Wakashudo

Shikamaru refused to answer any of Naruto's questions until he assembled the entire team, he said, “It would be troublesome to answer the same questions again.” Instead, he peppered Naruto with questions about Konohamaru. At first, the blonde thought that he might suspect something, but as it turned out Asuma had been using his genin team for babysitting duty while he was gone. They arrived at Chouji’s before Naruto could get any details and their recruiting began.

Soon, they had gathered a squad of five or six depending on how you looked at it. Shikamaru, the only chunin, started the briefing. “As you know, Sasuke Uchiha either left the village or was taken by force last night.”

“Yeah, what exactly happened,” Kiba asked and Akamaru yelped, seconding the question.

“Sasuke had been hospitalized after over exerting himself in training,” Shikamaru answered. “The entire floor of the hospital he was on was put to sleep by a genjutsu. His room looks as if there had been a struggle, but we simply don't know what exactly happened.”

“He couldn't put up a fight. He wasn't allowed to use his chakra,” Naruto said in his defense, not liking what Shikamaru had implied.

“Well, no matter what, Sasuke is a fellow Leaf ninja and our mission is to bring him back. We don't know how large the group is that has taken him. Still, he's a comrade. Now, everyone take your positions and move out.”

The Sasuke retrieval team departed in the early morning hours. They caught up with their quarry a few hours later and both teams were forced to leave behind one of their members. That set the pattern. They would catch up to the team from Sound, and again, they would have to leave a member behind.

When night fell, Naruto suggested an attack to Shikamaru, but even after explaining about his ability to receive clones memories, the Chunin still rated it as too risky. The blonde fell back and waited for dawn to attack. When the time came, they came heartbreakingly close to success. They had Sasuke. Shikamaru's plan had worked. Naruto could feel his weight in the barrel, but then tragedy struck.

First, Kiba and Akamaru were blown over the cliff. Before Naruto could really register what had just happened a figure landed silently on the barrel behind him and snatched Sasuke away. The pale teen had snuck up on them silently like a ghost. With victory so close at hand, he didn't think and attacked. The lone female made him pay for his spur of the moment action with a punch to the jaw that sent him reeling.

Shikamaru caught him and told him to calm down. As the pale teen withdrew with Sasuke, the Chunin told him his plan. Naruto instantly liked it as it had him going after the fleeing enemy and it relied on trickery. Once put into action, it went off without a hitch and really, who used a musical instrument as a weapon? Shikamaru would be fine, he was sure of it, but if he didn't catch up with this guy Sasuke wouldn't be.

As Naruto chased him down he could feel the Kyuubi’s power start to flow through him, but instinctively he held it back. That became incredibly difficult as his opponent stopped in a grassy field and spoke about Orochimaru. He heard the respect in the words as the man spoke and it angered him. Worse was the way he referenced Sasuke as if he was just a piece of meat.

His anger allowed him to create a hundred clones, but even a mass shuriken attack did nothing. The man simply swatted them away with those bone swords of his. It angered him. Then, a thought pushed its way through his anger. It was the part of his mind that had been developed by creating training games for the Konohamaru core.

When he created those games he had two goals in mind, to train and have fun, but one of those was more important. He wanted to defeat this person for so many reasons. However, it was more important to rescue Sasuke and he would sacrifice defeating this bastard to rescue him. The plan he formed was simple and he put it into effect immediately.

First, he ordered his clones to attack in rapid succession, but one at a time. While he was temporarily distracted by cutting down the clones and as his vision was obscured by the smoke of their destruction, three other clones made their move. The first picked up the barrel Sasuke was in and darted into the woods as another transformed itself into the barrel and was placed right where the original had been.

The action was done swiftly and it seemed to have gone unnoticed. That was when Naruto initiated stage two. Summoning all the chakra he could, he created as many clones as possible. This time a larger group attacked the pale faced teen and the original Naruto slipped into the woods unnoticed. The clone that had escaped with the real Sasuke traveled for about a mile before setting him down and destroying himself.

