Chapter Two
Spying-On-You No Jutsu
The blond boy felt another splash of water hit the back of his head; the warm, foamy feel sending a small shiver through his tiny body. He hissed and bit his lip as a small portion of the liquid dripped into his eye, making it sting. His delicate hand came up to his pink face and rubbed at his eye socket, trying to get the foam out.
"Sorry about that," a voice called out behind him, "I should have used baby shampoo; it would have taken out the burn. I always use that stuff on Kiba, don't know why I forgot to put some on today, but then again I haven't bathed with Kiba in years. The kid thinks he is too old to be taking baths with his mommy."
Naruto nodded relaxing as Tsume's rough fingers went through his tangled hair. Her hands were opening up the pores on his scalp, letting much of the tension in his head leave him. Despite this, he was somewhat uncomfortable because he didn't wear anything in this bathing area, only a small towel that covered his crotch.
The blond wasn't sure why he did that, though, he concluded that a part of him didn't want to let Tsume have a look at his special place; no one had ever seen that part of Naruto before.
"Are we embarrassed, little Nawuto-kuun?" Tsume teased, going into baby language as she began washing his reddening back, noticing how thin he looked. It didn't look like the boy had been eating much if his ribs were an indication of his general health.
She decided to tickle them to get a reaction out of him, earning some small giggles from the blond, "Ha! I knew you weren't mute, you have been pretty darn quiet since we got in the tub, was it something I said, hm?"
She smirked when the blond kept laughing, giggling for her to "stop tickling me". She missed spending times like this with Kiba, or Hana. They were such adorable children, especially the little dog brat. He would never let her go and would always try and hog as much time with her as possible, getting Hana jealous over how much attention she paid her only son.
Perhaps that was the reason there was such a deep chasm between their relationship?
Years ago, little Hana needed the attention of her parents, yet only Kiba got it. As a result, her personality shifted into something that was not natural of an Inuzuka. The Clan was known for their rashness, boldness and stubbornness, yet Hana didn't have any of those traits.
She was silent, introversive, and calm; the exact opposite of her mother.
Was Hana ashamed of her?
Was she such a failure as a parent that her eldest held her in contempt, hardly ever coming home and only talking to her via her brother? How was she supposed to know that Hana wanted to talk to her, wanted to spend time with her as well.
Talk about their father, talk about her father in particular.
What could she say about him? "He left us, get over it. Life is hard, you either suck it up and face all of it, or let life stomp you on the ground."
That answer wasn't good enough for the intellectual girl and the more she questioned her mother as she grew older, the harsher her mother's answers became. Eventually Tsume woke up one day and found her gone, her things packed and all of her equipment missing, the only thing she left behind was a letter stating:
"Life sucks, deal with it."
Tsume felt a trickle of water hit her sharp nose and she looked down at her charge, who was glaring up to her with his pink face. The mother looked down at herself noticing her balloon-shaped nude breasts dangle close the boy's back; a part of her knew she should at least cover herself with a towel.
On the flipside, what was the point?
They were in the bathing room. He had seen it all, anyway and probably a bit more. What did she really have to hide from him? Nevertheless, judging by how red the boy's tanned skin started blushing when his blue eyes caught sight of a nipple, she started to wonder if this was even such a good idea.
Perhaps he still felt somewhat embarrassed about this whole event, "Didn't you hear me! My eyes burn, please get some more water, ouch! Ouch!"
The brown haired woman smiled and swung another bucket of warm water down at her charge. Naruto lifted his soft hands and rubbed his wet blond hair, trying to get all the shampoo out.
Tsume wanted to just snatch up the little boy and hug her close. He was just so adorable! She remembered a little girl who she would regularly grab in the bathing house, who had almost the exact same expression when the lass were dunked in water.
Though, little Kushina would always chase her around the pools when she did that, and often tripped on something, leading to both of them getting injured and spending the day in the hospital. Yet, despite getting yelled at by her mother and sensei, it was still worth it to see the surprised look on the tanned redhead's face.
She leaned in closer to pull the little boy close to her and made him sit on her uncovered lap while she sat on a stool. "Here, let me clean up the rest for ya, you're doing it wrong and only leaving residue on yer head."
"N-no you don't have to do that, I c-can take care of it," Naruto stuttered; he wanted to get away from Kiba's mother. He could feel her large olive breasts sitting on both ends of his shoulders, to a boy who almost never felt the skin of another human, this was so humiliating! "I am almost done anyway."
"No you aren't, kiddo," Tsume smiled resting her head on the top of his head, pushing her large, jiggling breasts on his shoulder. "You still have a good deal of my scent on ya. I have to get all of it out."
"Scent? I didn't smell anything when you told me to get in the tub?" Naruto questioned, trying to think of what he knew about how smell worked, "And how is the smell sticking to me, smell's don't stick! Glue sticks!"
Kiba's mother shook her head, "Naruto-kun, smells always clings to stuff. Especially my odor, you just don't sense it because you haven't had any training. There are only a handful of people in the village who could smell me on you, but it only takes one to find out, and like hell I am taking that chance!"
She rubbed her hands up and down his small back making him blush more and elicit another squeal when she pinched his prepubescent skin, "I am gonna get you all nice and clean. So you'll be here for a long time…well at least until Kiba and Hana get back. Though Hana will probably be back whenever she feels like it, I sent her off to that Shino kid's house and she hasn't come back since."
Naruto noted the small sadness in her voice when she spoke about her daughter; his wet head turned to face the equally wet and foamy mother who was still scrubbing his back with her long fingers. "Doesn't she live with you? I know Kiba talked about wrestling his sister Hana in school. He said he beat her all the time."
Tsume barked, "Kiba win against Hana? Ha! Good one, I'll have to bring that up the next time he wants something, the brat really needs to stop telling lies that he can't possibly back up."
"Well, Hana is a girl, and the girl's in my class are pretty weak," Naruto explained murmuring as Tsume's hands got lower, maybe a bit too low, "Tsume-san, umm I think you're touching my-,"
"Oh crap, sorry kid! I wasn't paying attention," Tsume said, pulling her hand away from the boy's bum, she really didn't know why she was washing that low; seemed like old habits die hard, "Kiba never cleaned there. I don't think he cleans his butt now either, only difference is, back then it didn't smell so bad. The Inuzuka aren't supposed to smell as bad as their dogs, but Kiba, well let's just say he is an exception."
Naruto laughed, "He is pretty strange, I saw him bark at a squirrel once. The weird part is that squirrel growled back and it was Kiba who was chased up a tree."
"Where exactly was this?" Tsume asked, thinking about some of the foolish things her son had gotten into over the years. "By any chance was it near that giant building with some large forest in the background, with long metal bars encasing it?"
Naruto's eyes lit up recalling the memory, "Oh! It had some large sign called Forest Death, wait that wasn't right, it was Forest of Death, or something like that."
"Kid, I wouldn't mess with anything that lives in that place," she smirked, thinking about what to tease her son with, "if you can live there, you are bound to be hardcore. There is some pretty nasty things lurking in the shadows."
Naruto nodded, catching a glimpse of Tsume's erect nipple in the corner of his eye. He didn't want to turn around and see her. It felt wrong taking peeks at Kiba's mother like that, especially after she had been so nice to him. The blond had never been pampered like this before; he couldn't recall any point in his life where someone bathed him.
Not even his caretakers ever took the time to put soap on his body, wipe off the suds and make sure he was completely rinsed. Instead, they gave him a bar of soap and a bucket and told him to get clean before they sent him out to do chores.
