Third person pov

Minato's life can be put into three simple categories by order of importance: fatherhood, husbandhood, and Hokagehood. 

He and Kushina had long since agreed that whilst they were both high on each other's priority lists, Naruto and Kakashi were always going to come before their own relationship did. Minato loved Kushina like a limb and he knew that Kushina felt the same for him, a fire so strong it was never going to go out. Kushina would always be it for him, together or apart.

Naruto and Kakashi are their babies, though. Kakashi had come to Minato fresh out of the academy, five years old and already hardened by the heavy expectations set upon shinobi children during the times of war. He never got the chance to be a kid, growing impossibly more distant when Sakumo left him. 

Minato had practically raised him. Had watched him grow into a strong, self-assured young man who'd lived through all sorts of hardships and impossibilities. He had persevered through personal tragedies that would put lesser men in the ground, and though he'd come out the other side mellower and a little lost, at least he'd come out at all.

It was a miracle he was still around when Minato came back. The mere possibility of him having woken up to a world in which Kakashi couldn't keep going makes Minato's stomach roil. Sometimes it floors him just how lucky he is to have all this. To have not only Kakashi, but to have Naruto too, and to be living a life that should've been taken from him.

So why wasn't it? Why was he still here?

Minato's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. There's a reason he hasn't gone looking all that hard for answers-- sometimes, it's better not to poke the sleeping bear and to instead let things lie. If it's not broken, there's no reason to fix it. That's Minato's philosophy.

There's just moments, in the quiet stillness of his home after Naruto and Kakashi have rushed out the door, that he can't help but wonder. He knows Kushina feels the same.

It's monumentally strange to think that, once upon a time, he might've held his duty as Hokage over all other respects of his life. Minato realistically knows that's what's expected of him, but he can't help but feel a little ill at the thought of it. A good leader would put all personal attachments aside to do what's best for the whole of the village, even if it meant hurting the ones they love for the greater good.

Minato, after coming back to a village that had shunned Naruto, isolated Kakashi into ANBU, and then had the audacity to keep them apart in the face of their loss? He just can't... he can't do it. He loves them too much to ever place anything above them. In many ways, he hasn't forgiven Konoha-- he's not sure he ever will.

Kushina hasn't. She's very loud about that fact. Even now, their son is not treated the way they wish he was, isn't looked upon with particularly kind eyes. It makes Minato's skin crawl. It makes Minato wonder why he's Hokage to begin with.

This is his home and he loves it. He will defend it, because it's the place his sons were both born and it's where they've chosen to make their life. There's just something inherently wrong with the way it runs. The way the village turned against the Uchiha Clan so easily, swayed by the machinations of Danzo, who had come close to doing something so unforgiveable-- 

Minato had burned those files with Fugaku at his side, wordlessly and without preamble. They had never spoken of it, and they never would. And if Fugaku hugged Itachi a little more often than not afterwards, Minato wasn't going to draw attention to such. 

A change needs to happen. Minato has had six years to put it into motion and he feels like he's not a single step closer to his goals. Like nothing he's done in an effort to truly bring everyone together under the collective ideal of peace has worked. Because for all Minato has instilled his good will into every decision he makes, these issues still persist so strongly that he's starting to doubt that they can be fixed at all.

Minato gets that some of it is human nature, and that it's not going to change. But that doesn't mean it can't at least get better.

People still judge the Uchiha Clan for something they never did in the first place. Something is going on in the Hyuga clan, but nobody can figure out what it is because they will literally kill anyone who tries, and then cover it up and gaslight everyone into thinking they didn't. ANBU, for all it's been adjusted, still produces men and women who experience life-long psychological issues that even Ayumu would be hard-pressed to tackle.

Kunoichi in the village are treated like actual dirt, and expected to seduce and give their bodies to the cause on the simple basis that they're women. The entire council operates on self-interest and not actually in favor of what needs to happen. Everyone's got clan secrets they hoard like a dragon does gold, and nobody wants to trust each other.