The original Naruto received the exact location and beelined toward it. Once he had the barrel in his hands, his only goal was to get back home. His opponent was left with a field full of clones to destroy and the blonde tried to receive their memories. At first he seemed content to only destroy them when they attacked him, but soon he started to cut them down like a sickle through wheat.

Maybe it was the distance or just the amount of memory he was receiving, but the hyperactive ninja was starting to feel as if his head was spinning. He was wholly unprepared for the green blur that darted in front of him and then collided, sending both of them reeling.

Naruto rubbed his head as he sat up looking over at who he collided with, “Bushy Brows?”

The spandex wearing Genin jumped to his feet and shouted, “Naruto, I've come to assist you in your noble mission.”

Despite the situation, for a moment, he was happy to see Lee fully recovered and back to, what was for him, his normal self. Then, he remembered how fast his opponent he had left back in the field was cutting through his clones. “Are you really better? Can you run? Are you wearing your weights?” The older ninja nodded and Naruto ran over to where Sasuke’s barrel had fallen on its side and righted it. He felt the weight shift inside and he hoped the barrel wasn't upside down. Even if Sasuke was sleeping, he would have a killer headache if he had been upside down the entire time.

“Drop your weights and take this back to Konoha, Sasuke is inside.”

“But,” Lee hesitated for a second before reaching down and pulling off his weights. Being this close, when they hit the ground it felt like a small earthquake. He picked up the barrel but before he left he asked, “You're not coming?”

Naruto was unable to hold back a grin as he shook his head and formed a familiar hand sign. In a puff of smoke, seven more Naruto's appeared and half of them immediately transformed into identical barrels, “I'm going to be a diversion.”

The green clad Genin looked at him for a second and then he smiled as widely as Naruto and gave him a thumbs-up. “Naruto, your youthful energy is a shining beacon to others.”

“Thanks, I think.” he quietly added.

Lee turned, and with a burst of speed that would be impossible for him, disappeared into the woods. Naruto started after him while his other clones went off in different directions. He hoped that the enemy would be thrown off by the multiple trails, and even if they did pick the right one they would still have to go through him and the blonde had no intention of letting that happen.

His remaining clones were quickly being dispatched and by that time the enemy knew he had been tricked. Naruto had put a lot of distance between him and the field he had first taken Sasuke back in, but was it enough? Time inched by and in the distance he could see a storm approaching. He wondered how far he was away from home and he started to wonder about the other members of the team. None of them had ever been able to catch up, but neither had the enemy.

As he was leaping to the next branch, something shot past him and pain shot up from his leg. The Genin crashed to the ground and he heard something snap and felt pain shoot from his wrist. His clone, still disguised as a barrel, hit the ground next to him and rolled away. Grabbing his broken wrist, he tried to hold it still and glanced down at his thigh. Blood poured from a deep wound. Letting go of his wrist he tried to staunch the flow of blood and glanced up at his enemy.

The Sound ninja stared down at him, but he had changed. His skin was darker and bones protruded from his back. He had a tail and one of his arms was covered in a spiraled bone covering that had Naruto's blood on it. “It seems I found the real one.” From his perch, he looked down upon him, “You're smarter than I first gave you credit for, but you'll bleed out soon.”

Naruto clenched his teeth at the man's words more than the pain. The blood flowing from between his fingers was slowing and he hoped that was from the Kyuubi healing him and not just because he was running out of blood. This was not good. With his wrist broken he wasn't sure if he could do hand signs, and unless the Fur Ball picked up the healing he wasn't going to be standing anytime soon. Oddly though, even as he realized this, it didn't worry him as much as he knew it should. Maybe it was the blood loss.

Without another word, the man jumped down from the branch, landing next to the barrel. For a second, Naruto thought the man would take it and be off. That would be great because it would be the best prank ever. For a second, the teen stood over the barrel and then brought his spear arm down to destroy the clone.