He had seen the matrons bath the other children, wash them until they were happy and giggling. Tickled them and make them laugh. For Naruto, that was never the case and he wanted that, he wanted to play with the matrons. At some point, he developed a sort of envy for others and even harbored resentment when he saw mothers walking with their small children.
Why couldn't that be him!
Why couldn't they also pay such close attention to him!
It was a small hope, but it created a twisted complex that ended with him blocking out a large part of the human need. A need for a motherly figure, a wish to be hugged and cared for and for someone to kiss his troubles away.
When he saw Sasuke's sweet mother bend down and kiss the boy on the forehead before directing him to get to class, Naruto's jealousy instantly formed into the surface of his consciousness and he felt a deep resentment for Sasuke that he never knew existed.
Every day since coming to the Academy, he would watch the young Uchiha hug his long black-haired mother and try run off into the academy, but before he could, the beautiful woman would gently tell him she "loved" him and laugh at his embarrassment. When the kid said, "Stop it, mom, you are embarrassing me!" he felt a stab of longing within himself.
What did Sasuke have to feel shame for?
Didn't he know he had someone who loved him unconditionally? A person whose life revolved around him, for his good and for his safety? Why did the boy run away from her, not wanting to be viewed as weak in front of his classmates when the only thing the other woman was offering was her love! To an orphan who never had anyone to start with, it boggled his mind.
His thoughts, however, were interrupted again when he found himself get picked up and thrown into a tub of cold water, making him struggle to stay afloat, so as not to drown. "Cough, why did you do that!" he questioned his assailant.
"You were doing that thing where you just look at nothing and space out," Tsume grinned, putting her hands on her wide chocolate colored hips.
Naruto got a better view of all of Tsume, a very wet and very womanly Tsume. Naruto didn't know that the hair near her pee pee was spiked; apparently he wasn't paying as much attention the first time. Tsume's gaze now fell to where Naruto was looking at. "Jeez, you're a curious one, aren't ya? Still haven't seen enough."
The blond ducked into the water trying to hide his embarrassment; what a mess he had gotten into. He hoped Kiba's mother wouldn't punch him. Sometimes he would go to the onsen and see a giant man near a large toad look half dead, with ribs and broken bones showing through his flesh.
Apparently, that occurred because of "peeking", which meant looking at girls naked.
"Relax, I am not gonna hit ya," she said smiling, thinking how cute and innocent the brat was; even more so than her son, who she suspected would probably grow up to be a huge pervert like his dear old good- for-nothing father. "You don't have to hide, look all ya want. I am not gonna bite, much." She grinned, showing her enlarged white canines.
The boy's head immediately popped out from the tub of water and he coughed up some water; he looked up at her with his wet blue eyes and said, shiwering, "C-cold, v-very cold."
Bending down to pick up the boy, she wrapped her slender arms around the brat and slid him close to her, like he was a newborn baby. Naruto rested his pink, blushing face on her chest and tried not to notice how erect and hard her dark brown nipples had become.
Tsume smiled and patted his head onto her chest, ushering for him to relax as she carried him outside the bathing room. Naruto's eyes were firmly fixed on her chest as she walked up the stairs, past Kiba and Hana's room, and into her larger Master bedroom.
Her narrow bestial eyes looked down at the blond, whose hair reminded her so much of the Fourth. Now there was a man! "Hey kid, don't fall asleep."
Naruto's droopy eyes shot up, realizing that he was staring too hard and was already getting tired. He didn't realize why being held like a baby was making him feel this way.
It was a new experience and he wasn't used to this, his arms were already wrapped around Tsume's neck tightly and she had to soften her fierce expression thinking how the hug felt so awkward.
Human contact must not have been something the boy was used to, if he reacted this way to just being carried, which said a lot about his life considering he was only six.
As she closed the door to her room with one hand she tossed the naked child on the bed with the other, who immediately got some sheets and covered himself. Smart boy, did not want her to see his, even if he saw hers.
"Your clothes will need to be left here, but I can lend you some of Kiba's stuff," she said, "I already washed them in the machine and removed any smells so if you don't mind wearing them you can keep 'em, they are too small for Kiba, anyway."
Naruto scowled thinking how much smaller he was than her son, despite being the same age. "Thanks, I guess," he mumbled.
The woman went to the closet and got out the clothes and tossed them to Naruto, who promptly started putting them on underneath the sheets. The mother, already being stark naked, only skimmed though her drawers, looking for something she could wear. "Damn it! Hana took all my panties, again!"
Naruto's head popped up from the sheets looking annoyed. "Can you not yell? It's hard to change."
The mother just raised her thick eyebrows, thinking how stupid that statement just sounded. She just gave him a soapy bath and even carried the little brat buck naked up the stairs, and here he was complaining about privacy.
The orphan really needed to get his priorities straight. "Yeah, umm, sure. I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable changing underneath my bed sheets after we just had a bath together," she quipped.
The orphan frowned after finally getting his clothes on and dropped out of the sheets, falling onto the floor; he looked up at the much taller woman, who was still clothe-less and wet, with her hair less spiky that gave a soft aroma. He turned away at the sight, but then remember that the woman didn't mind him watching.
As a result the Uzumaki didn't miss a single second watching her get dressed. She selected some black underwear that hugged her large bum as she put them on slowly, pinching it up so that they fit, causing her to slightly hop, making her round bum bounce.
She turned around to see Naruto stare, her large breasts jiggling in his view.
He didn't notice them bounce so much in the tub as he was too focused on his own nudity, but seeing the 34-year-old like this with only some black underpants, which were almost see through, became very intriguing to him.
Morals were certainly never a strong point for Uzumaki Naruto, especially when no one ever taught him any.
If he could get away with it, he would do it. That was something he learned early in life and he stood by that rule to this very second. Tsume shook her head at the attention the blond was giving her, feeling slightly hot as his blue eyes watched her breasts bounce up and down, while she searched her drawers for a bra.
She didn't think Hana stole those; there was no way her little girl could be a size D, if even size B, though she suspected the girl would try to probably stuff some paper into her bras to give her a bit more 'confidence'. Teenage girls at that age craved attention, but she hoped her little girl was smarter than that. "Where the hell is that bra!" she asked the air, getting irritated.
"Bra?" Naruto wondered aloud and asked, "What is that? Can you tell me what it looks like?"
Kiba's mom turned to look at him, smiling at his helpfulness and noting that he was looking up at her eyes; apparently the olive bouncing duo had lost its novelty. "You never seen one before?" she asked with amusement.
"I think I did, but I am not sure," Naruto said, still looking at her slitted, black irises. It was rude to not look people in the face when talking to them; he learned that from the Chunin Namida Suzume-Sensei.
Especially when it came to women, which was something she drilled into his head on those days he had remedial classes.
The dark haired beauty would not tell him much in the ways of human reproduction, but she did impart some knowledge on how to talk to the female species, something most boys did not do very well.
What use this knowledge would be, Naruto was not sure, but he was only six so perhaps he would use it later on in the future? He wanted to have a family after all and to have one he needed a girl, right? Surely being able to be polite to females would someday pay off when he had to find a wife!
"Would you cut that out," Tsume snarled playfully, poking Naruto in the head, making the boy tip over to the ground. "Stop gazing into space thinking about stuff, live in the present. Live right now. You're too young to be reminiscing; you haven't lived a life long enough to wallow in your delusions or self pity."
Then she saw that she had her chest pressed on Naruto's mouth while she was bending down to talk to him, and watched him try to push her away from his nose so that he could breathe. Funny, most men would have loved this. "Oh, sorry about that, maybe I should be the one doing some thinking, hm?"