And Minato gets it! Really, he does. Back stabbing is like, a running issue within the confines of politics. If they could just break through that barrier of trust and lay a foundation for being open with one another, it could just-- make all the difference in the world.

"I don't know where to start." Minato groaned, dragging his hands down his face. "How am I supposed to change anything if the people I need to cooperate with me are too afraid to try? There's too many conflicts of interest, and even though the civilians live in a ninja village, they somehow still seem insanely ignorant of shinobi life as a whole!"

Ayumu, who looked like he had no idea how Minato had gotten into his house, squinted at him from over his bowl of cereal.

"Do you think a part of it is lack of representation? Or it could be a lack of awareness. People are naturally afraid of what they don't understand, ya know." Kushina pointed out. Her red hair stood out starkly against the cool blue of Ayumu's kitchen backsplash. "We don't have a reliable way to get news out beyond word of mouth and the occasional flier. Printing is time consuming and costs a lot of money, but it might be worth it. How're they supposed to understand anything if we don't tell them?"

Ayumu's eyes darted between them as he took another slow bite of now-soggy cheerios. Minato hummed consideringly. 

"That's a good idea. How would the civilians know what's going on if nobody explains it? All they've ever really had to go off of is rumors. So long as we can get an open, honest news source out to them-- we just have to remember that any information they have is information that potential enemies will have too." Minato noted. He wondered how Naruto's genin test was going... "It doesn't account for the corruption of the council, though, or the lack communication and transparency between the clan heads." 

Ayumu swallowed, still staring at them with a somewhat defeated, somewhat bewildered look on his face. Like he wasn't sure if he was actually awake or not. He checked the watch on his wrist with furrowed brows, as though he expected this to all be a nighttime hallucination he'd sleep walked his way into.

"Just straight up call them out on their shit." Kushina pointed her chopsticks at him, leaning back against the counter and cradling her styrofoam cup of instant ramen close. "Be so blunt about it that it makes lying awkward. Spying on them to learn more isn't gonna do shit at this point, ya know? You just have to go for the throat and squeeze." 

Minato nodded, feeling disheartened. Now that Naruto was entering his time as a genin, it seemed all the more imperative that he get his shit together and fix things. It had been too easy to just go do paperwork and stand outside the academy with Kakashi, watching Naruto be adorable. Now, that wasn't an option. 

His baby was all grown up! He and Kakashi were off doing ninja stuff and Minato wasn't really supposed to interfere. At least, not so overtly as following them around, even if he desperately wanted to. He could only cross his fingers and hope Kakashi put the camera that Minato gave him to good use to capture all Naruto's ninja firsts. 

Kushina and Ayumu had both told him that he needed to give Naruto room to grow and be his own person. Which Minato had thought he was doing spectacularly, but apparently that means letting him live his own life and forge his own path without following two feet behind him whilst he does.

Minato just loves him! And Naruto spent six years without them, and Minato-- 

Kushina didn't see him like Minato did when she first got here, and he's glad she didn't. He's glad she didn't have to watch him dawn with the stunning realization that he was loved, like it was a surprise, and that he wasn't going to have to leave. He was glad she didn't see the way he doubted everything Minato did, and everything he said, fearing it would all be ripped away from him if he held on too tight.

Minato knows things are different now, but those are moments that changed him irrevocably. That shattered a part of him he doesn't think will ever heal. Because even if Naruto is smiling and happy now, he wasn't before, and Minato hates that some of the most impactful years of his life were spent alone and unloved.

"Why're you in my house?" Ayumu finally voiced, apparently coming to the conclusion that they weren't a mental manifestation of his life's greatest inconveniences. 

"There were people trying to talk to us at ours again, so we left out the back." Kushina shrugged. "Something about being worried about the Nine Tails killing everyone, but it was Shikaku, so there were a lot more big words used, ya know?"

