Ahh, school's over! hurray! Now I have more time to write! Anyhow, hello everyone, and this is my 2nd fic! Read and enjoy!
Standard Disclaimer: I most certainly do not own Naruto…
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Alone in the World
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Beginning
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The usually busy streets of Konoha were deathly silent. Many houses could be found as rubbles, and people were commonly found dead through out the streets. Ground-crushing roar could be heard not too far away from destruction, striking fear into all who had ears to hear the howl from hell.
The Nine-tails Fox Demon, Kyuubi no Youkai reaped death across the nation of Fire.
Best of Konoha's elite forces battled the abomination in attempt to hold the line of defense, throwing out everything they had. Numerous jutsus were flying through the air, all in an attempt to just injure the beast in any way. But as always, Kyuubi no Youkai forced the humans to realize just how futile their attempts were in comparison to the evil that was Kyuubi.
It was time to make choices.
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In the office of Yondaime, Arashi stood by the window, holding his only son. He was only a week old, with bright sunny orange hair and solid blue eyes that pierced your soul; a sign of an indestructible spirit. Kazama Arashi, Yondaime of Konoha could not bear to think of what would happen to his only son, in order to save the village he loved. He himself just had been in the combat, and used every jutsus he mastered against it; even the mighty Rasengan, although all proved useless against the Youkai. Arashi was back here in his office, because there was only one other solution to this threat. Hakke Fuuin Shiki; the Eight Divination Sealing Style. He had mastered it recently in the Forbidden Scroll, and knew the consequences as well. Also, he has never experienced the seal first hand before; it was all about learning and understanding how the seal actually worked.
The only problem was that he has never tried it before, since the one who performed the seal will be killed.
The Death itself was a horrifying existence that devoured the soul of the one who performed the seal, and the target whose seal was performed. Though, slight exception is made for entity such as Kyuubi; Death cannot completely kill the demon such as it, because it still has an enough life span to cover the age of earth regardless of its ancient age. Death is able to destroy the physical form, however. In that case, the soul of the demon will need to be caged in a living vessel, or else it will possess some other body and reinitiate its tirade of destruction. The most suitable vessel would be an infant, whose mind has not been set to the way of the world. Any older, the host will go insane, due to that their mind's way is already affected by the world around it: greed, hate, love… such emotions would be taken advantage of, and will be used against the vessel by the whim of the demon soul. To prevent this from happening, the vessel would need to grow with the demon inside, adapting, controlling, suppressing… and one day, conquering it.
Of course, all this cannot happen if he fails while performing the ritual. It was very complicated, for the seals were very difficult, while the chakra control must be perfect, and the person should be ready and willing to give their life.
Yondaime was ready for all of these. Otherwise, he would not be called Yondaime. The issue here was that there was no other candidate other than his own son, flesh and blood, his legacy as the vessel of the terrifying demon. He could not bring himself to burden the other clans. His mother had passed away during child birth, and if he himself would be gone, then there would be none to take him in, let alone to guide him.
'But… I have no other choice…'
Arashi heavily breathed out, then made his decision.
"Sarutobi-sensei… Will you... Take the child to ritual room?" Arashi spoke softly, while his emotions swirling violently right underneath his calm exterior. Sandaime nodded, and disappeared with the child.
'The only thing left to do now… Is hope and pray.'
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Shinobis at the frontline were retreating to safety. The fox was too much. Whenever its enormous tails struck, houses and people were squashed and crushed. All the jutsus thrown at the titan were either bounced off, or absorbed. The inexperienced nins couldn't even move their body, as the frightening aura of Kyuubi suppressed their own, contaminating the very air they breathed. It seemed Konoha's fall was inevitable.
In the middle of the battle field, Gamabunta chose to make its appearance with a loud puff, addition to Yondaime on his head. Remaining fellow leaf shinobis were ordered to retreat behind Gamabunta, which they eagerly did. Yondaime's expression was grim, as he stared down the abomination. The fox seemed to notice his presence, so it also glared at the Yondaime with malice that was not of this world. Within his peripheral vision, Yondaime saw the Hokage Tower signaling the finish of the setup.
Now, it was all up to him. 'I will succeed.'
Sandaime watched through the windows of what had become of the outcome. To the naked eye, the two seemed to be struggling against nothing, but Sandaime knew better. The target and the user would be trapped in an endless darkness around them, therefore only they would see the sight of Death himself. Yondaime seemed to be having a difficult time trying to suppress the demon, as he was almost collapsing. Sandaime guessed that Kyuubi already knew of this technique, since it was struggling so hard against the invisible force.
It was then; a blinding flash surrounded the demonic figure, as everyone witnessed the body of the monstrous Kyuubi deteriorating. Hope sparked in everyone's hearts, as Kyuubi faltered, but shrank as a terrifying chakra shot out from Kyuubi like a spear and attacked Yondaime. Gamabunta had to move because of the attack, and Yondaime shook a little, but continued nonetheless. Kyuubi continued to dematerialize with a shriek filled with agony, and then finally started to crumble. Everyone cheered simultaneously, as the demon finally disappeared completely. All their joy was short lived as Gamabunta's gigantic tongue brought town the young Hokage from his back. Sorrow and respect were visible in the toad boss's eyes as he gazed down at his respected partner. Everyone gathered around the sleeping-like figure of Yondaime, and then they all recoiled back in surprise.
Yondaime was dead.
There wasn't any visible wound on his body. He was just simply… dead. He looked just like he was sleeping soundly; just that there was no breathing, heartbeat, not even a single movement. Everyone bowed their heads, paid respect for their Hokage, and thought of the ultimate sacrifice the Yondaime paid. It was a tragic day for Konoha.
Unbeknownst to all of them, the legacy of the Yondaime who now carried the soul of the chained monstrosity was carried in Sandaime's arms, as he thought of the future for the hair of Yondaime. He had planned everything out already before hand, but there were quite a few unexpected variables to his equation. They were quite formidable, yet Sandaime could do nothing against it.
The boy's destiny was in fate's hands.
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4 years later
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A blond child could be seen crying at the busy streets of Konoha. Any nice or sensible person might ask what was wrong with him, but these people were an exception. They did not spare a glance at the boy, and that was considered being nice. Some would throw hateful cold glares as they passed; filled with hatred the boy did not understand.
Actually, he did not understand any of this.
He was told by his 'uncle' Hokage that he was sorry that he did not have any time to play with him, so he wandered out into the streets for what you could say the 3rd time in his short span of life. What he did remember for each and every one of those few trips, were that the cold and hateful attitude the people at the streets. Wait, wait. Scratch that, everywhere and everyone except uncle Hokage actually.
The adults sometimes they acted like he had itsy bitsy cooties on him, and sometimes they acted like he was some dirty booger stuck on the bottom of their shoes if they seem particularly moody. He also saw that his peers (and older) found joy in mimicking their parents often when he was playing at the playground, and they also did not like him for these strange six whisker-like marks he had on each of his cheeks. Out of all of them, a single boy and his faithful dog companion were especially mean to him.
He is not better than me… He had red thingy on his cheeks too! Why did he make fun of me?, he thought as he recalled his memories.
