Title: Yuri Uchiha
Author: Heejung Lim
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. And you are allowed to use Yuri and siblings for your stories if you ask permission. :)
1. Enter Yuri
The small girl looked up at the sign to the village entrance. She knew the symbol of Konoha ever since she was a baby. During her father's visits, she would sometimes run her finger around and around on the swirly carving on his headband (except it was sort of split into two in his headband.). The leaf symbol. And it was a good thing she was here. She hadn't known how much longer she would last.
She looked nothing more than a poor little beggar. Her dark hair was streaked with dirt, clothes were ragged and dirty, she was skinny, and her eyes were big, dark, and haunting.
'But I know everything is all right now.' she thought. She wanted to forget everything and bask in the joy of finally reaching her destination.
The girl was so tired that she fell without realizing it and slept for a long, long time.
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"Sakura-chan! Please let me go with you!" a whiny voice pleaded.
Sakura sighed in frustration. What did she do to ever deserve this? Naruto Uzumaki wanted to "date" Sakura. Even though she had to go do her duties at the hospital (as a medical nin). No matter how much she protested, he pleaded, nagged, begged, and whined. To the point where she couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine, all right! But-" Naruto stopped cheering. "You have to be quiet. No talking! And absolutely NO disturbing the patients."
"I can do that." he said cheerfully.
'No you can't.' thought Sakura, but didn't say anything out loud.
Both of them entered the hospital. Clean, white, boring hospital. Privately, Naruto hated it, but didn't say it aloud. After all, he had owed it to the hospital many times for saving him.
Just as they entered, a small streak shot out of the door.
"Ow! Who the hell was that! So rude! That person pushed me!" Naruto whined.
"You already broke your promise!" Sakura yelled, and pulled back her fist to punch him.
Naruto cowered. "Yeah, but someone pushed me."
"Come back here!" a frantic, brown-haired nurse yelled. She looked like she was in bad condition. The bags under her eyelids indicated that she hadn't slept for days, and she looked thinner than she should be.
"Who was that?" Sakura asked. She lowered her fist and looked up.
The nurse started crying. "Oh, Sakura-chan! I don't know what to do with that girl! That little devil runs around everywhere and escapes at least twice a day!"
While Sakura was trying to comfort the sobbing nurse, Naruto looked outside. The girl was still there, behind a tree, curiously peeking at him.
"Hey, little girl, come here! You shouldn't run away from a hospital!" Naruto cupped his hands and started bellowing in the girl's general direction.
She didn't say anything, just kept on staring.
"I'll go get her." He sighed, leaving behind Sakura and a VERY frustrated nurse. (From now on we'll refer her to as Mrs. Insane Nurse.)
The girl didn't struggle or do anything as Naruto went over and scooped her up. It was a little…creepy.
"You shouldn't run away like that? Why do you do that?" Naruto sighed.
The girl said nothing.
"Thank you." Mrs. Insane Nurse had composed herself and wiped away her tears. "I don't know how I got stuck with her. Come on, Number 11." She grabbed the little girl's hand.
"Number 11? Shouldn't you call her by her real name?" Naruto asked, looking at the little girl.
"She doesn't have a name. Not one that we know, anyways. The little brat doesn't talk." the nurse wailed. "I don't know what to do with her!"
The girl took this as a cue to bite Mrs. Insane Nurse's hand. The woman howled in pain and immediately slapped the little girl. Eleven rubbed the new red spot on her cheek gently and then stared at the nurse.
"Naruto will take care of her." Sakura volunteered. "He'll take her out for the rest of the day." That would keep him occupied, the girl would be entertained, and the nurse would be happy. She gave herself a pat on the back.
Mrs. Insane Nurse stopped crying and looked up to Sakura as if she was a goddess who was talking to mere mortals. "Really? Could he do that?"
"Um, no!" Naruto yelled, but as he saw the nurse's bottom lip quiver, he yelled out a, "Yes, of course! My pleasure!"
The little girl, Number Eleven, cocked her head slightly to the right and stared at the blonde ninja. It was kinda cute, but Mrs. Insane Nurse didn't think so.
"Let's go, Eleven!" Naruto said in a forced happy voice. "We'll have so much fun, you're head will spin!"
"I doubt that." Mrs. Insane Nurse said dryly as Naruto left with the little girl's hand in his own.
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What do little girl like to do, thought Naruto. Oh, I know! They like teddy bears. Yup, who could resist harmless little teddies? Naruto remembered he used to have a little teddy bear (he had to look for it. Hmmmm. ) And Gaara had told him about his own teddy bears, too!
"Hey, um, Eleven, I'll buy you something!" Naruto exclaimed.
Eleven looked at him blankly. It was creepy sometimes, the way she stared. Quietly, emotionlessly, sort of weird for a short four-year-old. There was something about Eleven that reminded him of someone. But who?