There was just something about watching the scared little blond trying to flee contact with her breasts, so she didn't relent and continued to press her large, olive mounds onto his mouth. It was not as if she had never breast fed a child before. Hell, the only reason she even did this was because she didn't suspect little Naruto-kun to suddenly open his mouth and start suckling.
That would be just weird!
Someone should have told her to expect the unexpected from the tricky child, because that is exactly what happened. Uzumaki Naruto, in an attempt to get away from the two large boobs that made it hard for him to intake oxygen, opened his mouth and bit down on her larger than average, erect nipples.
"Son of b-ohhhh," Tsume moaned as Naruto started chewing on her left tit, hoping that Kiba's mom would relent and let him go. "Oh, no don't do! Cut that out! Oh! Wow."
The blond kept moving his tiny lips, even finding himself suckling on the nipples when he started feeling the pressure of Tsume's chest going down, causing the feral woman to relax and close her eyes. This was it; he figured he would just have to keep chewing a bit longer and the woman would be in so much "tickling pain" that she would never push him into her large chest again.
It was so hard to breathe when she did that!
The dog-woman was caught completely off guard when the child's suckling became much wetter and noticed that he was trying make her feel more sensitive with his sloppiness; Uzumaki was a devilish one, he was, and seemed to have learned something from the tub.
She was still wet and foamy from the shower and, as a result, even more hypersensitive than usual, not to mention already horny from the night's encounters.
Without reason, she found her arms wrapping around the blond suckling at her nipple, and rub him gently close to her.
Naruto stiffened at this, he wasn't used to people repeatedly hug him, yet he found himself unable to stop what he was doing. The orphan knew that babies drank breast milk and even saw some of the wet nurses in the orphanage do this before, but never in his life did he expect to be doing this at the age of six!
This wasn't his intention; he initially wanted to make her stop pushing her breasts in his face.
He heard the wet nurses complain sometimes that it was often painful to breastfeed when the kids were 'teething', so breast-feeding must have been an unpleasant ideal. The boy had no way of knowing that it was actually the opposite, that sometimes teeth gave a more enjoyable experience, especially if done after taking a warm shower.
Looking at Tsume's reddening face and her long bubble gum pink tongue darting out of her mouth like some kind of canines, Naruto thought that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea? Thinking about it, this was something he wanted to do all along for a long time.
This was the reason he had been focusing on her breasts so much; he wanted to wrap his small mouth around the brown areoles and drink some milk. It was not fair that other children got to have milk from their mothers, while he was stuck drinking out of a plastic bottle!
He didn't mean for this to happen, but now that it was, a large Oedipus complex that had been slowly building for years in the mind of Uzumaki Naruto was starting to come to shape.
As he suckled, he saw the expression of pleasure on Kiba's mother when he sucked harder, desperate for some milk that didn't seem to be coming. He watched her sweat mix in with the already foamy water mocha colored skin.
He felt her light brown hands travelling on his head, pushing him to continue as her mouth opened wide, revealing rows and rows of sharp feral teeth and sticky drool dribbling out from the sides. Kiba's mom really was something fierce.
Her white rows of canine teeth made him afraid; especially when she started to growl, "Ohh, little Naruto, oh, oh! We should stop, oh! No not there! Oh!" Naruto didn't think that she really meant it, since her hands kept his head firmly pressed to her bosom.
Tsume's mind had been telling her that this was wrong from the moment his lips wrapped around her nipple, but she had allowed things to go this far anyway, and it seemed like the boy was enjoying it, judging by the hungry expression on his face.
Did he really think she had mother's milk? No way! However, for someone who twitched every time they were hugged, maybe, just maybe he was...
"Naruto-kun, stop, there isn't any milk in there," she said, trying to talk softly despite the high amount of estrogen travelling through her body, nearly triggering an erotic climax. The only reason she was able to communicate her thoughts without climaxing was the awkward topic of what the boy was trying to get.
Naruto ignored her and continued to suckle, even more furiously than before, hoping something would come out. "Didn't you hear me? I said there wasn't any milk," she practically pleaded.
Slowly the boy's head stopped moving and his mouth was suckling softer and softer, his expression going from hungry to bitter, looking at her with resentment. "There is nothing in here," he muttered bitterly.
Tsume put the boy down on the bed. "I haven't been pregnant since Kiba and I have some milk, but I'll need a medical Jutsu to force it out; takes a while to get it started, though," she explained.
The bed slowly creaked as Naruto hopped off, his face downcast. He just realized what he had tried to do, what he had tried to pull on Kiba's mother.
Revulsion started to creep up on him.
He thought he was over this, that he left those delusions behind. He knew a long time ago that he would never be getting a mother, so he never questioned anyone about it.
Why now, why after all these years were these feelings coming to the surface! Why-
"Naruto," Tsume said, falling down on her knees to meet the child's beautiful eyes at eye level, "look at me."
Ocean blue eyes, so similar to her friend's, looked back at her and she grinned. "It isn't your fault, kiddo, I am an adult and I let things get too far," she said gently.
Blue eyes closed, turning away from her, only for her to grasp his head and make him meet her own black slits. "Don't turn away, there is nothing to be ashamed of… actually, let me take that back, this is pretty damn embarrassing."
This didn't seem to make Naruto feel any better, though. "What I am trying to say is that you never had a mom, did you?" Naruto shook his head. "And you didn't see anyone as a mother, did you?"
Naruto repeated the action, his pupils starting to slightly water, glazing over; only for Tsume to pinch him, making him yelp. "Don't cry, people always get emotional on this village! Kami, I can't walk down the street without someone looking down and having a sappy flashback that no one else can see. What a load of bullshit!"
The orphan tilted his head, wondering about the outburst for a moment, finally deciding to apologize, not wanting to further anger the feral woman. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize," Kiba's mother replied, smiling, showing off her clean, sharp teeth, while forcing her bestial face to lean close to his own. "Shit happens. Grow up and move on. If I spent half my time thinking about what happened instead of what could be, they'd probably have to take Kiba to the orphanage because his momma was too busy thinking about her good for nothing son-of-a-bitch husband, instead taking care of her kids, grr."
The blond wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just kept silent, not wanting to think about what he had just done.
He was sure this would be the last time he would ever see her again. She had seen a side of him that even he wasn't aware of; a part of him that was created by isolation and fuelled by loneliness and envy.
The mother saw the expression on the boy's face. She read exactly what he was thinking. "Listen, if you need to talk to someone..." Naruto's eyes looked at her hopefully, his fists closing and drawing near his body.
"You could talk to me," she finished, her brown breasts dangling close to his face as her eyes stared down at his blue orbs, "I am not much of a listener, but I did raise two kids, you know."
Nodding his head Naruto let some of the emotions that were building inside him go and tackled the mother in a fierce hug, around her near naked waist. Tsume idly noted that now his head was really close to her black underpants, but didn't care, and just patted him on the head as the boy shivered from trying to stop himself from crying. "T-Thank you! Oh."
She sighed, thinking he would probably have to get another shower before he left, to wipe off some more of her erotic scent. "Fuck, I can't even take care of my own kid and I am worrying about someone else's."
In 24 Hours there would be a very special occasion in Naruto's life, the orphan couldn't wait!
His excitement must have shown on his face because the people who regularly sneered at him, had a particularly ugly expressions this evening. "What is the gaki smiling about? Did you see those yellow teeth, someone gets him a toothbrush and he so happy. Ha!"
He ignored the fat drunk who said that, his attention focused on trying to get home. After getting another shower from the motherly matriarch, he had been transported once again back to the Town Region.
