A rain covered street was lit up by lightning as a lone figure, dressed in a tan hooded cloak dashed from alleyway-to-alleyway. He stopped once he came upon a man with bright reddish orange hair, wearing a rather nice suit and sporting a bejeweled cane.
He turned to look at the cloak figure, smiling, "very good. You see guys therefore I hire children, especially the forgotten, little munchkins, very sneaky-sneaky."
The lone figure, standing at waist height compared to the man and his entourage held out his hands. Inside of them was a few wads of multi colored bills. "Oooh-oh, looky-look!" The well-dressed redhead said as he gripped the small figure's shoulder and shook him a little bit.
"let's see here," the man snatched the wad of bills from the hands of the figure, "you've been a spree kid."
"I don't like doing this," the figure spoke in a small masculine voice, "I need the mone…"
"For dear old grandpa, oh woes my dear old grandpa, I tell ya what sport." The man lightly tapped his face before pulling his hood off revealing a mop of blonde hair.
"Sunny, you keep doing jobs for me, and I might have to…boop!" The man slightly raised his voice as he tapped the middle of the blonde's forehead, "delay nature a little tinzy bit more."
"Oi Roman, I think the kid pissed his pants." One of the thugs called out.
"Hey now," Roman gently grabbed the boy's chin revealing under the traces under shattered moonlight of his face, "wouldn't won't our Fennec here being spooked."
"Look Roman I just want this all to stop, gramps is in bad health, he doesn't like what I do to get him medicine." The boy spoke with earnest and plead, "I just want this over with. That's four thousand Lien."
"You want this over?" Roman questioned, as the boy nodded his head and held back his tears of fear.
The blonde was pushed hard towards the ground as Roman raised his cane, and proceeded to beat it against the boy. "Have. You. Not. Learn. A. Goddamn. Thing?!" he screamed as he then kicked the boy after shouting at him.
"I own you, I own the lower district, I own your bloody grandpa." He then looked at the child, "or would you like me to liquidate all assets starting with you?"
"R-Roman," the boy pleaded, "please I'm sorry."
"Oh, look at you Sunny, did I cloud your hopes again?" Roman mocked as he pressed the end of the cane against the boy's chin.
Blood, small amounts, dripped from his nose where Roman had one clean hit on it. It was bent out of shape, slightly, and the boy just wiped the blood off with his wrist.
"Goddamn it Naruto," Roman looked at his wet suit from the rain, "you got me all wet. Want to know how much this suit cost me?"
"H-how much?" Naruto muttered in a defeat.
"Three thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine," Roman simply tossed a light blue bill onto Naruto's curled up form, "Lien."
The slow tap of cane indicated that Roman was slowly walking away, slowly getting up, Naruto grabbed the one Lien. "What you get ya little shit," the blonde looked at one of the thugs, "for talking back to the boss."
Naruto watched as they walked away, gripping the bill out of anger, he gritted his teeth as tears spilled out of his eyes and mixed with the rainwater on his face.
Pulling his hood over his head, the blonde simply stuck the one bill in his cloak's inner pocket and walked away.
A couple of hours, and pickpocket trips later, Naruto slowly made his way across a garbage ridden street.
His hood was down, revealing a clearer image of his features. Two, foxlike ears with blonde fur adorned the sides of his head, almost covered by his long spikey blonde hair. His eyes a cerulean, almost a like the waves of the ocean, glinted against the moonlight.
Rounding a corner, coming to a rundown apartment complex, the blonde looked over the high walls of The City of Vale. Sighing, he simply walked up towards the top apartment, and unlocked the door. However, when he walked into the apartment he saw his grandfather.
His grandfather was laying on the floor, facedown, not moving. "Gramps?"
Naruto walked over, flipping the man over, only to back away when he did.
The man's lips were blue, his skin was cold to the touch, and he had a large bruise across his head. Naruto looked over to the table, noticing one of the chairs knocked over. Shaking, he had more tears fall from his eyes as he roared out in anguish.
Collapsing to his knees, and knee walking over to him, the blonde sobbed as he grabbed on the loose shirt of his grandfather.
Burying his head into his chest, the boy sobbed as he shook. "Gramps! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Roaring out more, Naruto hit his head as he had tears and even snout run down his face from the sobbing. "Gramps, c'mon, don't do this!"
Naruto laid the man's head down, before getting on top of his chest, "don't you do this!"
Naruto started chest compressions like he was taught by a nurse, "don't go, don't go!"
The blonde started to do them faster, "Grandpa!"