Ayumu sighed, heavy and tired. Minato perked up. Maybe he'd know how to get the clan heads to open up about all their greatest secrets.

~~~~~~~

They don't get the bells, but their running around like headless chickens is coordinated enough to count as teamwork so they pass anyway. Naruto tries not to feel too smug at the sheepish look Sakura gives him, and the skeptical one Sasuke shoots his way.

The fact that Kashi got set on fire is just a bonus. Naruto loves him, really, he does. He's just a dick sometimes and needs to be put in his place. If Naruto's not going to be the one to relentlessly annoy and occasionally beat him up, who is?

Well... Gai, probably. But whatever. Not the point.

"Great, you passed." Kurama's voice is sleepy and agitated from the excitement. No doubt he'll spend most of tonight dozing. "Now you get to go outside the village. I'm so excited. Absolutely nothing will go wrong, I'm sure." 

It's said in what is quite possibly the most sarcastic tone Naruto has ever heard from anyone in his entire life. It's dry, flat, and could probably kill a puppy with how utterly unimpressed it comes off. Naruto presses his tongue to the back of his teeth, wishing he had the grounds to make a rebuttal but knowing well and good that he definitely does not.

Naruto hadn't been out of the village any huge number of times despite what recollections indicated. It's just that every time he did leave, something happened. Not just once, or twice, or maybe three times. Every single time he stepped foot out of Konoha's gates, it's like all his collective bad luck decided to step up to bat.

It was actually a bit uncanny. The instances of him getting into shit he shouldn't be in had gotten so flabbergasting that even Kurama couldn't get mad at him anymore. Do you know how absurd shit has to get for people to stop assuming Naruto is the problem? He doesn't find it-- it finds him. Proven fact through several instances of observational experimentation on Kurama's part.

Anyway. He was hoping him being a ninja would negate the effect. It was wishful thinking, but it made logical sense in his head. Sorta. When he's not a ninja, trouble finds him, so when he is one maybe everything will be peaceful and they can all sing kumbaya. 

"The day you have a peaceful outing out of this fucking cesspool of a village is the day I go belly up." Kurama grumbled out, already sounding like he was drifting off. Naruto pursed his lips. So much for keeping hope alive and doing his best, or whatever train of thought he'd been trying to follow there.

"I expect to see you all here bright and early tomorrow morning for our first drills as a team!" Kakashi chirped out. His flak jacket was still smoking slightly. Sasuke may be a trick ass bitch, but Naruto's got to hand that one to him. "We've got our work cut out for us, but I'm sure we'll get you three up to par in no time!" 

He said "you three" but he was looking at Sakura. Naruto wondered if she was going to need any cream for that major burn. First day in and she's already getting singled out. Couldn't be him. Kurama has trained him for this exact moment, and his mom runs training sessions like the house is on fire and the roof's about to come down. 

And even if she didn't, Naruto's entire life is kind of on fire enough to have him prepared anyway. Not in a good way, either. Something is almost always happening. If it's not him going out of the village, it's someone coming into the village to try and rock his shit for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Naruto breathes and someone is suddenly trying to kidnap him.

"Wait, why're you telling us to be here bright and early if you're not gonna be?" Naruto blinked out of his train of thought as Kashi's words registered, his entire face scrunching. Kakashi paused. "I had to bodily manhandle you out the door this morning. Believe it."

Sakura nodded vigorously. Apparently him being right about the point of the test was grounds for him being right about others things. Call him the Kakashi whisperer, because he's got his tricks and trades down to a pat.

"This morning was a special circumstance, Naruto." Kakashi chided lightly, never looking away from his book. "I was testing your punctuality, that's all. I'll be here right alongside you tomorrow." 

