Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series. So please, don't sue me.
Story Title: Ninko
Author: Dinlek
Summary: AU. Two powerful shinobi underestimate the cunning of a bijuu, and one blond-haired jinchuuriki reaps the fruits of their failings, for good or ill.
Rating: T for violence, description of injuries, some swearing.
Warnings: Heavy spoilers.
Author's Note at the bottom of the page.
Ninko, Chapter 1: Of Orphans and Elders
The boy shivered, teeth chattering, as he watched the moonbeams alight upon dust motes swirling through the air. He ignored the errant spring poking into his back with practiced ease; he was more than used to the poor condition of his bedchambers. He chuckled at that term despite himself. He'd heard the matron speak of a young prince's bedchambers when she read stories to the other children, yet he doubted his own room would be fit for royalty.
He pulled his single blanket - clean, thankfully - up to his chin, and allowed his head upon the strange-smelling, yet still comfortable pillow he'd received. Jiji had been rather cross when he'd last visited the orphanage and seen his room. The 'caregiver' in charge of the child's area left rather abruptly with some of the Jiji's masked friends for a talk, as the white-haired man had said.
The memories did well to distract him from the nights bitter chill. The orphanage was a building battered by age, and the section he slept in was one of the most age-ravaged. Usually, such rooms were given to the older children, who were more able to cope with the cold. However, Naruto was the one exception to that rule. Few were particularly concerned with his comfort.
Shaking away the dour thoughts, the azure eyed boy gazed out the window, his eyes alighting on the Hokage monument. The faces of Konohagakure no sato's revered leaders, carved in stone with firm and unyielding visages, watched over the village as it slept. 'Someday, I'll...' His eyes closed, as the smile departed from his whisker-marked cheeks.
Uzumaki Naruto slept at last, and dreamt the dreams that often danced through is mind's eye in these months.
He dreamt of cunning vulpine eyes, and of the world burning.
Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed out across the village, and sighed.
When he was younger, he'd been proud of Konoha's spirit. The 'will of fire'. Now, the very phrase was like ashes in his mouth, a bitter, ruined reminder of what once was. He gazed out at the clearings and new growth that dotted the forest beyond Konoha's walls. The patches of land were still trying to recover from the Kyuubi's assault, the creature's foul chakra bathing the areas the beast tired upon so wholly that the wizened Hokage had wondered if they would ever recover. Yet persist they did, and though wounded, they regrew. Sapling rose up to replace the fallen, and soon the forest would no longer remember what it had lost.
The spirit of Konoha's people, however, was not so easily rekindled.
The loss of Namikaze Minato was one that Konoha would never truly recover from. The man was dearly loved by the people of Konohagakure no sato, and he represented everything that a Konoha shinobi strived to be. Truly, his legacy would never be forgotten by the village, yet it was terrible to think of what could have been. The Yondaime was poised to lead his village into an age of prosperity. At the end of the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha was one of the strongest forces on the continent, and though kind-hearted, Minato was cunning, and a realist. He knew that allowing the other nations to grow unopposed would merely spark a fourth war in due time. He was more than ready to do what needed to be done, and yet…
…the Kyuubi no Yoko was a challenge none had expected. The beast took not only Konohagakure no sato's strongest warrior, but also a sizable portion of it's shinobi. Iwa was desperate to capitalize on Konoha's moment of weakness, and both nations surreptitiously fielded shinobi against one another. Fortunately, Konoha was by-and-large victorious in the skirmishes, yet it still lost more shinobi than the Hokage would have liked.
In the end, the legacy of the Yondaime Hokage was shameful. All that remained was a wounded soul who hid himself behind masks - both literal and figurative - and a jinchuuriki shunned by his fellow villagers.
Sarutobi turned away from the window at long last. Gazing out at the city below filled him with nothing but sadness and regret. Sighing to himself once more, he strode towards his desk, and settled into his chair with a barely suppressed groan. Age, it seemed, was catching up with 'The God of Shinobi', and Sarutobi could do little more than grin and bare the pains that time had inflicted upon his body.