“You handed him off to one of your clones. That's unexpected, but I will not fail Lord Orochimaru. When I kill you your clones will be destroyed.”

Death came towards Naruto, but that was not what he had his eyes on. There was sand swirling behind his opponent. At first, it had just been a small cloud, hardly noticeable. Now, it reached out and grabbed the others legs. The teen tried to spin around and swatted the sand with his bone spear. As he attempted to turn, the sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air. Kakashi darted out from seemingly nowhere, thrusting a chidori through the teen's chest. Naruto’s last thought, before he lost consciousness, was "What a strange hallucination."


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The all-too-familiar smell of antiseptic filled Naruto’s nose as he returned to consciousness. He was in the hospital, again. His eyes cracked open and there was the paneled ceiling he remembered from his last visit.

“Naruto, you're awake. How are you feeling?”

The blonde turned his head towards the voice of Sakura. His teammate was sitting in a chair next to his bed. The sight of her made him forget about his broken wrist and he tried to sit up before wincing with pain.

“Don't move, your wrist is broken and you lost a lot of blood.”

“What happened? Is Sasuke okay? What about everyone else?”

Her expression fell for a second, but she recovered quickly. “Chouji and Neji are in serious condition, but are expected to make it. Kiba and Akamaru were hurt, but not seriously. Shikamaru wasn't really hurt.”

The longer she went without saying anything about Sasuke the more nervous Naruto became, “What about Sasuke?”

“We don't know yet,” she smiled and said with false confidence even Naruto could see through, “Tsunade herself is working on him and she is the best Medical-nin Konoha has ever produced.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two of them and Naruto tried to remember what he last saw. For a second, it almost seemed as if Gaara and his sensei had been working together. That didn't make much sense to him though, since Gaara was in another country. Something must have happened though, but at the moment he was too tired to care.

The door to his room swung open and Kakashi stepped in. Even with only his single eye exposed, Naruto could tell something was wrong. “I'm sorry Naruto. When I ran into Lee and he told me what you were doing, I thought Gaara and I should shadow you and intercept the enemy when he tried to attack. We were too slow though.”

Naruto gave him a genuine grin, “It’s okay and the mission was a success, right?”

For the first time since Naruto had known him, Kakashi looked down. “Sensei, is Sasuke.” Sakura broke off as he looked up.

“Sasuke Uchiha,” he paused, “Died several hours ago, from an overexertion of his chakra system. He seemed to have been given something to enhance his chakra system, but he was exhausted and his body could not handle it.”He looked up at them, “I'm sorry.”

Naruto heard the words, but at first they didn't seem real. Sasuke dead, that simply wasn't possible. He heard a muffled sob and slowly turned to face Sakura. She had buried her head in her hands and doubled over. After a minute, he reached out with his good hand and placed it on her back, trying to comfort her, even as he tried to accept it.


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The funeral was held the next day in the afternoon and Naruto was released from the hospital so that he could attend. For only the second time, he put on his funeral clothes and for the first time he headed to the cemetery. The funeral was large, but he hardly recognized anyone. Besides himself, Shikamaru and Lee were the only member of the retrieval team that could attend. The team leader said something to Naruto, but the blonde immediately forgot it.

Naruto didn't remember much of anything from the funeral itself. A lot of people had come to mourn the passing of the last Uchiha, and even given this atmosphere, a few rumors started to go around that it may have been an attempted defection. Fortunately, the young Genin remained ignorant of the rumors, as his world shrunk to include only himself. He retreated to his apartment after the funeral and collapsed into bed staring up at the ceiling.

Naruto did not remember drifting off to sleep, but the next day he was awoken by the sounds of the village waking up. With his funeral clothes still on, he went to the window and stared down at the people moving about. It seemed wrong. Didn't they know Sasuke was dead? Shouldn't that change something? Shouldn't something be different? It was only then that he accepted the fact, Sasuke Uchiha, his teammate, his rival, his friend, was dead. That realization made him go back to bed and he reminded himself that a ninja couldn't cry. Hours passed and he just stared blankly up at the ceiling.

