and packed some waters, then threw in a few ice pops in the cooled area of the box where ice packs resided. They knew Sasuke wasn't one for sweets, so they made sure to pack a few of the fruit-flavored pops too. Soon enough the other's came down, and they were off. They walked down towards the route, the walk taking about fifteen or so minutes. Unfortunately, as they got close, they could see a certain blonde ninja stomping towards them.
Sasuke let out a long quiet breath, so much for relaxing on his day off. The hyperactive ninja sprinted over to Sasuke, lifting his hand to point accusingly at him. They all stopped, excluding Sasuke who continued walking down the road. Maybe if he ignored him he would go away. "Hey bastard, don't ignore me!" came the demand. Or not. Sasuke turned around as no one else had continued on, eyebrow twitching slightly in annoyance at his team member.
Itachi seemed amused as Sasuke spoke with a completely different tone than he used at the house, rather than calm and quiet his voice was smooth and annoyed, though, also rough. "What the hell do you want, idiot?" he finally addressed him. Madara raised a brow in amusement. He noticed he rarely heard Sasuke cursing or annoyed besides when interacting with this 'Naruto' boy.
A growl escaped Naruto's throat "You made Sakura cry! She was sitting alone at the market center holding a present and was upset. I know you did it to her, you probably rejected her like the heartless bastard you are! I told you to stop being such a hardass, she's our teammate now so you have to be nice to her." he spoke firmly and with one of his rarely serious voices.
"I don't have to be nice just because she's on my team. It's my job to cooperate with her to finish missions and get the village money. Not to lead her on or pretend to like her. She's annoying. And I don't give a damn about what you told me, I don't take orders from morons. Now go away, I'm busy." he snorted.
Naruto gaped for a moment "Busy doing what? It just looked like you were walking to me, you son of a-" being cut off by a light jab on the back of the neck. He growled and moved his hands on reflex to cover the spot, swinging around to glare at the man who had done it. Madara raised a brow as Naruto glared daggers at him, glaring back at him in response.
"Watch your mouth, kid. He's going somewhere with us, and there is none of your business before you ask. He did not make this girl cry, he was at the house all morning. I made her cry most likely by sending her on her way so she didn't harass Sasuke with that other girl. They have no right to barge onto his property and demand his affection. So unless you want to fight me, I would get lost." he warned. Back at the house, he had teased Sasuke of course, but he also was prepared to have his descendants back if necessary. He was sure the kid was only being rash, but none the less he figured it would shut him up.
He was wrong. Naruto gave a wound up look and practically bounced up "Fine then, let's go, I don't care who you are. You don't know Sakura so you don't have a right to say she was in the wrong." he demanded, going into a fighting stance. He was quickly knocked out of it by Sasuke, who used his knuckle to knock him over the head with an annoyed look on his face. He sent Naruto a warning look, one that the blonde knew all too well. Naruto grabbed his head and spun around to look at Sasuke "What do you think you're doing? Hey, don't send me that look, this situation is nothing like the others. I know you always say not to misspeak of the dead, but obviously he's plenty alive." he snorted and flailed his arms over towards Madara and Hashirama.
Itachi moved his hand up to rest on his temple, the younger teen reminding him somewhat of Tobi and his yelling at the moment. Sasuke muttered "That isn't my point, Naruto. Putting graffiti on the Hokage monument is one thing but it's a whole other thing too-" but stopped speaking as he saw Madara raise a brow in disbelief, Hashirama's jaw drop, and Itachi shakes his head in disbelief.
Hashirama stared at the kid for a moment "Why would you graffiti the monument, us Hokage's worked hard on this village. Don't you think we deserve to at least not be defaced-" even Madara seemed to agree with him on that point. If the clan's leader temple was burned or defaced he had no idea how he'd react. Itachi sighed a bit, a disappointed look on his face. This was the upcoming ninja generation.
Moving a hand to rest on his side, Naruto pointed a finger accusingly at Hashirama "It doesn't matter, because I'm going to be a better Hokage than any of them! Believe it!" he declared. Hashirama rose a brow at this. Well, when you hear your monument has been defaced you wouldn't guess it was because the one who did it wanted to be in your place. Sasuke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in annoyance, and it was obvious to the three older ninjas he had heard this speech plenty already.
The first Hokage sighed shook his head with a light smile that surprised the others. He was probably the only Hokage besides the fourth who would let it go so fast. Hashirama moved to tussle Naruto's hair, much to the boy's aggravation and confusion. "Well, maybe one day. You seem honest enough for it, and you definitely don't lack the bravery." Sasuke coughed out 'stupidity', leading Naruto to glare at him. Ignoring this, Hashirama offered "Here, Sasuke's been busy training the last month or so. I doubt you two have seen much of each other. Why don't you join us at our picnic."
