Chapter 49 : Hope(2)

After only an hour of practice, Sasuke was able to perfect the Tree Walking Exercise. It was strange for the Uchiha to take advice from, well, anyone, but especially from someone as young as Naruto.

He realized that his pride was only hindering him, but he just couldn't help himself. So when he was still in the forest with the blond, he didn't really understand why he was so eager to cooperate and listen to him. Yes, he was known worldwide as one of the most powerful shinobi alive at the moment, but Sasuke didn't think that his willingness to learn from the Bringer of Hope was because of his reputation.

After an hour of the Tree Walking Exercise, Naruto had offered to teach the raven-haired boy how to walk on water. Apparently, it not only applied in battle, but also improved ones chakra control. Sasuke already had decent control, but he shared Naruto's enthusiasm in improving himself.

With the blond there it didn't take long for him to complete it. Only a few hours and Sasuke had learned more from the new jonin than he had from his sensei in an entire month. If he wasn't so prideful he'd ask if they could train all the time together.

"It's getting late," Naruto said, standing from his prone position. The Konoha-nin decided to take a break, and it had already gotten dark. "We should get back before we miss dinner." There was a sad look in his eyes. "I don't want to give Tsunami-san any more reason to dislike me."

Sasuke didn't know what he did to upset the woman, but he definitely knew that she looked at him differently after they came back from shopping the day prior. The Uchiha wasn't very good with sympathy, so he just replied with, "Hn."

"You know," Naruto started as the two began to walk back to Tazuna's home. "If you'd like, we can train together even after I'm attached to another team." He couldn't see it, but he could feel the Uchiha's eyes widen.

Sasuke quickly composed himself. "Sure," he said like it wasn't a big deal. Internally he was shocked. It was like the blond knew what he wanted.

"Cool," Naruto said nonchalantly. If the genin wanted to act like it was no big deal then so would he. He knew how the Uchiha thought, and the fact that he was able to get this much out of him was a miracle.

The boy was prideful, and he wanted nothing more than to acquire power so that he could have his revenge. It angered Naruto, more than anything, that the genin's anger was misdirected. He was upset with the wrong person. His anger, his hate, it was all towards Itachi.

Naruto couldn't wait until he was ready to learn the truth.

When that time came, Danzo's days would be limited.

The rest of the small walk back to the house was done in a peaceful silence. It didn't take long for the two to walk through the door of Tazuna's home, and when they did, they were greeted by an excited Sakura.

"You're back!" she squealed happily. "Dinner's almost ready." Naruto was amused with the girl's conviction. She actually loved Sasuke. Unlike Ino, Sakura – deep, deep down – cared for the boy on a more emotional level. Whereas Ino liked him for his 'coolness', Sakura just wanted the Uchiha to accept her, his popularity only being a small reason why she was attracted to him. Yes, she was definitely a fangirl, but Naruto could look underneath the underneath, and below all of that schoolgirl nonsense, there was someone who actually cared for Sasuke.

"Great," Naruto decided to answer since Sasuke just walked past the pink-haired girl and took a seat. He was going to change that attitude of his one way or another. Ignoring a teammate, no matter how obsessive he or she may be was not the Konoha way. Sakura's intentions were good, and Sasuke needed to look past the academy girl and try better to accept the budding kunoichi.

Of course, he'd definitely need to have a serious chat with the girl as well, because her fangirl behavior was just pushing her crush away. She didn't understand that Sasuke was all about power, so if she ever wanted the boy of her dreams to give her the recognition she craved, she needed to grow stronger as both a kunoichi and a woman.

"How was the training, Naruto-san? Did Sasuke-kun complete the exercise?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"Yup. Sasuke-san was able to complete the Tree Walking Exercise," he gave a proud smile, "and then I taught him how to do the same thing, but on water." The blond found the pink-haired girl's reaction funny.

First, she was happy. Then, when he smiled at her, her cheeks turned a few shades redder – Naruto kind of had that effect on people. After he mentioned that he taught the Uchiha how to walk on water, she was shocked. "Y-you taught him… how to walk on water?" she asked disbelievingly.

Naruto smirked, nodding his head. "Yeah. It's a lot like clinging to trees, just a little more useful." She was still in shock. Apparently the girl had never seen or heard of someone walking on water before. "It's a common practice, Sakura-san. All shinobi learn it during their genin days. You," he gave Sai a look that said 'I know what you are', "and Sai should be learning it pretty soon. I just taught it to Sasuke because we had nothing better to do."