When a knock came at his door, he was tempted to ignore it. Before leaving the hospital, Tsunade had informed him he had a week of bereavement leave. So it couldn't be a mission. However, something compelled him to get out of bed and open the door. It wasn't just one person at his door, but three.

Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi stood outside of his door. All three were nervous and Naruto forced a sad smile, “Hi guys, I'm sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to play right now.”

He was about to close the door when Konohamaru spoke up, “We wanted to see if you were okay.”

Naruto was about to say he was fine, but as he opened his mouth he saw his black sleeve. Had he not changed? The funeral had been yesterday. Instead of lying, the blonde stepped aside, inviting the three in. They shuffled in wordlessly and kicked off their sandals. It was only at that moment that Naruto realized he was still wearing his sandals from last night.

His apartment really didn't have a place for such a large group to sit, so Konohamaru led them to his bedroom and they sat on the bed in a circle. None of them spoke for a minute and Naruto ended up breaking the silence. “So, how's the Academy?”

“Good.” Moegi answered.

“We're doing the Survival Challenge next week.” Konohamaru added.

“That's nice.” Naruto said mechanically.

There was a moment of silence before Udon added, “I'm kind of scared about it. I never slept anywhere but home.”

“Me either.” Moegi added.

Naruto thought back on his own Survival Challenge. He had been stuck with two kids he didn't remember the names of now, but had been more nervous than scared and had not slept well in the tent. Looking up, his gaze drifted towards Konohamaru and he suddenly realized that his friend was concerned. The Genin thought about how he had been acting. It wasn't right, he was a ninja, and death was part of their trade. What type of example was he setting?

“You three will do fine.” he smiled and added, “I'll ask Iruka if I can be in charge of your team.”

“That would be awesome.” Konohamaru said smiling.

“Let me tell you about my Survival Challenge.” Naruto said. He told them about his uneventful Survival Challenge. That conversation led into other things, and before he knew it, they had to head home for the day. Konohamaru lingered, but even he went home sensing that he was doing better.

Naruto had not forgotten about Sasuke, but before the three had visited him he had been stuck. Now, shaking free, he felt the need to bathe. As he sat soaking in the tub, Sasuke again entered his thoughts, and this time, he felt a flare of anger towards Orochimaru. He promised himself that he would skin that snake. If it hadn't been for him, Sasuke would still be here.

Getting out of the tub and dressed, he was still thinking what he was going to do to the old snake when he stepped into the hallway and realized he wasn't alone in his apartment. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar patch of red and white on his balcony, “Jiraiya.”

The older man turned to face him, his mouth full of noodles and an instant ramen cup in his hand. “I let myself in, didn't think you would mind.”

“Is that my ramen?” Naruto demanded stomping towards him.

“Hey, I've been traveling all day.”

“And you think that gives you the right to my food?” he tried to sound angry, but really wasn't.

Jiraiya's only response was a loud slurp as he finished the cup. Placing the chopsticks inside the empty cup, he leaned back on the railing and looked down at Naruto, his expression serious. “Your teammate, I'm sorry.” Naruto looked down at his feet and said nothing as the Pervy Sage continued, “I'm not sure, if I should tell you this.”

“What?” the blonde demanded when the other didn't continue.

The other man looked into the distance, “I just came back from Orochimaru’s hideout. It was completely destroyed.” he looked back down at Naruto. “From the damage, it looks like Itachi paid him a visit.”

The young teen stared up at him disbelievingly, “What? When?” he stuttered out.

“Probably around the same time your mission was coming to an end.” He paused for a second before saying, “There's more. A few miles away from the site there were some more signs of battle. I'm guessing when Itachi finished off Orochimaru he was ambushed by some Akatsuki members. I can't read the signs of battle there to well, but I'm guessing they finally got him.”

