He is my Son

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 4: Might Makes Right

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Chapter 81 – He is my son

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It's been almost a week since the incident of the Chunin Selection Exam Tournament. Despite the current tension at the Kage council, they still worked together to finalize the evaluation of the candidates. The latest disaster and crash of the event has led them to be quite indulgent for the last part, but it only barely makes up for the failing rate of the two first parts.

In total, there were 876 participants, including 183 from Iwa, 174 from Kumo, 168 from Konoha, 126 from Suna, 117 from Kiri, 57 from Ame and 51 from Hikari. Only 295 of them passed to the second part, and only 32 to the last. In the end, only 20 new Chunins were selected worldwide. This makes only 2,3% of success, with the highest rated nation being Ame with 5,3%, and the worst being Hikari with 0%.

From Sunagakure, out of 126 participants at the beginning, only 3 graduated to Chunin. Shinki and Mira Fuhatsu, who won their battle in the third part, pass. But Shakiro Araya, third member of the team, was judged not efficient enough in his battle against Izuna Uchiha and therefore stays a Genin for now. The 3rd to graduate from Suna is Mariona Shirogane, the puppet mistress who had an impressive and confusing fight against Inoue Yamanaka.

Among Kirigakure's 117 genins, only 4 passed. Kaori and Yukiko succeeded this time as well as Jinbei, the man who replaced Takeshi as the third member of the squad. The 4th and last to pass is Teru Uchiha, who efficiently demonstrated his power in the tournament against Yome Horikawa, the Tomegan user of Suna. His two teammates, Mariko Uchida who lost to Shinki, and Mio who gave her place away to him, don't pass.

From Iwa, there's only 2 out of 183 genins to be promoted. These two are Kaza Kamizuru and Genki Shintaro, while their last teammate, Abachi, has been deemed unworthy due to his defeat against Yurui from Kumo. From Amegakure, who had 57 original candidates, the leader chose to promote the 3 who reached the last step regardless of their performances in the tournament. He justifies this by saying he doesn't need an elite as high as other nations'. From these 3, Chinoka Zuka, Haruna Wazuka, and Hibitsuna Katagiri, the last one is who was chosen to join Buto Isshin's personal guard.

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From Kumo, 4 candidates pass. Yukai, who got to win his second round fight of the tournament, obviously graduates. Aoki does too, but Ru doesn't, for the same reason as Shakiro of Suna. Yurui of Team Minaa, who defeated one of the twins from Iwa, is the only one from his squad to pass. The last genin to be promoted is Narui from Team Atsui, who is right now at a meeting with her sensei, her remaining teammate, and the Raikage.

They have to discuss the events of the second round and the graduation of Narui, who contains her excitement as Maroi is quietly pouring tears, mourning for Saeko, whose passing she learned a few days ago. The Raikage is standing before them with a new genin by his side. A green eyed, pale skinned boy with messy long green hair. He shyly looks away, embarrassed by the context of his presence.

"Narui… Even though you lost your match, the council chose to promote you." Atsui says to his student, while handing to her a new flak jacket, the model made for the chunins after the 4th war. "Reports say that your opponent was cheating by getting help from his sovereign through chakra communication. Would it not have been this, you would have won. So he is disqualified, like his whole country, and you pass."

Narui doesn't even thank him. She just gently takes his gift and steps back. In the distance, Yukai, Aoki and Omoi are looking over the scene, also grieving for Saeko, in support of Maroi who's still crushed by the news a week later. She and Narui then stare mistrustfully at the boy who stands next to Darui, which the Raikage notices.

"Girls,… I am deeply sorry for what happened to Saeko. We found her, we identified the culprit, but the rest is not up to us…" he says, before laying a hand on the boy's back to make him step in. "We have to go forward. We don't have a choice. And fortunately, a new transfer ninja from Benitsu Island just joined our village. His name is Kaminari, and he will join Team Atsui as the 3rd member from now on. Please don't hold any unjustified grudge against him, even though I'd understand."

Kaminari scratches the back of his head while sorely looking around at his new teammates and those who observe from a distance. Narui just gently waves to greet him, but Maroi stays sitting, not even looking at him. She's still bothered by Saeko's case.

"Raikage, why did you say the rest is not up to us?" she complains. "If we know who killed her, why can't we take it as a mission to hunt and kill that motherfucker?"

"The murderer is Kawaki from Hikarigakure." Atsui says.

Narui and Maroi look at him surprisingly. Kaminari, turns around, and does the same. The sensei waits for the Raikage to go on, inviting to explain the situation honestly.

