Hello, it's me, Urethane. I decided to rewrite this fic because I felt that it was rather rushed. Re-reading it again was simply embarrassing so I chose to rewrite it. If you didn't notice either, I removed another one of my stories, 'Another Brother', because I wanted to rewrite it as well. These two particular fics were my second and third stories, which would explain my incredible lack of... well, everything.
I didn't rewrite the second and third paragraph mainly because I felt that they weren't as poorly written as the others. Though, I will not be deleting the original BITW because I want easy access to reflect on my writing levels. I personally think I've improved, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on it as well.
Rest assured, I will try my best for all my fics and as always, I hope you enjoy what I've tried to remake.
REWRITE!
A small handfuls of clichés, but rather similar in fashion to a majority of VFSNAKE's Naruto fics.
NOTES:
1- NARUTO IS OLDER THAN ALL OF THE GENINS, BUT IS THE SAME AS HAKU AT THE AGE OF 15.
2- Kisame did not meet 'Madara'. He simply ran after getting a hold of Samehada, having lost faith in his country at the betrayal of his superior.
Pairing Naruto/Haku
Stationary fireworks buzzed and their ends sparkled before they shot off their stands like excited children, taking to the chilly night air. Whizzing up into the air and leaving a thin trail of visible smoke behind, they exploded up in the dark sky, lighting up the whole village in an array of different colours. The large number and intense brightness of the fireworks temporarily blocked out the myriad of stars that was scattered across the dark sky.
Children and adults alike, dressed in their formal yukata, roamed up and down the brightly lit streets, walking from store to store beneath round paper lanterns. Each had a face of happiness, sharing the same exuberance with each other as if it were some kind of contagious disease. Smiles, grins and laughter were very prevalent today. Those that were busy watching the multitude of colourful lights going off in the air clapped and cheered, their worries forgotten for today.
The cause of celebration was because today marked the day that Konohagakure had survived after encountering the almighty and fearsome Kyuubi all those years ago. It had taken a lot from them, ranging between husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. It had even taken their Hokage, the man who had stopped the Third Shinobi War, after a long and intense battle.
/
"Please Hiruzen… take care of Naruto… don't let the village know that he holds the Kyuubi…" And with that, the Yondaime fell to the grass face first. His face peaceful and happy, knowing that at least his baby boy was safe from the clutches of the vengeful villagers.
Sarutobi nodded… that was until Minato died, and then his sad face turned into a sneer, one he directed at the sleeping blonde baby.
This… Demon! He was the cause of all this happening. The village was partially in ruins while the rest suffered minor structural damages, lives were lost, including his wife's, and most importantly, Uzumaki Kushina had died while giving birth to the demon child.
Hiruzen gritted his teeth, he could not kill the boy, for if he did, there would be no other Uzumaki's left to contain the Kyuubi when it returned and would most likely destroy the village for revenge.
Kushina was not supposed to have married Minato. She had unfortunately caught his eye and eventually married the blonde man, much to most of the men in the village's chagrin. Why? They had intended to kidnap her once she was old enough when she was out on a fake mission, telling the rest of the village that she had perished in the process. Once they had her, Hiruzen would place her in the secret underground facility, raping and impregnating her for the good of the village.
Not to mention the pleasure.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen had lusted for the woman's flesh for at least a decade, and so had the other disgusting males of the village who kept their filthy eyes on her. Dreaming of pulling on her crimson tresses while she took their full lengths, ignoring her cries of protest as they did this to her day in and day out until the day she would be barren and would no longer produce
any more Uzumaki's, not that it would stop there of course, seeing as how Uzumaki's had quite the longevity, retaining their youthfulness even at the age of 50.
The village would also earn a decent amount of money from people paying to have a go at the once-feisty red head. Heck, even Jiraiya himself had spied on Kushina bathing with the help of his 'Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Hiding with Camouflage Technique)' and had spread word about how well she kept her body from physical training as a Kunoichi. Jiraiya had thanked Kami when he learnt that Kushina never shut the bathroom stall door when she showered, entering through the main door when the loud water started as a cover to hide the squeaking noise it made whenever it opened.
Luckily, she was spared all of these horrible acts when she had married Minato and died giving birth to Naruto.
Had Minato not been stuck inside of the Shinigami's gut, he would've been rolling in his grave if had this happened and would've thanked the gods when he learned that she had died with him. In death, they would not be able to get his beloved wife… however, in death; they were not able to stop the years of abuse to their baby boy. Rain dripped from the sky, as if it were a physical representation of their tears as they saw the village beat and harm their child.
Hiruzen thought otherwise.
Bah! He would ignore the Yondaime in favour of using the hatred the boy gained for the villagers, turning it into a goal to earn their respect by becoming Hokage. Hokage! Hah!
Absolutely laughable, which it was! The old man laughed behind the cheerful boy's back, smiling kindly like a grandfather only when he needed him. If and when the boy ever became too strong, Danzo's Root forces were instructed to eliminate the Jinchuuriki… after he had been forcefully used to impregnate kunoichi captured from other villages and having his children harvested like crop, to be used forever as Jinchuuriki containers. Jiraiya would create the best seals he could on the children upon birth, making them suitable for hosting the Kyuubi. It wouldn't be as strong as the Shiki Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal) but it would be enough to keep the Kyuubi in it's place. There was a chance that the Kyuubi could potentially break out, but even then the rewards was greater than the risks.
For now, they were going with Hiruzen's way. Naruto would be strung along and played like a puppet by puppeteers, who were those he trusted. If Hiruzen felt that his grip over Naruto was loosening, leaving behind a small amount of bait would cause Naruto to always return back to him.
The plan was completely flawless…
That was until the stupid fools in the council actually got rid of him from the village. Beating him up was one thing, but throwing him out of the villages confines while he was the last known Uzumaki was not good.
Not good at all.
The Sandaime slammed his fist into the table. Despite his old age, his aged body still managed to leave a splintery dent on the table top, scaring the group of civilians consisting of scared men and whimpering women.
"Do you know…" The Sandaime whispered harshly through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to murder the idiotic fools that had cost his a figurative bombshell in the ranks of Konoha's ninja, "…what you idiots have just done?!" His fist clenched tightly and the liver spots that were on the elder man's cheek followed along with the frown on his face. The bony knuckles turned a bright white from the amount of force he currently exerted into his clenched hand.