Until he saw the flags of the Kyuubi festival near the Hokage Tower, he didn't realize how close it was to the October Festival. It marked the date when the Yondaime defeated the evil Nine-tailed beast, thus saving Konoha.
It was also his birthday and the moment when he would turn seven this year.
The day before there had been another celebration, but that had something to do with Hidden Cloud, or at least that is what everyone else said. He always found himself in every festival Konoha held, looking for people to play with and overhear adults talking about what the event was associated with.
Apparently, the war with Cloud was over and they were already creating peace negotiations. The whole incident would end soon and there would be truce between the two nations. The child got to see the Cloud Ninja riding on the large float, waving to everyone in the village. That man was the ambassador sent from the Raikage to oversee the truce on Lightning Nation's behalf.
The blond didn't like the look of him, it might have been his creepy pointy beard or his narrow eyes, but there was a feeling of wrongness about him that made him want to throw something at the Ninja. Especially when the man's visible eye fell down at his form, sneering at the poorly dressed orphan who watched him from the ground.
He wondered if anyone else caught that. Maybe they did, perhaps they even encouraged it?
In any case, he didn't like that man, Naruto didn't think he was evil, he just felt something negative about him. Naruto's intuition was telling him to be wary of the Negotiator from Cloud.
That is why when he saw the Cloud Ninja jumping form roof to roof towards the Forest Region, Naruto knew something was going down. Seeing this strange behavior, he stopped to consider his actions. "Should I follow him?"
"It'll probably be dangerous." So far going into the forests of Konoha resulted in him coming close death. It might actually be a good idea if he avoided the area altogether, but that look, the look in the eyes of that sneering Nin. It just told Naruto that he was up to no good, and even if Naruto wasn't a do-gooder, or a fantastic superhero, he was still a citizen of this village, and a damned proud one. "Here goes nothing. Hope I don't regret this later."
The fox boy was barely able to keep up with the sneaky Nin; the only compensation was that the Cloud Ninja was deliberately trying to be careful, sacrificing speed for silence. Naruto had no such worries and followed the man from the ground. The Uzumaki was used to running, he was sure he knew how to sprint before he could walk, he had to be fast when there always were bullies, and occasionally, mobs of people, running after him.
Although the mobs never harmed him, they still found it fun to give him a scare, but the children that caught him would give him a good thrashing that he would never forget.
His small feet could turn to twin blurs when he needed to escape and he found that, even when he was out of breath, he could still keep moving, going beyond anything the people chasing him would believe.
It was like there was some tremendous power inside of him that acted as an engine to keep him moving despite how much pain he was in.
Luckily, he was familiar with the Forest Region, so he didn't have a hard time keeping up with the Cloud Nin, who almost stumbled when a Giant Centipede tried to take a bite out of him. "Fucking slug! Take that!" he cursed, pulling out a Kunai and slicing the thing in half.
The creature died instantly and the man kept moving, with a small boy behind him. Seeing how easily the enormous bug was defeated by the Ninja, Naruto figured that the person was probably dangerous.
What exactly was he doing here?
He had no business sneaking around in the forest, taking the darker more subtle ways into what looked like the Hyuuga Compound.
Naruto had studied this place in History Class. Suzume Sensei expected nothing but the best from him after he learned to read and often made him read out to the class to improve his blossoming vocabulary. He was doing all he could to make the wavy haired teacher proud of him. She was one of the few people who believe he was something more than just a kid with no past.
She saw him as an independent, hardworking student who wanted to succeed, despite how far behind he was to the rest of the class. Her remedial classes were not fun; she was very strict and, when he shouted, she would become very angry, but despite all of that, she still taught him what he needed to know.
What Naruto was unaware of was that she was teaching him more than he needed to learn; the glasses wearing Kunoichi still couldn't forgive herself for treating Naruto like an animal when she first met him.
After watching him play in the sandbox by himself, watching everyone play tag or another game, she noticed the look of longing on his small face. The look was amplified by his smaller size and spiky blond hair, that were just waiting to be pulled.
Seeing this event occur repeatedly through the last few weeks, she started to question if what she was doing was right.
When Naruto had a question to ask, she would never answer, and when he needed help, she would never give it. Yet, despite all this, he never showed that he was angry, he didn't complain and he just silently looked down and kept himself busy.
It was only when she saw Iruka treating the boy the same way she did, did she have a revelation that what she was doing was twisted; it was both demented and cruel. As she heard the words, "Go play by yourself, Naruto, you are making a scene," from Umino Iruka, she felt anger at him for treating the boy so unfairly.
It was then that she realized just who said those words first.
This changed her perception of the boy, creating feelings of both guilt and self-loathing that caused her to work on Naruto's education more than anyone else in the class, without her even being aware of what she was doing, making the boy smarter and more tactful than he was before.
When Naruto finally got to the large Japanese temple style house, he saw the evil man (to him) coming out from the roof. He was carrying a bundle over his shoulder and had a wool mask around his face. His large body got closer to the bush where the blonde-haired person was hiding under.
"Looks like I found a thief," Naruto whispered to himself. "Should I yell for help?"
Before Naruto got a chance to think about it, however, he found a blur appear before him and pin him up against a tree. As the moonlight hit the face of the person who just did that, Naruto could see the clothed face of the Cloud Nin looking back at himself. "I was wondering who was following me." He could hear the sneer in his voice. "The little orphan in rags, eh?"
Naruto struggled under his grip, feeling the rough hands become tighter around his neck. The man stood up straight, holding the rolled blanket on one arm, while choking Naruto with the other. "You think I didn't sense you, brat! I noticed you follow me from the edge of the forest, your Chakra signature is like a bloody beacon, and didn't they teach you that Jounin can feel large stores of power nearby, hmm?"
Blood was rushing to his head, making it hard to talk, but Naruto answered with a sneer in his voice, "Edge of the forest! I was following you across town for the last 20 minutes! You must be one lousy Jounin!"
"Guts, kid. You've got balls to say that to me when I can crush you like a grape." He emphasized this by squeezing harder on the boy's voice box, making Naruto flay his arms. "Oh, can't say anything?"
"Guhh," Naruto said, trying not to die and trying to force air into his lungs. "G-Fuk-u!"
"Hmm, you first," the man said, dropping the wrapped bundle and pushing a small amount of wind through his hand. Naruto watched in fascination as blades of blue chakra started to form, creating long slices of wind. "Blade of Wind!" The Jounin dug his Wind Elemental hand next to Naruto's face, only to stumble when the boy's flaying legs finally managed to kick his scrotum sack.
"Oh, you stupid brat! I was going to finish you off quick," he said, breathing in to calm himself down, still gripping Naruto against the tree with his large fingers. "Let's see how you do against poison, it is a shame that I have to get out of here fast, so I don't have enough time to play."
A thick smell of pungent odor filled the air as the Jounin dropped Naruto, letting the blond breath in a thick amount of poisonous fumes that were coming from the inside of the mask. Naruto coughed as the poison instantly started destroying the cells in his throat, causing internal bleeding, seeping blood from his nostrils and ears. "It hurts! What did you do to me?"
"Poison Mist Jutsu," the Nin said, pulling himself up to his full height, slinging the bundle over his shoulder, and watching the boy slowly squirm and bleed from his pores. "But in a concentrated dosage, don't worry; you'll be dead within a few minutes. It is too bad that you were too busy playing the hero, could have alerted the Anbu or yelled, but you had to make this easy for me didn't you?"
Naruto's eyes were focused elsewhere as his vision started to fade; to the man's surprise he only gave a weak grin showing lined pointed teeth. "Actually I think I did my job just fine."
