~~~~Naruto's Pov~~~
I sighed, putting Kakashi-sensei in his room and letting Tsunami tend to him. Sasuke was waiting outside the room, leaning against the wall. I raised an blonde eyebrow in question but instead he shook his head and proceeded downstairs. Following him silently, he lead me into the forest, away from the house. "What is it you need, teme?" I asked, he turned around to face me.
"I know we've already talked about this but we haven't gone into much detail..."
I sat down onto the grass and lent my back against the bark of the tree "I guess this is about Zabuza and Haku and how we should deal with the situation at hand?" I questioned, going into my Hokage mode as he followed me and sat down also nodding. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about that also" I mused.
"What should we do then?"
"I think it may be best to let things run it's course, at least for now" I said gravely before explaining "Our past it what makes us who we are now and I believe Sakura needs this to happen in order to grow. We cannot change everything."
"I was thinking that as well. Even if we wanted to save them, we could not give them a home or invite them into the village without exposing who we really are." he agreed sadly. It really isn't something I want to do, Haku and Zabuza would've been really good allies. If only they could come back alive after dying... That way both Sakura and the others would get what they need. Sasuke looked at me in confusion, seeing my in deep thought before I suddenly shouted in glee.
"Wait, how about we make it look like they've died!"
"...Look like?" he repeated confused.
"With our sage healing we should be able to save them or at least stage their deaths. They will be a valuable ally in the future. Save them and then they owe us right? Plus Sakura gets the experience she needs."
Sasuke smiled softly "It's a win, win. That's more like you, dobe." he muttered.
I fistpumped the air "Then it's decided teme, believe it!"
"What about the other times that things go wrong?" Sasuke inquired and I waved him off while getting up off the floor.
"We'll wing it" I said uncaringly walking back to the house missing him sigh tiredly and mutter under his breath.
Walking in the house with Sasuke, I noticed no one was on the first floor. "Is kakashi-sensei up already?" I wondered out loud and figured it was easier to look and find out myself. Strolling up the stairs, I opened the door that was Kakashi's room for the time being. Sakura, Tazuna and Tsunami shared a shocked expression as we walked in but I don't think it was because of our sudden appearance.
"What happened?" asked Sasuke for me.
Sakura looked at us, still in shock "Zabuza's alive!" she exclaimed.
I made an 'oh' expression with my month before saying "That all?"
This time Kakashi joined in with the shocked/confused looks on the people's faces. Which let me tell you, it was a very funny thing to see "You knew?" he asked.
Sasuke shrugged "The weapon used and the way the hunter-nin 'disposed' of Zabuza was... questionable" explained Sasuke.
"Why didn't you tell us before the hunter-nin went away with Zabuza?!" questioned Kakashi with a narrowed eye towards us, not bothering to cover up his mistrust towards us.
I scowled at him, showing my displeasure "We didn't because you were out cold and we also didn't know the Hunter-nin's abilities. Attacking him could have caused our deaths and like you said our mission is to protect Tazuna NOT to fight" I said coldly, which surprised the team and Tazuna's family. I opened the room door once again and made my way out to the forest in order clear my thoughts.
~~~~Sasuke's Pov~~~~
I sighed as I watched the dope stormed out of the room and hear the front door slam. The silence soon became uncomfortable as Tsunami and Sakura said something about making dinner and walked out of the room to get away from the awkward silence. Tazuna soon walked out also, following his daughter's lead.
I turned towards Kakashi as we were now alone and saw he was still looking at the bedroom door with confusion/shock "Sorry about that, but it was your fault" I said not really sounding sorry with a sigh. It was his fault. Out of all the people to mistrust Naruto was the last person to betray anyone. In fact it had probably never entered his head.
He turned to me "What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Naruto's been stunned his entire life and yet even when he decided to trust you, you questioned his motives. You questioned his trust. The dobe may seem care free but he doesn't trust people as easily as he lets on." I explained vaguely. I saw the realisation dawn on him "Lucky for you, Naruto never holds grudges. It's sort of inhumane how much he can forgive people, I doubt he even knows know to hate. He'll be back by the end of the day" I commented.