He hated to admit it, but he had long since lost his edge. The Sandaime Hokage of old was a respected, and in many cases feared leader. Iwa would not have been so bold had the younger Sarutobi, the man renowned as the Professor, been wearing the vestments of this illustrious position. Sadly, the issues in that vein were both foreign and domestic. While Iwa impudence was aggravating, the Council of Konoha was a particularly large thorn in the Hokage's side. Sadly, he lacked both the tenacity and the respect he once possessed, and the council was more than willing to exploit every inch in gave them, and then some.
The issue with young Naruto was a particularly telling in this regard.
The Council of Konoha was made up of both shinobi and civilian elements, and had at Konoha's founding been an advisory body. Squabbles amongst clans - namely the Senju, Hyuuga and Uchiha - necessitated an organ with more bilateral power in the village. While the Hokage held the final world in all shinobi matters pertaining to missions, skirmishes and the like, the more administrative aspects of Konohagakure no sato were arbitrated by both the Hokage and the council.
Young Naruto, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko was a factor that the council endeavored to 'control' if at all possible, and it was one of the few things they easily agreed upon.
The boy's image in the village was, to put it lightly, poor. Even amongst the level-headed population, he was, at best, seen as an unstable youth with far to much power in his hands. At worst, he was seen as a monument to the countless dead and untold destruction the Kyuubi wrought upon the village. The orphanage matron was among this population. While she did not despise the child, she feared him greatly. Even in her kinder moment, she saw the boy as a reminder of all she had lost on that cruel night.
Far more dangerous, however, were the select few who saw him as the biju itself. ANBU were often hard at work to root these select few out, and the Hokage made an example out of them with a ruthlessness many found anomolous. Surprisingly, the council was extremely cooperative in this regard. The death of Uzumaki Naruto was a frightening prospect. Few knew what would happen to the biju that was sealed within him when he perished, and fewer still wished to risk the worst.
Thus, the child was left in limbo. Only a select few even considered adopting the child, and the council prevented it rather tenaciously. Logically, allowing a single party to adopt Uzumaki Naruto would be dangerous. Any ninja clan to do so would have a the power of a jinchuuriki, and any civilian would have an extremely dangerous tool to exploit. In the end, preventing the blond-haired boy form being adopted likely saved him from a life of exploitation and grief.
It did little to help the poor child's condition, though. He would likely live in the orphanage until he turned 10, at which point Sarutobi might manage to get him an apartment of his on to live in. As ridiculous as it sounded, the aged Hokage had little doubt he'd be as well cared for living alone as in that orphanage.
Sarutobi was deeply disturbed by the conditions Naruto had been living in when he visited him earlier that day. His room was far away from the entrance, and his bedding consisted of an old and stained blanket, a tattered pillow and a thick rug to lay on. The caregiver who saw to that section of the orphanage figured it a rather fitting set-up for a "bastard demon", and commented that "perhaps he should sleep outside, instead, like an animal". His treatment of Naruto often involved violence, and surprisingly enough it was the matron, Senzaku Kiyone who finally stepped forward and called for Sarutobi's attention.
It took ever bit of self-restraint the aged Hokage had to refrain from killing the man where he stood. Instead, he turned the caregiver over to Ibiki's tender mercies. The man, while leery of Naruto, nevertheless despised anyone who'd torment a small child.
Sarutobi immediately saw to the boy getting at least adequate bedding, yet the marks of neglect were clear on the boy. He was rather malnourished, something that Sarutobi had previously attributed to simply be a smaller than average. However, he noted the boy's ribcage clearly shown on his skin when he changed in the morning, and the thought made the aged Hokage grimace. The orphanage was low on food as a whole, it was doubtful that the matron was intentionally denying the child nourishment. The Hokage wanted to believe it was due to his massive chakra reserves - already rivaling those of a low chuunin, which was remarkable for one his age. As experienced shinobi knew, in order to maintain reserves like that, the body had to metabolize a great deal of food. Sarutobi noted that the boy certainly ate voraciously whenever taken out to the ramen stand down the street from the orphanage. Though the food was terrible for the boy, Sarutobi didn't want to deny such a simple pleasure. The boy had already been denied so much…
Pulling out his pipe, Sarutobi delicate placed some tobacco in the 'bowl' before lighting it with a simple katon jutsu. Smoke wafted through the air, with the rich scent that Kusa's tobacco was known for. Enjoying one of his favorite vices, Sarutobi Hiruzen set his mind and gaze upon the endless documents before him.