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He didn't understand why Itachi would go to Orochimaru’s hideout, but because he was responsible for Sasuke's death, he didn't really care. As for Sasuke's brother, well he was kind of responsible too.

“The Akatsuki has lost four members now. I'm trying to convince Tsunade to go after them more actively, but I'm not sure if that's possible right now. This brings me to what I really want to talk to you about. The Akatsuki won't be able to come after you for a while. We need to use this time to get you as strong as possible. I want you to come on a training trip with me for a year or two. When we're done you'll be a respectable ninja,” he finished with a grin.

Naruto had been bombarded with information, but all he heard right then was training. “When would we go?”

“I would like to go as soon as possible. Figure a day for goodbyes if you want.”

“All right.” Naruto answered thinking about how strong he could become.

“Well then, till then.” Jiraiya left in a way only a ninja could, by running down the side of the building.

The Genin retreated back into his apartment and made himself dinner thinking about who he had to say goodbye to. The list wasn't long. Kakashi, obviously, he was his team leader and sensei. Then there was Sakura of course and Iruka sensei. That only left Konohamaru and his two friends. At first he thought he could do the three all at once, but as he lied in his bed, he remembered a warmth that was sometimes next to him and he knew he had to tell Konohamaru first.

His alarm clock awoke him early the next day and he headed for Konohamaru's home, hoping he could take him out for early morning breakfast. When he arrived, he found out that the two were just about to eat breakfast, but his little friend preferred ramen over cereal any day. Asuma let him go, but reminded him to take his backpack for the Academy.

Ichiraku had just opened up and the two were their first customers for the day. When Naruto sat on the stool he realized he should probably say goodbye to the old man and his daughter. After all, without him eating there, there would probably be a decrease in their profits, but first he had to tell Konohamaru.

They chatted for a few minutes and his younger friend turned towards him and smiled as he said, “My uncle is going to be gone for three days next week. Maybe you could stay at my place while he's gone.”

The blonde paused with his ramen halfway to his mouth before putting it back in the bowl. “Konohamaru, I'm going on a trip.”

“Oh, well when will you be back?”

Taking a deep breath the teen said, “A year or two.” Naruto wasn't sure what he was expecting, but silence from Konohamaru was not it. He risked a glance over at his friend.

He was just staring at him. Then Konohamaru dropped his chopsticks and turned while jumping off of his stool and ran away, his backpack making a thudding sound with every step. Naruto stood and shouted, “Konohamaru!” For a second he thought about going after him, but then thought better of it. He would catch him when he came out of the Academy today.

Naruto spent the day training in his private area or at least he tried. After getting bashed on the head by four different clones, he decided to work on his target practice. He tried to write off his bad aim to his wrist not being completely healed, but he wasn't even feeling a twinge from it. He kept seeing the hurt expression on Konohamaru's face.

Giving up on training, he ended up waiting outside the Academy for more than twenty minutes before the students were let out. Naruto was not sure what to say to Konohamaru, but he didn't want to leave him like that. When Moegi and Udon stepped out of the gate, he pounced on them before they even noticed him. “Where's Konohamaru?”

The two looked at each other before Moegi said, “Konohamaru was absent today, we thought he was sick.”

Fear gripped Naruto as he suddenly remembered Sasuke, but he shook that off. Konohamaru was more likely pouting someplace then kidnapped. He quickly ran through a list of places he knew Konohamaru went to, but dismissed them all. Konohamaru was angry at him so he wouldn't be over at his apartment and he couldn't have headed home simply because his uncle was there. So where else would he go?

The answer was staring him in the face, or more exactly, staring down at him, the Hokage Monument. He took off with only a, “Thanks,” over his shoulder.

In his haste to check out the only spot he could think Konohamaru would go, he bumped into several people before leaving the streets altogether. Even though he was in a rush, he did have the forethought to be stealthier when he started his climb up the stairs. The last thing Naruto needed was Konohamaru spotting him and running away.