The snarl on his face was not helping the frightened civilian's frayed nerves.
"W-we thought we'd d-do the villa-village a favour and rid ourselves o-of the demon, Hokage-sama." A man nervously stuttered, flinching when the Hokage's head snapped towards him and his smouldering eyes bore holes into the man's skull.
'A nobody. Good. I'll be able to teach these fools why they should never have gone against my orders.' Hiruzen thought to himself, intent on teaching them the reasons of why he had made that specific law in the first place.
In a flash of white and red from the Hokage's robes, Sarutobi had already appeared behind the man. Too slow to even comprehend what had happened, he had no time to react when the Hokage drove his fist into the his spinal cord, shattering it in one hit and paralysing him from the waist down. Without the use of his legs, he tumbled to the floor while the others shouted in fright, backing away from the Hokage, who was watching apathetically as the man fell to the floor. He silently placed his sandal onto the man's neck, whose eyes were wide and was gasping out unintelligible words, and stepped down hard, effectively killing the man in a rather painful manner.
"The law that I created after the Kyuubi attack… I'm sure you all know what the consequence is, correct?" The old man stared emptily at the cowering crowd in his office. They didn't want to, but they still nodded hesitantly.
"Do you know just how much trouble you have just caused me? Do you?" Too frightened to answer, he continued, "We have just lost our Jinchuuriki, the very same boy you beat up and threw into the middle of Konoha's vast forests as a prey for the beasts of the night. I have no time to deal with the lot of you. Begone." Hiruzen palmed his head whilst gesturing in a shooing fashion for the ANBU to remove the rest of the people from the room. He knew that they would keep quiet about this incident lest they end up joining their friend in the afterlife.
"ANBU, search the whole of Konoha's forest, locate and return the Jinchuuriki…" He paused in thought, "And get someone to clean up this mess.
Looking out of the window overlooking the village, Hiruzen frowned. As bad of a man as he was, he wanted to preserve this village the way as it was. And the only way for that was through the suffering of Naruto.
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...'
Little did anybody know, it would soon be the moment where they regretted ever sparing the boy to the animals.
Oh well. Hindsight was 20-20 after all.
Uzumaki Naruto lay on his back, broken nose tilted upwards as his dulled, swollen eyes stared at the numerous explosions in the air. His spiky blonde hair was matted with dried blood and his plain white t-shirt that was paired with black shorts had been ripped to shreds. He didn't even move, or rather it was he couldn't move. Even slight adjustments to his body caused an intense burn at his wounded spots. His pink skin was blackened in some areas, bruised and battered from the earlier beat down at the hands of a group of random villagers. So with no choice but to look up into the sky, the corner of his bloodied lips slowly turned into a frown. His face couldn't morph any further due to his severely damaged cheeks, but if he could he definitely would have been scowling deeply.
It seemed as if the fireworks were taunting him, mocking him at the fact that he was all alone while the rest of Konoha was busy celebrating the defeat of the Kyuubi. He had always been beaten and hated by his village, with no rhyme or reason to their madness. It seemed as though he was the only one who suffered through this as the rest of the orphans at the orphanage had better lives than him. He was rarely served meals back at the ratty hostel, and even when he could eat, the ordinary soup and buttered bread his fellow orphans ate seemed to be mouthwatering delicacies to Naruto's slop. He forced himself to down the crap they fed him unless he wanted to starve, holding his nose to block out a majority of the taste and eating quickly.
He couldn't even make friends as many of them were kept away from him or adopted before he could even interact with them. The kids came and went, some were dropped off as babies and picked up as kids by different families. Though a majority of the children from his age group had been inducted into the home through the means of losing both parents. He had already figured out why as that specific year had been today, where the deaths of many civilians and shinobi alike had totalled to around a thousand or so.
He would watch the incomplete families, fathers and mothers who either couldn't have children or wanted to pick up an unwanted child, speak to the numerous excited boys and girl in search of a child they could care and love for. However, if he approached them, he would be pushed aside for another or they would simply look afraid. He would only leave them be when the many volunteers began pushing him away with brooms.
With each passing day, a raging fire that symbolised his hope of getting picked up by a loving family dwindled to a dying ember.
It wasn't common, but he would also be beaten for the smallest of offences. It didn't really depend on the 'crime' he had committed, but rather the mood of whomever had to deal with him. Abuse ranged between hurtful comments about his lack of parents, slaps or kicks to areas such as his bum or his legs.
His beatings had never gone as far as it had like tonight. Having been assigned to weed the garden in the dark, Naruto failed to see the group of men and women sneaking up behind him as he grumbled about being unable to see anything. A hard whack to his head had left him seeing stars and under the cover of night, he had been dragged away from the orphanage, out the main gates and into the nearby forest. The distance between the forest and the orphanage was not large, in fact it was only a few streets apart so it wasn't quite surprising that he had been taken so quickly.
No, what had been surprising was that despite the fact that it was so close, the street had a few families, but no one bothered to help. One might have thought that the sight of a child being dragged away was cause for even ordinary civilians to step in, but they simply tuned his mumbled cries for help out, covered the eyes of their children and lead them away. Being dragged by his foot, chest and face carving a trench in the dirt, it was no wonder that he couldn't speak properly.
The usual two gate guards who were indifferent to the fact that Naruto was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki Izumo and Kotetsu had been replaced for tonight, bribed with a night off to enjoy themselves by two others who owed favours to one of the members of the small mob. So when Naruto managed to tilt his head to make eye-contact with the guards, he was met with a look mixed between amusement and elatedness.
It was then Naruto knew that no one was coming for him. If the guards were against him, that meant that his grandfather
Thus, he had ended up here. Probably about to die from the nocturnal animals that roamed Konoha's forests at night. Naruto morbidly wondered which would happen first: rats gnawing on him while he was still alive, or if he would succumb to his injuries. Though, he highly doubted that last one would happen first. For some reason, his injuries would recover quite quickly, with bruises going away after a day or so, give or take a few hours.
Lying there on the ground, Naruto closed his eyes. His life had been nothing but sadness, disappointment and pain, and he was more than willing to just die here and there. He stopped questioning why everyone seemed to hate him. The world was simply out to get him. There was nothing waiting for him in this world and he had a feeling that if he were to still live on, he'd still receive the same treatment from everybody save for his grandfather, but even then having a single person -who already had barely had time for him due to his job as the Hokage- to be there with him against the world wasn't enough.
