Musubi: Prologue
Musubi.
It's the thread that binds us all.
It's how we're all connected.
It's how fate ties us all together, even if we don't realise it.
...
"I found her," Kakashi said quietly to the phone.
For a moment, it was as if time stopped.
"Really?" Fugaku asked, relief flooding his voice.
"Yes I'll bring her over at night."
"Make sure no one sees you."
"Hai."
...
Shortly before midnight, a black car pulls up by the Uchiha Manor, and was quickly ushered behind the tall walls. Fugaku and Mikoto went out to greet their late guests, hovering anxiously by the doorway.
"Is that her?" Mikoto asked in a hushed voice, when Kakashi emerged from the car, leading a small little girl behind him, carefully hiding herself in the legs of the silver-haired man in the presence of strangers.
Kakashi nodded, and Fugaku forestalled any further questions by beckoning them into the house, where they would be safe from prying eyes and ears.
"Where did you find her?" Fugaku asked once they were in his study.
"On the streets," Kakashi replied, his tone belying exactly how he felt about the situation. "She was well hidden, and wouldn't trust anyone who approached her. I had to coax her out of her hiding place after multiple assurance that I wasn't going to do anything to her."
"She doesn't remember anything?" Mikoto asked tentatively, earning a shake in response.
Fugaku grimaced at the information, closing his eyes to offer silent apologies to Minato and Kushina for failing their daughter. Beside him, Mikoto gasped and brought a hand up to her mouth, her eyes wet as she thought of what the six year old girl must have gone through in the past two years. Taking a breath to compose herself, Mikoto slowly approached the little girl, taking care not to scare her with sudden movements. She knelt down gingerly in front of her, and spoke in her motherly voice. "It's alright now, Naru-chan, nobody will hurt you now that we've found you. I promise. We won't let the bad guys get you again."
Her words did nothing to coax her out from behind Kakashi's leg though, and the three of them exchanged a look before Mikoto placed her attention on Naruto again. "Naru-chan?" she called unsurely, a hand reaching out to stroke her.
There was a sharp intake of breath when Mikoto's hand touched Naru, and blue eyes lifted up at last, showing her face to the Uchiha Matriarch and Patriarch for the first time that night. But what they saw made their hearts grow cold.
"Her face..!" Mikoto gasped, eyes wide as she stared at Naru, causing Naruto to shrink back on herself and behind Kakashi's legs once again. Across the cheeks of the little girl's face was six long slash marks reminiscent of whiskers marks, disfiguring what was once smooth skin of a beautiful little girl. From the state of the slash marks, Fugaku could tell that they were made long ago as they have healed completely, though they must have been deep cuts or kami forbid, made multiple times for it to be scarred so heavily.
"She was already like this when I found her," Kakashi bit out, his unoccupied fist clenched in anger and self-guilt at the thought.
Turning back to the hiding girl, Mikoto fought to compose herself. "I'm sorry, Naru-chan. I didn't mean to react so badly, I was just surprised. Please forgive me, neh?"
There was no response from the girl, and Mikoto grew increasingly worried. "Naru-chan?" she called again, moving her hands towards the blond girl once again, while Kakashi gently rubbed his thumb on the small hand he was holding as encouragement. This time, the girl barely flinched away, and slowly lifted her head up to meet the concerned gaze of the adults, her blue eyes reflecting her uncertainty and insecurity.
Her eyes flitted from one adult to another and she must have saw something in the eyes of the adults in front of her because she opened her mouth to speak for the first time since entering the Manor, albeit timidly. "I am safe?"
Mikoto smiled gently at the child in front of her, resisting her maternal instincts to hug the girl, because she was sure it would scare her even more. "You are safe here, Naru-chan. Fugaku and I will protect you here. And you trust this nii-san here to protect to you, no? That's why you came with him, right? So he will only bring you to a place with good guys, neh?"