"You said that you'd see me go to signal next year, you promised me!" Naruto screamed as he stopped compressions after a few minutes, before beating on the man's chest. "Don't do this, grandpa please!"
Naruto sobbed as he clutched the shirt of the man, sobbing back into his chest, "don't leave me…"
"I'm so sorry Grandpa, I tried to be done with Roman, I tried to tonight. I was going to get your medicine, this is my fault!" Naruto screamed as he smacked his face to wipe the deluge of tears of way.
Slowly getting off the man, the boy just went back to cradling his head, "Gramps…Oh no…no-no-no…"
A neighbor came running to the door, "what in the blazes of all Grim-Oh my god!"
The woman ran over to him, looking at the dead man in the boy's arms. "Oh honey," she grasped at the boy's shoulders, "come on with me, we'll call the police."
"Hey kid, my name is Daniel Imia, I'm the police captain in this station." A large, muscled man, said as he walked through the door.
Naruto didn't even look up, a bandage across his nose, plus his stained face was all that was needed to be said for the boy's current state of mind. "Listen kid, you were brought in mumbling that the man in there was your grandfather…were you adopted?"
"Yes…" Naruto simply and void of any emotional attachment muttered.
"Hmm, that's a mighty brave thing of a man to do, especially in his age. Was his name Hiruzen Sarutobi?" Daniel inquired as he got out a notepad.
"Yes…" Naruto once again mumbled.
"And, you're Naruto Uzumaki? Tell me, Naruto." The man took a deep breath, "did your grandfather have any other family."
"He has a grandson named Konohamaru, his mother is married to a soldier in Atlas." Naruto answered, "they estranged him when he adopted me."
"Oh…" Daniels looked at the young boy, "is it because you're faunas?"
The boy looked up at the man, before shrugging and shaking his head. "I don't know…" he began to sob again.
"How old are you kid?" Daniel questioned.
"Eleven." Naruto answered through the sobs as he tried to hold them back.
"It takes a lot of willpower kid; your grandfather was dying of Tracer's Syndrome…you knew that, right?" Daniel questioned.
"All I know he was sick, and he didn't get better…" Naruto muttered as he curled up more while sitting down, "he's been unable to do much."
"Well, kid, you should be damned proud of yourself. Not many can provide at such a young age, but I have to ask because of protocol…did your grandfather beat you?" Daniel inquired on bruises.
"No…" Naruto shook his head, "just a bad day for a walk."
"I see…well kid, I'll be calling district to go and pick up your belongings out of the home." Naruto looked at him, "you'll be moved to an orphanage in the lower sector."
"Can I at least know when the funeral will be?" Naruto questioned.
"Of course, you're family kiddo." Daniel said as he patted the kid's back, but was slightly disheartened by the way this boy's hard day.
Every so often, everyone had a hard day where something wouldn't just work right, and often it foresaw tragedy.
"When do I go?" Naruto inquired as he looked at Officer Daniel.
"You'll have to be there tonight," the man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "it will be hard little guy."
Naruto just frowned as he slowly looked towards the door, before slowly being escorted to it.
He stopped, before looking at him. "Can I have my grandfather's books…I like to read about Hunters."
"Sure kid," Daniel got up, "let me get the door."
Naruto opened the door to his new home as he carried a rucksack into the room. He looked around, seeing a small twin sized bed, box spring on the floor, leaving no space underneath. The blonde slowly laid the rucksack down, before walking back outside to grab two more rucksacks.
"Alright kid, that's about it. Breakfast is at seven in the morning, it's currently one so I suggest you sleep. Lunch is thirteen in the afternoon, and dinner is eighteen in the evening. We got a library, we got a television in the group room. You'll go over the rules in the morning." A woman said as she walked behind the boy as he reentered the room, "you have a good night."
Sighing Naruto slowly walked towards the bed, collapsing into it, before pulling out a picture he had in his cloak's pocket.
A picture of him, and his grandfather holding hands in front of an Airbus destined for Patch.
Signal Academy.
"isn't it a little harsh how the system works sir, being processed so fast?" Daniel inquired as he sat down and had coffee with his partner.
"Vale is a prosperous, but even the most prosperous of countries have a streamlined code. This kid, you said he lived near the walls, isn't that where a lot of disgraced or disabled hunters lived?" Daniel nodded at the other officer's question.
"You'd think that Hunters would be treated with dignity in that event, even for one such as Sarutobi." Daniel told the officer as he sipped on his coffee, "damn shame. Spend the highlights of their years fighting an infestation as old as man itself only to get casted out on his choice to abandon an officiate to save a child."
