"Nothing sucks worse than feeling alone, no matter how many people are around." - Dr. John Dorian, Scrubs
Naruto hated hospitals.
He hated being hurt, he hated the way the doctors looked at him, and he hated how nobody would ever let him out of the stupid, tiny room until he'd felt fine for forever.
Right now, there were a lot of angry people in his tiny room. His head hurt, and his tummy felt weird, and he was in a strange bed in a strange place and he just WANTED TO RUN!
He couldn't, though. He was tucked in super tight, and his body wasn't doing what he told it to. Naruto was stuck, and he was terrified.
First, it was just Grampa Hokage who was angry. That wasn't so bad. Grampa got angry a lot, but he always got Naruto ramen afterwards.
Then there were these two guys with white hair. One of them yelled almost non-stop. Naruto didn't like him. His hair was huge and scary.
The other guy remained silent, but Naruto could still tell that he was mad. He wore a mask, so Naruto could only see one of his eyes, but his eyebrows were sharper than anyone else's. Naruto was a little scared of him.
After that, there was this old lady with yellow hair and glowy hands. She yelled just as much, but his tummy started feeling better after she waved her glowy hands around.
Naruto started feeling really sleepy right as the lady left. His eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier until, after what felt like hours, he finally let them shut. Right as his mind started going blank, a thought popped into his head. Out of all of those people, it didn't seem like a single one of them was angry at Naruto. Huh, that couldn't be right. People were always mad at Naruto.
Oh well.
When Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha entered the tiny hospital room, they didn't really know what to expect. The Hokage's message had simply told them that the young Uzumaki boy had been injured, and that they were to report to the child's hospital room.
The sight hit both of them hard.
They were barely able to observe the boy through the bruises, bandages, and casts. Fugaku hadn't been particularly close to the child's parents, but Mikoto…
He put his arm around his wife's shoulder as he felt killing intent flow out of her coils. The couple heard the door open and close behind them, but neither turned to acknowledge the new visitor. The room's eery silence lingered for a few moments.
Finally, Mikoto spoke up.
"Who did this?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head as the couple finally turned to face him. The man, the village's very own shinobi god, looked downright exhausted.
"We don't know. That's why you are here, Fugaku." The old man paused. "Before I continue, I understand that both of you knew Naruto's parents quite well. Am I correct to assume that you both know of the boy's heritage and unique situation?"
They nodded.
"Good. Naruto's attackers made an attempt to remove the Nine Tails from it's seal. Jiraya assures me that the seal is intact, though it does seem likely that some of the beast's chakra was extracted. ANBU Dog, who fought off the attack, observed a red mass of chakra leaving the boy's body."
"ANBU Dog also noted that the attackers wore the uniforms and masks of our very own Konoha ANBU. While it is entirely possible that the uniforms were disguises, I cannot put any weight into that belief. Not when the problem may lie so close to this village's foundation."
"Fugaku, you will take command of ANBU Team Ro and covertly investigate the attack. I trust the team with my life, and I'm sure that you will as well."
The Uchiha Clan Head nodded in acknowledgement of his orders.
"Mikoto, you will stay here and monitor Naruto's treatment."
The aforementioned retired shinobi blinked in confusion.
"With all due respect, Sir, my medical training is limited, at best. I'm not sure that I'm qualified-"
The Hokage cut her off.
"You won't have to personally treat the boy. Jiraya and Tsunade already stabilized his condition. The nurses and doctors of this facility are more than capable of continuing his care. Unfortunately, a number of the hospital's staff seem to hold a certain… prejudice against the patient. I need you here to ensure that this prejudice doesn't affect Naruto's safety. I also need you to report on any cases of mistreatment or malpractice that occur throughout the boy's stay here. For the duration of this mission, you are reinstated as a jonin and, as such, hold full authority over all present staff."
With that, Fugaku and the Hokage left the cramped room to tend to their duties, leaving Mikoto with the unconscious Uzumaki child.
Mikoto Uchiha had never been a particularly emotional woman, even among her stoic clanmates, but she couldn't hold back the stray tears that she felt leaking down her cheeks. Everything about this, it was just so… wrong.
This kid should've been the happiest child on the planet. She'd never know anyone who had loved smiling more than Kushina, and Lord Fourth had been extremely cheery even through the stresses of his job. Naruto should be bouncing off the walls and driving his parents (even more) insane.
Parents.
If Kushina had seen this, there would probably be heads rolling. This child was all alone, and Mikoto had done absolutely nothing about it. Now, the kid was stuck in a hospital bed, his dull pallor nearly comparable to the whitewashed walls.
Something had to be done. Something would be done.
A/N: So, this has been brewing for a long time now. I've been trying to think of ways to rework Brothers into something decent, and this popped out of the rusty old oven. This is really a prologue, but I'm gonna count it as the first chapter.
So, there's a lot of stuff I tried to set up here, and there's a massive amount of foreshadowing. Some of it is subtle, and some is a bit, well, in your face. Either way, an astute reader can probably figure out exactly where this story is heading.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what ya think :)