"Uto-Naruto!" Called a muffled voice.

Was that his name being called?

"Come on kid! Wake up." The muffled sound of Jiraiya called as a firm hand shook the young genin awake.

"Tch...what...what happened?" He tried to mumble out but his throat felt stricken with tensed, overused, muscles. It was as the blonde regained his focus to find the old Pervy ninja peering down at him, that he recalled what had taken place before he blacked out.

"S-Sasuke!" Naruto called out suddenly, remembering the traumatizing event more clearly.

He pushed himself up in haste but grunted, falling back down, as his body was suddenly hit with an overbearing ache all over.

"Easy kid. Sasuke's okay, in the same state as you...but okay" The Sannin sighed, half relief and half stressed out.

Naruto blinked rapidly as he waited for the pain to pass and stared up at Jiraiya, weakly.

"Tell me...what happened?"

Jiraiya almost seemed hesitant to answer the boy but nevertheless, it wasn't his place to withhold information regarding the boy's own actions.

"Well. You started out great, kid. You and Sasuke took them on with clear heads and a strategy in mind...but, they were just...stronger" Jiraiya grimaced as he remembered the two bloodied bodies he had to fight for to get away from the two, ruthless, S-Rank shinobi's.

"I arrived in time to stop them from taking your lives, luckily" The Sannin quipped with a small grin, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Naruto simply frowned up at the ceiling. They had failed and he knew this wasn't going to sit well with Sasuke. Even he felt completely put out by the outcome. They had trained so hard...and for what?

"...where is Sasuke?" Naruto questioned, his voice breaking up a little at becoming emotional of the defeat. It was a hard defeat. He could feel it strongly in his body but more so in his mind and heart. He was hurt, not because his opponents were stronger but because after all that training, blood, sweat and tears...they couldn't last even 10 minutes against them. He felt ashamed and no doubt, Sasuke felt worse.

"Listen, I don't think it's a good ide-"

"Where is he?" Naruto asked in his a sharp tone, his gaze narrowing on the white haired male.

Jiraiya remained still for a moment before complying with a sigh "He's in the other room with Guy. The idiot showed up a few minutes after they left and kicked me right in the no-"

"You let them get away?" Naruto's icy voice cut him off.

Jiraiya sensed the blonde was becoming a little worked about this but chose to remain silent. His only answer being the strong, unwavering, stare he gave the genin as he continued to glare up at the Sannin.

Naruto scoffed "You're a Sannin..." He croaked, his voice holding too many emotions. He couldn't hold them back for some reason. Maybe it was because he realised that no matter how many promises he made to his friend, when the moment came - he failed.

"Naruto." Jiraiya's stern voice pulled him from his depressing thoughts.

"It's okay" he whispered, his gaze softening on the blonde who seemed to only get angrier at the words.

"No, it's not! I promised Sasuke I would help him defeat his brother!" Naruto bellowed, pushing himself up with a grimace. The pain was still almost unbearable but he didn't care at that moment. "I failed!" Naruto cried out, though tears refused to leave his eyes.

"I failed" he breathed out, looking down at his hands laid on his lap with a defeated, miserable, look in his eyes.

Jiraiya wanted to say something but he couldn't. It was true, he did fail and no matter how many times the Sannin could tell him that he could try again and that at least they got to keep their lives. None of it would matter in the end because on this day. They failed.

Neither Naruto or Jiraiya was aware of the extra pair of ears listening in on their conversation though. Sasuke sat upright in his futon as Naruto did in his, staring down at his hands with the same look in his eyes.

The Uchiha could feel the emotion in the blonde's words. He could feel the sincerity in them and that is why he forgave him. When the genin had first awoken, he felt so angry. Angry at his brother. Angry at Naruto but mostly angry at himself for being so weak.

None of it mattered anymore though. Upon hearing the blonde's words, the anger simply faded away and all that was left was determination. Yes, they had failed. Yes, they were beaten nearly to the brink of death but they survived - and they will try again.