Sakura just nodded her head, still a little in wonder that shinobi walking on water was a normal thing.

Naruto guessed that the young kunoichi wasn't going to reply, so he took a seat next to Kakashi, who had just entered the room, his usual smut in hand. "Ah, you're back. How did the training session go?" The lazy pervert asked, his eyes never leaving his book.

Naruto smiled. "Genin Uchiha Sasuke can now climb trees without the use of his hands and walk on water." He reported in a mock professional manner.

Kakashi's one visible eye finally graced Naruto with its gaze. "You taught him the Water Walking Exercise as well?" The blonde nodded. "I appreciate the assistance, kohai. You should help me train my cute little genin more often." Naruto smirked. His senpai was giving him even more opportunities to train Sasuke.

"You're very welcome, senpai. I would be honored to assist you with your genin in any way possible." He replied.

A few minutes of idle chit chat later and dinner was ready. It smelled really good, and Naruto was starving. Tsunami's cooking was amazing, almost as good as Hayate's. The Uzumaki had gotten a lot closer to the Tokubetsu Jonin in the month he had lived with him, and he began to think that his cooking was too good for him to ever move out. And when they all ate together, he felt like he actually belonged somewhere.

It was hard, protecting something so precious to you when the very thing you care for the most despised your very existence. Naruto loved Konoha, with every fiber in his body, but it still hurt, even to this day, when he felt the minds and hearts of the villagers and all that was there was hate and loathing for him.

Tsunami had just sat down, after serving everyone their plates, when Naruto felt depression and anger behind him. When he turned to see Inari, he sighed.

"You should just give up," the boy whispered. It wasn't soft enough to be unheard, but it wasn't loud enough to make a big impression.

Still, Sasuke replied. "What was that?" he asked offhandedly.

"I said you should all just give up. There's no way you can stop Gato! He'll just kill you all," the boy snarled louder than before. He then turned to Naruto. "You!" he cried, pointing at the blond. "You're the famous Bringer of Hope, and even you haven't done anything to stop him! Your name's a lie! You can't bring hope here because hope doesn't exist anymore…" He lowered his head. "Gato took that away, too…"

"Inari!" Tsunami shouted. "Don't speak like that." She didn't want her son to have such a dark view on the world, but Naruto could tell that she was worried that he might hurt her son.

He didn't show it, but that actually hurt him more than he would like to admit.

"You speak as if you've seen the ugly truths of the world." Naruto began as he stood. "You speak as if you're not a young, naïve, ignorant child." He was now standing in front of the boy. "You know nothing of how I earned my titles. I've laughed in the face of a Kage, and then I sent him to Hell." He put his hand on Inari's head, and decided to ignore Tsunami's fearful emotions. "I've freed a country five times bigger than Nami no Kuni." Naruto's eyes changed from blue to gold. "I am the right hand of god, Inari." He then took in a deep breath. "Hope is never out of my reach. Now glimpse, boy." he whispered. "I'll let you have a glance of Heaven."

The whole room lit up in a bright gold light, everyone inside shielding their eyes form the majestic shine. By this point Tsunami was in tears with how worried she was for her baby.

When the light faded, Tsunami, Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura gasped at what they saw. On his knees, with tears running down his face, Inari stared at Naruto with bright, molten gold eyes. Not just his pupils – they were nowhere in sight – but his entire sockets were alight with the mighty color.

"Inari?!" Tsunami shouted, rushing over to her child. She took him by the shoulders and panicked when he didn't see her and just kept staring at the blond shinobi. "W-what did you do to my son?" She asked in a shaky voice. Naruto could feel the other thing the black-haired woman wanted to scream.

Get away from us!

Naruto's look made Kakashi's heart ache. "I gave it back to him…" was all Naruto said before he walked out of the house, never even touching his plate.

"Gave what back to him?!" She cried back, but it was too late, Naruto was already gone. When she looked back down at her son, he was looking back at her with something she hadn't seen on his face since her husband was taken from them; a smile.

Kakashi sighed as he stood. He walked towards the stairs. "Hope," the Copy-nin answered for his kohai. "Naruto gave Inari back his hope by letting him see the world through his eyes." With that said, Kakashi climbed the stairs, ready to sleep through the rest of the night. He knew his brother all too well; he would want to be alone for tonight.

The entire time, Sai ate his meal with a fake smile on his face.

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