"You look stunted. More like you've just turned three, not a big four-year-old girl. You should eat more ramen." Naruto said, patting her head.
Eleven sneezed.
"Cold? Don't worry. We can go to my house, and it'll be all nice and toasty in there."
Eleven bit Naruto shortly after he said that. Naruto yelped in pain. That girl's teeth were sharp! Little piranha.
Eleven gave him another blank stare.
"Just stop looking at me like that." Naruto said, patting her on the head. But his hand still hurt.
There was something familiar yet strange about the girl. Just something. He had to put his finger on. Some sort of an aura, in her innocent little eyes.
"Do you like pink? Of course, all girls like pink!" Naruto yelled, getting excited and hyper.
They both approached a small but warm and friendly-looking toyshop. Naruto hesitated for a minute, then patted the girl's head again and said, "You stay here. I'm gonna get you something nice and cuddly."
It was an awkward situation. Naruto had no idea on how to deal with little girls, let alone this strange, sort of hostile one. She bit people, for heaven's sake!
Of course, anyone who personally knew the little kid would have known that was a big mistake. Because when Naruto went back outside, triumphant with a pink teddy bear in his hands, Eleven was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh no! Dammit, what'll Sakura and Nurse say?" Naruto screamed. Visions of a bloodthirsty Sakura and (especially) Mrs. Insane Nurse came into his vision. And his corpse was not pleasant, not pleasant at all.
"Ah, how could you do this to me!" was heard all over the village. People turned to stare at Naruto.
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Great. Just great. They'd put her in a hospital. Mommy always told her never to go in a hospital. They were bad. They took your blood and read it and found out who your mommy and daddy were, so she couldn't do it.
And they couldn't find out who Father was.
"Happy birthday!"
"Yay, I'm four years old today!"
"Yes, you are. You're Mommy's little-"
"Hey! There you are!"
The girl looked up in surprise, her sort-of-flashback interrupted. It was that guy again, the blonde one in icky orange. Naruto. And he was holding a vomit pink teddy bear in his hand. She despised teddy bears. And her favorite color was definitely not pink. She didn't like him, but she hadn't liked many people since that day.
"Hey, you know you're next to my house?" he asked.
Blank stare again. She had no idea what he was talking about.
"Whatever. Let's just go in."
Naruto opened the door and shoved Eleven roughly in. "Don't run off again. Sakura'll blame me, just me, only me, and nobody but me." h scolded.
Eleven strared blankly. But she also quickly inspected the room. As Mommy used to say, "Assess your surroundings first! That's very important."
Nothing threatening. Just a messy room with a table and chairs and other pieces of random furniture and junk crammed in. Not quite the kind of house she and Mommy had. Mommy was always cleaning. And their house was bigger, really big for the two of them, and even though it was small, it was always quite pretty.
"Here's your teddy." Naruto said, thrusting the soft, pink thing into her arms. "Nice, isn't it? Go play with it. I'm gonna take a shower. STAY HERE."
Naruto left the room. Eleven felt a little scared. Even though she hadn't liked him, he was a "big boy" and if Father came, he could maybe stop him. Just maybe.
She was alone, alone, alone in the room, with that toy that reminded her of…that day.
She found a kunai, a nice, shiny one, on the table. Perfect.
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"Heya, Eleven. What's up? Time to go back to the hosp… HOLY SHIT! WHAT DID YOU DO!!!!!!!!"
Naruto was shocked by what he saw. On the floor ripped to shreds, was the teddy bear he had spent his own, hard-earned money on. Or what was left of it. Bits of cotton, fluff, and pink material were scattered around. And there was red paint everywhere, splattered on the floor, so it looked like blood. Damn fricking red paint. It would take forever to wash out the stains.
And there was the little, harmless girl, who was either five or younger, painting some red on a kunai so it looked blood stained.
"Eleven!" Naruto shouted.
The little girl looked up and waved cheerfully.
Naruto felt frustrated. What was wrong with this girl? Was she a sick, twisted monster deep inside or what?
"Look, this indicates your mind is unhealthy. Or something like that." Naruto grouched, remembering something he had read while skimming through one of Sakura's books. "Little girls ripping up teddy bears and painting blood is not good."
Eleven threw what was the ear of the teddy at our favorite orange ninja. Needless to say, he got sort of offended.
Naruto made his way carefully over to Eleven (making sure he didn't get any paint on his feet). He crouched down eye-level to her and said, "This is a very bad thing. Little kids shouldn't do things like that."
Eleven reached over and bit him again. But this time, it was softer and didn't hurt as much. But it still hurt.
"That's it. Back to the hospital." Naruto sighed, and picked the little girl up by her shirt. "You're a very weird girl, you know?"