"Not even the Anbu come to the Hyuuga Compound, foolish young Ninja," said a voice from the darkness. A hand reached out and grasped the Cloud Nin by the posterior part of the neck, causing the man to drop his bundle and try to get away, only to feel a pressure of Chakra needles go down his spinal column, paralyzing him from the neck down, "unless the mortal has a death wish."
In the moonlight, as the poison gas started to break apart the internal cells in the boy's body and affect the nerves that were responsible for his vision, the orphan saw before him a man instantly killed with a flick of a hand.
It wasn't even a fight, even less than the massacre it was. "I want you dead, and it shall be done."
The tall man walked out from the darkness and into the light of the full moon, he stood slightly shorter than the ambassador did while having paler skin and longer hair. He wore a rich, white Gi, the likes of which Naruto knew he would never afford, and didn't seem to be wearing any sandals. "Where is my daughter, little one."
Uzumaki wasn't sure what he was talking about, he didn't see any girl nearby, all he saw was a large bundle. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed to it, as blood started to fall from his nostrils, making it difficult to talk. "I don't know, all he brought out was that bundle."
"This one, you say?" he said, ignoring the dying boy and unwrapping the sheet. Naruto watched in curiosity as it unrolled to reveal a small pale girl, even smaller than himself, with dark indigo hair. "Clever of him to simply roll her up in her futon. I was not even aware of what was happening."
"H-Hinata," Naruto wheezed; he just realized that he might have prevented a kidnapping. Feeling his heart race, blue eyes traced the face of the taller man, who seemed to be related to her. "Help me, sir."
"Do you think I would have done anything less?" he said, his face not showing any change in expression. "You have assisted me, young one. Let me carry you-"
Before the Hyuuga's hand ever reached the boy's damaged form, the man felt something well up within the child. His eyes started to form into the shapes of the famous Hyuuga Bloodlimit and noticed red Chakra fill up the blond's system, creating anti-bodies to fight the poison.
It was doing this at a remarkable pace and from another corner of the child's body, he could see the strange volatile red light force the boy's heart to beat faster, causing the ventricles to squeeze in rapid speeds.
This resulted in the antibodies to become absorbed into his blood stream in a much quicker pace, bringing his vitals back to equilibrium sooner.
Not only that, but the Chakra was also causing the damaged cells to regenerate, and the Mitochondria in each cell to create more ATP. This resulted in more energy being sent to all the other cells, which used the energy to generate more cells through mitosis, instantly healing the organs and making them stronger than before.
It was like watching a miracle of modern medicine as all the cells gathered together to make tissue and the organs that were damaged start to repair themselves in the cellular level. Turning off the Byakugan, the man witnessed the surface of the boy's dark skin start to heal.
The tall noble delicately pressed his fingers into the boy's nostrils to remove some of the blood clotting and noticed Naruto immediately start to breath normally again. Amazing, he examined the boy's ears and saw that they had stopped bleeding as well. They did not even look damaged, not a scar, even in the eardrums that he was sure were punctured moments ago.
Listening to the blond's heart for any abnormalities, he found that he was back to Homeostasis.
"So this is the power of the Nine-tailed beast?" he asked himself, watching the boy slowly open his fox like blue eyes that moments ago looked dead. "…or is this the result of your seal, Namikaze?"
Hiashi stood a small distance away from the boy as the child regained consciousness. "What happened?" Naruto yawned, feeling woozy. "Did we get him?"
Hiashi didn't reply and simply stood up, carrying the sleeping Hinata as the little girl automatically wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, like the post-infant she was. "If you are referring to myself defeating this adversary, then indeed. I apprehended the culprit."
"Oh," Naruto said, thinking about what he meant. "That sounds great… sorry for coming near your home, I think I will go now."
"Indeed, I would recommend you do," Hiashi nodded, his emotionless face not showing how amusing he thought the situation was, "before I have to alert my Clan that there is another intruder in our midst."
Naruto jumped up at this, wiping the dust off his clothes. "No need! Please! I am already going."
"Then perhaps you should leave, now." Hiashi turned around to look at the Main House, seeing someone coming out of it from the distance. "However, do not think I will forget your help Mr. Uzumaki. A good deed does not go unrewarded."
When the man turned around, he saw no one there, but spotted a trail of yellow flashes running away into the forest. "How rude, it isn't often I give my complements and the boy is not even here to listen to them. I should kill you for your insolence, child; however, I might owe you more than you are capable of imagining."
His head turned towards a giant tree, its large braches spread out to cover the blue moon.
Sitting in the shadows of its tree-branch, a silver haired Anbu Captain had to agree to that statement, before swiftly taking out his orange book and pulling down his headband to cover his Sharingan eye. "Waste of time following you in here. I guess you didn't need my help, huh, Naruto-kun?"
A crowd of parents gathered to watch the last spar of the Junior Ninja Academy. It was a large event where at least one of the parents would attend.
Though for the most part it was often the mothers who showed up, bringing with them lunch and sweets for their child, never caring whether they won or lost. In the eyes of a mother, their children had no faults; they gave them unconditional love and a little bit of comfort so that their days were a bit brighter.
Unfortunately, Naruto didn't have a mother, or a father. He didn't have anyone. He waited by himself as it became his turn to have his match. He only hoped that out of all the draws that occurred he wouldn't be facing-
"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called out, already seeing the small bundle of Uchiha make his way to the arena, while the crowd started to mumble. "Naruto come down here!"
Naruto started using Suzume's lessons in 'tactful retreat' and thinking what his odds were at beating the number one fighter in his class, then started to mysteriously walk into the crowds. He wasn't a coward by nature, but he was still sore from last night's event and he didn't think he had the energy to deal with someone as strong as Sasuke.
"Naruto-kun, come here," said a familiar voice. Naruto turned around to see Suzume stand behind him, her arms folded in front of her chest. Her glasses and wavy hair blew in the breeze, her slim figure making her look more Professional than she really was. "There is no need to run. Just remember the Katas, which is really all we are looking for."
"Um, sensei, I think I was doing the moves wrong when you taught it to us. I asked for help but you kept passing me by," Naruto admitted, remembering the memory and how angry it made him. "We didn't really go over them after that, so how am I supposed to even display my skills when I don't even have any?"
Suzume felt dread thinking about that incident, she had tried her best to fix the problems she caused in his early education, but she had not fixed his Taijutsu, this was going to be a problem. "Surely you remember something?" she almost pleaded.
Naruto shook his head. "I know the kicks, but I don't know what to do about the grapples. Isn't there something you can do? Something you can show me."
Ignoring the yells from Iruka to get Naruto onto the arena, Suzume bent down to Naruto's eye level.
She briefly registered that the orphan's eyesight quickly went to her chest, then to her eyes, and filed that thought away for another time. "We'll get you someone to look over your Taijutsu, Naruto, I promise, but right now you just have to do the best you can do."
Sighing, the blond decided this was the best he was going to get out of this raw deal and made his way slowly to the arena, where the Uchiha brat was getting impatient. "Took you long enough. My mommy really wanted to see me fight; I am going to show her all of my techniques because I…"
Not paying attention to the rest of the monologue, Naruto got into a fighting stance, not sure how to deal with Sasuke.
He was a spoiled arrogant child who could back up his boasts. Despite how obsessed he was about his brother, and trying to overcome him, he still managed to improve as time went on, leaving much of his classmates in the dust. "I am ready, let's go."
"We will now start the match," Iruka said in a strong amplified voice, standing in between the two fighters. He looked at Sasuke and then gave an annoyed look at Naruto, though the boy noticed that it was not as harsh as usual. Strange, was Iruka changing? No, it couldn't be; Iruka never liked him and he probably never would. "Begin!"