"Oh, damn, that was him? That officiate was a general from Atlas, that almost caused another conflict." The man said as he remembered the news reel about it.
"There was going to be a trial, but Hiruzen chose a guilty plea, a damn good bargain. For the death of an Atlas General his rank was pulled from the Hunter Database, his license revoked, but he got to keep his life." Daniel explained, "until he adopted that Faunas we brought in earlier."
"You seem to have something personal to this case?" his partner shifted in his seat, "sup with that?"
"It's nothing personal, but I read through the files last night, cases like this are always hard hit. Forgotten Children, Forgotten Elders, Forgotten this-and-that. Forgotten, Forgotten-forgotten, the living conditions they're forced to undertake is sad in itself." Daniel finished his coffee, "A stray Grimm ends up over that wall and maybe one day we'll be dragging that Faunas kid into the morgue."
"That was kind of dark Daniel." His partner stated as he grabbed his newspaper.
The sudden buzzing of his scroll brought Daniel's attention to it, before he picked it up. "Y'ello."
"I believe a friend of mine took a little trip to your station, where is he now?" Daniel eyes widened as he got up from his seat.
"Something wrong sir?" his partnered looked at the panicked cop.
"Nothing's wrong Probie," Daniels said as he grabbed his gun, "I just got a lead is all."
Naruto got up from his bed, sweat rolled down of his brow as he quickly wiped it off. Slowly stretching the blonde walked over towards his rucksack, pulling three articles of clothing from it. A brown pair of boxers, an orange shirt with a black rabbit painted on it, and black sweatpants.
Walking over to the mirror he looked at himself, before seeing all the dry tear stains. Licking his palm, he began wiping them off one at a time, before just giving up and laying against the mirror with his head. Naruto looked at his face, the bruising still there, and he clenched his fist.
"I made a promise!" Naruto cocked his hand back before smashing it into the glass, "I said I'd take care of you!"
He hated seeing himself, he hated seeing himself so weak, so pitiful, he hated being so weak and pitiful!
He hated how he was nothing but a dog to Roman. Hating the fact, he couldn't get more of his Grandfather's medicine, hated the fact that he was Faunus. All of this, all this hatred, it was boiling inside of him like a raging demon.
Something had to give as blood dripped down his hand.
The one image that came to his mind, Roman beating him with a cane.
Like. A. Dog.
Naruto eyes began to glow a pale orange as something began to build up, no something began to explode, something boiling. He couldn't describe this feeling, this feeling of anger and sadness mixed into one.
The blonde's hair stood up to attention, something like a fuzz of static felt about his body, like it was void of feeling. Finally, after all of this, the last image of him holding his grandfather along with Roman laughing in the background, let loose the floodgate.
A sharp blast of wind, a screeching hum of energy, an unknown previous unheard noise to his ears. His eyes closed, trapped in that one image, but when they opened they were stuck upon another. His room a mess, the glass that had imbedded his skin was pushed out, his hands had begun healing.
The orange glow eyes staring back at him, it felt…wrong but right.
The orange waves of the energy leaked from the equally impressive form fitting outline of a darker orange that seemed to hug his body. He looked at his hands, himself in the small bits of glass, and he felt as though a tidal wave of rage had just crashed into him.
He didn't know why, he didn't know how, and he didn't know the trigger.
Was it the years of abuse from Roman, the desperate attempt at repaying his grandfather for taking him when he was capable, the daily racism he dealt with on lower sector of Vale. Maybe, just maybe it was these, finally breaking down some sort of wall within himself.
He then thought, a dark thought creeped into his head, with all this power…could he get revenge?
The abuse was one thing, but if he hadn't needed to go on a few more pickpocketing trips his grandfather might've been alive. After all, Tracer's syndrome was treatable with potent and expensive antibiotics, and his inability to get them that night may had resulted in his grandfather's death.
These thoughts played, like a violin, in the boy's head. Finally, the strings had snapped, and he fell forward as his energy dispersed from his body. Breathing hard, throwing up contents of yesterday's soup across the floor, the amount of power he had just felt was intense.
His emotions were intense, his body felt light but heavy at the same time. He couldn't explain it, but besides the dry heaving that had now taken the place of actual vomiting his body didn't seem to wretch as much as it should've.
As much as it used to do in this situation, but now he was keeping himself stable.
"Dear Gods!" A woman's yell snapped him back to reality, he and her both locked eyes.
His body suddenly, for whatever reason, felt incredibly heavy. Naruto eyes rolled back as he fell to the side, his head barely missing the puddle of vomit.
"Nurse! Nurse!" The matron screamed as she ran out of the room.