The bright side to it all was definitely the fact that he would see his parents after he died. His grandfather had always said that his birth parents had died during the Kyuubi's attack and that they loved him dearly, even before he was born. That alone had made Naruto fight on, but now... Now he wanted to give up. If the price of dying was what it would take to see the only other people who cared about him the so be it. At least in death, he could have a loving family.
Feeling rather sleepy, Naruto, with no idea of what death felt, assumed that death was finally setting in.
"Heh..." He croaked out, "I guess I was wrong about that." He muttered quietly to himself, alluding to his rather impressive regenerative abilities. With that said, he allowed his bittersweet and melancholic azure orbs to shut, allowing darkness to cover his mind. The strange feeling of being asleep and suddenly falling overtook his body, but instead of jerking back up into consciousness Naruto simply allowed...
...himself to...
...fall...
The darkness greeted Kurama as usual when he opened his eyes after the boy had succumbed to his injuries. Naturally, the Kyuubi began to assist the child's body, increasing the speed at which his wounds healed. His Uzumaki heritage already provided a decent amount of healing power on its own, but accompanied with Kurama's assistance meant that wounds would heal quadruple their original speed. Unfortunately, lest Naruto wake up and crawl himself to safety, Kurama would be unable to protect him from any forest critters that roamed the night in search of easy food. Emanating his malicious chakra would only cause them to back off so often, when the creatures of the night realised that he wasn't going to do anything to them physically, then they would both be screwed.
It was honestly pathetic for his host to be reduced to this. But could Kurama blame him? He supposed not. The boy was foolhardy and naive, but he was pure of heart.
Just like her... Though there was a vast difference between their mindscapes due to their different upbringings in that accursed village. Kushina's seal had been bright and dry while her son's was dark, dreary and very, very wet. He hadn't voiced it, but the shallow water that constantly wet his fur annoyed him to no end.
Kurama had been very close with Kushina right before her death and he respected her husband just as well. Not many had the guts to face the legendary Kyuubi head on and sacrifice himself to save the lives of his village.
He would take care of the boy like he had promised himself he would. He wouldn't allow Naruto to die now, not when he had yet to grow up, to grow up to avenge his parents by ripping the heart out of the damned Uchiha. Not only would the Uchiha die at his current host's hands, the wretched scum of this village would die too!
Yes, he would enjoy their screams of horror and sorrow when the boy they had mistreated slaughtered them all like the hopeless sheep they were. Kurama was certain that even Naruto's father would allow his son to exact vengeance on all who had abused. He would revel in the irony that they had died from the boy they had hurt.
His furred lips curled upwards into a fearsome grin, showing his fanged teeth to no one in particular.
You reap what you sow, he supposed.
For now, Kurama simply healed the child, closing his eyes and losing the savage grin he wore. However, he was broken out of his usual rest when a figure fell from the darkness above, landing in the water without so much as a splash. Instead, he gently landed and sunk into the water until the back of the blonde boy's head touched the floor. The current level of the water wasn't enough to drown the boy, only enough to partially submerge his ears or, if he were to stand, his ankles.
"Oh..." Kurama's eyes grew large and twinkled like a child getting their hands on candy, "About time you dropped in, boy."
"Gigigigi~! (What an amazing smell~!)" The high pitched whine echoed throughout the darkened forest and a large figure bounced across from branch to branch, a large object slung over their shoulder. It was a male figure who was tall, sturdy with large, broad shoulders and had a head of spiky blue hair that jutted straight upwards.
He bore a strange appearance, with blue-greyish skin and small rounded eyes that had markings that looked close to gills beneath them. He looked rather similar to a shark even if you hadn't thrown in his triangular teeth, ones that were definitely as sharp as they appeared. His large muscular figure belonged to that of a shinobi who had a boatload of brute strength, probably enough to rip you in half using just his bare hands without putting much effort into it. Fitting snugly over his muscled body was a fitting black turtle-neck that lacked sleeves acted as his shirt and he wore a set of arm sleeves that covered his forearms and his hands, leaving his blue fingers open.
Landing on a branch, Kisame stared at the little boy who was lying on the dirt, surrounded by tiny splatters of blood and footprints. He was unable to actually see the minute amount of blood, but since he had shark heritage, his sense of smell for the life blood was incredibly high. As long as you were in the near vicinity and were bleeding badly, chances of hiding from Kisame were slim to none.
"Gigigigi! (It's coming from that little human!)" The source of the strange giggling noise came from the large object he carried on his back. It was one of the blades of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the legendary Samehada, ranking in as the scariest blade of them all. That position was also said to have been earned by the sword due to the fact that it actually lived. Though not many had the chance to see it move about by itself as by that time her owner would have already killed them.
"Gigigigi! Gigigi! Gigi!(I wanna eat him! Chakra! So much!)" Samehada giggled, rolling her tongue that was hidden inside of her body. Kisame merely narrowed his eyes at the sight of the little boy's body. He had originally just been passing by Konoha after coming from Wave Country, having fled from Kiri not too long ago. He had killed his superior and Samehada's previous wielder after Kisame had found out that the man had betrayed Kiri. Having lost so much faith, Kisame had fled the country. He may have been strong, but facing off against the current Mizukage, who had lost his marbles quite some time ago when the young man had initiated the Bloodline Purges, was simply suicide.
He hadn't been the one to find it, but it had been his companion that had caught scent of the chakra. It wasn't powerful per say, but it definitely was... different, different enough from the average shinobi that it had actually caught Samehada's attention. He had assumed that it was a powerful shinobi, but now he wasn't too sure.
His beady eyes blinked and narrowed. Tilting his head slightly to the side to stare at the massive explosions that lit up the night sky. It was rather obvious that he was from Konoha judging from the large number of footprints that circled the boy's body, arriving and leaving the area. The soft mud that had sunk beneath their shoes allowed him to see the position of their feet, and the fact that none of them wore anything remotely close to shinobi sandals meant that they had were more than likely been civilians who had lynched the poor kid.
Kisame might've been rather sadistic, and wouldn't mind killing anyone that was a shinobi even if they were young, but to gang up against a kid who probably barely knew self-defence was just pathetic.
So they had dumped him here... But why? He mused the question over his head before Samehada cried out again, this time what she had said definitely caught his attention.