When he saw the boy sitting on his grandfather's head, he was relieved and angry. Naruto's approach went unnoticed until his shadow fell over the smaller boy which caused him to look up.

“Hey.” Konohamaru looked away as if he wasn't there. At a loss of what to do, Naruto sat down next to him. The two were silent until the blonde spoke again, “You skipped today.”

“What do you care.” Konohamaru snapped, standing up and throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

“Come on.” he grabbed for his friend’s shoulder, but was shaken off.

“I don't want to talk to you. Go away!”

“Why are you so upset?” Naruto demanded.

“You said you were going to take us on our Survival Challenge. You lied.” the younger of the two said pulling away.

The blonde stood there shocked for a second, he had forgotten about that. Taking several large steps he stepped in front of Konohamaru. “Listen, I'm sorry. I honestly forgot about that, but I'm sure I can stick around for that.”

The younger boy glared up at him with his eyes full of tears, “You're leaving me. Everybody leaves me. My dad left, my mom, my grandfather and now you. Nobody cares about me.”

For a second, Naruto was angry because he counted Konohamaru among his friends, but then he realized that the first three people he had named had all died. “I'm coming back and you still have your friends.”

“No, that's different. I just, I just want something that doesn't change.”

Naruto would always rely on his gut to make split-second decisions and he wasn't sure what influenced his decision just then. Maybe it was something as simple as Konohamaru crying because of him or the realization that his friend didn't really have much that was stable in his life. He had been pretty much a loner before Naruto had met him and his grandfather, who had been the one person who took care of him, had only died recently. Whatever the reason was when he said, “If you don't want me to go, I won't go,” Konohamaru hugged him and cried.

The next few days were rough on Naruto. Jiraiya wasn't happy about his sudden decision. He kept trying to talk him out of it until the day of the Survival Challenge. That day, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi drew a lot of attention to themselves. As he promised, Naruto was their team leader and because he had been reading Sakura's notes from the Academy, he had a pretty good idea of what to do.

When they were ambushed, the three quickly pulled out their Pudding Pudding Technique, which managed to shock most of the sensei's turned attackers. When they were still stunned at what they were seeing the three attacked with confidence that was unusual for their age. Moegi was the one that impressed everyone though by running up a tree and kicking one of the attackers in the head.

After that, they managed to reach the top of the mountain and made it all the way back down before setting up camp for the night. The exercise was called short because of the weather, but they had left an impression. Naruto had a little explaining to do, but no one could argue with their accomplishments. After that, Jiraiya seemed to understand his decision and cut him a deal. He would train him, but would not take him away from the village more than a few weeks at a time.

Time passed and Naruto did grow stronger, as did the Konohamaru core. When they graduated from the Academy one year early, he made it a point to teach each of them the Rasengan as a graduation present. When what was left of the Akatsuki made its move, it was defeated turn after turn by Naruto. It wouldn't be until several years later, when Iwagakure threatened war, that the Konohamaru core came to prominence. With Naruto providing a distraction, the three penetrated deep into the Land of Earth and raised enough hell that any thoughts of expansion were derailed.

As for Naruto and Konohamaru, they continued their relationship for several years, but like the little white book said. there was a time for that part of their relationship to end. It was not marked on the calendar, but at one point they stopped sharing the others bed.


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15 years later

Naruto walked into a bar, scanning it for the person he had come to meet. Konohamaru was sitting in a corner and waved him over as soon as he saw him. Stopping at the counter to purchase a beer, he headed over to the table and sat down with a casual, “Hey.”

Konohamaru took a sip from his own beer, before putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small box, which he tossed to the older man, “Take a look at this.”

Catching the small felt box, Naruto thumbed it open and whistled, “So, you think she'll say yes.”

“Well according to Udon, who heard it from Hanabi, if I don't ask her soon, she's going to ask me.”