Eventually, Naruto agreed, moving up beside Sasuke and saying he missed his bastard. Itachi sweatdropped, walking behind Naruto and Sasuke with Hashirama and Madara. "Well, their friendship is interesting, to say the least." Hashirama nodding a bit in agreement. It was similar to how Madara and his friendship had been, really.
Sasuke turned around as he heard his brother, sending him a pointed glare as they arrived. They headed down a longer path and Naruto pointed out "Hey, isn't this where sensei was teaching you that Chidori thing?" Sasuke nodded a bit as he realized this. Kakashi and he had ended up training here since Sasuke had insisted he stay close to the village. Originally, the man had wanted to train at the top of a mountain, for some reason. Edgy ass.
They continued walking and quickly Hashirama saw what Madara meant by 'it has been used'. A few trees had been knocked over, while others appeared to have burn marks on the bark. There were also a few stray marks around the area, which he recognized as chakra burns. Obviously, some intense chakra training had gone on. The biggest, however, was the large hole in the bolder, which was large enough for three grown men to sit in it. What was interesting though, was the fact it looked to be made with one strike. Hashirama looked at Madara "He destroyed our bolder." he pouted lightly.
They two had used to argue back and forth all the time over who the bolder belonged to, Madara claiming it was on his side of the river while Hashirama demanding it had fallen off his side's mountain. That was back when they were young, however, being ten or so at the time. Sasuke rolled his eyes "For one, Kakashi did that. For two, that hole it way more useful like that."
Naruto gave him a doubting look, and Sasuke rolled his eyes. He went over to the bolder and easily crawled into it, a lot of rooms being left still. He pointed out "See, a great spot for meditation when it rains and we can't train fully." he explained. Madara chuckled and headed over, sticking his hand in bolder with a nod in understanding. Soon enough Itachi moved to get the blanket ready and the adults helped set the basket down on it.
Meanwhile, Naruto crawled in the bolder to sit with Sasuke, the two talking back and forth about training. Since they sat up the picnic so close to the bolder, they could easily hear him speaking. Itachi passed them both a sandwich as they spoke, both thanking him before continuing their respective conversations. After it quieted down Itachi couldn't resist the interest and pointed out "So Naruto, I heard you're being trained by one of the three sannin. I'm surprised someone convinced him to train you. He's not one to stay in one spot for a long time."
This only earned him an annoyed look from Naruto. "That old pervert isn't teaching me anything besides how to sneak into the girl's washroom." crossing his arms in aggravation "All he ever tells me is to meditate and work on controlling the chakra while he does 'research'. Then when I point out what a crappy teacher he is he just tells me to shut up or he'll go see if Sasuke wants to train with him. That's a low blow and he knows it."
Sasuke pointed out "Well chakra control is sort of important for you. You don't want to end up letting it take over. Last time it almost killed Sakura." he reminded as gently as he could. He had already told Madara and Hashirama about the ninetails and his brother had been around during the attack so he knew. Sasuke and Sakura had found out the hard way when they were training for the first time and Sakura had made a jab at the fact he was so reckless due to his lack of parents to punish him once again. This had pissed off both Sasuke and Naruto, Kakashi even giving her the warning to behave.
Not long after she had made a harsher jab while Sasuke was with Kakashi having his leg looked at. Which had resulted in Naruto attacking, the ninetails unintentionally coming out because of emotional distress. Kakashi had been forced to explain everything to the two, and after that Sakura had kept her comments to herself and became more considerate of her words.
Naruto huffed and nodded "I know, I know." before something clicked in his head. "Oh yeah, Sasuke remember that sand ninja we met who helped pull that puppet guy away from the kids? He's training with us too. Gaara. He has the Shukaku in him. He didn't want to be training with us at first but he's really chilled out since the beginning. It turns out his seal was really weak and that's why the demon kept coming out. It still does, but he can better restrain it now. Pervy sage had to have him lay stomach-down on a bolder while he tried to strengthen the seal on his back." he explained.
The older three ninjas were interested, not knowing much of the Shukaku. "He had trouble at first because Gaara's sand kept moving to cover his back wherever sage tried to touch. So then he got annoyed and asked why he kept trying to shield himself and we found out what was going on with the sand." he explained "He doesn't control it on his own, apparently his father sealed the demon in him while he was still in his mother so the demon infused with him and her. He told us his mother died in childbirth and the sand has her spirit. So then we had to wait a bit before his mother trusted him and finally she let him put the seal on him. The sealing hurt I guess because Gaara screamed and pervy sage got his hand crushed by the sand after the fact."
