Painless (A Naruto Fanfiction) [Completed]

Chapter Fifteen: Earning Trust

A/N: I played around with a character creator and made Jun! Well, as close as I could get to him. It's a bit older looking than twelve years old :3

The hokage had dismissed Tenten rather quickly. It was rather obvious that the troublemaker was Jun by the reports of the ANBU and his bright, mischievous grin. She’d been slightly hesitant to leave him, but knew better than to argue with the hokage.

In all, that mean that the raven-haired boy and the hokage, having dismissed the ANBU as well, were alone.

He was rather aware that the matter of his sneaking out of the hospital wasn’t what the hokage had in mind to talk about.

Jun’s bright smile had fallen away to a bored one, seeing as he felt no reason to put on a false face for a person who would no doubt see past it. After a few moments of silence passed, the Hokage pulled open one of the small draws of his desk and pulled out a small wooden box. Without a word, he settled it in the center of the desk and looked up at Jun, his expression rather unreadable. The boy simply stared back, not unsettled in the least.

“What’s that?”

“I saw what happened during the preliminaries,” the hokage commented, ignoring the boy’s question. “You lost control.”

Jun’s lips twisted into a humorless smile as he shrugged, shoving both hands in his pockets.

“Is that what it looked like?” he asked. “...I suppose it’d be silly to deny it. When I hit my head it went dark for a moment. I was in pain and a bit more invested in the fight than I usually would be. When I’m unconscious, or a state similar to it, and stressed, my grip on the ability loosens.”

“Like Yakumo,” the third commented.

Jun shrugged.

“Well, basically. I’ve never done something like she did, going crazy without blacking out for a second or two beforehand, but I’m not her, so I suppose that doesn’t mean much.”

“Kurenai is concerned,” the third added. “She believes, and I agree, that you wouldn’t tell us even if you had been experiencing the consequences of that bloodline limit.”

“I won’t lie, but yeah, I wouldn’t tell you,” Jun agreed. “I’d rather die than be stuck without the ability to be a shinobi. I’ve seen Yakumo, she’s a shell of herself. I don’t want that. Cut off from the ability to use my genjutsu… I’d rather die. At the same time, I’m fully aware of how the Kurama bloodline limit scares the hell out of most people- hell, even my parents were scared enough to seal it away when I was little.”

The third studied the boy curiously, aware that this was one of the few moments that Jun was actually being serious. Typically, Jun would have been being sarcastic- but his words felt anything if not truthful.

“I won’t seal you.”

“What?”

Jun stared at him in shock.

“I won’t reseal you,” the third repeated. “Not yet, not without proof that we have to. At the same time, I’m not willing to sacrifice the safety of the village to preserve your way of life. I have a compromise to offer you.”

The third placed his hand on the box, clicking open the latch on the side and pulling the top up. Jun only watched as the older man spun it around so that the boy could peer inside. There were two, simple golden bands with characters etched into the sides. Jun furrowed his brow, glancing back up at the third.

“What are those?”

“They were made specially the last time there was an incident,” the third answered simply. “They’re similar to chakra-sealing cuffs used for criminals. Effectively, they would cut you off from your ability to mold chakra.”