He relaxed slightly in relief and turned to me, curiosity shining in his single eye "You and Naruto seem to be close yet from your reports I got from the Hokage you couldn't stand being in each other's presence at the academy"
"Hn" I answered and watched in amusement as Kakashi actually looked angry before regained his lazy demeanor. I suppose I've got to tell him something. I can't expect him to trust us and yet know nothing about us. "He saved me... I suppose" I said, looking out of the window with a far away look after a long silence filled the room. "Thing is though, no matter how many times he saves someone... he never let's anyone save him." I continued before getting up and walking out of the room before he could ask any more questions.
~~~~~Kakashi's Pov~~~~~
I watched as Sasuke got up and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind him to let me think about what he said. Makes me wonder though, what has Naruto saved Sasuke from? I suppose I got one question answered but that's left me with more than I began. Maybe I should have just left it for the time being? Perhaps I should ask the Hokage to look into their memories. However that could make matters worse, and like Sasuke said, I should probably gain their trust first. I should also say sorry to Naruto, I had no reason to jump to conclusions like that but it's surprising he thought it through like that. On the outside he seems so... what's the right word... Idiotic? He is Sensei's son however, so maybe he inherited some of his intelligence rather than just his looks and Kushina-nee's personality. I wonder what I should train them on tomorrow... Tree climbing maybe? Yeah, I'll do that. They need to improve their Chakra if they going to get better but first... sleep.
~~~
I woke up to the sound of my door opening and closing, sensing their chakra I noticed it was Naruto's and so I opened my unscarred eye. I looked at him curiously before sitting up "Hey, Sensei." he greeted happily before sitting down. He stretched his neck nervously and chuckled slightly with a grin on his face "I'm sorry for getting all emotional earlier. It wasn't your fault and I'm sorry for taking my stress out on you, believe it!" he exclaimed at the end though his words still sounded mature for his age, it was like he said 'believe it' to mask that maturity in his voice. Or perhaps he just wanted to say 'believe it' I could never tell with Uzumakis' they all have a verbal tic.
I shook my head "No it was my fault. I shouldn't judge you like that for no reason or evidence." i admitted with a closed eye smile.
He beamed with happiness "Well that went better than I thought!" he shouted loudly.
"Hey Naruto" I called out to him over his loud voice and got him to paid attention to me "Can I ask you something?" I asked.
"You just did, but go on" he laughed warmly.
"I talked to Sasuke and he said the reason why you guys are so close is because you 'saved' him." I said, adding air quotes "What did you save him from?" Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, suddenly sounding tired and worn out. He opened his eyes once more to look at me. His blue eyes were swimming with so much loss, sadness and regret beyond even my own, it frightened me. No one at his age should hold those eyes, what has he lived through?
But before I could look further into those dull dark and lifeless blue eyes, they disappeared into the happier sky blue eyes and he responded "I stopped him from making a big mistake in his life. However he still regrets it and so he believes he owes me and wants to stay by my side to repay me, no matter how many times I tell him that it's fine. That he can live his own life and be unburdened by the past, he still stays by me. I swear he's more stubborn than me sometimes. Though I suppose I glad that he's always there for me." he explained with a laugh to lighten the mood. they definitely did sound close, though I noticed how he never actually said what mistake or mistakes he made. Something tells me I won't be able to find out what mistake though. It seems like a well kept secret that is meant to stay behind closed doors.
I nodded in understanding, and he gained a big grin once more. "How did you know about Zabuza's past?" I inquired before the blonde genin could leave. He gained a contemplating look before settling with a smile on his face "As I kid I was hated and so I was forced to live by my own skills. A lot of the times I was kicked out of the orphanage that I lived in and so had to live on the streets until they were willing to take me back. During this time, I tended to hear a lot gossip from the local ninja around the area while they were drinking or something like that anyway." he explained. I felt my eyes widen to the point that I nearly opened my sharingan eye before calming down. I knew that he wasn't exactly liked but still... To kick a small boy out of the only home he has...
Naruto grinned at me warmly and got up before walking to the room door. As he lifted his hand to open the door, he turned around to face me and it looked like he was thinking about something "Hey, sensei?" he called and i raised an eyebrow.
"What is it, Naruto?" I asked back, snapping out of my thoughts for the time being.
"You know it isn't good to lock away emotions and hide them, it will only come back to haunt you. I should know." He replied in a dead serious voice and with that he left. I blinked in shock, that boy is strange...
~~~~
Sorry for the long wait. To make up for it I'll publish two more chapters today.