Sasuke wasn't one to speak about his emotions, he wasn't the type to ask for help or think things through with a clear mind first. He was one to show his emotions. Instead of asking for help, he would brave it out until someone realised he needed it. Instead of thinking things through, he would do it anyway and deal with the consequences...and instead of being angry with his friend, he would show him that nothing has changed and that he was even more determined to win the next round.

And with that thought in mind, he steadily rose from the futon and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily at the strain his muscles had overgone.

The Uchiha glanced down at himself and frowned at the multiple bandages with red blots slowly making it's way through and the dark purple bruises littering across his body.

Next time. Next time will be different.

Naruto's ears perked up at the sound of movement and the occasional groan coming from the hallway. Thinking the worst, the blonde quickly sprung up past the Sannin trying to catch him and swiftly opened the door.

Naruto's breathing may have been labored from the intense pain scorching through his body but the sight of seeing his best friend in front of him with a pained smirk on his face made him forget all about that.

"Ke..." Naruto almost whimpered in shame but held himself strong as Sasuke's gaze struck through him with blazed eyes.

"Next time" the Uchiha muttered, a smirk still etched on his lips.

Naruto didn't need any further prompting as his eyes glazed over and silent tears rolled down his cheeks in relief.

And with a firm nod, Naruto grinned at him "Next time."

"That's all well and good buuuut...Sasuke, where's Guy?" Jiraiya popped his head over Naruto's shoulder.

Sasuke stared at him, almost apprehensively "He left, said--yelled rather--about needing to tell Sakura and checking up on Kakashi-Sensei" The Uchiha informed, slowly rubbing his trap muscle.

Naruto noticed the lack of nickname used and wondered if it was because of Jiraiya's presence, not being apart of the team and all. The blonde didn't want to even consider that he might be trying to cut his ties.

Naruto's mind clicked suddenly though as he registered what his teammate had said "Sensei? What happened to him?"

"Lets walk and talk, shall we?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes and pushed the two boys out the building, both still dressed but covered in bandages underneath.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted at being nudged forward ungracefully. Naruto simply glowered at the Sannin but quickly complied while taking both, his and Sasuke's, bags from him.

"Apparently Kakashi took on Itachi and that fish guy-"

"His name is Kisame Hoshigaki and you two should never go near him again, he's dangerous..." Jiraiya interrupted.

"You don't say?" Naruto quipped with a raised eyebrow before handing Sasuke his bag.

"And Kisame." Sasuke gave the embarassed Sannin a look while accepting the bag and shuffling it onto his sore back "He kept up a good fight but got caught in Itachi's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan." Sasuke finished explaining.

"Well...at least we know he would've been late to training anyway, right?" Naruto chuckled but abruptly hissed in pain and clutched his ribs. He didn't want to think about what kind of damage was done to them.

Sasuke threw the blonde a glare but otherwise stayed silent.

"So where are we going?" Naruto spoke up after noticing their direction was leading away from the village.

Jiraiya cleared his throat while glancing at the stoic Uchiha. The Sannin felt unsure about bringing him along but since Guy just took off without a word, he didn't have much choice.

"To see my teammate, another of the legendary Sannin! The queen of slugs and elixirs-"

"-Weird combination" Naruto muttered.

"The gambling fool and mistress of the healing arts: Lady Tsunade!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a smug pose.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke but the Uchiha seemed just as confused as the blonde.

Naruto eventually raised his hand "Great but uh...why are we going to see your teammate?"

"Eh?!" Jiraiya yelled out, reaching forward and smacking the blonde of the head.

Naruto yelped and glared at the Sannin while Sasuke simply continued walking without a care to the conversation.

"Kid, do you know who she even is?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I did before you told me but I know her even better now" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't get smart pip squeeck" Jiraiya gave his own version of an eye roll which looked like a deadpanned stare.

"He's not" Sasuke muttered from beside Naruto.

The blonde was the only one that heard him and threw him an offended look.

Sasuke simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say it were true and he couldn't help it.

Naruto shook his head and returned his attention to the Pervy sage.

