Child's Sanctuary

HoND/Naruto X-Over. FemNaruto. When a red headed woman stumbles into Notre Dame and dies, Quasi ends up raising her young child; Uzumaki Naruto. No Pairings until the Sequel, except Phoebus/Esmeralda.

Chapter One.

Nothing in Paris had been calm, the rain and lightning had kept countless children awake, and people had locked their doors as they witnessed a rare, but frightening sight. Down the street ran an injured, yet very beautiful redheaded woman. She had fear in her eyes, and her breath was heavy. In her arms was a small little girl, no older than four. She clung to her mother tight, and watched in fear as her mother ran for dear life.

Behind them ran five hooded figures in various animal masks. Each seemed to be using strange magic and weaponry to attempt to take the woman's life. They were quickly gaining, using walls and rooftops to their advantage. The woman looked behind her and picked up her pace. Ahead of her she saw a large building, lavish and beautiful in the light of the lightning striking. She skillfully moved her child into one arm, and pushed open wide the doors with the other.

She stumbled into the cathedral, her body shaking as the last of the assailants weapons seemed to pierce her whole body. She hit the floor, dropping her frightened child. With the last of her energy she looked up at a kind old man in holy robes. She reached her hand up, and pointed at the now crying little girl.

"S…sanctuary…" she finally said after struggling to even breathe. Her body fell limp, and with a loud echo, her hand hit the ground.

The four hooded men stood at the door, with all the arrogance of a noble they attempted to make an entrance. The holy man stood in their way, a dissatisfied glare in his usually kind eyes. The four men stopped, and one rose a large curved sword at him.

"Hand us the child, we don't care much for the girl's body. We want the child." The Archdeacon shook his head.

"Leave this city, you have no right to be here, the child has sanctuary! Leave and never return, or may god punish you!"

The man was right; they had stepped far beyond the borders of the land from which they had come. Reluctantly they turned to leave, not wanting to start an unnecessary war. But they swore to come back one day. Whether they would or not, is a matter for another time.

After closing the heave door, he turned back to the child. She was shaking her mother, begging her to wake up in a small voice. She was sobbing and tears ran down her slightly tanned face. E realization had finally hit her, her mother was dead. She was on her knees, wiping her blue eyes with her dirty hands.

The Archdeacon reached for the girl.

"It's alright my child," he tried to reassure her; "We will find you a home." The girl looked back at him, her eyes wide. She clapped his hand away. Hurriedly she stood, and dashed towards a nearby staircase. She stumbled up, and with all the strength she could muster, threw open a door and found herself in a large living space, decorated with beautiful handmade trinkets, and bells above her.

She ran into the middle of the room, falling to her knees and catching herself with her hands. She tried to catch her breath as she cried.

Someone had watched the scene from far above, from the time the now dead redhead had barged in to the girl running up the stairs. The kindhearted bell ringer on Notre Dame found himself slowly climbing down to the girl. His feet hit the ground with a soft bang. She looked up at him, her breathing still heavy. The bell ringer looked at her. The girl slowly rocked back and forth, and with a thud had hit the ground.

A small kunai knife protruded from her back. She was bleeding, and now she had fallen into unconsciousness. Our bell ringer, known to Paris as Quasimodo, jumped when he saw this. He knew she would die, he needed a medic, or someone with some medic skills, and fast. He bolted down the stairs form where the girl had entered, and stopped short as a familiar face entered through the front entrance.

A lovely Gypsy woman, who had heard the commotion while walking, despite the danger, had become curious, and she had come to see what was happening. She was examining the young redheaded woman's body. Quasimodo ran towards her. He knew she had medic skills. He'd seen it firsthand.

"Esmeralda!" he called to her. She tarred his way. "Come quick! She's hurt!"

Esmeralda had no time to question him when he took her and dragged her up into the bell tower. It wasn't long until her question was answered. There was a small girl, stabbed in the back by similar weapons to the ones impaling the dead woman downstairs.

Without any hesitation she was beside her. She slowly began pulling the knife out. The child's wounds bled for a second, before instantly healing! Both Quasi and the gypsy stared. Quasi ran a finger over the small scar it had left. The girl, still blacked out, flinched at the touch. It was healed, but still sore.

"Who is she?" Esmeralda asked her old friend. He had placed the girl on his bed, and covered her up. She shook his odd looking head.