He just couldn't understand. What has he done to them? Why were they so mean? He could not take the mental abuse, so that's why he sat here and cried. It was then he heard a soft whisper.
'Boy… Do not cry…'
The boy was so surprised, he jumped up in the air when he heard it, while accidentally bumping into a nearby person walking by. When the boy lifted his head up to apologies, he was met with extremely angry face of the person. He looked like he would eat him or something.
He said in a trembling tone that frightened him, "You… How dare you touch me, you filthy monster!"
With that, the person punched him so hard, that he flew back to the stands behind him. He was about the get back up and apologies for whatever he had done, but met with another painful kick to his face. This one was equally painful, if not more than the first. He was beginning to get angry, but the person didn't seem to stop. He kept saying "You fox boy!" over and over as he approached the boy. The boy looked frantically from side to side to look for any sign of helping hand, but found none. He instead found everyone circled around the fight… and enjoying it. They were pointing and laughing, and cheered the person to punch him harder. He felt tears welling. The person's punch proved too much for him as he smacked him repeatedly. Suddenly, he was in complete darkness, void of sense of space, and direction. He heard the same voice once again.
'Boy… Do you want power? Absolute, unimaginable power? With it, you can easily kill those meager villagers… You can do whatever you want… Whatever you feel necessary…' The boy could not figure out the source of the voice, but that was irrelevant. The voice sounded somehow gruff and soothing at the same time, oddly as it seemed. In the boy's naïve mind, the voice was already marked as a trusty one… regardless of any interaction between them. Boy answered, 'What's asolu umimagilaebl pouwer?'
He was certainly surprised as he could actually feel the entity shaking its head. 'Curse the child's vocabulary. Enough of that, do you hate the person in front of you?' The image of person who was beating him flashed before him. The boy's answer was 'What is 'hate'?' The boy felt the entity sigh, and then the voice started to speak again.
'Hate is… When you feel you want to be 'mean' to someone… That person was feeling hate towards you, so he punched and kicked you. Do you feel you want to be 'mean' to that person?' The voice said in a softer tone than before.
The boy thought for a good minute, then spoke again. 'Um… I… think I don't want to be mean… I did bump in to that person first… but… I don't understand… People are so mean to me, when I try to be nice to them. Only uncle Hokage has been nice to me…' The boy said as he put a hand over where his heart would be. He clutched it as if it would fall off if he let go. The boy felt… sympathy emanating from the entity within the darkness… The first emotion ever to be shown to him other than this… hate… by anyone else other than uncle Hokage. The voice did not speak, as if to contemplate upon something.
It was a while after the voice spoke to him again. 'Boy… You will understand in time why they hate you… but do you want to endure this? You could run away from this place.' The boy's ears perked up. 'Run away?' The entity seemed satisfied that it got his attention. 'That's right, boy. Run away from this village. I have vast knowledge beyond your imagination… I could guide you… if you let me.' The boy did not really understand what it was talking about, but agreed to it anyways. After all, the voice had to be trustworthy person… it had not lashed out at him or had been mean to him in anyways… yet.
Deep chuckle of the entity filled his head, as it sort of – barked – and shook his head.
'Do not worry boy… I will not harm you. I will protect you… Human's ability to harm one another never seizes to amaze me…' Of course, the boy did not understand what it was talking about, so he ignored the last part. There were more important things to discuss.
'Um… I have one question… Where are you? I don't see anything. It's just dark.' The boy asked to fulfill his growing curiosity about this mysterious being; his voice seemed to be radiating from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He felt… strength radiating from the being.
The boy patiently waited until the response came. 'It… is not the right time to reveal myself. You will understand soon enough. Now, here's what I want you to do.'
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Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Sandaime was still working late at night. He was getting tired from all the demands the people of Konoha were making, but felt proud none the less. They have almost already recovered from the Kyuubi's rampage; so far, all was well, except one thing bothered him still.
He just heard disturbing news about the son of Yondaime. According to the ANBU members, they said that the boy was beat up to pulp today. Sandaime guessed that nobody helped him - heck, they probably joined in the beating. The one sided fight lasted about 15 minutes, and the boy fainted before 10 minute has passed. The ANBU told him that the guy was mercilessly beating the child, and the reason was… that he accidentally bumped into him at the corner. That was not the half of it though.
When the beating was commencing, the ANBU detected a strange phenomenon; the child's wounds were healing almost instantly after being inflicted. The attacker did not notice, and kept attacking, but was soon stopped by an invisible wall around the boy, and then all the people gathered there, including the ANBU, felt the horrifying chakra that everyone felt 4 years ago. Everyone fled, including the man who was assaulting the blond. After that, they reported that the Kyuubi's chakra wave diminished shortly after they left.
Sandaime already had dismissed the team from their duty. He had them follow and keep track of Naruto's movements and whereabouts 24/7, to make sure that the activity of the demon was kept dormant. If what ANBU had told him was true, then this will cause problems. The demon's chakra awoke at suck a young age, and it hasn't even been 10 years yet! The Forbidden Scroll stated that the seal would be sturdy enough to hold the captive dormant as long as to 20 years, but only after 4 years? The seal was designed to merge the vessel's chakra with the captive, so they will merge in one, as the time gradually passed. Which one will prevail? The stronger spirited soul, of course.
But for the demon to awake this early was unexpected, and not welcomed. Perhaps the merging will happen sooner than scheduled. He just hoped that Kyuubi wouldn't be the one who emerge through the blending souls.
It was then; the emergency alarm went off loudly ringing into the calm night of Konoha.
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The boy had done what the entity had told him to do. He himself knew that he had a talent for pranks; but it was his first time to pull such a big one.
He had set his lonely little apartment on fire.
He had alerted the securities that there has been an attack, and they believed him so much without a glare. Maybe it was because he was using that hengu or henge or whatever that was. The entity told him to make weird poses with his fingers, and then it told him to concentrate on a picture of a woman in the poster, on the wall of Ichikaru. When he did, he felt something swirling inside of him, then poof! Something happened, but the entity said he had no time to waste, so he could not even see what had happened to himself.
'Now… time for phase 2.'
The entity spoke, as the boy suddenly found himself feeling strength… incredible strength running in his veins. It ordered to him to get to their destination as fast as possible, and kept nagging on him. Again, the boy obeyed and ran straight toward their destination, failing to fulfill his curiosity once more.
The boy was very surprised that he was moving at such speed; his legs were almost a blur, but he could see things clearly while everything passed by him at equal rate. He was taking the short cut towards the Hokage tower. The being had told him to find a 'scroll' that looked big, green, and special looking. He remembered that scroll, because he saw it in uncle Hokage's office before. It was hung on the wall, with weird cloth hanging on it with bunch of kanji writing centering the word 'seal'. The boy had asked the being that how he was going to get it, but it gave no answer other than 'Hurry up. We don't have time for questions.'
Finally, the boy reached the gates of the Hokage Tower.
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Sandaime was out in his Hokage robe, already at the emergency meeting place. The ninjas of all ranks were called for duty, and were debating on what had happened.