Immediately, Naruto ran towards the black haired boy, intending to spear him to the ground. Sasuke saw this coming a mile away and was already countering the destructive attack that would have given the blond a tactical advantage.
Seeing Sasuke's change in posture, the Uzumaki realized that Sasuke had seen through his trick and decided to change tactics, tripping to the ground, falling face flat onto the sandy arena. "Oi, the Dobe can't even pass at running! See, mom, that's the kid I was talking about, he is so funny! You should see his Henge; it was the fattest, most ugly Hokage ever!" came a young voice from outside the arena.
"Kiba, quiet! I am trying to watch," said the familiar voice of Tsume, observing from the seats where Uchiha Mikoto, and Nara Yoshino sat, preparing a picnic for after the spars ended. "This match hasn't even started; I think there is more to the brat than what meets the eye."
Mikoto, wearing a tight black dress and white pearls, turned to the Inuzuka mother, who wore a sundress for this special occasion, despite not wanting to. "Tsume, you can't be serious? He doesn't look like he can even walk properly, the poor dear looks dead tired."
"I have to agree with that," said Yoshino, scowling and shaking her head. She started fingering one of her expensive silver hoop earrings. "See how red his eyes are, he must have been up all night. What the hell has he been doing last night when the Academy matches were today?"
Tsume released a nervous laugh. "I am sure the kid has good reasons." She coughed, trying not to think how this may be partly her fault. "Crap, it looks like Sasuke is going to finish the brat."
Sasuke was already at Naruto's feet, watching him get up, and getting ready to put the boy out of his misery. He scowled at the blond. "Trust me, I don't want to end the match this early, but you can't even move. This match is ove-gahhhh!"
He didn't get to finish his sentence as his opponent threw two handfuls of sand into his eyes. "Oh no, I think this match is far from over."
Naruto immediately followed up by grabbing a rock from the ground and dashing it towards the little Uchiha's head. It hit the boy square in the nose as he tried to get the sand out of his eyes, which promptly started seeping blood.
Before Iruka could call foul, Naruto tackled the boy into the sand and started wrestling him in a mad frenzy of punches, kicks, and scratches.
This was Naruto's turf; he may have been half a head shorter, weighed less than the Uchiha, and didn't have his flexibility, but when it came to a raw match of endurance, Naruto was your man. "Give up! You can't beat me, damn you clawed my eye! Here take this! Ouch, not had enough! Take that! And That!"
"Grrr, you cheater! You big cheater!" Sasuke squealed, punching Naruto back as hard as he could. He was sure he hit the blond's nose twice, but he kept on coming. "You're going down, Uzumaki, losers never win!"
"I didn't cheat! If you weren't so busy hogging the teacher's time with, ouch! Those extra Taijutsu moves, I wouldn't have to do this, damn it! Stay still!" Naruto answered, punching Sasuke twice more on his bleeding nose. "I am going to win, watch me!"
"You, win! You're the dead last!" Sasuke shouted, kicking Naruto off and standing up, wiping off the dirty blood from his nose. "You aren't even close to beating me!"
Naruto got up, his knees feeling like water and his breath heaving. "Eh? How do you figure? You don't look so good yourself, might want to turn off that faucet you call a nose."
Some of the mother's giggled at this, while Mikoto frowned, mumbling something about smart alecks. "Sasuke better not take this too far," she said, turning to Yoshino who was wiping off a speck of dust from her black sundress. "He always gets a bit emotional at times."
"Shut up, Naruto! I am going to end this match right now!" Sasuke shouted, "Clone Technique!"
The Nara matriarch rolled her brown eyes at the temperamental child. Shinobi were supposed to keep their cool. It looked like the orphan was doing a good job keeping the match at his pace, while the black haired boy was falling deeper and deeper into the blond's trap.
Naruto's blue eyes widened, seeing the Uchiha produce an exact copy of himself. He turned to Iruka. "Oi, is he allowed to do that?"
"Clones have always been a popular tradition of Taijutsu," Iruka said, thinking about the rules of the Tournament. "Clones along with Henge and Body-Switch are allowed if used with a specific Taij-"
"Really! Alright! Here we go!" Naruto shouted, making the seal. "Henge!"
A heaving pile of smoke covered the boy, making it hard to see him through the thick black smoke. Sasuke and his clone walked around the all-consuming smoke cloud, wondering what Naruto was going to reveal.
There was no way the Dobe could pull off something amazing with a Henge, it took a lot of Chakra to even keep it going for a short while and, depending on how complicated the thing you wanted to be, it could take more.
To be able to do any type of real damage with the Henge would require a tremendous amount of raw energy, which he doubted Naruto had, considering he could never make a single proper clone.
"Let's go inside," Sasuke directed his clone. The other Sasuke nodded hopping into the smoke. "We'll flush him out."
From the crowd Hizashi sat on the bench with little Hinata beside him. Watching the battle with his blood gift, he could see through the smoke, and view what lay behind the ominous clouds, "So this is the boy, Hiashi?"
With Hatake Kakashi as witness to the kidnapping, the Council was hard pressed to keep this incident in the files, especially when the Anbu Captain said he would testify that it was the Cloud Ambassador who initiated the kidnapping.
The Hokage was not pleased that the Anbu Captain could not keep this incident a secret, however when asked he would only reply, "I am not lower than trash. You can take me off the Corps but I am not just going to sit silently and abandon a Ninja of the Leaf. The fault lies solely on Cloud, and I bear witness to it all. I will even allow an interrogation so you can see my memories."
If only Hiashi was the single witness things could have been different, the incident could be kept under wraps and not a single person would have to know what happened until months later.
As it were, the Council had the unfortunate luck of having the White Fang's son as another witness, meaning that both alibi's matched and that this wasn't just a false accusation by the Head of Clan Hyuuga, but instead a proven child kidnapping.
Now with the Head of the largest Clan in Konoha, and the Prime Captain of the Anbu Assassination Corps, against the idea of a negotiation, the Council would be arguing and debating about what to do for the next few months.
By the time they were done, Hizashi would be in the clear, and they would probably have reached another agreement to send some other dead body in his stead, or perhaps use the corpse of a previously dead Hyuuga, and implement plastic surgery to make it look like Hiashi?
In either case what would be the point in sending his dead body instead?
Clearly, Cloud wanted an intact Byakugan, not the corpse of a powerless Branch House member.
But who knows?
In a few months, they might decide that, "Handing over the corpse of the twin is the best solution," but Hizashi highly doubted that such an idiotic conclusion would occur.
Regardless, he had other issues to attend to, mainly witnessing the Tournament with his niece, who had already won in her Gender division, which didn't surprise the man, considering how it was a Taijutsu Tournament.
He had to remember to bring the girl to a restaurant on the way back home as a reward. Perhaps he should bring Neji along as well? "But first I want to see how you respond to Naruto's attack, Uchiha."
From what Hiashi told him last night, there was more to the boy than just a large Chakra reserves. "Let us hope that my brother was not exaggerating your healing ability, Naruto."
A high-pitched scream came from within the smoke. No one was sure if it was Sasuke or Naruto, but judging by the Uchiha matriarch standing up and looking worried, it was safe to say that it was probably Sasuke. "Sasuke, what is wrong dear!"
"Stay back! Get back! Ahhhhh!" The crowd could hear shuffling of footsteps and other sounds that didn't sound human. "Don't kill me! No! Mommy! Save me!"