That sounded like a super giant lie, but whatever. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it. Naruto's starving, he's pretty sure he actually fractured a bone in his shin when he got thrown into that tree, and also he needs a nap. Not because the fighting is exhausting, but because being in Sasuke's general vicinity is steadily draining his life force.

Kakashi was puffing away in a cloud of white smoke before Naruto could plunder his wallet for funds, probably because Sakura had that look on her face again like she was about to start yelling. Honestly, Naruto would too in her shoes. Even if he did give her fair warning to actually eat something and expect him not to be here until well past the shit hour he gave them to show up.

His departure left an awkward silence in its wake. Naruto glanced at his teammates, wondering if their quota for bonding for the day had been met and he could go, or if he was supposed to say something else here. Sasuke was staring at him with that constipated expression again, and Sakura looked oddly intense as she sized him up.

Naruto wondered if Shikamaru was done. Or what Lee was doing. Lee always had time to talk to him, even if he was doing handstand pushups whilst he did it. Naruto could go grab some ramen to go and track him down. Celebrate his not having to go back to the academy, because even though Naruto knew the point of the test, the real miracle here was the fact that he'd gotten Sakura and Sasuke to actually listen to him.

"...Well. I'm gonna go this way. Believe it." Naruto decided, nodding more to himself than to them. He swore he could feel Kurama roll his eyes. How was his sass so tangible that Naruto was sensing his physical movements now?

Sasuke looked intent to go along with it and also book. Sakura stepped forward before either of them could run off, however, completely ruining Naruto's entire day.

"Wait." She blurted out, looking wide-eyed and anxious. "I-I feel like I should apologize to you, Naruto. For doubting you when you said you knew what the test was about."

Uh.

Right, cool. That was super fucking weird. Was she actually apologizing to him of all people right now? Naruto had no idea she knew how to do that. He doesn't know if he should be terrified, impressed, or some mix of both. Probably the latter.

Maybe he was being dramatic. Sakura apologizing wasn't all that strange. She actually wasn't so bad, and they got along alright in the academy. They hadn't exactly been friends, but they certainly weren't enemies either. They just sort of coexisted as acquaintances. 

Sakura was reasonable! They'd probably be great teammates when they got down to it. Top kunoichi in their class, which meant she wasn't a total moron. Great news, because he definitely was. Though she typically didn't afford him her manners, she could still be polite enough wh--

"I'm sorry too." Sasuke muttered out. Immediately, Naruto froze solid.

His heart stopped beating. The entire world stilled, the Earth no longer spinning on its axis. Were Naruto not utterly paralyzed right now, he'd be looking to the sky in search of the fiery meteors that would signify this as the beginning of the fucking rapture. 

Naruto must've hit his head earlier. He's hearing things. This can't be happening. It's even possible that he actually hit his neck in such a way that he straight up dropped dead, and this is his version of his life flashing before his eyes. 

Is this a sign of the end? Will he at least get to go on the KIA stone? Does this count as being killed in action? He thinks this counts. He'd never had a hallucination quite so vivid before. Naruto is fully expecting the universe to implode on itself, and for him to wake up and find out he's been in a coma for ten years when he comes to.

Only Sakura looked like she'd seen a ghost too, staring at Sasuke open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Which meant Naruto wasn't the only one seeing and hearing it. Sasuke was also looking increasingly more and more like he just sucked a lemon, all signs pointing to this being reality. Naruto's genuinely horrified.

Sasuke scowled deeply. Slowly, Sakura and Naruto turned to look at each other, eyes big. Nobody moved, or spoke, or breathed. The stillness brought with it a heavy, almost crushing silence. 

"...All in favor of pretending that never happened?" Naruto asked, voice coming out a bit strangled and wheezy. Sakura and Sasuke both cringed. To him, that was agreement enough.