He listened carefully, listening to the witnesses, evidence, the securities, the damages…
'Wait a minute… Naruto's house?' Sandaime thought frantically as he interrogated them further. The securities told them that there was a woman (whom they have seen from sake commercial) who was telling them that there had been an attack on someone's house. Their location was near Ichikaru, and there was only one damaged property: Naruto's apartment.
Hokage thought with horror as he assumed that the villagers attacked him once again. Then, the door to the room was flung open, as guard Chuunin frantically came in.
"HOKAGE SAMA! THE FORBBIDEN SCROLL HAS BEEN STOLLEN!" The chuunin yelled out as he almost collapsed on the floor.
"What! How did you get hold of this information?" Hokage barked to the chuunin to explain the situation.
"I was late coming out of the Hokage Tower, because I have hearing problems sir. As I was exiting the tower, I saw a kid carrying a gigantic scroll on his back, sir. I tried to catch him, but he was incredibly fast and has gotten away far into the forest, before I was even near him. I've seen that scroll before, and remembered the scroll to be somewhere in the Hokage building, so I rechecked the building, just in case sir. While I checked, I found the Forbidden Scroll and various other scrolls containing our village's jutsus missing, sir!" Incredibly, the chuunin said this all in one breathe.
Everyone was becoming frantic, and was falling into confusion. Sandaime thought it was time for him to intervene, and shouted above all the voices in thundering tone, "SILENCE!"
As everyone was silenced, Sandaime asked the chuunin, "Did you notice anything of the intruder's characteristics? His hitai-te, hair, anything?" Sandaime was afraid that the chuunin would say what he expected him to say.
"I have not noticed any hitai-te, but I recall the intruder had blond hair, and seemed to be around 5, or 6 years old, sir."
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The boy was running through the forest with this new found power. The fact that he was running away from the cold glares of the villagers had struck a chord of joy in him, and also a chord of hopelessness, due to his lack of shelter and guidance. Fortunately, he had been forgetting about the entity in his head.
'Boy… Do not be afraid. I will guide you. I will protect you.' The voice said within his mind as the boy kept leaping from tree to tree like a veteran assassin, which the boy had never even experienced before. The voice calmed his fears down, but he still had doubts about his food, and a place to sleep. He had never slept outdoors before, and never even been out of the village; it was natural for him to be afraid.
The voice told him the direction he should go once in a while. He was just running in a straight line, while changing course every once in a while when the voice told him to. The boy thought it was very strange that he was not even slightly tired – nope, he felt better than he had ever been!
He was enjoying the cool night air for the first time, as he kept traveling at a consistent pace that looked like a blur to any bystanders for quite a long time. The unlimited energy was still there, and he still felt like how he felt several hours ago. Now things have calmed down a bit in the boy's yet innocent mind, now it had some sense to ask where he was headed.
'Um… May I ask where we are going?' The boy asked politely in his mind, as he now knew the voice was in his head; and that it required some patience to get an answer. The voice answered after a little while as he expected.
'We are heading for a town out of this country. If I remember correctly, it was called the Wave Country. It is quite a nice place to live for humans to live such as yourself.' The boy's heart wrenched as he heard the word 'village'. Obviously, the boy was imagining the cold glares everyone gave him. The voice, sensing his distress, calmly assured him.
'Do not worry young kit. You will not receive or be harmed from the cold gazes of the villagers. I have seen many things in life, but I have never seen humans treat another with such disdain. The villagers out of this country will not be harsh on you. It is still a harsh world, but you are now given a chance to learn, be free of the suppression, and to spread your tails again, kit. I will be your guardian. There is nothing to worry.'
Somehow, the voice had completely erased the young boy's troubles. Voice had just touched the very core that lied inside his fragile innocent heart, and comforted him.
He had found someone who did not 'hate' him.
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Back in the council of Konoha, a big debate was being held. All the elders and the council members were arguing whether or not they should go look for the boy. Wait, wait, that wasn't it. The issue was to either label Naruto as a missing nin, against the fact that he was not a ninja, and warn other countries, or just leave it be, and hope that he dies in the wilderness. The only person who favored neither of those options was Sandaime. He was in great pain, as he thought of Yondaime, for he had failed his duty to raise the 4th's only legacy, and a person who could be called his grandson.
He thought of his stupidity, as he blamed himself for Naruto's leaving. 'It was because I could not control the villagers… If they had not treated him so, this would not happen… It's all my fault…'
Agreeing to himself that self blame would not bring Naruto back, he thought of anyway to help the boy, which was quite an impossible task as the elders and the whole Konoha against him. He tried to voice his thoughts.
"Everyone! We are making a big mistake! Naruto is innocent! He has not done anything to this village! Why must we abandon him like this?" Sandaime shouted above the argument which dealt with Naruto's demise. Everyone now stared angrily at him then one of them shouted across the room.
"Innocent, you say? That boy is the demon! He wiped out half of my clan! And you say that's innocent!" Leader of one of the Konoha's clan said with burning malice in his eyes. People all agreed in unison, so Sandaime tried once again.
"But don't you see! He is NOT the DEMON! He is merely a child! An innocent child whose soul has not been corrupted by the sins of the world! We cannot abandon him like thi-" This time, the ANBU member who Hokage had sent to observe the boy sharply interjected.
"Hokage-sama, please excuse my rudeness, but that is INSANE! The boy must be eliminated at all costs. He is a threat as long as he carries the demon. Have you not heard, Hokage-sama? Today, we ANBU, have felt the demon's presence clearly! I felt that horrifying chakra that forcefully shoved chills down my neck. He was clearly radiating with the demon's chakra during the fight today. There's no denying that, Hokage-sama. Please acknowledge him a missing nin. He may not be a ninja, and only 4 years old, but during the time I observed, I found that his mental state was mature than anybody else in his age. He also has the Forbidden Scroll, which contains the village's most secret jutsus, including the most dangerous jutsus existing in the world. There's no telling what will happen if he learns anything from that scroll. Therefore, I hear by request the dispatch of the hunter-nins immediately, Hokage-sama."
Sandaime seemed to be debating over himself, then finally announced in a resigned voice, "Dispatch the hunter-nins, but no matter what, bring the boy back alive, and retrieve the scroll if possible. If anyone harms the boy, they will be put under sentence of death. I hear by announce another rule: that you are not to speak any of this information from this day forward. Also, the contents of this meeting today will not leave this room. The penalty for breaking any of these rules will be the demise of your tongue." The finality of the statement rang in the air, as Sandaime demonstrated once again, that he had not lost any power from the days of his youth.
Authority regained, Hokage left the room, leaving the people to bicker among them.
As Sandaime left, he could not stop the spreading dreadful suspicion that kept nagging at the back of his mind though. 'Where had the boy gotten the information about the Scroll of Sealing? How had that boy thought of a plan clever enough to fool us?'
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The boy was still running for god-knows-how-long, but still not burdened by weariness. While the long hours of running almost blindly through the land, he had been conversing with the voice in his head for the time being, and found him a good company. The topic that the boy had asked for was about this 'Wave Country' that they were heading to. The voice had kindly supplied, while sidetracking a few times.