"Gigigigi~! (I know this familiar scent~!)" She shivered under the bandaged that had been wrapped around her, causing Kisame to lift an eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't seen Samehada be this excited in quite some time. "Gigi! (Biju!)" His eyes widened fully and his eyebrows shot upwards in shock at Samehada's words, hiding behind his slashed Kirigakure headgear, "Gigigi~! Gigigi! (It's the scent of a Biju~! Yummy!)
A Jinchuuriki?! It was no wonder he had been lynched by the mob. It was also no wonder Samehada had gotten all worked up, as Yagura himself had been a Jinchuuriki and the scent must've been very familiar to her. And if his guesses were correct, the chakra he was emitting was the Biju trying to heal him. It seemed as if he were discreetly doing it though, as if the chakra monster wanted no one to find his host. If what Kisame had heard of was correct, most of the Jinchuuriki were poorly treated by their villages so the Biju could possibly be trying to save his host while at the same time try to hide their shared presence from the rest of the village. No doubt the current Hokage was out searching for the boy as Jinchuuriki were more valuable than a hundred times their weight in gold since they could be used as living weapons that could wreak more than absolute havoc upon any enemies said village had.
"Gigigi? (Can I eat him?) Gigigigi! (I wanna eat him now!)"
Kisame shushed the blade before leaping off the branch, landing before the boy's battered body, far more interested in the boy more than ever.
"...ke up..."
Naruto's ears were bleary and ringing, and he slowly blinked his eyes in order to stop his vision from shaking. He closed his eyes, out of beat for just a moment before he opened them again, noting the vast darkness above him.
'Fireworks must've stopped already...' He tiredly thought to himself, noting the distinct lack of explosions in the sky. His body burned coldly as if he had been submerged in a bathtub full of ice for hours on end. It wasn't completely painful, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling either. He felt like he was drifting, floating stationary in space.
"Wake up..."
God, if he could stop the new burning sensation in his abdomen, that'd be great. It was to the point that it felt like a heated brand had been stamped onto his belly, searing into his flesh and marking him as if he were cattle.
"WAKE UP!" This time the voice boomed angrily and Naruto cringed harshly, grimacing as he snapped into a seating position. What he had thought to be space levitating him was in actual fact just water, which had begun rolling off of his body as he sat up. Naruto's hands clapped around his ears to buffer his eardrums from the overwhelming voice.
"Good morning to you as well, princess." The gruff and deep voice snorted at the end to punctuate his sentence. Naruto blinked at the sound of the voice, and it was at this point that he realised that he could see properly. Not too long ago he could've sworn that his eyes were swollen up the size of oranges. Hit with the sudden realisation that he could see again, Naruto's brain finally caught up to the fact that he was lying in a vast pool of shallow water, surrounding him was just a black mist that he couldn't see more than ten metres through. It was as if he were a light source in the middle of a pitch black room.
Had he been thrown into some kind of freaky trap? Standing up and allowing himself to inspect his body, he concluded that he wouldn't be surprised if he had. Naruto noted the bruises he had sustained in the previous failed lynch had gone away just like his eye injuries had.
"You're not a very good host, are you?" The voice spoke again, this time in a much exasperated tone. There was a double entendre hidden amongst his words that passed by Naruto's head. "If you would just..." The voice sighed and Naruto had a feeling that whoever was talking had placed his hand on his face, "Just come forwards so that I can see you."
"Wh-Where are you at?!" Naruto backed up, lifting his hands up in front of himself protectively, "And no! I don't trust you! What if you hurt me?!" It was understandable to the giant fox that his host was afraid of a voice booming from all around him, but their little meet-and-greet was going at a slow pace.
"You realise that if I could," This time the voice took on a mix between amusement and annoyance, "I would've already done so while you were sleeping, right? I can't reach you and even if I could, killing you would be the last thing I would want to do. Now shut up and move your ass."
With no other choice and much trepidation, Naruto took slow steps forwards, wading through the water at a slow pace. His once ruined clothes were untouched, further adding towards his confusion. Walking only a short distance, he caught sight of the massive gates that lay before him. The large bars towered over him, nearly as tall as the Hokage monument and each had a gap that could fit half a building in.
Why was something built with such obvious flaws? Naruto paused to stare at the large bars, contemplating their position. He could easily slip by them without trouble. Then it hit him. He paused mid-step. He realised that they weren't made to keep him out of entering, it was to keep something out. Something very, very large out. Could it possibly be whomever was talking to him?
From behind the bars, a giant eye snapped open high above Naruto as if it were an evil looking moon, staring at him menacingly. In sheer shock, Naruto flinched and attempted to back up, only to trip on his own feet as he made a move to step back. Flailing his arms wildly, Naruto yelped as he fell back into the water on his bottom, wincing slightly from the impact.
Kurama stared hopelessly at his Jinchuuriki, sighing to himself. He had a lot of work to do. He was quickly broken out of his musing when he felt the presence of a fairly powerful shinobi. He was about to flare his chakra in hopes of making the man back off, but he was surprised when the man scooped Naruto's physical body off the ground carefully before he walked off, away from Konoha.
The Kyuubi reigned in his power, temporarily holding it in just in case the man wanted to do bad deeds to his host. For now, he would allow the man to carry him off in the rare chance that he actually wanted to save an unconscious child. If they were lucky, the man -who Kurama did not recognise as a Konoha shinobi- would take them far away before the hounds of the Hokage could sink their teeth into his unofficial ward. With that decided, Kurama turned back to his shivering host before he introduced himself.
"We haven't met before, but I've watched you your whole life, boy." Standing up on his paws, Kurama walked forwards and as if someone had flicked a switch, the darkness lightened considerably, allowing Naruto to see the giant beast before him. Giant body clothed with a smooth, shiny layer of orange fur, elongated snout filled to the brim with man-sized teeth, "I am the one who has made your life a misery, yet I am the one who has taken care of your wounds." He grinned normally, but it unfortunately came off as a malicious and hungry smile causing Naruto to blanch further. "I am known amongst your kind simply as... The Kyuubi. It's a pleasure finally meeting you face to face, brat."
"Y-You're... You're the Kyuubi..." He stared at the giant caged fox with wide eyes. His obvious fear was underlined from his quivering irises and agape jaw.
The Kyuubi rolled his large slitted eyes, "Yes, I think I mentioned that. Are you just going to sit on your ass pointing out the obvious or are you going to ask something else?"