~~~~~~~

Deciding that Sasuke's increasingly odd behavior was something that Naruto never wanted to think about ever again in his entire life, Naruto did what anyone in his position would and ran off to go burden Shikamaru and Lee with all his problems, as he so loved to do.

They've bonded, okay? Bro-code officially states that there's no TMI, and thus any of them can complain about anything they want. There are no secrets within the bro-code... though, Naruto is sort of beginning to regret that agreement now. Just a little bit.

It's not that Naruto doesn't care about the feelings and issues of his best friends. Of course he cares. Naruto would die for either of them in an actual heartbeat if he thought it would increase their chances of living even just a little bit in a dire situation. They've accepted him, flaws and all, and Naruto values the friendship he's forged with them above most anything else.

They've been through too much together for Naruto not to rally with them on anything and everything. This is just... a little... well, he's not exactly sure how to put it. He's actually not sure what he's supposed to do at all.

Naruto has heard his dad talk and he understand that there are certain conspiracies within Konoha, and especially within the bigger, older clans. The Nara have a super secret bunker underneath the village that they're not planning on sharing with anyone else. Shikamaru definitely wasn't supposed to share its existence with either of them, but here they are.

The Hyuga clan has always been super close-knit, hiding behind the high walls of their compound and hoarding their clan secrets close. After that time where Hinata almost got kidnapped when she was three-- that was a whole incident, Naruto remembers it vividly-- they became even more closed off than before, strict in the managing of their members.

Naruto's dad had been complaining of it lately, worrying that they were hiding something potentially detrimental to the lower members of the Hyuga clan or to the village as a whole. Naruto had sort of suspected the same, but he never saw this coming. Not in a million years.

Naruto only knows Neji by association with Lee and Gai. Being Lee's teammate for over a year, he and Naruto have had their fair share of run ins and they've even had meals together, Naruto crashing in on their team lunches with Kashi and/or Shikamaru in tow. 

Still, Naruto hadn't expected something like this. Something so morally questionable and just wrong. It changed his entire view on the clan within a few seconds of realizing just what he was looking at. It painted them and everything they did and said in an entirely new light.

Apparently, Lee and Neji had gotten to talking after their argument about Neji's supposed mental illnesses. And apparently, that argument had gone somewhere.

"Is there any point to this?" Neji snapped out, eyes red rimmed and teeth clenched as Naruto observed the cursed seal on his forehead. It was done in green ink, stamped across his forehead like a brand. "I told you they'll kill me if they found out I told outsiders, Lee. What about that sounds like an invitation to spill to your idiot friends?" 

Apparently, all Hyuga aside from the main branch were marked with seals that would destroy their kekkei genkai upon their death to prevent it from being stolen or studied. Which seemed reasonable until you realized it could also be used by the main branch to control anyone who had it, to cause extreme pain and basically force anyone who had one to do whatever they wanted.

It was, in so many words, absolutely fucking terrible. Naruto was no seal expert, but his parents were and they'd been steadily passing it on to him over the years. It's a part of Naruto's heritage, practically his birthright. It's no surprise Lee brought this to him.

That doesn't make it any less of a clusterfuck, though. Naruto can't tell his parents because Neji will die if they interfere, and none of them want to risk that. If Naruto is reading this thing right, it could melt Neji's eyes right out of his skull and slowly kill his brain cells. An excruciating death.

"Aside from his parents, nobody in the village knows seals like Naruto does." Shikamaru sounded drawl, though the disturbed look on his face spoke to his unease. "What's the verdict? Can you get it off?" 

Neji flinched at the question, looking rattled by the mere notion of freedom. Naruto took a deep breath to keep his eyes from flashing red in his anger. This was... it was despicable. It was simply despicable.

There was no reason to be tagging their clan members like cattle. The Uchiha had a very much stealable eye dojutsu and they didn't do it. It was no wonder the Hyuga clans secrets never got out, and no wonder they were all so fucking stringent with themselves. Their lives were on the line if they slipped up.

"I don't know. Not right now, and not without a lot of research." Naruto admitted, scowling. "It's single layered on the outside, but there's chakra runes etched under the ink, and twisting spirals joints here on each of these ends. The X complicates things too-- it's a mark that's intended to be permanent as far as seals go. Most seals are built with some kind of failsafe, but this one was made without one in mind. It was never meant to come off."