Sasuke nodded slightly "That's interesting that the sand that protects him is his mother. Maybe now he'll be able to get some sleep. I met him at the medication shop when I was going to pick up my medication and he was there too. We ended up speaking for a while as we waited on our bags to be made and he told me he was there because he needed his medication for his insomnia. Apparently, he can't sleep much because the Shukaku comes out a night." he explained. That was just a snippet of a long conversation involving Gaara pointing out he could see he held a lot of pain in him. Sasuke had said it was none of his business and they had ended up somehow speaking about what had caused them to go down their respective roads. It was an interesting topic at least. Though they didn't go far into the demon discussion nor too deep into the clan's death discussion.
Naruto nodded "He's pretty cool to be around, especially now that his demon has been sealed off. Apparently, the one who sealed me did it to well and he had to loosen it so I could control it. Pervy sage said it was his old student who sealed it inside me. The fourth Hokage." huffing a bit "He said that's why he agreed to train me" glancing at Itachi as that was his original question before he got off track "He said I look a lot like the fourth and that's the reason he took me on as a student. But since he also ended up training Gaara under the request of the Kazekage, I figure it also has something to do with the demons." he suggested.
Itachi nodded in understanding- the boy did look like Lord Fourth. Hashirama smiled at the boy "My wife was the first one to control the ninetails. Mito Uzumaki was her name. She always used to say the only way to counter the ninetails was with love." he smiled thinly at the memory. "When did you have it sealed in you? I know my wife wasn't sealed until she was much older than you are now. I'm surprised the other boy, Gaara, was sealed in the womb. It must have put a lot of strain on the poor mother." his eyes saddened slightly.
In fact, the sealing was probably the reason the mother died would be Hashirama's guess. The blonde shrugged "I've been the cage for the tailed beast since I was born. I don't know the details but I had been born a few hours. The nailtails was attacking the village and I guess I was the best option for a vessel. My guess is Gaara was also a convenient vessel." he shrugged.
Madara and Hashirama both shared glances. They both also similar opinions on this as well. That it was terrible the village would put this strain on children, let alone a newborn baby. But there was one thing that the two were really wondering about. Who in the hell were Naruto's parents? Surely they wouldn't just give up their baby to have a demon sealed in him. They knew they were either dead or abandoned him since Sasuke had mentioned he was an orphan too. Hashirama attempted to ask their question without doing it in a way that would hurt the boy. "I see. Your parents must be proud you're holding up so well. It isn't easy being a vessel."
Itachi and Sasuke both grimaced at that, and they knew what that meant. "Maybe. Don't know much about them besides one of them was an Uzumaki. Just like your wife then." he smiled rubbing the back of his neck despite the circumstances. He turned to look at Sasuke and laughed "I remember once Sakura tried to take a jab at that topic and Sasuke lost his shit." he smirked "Sasuke loves me~" he jokes, dramatically wrapping an arm around his friend.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, shoving Naruto off him and getting out of the bolder. Sasuke went to mock-hide behind Itachi. "Nii-San he keeps assaulting me." Naruto pouting as the other left. Naruto, in one swift jump, came down so he was sitting beside Sasuke. He looked over at the other teen with a doubting look, Sasuke stubbornly huffing and taking one of the ice pops to eat that Madara handed him.
Madara inquired, changing the subject for Sasuke's sake, "So I hear you'll be participating in the chuunin exams with Sasuke. It's only a week away, I hope you're prepared. Its like Itachi has been telling Sasuke. There is ninja there who have been going since they were your age. You'll be the easy pickings for once." he smirked. The blonde only gave a snort, obviously not believing this.
They all continued on chattering about something or another until it became dark. They then headed off, going their different ways. As they parted Hashirama waved to Naruto, who was going in the opposite direction. "See you around, kid." he waved. They soon headed back, Sasuke tired from the day's events. He was relaxed, not having thought about the upcoming week of hell at all. Being around Naruto was a strange sort of stress relief, even if the moron did get on his nerves a lot of the time.
Sasuke headed into the kitchen when they got home, making everyone some dinner right quick. Madara ended up heading upstairs to take a shower, Hashirama looking for something to watch on the television, and Itachi heading over to help Sasuke. Kisame hadn't shown up today as he knew the week coming up as well. He knew because every year despite Itachi's best efforts he was more snappish than usual all that week. So he had learned to leave him alone during this time.
Sasuke soon finished making dinner and they all sat down once Madara was downstairs. It was odd seeing his hair without its usual fluff, but Sasuke didn't say this out loud. Instead, they all enjoyed a nice, calm, dinner.