"Not sure. She came in with the woman downstairs. She ran up here and fell unconscious. That's all I know, other than four strangely dressed men were chasing them."

"Mmmm…." The girl stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She sat up slowly, and looked around the bell tower. The light of dawn was shining in through and birds were chirping from up above.

She cast a glance in their direction. Her features were visible in the morning light. She was slightly tan, and blonde, as was said before, her hair was short, in a boyish haircut, spiked up, but her cloths made it obvious that she was a girl. On her cheeks were markings similar to the whiskers of an animal.

"Oh, you're awake," Quasimodo stood up, and from a basket retrieved a sweet bun. "Here, eat, you must be starved." She disregarded the treat, and stared out the window. Early morning brought in the sounds of people preparing for their day. It was a nostalgic sound for her, and it seemed to provide her some comfort. She stood up, and walked out onto the balcony overlooking Paris.

Her eyes studied the landscape. She let out a sigh, seeing nothing that seemed remotely like her and her mother's pursuers form last night. Quasi stepped out onto the balcony with her, and put a hand on her head in an attempt to make her feel better. She looked up at him, seemingly unfazed by his appearance.

"They'll come back for me. They'll find a way." She told him. Quasi was taken aback. She was an intelligent little girl evidently. Her blue eyes looked at him sadly. As reassurance Quasi found himself saying; 'No they won't, not as long as you have sanctuary, they aren't allowed in this city. You're safe."

As you have gathered, she was being pursued by shinobi, and as Paris was a part of a civilian country outside from the land of fire, they had no jurisdiction, which they had almost completely disregarded by chasing the girl and her mother. It took the Hold Archdeacon to remind them. The girl blinked up at him, and gave an uncertain stare. Quasi took her hand, and led her inside.

Esmeralda was waiting for them inside. She re-offered the sweet bun to her, and she took it. She nibbled on it slowly. While she ate, the gypsy examined her cloths. They were tattered, and ripped.

"Quasi, I'm going to get her something to wear, mind giving her a quick bath while I'm gone?"

"B..Bath…" he stammered. He felt a little embarrassed at the notion of bathing a little girl. However, as Esmeralda had asked, he did. He led her to a wooden tub he had filled with water, had her strip and she jumped in. (Think of a washtub, the old style ones, like the one in Mulan.)

It was a bath she had desperately needed; she was covered, in dirt and blood. He was careful when washing around her scar. She still showed signs that it was a tender area. She sat in the tub, patiently letting him et her clean, before lending her a tunic of his own until his friend got back.

"So, what is your name." he asked her as she stepped out from under a bell, where she had been changing.

"Naruto." She answered him shyly. "My last name is Uzumaki. I'm four years old."

It was an odd name, but considering what his own name meant, he said nothing. Admittedly, she looked adorable in the small dress, now that he was all clean.

The Archdeacon had asked Quasi if she could stay with him, that she needed someone who'd understand her. He found himself growing attached to her, so he decided to let her. He told her she had all of Paris to play in, and if she couldn't go out due to bad weather, she'd find something to amuse herself here. She agreed to it.

Later on that day, Esmeralda came to visit him again, this time, bring her five year old son Zephyr, and her husband Phoebus. She was ecstatic to meet someone around her age to play with, but her excitement changed when she caught sight of Phoebus. Her eyes guided themselves from his armor to the blade at his side. Her eyes widened, and she instantly latched herself onto Quasi's waist.

"Onii-San! Don't let him get me!" Quasimodo wasn't sure about what 'Onii-San' meant, but he knew she was scared of Phoebus's weaponry.

He stroked her head, and whispered to her that it was all right. She was safe and that he was on her side. She unattached herself from him, and looked warily at him. After a long story was explained to the confused captain of the guard, he discarded his sword and plate mail, leaving himself in his tunic and pants.

She went out with Zephyr and even got to know some of the Gypsies around the cathedral. After the day's end, she was tired, but she felt better than she had the night before. Quasi made her a bed, and tucked her in. she closed hr eyes and after telling him good night, she fell into a deep sleep.

-end of chapter

Ok, well, I saw no crossovers of this, and decided to do it myself. How is it? Next chapter, Quasimodo finds out what Onii-San means, and is touched.