Lee, whose eyes are also red-rimmed, sniffles a bit. He'd been wobbly when Naruto first found him. Naruto had been fully intent on asking him if he wanted to get celebratory ramen with him at the time. One look at his face had had Naruto asking if he was okay instead, and the question had tipped Lee over the edge and into full blown tears.

Naruto had run recon on Shikamaru at this point. If he was going into the deep end, the Nara was going with him.

They'd never seen Lee so upset before. He looked utterly crushed, quiet in a way Lee simply wasn't supposed to be. His entire body seemed to slouch, his eyes occasionally trailing back up to his teammate's forehead. To know his life was hanging in someone else's hands, that it could be ended at any time--

It was like Neji had a bomb strapped to his forehead. And if he made the wrong move, said the wrong thing, talked to the wrong person... that was it.

"I never--" Neji shook his head sharply, sending a venomous glare Lee's way. "Just forget what you heard here today. I never should've mentioned it. I don't know why I did. I knew it wouldn't be able to come off, I just..."

"I didn't say I couldn't at all. Believe it." Naruto frowned, reaching up to brush his hands and chakra against it. Neji looked about ready to bite him for daring. "Man, this is super fucked up. You know this is super fucked up, right?"

A life of servitude to the main house. There could be no freedom with that seal on his forehead. It was no wonder Neji was always going on about destiny.

"Pretty sure it's somewhat of a war crime, actually. Certainly goes against Konoha's greater principles." Shikamaru agreed, grimacing. His eyes slid to Naruto. "What're we gonna do about this?" 

Great, this had been adopted as their problem now, hadn't it? Whatever. Sure. Super secret clan dirt that nobody else could ever find out about, because there'd be a hit put out on Neji if they did. Even if they did get it off, the political uproar was going to be absolutely insane. They'd want Naruto's head on a pike if he actually did it.

(And he would do it. Naruto's made up his mind, and there's no going back once that happens.)

His dad would be their fastest bet. But Naruto's dad also had a duty to the village, and Naruto didn't want to put him in that kind of position if he didn't have to. He didn't want to do that to his mom, either, because he knew it would kill her to hide anything from his dad. They practically shared a brain, they were so in-tune.

This was going to be on them. Lee was upset, and if Lee was upset? Fuck it. Naruto's been sort of slacking on his sealing lately, but he's about to master it if it's the last thing he does.

"You aren't going to do anything." Neji hissed out venomously, yanking himself away from Naruto. He swiped up his headband, hands trembling as he brought it back up to his forehead, fumbling to tie it. "We aren't teammates, and we certainly aren't friends. This is none of your business. Lee never should've involved you--"

Lee reached out lightning fast, grabbing his teammate's wrist before he could fully stand. Naruto and Shikamaru both winced, shrinking back against one another at the look on his face. Typically, Lee's name and the word "intimidating" didn't belong in the same sentence, but sometimes exceptions can be made.

Like right now. Lee being even moderately terrifying seems like a joke, but that's only because he's so hard to piss off. He's the least sensitive guy there is in terms of temper. Making him genuinely upset is like seeing a unicorn in the wild. 

Here, his glare is sharp. The darkness of his eyes make them look bottomless, inky pools of swirling rage. There's a certain coldness to him that apparently takes Neji off guard, because he stops moving too. He blinks down at Lee like he's seeing him for the first time, mouth slightly agape.

"Neji." Lee's voice is like ice. "Sit down."

