The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Thunder

The younger Naruto slumped in his chair, arms crossed. His deep scowl seemed to have no effect whatsoever on Shizune, who continued giving bright reassurances to her patient. Naruto's eyes tracked the man as he thanked Shizune and left, hopping slightly with a damaged foot. Shizune hummed as she started organizing medical supplies on a tray.

"When is someone going to come tell us what's going on out there?" he blurted, unable to contain himself any longer.

"You just have to be patient, Naruto-kun!" Shizune said, wagging a finger at him. "We'll get a message as soon as Headquarters hears anything."

Naruto huffed in frustration. How had things ended up like this? Everything had been going so well.

True, Itachi and Nagato had wanted to avoid the battle, but at least he still would have been out there. Now their group was split up, and he was under the watch of the Allied Shinobi Force again. And that meant staying in the medical camp until some vague, indefinite moment when they figured out what to do with him.

Naruto felt slightly betrayed by his older self, even though the elder had just been following Itachi's directions. Once he left the younger there under Shizune and Sakura's watch, he'd rushed off to go meet the Eight-Tail's jinchuuriki. No doubt they'd see all kinds of action, while the younger was left sitting in a chair under the supervision of some medic-nin.

"Shizune-neechan, why can't I fight?" Naruto grumbled, knowing it was useless. "I already proved I could do it. I can take on those white things, no problem!"

"Yes, well, it was a good thing you didn't get captured." Shizune put her hands on her hips. "I don't know what the older you was thinking, letting you go anywhere near the battlefield. Then again, he isn't much better..." Muttering darkly, Shizune continued organizing with a bit more force than before.

"Aww, c'mon! You're only saying that because Itachi and Nagato were the ones looking after me. Kakashi-sensei told me some people were upset about that." Naruto propped his feet up on a short stool and leaned back in the chair, balancing it on two legs.

Shizune slammed an instrument down onto the metal try with a loud clatter that nearly made Naruto lose his balance. He waved his arms around frantically for a second, teetering, before landing the chair back on four legs again.

"You don't know anything about the terror and suffering our village went through because of them!" Shizune said. Her face was turning red, but she remained standing where she was. She gripped the edges of the metal tray. Naruto noticed her arms shaking.

He stood up out of the chair, taken aback. "S-Shizune-neechan..."

She stared down at the tray for a few seconds, then turned away to walk out of the tent's flap.

"Excuse me."

Sakura came into the tent, walking around Shizune and watching the other kunoichi walk away.

She put down a box of bandage rolls and turned back to Naruto, confused.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know." Naruto flopped back into the chair. He felt a little guilty, but he wasn't sure why. "She didn't like me talking about Itachi and Nagato, I guess. Was she really that worried about me?"

Sakura's eyes darkened. She turned to unpack the box. "Probably. We all were. First Orochimaru comes after you in Suna, then you disappear into Amegakure where no one can contact you? All we had was Sai's scroll, and that only goes one way."

"I guess... I didn't really think of it like that," Naruto admitted. He felt deflated. It seemed older self was the only one from this time who knew those guys weren't actually bad.