Quietly, the aged Hokage wondered in Minato would look upon the village with as much shame as he did now.
Naruto trailed behind the other children as they strode through the streets of Konoha.
His stature spoke of unease. His shoulders were slumped, and his head bowed forward. His blond bangs shielded his wide blue eyes as he dragged his feet along the dust-covered walk-ways, his feet kicking up stray pebbles and sending them bouncing forward, off the walls of buildings and the clothed legs of various passerby. In spite of his bright orange jumpsuit - something Jiji had bought for him a few months ago - it seemed to the boy that the villagers spared him no more than a glance, going on with their daily routine as though he did not exist.
A child's eyes miss much, though. Had they been more keen, they would have seen the caution, the worry, the fear reflected in the eyes of Konoha's people. They avoided locking eyes with him as one might avoid locking eyes with a madman, as though he'd snap at the merest slight.
The matron, Kiyone-obasan, led the convoy of children to the nearby park, and they spread off in groups to frolic and play as children are wont to do. Uzumaki Naruto had long since learned that following them was an exercise in futility. The other children heard the whispers, received the warnings. 'That boy is dangerous' the adults would say when the blond-haired child was out of ear shot, 'you'd best leave him be' they'd whisper.
Amongst the children, Uzumaki Naruto was an aberrant, a freak. Though the Hokage's law hid the truth, the sentiment of the villagers was passed on the the children easily enough: the boy was not normal.
Said blue-eyed orphan climbed upon a swing and kick his legs back and forth with little effect. As usual, the other children gave him a wide berth. The curiosity that had driven peers to seek Naruto out had long since abated, and said children often found the punishment for their 'adventures' made interacting with Naruto more troublesome than it was worth.
'Tch, who needs them!' the blond-haired boy thought to himself, 'I have Jiji, Ayame-chan and Teuchi-ojisan. They see me, talk to me...unlike everyone else.'
Still, the boy wondered why the villagers treated him so cruelly. What had he done to earn their ire? M-maybe they know about me sneaking food when nobody's looking? That has to be it! the boy thought to himself, nodding, 'I wouldn't do it, but I'm always so hungry.'
With that thought in his head, Naruto heard his stomach growl, and patted his gut as though to soothe it. 'I'm pretty hungry right now...maybe I should try to find Ichiraku's! Their food is the best!'
A smile bloomed upon the boy's face, and he nodded to himself once more. 'That settles it! I'll go there, and see Ayame-chan and Teuchi-san again. Maybe Jiji'll be there too.'
On the surface, Ichiraku Teuchi seemed a stern, impersonal man, with a gift when it came to making fresh ramen. However, those that came to know him well knew otherwise. Though he may seem somewhat aloof, he was a compassionate man, who loved his village and it's people. He was more than willing to offer advice or lend an ear to anyone looking for either.
He was a damn good ramen chef, though.
Teuchi was just cleaning off the counter from the mid-day rush when a short, blond-haired boy stumbled in through through the door. A wide grin spread across the boy's face as he saw the ramen chef, and he all but yelled "Heya, Teuchi-ojiisan!"
A half-hearted frown crossed the ramen chef's face, and he mock growled at the boy "I'm not old, gaki."
"You are compared to me...jiji!" the boy said bombastically in response, sticking his tongue out childishly.
The ramen chef snorted. "That's because you're just a little brat."
Naruto sniffed, crossing his arms and sticking his nose up in the air. "I'm not little, I'm turning six soon! Then I'll enter the Shinobi Academy, and become and awesome ninja! Dattebayo!"
Almost six, Teuchi sighed, he barely looks over four years old. Are they even feeding him?
"Tou-san, what's going on out here-- Naruto-kun?"
Teuchi turned around, and smiled at his daughter, Ayame, as she walked out from the kitchen. He nodded slightly, before turning towards his favorite customer once more.
"Yeah, this gaki barges in here, and has the gall to call me old! Me! I'm only thirty-six, I'm not old," he states firmly.
Ayame walked over to the counter, leaning forward slightly and locking eyes with Naruto. "Are you harrassing my father, Naruto-kun?"