'…And the Wave Country is under the supervision of Mizukage, just like Konoha's Hokage. The Mizukage was quite a strong person for his age. I once faced him before, under the glowing moon light at a vast plain of the wilderness. It was an epic battle indeed… Oh wait… I think that was quite a long time ago… Hm… Nevermind. I do not think the current Mizukage is the Mizukage I am talking about. Anyhow, the Wave Country is a quiet place. Small, but peaceful. Do you want to know why we are heading there?'
Naruto mentally nodded.
'The reason is that I am going to train you. This may be a little confusing, but we have a special bond. You can think of it like… lets say… a mirror. If you break the mirror, what happens to your reflection?'
'It also breaks.'
'Correct, kit. That is the relationship between us. Bound together, just like a mirror. The reason for your training is so that you will not be weak, therefore securing my life and yours from danger. Now, the other reason is… that I want you to… never feel the pain of loneliness again. As your life progresses, you will eventually find somebody who accepts you… But by far, I am safe to assume that I will not remain until that time. I must prepare you to face the difficult trials that lie in your life.'
'Huh? What do you mean?' Naruto asked, with an undertone of fear.
'Kit, our special bond… will not last long. Soon, I will be 'absorbed' into you. My whole being. My mind, my soul, and my energy will be a permanent part of you. The seal…no, the bond was suppose to keep us together for many years… but it seems that the creator of this bond have made a mistake. We may only have another 4 or 5 more years until our bond blends us in completely. My thoughts, my memories, my personality will blend in with yours. Do you understand this?' The voice asked in a solemn whisper.
'Um… I think so… Is it like what happens when you mix water with your pee?'
While sweatdropping at the boy's analogy, the voice answered, 'That is… correct kit. Now, this is why I must train you to be strong and powerful. You will be the remains of my haunting past. Your name is already widely known to people in the Fire Nation and to other few nations also. They will try to harm you, and I cannot let them do that. Also, you just maybe the Kitling that I never had…'
'But… Why do they want to hurt me? Did I do something mean to them? And what do you mean you'll blend in… I don't want you to disappear… You were the second one to be nice to me, and I don't want anybody to go away like that…' The boy sniffed a little.
The voice slightly chuckled. 'Kitling, the absorption will occur after years to come. Do not cry. I will not leave you yet.'
'sniff You won't, right? Promise?' The boy asked with desperate tone, which reflected his emotions well.
'… I promise, kit. I will always protect you.'
As their pleasant '4 yr old – and – 20000 yr old' conversation commenced, side-tracking to all the neat thing in life, they were finally nearing the Wave Country.
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It was unusually snowing at the dark lonely corner of Wave Country. The snow seemed so refined and pure, and it came down like feathers blown off to distance. In the midst of this pureness, a lonely young girl sat next to a dumpster. She seemed to be around 5 or 6 years old, her clothing were gray and ragged from not being cared. Her big innocent brown eyes stared up at the endless sky above her, which was silently blessing her with pure white snow.
"…"
The girl stood up, as she thought of her bloodline limit that has ruined her life. She felt like nobody wanted her. The loneliness that creped into her young and pure heart was almost unbearable. It was a pain that not even older people could endure, but she had to face it at such a young age, and learned to cope with them by bracing herself, and thinking of the happier times…
Times when she had a happy family…
Times when she felt like she was the happiest person in the world…
Times when her parents still lived…
Until that faithful day she learned of her inheritance.
Her mother had slapped her for having such power; it was a supposed secret, and apparently, her father did not approve such dangerous capabilities. This discovery led to the downfall of once happy family. One day when the girl returned home from playing at the fields with snow bunnies, she found many people from the snow village, and her father, standing over the bloody form of her mother in the living room. Judging from the wounds, it seemed she was beaten, slashed, restrained, and various other tortures were apparent. The girl could not apprehend the situation, and ran toward her mother, only to be punched down by the person she had called father. As the villagers approached her, she felt something within her awaken; an immense power, that was only gained by advanced inheritance. Thus, the fearsome ice spiraled around her rapidly in a geometrical shape, which would have been called a beautiful and magnificent sight by some bystanders, suddenly enlarged and pierced every possible corners of her home; killing all who reside within at the moment except the girl. She promptly fainted after such a usage, but when she awoke, she could not hide her sadness. She saw her father hanging from the ceilings with his stomach pierced by one of the ice spikes, his guts adding blood to the red sea below. She looked around, and saw the massacre surrounding her. She felt immense guilt, and felt loneliness for the first time.
The girl shook her head, trying not to remember the sad and lonely memories which threatened to consume her. It has been a while since she promised herself it was time to move on, but her mind seemed to resist change. It always brought bad memories and nightmares when she slept, and even haunted her sometimes in daylight.
Haku started walk to random location, trying to forget her painful memories.
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When Naruto actually got into the village, it was well passed sun-down.
'Wow… This place looks a lot different than home, mister.' Naruto 'thought' as he was approaching the Wave Country's entrance. The gates were not big as Konoha, but still quite large none the less.
'Boy… Do not call me 'mister'.' The voice called back somewhat angrily. Naruto asked the voice, 'Then… What's your name?' with all the innocence that came as a bonus for being so young.
'…Kyuubi will do.' The voice replied. Naruto thought for a moment, and then decided. 'I think I'll call you… Kyuubi-san!' Naruto did a little mental dance, chanting 'Kyuubi-san, Kyuubi-san!' over and over again like a broken record.
The voice seemed to have dropped the matter, and did not protest against the boy's decision. After all… it did sound homey.
As the boy entered the gates, he looked around all over the place in wonder and amazement, until he was stopped by some guards. They grabbed his shoulder, and turned him around harshly.
"Hey, kid. What is your business here?" The guard asked in a business-like tone.
"Um… I… don't know…?" Naruto answered slowly in his timid voice. The guard shook his head.
"Are you with anybody? Where are your parents?" The guard asked again suspiciously.
"I… My parents are… not here…" Naruto replied sadly. The guard didn't notice this, and pursued.
"Did you get lost, then? Do you want to go to the police station?" Naruto interrupted in a sadder tone.
"My parents are… Not here anymore… I've never seen them before." The guard seemed to catch on now, as a look of pity entered his eyes, and his attitude took a 180 degrees turn. "Oh… There, there… It's alright. I've lost my parent too. I still remember them as the most precious people I had in my whole life." The guard stated, taking a nostalgic look while trying to comfort the boy.
Naruto's attention span caught something and asked, "What is a precious person?" with free - additional childish charm. The guard seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then answered slowly.
"A precious person is… I don't know how to say this, but… a person you really like… The person you love." Naruto tilted his head to one side. He did not understand the concept yet, and was oblivious to the fact that this was one of the most important knowledge you could get during your lifetime.
"Anyways, kid. I gotta get back to my duty. You can have access to Waver Country. Think of it as a gift, kid. I'll be going now." The guard went back to his post as he said good bye. Naruto thought, 'Wow… What a nice person. Back at home, they never treated me like that…' The voice in his head seemed to have read his mind (A/N: duh…) and spoke.
'They do not treat you so because they do not know of your secret; back at your 'home', everyone did, and hated you for it. There wasn't anything that lured you to a fault… They are hypocrites… Do not mind them. That was why you have left in the first place.'