"I thought the Yondaime killed you!" He cried in disbelief, "Didn't he defeat you years ago?"
"Killing an entity made almost entirely out of chakra is... impossible. I would simply reform over time. It would take a long time, but I would not stay dead. So, in order to prevent me from coming back and terrorising that shit-hole of a place you call home, he sealed me into a baby, specifically you."
Something in the young blonde's mind finally clicked into place, and the inside of his head seemed to brighten considerably as if a rusty cog in his brain had been oiled, allowing his brain to function at full capacity. His large blue orbs widened in shock as he finally realised the source of years of torment from Konoha's citizens.
"So... They-they hate me because of you?" The little boy stared glassily at Kurama, feeling a rather thick lump forming at his throat.
"No. They hate you because they are fuelled by fear. And rightly so. They should fear you, fear you for what you will become." Kurama stared at his host, leaning forwards until his black nose poked through the gap of the gates, "Even if you didn't contain me, you would still live in a village full of the same people. They might treat you differently, but would you really want that? Let's say that you manage to go back in time, this time lacking me, the great Kyuubi no Yoko, inside of you, would you still be able to face them without any anger?" The giant fox threw his snout up and released a deep cackle, laughing hard at the change of expression on Naruto's face, "KWAHAHAHAHA, OF COURSE NOT!"
"But I would've been able to prove myself to everyone if I didn't have you!" The little boy argued back, somehow drawing courage against the large vulpine behind the bars. Perhaps it was the fact that the Kyuubi was locked behind bars, unable to reach him, that gave him the sudden pluckiness.
"Wishful thinking can only get you so far in your life, boy." Kurama found much amusement in Naruto's words, "You don't realise this, but if you didn't have me, you would have been an orphaned, ordinary shinobi. Maybe an above average shinobi with your heritage, but still just a shinobi. You naturally have a higher amount of chakra than others, even without me but that can only get you so far. Without any parents or Uzumaki clan members to guide or teach you, you would get nowhere!"
Naruto seemed to deflate, his dreams crushed. He had always wanted to be a shinobi, but hearing it from the Kyuubi itself made Naruto think twice. It seemed to the Kyuubi that the boy had already forgotten that he had accepted death not too long ago, only to forget it when he awoke in his seal. Humans were strange creatures.
"Don't mope you imbecile," Naruto pouted and glared at the Kyuubi in what the boy probably thought was fearsome, but was, in reality, very adorable, "That previous summary was merely what would happen if you DIDN'T have me. But with me at you side, you will be able to shape history and write your own destiny! Know that it is better to run than curse the road!" Though it was slightly confusing, Naruto understood the meaning behind the proverb. The Kyuubi meant that it was better to run down a metaphorical road than to do nothing and curse his own fate. "Those who hurt you out of fear, relishing at the thought of hurting the child who housed the Kyuubi, will realise their mistakes and shall quiver beneath the soles of your shoes!"
"I don't want to hurt anyone..." Naruto said softly, hiding his face from the Kyuubi by looking downwards. Kurama was unimpressed. The boy didn't even seem to be even trying to lie.
"Liar." Naruto's head snapped up and he stared at the Kyuubi with wide, shocked eyes. "Don't look so surprised, child. I know how you really feel. Why you choose to repress these emotions, I'll never know." The demonic fox shrugged, "You want to make those who hurt you feel the same pain, don't you? But you're afraid that your 'grandfather' will be horrified or, even worse apparently, be disappointed in you." Kurama shut his eyes, not even needing to see the boy nod. It would be hard convincing the boy that the geezer was obviously using him for his own nefarious purposes. Even when he had Kushina as his host, he knew the disgusting old man, alongside that pathetic excuse of a sage he called his student, were up to no good. Living as long as he had, reading people was simpler than browsing through a book designed for children below the age of two.
"What makes you think he's any different from the others?" One of Kurama's unseen eyebrows tilted upwards, shooting Naruto a look of questioning.
"He always visits me and talks to me!" Naruto shouted, apparently angered by Kurama's accusation and attack on his grandfather. The boy was loyal to a fault if you could get him to side with you, that was for sure.
"Wow, that's amaaaaaazing~!" The Kyuubi said in an overly sarcastic voice, "All those times he barely stopped you from being hurt by the matrons of the orphanages and how they always seem to get off scot-free," Naruto winced at the memories as Kurama mused aloud further, "I know he visits you as well, yes he does. But they're few and far between. Why do you think he does that?"
"It's because he's the Hokage, he's busy all the time dealing with his people!" It was true! Hiruzen always told him how busy he was, constantly signing papers and speaking to people of high nobility who wanted to make trades with Konoha. Obviously a man of such high position was busy all the time!
"Oh? I thought it was because he just wanted to make you act like a drug addict, with him being the drug." Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion, obviously not understanding what the giant fox was hinting at. Kurama could already see the cracks in his loyalty to the current Hokage worsen further and chose now as the appropriate time to deliver the final blow that would send the pedalstal the boy held the man to the ground. "Let me break it down for you. With so many people hating you, he seems to be the... light to you, if you will. Haven't you noticed that whenever you're feeling particularly sad or down, he somehow appears to comfort you?" Upon seeing Naruto's nod, he continued, "That's what you call stringing you along. He's instilling a sense of loyalty to him because it makes you think that you can trust him."
Naruto seemed to have come to that realisation as well and his eyes displayed how distraught he was. In fact, Kurama felt that distraught couldn't cover how the boy felt.
'I wonder how much of your little world I've shattered.' Kurama thought to himself before snorting, sending a large blast of air in Naruto's direction, "Do you believe me yet? You should trust no one in Konoha."
"How... How do I know I can trust you and your words, when I can't even trust anyone else?" Naruto said in a broken voice, tears welling up in his eyes, "What if you're using me for your own personal gains as well?"
Kurama closed his eyes yet again, deciding on his next steps. 'Should I...? Yes... He deserves that much.'
"You know, the one thing that bastard didn't lie to you about was your parents. That was probably the only truth he told you throughout your life." Naruto perked up considerably, eyes brightening and growing in size until the resembled saucers, "Would you like to know more of your mother?"
And thus, a strange friendship was formed.