Mikoto had to be restrained by the Inuzuka female so that she would not jump into the large, noxious smoke. "Look I am sure he is fine, you don't see Blindy doing anything," she said, pointing her thumb to Hizashi who snorted, not giving an answer. "For all you know, the kid of yours is just trapped in some Genjutsu."
"They aren't allowed to use Illusion Arts! This match should be cancelled if that were the case," Mikoto said, glaring up at the taller woman whose ample chest seemed to be straining on the dress. It looked especially large when she folded her hands around her bosom.
"Well, if it is a part of the style, then I don't see why not?" Mikoto said.
"Don't be ridiculous! Che, Naruto doesn't have the aptitude for Genjutsu; the kid's Chakra reserves are monstrous," said Yoshino, poking her son who was already falling asleep at her feet. One of these days Shikamaru was going to go into a coma and never wake up. "I would be shocked if he could even do the basic Bunshin. You know how much control those take-"
"AHHHHH," the scream from within the smoke screen caused Iruka to make a seal and dispel the fumes.
They were about to find out whatever exaggerated horror lay beyond the thick clouds. It couldn't have been that bad; Naruto didn't know any Genjutsu or any dangerous Ninjutsu. What could the boy possibly do to frighten the Uchiha heir like that?
Sasuke lay back on the ground curled up in a ball, looking up at his opponent with tearful eyes and a panicked expression. Sweat pooled down his face and his teeth were clattering at the thing that was before him. "Help me," he whimpered.
He held a bloody Kunai in one of his hands and a dozen Shuriken were stuck on the ground around him, indicating that he had tried to throw things at some point, but either missed or it just did not dispel the being in front of him.
The crowd took a step back, bringing their children with them when they saw what Naruto had become.
It was a popular fact that Uzumaki Naruto was the worst Henge user in the academy; if you asked him to turn into something he would do it, but it would look so grotesque that it would be near impossible to use in infiltration missions.
Who would have ever thought his ability to make deformed Henge would ever come in handy?
"Naruto...What have you done?" Suzume whispered as she saw the creature Naruto had Henged into.
The Uchiha had every right to be afraid.
Iruka and the other Ninjas watching weren't sure what to make of this.
What they saw before them was indeed possible, and given the boy's Jounin level Chakra reserves, what he had created wouldn't be too difficult for someone like him. But the thought of an Academy student creating something like this, it sent a shiver up Iruka's spine as he walked up to it.
"Keep it away from me!" little Sasuke said as the creature's long spiny legs ran softly on his neck, causing the boy to scream, "Sensei!"
"Naruto, let him go," Iruka whispered, trying not to look too closely at the horrible attempt at an animal Henge. "Match is over, you both used Ninjutsu, this match is a draw, now change back."
The only Jutsu Naruto knew how to perform was the Henge and he didn't even know how to do it without it resulting in a disaster.
That's why it didn't come as a surprise to an experience Jounin like Hizashi when Uzumaki Naruto's attempt at creating a giant centipede from the Forest of Death resulted in something that resembled a creature that was even more revolting.
It had the initial shape of the creepy crawly: its long segmented body was about as wide as a dog and as long as a Python, with hundreds of spiny black legs coming out from the side of the black, armored exoskeleton.
What struck Iruka was the face of the thing and the smaller hairy grey legs underneath the armor.
It looked like thousands of little spider legs all trying to grasp a part of Sasuke. The realism in which it moved told Iruka that Naruto must have seen some of these things in person, and that idea didn't sit well with him at all.
What was the brat doing going into the most dangerous regions of Konoha?
His suspicions of where Naruto's wanderings took him was confirmed further when he saw that the centipede's face had mandibles coming out from either side of its buzzing jaw, mandibles similar to the Praying Roaches of Konoha, located in the Aburame Forest District.
It also had eight black eyes that were clearly members of the Giant-wolf Spiders used by the Insect users as pest control so that Insect population would not stagnate in Konoha Forest.
The eight eyes looked down at the Chunin, all of them moving in synch. "Naruto change back now!"
For a second Iruka thought that Naruto would disobey and start terrorizing the other kids. Yet, in an instant, another screen of smoke appeared. Instead of the terrible creature, before them stood a panting orphan who was covered in cuts and even had part of a Shuriken embedded in his right arm. "Oh, I-I think I need more practice… ouch... Messed up again, I was trying to make a giant bug… darn it, he got my arm… darn."
He looked ahead to see Sasuke hugging his mom. The sheltered boy was bawling, not daring to look back at him. "Umm, sorry about that."
"We'll talk about this later," Suzume-sensei said, cutting off Iruka, who looked like he wanted to ask where Naruto had been wandering to, or trespassing to. "It is getting late, anyway, we have the October Festival tonight, let's just dismiss the class right now. This was the last match of the day."
Still gawking at the blond and his ridiculous transformation, the crowd slowly gathered their loved ones and went home, though, some whispered and looked back the blond, mumbling, "Only a demon could create something that atrocious, he never should have been allowed here into the academy."
Naruto felt someone's hand on his head and looked up to see Tsume pat him, around her neck he saw a necklace made from the giant canine fangs along with the expensive looking dress; it suited her. "Ha, so you did run into those things, eh? Thank god they didn't eat ya." She grinned, but noticed his mood. "I know, it doesn't seem fair, does it? You should have won; he said you could use Henge, after all."
"Uh-huh, I even kept it up when Sasuke threw those Shuriken at me," he said, pointing to the bloody throwing stars on the ground. "I didn't dispel no matter how much it hurt."
Naruto felt someone beside him and turned to see the same person he met yesterday. "You again! What are you doing here!"
Hizashi's face did not change expression, but he kept his cold eyes on the boy. "I do not believe we have ever met."
"What? We met yesterday when the guy was trying to kidnap Hinata-san!" Naruto said, feeling upset that the man had forgotten him so easily. "You told me to run!"
"That would be my twin brother you saw yesterday," the man supplied, eying Tsume suspiciously and wondering why his ex-teammate was comforting the Kyuubi boy. "I am told we share a startling resemblance."
"Oh," Naruto said looking at Tsume for support; the woman wasn't very helpful because she just snickered, smiling at him with her pointed teeth, "um, okay?"
"That was a remarkable transformation, Uzumaki-san," the man continued, feeling annoyed that his niece was still hiding behind his leg and avoiding Naruto's sight. "How did you manage to create such a large Henge? I have never known anyone your age to replicate such a technique."
"I am not sure," Naruto said, scratching his head, "I just started doing what Suzume-sensei always tells me to do, just keep gathering as much Chakra as possible into a particular point and then just let it out through my coils to form the image around my body."
"How much Chakra do you think you gathered?" the Hyuuga asked curiously. "All of your reserves?"
"Umm..." Naruto considered the question, getting a feel for how much he had left. "Maybe a quarter?"
"And you kept it going for that long, despite being severely injured and even stabbed by the Uchiha?" Hizashi said, bending down to look the boy in the eye. "Do you mean to tell me you could make another three such as that and maintain them, while being brutally cut down by your opponent?"
"Yes," was the determined reply.
Tsume coughed, cutting into his conversation. "Well, friend of mine, it is great to see you taking such a keen interest in little Naruto-kuuuun," she said patting the stiff man on the back to make him scowl, he always hated being touched, "but I think the kid has had a rough day. I am sure he has got to get ready for the Festivities."
As the last few people left, Naruto turned around to see Namida Suzume use a few Wind Jutsus to pick up the trash and put them into a bin.
The orphan decided to stay around and help finish cleaning and then headed home to get ready for the night's event. He helped out until the sun started to go down. "Thanks for your help Naruto-kun, you can go home now," said Suzume, smiling at him.