Hesitantly, Naruto nodded, a tiny smile blossoming on her face. "Thank you," she said, giving a short bow to illustrate her sincerity.
Smiling as an image of a younger Naru doing the same crossed her mind, Mikoto offered her hand to the girl. "Come, Naru-chan, we'll wash you up and settle in."
Naruto raised her head towards Kakashi, earning a short nod, before releasing Kakashi's hand, and taking Mikoto's hand instead. Just before the two females left the room however, Naruto stopped and addressed the adults in the room with a question. "Is Naruto really my name?"
Fugaku and Mikoto froze, both turning to Kakashi for an explanation for such a question, but he had closed his eyes at the question, his face teeming with pain and regret. "Do you not know what your name is?" Mikoto asked carefully, earning a headshake in response. "That is really your name, Naru-chan. Your full name is Nami-" Mikoto explained, only to be cut off by Fugaku's hand on her shoulder.
"Uzumaki. Your full name is Uzumaki Naruto. Naru is just your nickname that we got used to calling you," Fugaku explained easily.
Soundlessly, Naruto mouthed her name to herself, slowly acquainting herself to her newly found real name. "I like Naruto better than Naru," she decided, looking up at the adults in askance.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Mikoto agreed with a smile. "Of course Naru-ch- Naruto-chan. I'll remember not to call you Naru-chan anymore. Come, let's get you ready for bed." Glancing back at the men in the room, Mikoto excused herself to settle Naruto in her new home.
The moment the door closed, Fugaku heaved a loud sigh and collapsed into an armchair, his hand rubbing his temple to sooth the pain.
"You lied about her surname," Kakashi intoned, unsure if he should be angry at or grateful to the older man.
"It would be safer for her," Fugaku murmured, willing the younger man to understand. "Her name would stand out like a beacon, and make it all the more easier for Danzo to find her. She is much safer with Kushina's last name, with her many cousins spread across the Elemental Nations. It would be even better if she has a first name that won't raise alarm bells, but I can't bear to take away the only thing she has left of her parents."
Kakashi closed his eyes. "She used to love it when sensei and Kushina-nee call her by her nickname," he whispered, grief washing over him much again.
Fugaku didn't reply, similarly lost in his memories. After a moment, Kakashi asked, "How are you going to keep her safe?"
"Hide her, camouflage her. Anything that would make it hard for Danzo to pinpoint the child," he replied wearily.
There was silence as both men stewed in how screwed up the whole situation is. "I'm going to make Danzo pay for all of this," Kakashi promised lowly .
Fugaku looked up at the silver-haired man tiredly. "You're not the only one, kid."
...
"Did you find her?" a man asked from the shadows.
"I'm sorry, Danzo-sama, but we lost her trail."
There was a tense silence as Danzo considered the information he had just received.
"Keep looking," he ordered. "I want her found."
"Hai, Danzo-sama."
"Has the boy said anything yet?"
"No, sir. He is still very tight-lipped about the whole thing."
Danzo narrowed his eyes at the news. "Keep going at it, I don't care how young he is. I want information out of that boy and I know he has it."
The informant gave a bow in acknowledgement, before moving to dismiss himself.
"Keep an eye out on the clan compounds as well. Especially the Uchihas, " he ordered before the man left the room.
The door snapped shut and Danzo was left to his thoughts. "So young and she had already gained such strong loyalties," he mused to himself. "She would make a good leader one day," he frowned, an unpleasant feeling rising in his throat.
"There are traitors within your men," another man commented from the shadows.
"Indeed," Danzo agreed. "The escape would be impossible with just the planning of two children."
"The question is, who?"
A/N:
I need to admit, I'm bad with titltes. Musubi is the working title for now, and yes I borrowed it from Your Name but I felt that it was suitable, though I don't find it to be absolutely perfect at the moment. The alternative is The Thread that Links Us, which is kind of similar, but different. Musubi seems a little bit more elegant, but The Thread that Links Us is a little bit more catchy. Which one do you prefer, and why?