"Um… Kawaki, 16 years old. No family, no origin. Only information known is that he is actually the right hand man of Shin no Kuni's ruler. The skills he showed during this exam are nothing close to what he's really capable of. According to Sasuke Uchiha, he is not to be dealt with by anyone that isn't an S rank elite jonin."

Maroi clenches her fists, feeling powerless after this presentation of the one she targets. Kaminari tries to speak and reassure her.

"Running after vengeance would only make you feel worse." he tells her. "He got himself in a messed up situation anyway. This group attacked both Konoha and the land of Wind. Someone like him will quickly become a main target, and he'll have to pay eventually."

Maroi doesn't answer. She feels like getting mad at him for lecturing her, but she knows that he's just trying to comfort her. She wipes off her tears and stands up. Yukai stares at the green haired boy and thinks of who he's talking about. He thinks, to no end, about Kawaki's first friendly behavior, as if they knew each other in a past he forgot.

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At the same time in Konoha, resting at the edge of a window in the Hokage mansion's hallways is Inoue. She stares in silence at the view of the village and thinks of last week. Behind her, a clone of the Hokage comes to stay with her. All enthusiastic, he carries 3 flak jackets in his arms for his newly promoted students.

Konoha, just like Kiri and Kumo, has 4 new chunin, and this includes Naruto's team and Rebekka Tabiki who, besides her fight in the tournament, was praised by Suna's ninjas for her tactics in the survival exercise.

The clone comes and shows the new uniforms to Inoue who reacts doubtfully.

"I'm not gonna wear that!" she says, grumpily.

"Why not?" Naruto answers. "Okay, It's not the most aesthetic thing, but I even wear mine sometimes… Well I got a custom version that fits me more, but to have the same kind of stuff, you gotta wait until you're a Jonin."

Seeing her absence of reaction, and sensing her troubled feelings, he looks through the window and takes a break with her, for a more serious discussion.

"You just became a Chunin on your first try, you should be more cheerful than that." he comments, leaving her a moment to answer, which she doesn't do. "… Looks like you didn't confess to Izuna after all. Why's that?" he asks, attempting to start a conversation.

"I'd rather not. Not anymore." she answers, with a tearful voice. "I'm sure that he wouldn't like me doing this now. He has only one thing on his mind currently. It's that guy he met at the exam." she explains.

"Well, the same goes for Boruto, isn't it?"

"It's not the same. Boruto just sees this Kawaki as a rival. Izuna… Since that happened, it feels like he's always angry, always in pain. I don't find the Izuna I knew in him anymore. He's different."

Naruto doesn't answer and thinks about his student. He closes his eyes and focuses to sense his chakra. He finds him, being discreetly watched over by another of his clones at the Lee clan's dojo.

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There, Izuna is in a friendly Taijutsu match against Metal Lee refereed by Rock Lee, while Sarada and Popi, Metal's little sister, also have a fight refereed by Wakasa Lee.

Izuna strongly focuses his attention on Metal's movements and avoids all his strikes. Sick of it, Lee bursts forth and tries a Dynamic Kick to his opponent's chest, which the Uchiha dodges by gently leaning aside. Doing so, he reminds himself of how Oshio avoided his first strike the same way. Brought to these memories again, he clenches his fist and completely forgets about the simple context of his on-going training.

Taking advantage of this short lack of attention, Metal spins around and hits Izuna's shoulder with his foot, causing him to turn around. Shaken by this light strike, Izuna gets startled, as if he just woke up from a nightmare, and violently punches Lee in the chest, sending him flying through the dojo toward the little girls fighting.

Before he crashes into them, he's caught mid-flight by his father who lands next to his wife and checks on his son's condition. For a moment, Metal found it hard to breathe due to this sudden push, but he's fine now. Just a bit shaken.

"What happened, sensei?" asks Wakasa, calling Lee in such manners despite their 13 years long marriage.

"I got this, no problem." Rock Lee answers before letting Metal go, and goes to Izuna.

Sarada and Popi stop their little amateur fight and look at the dojo master about to lecture a student. Izuna sees Metal's slightly ripped uniform on the chest, and gets lucid.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." he apologizes. "It's just… I just let it go unintentionally."

"Get a hold of yourself, boy." Lee says as he lays his palm on Izuna's head, flattening the boy's hair over his face looking up at him. "I don't know what happened to you, but you have to control your feelings or they'll get in your way. A true youthful mind should leap over such issues and fly free."

Izuna lightly nods in agreement, a bit frustrated by his own behavior.