Nodding again, young Naruto had let his curiosity be his guide as he wandered around the town in fascination. As he was about to take a turn, he noticed a white, cold, angelic substance softly falling from the sky.
"… Huh? It's snowing…"
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Snow was still falling softly.
Haku was still wandering about randomly in the streets. She had nothing to do, but to salvage some food somewhere when she got hungry. When she turned a corner, she saw a little puppy, and ran up to her. Haku felt slightly happy as the puppy ran up to her as if it liked her. Her happiness was short to last; as the puppy's mother blocked its path from reaching her. The mother looked back up at her with angry defensive eyes that warned her not to go near her puppy.
Getting the message, Haku turned slowly around, but was suddenly held aggressively against the wall. She was very surprised to see 2 men looking around her father's age. They were wearing leather jackets, had a hitai-te on their arms, marking them from as Hidden Mist shinobis. Also, they had an unusual lust - filled glint in their eyes. Smiling wickedly, one of them spoke to her.
"Heh… a pretty young thing we found here… heheh…" The guy behind the one holding her spoke with voice that sent shivers up her spine. The other one had an equally devious smirk as he traced the outline of her face.
"Yea… She is a pretty little thing… I wonder what she tastes like." The man's breath came upon Haku's nose, as he said those words. The breath was filled with alcohol, and frankly, Haku was afraid. The man's proximity was scaring her more and more by the second. The guy behind him came in equal distance away from her face. Haku did one thing that automatically came into her mind.
A frightened shriek filled the cold, chilly air of the night.
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'Aww… I don't have any money…' Naruto thought as he stared at the denbura (A/N: Sea food thing…) stand longingly, wishing upon a star to grant a miracle so that the delicious food would be down his stomach. He had not thought about anything financial, as he did not need to worry about those things before. Uncle Hokage always did something, and he would get food without paying. Now, he wished he had some yens with him, for he was HUNGRY!
"Um… Mister…? Can I… have some denbura?" Naruto asked, using his politeness to maximum. The owner of the denbura stand looked down at him.
"Hm… Those are 2000 yens for 8 sticks, soup included." The owner said as if he knew that he had no money to buy the denbura. Naruto, obviously sensing the denial of his little request for food, slumped his shoulder as he walked away from the stand with one last lingering glance.
'I'm hungry…'
Grooooowl "…"
It seemed his stomach agreed also. Indeed, hungry.
'Hungry…Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry…' Naruto made another one of his little childish mental mantra of his own to emphasize on his need, and by chance or not, the voice, now known as Kyuubi, evidently snapped.
'KITLING! Grant me some private time of my own! I cannot stand your chants! Are you at the absolute breaking point of your hunger?'
Too bad Kyuubi wasted his breath.
'Huh?' That was Naruto's brilliant reply. Kyuubi could only shake his head.
'Alright kit, alright. I think it is time I teach you the basic surviving technique: hunting.' Before Kyuubi could go into details about how to hunt snow rabbits, he was interrupted by a sharp, fear ridden scream, piercing Naruto's ear drums. He concluded that the source was a dark looking alley just beyond the corner. He asked his guardian for guidance, as the guardian promised.
'Um… What should I do…?' Naruto asked, as he was very frightened by the scream. He had never heard something like that before... He hoped that he would never hear it again, too. The guardian answered after moment of contemplation.
'Hm… This could be your first exercise… Go see what the problem is. Also, always remember to watch your back kit. You must be always aware of your surroundings.'
Nodding, the boy built up courage, as he ran toward the corner like a blur. What the Kitling had not noticed was that the inhuman chakra the guardian was supporting him with, which gave him extra sharpened senses, and physical attributes that would promise him to be quite formidable in battle.
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Rippp!
Haku stared in horror as the guy slammed her against the wall, and ripped the sleeves of her rags off. She thought of using her inherited gift, but immediately decided against it, for Haku felt that she would be lower than dirt to use the very core that had crushed her life to protect herself. She knew it was dangerous. It displayed its power quite well on that faithful day where her father had met his end. She never wanted to do that again.
Ever.
'But the situation calls for it. You are in danger.' Rational part of her mind whispered, but her beliefs stood in its way, as it denied the opportunity. 'No. I will never use it again. I never want to see it again.'
As her mind desperately searched for an alternative escape root, she heard a young firm voice, yelling, "Hey! Why are you being mean! That's not nice!"
Haku turned her head toward the source, and found two endless deep blue orbs staring right back at her. Time slowed as their eyes connected; brown met cerulean. What broke the gaze of his blue eye was the painful knee blow to his face. The boy was knocked down, and was sent several feet tumbling. The big scroll he was carrying got in the way and made it look more painful for his back. One of the guys started speaking arrogantly.
"Feh, you little brat. You think you can mess with us 'Mist Chuunin Bros'? You'll get soaked, so get outta here before I change my mind and bust you up." The guy said with a big, creepy glint in his eyes. "Nevermind. I'll just kill you."
The other guy who held Haku tied her up with a rope he produced out of nowhere, and then stood back. "I wanna see this!" He said excitedly. After all, he knew that his brother was the one who ranked tie between the top ranks of the chuunin. The little brat just didn't have luck.
The older one whipped out a mean looking kunai, (which looked like a black fork to Naruto) and held it horizontally a he charged at the boy. As he appeared above the blond boy, he gave a downward thrust aimed for his head.
'Easy kill…' He thought as he continued to descend upon the boy. His blue eyes filled with something resembling fear, until it quickly changed into anger.
An absurd amount of killing intent.
The chuunin stared on and on, as he was trying to figure out what the hell was happening. His kunai, along with his whole body, was blocked by an unseen force, and then it repelled him back upwards, landing him where he was standing before. All these events unfolded in a flash, and the bystanders could only stare and be confused.
'I don't understand… That was a clear downward thrust; how the hell did he bounce off in the middle of the air!' The younger of the brothers stared hard at what had happen. The blond boy slowly got back up to his feet. The younger one suddenly felt like a cornered mouse, waiting for the inevitable.
The boy's eyes were not blue anymore.
Hellish red eyes stared back at their souls, and those who dared to challenge its might. The boy charged with speed easily comparable to a jounin, grabbed the older brother's head, and slammed him against the wall, revealing a large crater where the impact has landed. Blood spilled from his head, as he slowly slid to the floor.
The younger chuunin could only watch in fear. His said-to-be-a-prodigy brother has been eliminated in half a second. What chance did he stand?
The boy now slowly turned his head toward the remaining two, staring at them with bloodlust. The younger chuunin was frozen in place, and the girl was just sitting there, eyes wide.
A large grin revealed canine fangs of the boy, as he picked up the sharp kunai from the motionless hand of the older chuunin. He traced the sharp point of the blade delicately with his small index finger. Then, without warning, he threw it at the younger chuunin's head. He didn't even see it coming. The force behind the throw was so massive, that the kunai pierced his head, continued toward the wall, and created a hole size of the chuunin's head on the alley wall. Lowering to his knees, the younger chuunin clutched his bleeding, empty face as if to question what had happened, then he slumped on the ground, never to move again.
Now all that was left was the girl.