Naruto awoke nearly three hours later. The feeling of tiny pieces of rock poking into his bare back told him that he was topless and lying on the ground. During his slumber, Naruto had spoken to the Kyuubi quite extensively, learning about his heritage and past. The Kyuubi had told him that his mother and him went way back in the day, nearly twenty years ago. She had been his first friend, the first person to treat him differently from the rest. He revealed her identity to her, one Uzumaki Kushina who was a Jonin of Konohagakure before she died. She came from the now defunct Uzumaki Clan, which had been destroyed during the Third Shinobi War.
Scarlet hair, pale skin, large purple eyes and a rather round face that mellowed out over the years was what he had been supplied with in terms of how she looked. Naruto had peered down at the ankle-high water, gently tugging and running his fingers through his blonde mane wondering if he would look better with crimson hair.
He had broken into happy tears upon hearing from the Kyuubi that his mother loved him deeply, constantly cooing and talking to her swollen tummy despite there being no one around. How she would brag to herself that her baby would be the coolest kid around, even betting her life that he would love ramen just as much as she did. He had giggled at that, knowing that it was true. It had been only once, but he had actually eaten at a ramen stall. Remembering the slightly older girl and the grey haired man at the counter brought a small smile to his face. They had given him a bowl of the noodles that had descended from the heavens for free and they treated him kindly, not like everyone else. Perhaps not all of Konoha was as bad as he had thought.
Naruto had also been informed that a certain masked Uchiha had freed the Kyuubi from his mother's seal shortly after giving birth to him, controlling the legendary Biju with his Sharingan. After that, it was quite easy to piece everything together.
Naruto wasn't the brightest star in the sky, but he wasn't the dimmest either. It was actually surprising how impressive his vocabulary was despite his young age.
He had also learned the identity of his father. The Yondaime Hokage, the one who had sealed the Kyuubi into him. At first, Naruto felt like he had been shot in the heart with an arrow, further depressing and angering him further that his father would do such a thing. However, the Kyuubi had snapped him out of his funk right after, telling him that his father had loved him just as much as his mother had.
Whatever it was that Naruto wanted to know, Kurama told him. The Biju was giving out information like it was a sales day.
In the end, Naruto had been happier than he had even been in his entire life, even if it wasn't that much compared to others. Kurama had waved him away, telling Naruto that he had told him everything the boy wanted to know. Naruto had asked one last question: 'What's your name?' but Kurama simply snorted, hunched himself forwards and lay on his belly. Resting his head on his paws and shutting his eyes, the giant fox merely responded with a simple:
"Not yet." That was when Kurama chose to inform him that he had been kidnapped during their little chat. Before the blonde could burst out screaming in horror, Kyuubi calmed him by informing him that whomever had taken him seemed to have brought him away from Konoha and had left him alone, far away from civilisation. Saying nothing more, Kurama had booted the awakening boy out of the seal before returning to take a nap.
Now, he pushed himself up and stared with narrowed eyes, trying to take his surroundings in. He wasn't surprised to find his wounds fully healed, after all Kurama had been the one to add on to his already unnatural healing speed. He was thankful that whoever had taken him had given him a clean looking set of shorts, not much different from the one he had been wearing until the villagers got to him.
He felt much better than before, as if he could run a whole ten miles without stopping!
Nearby was a small pit of fire that illuminated the grey walls of the cave. It gave him a decent amount of heat, although he did shudder a little every time a gust of bone-chilling wind travelled inwards through the mouth of the cave.
Before Naruto could ponder about his current situation any further, a spray of water splashed him in the face from a floating vortex of water that spun violently before Naruto, forming out of nothing but thin air. The boy spluttered a little and quickly wiped his face off, only realising that he was not alone any more when he reopened his eyes.
"Yo." Kisame grinned at Naruto, waving his hand at the boy.
Naruto blinked at the sight of the fishy looking man before he recoiled in shock.
"AAHH!" He screamed, pointing at Kisame in a horrified fashion, "LANDSHARK!" At that, Kisame burst out laughing.
"BWAHAHAHA!" The giant figure slapped his knee, "Landshark! I've never heard that one before..." The man trailed off as his laughter ended, wiping the sides of his eyes as if he had cried from laughing so hard. It was still hard to see even if the fire next to them, so Naruto couldn't provide confirmation on that fact.
"I like you kid. You're pretty funny." Kisame smirked at the boy, who was rather surprised at the compliment. Naruto was further surprised that the man hadn't been offended by that bold -and accidental- proclamation. "What's your name, kid?" He asked in a surprisingly friendly manner.
"Uzumaki... Uzumaki Naruto." The boy said hesitantly. It wasn't exactly safe to just give your name to a stranger but Kisame seemed to be quite friendly and Naruto sensed that the fish-man held no ill will to him. Then again, the old man he believed he could trust with his life turned out to be a scheming scumbag, so Naruto wasn't obviously going to be so forthcoming with such information.
"Uzumaki eh?" Kisame's eyebrows rose up again, studying Naruto from head to toe with a critical eye, "You lack the red hair all Uzumaki have. You sure you're an Uzumaki?" The shark man questioned Naruto as he rubbed his chin. The Uzumaki were nearly extinct, an endangered clan on the verge of crumbling into nothingness, supported only by a handful of pillars. And right before him, he had another. The Uzumaki were full of surprises and tricks when it came to Fuinjutsu, and their longevity and ridiculously high amount of natural chakra ensured that they multiple wars. It had taken quite a number of villages combining as a single force to take them all down, and even then it wasn't enough to kill them all. Kisame knew little about sealing, but if he could take the boy in as his own... He would be the perfect apprentice. Being mainly proficient in Suiton -in actual fact Kisame could Doton, Katon, and Futon with ease, he was just much, much, much better at Suiton-, Kisame could teach the boy a large number of his techniques should the boy accept.
After all, he knew the Uzumaki were mainly proficient in Suiton since they did live near whirlpools and vast amounts of water. However, judging by the fact that his other parent's gene's were more prominent, then the Suiton might be more subdued. And if his non-Uzumaki parent was a civilian that would mean that his ability would be slightly lower than that of the ordinary Uzumaki. Still, he could take a chance with the boy.
"Yeah, why? Are you gonna hurt me like my village did?" Naruto nodded before his face contorted into a deep frown, big blue eyes shimmering with unveiled rage. It almost didn't seem natural to see such ferocity on a child's face, but Kisame had made a good guess that being beaten up contributed to a large factor to his anger.