Naruto looks at the scene through a window and analyzes his preoccupied student. Last time he's seen someone change so quickly after a minor event was when Sasuke met Itachi Uchiha again years after the massacre. He doesn't like this analogy, but that's how it is. He now thinks of the person that this comparison puts in Itachi's place. The pink haired boy, leader of Shin no Kuni. Sasuke better have a good explanation for this.

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Meanwhile, at the Uchiha family home, Naruto, the original one, is waiting with Sakura for the last member of their old team to come and speak. As they expected, a black portal appears and Sasuke steps out of it, wearing a large backpack in his hand. Naruto stands up from the couch and looks at the wanderer who leaves his stuff on the table and stares at them.

"Well, I'm waiting." The Hokage says. "You gotta explain some stuff here."

"What do you want me to explain?" Sasuke answers.

"First, who's this kid?" Naruto insists. "That boy who called Izuna his brother."

Sasuke walks a while through the room and goes to stand in front of his wife, who he stares at right in the eyes.

"I couldn't find any answer about where he comes from." he says to her, answering Naruto's question by the way.

"… I guess the same goes for what you mentioned about Momoshiki Otsutsuki…" Sakura responds, hesitatingly. "You won't find anything more without asking him directly."

Naruto watches the married couple trustfully looking at each other, and finally understands. Sasuke did tell Sakura about what was keeping him away for 5 years, like he promised he would. It's just that none of them told him about it. What held Sasuke away all that time was either fear or shame. It was his own confusion and doubts, related to a meeting that Naruto can't comprehend.

"Wait, so that's the thing? That's the secret?" he asks, confused. "What does it even mean? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because you don't have to be between us in everything." rudely says Sakura who turns around to look at Naruto. "This has nothing to do with you. It's between Sasuke and me."

"Between you two?" the Hokage exclaims, so confused it makes him angry. "Seriously, guys! We had to interrupt the Chunin Exam! A little girl from Kumo is dead. The feudal family of Iwa was attacked, and Gaara's Daimyo was murdered!"

"Why would I care about these landlords?" Sasuke answers as he steps back to the center of the room. "I didn't even know about his plans. I'm not into politics. It's your matter, not mine."

"Yet you showed up this time!" Naruto yells. "Who's this guy? You knew about him, and his crew, and his territory! You know what power he has. You know he may be tied to the Otsutsuki. And all this for 5 years? You even got us his location!… You're the guy who told me that I was too soft and that we could take care of such situations in a blink if we had to. Tell me for real! Why don't you just teleport to Hikari, beat him up and fix the problem, like you'd usually do?"

"Because He Is My Son!" Sasuke yells back, sick of his friend's complaints.

Sakura gasps in shock, and Naruto widely opens his eyes in surprise. She knew it, and he already guessed it, but to hear him say it like that is more powerful than any silent thought they had until now. The reason he didn't take care of Oshio is because he feels an unspoken parental obligation to handle him differently. What is unspoken, however, is the guilt he feels about being responsible for Oshio's hostility.

"… At least he may be." the Uchiha adds after a short silence, to prevent an avalanche of questions from the Hokage. "He hid in Hikari and appeared shortly after we defeated Momoshiki. It has to mean something, but I can't see what. I don't know how he even exists. And I need to find out."

"Momoshiki? What are you talking about? We killed that guy years ago." Naruto keeps complaining. "A kid just doesn't come to reality outta nowhere. Especially not one with the same eyes as you. This guy must be older than Izuna… Are you sure you didn't just have an accident before you got engaged with Sakura?"

"Hey, what the hell are you suggesting there?" Sakura yells, upset by what Naruto may insinuate.

"Stop fooling around. Sakura and I have been engaged since the end of the war." Sasuke explains. "There never was any woman in my life other than her… I kept searching about the celestials these last 5 years, hoping to learn about something that could explain his existence, but there's nothing in my reach. Now, I didn't expect this, but he stopped hiding and will become an enemy to the Shinobi Union. This changes everything about my tasks."

Naruto thinks of the situation, and gets at ease. He actually told the rest of the Kage council that he'll try to handle the situation with Hikari peacefully. If Sasuke is involved and willing to do it this way too, it may be feasible. He calms down, knowing that staying rational is key in such a situation.

"Does this mean you'll stay home for now?" Sakura guesses, judging from the bag on the table and her husband's last sentence.

"I will. I don't have much of a choice. I have to interrupt my investigations on the celestials until we end this with him."

"… You mean the Otsutsuki? Why do you call them the celestials now?" Naruto asks.