She stared at the predator. A once innocent-looking blond boy she witnessed few moments ago was nowhere in sight. The young boy was physically bigger now, though not by much. It made him look like 8 or 9 years old, in contrast to a young, 5 year looking boy she had seen moments ago. She mentally noted that he looked like a fox, with those marks that resembled whiskers and pointy ears. Haku prepared for the inevitable death, which she expected any moment now.
It didn't come.
The blond boy's blood red eyes returned to deep blue color as it has once been. She could actually see his body shrink just a little bit back to normal proportion of a young child. His ears became more human like, as his spiky hair relaxed to normal, carefree way. He's blue eyes bored into her brown ones once more, as if to question her existance.
After what seemed like eternity, he slowly turned his gaze to his red stained hands, and looked disbelievingly at the tainted blood. Haku thought he would burst into tears or something, but did not expect him to calmly wipe his hand on his pants, if not a little shaky. He stood still contemplating for a moment, and then the blond boy walked to her petit figure. After an awkward moment, he introduced himself, and apologized.
"Um… Hello… My name is. . . Uzumaki… Naruto… and I'm… sorry you had to see that…" He ended his awkward introduction as a quiet whisper.
Haku really didn't know what to say, but her mind went on auto-pilot told her to whisper a "Th…Thank you… for saving me…"
The boy seemed taken a back for a second, as if he didn't expect her to say that. After a look of contemplating crossing his face, he took off his blood – stained crimson shirt with spiral on the center, and put it on her instead. He quickly explained himself to her enquiring look, "B…Because… You seemed c… Cold…"
"Aren't you cold? It is snowing." The boy scratched the back of his head, then answered, "I… I… Um… no… I'm fine, really."
Now, the boy asked her, "Um… Is there any place I could sleep…? I'm kinda… lost…" Now, that was what least of what she had thought he would say. She could only reply, "Um… There is a little roof over there... Where we could avoid the snow…"
The boy nodded, then left to their destination.
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It was still snowing all around the Wave Country the next morning.
This was a very rare case, since it mostly rained in Wave Country, and snowing was something you see every once in a 10 years or so. This one was a particularly big one also. It snowed to 2 feet high!
How troublesome.
Luckily, he had been sleeping under the small roof with a girl around his age as his company. They were in the alley, where there were only small gaps with roof covering the sky. The roof had blocked the snow from falling on them, but that didn't mean that they weren't cold. The harsh wind blew across the alley with unnerving fury which would make any hard man shiver. Even though he didn't find himself cold for some reason, he hoped that the girl was shielded from this menace. Speaking of the girl, he hadn't noticed last night, but he found her ... weird… He felt he could trust her, while also subtly feeling himself being attracted to her. Even Kyuubi had agreed with him too. He chuckled and said, 'It seems you are not completely depleted of luck for females.'
Naruto shrugged, and asked what he was to do today. He had no idea, because all he did yesterday was running. Incredibly fast too, but that was beside the point.
'First, we will find a shelter suitable for our stay, and then start our first training session. Since I have forgotten about the human 'currency', it seems hunting will be your first lesson. After all, it is quite vital, and even though I can protect you from being weary, I cannot protect you from hunger. Snow rabbits should be plentiful this time of year.'
Kyuubi stated as if the rabbits were the most mouth-drooling food in the world. Naruto sort of detested the idea that he would kill rabbits, since they were so cute, but he found a surprising amount of want for the little white rabbits. He wondered why, because even though he found them adorable, when he pictured the images of the white bunnies, his mouth would drool and he would be thinking of how the little beings' flesh would feel inside his mouth.
Kyuubi sensed boy's confusion, and explained, 'Rabbits are one of the favorite meals of fox. Kit, we are wild foxes. Unchained, untamed, and only controlled by our will and ours alone. It is about time you tasted the delicious meal, even though you would probably prefer it cooked. Ah well, that would be the nature of all Kitlings.'
As Kyuubi explained, the boy was even more confused than before. 'Um… I am a fox? I sure don't look like one I saw in the picture book… They have pointy ears and sharp teeth too.'
Kyuubi slightly smirked as he marched onward to conquer the young curiosity. 'You are a fox. A very rare case at that, but by the moon, you are a fox, Kitling. Still young, but a fox indeed. Kitling, you may not look like it on the outside, but on the inside, you are a true fox. You will go down in history as the greatest Kitsune ever to exist, one of these days. Humans have detested you for being so much alike with the kinds of the forest… You are great and clever at pranks, and that you are so intelligent and mature for your age, are the proofs that you are a fox. Always remember this, Kitling. It is one of the most important lessons in many that I will give you. Never forget who you are.'
Naruto slowly nodded as he soaked the words in his mind like a sponge; and comprehending them. Some words he did not understand, but he got the message. Doubts have once again, flew away like a feather on northern breeze.
Now on to the next matter.
'…What about her?' Naruto asked as he moved his gaze to the sleeping form of the small girl across the wall. She was rolled up in a comfortable position, and was sleeping quietly. So quietly, that only indications that she alive was the light, rhythmic movements of her chest; along with his shirt mirroring her movement.
'… I am… not sure what to do with her… I think you should ask yourself on this one. After all, it is your responsibility, for you have saved her.' Kyuubi replied with a shrug. Naruto groaned, as he debated what to do.
Choice no. 1: Leave her here. 'Hm… Personally, I would prefer this option, since I think she would be a burden for us anyway.' Kyuubi threw a comment bluntly. Wondering why this caused him to frown, Naruto continued.
Choice no.2: Take her along. '… I'm afraid this would be your choice, since she probably doesn't have anywhere to go… Ah well. Take her along, if you will.' Kyuubi threw another one of his two cents on the option.
'Thank you, Kyuubi - san. I was a little afraid when you said you liked to leave her here…' Naruto said in a relieved tone, as he let out a breath he didn't even realize that he was holding in anxiousness.
'We will see, kit. Remember, it is her decision as well.' Naruto nodded, acknowledging the fact that had been overlooked.
While Naruto was having this mental discussion with the entity inside his head, Haku awoke. She had instantly fall a sleep last night as soon as she had gotten in a comfortable position, since she was dead tired for some reason. All the memories from last night were fuzzy also. All she knew was that she was in trouble last night, and then somebody had saved her. Her brown eyes blinked as she looked around her surroundings. The first thing she saw this morning was a mass of fuzzy blond hair, spiking out at every direction.
So he was the one who saved her….
Haku tried to remember his name in the hazy storm of her headache. U..zumaki… Haruto…? No, no. Naruto. There you go. That sounds about right…
Then she remembered that her clothes were ripped, although she thought it was odd that she did not feel cold as much as she should have. She then noticed that her torn gray clothing which resembled something like a shirt was now replaced by a crimson shirt which looked fairly new. Even though the material itself was crimson red, bloodstains were distinguishable among the redness. Wondering how it got there, Haku turned her gaze to the blond boy 2 feet across from her. Then the rest of the events of last night started returning to her, starting with the slowly returning recognition of the bloodstain's origin. The two horrible men, the killing, the apologizing…
The frightening thing was that she was not really all that frightened, nor affected by the incident.