Naruto grinned, thinking that Moegi had already asked him, if in a roundabout way. “At least you know the answer. The first time I asked Sakura to marry me she turned me down,” he paused and took a sip from his beer before adding, “Of course, I think we were about eight at the time.” They both laughed and Naruto gestured towards the beer in his friend's hand, “So if you know the answer, what's up with the liquid courage? You really should ask her sober, you know?”

The younger of the two looked down at the beer in his hand, almost seeming surprised that it was there. “Oh, that's not why. I mean, yeah I'm trying to get the courage to do something, but I'm not asking her tonight.”

“Okay, is there something I can do to help?” Naruto questioned a bit nervous.

“Not here.” Konohamaru answered and then quickly added. “You’ll attend the ceremony, right? I mean, I know it's supposed to only be family, but you’re like family.” Naruto nodded. Traditionally, only family members were supposed to attend the wedding ceremony, but he hadn't had any and had asked Konohamaru to stand in for them for his own.

“You know,” the blonde said with a grin. “Since you're finally getting married, we could time it so we could have kids at the same time. They could grow up together.”

“Yeah,” Konohamaru grinned while adding, “I could convince Udon to have a kid around the same time and then all three of them could even be on a Genin team together.”

“Doesn't Hanabi have more influence over him now than you?”

For a second his friend grinned like the mischievous nine-year-old he used to be, “I happen to know she wants a large family. With Hanabi's help we can quadruple team him.” They both laughed.

Finishing their beers, they left, neither were much for drinking. For a while, they walked the streets side by side in silence. Seeing Konohamaru from the corner of his eye, he suddenly imagined him as the eight-year-old boy he had first met. The honorable grandson had been such a brat at first, but he really couldn't hold it against him.

They had been a lot alike. Back then, most people hadn't seen them for the person they were. He was simply a Jinchuriki and Konohamaru had been the grandson of the leader. People looked at them in the shadows of giants, and really, was it any wonder they had gravitated towards each other? Granted, he had never thought about it like that when he was younger, but at some level he must've known.

Passing by the entrance to the park, Konohamaru pulled him inside and Naruto went unresisting. The park was empty at this hour and they ended up sitting on a bench overlooking a pond. They were silent for a second and Naruto was starting to wonder why his friend was so reticent when he broke the silence.

“I've got a favor to ask of you, but feel free to say no.”

“Anything, you know that Konohamaru.”

“Yeah,” he shifted uncomfortably, “Well about a week ago, Moegi and I were talking. We told each other about our previous relationships. She's had a few boyfriends, and well, I only had two one night stands.” He paused again and added, “I didn't tell her about you though, and the stuff we used to do.”

One of the strongest ninja in history felt his stomach plunge as he realized what his friend was asking, “You want to tell her?” he had phrased it as a question, but he knew the answer.

“Yeah, if she hadn't had asked I wouldn't have thought about it, but I kind of feel like I'm lying to her now.”

“I get it. It's fine with me.”

He stood to leave when Konohamaru grabbed his sleeve. “Naruto, those are happy memories for me, all of them, and Moegi knows you well enough that she won't think anything bad about you or anything. You're still a hero to us after all.”

“Thanks.” as he left he really wasn't concerned how Moegi would react. He only had a single regret from back then. It wasn't Sasuke or the relationship with Konohamaru as a whole. While, officially, Sasuke had been kidnapped, he had little doubt that the kid had gone willingly now. As for the relationship with Konohamaru, in the end, it had all turned out well. The one thing that bothered him though, was the fact that he failed to realize that Konohamaru had harbored a crush on him for years.

If things had been a little different, if he had been a little different, things would be so different now. He loved Konohamaru, but like one loves a brother. If he had been capable of loving someone of the same sex, they would've probably ended up together. It was probably better in the long run that had not happened though. Konohamaru had clan responsibilities to live up to and it would've been even worse if they had broken up over that. Still, he wondered sometimes.