"What I mean is...why are we going to see her when the village is in a state that needs all ninja on duty to help with repairs and patrols?" Naruto questioned.

Jiraiya stared the boy down for a moment before finally giving in "Alright...we're going to see her because she's the new Hokage"

"Hn."
"Wha!- so soon!"

The two genin exclaimed.

"Yes. The village needs a leader, especially in a time of need like this" Jiraiya explained. The Sannin didn't bother telling the two that their Sensei was supposed to be the next Hokage. It didn't really matter now that he's passed the title onto Tsunade.

Naruto was visibly upset at the news. It was just the other day that they held the funeral for the Sandaime and now the blonde was already in search of a new leader. It almost felt like the boy was betraying the third Hokage...again.

"I just..." Naruto muttered before going quiet.

"Face it, Naruto." Sasuke spoke up, shooting a wary glance at Jiraiya as the Uchiha still refused to use their appointed nicknames in front of anyone but the team alone.

"The village elders probably wanted him to be the next Hokage" Sasuke pointed to Jiraiya, who seemed surprised at the boy's guesswork "and he refused which is why we are heading for Tsunade instead. The elders can't handle the pressure of something falling on their backs instead of another" Sasuke explained with a careless expression.

The raven haired boy was close but it wasn't Jiraiya they wanted.

Naruto frowned upon hearing this and Jiraiya remained silent as he knew the Uchiha had a point and was a lot smarter than what people gave him credit for.

"So... the elders want a new Hokage so soon after the third's death...because they don't want to risk being blamed if something else were to happen?" Naruto grumbled in question, his fists clenched.

"Those jerks!" The blonde spat.

"Naruto. It's not for us to decide when the right time is and isn't." Sasuke explained calmly "we're just weapons, remember. They make the decisions. We execute them"

"Well said." Naruto muttered with a sad frown.

Jiraiya couldn't help but feel deeply saddened as the two spoke and he remained silent. It was hard for the Sannin to see this kind of loyalty yet cruelty for the village in genin's.

But the old man could see a hint of resistance to the system and its decisions in their eyes and he believed Kakashi had a hand in that.

"Enough of that!" Jiraiya spoke loudly and tried bringing up the atmosphere with a big grin "let's go find Tsunade"

"Actually, this is where I leave you" Sasuke spoke up before they could go any further.

Naruto snapped his head toward his teammate in surprise "What? Why? We've already come-"

"Shut up, Dobe. I've got my own training to do." Sasuke glared and walked off without another word.

Naruto stared sadly at his retreating back, not saying a word to stop him. The blonde knew Itachi reappearing in his life had greatly affected him and Sasuke saying was just his way of saying he needed time to be alone.

Naruto sighed sadly while the Sannin narrowed his eyes at the two, feeling slightly confused at their behavior but letting it go. Jiraiya nudged the genin forward which broke Naruto's gaze on the Uchiha's back.

"Well, we don't have all day" the Sannin stated and walked on with Naruto following behind.

Meanwhile.

Sasuke kept walking without looking back at the duo on their way to get the new Hokage. Instead, the young Uchiha stared ahead of him with a blank expression. So many thoughts were rushing through his brain that he could hardly keep up.

There was something...something in Itachi's eyes that made Sasuke do double take. The genin could have sworn he'd seen something akin to sadness in his older brothers eyes.

But why would a murderer like him feeling anything? Especially sadness.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and kicked a stone on the ground but winced as his muscles yelled in protest to the small kick. He really needed to get some rest. His body wouldn't heal as quickly as Naruto's which is one of the reasons he decided to leave them.

Sasuke grumbled under his breath before sighing, exhausted. Not only physically but mentally as well.

As always, the genin thought about his clan and as always, he came to one obstacle that made him question everything he knew. There was something strange about the situation with Itachi. The way his brother acted that night. The words he spoke. How he spared Sasuke. Why? So many questions and yet no one to give him any answers. The young Uchiha couldn't take it anymore and thus, made his way back to the village.

It was time to get answers.