"You'll see. I'll leave all my reports about it to your office now." he says as he walks to the exit door. "Sakura, can you please unpack my things while I'm gone?"

"… Sure." she answers.

Before he gets to the door, the Uchiha promptly vanishes. Naruto looks through a window to see Sasuke now walking on a roof nearby, calmly going to the mansion. The Hokage turns around to look at Sakura again, and doesn't speak. He just thinks of how disturbing this situation is, but also, he thinks of how the rest of their family may feel about this. Izuna seems truly troubled by his brother's existence and is not gonna bear unanswered questions for too long.

"Sakura, you think this Oshio is your son too?" he asks a quite complicated question.

"Speaking of sons, what is yours doing there?" Sakura responds, ignoring his question and instead pointing at the window where they can now see Boruto standing in Sasuke's way.

Naruto squints his eyes and carefully looks at the two of them to guess what is happening.

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Sasuke walks a few meters closer to the young Hyuga who stands still to cut his way, and stops. He gazes at him and recognizes the one he saved a week ago by stopping Iwabe Yogu's attack.

"You're Naruto's son, aren't you?" he asks first. "What do you want?"

Boruto takes a step forward, raises his clenched fist and makes a fully serious face.

"Sasuke Uchiha, please teach me!" he simply says, to the wanderer's surprise.

Sasuke stays silent and takes a closer look at the boy. He reminds himself of everything he already knows about him, and responds.

"Aren't you on the same team as Izuna? You don't need any new sensei if you already have the Hokage."

"I knew you'd say that." Boruto answers. "My father's training only brings about the fundamentals to pave my path as a ninja. I don't need to become a great ninja. I need more than this. What I need… is to be like him. Not to be taught by him."

Sasuke tries to think of what kind of training got Naruto to become who he is. The first thing he thinks of is his 2 and half years long trip with Jiraya, But this, Naruto did only to catch up to him and fulfill his promise to Sakura.

"You don't have any reason to involve yourself in such an adventure." he declines Boruto's demand. "You can't be my student and stay at Konoha at the same time."

"You don't understand." the Hyuga answers. "I don't need years of training. I just need the skills I lack and want. And you, I know you have them."

"What do you mean?"

"When you jumped in last week." Boruto starts to tell. "Nobody saw you arrive. Not even my dad could get in the way as fast as you did. Takeshi told me it felt like you were way out of his league. I want you to teach me this. The jutsu you use to enhance your speed."

"...Is that all?" Sasuke says, quite disappointed.

"Not really." Boruto answers. "Actually, I'd like to ask for another jutsu that I know you have. You can use teleportation. But like, for real. With Space-Time Ninjutsu, not just Shunshin. Can you teach me this too?"

Sasuke squints his eyes and holds back not to mock the boy. His so-called "teleportation" cannot be taught, as it is the unique ability of his Rinnegan. However, the yellow-haired boy does have a point. There is a jutsu that allies space-time and speed efficiently and that could satisfy him. It is a jutsu known by few ninjas, and only two were able to use it at its best. And one of them happens to be this boy's ancestor.

"… Okay. I'll give it a try." Sasuke decides, kind of curious about the results that may show. "Meet me tomorrow morning over the Hokage monument."

"What? Really? Great! I'll be there. No mistake. What time?" Boruto says enthusiastically, as he didn't expect a positive answer so fast.

"I'll be there when I sense you on the way." the Uchiha answers. "Now, I have stuff to do." he adds before vanishing again, not motivated to invest too much time in this engagement anyway.

Boruto gladly smiles. To have the greatest ninja on duty of his time, regarded as a protecting demigod by his allies and an inevitable damnation by his enemies, as his master will surely get him on another level. Secretly, when he isn't flexing his skills to weaker people, he worries a lot about his ability to one day catch up to Kawaki or Takeshi. But with such a trainer, it feels possible. It feels obvious.

Oddly, Sasuke accepted this demand. After all, nothing is in the way for him to take on such a role for someone anymore. He just told his wife that he'll be staying at the village for a while, and his business with Oshio's quest for peace will not take all his time. He just needs to stay ready and available for when something happens, and training a demanding young prodigy that happens to be his best friend's gifted son might actually be a right way to spend time.

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From the window, Naruto is still looking at the place that his son leaves now. He isn't paying attention to what he sees but is deep in his thoughts, speaking with the fox demon inside of him.

"Kurama, tell me I've not gone crazy please." he asks. "You agree that this is far more messed up than anything we could have imagined?"