When the men grabbed her, it was scary, and she did not know what they were going to do to her, but it mattered none now. When the boy had appeared, she felt a twinge of relief, and reassurance. When the boy killed the men: nothing, except gratefulness. Why? Because she had done that before too. She had killed many people once, and that event was all that took to raise an impenetrable barrier around her 'innocent mind' from the pitiful and gruesome demise of the misguided Chuunin brothers.
As the bad memories surfaced within the given crack of her defense, Haku shook her head to clear her head off of the haunting memories. She did not want to remember that. Not now, not ever. Instead, she chose to direct her attention to the blond haired boy named Naruto across from her. She quietly observed him as if he was the most interesting thing she had found in her life. Oh wait. Actually, he is the most interesting thing she had found in her life so far.
Even though he wasn't wearing clothing on top (due to his generosity to give his own to her), he was not shivering, nor giving any sign that he was cold. He just sat there, against the big thing he carried, while gazing at the wall across with unfocused eyes, indicating that even though his body was here; his mind was actually somewhere else. Haku knew that state of mind. She had been in that realm many times before.
Especially after she killed her parents.
Whoops, the haunting memories rose again, with unstoppable force this time. Haku closed her eyes as she tried her hardest to block the terrible pain the memories brought. The memories were uncontrollable, just invading her mind when she was widely awake in daylight, to the deep dark realms of her dreams. Once the horrible stampede started, nothing was able to stop it until she relived the whole incident, from beginning to the end. Usually, no one cared that she was having a mental assault, and none tried to help her out of it. But this time, it was different.
A gentle shake of her body broke the tirade of the unforgiving memories.
Haku squeaked an eye open, and saw the electrifying blue eyes just a few inches away from her own. Something she had not seen for quite a long time filled them.
Worry.
His blue eyes were filled with worry as he woke her up. Nobody had ever shown that emotion since the time she had left the village. Everyone was too busy to feed themselves to care for an orphan child like her. To sustain her cursed life, she had to rely on catching unsuspecting rats, or leftover food from dumpster. As a bonus, nobody cared.
Now, Haku opened both eyes and stared at the boy. It was a while before her brain registered that the boy had asked a question.
"…Huh…?" Haku replied with confusion ruling over her. The boy repeated himself.
"Um… Are you alright? You were crying… Did you have a bad dream?" Haku stared dumbly as her right hand reached up to her face, and found that she had been indeed crying.
"I… I… Y…Yes. I had a very bad dream… It was very scary…" Haku said slightly dazed, as she was still very surprised. It had been weeks since she cried. She had never cried in her dreams before either. She was very frightened, and felt headaches, but never tears. They never came before.
The boy seemed at loss to what to do. "I… Um… Wha? ...Ok… Um… Do… you mind to share… your dreams? Kyuubi - san says it helps." Naruto said uneasily, as if he was sitting on a needle pillow. Haku thought it was strange, because the boy was looking like if Haku touched him, he would explode or something. She also thought it was strange that the boy would mention 'Kyuubi – san', when there wasn't anyone in this small, quiet alley corner that remotely resembled a fox other than the boy himself. Haku felt compelled to ask, and it was too much to resist. Besides, it would change the subject.
"Uh… Who… is Kyuubi – san? I don't see anybody…" Naruto seemed a bit taken a back, as he looked away, looking like he wanted to find any escape route possible. Finding none, his uncomfortable look faded as he thought deeply. Haku stared at his serious face, and then noticed that the boy was… talking to himself. She could hear the soft muttering.
"… Should I tell her? … But Kyuubi – san… Aww… Ok…" He nodded, as he looked back at her. Haku patiently waited.
"K…Kyuubi – san is my… uh… Ojisan! He's the one who protects me. He's my best friend!" The blond boy stated somewhat awkwardly at first, but ended up as a confident little speech. Although, after he finished off proudly, his facial expression had immediately changed into one of pure curiosity.
"What's your name?" The simple and innocent question was asked to equally innocent little Haku.
"My name is… Haku." Naruto urged her to continue on. "Do you have a last name?" To that, Haku shook her head sadly, as she answered him. "No… I left my last name when I… ran… from my home." A look of understanding flashed in the boy's eyes. "You ran too? Me too! I just ran from my… huh? Oh. Ok. Their village yesterday. The people back at… their… village were very mean to me. Kyuubi – san told me that they 'hate' me, but I still don't really understand… Were they mean to you at your village too?"
Haku thought for a moment, then decided to answer truthfully. "Um… They weren't mean to me at first… but one day, I played outside, then when I came back, everyone was mean to me! They did something to my mom, and she was on the ground, and there was red water everywhere around her! It was like sort of what you did to those bad men… My father tried to do what he did to mom to me, and then… everything else is a blur. When I woke up, I saw everyone just… lying there in the red water! It was very scary… So I ran away after that… and I had nowhere else to go, ever since…" Haku briefly told her history, and technically, her dream to Naruto. Granted, it felt… Good. She felt like some kind of heavy rock was removed from her back, and now she was light as a feather. She was slightly worried that the boy would resent her for what she had done to the villagers, but was quickly washed away, as the boy showed understanding.
"Why are there so many mean and nasty (a new vocabulary that he just acquired from Kyuubi – san about 0.5 seconds ago) people? The villagers back at the village were very mean to me too. A nasty person kicked me and it was very ouchy. Oh oh, that was when I first met Kyuubi – san! He told me about the idea about running away too! Then I borrowed this thingy called… uh… Scroll of… uh… steal? Huh? …oh. Uh… Scroll of… Seals!" Naruto exclaimed as he rolled the gigantic scroll in front of Haku to show it to her. He was about to open it, but he soon put it back away.
"Kyuubi – san says we should open it later, after we find a place to nap." Naruto said as he got back up on his feet, while strapping the giant scroll on his small back. He was about to run off to the streets, but stopped just in time and almost tripped, as if he forgot something important.. Stumbling back towards her, he then asked her the 'question'.
"Oh, yeah. Um… Kyuubi – san says… um… you could come with us… I mean, if you want to, of course…" Naruto said with a sort-of-scared face, while scratching the back of his head, which Haku found as a cute gesture. Haku thought for a moment, but was quick to make the decision.
I… think I can trust him. He isn't mean to me… and he cares too. And he wants me to come with him!
Haku nodded her head feverously, showing the how eager she was to come with him. Naruto's negative expression brightened into what you call an 'innocent' smile, which only inhabited in purest of children. Haku's lips mirrored his momentarily after.
Together, hand in hand, both young children left the solitude of the dark alley corner, to the bright, yet dark and harsh world of Wave Country.
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Heh, are your eyes burned off their sockets yet? Oh well. Thank you for your patients to read it ALL THE WAY here. Well, there's a little more, but we'll get to that. Endless Rage is currently on hold(cause my dad forbade me from writing fanfics for like 2 months), but I will get back to it for the people who reviewed! Thanks, y'all!
Oh yeah, my beta reader pointed out that Naruto and Haku were a little too mature, but that's what happens when you kill a horde of people and carry a living demon inside! -
If you have any questions, please write on review, or email me!
Now, here's a little extra!
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Extra: Naruto/Kyuubi's point of view
Kitling was in a little deadlock with the girl few feet away from him. Her big brown eyes and his own clashed, and wouldn't move. Finally, using all his little will power, he turned his gaze from her eyes, and focused on his bloody hands.