As he walked down the streets of Konoha, he couldn't help but feel the eyes piercing him, whispering. Sometimes in times like these, Naruto wished that he were invisible. Maybe someday he would fade away, never to know what malice felt like. "I wish I could just blend in, then they wouldn't be able to see me."
If only it were this evening when the totality of the villager's rage was focused on the little orphan.
"Run! Run as fast as you can!" shouted an old man in a rusty wheelchair, pointing his gnarled cane at the blond. "We see you! You can't hide from us! I will always hate you! Never forget…"
Naruto was already too far to hear the rest of what the man with no legs had to say.
If this was the only time this happened in the Festival, he wouldn't have been so concerned. However, this incident seemed to take place every few minutes, resulting in him trying to hide himself from the crowd, only to be spotted and be humiliated in public once again.
"I didn't do anything," the Uzumaki growled. "All I wanted was to fit in, was that wrong? I wore my best outfit, I talked politely, I did everything Suzume-sensei told me to do and people are still mean to me!"
He could hear the fireworks light the sky as he walked further and further away from the Town. Looking up into the infinite night Naruto saw beautiful designs color the sky with flashes and sparks, "Still, it is dazzling."
Naruto's wanderings took him near the Onsen.
The major events of the night's activities would start in a few hours. Many of the women in Konoha took their time in the Bathing House, feeling refreshed to go out into the stalls in the Town Square, where at the stroke of midnight the Hokage would make an announcement in the Platform.
"Sure is busy tonight." The orphan saw that there were many females entering the Bath House, meaning that it was probably full. "Figures, they probably wouldn't let me in anyway."
"If only there was some way... some technique that would allow me to just blend in without me getting noticed," Naruto said, clenching his fist in front of his face, thinking how horrible his Henge was. "Then I wouldn't have to worry about people finding me. I could be right there just like everyone else."
He unclenched his small fist and looked at his palm. "But I don't know a Jutsu that makes you invisible."
"Ho, ho, ho," Naruto heard someone giggle near one of the Onsen fences. The blond decided to follow the giggling sound. When he reached the source, he saw a tall man with white hair, pulled into an enormous ponytail. "Satsuki-chan! Mai, how you have grown! It would be a crime not look, forgive this old Hermit, he, he, he."
The boy thought the pervert had some kind of death wish because anyone would clearly see him looking at the females with his telescope, while standing on an annoyed looking orange toad. "Why am I always summoned for this?" it muttered.
"Because I promise to take you to the Forest for some grub," the old man answered, adjusting his scope to get a better look at his targets. "You are a glutton, Bunte, you'll do anything for food."
The large toad only yawned, sticking its large tongue out to taste the air. "Still, I think you should use that Jutsu of yours, I really don't want to be caught dead like this."
Naruto's ears perked up at this. The little boy got behind a wooden pole, watching intently as the Perverted Hermit got his hands together. "This technique has never let me down. Too bad it is only for special occasions. Transparent Escape Technique!"
"Amazing!" Naruto saw the large man fade into nothing. "I don't see him or the toad anywhere!"
He walked from behind the pole and took small steps towards the direction he was sure he saw the two become invisible. The boy poked the spot he was sure the Pervert was hiding at. "Oi, you really are transparent!"
"What the-" The Toad Sage's body slowly poofed into existence. "Great, it is just a brat. Go away; I am in the middle of research right now."
"Teach me!" Naruto said, his body jumping up to look at the Sennin in the face. "Show me that Jutsu!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"I know a hidden way to get into the Bathing House that nobody knows about," Naruto admitted. It wasn't a lie, sometimes he would have to come here when his pipes weren't working. Since the people running the establishment never let him, he was forced to find alternate means to enter the facility.
"There is a spot that gives you a good view of the woman's side." That part was a lie, but the man didn't have to know that.
Jiraiya scratched his chin, contemplating the boy's offer. "You drive a hard bargain. Kid, you got yourself a deal."
What was the harm? What could the little blond do with such a powerless technique, true that he was the only one in the village who could currently use it, but the trick was so useless that it could hardly be used for anything less than peeking on Non-Ninja females.
"Here are the seals, and you push the Chakra through like this…"
It didn't take Naruto long to use the Jutsu to sneak into the Festival. Suzume-sensei's lessons on being careful and cunning allowed him to go through the crowds unnoticed and he quickly found himself having a great time. The best part was no one shouted for him to, "Leave!" and he even got to see some of his classmates having fun with their parents.
"7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2," the crowd shouted, becoming noisier with each passing number, "1! Happy October Fest!"
"Wow, how do they do that!" Fireworks lit the sky, covering the night with an array of colors the likes of which the orphan had never seen before. The blond sat on a VIP seat in the Town Square reserved for a few Civilian Council members.
Luckily, not a single civilian could sense him, so he was safe from their eyes. "I have never got a chance to see everything from up close!"
This was the first time in his life that he felt like a part of the village, he made up his mind that this wouldn't be the last time he celebrated with them despite how terrible they were. He would do all that it took to be a part of this, and next time without having to resort to Ninja tricks. "Strange how nice they are when I am not around, why is that-"
A large rocket flew into the sky and burst into a hundred different sparks showing the retelling of the Yondaime's battle against the giant demon. The blond never knew how close he was to answering his own question, but at some point during the story a thought occurred to him.
"Happy Birthday to me," he muttered, realizing the date. "Only nine more years left until I am an adult! I can't wait!"
"Neither can I, Naruto-kun," whispered his fairy dog-mother standing in the crowd a few feet away, with Kiba sitting on her shoulders. When the blond's scent hit her nostrils, she immediately started licking her lips. "You smell so fresh, Nawuto!"
"Mom, did you say something?" asked a confused Kiba, who was sitting on his mother's shoulder, "And why is your shoulder getting so hot! Eww, you're sweating again! I am getting off."
"So am I Kiba, so am I," the exotic woman answered with a grin, listening to the blond orphan talk to himself somewhere around Koharu's seat, then realized what she just said and paled. "Kiba, forget you just heard me say that. I know! How about we get some ice cream!"
"Yes! Ice cream!" the little boy said, dropping down from around his mother's neck and running into the stalls, still not understanding his mother's subtle manipulations. "If you don't catch up I'll eat yours too, mom!"
"Oh! The race is on!" Tsume barked, smiling and getting ready to beat her son to the stall. "You ain't eating all the sweets with my money, Kiba!"
As she ran towards the stall the mother slowed down just enough to give the invisible boy sitting on the chair a message, "Nice trick, kiddo. If I didn't smell ya, I probably wouldn't have even noticed you sneaking around. You should come over to the compound and show it to me sometime."
Leaving a startled blond open mouthed under his Transparency Technique, her head turned back to him one more time as Naruto got a good look at her enormous shapely bum from his position on the chair. "But if you use that jutsu to sneak a peek, then you're never gonna know what milk tastes like, and I know how you want to taste mine."
She grinned and laughed at his embarrassment one last time while the invisible blond sat stuttering, not noticing an enormously sweating Mitarashi Anko standing behind the chair, getting ready to place her derriere onto the seat. "Finally a place for me to rest. And no one is using it; I guess there is no need to let it go to waste!"
She went around the chair and was already bending at knees, but before she could fully relax onto the seat, she turned her head to the crowd looking for her friend. "Kurenai! I found a chair! Come here and share it with me. It's really squishy!
After placing her full weight on it and leaning back, she realized something odd. "It must have one of those moving massaging cushions. Technology sure is amazing! Kurenai! Hurry up, you got to sit on this, it moves I tell ya! It moves! Oh yeah, it feel so good. Mmmm."
End
