Naruto: Path of Uchiha

Chapter 25: Temporary Peace?

Naruto's life was going smoothly. Even with his Nii-san's 'death', Naruto was doing pretty well. Almost too good to be true.

Following Itachi's 'death', everyone got very busy.

Especially Naruto.

He went on countless missions, spent time with his friends and family, and managed to sneak in training as well.

Flashbacks

It was a month after Itachi left the village. Even though the whole family knew that his death was staged, his absence was greatly noticeable.

'Everyone is still feeling down', Sasuke says to Naruto, both of them sitting in Naruto's room.

'Yeah, I feel weird too. When he went on missions, we knew when he was coming back. Now it's completely different', Naruto agrees with his brother.

'What should we do?... With life, I mean', Sasuke says more to himself.

'Dang, that's deep.'
'Coming from Sasuke, it is',

'I am planning to take the jounin exams. It will give me more opportunities to take on Orochimaru', Naruto says. 'Between this, I will train as well. Let's plan some trips to cheer up the family too', he adds.

'Gosh, you really are organized throughout', Sasuke says, his face sulking.

'Want some tips?' Naruto teases, and Sasuke frowns in return.

                                       ***

Just like he said, Naruto took the jounin exams, passed them, and became a jounin at 13.

He was now at Ichiraku's with his brothers, celebrating the promotion.

'Mr. Hokage finally got the time to meet up?', Naruto says regarding Obito, taking a seat next to Sasuke.

'You know I'm busy. Congratulations on the promotion though', Obito says, a sorry look on his face.

'I know, thanks for freeing your schedule to come today', Naruto smiles at him.

'No worries, I don't bail out on things like this', Obito shrugs.

'Congratulations, Naruto; you're catching up to us', Kakashi, who's sitting opposite Naruto, praises.

'Nah, I am still far back', Naruto replies rather humbly.

'You want something as a gift or something?' Sasuke, who's yet to become a jounin, says.

'The thing I really want is a trip to the beach with the family. I hope we can find an opening where all our schedules are free', Naruto says.

'That will be impossible',
'Maybe, maybe not'

'I'm sure we can manage that. Unfortunately, but first, I want you to go on a mission in place of Jiraiya-sama as he's out on business', Obito says, causing Naruto to grunt.

'I thought we promised not to talk about missions during our meetups', Sasuke complains.

'Yeah, sorry, Naruto, come by the office later', Obito says.

Naruto nods in response.

'I miss Itachi', Kakashi says out of the blue, taking a sip of his drink.

'I do too', the remaining three say in unison.

                                        ***

Naruto stood in the Hokage's office, ready to be assigned his mission.

'It's an A rank. You have to travel to the sand village. There you will meet Gaara of the sand, a jinchuriki, just like you. He has some problems with his seal, so he needs assistance in fixing them', Obito explains.

'Alright, I will be off then', Naruto says, leaving the office.

3 days later, Naruto had reached the sand village.

There he met someone named Kankuro, a boy his age.

'So Gaara's your brother?', Naruto asks.

'Yes. He has trouble sleeping due to the seal. It would be much help if you fix it', Kankuro explains.

Meeting Gaara was not like Naruto expected. He thought the redhead would be a nice person, but he was completely the opposite.

Gaara was like a trigger bomb; ready to explode anytime.

'Maybe he's just misunderstood'
'That's probably the case',

'Who are you?! I don't need your help', Gaara says, staring down at Naruto.

'Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf. I am sure you have heard about me. I am a jinchuriki just like you, the only difference being I have befriended my Kyubi', Naruto states, his arms crossed.

'Let him help you, Gaara; it would be so much easier', Temari, who introduced herself as Gaara's sister, pleads.

'No. Not at all', Gaara refused to budge.

'How about this? I challenge you to a duel. If I win, I get to fix your seal; if I don't, I leave this village immediately', Naruto proposes.

This piqued Gaara's interest.

'Fine. Let's meet in an hour', Gaara says, exiting the room, leaving behind his siblings with Naruto.

'Are you sure you can defeat him?' Temari asks, unsure.

She had heard about Naruto. A jounin at age 13. He has one of the highest mission success rates. A well-known person throughout the villages, famous for being an extraordinarily capable ninja at such a young age.

'Definitely', Naruto says, with confidence.

The time for the duel had come.

Now stood Naruto and Gaara in a fighting ring at the sand village.

The fight started with basic sparring. Naruto is aiming to get a hit on Gaara while Gaara is protecting himself with his sand shield.

Having an estimate of Gaara's abilities, Naruto quickly takes charge.

He makes his infamous shadow clones, hundreds of them.

At the sight, Gaara gets enraged, letting free his jinchuriki chakra.

However, it didn't last long; seemingly, Shukaku didn't want to engage in the battle.

'Ahaha, he's scared of me', says Kurama.
'Well, you do have eight more tails than him',

'What?', Gaara seems shocked.

Having the opening, Naruto charges all his shadow clones, many possessing the rasengan in hand, straight at Gaara.

The ultimate defense of Gaara broke at the hands of Naruto Uzumaki.

'Wait! I want a rematch', Gaara says, his breath heavy from the fighting.

Naruto remains unfazed.

'Alright. Come at me', Naruto challenges.

This time Gaara took the lead, strangling Naruto with his sand.

Naruto instantly breaks free.

He raises his hands, another jutsu forming.

'All you know is the stupidly powerful rasengan?!', Gaara screams, enraged.

'No. That's not it', Naruto says, a different type of jutsu forming in his hands.

'Face the rasen shuriken', he says, aiming it at Gaara.

Gaara's defense broke once again, this time the destruction more noticeable.

'All right, fine. You win', Gaara says, admitting defeat.

With that, Gaara was convinced to get his seal fixed.