"Calm down kiddo." The man placated the boy by lifting a hand up, "I'm not going to hate you like your village did. Trust me. I have no beef or problems with Jinchuuriki." Naruto was caught off-guard to hear that Kisame knew he was a Jinchuuriki, "Before you ask how I know, my sword told me about it since she can read chakra and we've both met a Jinchuuriki before."
His attention had diverted immediately after Kisame had finished his sentence, "Wow! Your sword can talk?" Acting his age to Kisame was slightly... refreshing. Back when the spiky haired shark man was much younger, the other children were usually scared of his appearance, thus leaving him alone while they bonded together. Very ironic since they were later tasked to kill each other, which made the job infinitely harder since they were so close to each other.
"Gigi! Gigigigi! (Hello! I would like to eat you!)" Samehada leaped out from behind Kisame, bandages going loose as her mouth opened wide in order to consume Naruto. Screaming, Naruto fell back again and braced his arms in front of his face. Waiting a few seconds, he lowered his arms slightly to see that Kisame had grabbed Samehada's handle, preventing her from reaching Naruto. She proceeded to take large chomps out of the air, trying her best to get a bite out of Naruto in order to drain his chakra.
"Sorry about that," Kisame apologised, "She gets really excited when it comes to potent and 'delicious' chakra." Forming a single handed hand sign that caused bandages to sprout from the base of Samehada. They quickly wrapped around her, subduing the antsy living blade in white cloth. The few convulsions she made allowed them to see that the cloth was doing its job. Propping the blade up against the cave wall, Naruto could see the tiny skull on Samehada's end, which had been the place the bandages had shot out from.
Surprisingly, Naruto still had an excited smile on his face, "Wow! That was a super cool sword! But where did those bandages come from? And what was that noise she was making?" He rattled off without even caring that he had nearly been bitten. Kisame definitely could appreciate the boy's courage. Bravery was key to surviving in Kirigakure.
"They're part of a seal, carved into that tiny skull over there. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I only know how to restock and unseal bandages for Samehada. But if you're looking for a guy to teach you Suiton Jutsu, then you're in luck," He jabbed a finger into his chest, "I'm the man you're looking for Naruto."
"How do I know if I'm made for Suiton?" The boy asked with a tilt of the head.
"You need Chakra Paper, but that's for another time." Kisame waved the question off, deciding to bring up the main reason why he had brought Naruto here. "Look, I'm not going to bullshit you here Whiskers." Kisame poked fun at the markings on his cheeks, "You've got talent, and I'm wouldn't mind taking in a disciple. I can turn you into a phenomenal shinobi with everything I have, if you allow me. But if I take you in, that means that you cut off all connection to Konoha."
The man made a slow slashing gesture with his hand, cutting the air for significance. "Every bond you have will be severed," He tapped the headgear, specifically the slashed out headband of Kirigakure, "Just like me, you'll be a traitor, even if you never were a shinobi. I know how much Konoha emphasises on teamwork, so if they find out that you're alive and kicking and playing on the enemy's team, they'll definitely get their panties in a bunch. Especially since you're a Jinchuuriki."
"Don't worry." Naruto said with a smirk, one that Kisame noticed was full of resentment towards Konoha. It was to be expected any ways. He just hoped the boy wouldn't turn out to be some kind of vengeful teen in the future, searching only for revenge. That would never end well. Spending years of training for the sole purpose of revenge was a really bad idea. If one didn't get their revenge, they would die an unfulfilled and bitter life. And if they did get it, they would have nothing left to look forward to after they received their pound of flesh.
"I have nothing to lose from this."
Kisame smiled and reached behind him. Pulling out a recently bought, rolled up blanket and one person futon, he tossed it to the boy, who caught and unfurled it with happiness. "Good. We won't be starting training tomorrow though. What you need to do now is get a good rest and a decent meal. I'll go and get groceries from the nearby village. You need to put some meat on your bones before you can get muscles." Stomping on the fire and extinguishing it with the bottom of his foot, Kisame turned and left the cave, headed towards Wave Country. "Now, catch some Z's while you still can. It's going to be a tough time while you're training under me, Naruto."
Naruto watched Kisame's large figure vanish into the night. Standing up to throw the futon under himself, he sat back down and shrouded his body with the help of the blanket. Falling back down, he was appreciative of the fact that he could no long feel the rocks poking him in the back. With that, he closed his eyes and turned over to his side, smiling all the while.
"I can't wait..."
TIMESKIP: THREE YEARS LATER
Naruto felt the tingle on his skin and his eyes snapped wide open. Discreetly, his hand reached under his pillow, slightly to the left, and he removed a hidden kunai given to him by Kisame-sensei.
The man had become sort of an elder male role-model to Naruto, teaching him all sorts of things essential for living as a shinobi such as defence, hand-to-hand combat, chakra manipulation, cooking, and even an in-depth guide on how to take care of his shinobi equipment -which even covered sewing spoilt clothes and sharpening tools-. Training had been nothing less than harsh. He had been knocked unconscious more times than he bothered to keep track of, suffered from countless cracked bones as well as bruisings that would hurt just as much as the hands that had dealt it.
Thank god his healing rate was absurdly high due to the Kyuubi. He had eventually told Kisame of the Kyuubi being on decent terms with him, shocking Kisame. It was practically unheard of for someone as young as him to be on decent terms with his Biju, let alone speak to it. He knew that Iwa's Jinchuuriki's had forced their Biju into submission, or had done something of the like to partially tame them since they could use a fraction of their respective Biju's powers. Both were nearing their late thirties and they had obtained that power only a handful of years ago, so it was definitely unique for Naruto to have spoken to Biju at such an early age. Kisame had wondered when the boy would stop surprising him. Definitely after he found out that Naruto's father had been the Yondaime Hokage, the Kiiroi Senko (Yellow Flash), Minato Namikaze. At that point in time, Kisame had nearly fainted on the spot.
With the natural affinity of Suiton and Futon, he was already dangerous on his own. Adding on the affinity of Katon he received from the Kyuubi, that meant that Naruto was a walking arsenal. It was already a big deal to learn and master all five of the natural affinities, but being born -not exactly since he had already been born before he had obtained the Katon- with three was a rarity.
Naruto brought his breathing to a halt, observing his surroundings without the use of his eyes. The sounds of sand shifting beneath footsteps, obviously trying to be as quiet as possible, alerted him of an intruder's presence. He knew because Kisame never made any noise when he walked, even if his large size said otherwise. Even the person's heavy breathing that was suppressed couldn't escape his sense.