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"Then she threw the ear at me! And after that, I went over to her, and she bit me again!" Naruto shouted, magnifying each word.
"Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "Shut up! Explain again slower and more quietly."
Both of them were outside, in the forest, awaiting their late (surprise, surprise!) sensei. Then Naruto started telling Sakura about his day Eleven.
"That girl worries me." Naruto kept talking in his loud voice. "And she reminds me of someone, just someone. I can't put my finger on it. Not to mention that I actually feel sorry for Mrs. Insane Nurse. Are you going to the hospital today?"
"That was random, but the answer is yes." Sakura replied immediately.
Naruto nodded. "Good. I want to see her again. She'll be sent to an orphanage, right? But I think…" Naruto hesitated here. "Okay, this sound a little weird, but I think she should become a shinobi."
Sakura blinked. Twice. "Why?"
"Um, now that I think about it, she does seem pretty good for a little kid. I mean she escaped from me at the toy shop really quick, so she might've been using chakra. And that shredding that teddy bear into pieces with a kunai isn't exactly the easiest for a four-year-old. Right?"
Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but then Kakashi appeared in a puff of smokeand said a simple, classic, "Yo."
"Oh, hi." Naruto said. "Let's go."
Kakashi stared at Naruto. After a few seconds, he said, "Quick, answer me! What is you favorite food?'
"Ramen." Naruto said immediately, and then stared back. "Why are you asking me this?" Jeez, what was wrong with the world?
Kakashi leaned on the nearest available tree. "Well, I had to make sure you were actually Naruto, and not a spy. Usually, the moment I arrive, you always whine about me being late."
"YOU ARE ALWAYS LATE!" Naruto yelled, realizing with fury that he hadn't scolded Kakashi at all. "READING THOSE PERVERTED NOVELS OF YOURS!"
"Just a delayed reaction, I see." Kakashi chuckled.
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Eleven wanted it badly, but nobody was going to give it to her. Mrs. Insane Nurse hated her, because she always tried to escape. But Mommy said hospitals were bad. She was right. They had needles, the kind of shots that totally freaked her out. She would NOT let them ever give her a shot. If they tried, she would struggle very hard. Sometimes she hit them, or kicked them. Most of times, she bit them, and was careful to send chakra to her teeth to make it even more painful.
The bag of cookies seemed to mock her. She wanted cookies badly, she hadn't eaten a single sweet thin since her birthday. And she loved cookies very much, especially the kind that Mommy made.
She was in her room, but through the window, she could peek into part of the gift shop, which contained bags and bags of yummies.
"HIYA ELEVEN!" a voice screamed.
Eleven did not flinch or even turn around. She already knew who it was. Daddy had taught her voice recognition, and she recognized that Naruto guy. All she cared about right now were the cookies. Delicious, sweet, chocolaty, heavenly cookies.
"Hmmm, whatcha staring at? Oh, cookies! Wait right here." There was a flurry and Naruto was gone. Eleven did not care. She commenced her day by staring at the blank, white ceiling.
But he was back a few minutes later.
Eleven perked up when she saw what he got. Cookies! She gave a smile and bounced up and down.
"You're really skinny. Here." In one, quick motion, Naruto ripped the bag open, and she quickly grabbed one.
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Naruto's heart ached a little, seeing the little girl. Her smile was beautiful, and the delight in her eyes was barely contained. Poor, poor little kid. She didn't have much to be happy about, from what he figured.
"Here." Naruto said, handing her another teddy bear, fresh from the gift shop.
Eleven cocked her head, and studied the new toy in her arms. She looked so cute that what happened next shocked Naruto. She quickly ripped off the head.
"Eleven!" Naruto yelled.
The girl looked up guiltily. She vigorously shook her head. She didn't want it. She hated teddy bears.
Naruto understood. Well, at least she was trying to communicate.
"Eleven, come on. What have you got against teddy bears?" Naruto sighed.
Eleven made a few hand signs. One of them was drawing an imaginary line across Naruto's headband. Another was a swishing motion.
"Eh? Sorry I don't understand you. If I buy you one more, promise not to rip it up, but to take good care of it?"
Eleven hesitated, and then nodded. She was starting to like Naruto quite a bit now. He was nice. Sort of like Mommy.
"All right. Good. Cuz I got another one right here. One from when I was a little kid." Naruto rummaged through a small bag he had brought. "Ah. Here he is."
Orange. An orange teddy bear.
Eleven took it gently and hugged it. There was something about it that she couldn't put her finger on. But what was it? Mmmm. She liked the nice guy who gave her teddies and cookies.
She decided on something. She tugged on Naruto's hand and whispered, "My name is Yuri."
There you have it! Yuri Uchiha has officially entered the story! (Of course, this entire story is about her. Sort of.)