Naruto warned that it would hurt him a bit; it did.

'You even know how to fix seals; what do you not know?', Gaara asks Naruto.

'I also know the toad summons and the Kyubi cloak; I held back', Naruto says.

Gaara sighs at that.

Completed with his mission, it was time for Naruto to leave.

As he was leaving, he heard someone call out for him, 'Naruto!' A red-head came into view.

'Gaara', Naruto acknowledges.

'Thanks for the help. We're the same age, but you're definitely more mature and powerful. Next time we meet, I will surely win', Gaara says, raising his hand.

Naruto raised his own, shaking it with Gaara's.

'I'll be looking forward to it', Naruto says, a smile on his face.

To his surprise, Gaara smiled back.

                                      ***

The trip that had been very postponed since forever finally took place. Everyone being free for the day, Naruto decided the trip must happen today.

'Today is such a hot day. Can't we postpone it one last time?', Jiraiya complains.

'No. Not at all', Naruto straight up refuses.

'He's right. Today's our only chance', Sasuke agrees.

With that, the whole Uchiha family, along with the two Sanin, get ready to visit the beach.

Now Naruto, with his brothers, sat near the shore.

After a lot of swimming, water fights, and races, they all got tired at last and decided to spend the rest of the time just relaxing.

His parents and the two Sanin were off playing table tennis.

'This view is beautiful, so calm', Kakashi says, admiring the view.

'It reminds me of the time Naruto and I drowned', Sasuke says, breaking the atmosphere.

'That was the time you first released, remember?'
'I don't, not really' (lies)

The others snorted at that.

'I was thinking the same thing', Obito says.

'We should do this often', Naruto says, his feet splashing the water.

'If only we got the time', Obito sighs.

'You're getting tanned, Naruto', Kakashi says, looking over to Naruto.

'Yeah, with that physique of yours, it's astonishing', Obito agrees.

Sasuke smirks, 'Hinata would love this.'

Naruto grabs Sasuke by the legs and throws him in the water.

'Drown again, please!' he says.

Laughter fills the moment.

Sasuke gets out of the water, frowning. He takes a seat beside Naruto.

'I wish Itachi Nii-san were here', Naruto says.

He's sure all the others share the same feeling.

                                    ***

Naruto was out shopping for some new clothes. His old ones have grown out of him, given the recent growth spurt.

But as he was shopping, he noticed a familiar presence. A smile instantly lit up his face.

'Hey', he goes behing the person, his goal being to surprise them.

Instead, he gets pinned to the wall instantly.

'Hinataa, it's me', Naruto says, wiggling out of her grip.

'Oh gosh, I am so sorry; I thought you were some creep', she apologizes instantly.

'That's alright, it was my fault for sneaking up on you like that... What are you doing anyway?', he asks.

'Oh, I was looking for something to eat', Hinata replies, a smile on her face.

'Want to get some ramen with me?', Naruto offers.

'You are shaking, kiddo, stop.'
'Not a kiddo, I am 15'
'Like that's important right now.'

'Yeah, of course', Hinata agrees almost instantly.

Having realized the speed of her reaction, a blush creeps up her face.

Naruto smirks at her.

'I mean... I was craving ramen as well, so why not?', she defends herself.

With that, Naruto and Hinata make their way to get ramen.

'So... what are you up to nowadays?', Naruto asks.

'I've been learning medical jutsus and stuff, also going on A ranks as much as I can', Hinata answers.

'That's nice', Naruto replies.

'Well, thats awkward.'
'No, it's not'

Just then, Naruto hears a voice calling out for him, 'Naruto!' It was Sasuke.

Naruto frowns.

'Naruto, you should--', Sasuke begins to say but stops himself, seeing the situation in front of him.

'Oh, never mind, it's not important. I should get going now', he says, sprinting away.

Naruto realizes that he owes Sasuke one now.

'Are you sure it wasn't something important?', Hinata asks, obviously concerned.

'No, it's all good', Natuto shrugs.

They both spend their evening enjoying their ramen and catching up on stuff.

Hinata then bids him farewell, saying she promised her sister to bake her cookies. Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Hinata assures she will send him some as well.

With that, Naruto's first date was a success. A date for Naruto. For Hinata, a date or not, we don't know.

Flashbacks end

                                         ***

Naruto's POV

Currently, I sat at the ramen stand along with my friends. It had been a while since we all met.

'Time flew by, didn't it?', Sasuke says, slurping his ramen.

My ramen obsession has infected my friends as well.

'Is it really that good?'
'The best',

'It really did. A lot happened', I agree.

'Mhm, especially for Naruto', Hinata remarks.

'It did. I can't believe we are all already 15', Shikamaru says.

'Not all of us. Hinata's birthday is still pending', I remember.

That's right. Almost four years have passed since Itachi's supposed death. Hinata and Shikamaru don't know the truth yet.

There had been many events when the truth slipped either out of mine or Sasuke's mouth. Thankfully, the truth still remains concealed.

The village is peaceful. As for Orochimaru, he hasn't made any moves yet.

As if my thoughts were a bad omen, an anbu appeared at our side.

'Original Team 7. The Hokage has requested you', he states.

Original Team 7? I assume that includes Shikamaru as well. Haven't heard that in a while.

'Let's go', Sasuke says, and we all make our way to the Hokage's office.

When we reach there, the atmosphere is tense.

Obito Nii-san certainly looks worried.

This must be serious, then.

After a long minute, Obito Nii-san finally speaks up: 'We got special intel that Orochimaru has made his first move; the cloud village suffered an attack.'

The intel probably came from Itachi Nii-san.

So suddenly? I guess he took his time.

Well then, the temporary peace we have been enjoying the past few years is over.

Now begins war.