Those long hours of meditation definitely paid off. Once, he would've been sleeping soundly, now he was awake, ready and prepared to spring into action.
One hand clenching the kunai's handle tightly, and the other gripping onto the blanket that covered his lying form, Naruto shot into action. The hand holding onto the blanket was thrown to the intruder and Naruto kicked off the floor pulling and wrapping the sheet around their head and arms. Sweeping their feet out from under them, the person fell forwards with a loud groan. The large size of the figure and vocal range made Naruto guess that the person he had just taken down had been a man.
"Who are you?! And what do you want?!" Naruto yelled at the man, pressing the sharpened kunai into the side of his neck. He knew the person was alone, thus there would be no backup. So shouting was no problem for him.
"Please!" He begged, voice slightly muffled from the sheet over his head, "This... This giant freakin' shark man told me to come in here to kidnap a kid for him! I wasn't going to do anything else, I swear!" Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at the mention of Kisame. Perhaps his master was testing him... But what exactly was the test?
"Kisame-sensei, what is this all about?" Naruto glanced to the side where Kisame had appeared from out of the blue.
"Calm down, Naruto." Kisame said as he walked up to his apprentice, "I just caught this little bandit wandering around outside, so I thought that it would be time for your... Shinobi initiation." The giant landshark released a deep chuckle, shrugging, "Or, at least this is how they do it in Kirigakure."
"Y-You want me to kill him?" The man began to scream and struggle at his words, but Naruto didn't react. He was too lost in thought, fumbling around in his mind for a logical response to his own question. Could he kill a person? Could he watch as their blood spills from the wounds he would inflict them? Taking the life of a person who was loved by someone else was... not as easy as he thought it was. The life of a father, husband, brother, son... The man before him... His life lay in Naruto's small hands.
The kunai began to quiver, shaking violently from Naruto's vibrating arm. Naruto had always thought about killing those who had wronged him in Konoha, but those were just... thoughts! Stabbing the citizens of Konoha, slashing them, crushing and downright murdering them all in every way he could, he had replayed it all in his head. But... but they weren't real, just figments of his wild and angry mind. Of course, that all mellowed as time passed on, but he still had the occasional dream of setting Konoha ablaze.
Now with an actual life in his hands...
Kisame could see the conflict on his disciple's face, "You have two choices, Naruto..." Kisame wasn't going to force the kid to do anything he didn't want to do. "One, you can let him go... Or two, you can kill him."
"I... I don't know." Naruto muttered to himself, knee still pinning the man to the ground.
"If you're having trouble, just think of the pros and cons. What's the bad part about releasing an enemy who has found your base?"
"I suppose they could come back... And kill us." Kisame nodded.
"They could, but if you knew shinobi like I do... They probably wouldn't kill you first. Kill, torture, sexual assault and the like, they'll do it all because they're your enemy and they want to make you suffer." Kisame watched as Naruto's face turned into a snarl, "The greatest pleasure they get isn't all from killing, torturing or sexually assaulting someone you love and care about, it's the pleasure they get from your despair. Their ecstasy is obtained through destroying you piece by piece, forcing you to watch as they do whatever they want to to your loved ones."
Naruto's steeled himself, and stopped shaking. He had made up his mind.
"You know I originally coped with killing my classmates back in Kiri?" Naruto didn't respond but Kisame knew the blonde was listening, "I stopped looking at them as humans." With that said, the shark man left the cave with no destination in sight. The squeals of the man soon came to a halt right as his foot touched the gravel leading out of their shelter, and Kisame nodded to himself.
'I'll let him cope for a while before I return.'
The sobbing stopped only an hour later. It would take some time, but Naruto would soon feel nothing from killing.
Chapter End
Preview:
He scratched his blood soaked hair with his bloodied hand, looking rather embarrassed. Rightfully so since he hadn't met a girl since his days back in Konoha. She was a frail looking one, dainty with luscious white skin like a maiden. Long black hair hung all around her face, slick and wet, sticking to her skin accumulated from all the 'running in fear' she had done. His embarrassment was also partially due to the fact that she was rather beautiful. Judging by the body size hidden under the slightly torn and dirty yukata, she was someone he could break like a toothpick, but inside of her he could sense something special.
Of course, that wasn't the reason he had saved her. All he saw was a group of men wielding gardening tools like weapons. The group was busy chasing a girl his age, probably intending to lynch her for whatever reason. Not one to ask questions first, Naruto immediately jumped into action, swinging the massive bandaged corn dog with ease.
"I, uh- Sorry abut that," She wasn't exactly sure what he was apologising for. Was it for her father killing her mother then her, alongside his neighbours? Or was it because he had killed them? Either way, it didn't matter. "Were they related to you?" The girl nodded shakily, wide eyes focused on him alone. Surrounding the two were all the bodies of her neighbours, and directly underneath her saviour's was her father. His chest had been smashed inwards, and trachea was reduced to splinters. She felt nothing for the dead man, the same man who had murdered her dear mother in cold blood just because they were different. Naruto had his foot on her father's face, but she was indifferent.
"It's... It's alright. He isn't my father. Not anymore." Naruto understood what she was feeling. The feeling of betrayal, especially by a person you trusted, was absolutely painful. It wasn't surprising to him to see her denounce the dead man. He had done it too with his old village.
"Wh-What's your name?" She asked him shakily. He put his bloody hand out, offering it to her. She accepted without hesitation, trusting the boy who had saved her. Without putting much effort into it, he showed just how strong he was. There was no grunting or any form of exertion. Years of training by using Samehada, the incredibly heavy -don't let her hear you say that- sword, gave Naruto strength most men twice his age lacked.
"Uzumaki Naruto." He said, smiling at her. She was glad he did. It gave her a distraction, allowing her to focus on his face instead of the dead bodies around her. Even the pungent smell of blood didn't bother her all that much. She had to admit that the boy before her was rather... handsome. She was certain that he would look even better without all the blood on him.
She would've responded faster, but the double beat in her chest that went 'doki doki', much louder than all the others in her life, distracted her momentarily.
She blushed. Was this... Was this what her mother called 'falling in love'?
Well, either that or she was having a heart attack.
She really hoped it was the former.
"Yuki... Yuki Haku..."
10K words. I didn't even realise that I had typed that much! Well, I hoped you enjoyed it!
Review and what not, I hope I met your expectations with this rewrite.