This was his first kill.
His hand was stained red, like a flaw on a flawless piece of white paper. He was now very, VERY afraid, and was about to burst, but Kyuubi interjected.
'Kitling… You did what needed to be done. You were trying to protect that girl, and also defending yourself. Self defense isn't killing. It was you, or him. I much prefer you over those 2 goons, so it could not be helped. I held back my power, but it was still too much. I'm sorry, kit.' Kyuubi stated in a sad tone.
Kitling just wiped his hands on his pants, mentally saying, 'Its… ok…' At this, Kyuubi was surprised. The reason was that Kitling was not suffering mental trauma of the first kill. He was acting way too calmly. Heck, he was barely 5! Kyuubi briefly wondered how he would grow up.
Kitling walked over to the girl, and then just stood there for a minute, loss of any words. Kyuubi sighed as he felt it was an appropriate time for his kit to know how to 'pick up' a female. 'He's still too young, but it will do him good.'
'Kitling… It will do you good if you first introduce yourself, and then apologies.' Kit's mental answer was, 'How do I introduce myself?' Sighing for umpteenth time today, Kyuubi braced himself for the worst.
'First you go with 'hello', then 'my name is…' I trust you know the apologizing part.' Kyuubi stated tiredly. Dealing with a 4 year old kid was too much mental stress for an old entity like him.
"Um… Hello… My name is. . . Uzumaki… Kitling… and I'm… sorry you had to see that…" Kitling said slowly, as if he was unsure of himself. 'Figures. This is his first time interacting with a female of his kind…' Kyuubi thought as he watched him amused.
The girl replied 'thank you', instead of running away like a crazy girl, as Kyuubi expected, and was quite pleasantly surprised. 'It seems this girl has already seen death before… Interesting…' Now, the boy was unsure of what to do, so he just stood there again. Kyuubi rolled his eyes, and then commanded him.
'Kitling… Why don't you offer her some warmth? Your shirt will do. Her clothing seems to have been ripped.' The boy was silent for a second, and then a mental nod was received.
Kitling did so as he was told, then to her questioning gaze, he quickly explained himself, to avoid embarrassment. It was then Kyuubi noticed something fishy. This whole scene seemed a little too unrealistic to Kyuubi, as it was just tipped over being natural. They were now 'conversing' about how cold it was today. 'You don't see 2 little kids at the murder site, chatting about the weather everyday.'
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The next morning, Kyuubi gave Kitling a little speech about Fox's Dignity. He couldn't really stand his Kitling being hurt from being a fox inside. I mean, how would you feel if your 'considered-son' degraded himself as people shunned him!
After the dramatic speech, both moved on to more haste-required subject; the girl.
Kyuubi had already sensed the girl's abnormal amount of chakra for her age. It was still nothing compared to the 'normal' amount his Kitling had, but it was quite above expectations as well. Also, a strange ability he sensed from her was slightly unnerving, but he didn't pry into it.
His little Kitling had taken a liking into this little female already. Kyuubi wondered why Kitling even bothered to ask him about it. It was quite obvious that he wanted her to stay. Even though, Kyuubi went along with the conversation, no matter how obvious where it was going. It wouldn't do him right do deny a conversation with his Kitling. It was quite entertaining, and Kyuubi had also found a liking in teaching. Every time his Kitling made progress, it made him feel proud.
While they were conversing, Kyuubi noticed the girl stir. He did not bother to inform the Kitling, but he did bother to prepare some… reasonable answers, to prepare for the confrontation coming up. After all, it was crystal clear for an old entity to see that the girl had some questions.
Kyuubi wasn't prepared for it when she started crying in her sleep though.
'Might be an after-effect trauma. Taken a quite a lag, if that's the case.' Kyuubi wasn't surprised that his Kitling noticed and tried to help her. It was actually engraved in his nature.
Kyuubi silently watched the scene unfold, and then got an idea. If he could get her to talk about what's bothering her, then he would be able to figure out what had happen to this girl!
Mentally grabbing the ear of Kitling, he started to command. 'Kitling. Ask her if she could share her dreams with us. I know as a fact that it helps.' So the Kitling did as he told, while adding in unnecessary information, such as Kyuubi name.
Kyuubi mentally sighed deeply, as this was sure to bring up MORE questions from the girl. Apparently she didn't wait.
Kyuubi was frantic to find a believable answer, as Kitling turned to find his aid. Kyuubi mentioned the first thing that came into his mind.
'Tell her that I am your… Ojisan! Yes. No! Don't change the sub-' Kyuubi's little plan crashed to the ground, as Kitling changed the subject. Now, Kyuubi may never know of her secrets… If one thing was known widely about Kitsunes, it was that they did not like to walk blindfolded.
Kitling started to tell her his story, as to why he had run away from Konoha. He had to constantly remind the Kitling that Konoha was not his village anymore. Kitling seemed unsettled, but obeyed none the less.
Kyuubi was surprised again as he found the girl's short past strangely similar to his Kitling. This made things so much easier. Kyuubi was relieved that he didn't have to claw the walls of his prison at the frustration of being left in the dark.
'So she had killed before too… That explains why she was not fazed at the display of ruthlessness yesterday… though this brings up question as to why she did not protect herself yesterday also.'
When Kitling was about to start on one of his universal questions about human humanity, Kyuubi thought it was about time Kitling learned a new vocabulary, and taught him 'nasty' within a millisecond before he started. That was quite a feat, considering the given time to teach the 4 year old.
Kyuubi was happy to be assured that this girl was no burden. She might be a great support, instead! Kitling was bonding very well with her already within this short amount of time, and Kyuubi was pleased.
When his Kitling took out the Scroll of Seals to her, Kyuubi was alarmed. That was not something that should be off his Kitlings back until they have found a suitable training spot. Quickly, Kyuubi intervened.
'Kitling… Not yet. We will look at the scroll after we find a place to sleep. Not yet.' Kitling seemed to be overjoyed that they would finally find a place to sleep. And so Kitling did as he was told.
Kyuubi sweatdropped as Kitling readied to launch out back to the streets, psyched about finding a nice place for a nap. He had to remind Kitling about the girl just before he left, so Kitling would avoid the humiliation of leaving the poor girl all alone. Kyuubi sighed as his Kitling tripped as he stopped. He ordered the Kitling to go back to Haku and ask her, and sighed again as Kitling asked him how to. Kyuubi rolled his eyes as he instructed Kitling on how to ask people to come along with you.
'Alright, listen up kit. Just say that she could come with us if she wants to.'
A mental slap to Kyuubi's face echoed through out the cold prison, as he mourned over the clumsiness of his Kitling. Kitling had mentioned Kyuubi's name AGAIN! It was not like he told Kitling to not to reveal his name to anyone, but still! Well, what's done is done. Thankfully, the girl hadn't questioned Kitling this time, and her enthusiastic nod assured quite an interesting future.
Kyuubi smiled (a full fledged fang grin) as both petit figures walked back to the outside world, their tiny hands intertwined.
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-The corpses of the two chuunin brothers were never found.-