Said blond-haired boy scratched the back of his head while looking down on his feet, appearing chastized by the girl's mere question. "G-gomen, Ayame-chan."
"What are you doing out here anyway, Naruto-kun? Aren't you a little...young to be walking around by yourself?"
"Aheh, well, I was kinda hungry," he chuckled uneasily, "and I figured there was no better place to go for food than Ichiraku's!" he finished with a big smile.
Teuchi nodded and smiled. "Ah, okay then Naruto-kun. I think I should be able to whip something together for you before we take a break for the afternoon."
"Arigatou, Teuchi-ojiisan!"
Naruto chuckled at the grumbles coming from the direction the ramen chef departed in, while Ayame sighed. "You enjoy doing that, don't you Naruto-kun?"
"Yup!"
"So, what are you doing out here, Naruto-kun? Aren't you a little young to be wandering around alone?"
"Aheh, well, I was kinda hungry, and I figured there was no better place to come to than Ichiraku's!"
"You better believe it, gaki!" Teuchi chuckled, placing a bowl of ramen infront of the whiskered blond. "You'll not find better ramen in all of the elemental nations!"
Naruto nodded emphatically as he broke apart a pair of chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"
"Heh, I see you have some manners, Naruto-kun." Teuchi ribbed.
The blond-haired boy paid the comment no heed, however, as he voraciously dug into the dish Ichiraku's was famous for. He ate like a man starved, slurping up noodles and shoveling them into his mouth like the bowl would be taken away at any moment.
Ayame giggled at the blond boys antics. "Not many manners though, Tou-san!"
Naruto paused for a moment and spoke "Aut yoo oo, Aieaa-yan!"
"Swallow first, Naruto-kun!" the girl scolded half-jokingly, and the boy did so.
"Heh, gomen!"
"So Naruto-kun, how exactly are you paying? Did Hokage-sama send you down here with some yen?" Teuchi asked while washing up the countertop that Naruto wasn't using.
Said child paused, his eyes widening to comical proportions.
"Kuso!"
"Naruto-kun!" Ayame scolded.
"I'm sorry, I totally forgot!"
"Not that!" she said, wagging her finger, "you using such language!"
"Gomen," Naruto said, resisting the urge to pout. Turning back towards the ramen chef, the blond-haired boy continued "I'm sorry Teuchi-ojisan," the child said, "I'll pay you back, I promise!"
"Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun. It's on the house, for our favorite customer."
"No!" the boy said, shaking his head dramatically. "I'm not a freeloader," he continued, "I'll pay you back, I promise! Dattebayo!"
"Very well, Naruto-kun."
"But, tou-san..."
Ayame was silenced with a loving, yet stern look from her father.
Finishing his meal, Naruto leaned as far back as his tenuous position on the 'bar-stool' would allow. "Ah man, good as ever, Teuchi-ojiisan!"
"Glad you enjoyed it, Naruto-kun."
Nodding, Naruto stood up, and strode out the stall with a confident swagger only a child or fool could possess.
A mere moment later, he stuck his head back in a chuckled. "Say...can you tell me how to get back to the orphanage?"
Senzaku Kiyone was a woman of simple pleasures. Her hobbies consisted of reading various pieces of literature, teaching the orphans under her care, and when the mood struck her, painting.
Her eyes had lost some of the spark they once held, her skin was no longer as smooth and faultless as it once was, age had marred the beauty she once possessed, but she certainly aged well for a woman of fifty. She now possessed a calmness that only those who'd lived and learned could possess. She was a sensible, reason woman in many things.
As such, she only considered screaming out her frustration at the top of her lungs.
'Where did that little brat go?!' she thought frantically, 'I swear, when I get my hands on that blond-haired brat...'
She sighed raggedly. She'd have to speak to the Hokage quickly. If anything happened to the child, she might follow the caregiver that the ANBU had taken off with.
Picking up her handbag, she glided - for even though she had grown old, she still possessed the grace she'd had as a young woman - towards the door...
...only to run into Uzumaki Naruto in the flesh.
He hid behind the legs of a man a decade or so her junior, his face locked in a stern expression.
"Hello, mister..."
"Ichiraku Teuchi." came the simply reply.
