I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 12 | On One Condition

"Me?" Naruto repeated.

"I see," Kakashi said. "And you don't think that's a good idea, so you're hoping he'll refuse?"

"There's no reason for Naruto to put himself at risk for this," Iruka said, a slight flush creeping into his face. "Jiraiya-sama will have to stay here while Tsunade-sama is gone, so he won't be there to protect Naruto from Akatsuki. Tsunade-sama is just as strong, of course, but a lot of her time will be taken up by the negotiations. The Mizukage insists both on speaking to her directly, and on Naruto coming along."

"Then I have to go, don't I?" Naruto said. "It's fine with me. I want them to be on our side if we can do it."

"Do you know why they want Naruto to come along, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked.

Iruka frowned. "They seem to think he was the last person to talk to the former Mizukage before he died, but they haven't explained how they came to that conclusion."

"They don't think I killed him?" Naruto stood up quickly from his stool. "Maybe they're right about me being the last to talk to him, but I didn't even know he was dead!"

"So you did talk to him?" Sakura looked alarmed. "How? When?"

"Then they probably want to ask you about it," Kakashi said. "You didn't do it, but you know who did, isn't that right?"

"Yeah... I mean, maybe?"

"I'm sorry Kakashi, Sakura—can I borrow Naruto for just a minute? It won't take very long."

Iruka pulled Naruto out of the ramen shop without waiting for a yes or no.

"Iruka-sensei, it's fine." Naruto flailed his free arm in aggravation, but Iruka didn't stop walking until they were behind the shop.

The narrow alleyway contained nothing but a dumpster and a ventilator fan sticking out from behind the building. It whirred loudly enough to drown out all sound from the street and the store. Iruka crossed his arms and looked down at Naruto with a thunderous expression that he'd seen a million times before one of his famous yelling rants.

But Iruka didn't yell. Instead, he spoke in a voice almost low enough to be overshadowed by the ventilator. "Izumo told me you almost got shut outside last night."

"What?" Naruto yelped. "Aw man, he said he wouldn't—"

"—Tell Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-sama," Iruka finished. "But he thought it would be good for someone to lecture you about it, someone you might listen to. So he told me. What were you doing out so late, when you know how strict the gate closing is these days?"

"It's not a big deal." Naruto scuffed his shoe on the ground, avoiding Iruka's eye. "I just lost track of time. I didn't mean to get shut out or make you or Izumo get mad at me."

Iruka sighed. "It's not a matter of being mad at you, Naruto... just... listen." He bent down and put his hands on Naruto's shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Do you have any idea what it was like when you disappeared? For the people around you, I mean. Has anyone ever told you what it was like?"

"Not—exactly, but I pretty much know what happened during then—"

"We thought you were dead," Iruka said quietly. "Those three months. Worse than that. We thought you were going to die, and we didn't know when, but we knew it was inevitable. Even Tsunade-sama knew, with all her medical expertise, she wouldn't be able to save you. They started talking about what might need to be done, what it might mean for the village if the Kyuubi was stolen. Not many people knew about it, but the ones who did were terrified. Terrified of losing you, or just afraid of another Kyuubi attack. And then, when you kept waking up, when you showed that you were fighting for your own life, things changed. There was a lot of hope, yes. But also a lot of uncertainty."