Neji sits back down. Naruto laments to himself that he never did get that celebratory ramen.

~~~~~~~~ 

"So, to tally," Kurama's tails swished lazily behind him. "You became an official ninja, that damned Uchiha brat actually apologized to you for once in pathetic his life, and you've decided to become a seal master to crack open the petty conspiracy of one of your sorry village's larger clans."

"Specifically, I need to be a master in cursed seals. But yeah, believe it." Naruto nodded avidly. "The Hyuga are super fucked once I figure this one out. I mean, I get wanting to protect your bloodline and dissuade people from killing your family just to get to your kekkei genkai I get, but seriously? Melting people's brains if they get out of line? That's fucked."

Kurama had technically been there anyway, so talking to him about it was fine. If anyone would have insight, it would be him. He'd been sealed in two seal masters before Naruto, which boded well for his future success in his chosen endeavor. Neji's cursed seal would be off in no time at all.

Kashi couldn't know, though. He'd tell their parents and that would pretty much uproot the entire thing, so Naruto couldn't risk it. He'd already established that his mom and dad couldn't be aware, and telling Ayumu wasn't worth the risk either. This needed to stay tight knit, and Naruto knew how to keep a secret if he needed to.

He just kept thinking about how defeated Neji looked. The way he'd seemed to shrink down in on himself, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. That seal on his forehead meant his life would never be his own. Any dreams he had, he couldn't chase. If he wanted to leave the village, he couldn't.

He couldn't marry anyone they didn't approve of. He couldn't go anywhere they didn't say he could go. Neji couldn't do a damned thing without the permission of the ones actively puppeteering him. A mistake would mean excruciating pain, and if anyone found out he'd told...

Needless to say, Shikamaru and Lee were better at keeping secrets than they looked too. 

Naruto was glad Lee had trusted them with this. Though he had to agree with Shikamaru's assessment that this was going to be troublesome, it would be rewarding at the same time. Neji needed help, and he was a friend too in a way, even if he denied it.

(Naruto would do anything to help his friends. Lee had come to them because he knew they'd help, and help was exactly what they were going to give.)

Shikamaru would find out what he could about the seal did physically, because that would help break it down. It probably wouldn't be much, but his father was jonin commander and thus had a lot of files. Maybe details of those files wouldn't stand out to someone who didn't know, but Shikamaru would be able to pick up on patterns nobody else would in the autopsies of deceased Hyuga branch members.

Naruto's job was to focus on sealing. He'd already pillaged what books he could from his dad's office and the bookshelf in the living room, systematically sorting them into piles of importance. He'd have to study within the confines of his own room. If anyone saw him reading them out in public and associating with Neji, lines could be drawn, and Neji could... 

The risk wasn't worth it. Naruto would have to pour himself into it in his free time, alone. Lee and Neji were counting on him, after all. 

There was something strange about really, truly poring over the sealing books. Naruto had always been interested in seals. His parents had showed him the basics and walked him through the different forms, giving him the bare bones foundation he needed to build on. He knew what the parts were and what they meant, he just hadn't really learned how to put them together or take them apart.

He could recognize and identify. That was the first step for any seal master. Naruto had never taken initiative to study himself before now, however. It felt... odd. Not in the fact that it was actually interesting enough to hold attention, but because something about it just felt inevitable.

It felt like it was always going to happen. Something in him settled. That weird feeling that had been lingering around him as of late wrapped up and through him, and breathing felt easier. Naruto had no idea what it meant, or why the smell of the ocean kept brushing past him when there was no salty waves to be found anywhere near the Leaf.

"Your life is a fucking nightmare." Kurama grumbled not for the first time. 

"It is, isn't it?" Naruto paused in his weaving of a new flower crown, beaming. Kurama looked vaguely repelled. "Now, tell me what you know about cursed seals!" 

Kurama's sigh was full of annoyance, but he complied anyway. Naruto pretended not to notice the way the fox's eyes softened fondly as he did.

~~~~~~~~

Uhhh read up to chapterrrr 9 on Patreon's early access here's a sneak peek of it:

"...Okay. Okay, new mission." Kakashi took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. It did nothing to alleviate the ache in his temples. "First, under absolutely no circumstances can the Hokage know that Naruto is missing. Not now, not later, not ever. We will be eviscerated where we stand, likely by an uprooted tree. I may not have much will to live left dealing with you brats, but that is not how I'm going out."