"...hello, Ichiraku-san. What is it that Naruto-kun has done?" she said, warily. Uzumaki Naruto was a...strange child. He often switched from introverted, reserved moods to bombastic and extroverted ones, and troubling trait that many attributed to the kitsune nature of his tenant.
"Done? He simply dropped by my shop for lunch. He was rather hungry, seemed as though he hadn't eaten in days..." he stated simply, trailing off at the end.
'Ah!' she realized, 'He isn't restraining Naruto, he's...protecting him. How strange.'
"The child seems to have a ravenous apetite, almost as though he is eating for two..." she remarked casually.
The man's face darkened.
'So he does know...'
"He is a growing boy. I figured it would be wise for me to bring him back here, lest he be lost on the streets and bereft of proper care."
The matron frowned at the implication. "I spent a while trying to track down Naruto-kun, he seems to enjoying wander off."
Said blond-haired boy stepped forward at last. "Aheh, gomen, I was really hungry, Kiyone-obasan...er, Senzaku-san! G-gomen nasai!" He all but shouted at the end.
The matron winced, and the boy flinched back behind Teuchi leg. Kiyone had stomped out any familiarity between the blond-haired orphan and herself. He was dangerous, and she didn't want to form and bonds to him. It would be safer to clutch a kunai wrapped in an explosive note to her breast...
"Kiyone-obasan is fine, brat." she stated, her eyes gaining a bit more warmth as she locked gazes with the boy. "Now get inside, and I'll see if I can't get something you can eat the next time you get hungry after meals."
"R-really?! Arigatou!" he shouted, before brushing past Teuchi and throw the orphanage doors, as though worried the matron would tack on a punishment if he tarried.
"No manners, that one." Kiyone muttered.
"Aye, but I wouldn't have him any other way."
Kiyone turned back to Teuchi, and noted his face was somewhat warmer than before.
"Good-bye, Ichiraku-san."
"Good-bye, Senzaku-san."
The woman turned, before she realized she'd never told the man her name. Naruto must have spoken to him about her. About how strict she was no doubt. How aloof...
"Kiyone-obasan, huh..." she muttered, as though testing the words. "Perhaps it's time to give the boy a chance."
Japanese Term List/Jutsu List
Konohagakure no sato: Village Hidden in the Leaves
Kyuubi no Yoko: Nine-tailed Demon Fox
Kitune: Fox
Gomen: Sorry
Arigatou: Thank-you
Gaki: Brat; kid
Itadakimasu: "I humbly receive", stated at the beginning of a meal
Jinchuuriki: Power of human sacrifice, a human vessel for a demon
Iwa: Stone
Kuso: A curse word, used to the effect of "damn"
Jiji: Old-man, coot, a slang (sometimes considered derogatory) way of addressing an elderly male
Dattebayo: This is the term I'm taking the most liberty with. According to Kishimoto, this term doesn't have a strict defintion, but I've seen subs/dubs interchange the term with "believe it!", which is what I'm using in these instances. Don't worry, I'm using it very sparingly, seeing it every other sentence makes me cringe, personally
-chan: An honorific used to refer to young girls or infants of both genders; used between lovers or close friends, usually for females
-kun: More-or-less the male version of the honorific -chan, though it can in some circumstances be used to refer to females
-Obasan/Obachan: Aunt, or elder lady. The chan suffix is far more personal
-Ojiisan: Grandfather or old-man, in a more respectful term than jiji (Naruto refers to Teuchi in this fashion as a joke to poke at his age, more accurate otherwise would be ojisan)
-Ojisan: Uncle, or Mister, used to address older men
A/N: Just an idea that's been floating around in my head for a while. Hasn't gotten to the meat of the plot yet, but it will soon enough. Using a bit of the cliche'd premises to start out, but I intend to give the story my own flair soon enough.
I've written other pieces before, but never this fandom, and I could definately use a Beta who would be interested in looking at later chapters for me. Updates will be sporadic, I write as my muse hits me. Anyway, reviews on the good, the bad, and anything else under the sun are appreciated!
If you see anything that seems amiss, please inform me. I've yet to find a Beta for this story, but I figured that if I just let this sit around for much longer, I'd lose my inclination to write.