"The fact it may be linked to Momoshiki Otsutsuki makes it scary to me." Kurama answers. "The question isn't how did a kid that has the same eyes as Sasuke Uchiha end up as the ruling messiah of a whole continent, but how did Momoshiki make this happen?"

"Momoshiki made it happen?" Naruto asks, not really getting this abrupt assumption.

"Well, Sasuke said it, didn't he?" Kurama explains. "This kid showed up to him shortly after Momoshiki died, and he came from the same land where those Otsutsuki were hiding."

"Hmm, so he made it happen?… Do you have any idea about how?" the Hokage questions. "I mean, is there any lead about such a phenomenon in your millennium long life of experience and knowledge of Rikudo gramps?"

"Nothing that I can say for sure… However, it could really be anything."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Our fight against Sojobo got me thinking of how tough time and reality actually are." Kurama speculates. "He really sent us through perfect illusions of the past and future that might actually be real. If he alone can do that, imagine what other beings across the universe are capable of. Sojobo said it himself. He isn't the only individual of his kind, and neither is he the best… Rikudo-Sennin created the nine Biju, perfect immortal life forms, using just Juubi's chakra and his imagination. Kaguya could condense her nature into a Gudodama so powerful it could annihilate and rebuild an entire dimension… And there was a time where I thought these were the worst possible things."

The jinchuriki thinks about what the beast just said, and realizes what his point would mean. There could really be a jutsu for anything as long as a being with enough chakra and mind power exists to create and execute it. This is made possible solely by Inyoton, the chakra nature that is the source of every other, and the basis of every jutsu. It is a nature that Naruto himself is able to use through his own Gudodama. His healing ability and levitation also are embedded in this nature.

"Kurama… About Kaguya's Super Growing Ball… Do you think we could reproduce it now?" he asks, out of curiosity after remembering Sasuke's praises saying that he has become more powerful than the mother of chakra herself.

"… You may actually could…" the fox speculates again. "It took your 10 orbs around 5 years to fully return after our fight with Sojobo. Trying this would take way more chakra than we have and would consume our 10 orbs for the same amount of time, … But even Kaguya needed the chakra of humanity trapped in Madara's genjutsu to do so… You having her kind of power is pretty likely. After all, even Sasuke's left eye turned out to be far stronger than even the Rikudo-Sennin's Rinnegan."

Naruto now stays blocked on the last sentence about Sasuke and connects it to what they were talking about at first.

"About that… What do you think Oshio's eye powers are?" he asks. "I mean, besides everything they can usually do, what are his unique Sharingan and Rinnegan skills?"

"Sasuke probably knows that already." Kurama says. "But even if they are truly dangerous abilities, the user can't be as powerful as you. If he really had the chakra and power it takes to fight you, he wouldn't be putting up schemes and would behave more like the Otsutsuki."

"Why is that?" Naruto asks.

"Well, if I understood correctly, he is some kind of inheritor to Momoshiki." he explains. "He was probably taught by him… This could mean that his vision of chakra and life is as deranged as his. If he aims to go against his father one day, who knows what method he'll use to become stronger."

At this exact moment, right as Kurama finishes this sentence, the chakra of another Biju can be felt within Naruto. Isobu, the three tailed turtle, is attempting to communicate with him through the spiritual connection that links all the beasts' spirits to him.

"Is that Isobu?" Naruto asks, as he hears Sanbi's voice calling him.

He focuses and, after a few seconds, can fully see the shape of the Biju sitting inside of him along with Kurama.

"Naruto, I found you." says the turtle.

"What's happening?" asks Kurama, kind of bothered by another of the beasts' presence. "Why were you trying to reach us?"

"We have a problem… Saiken has disappeared." Isobu answers.

Kurama makes a surprised face, instantly connecting this information to the last thing he said. Naruto makes an embarrassed face and concentrates to sense the six tailed slug. He indeed isn't at his cave house anymore, and only Naruto can still detect him.

"He didn't disappear… He is imprisoned." he says after localizing the little emission of Rokubi's chakra that he still feels. "In the lands of Heart." he adds.

"Crap… What does this mean?" says Kyubi, confused by this turn of events.

"It means that I'll have to meet him earlier than expected." the Hokage says, quickly figuring out that the Biju must have been captured by the allies of Oshio Uchiha.

Back to reality, Naruto steps away from the window and hurries to the Uchiha house's entrance door to leave. Sakura, packing out Sasuke's things from the backpack he brought with him, notices Naruto leaving.

"You're going now?" she asks.

"Yes. To Hikarigakure." he answers.

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End of Chapter 81 – Next Chapter: Conflict of Peace