I DON'T OWN NARUTO!
I was stunned. They wanted me to stay? A complete stranger who hurt on of their own? Why? I tried reading the old man's face but all I saw was kindness. He was serious about this.
"Shocked I see. It'll wear off. I've decided to place you in the Uchiha district. That way we can make sure you are safe and assimilated." (massacre never happened)
"Ah! Um. Thank-you."
"You're welcome. Sasuke, Naruto will be staying with your family."
"Hai. Hokage-sama."
"Good. If you need anything, Naruto, anything at all, come find me at the hokage tower."
He smiled again and left. I looked at Sasuke and saw a scowl on his face. Great. I get stuck with the arrogant stick-up-my-ass type. It only made me wonder if the rest of his family was like that.
"Come on. I'll lead you to my house." He emphasized the 'my' Wow. Possessive much?
"Lead the way Teme."
"Hn. Put these clothes on."
I took the clothes, grateful to be out of a hospital gown, and put them on. Afterwards Sasuke and I left that building that I didn't know what it was called. It was going to bug me if I didn't figure it out. There were lots of injured people so it should've been a torture room, but it wasn't. People were being healed. It didn't make sense.
"Ne. Sakura-san?"
"Yes?"
"What was that place called?"
"You mean the hospital?" So that's what it is called? A hospital? "It's where people go to get better."
"Those actually exist?" I was wide-eyed at that. The 3 ninjas stopped and stared at me. "What?"
"….It's just odd that you don't know what one is."
"Well, I had never seen one before."
The ret of the walk was continued in silence. I was taking in the sights of everything around me. There were trees and plants everywhere. Children were playing at a playground and laughing. Parents watched and smiled. Others were chatting and smiling, some even waved at us! It was amazing! Everything was so bright. Sunny…
Then we reached the gates to the Uchiha clan. They were really tall and made of iron, with a floristic design. Sasuke walked up to them, bit his finger and smeared his bleed on the gate. I didn't understand what he was doing until the gates opened by themselves. Walking through the entrance I was met a lot of Uchihas. There were women carrying bags of food, trying to catch their children, or just walking around. The kids were just chasing each other and laughing. Men were walking with their love and occasionally chatting with a friend. When we arrived at the center of the district there was a huge mansion. Huge! On the front door was a fan symbol. The clan's symbol. I wasn't paying attention though. Still caught up in the size of the place.
"Welcome to your temporary home dobe."
"Th-this is your house!"
"Yeah. Lets go inside."
Kakashi cut in. "Now that you are here I'll be going. I got stuff to do you know."
"Yeah. By stuff you mean read porn." Sakura mumbled with her hands on her hips.
"Yare yare. You wound me!" He clutched his heart with anime tears going down his face. And then he just poofed away. Sakura also left but did it by walking back through the district.
"Lets go dobe."
"Stop calling me dobe, Teme!"
At Hokage's office:
Sarutobi Hiruzen was not happy. Why? You might ask. Because of paperwork! The bane of the Kages. It never ended and always created more. For example, today he learned that Kyubbi's chakra was activated in the mist. A team was already there for a different mission, so he added on to identify the user of Kyubbi's chakra. Later today they come back with an unconscious blonde boy who was from the orphanage they were sent to shut down. According to Kakashi the boy had already destroyed it and was running from it's caretakers. The team had run into him and healed his multiple injuries. However, when Kakashi touched his shoulder the kid freaked and attacked him. That could either have been a reflex or action out of fear. Maybe both. While Kakashi distracted him with conversation he secretly made a shadow clone, who knocked the boy out. When he woke up at the hospital, he freaked again and tried to escape. We stopped him, and asked how he destroyed the orphanage. He said chakra. The time of the event coincided with the use of Kyubbi's.
"Sigh~ I'm too old for this."
"We both are."
"Kakashi. I see Naruto made it home."
"Hai."
"I already informed Fugaku of the situation. Tell me, what do you think?"
"I think….he used the Kyubbi's chakra. The times match up and you and I both know he was hiding things from us."
"That is true, but the question remains. How did he get that chakra?"
"I believe we should ask Naruto directly. Not now of course. He doesn't trust us, buy with time…"
Hiruzen nodded. "That is a good plan Kakashi. For now I will leave him with the Uchihas. The sharing an should be able to handle anything that might happen. And I will inform the Jounin and council of this."
At the Uchiha's:
Sasuke silently walked inside with me following him. The inside of his home was beautiful. Everything was made of dark mahogany wood. The tables, chairs and flooring. On top of the tables were vases filled with different colored flowers. In the living room a black leather sofa with matching chairs sat in front of a TV. In between was a long mahogany table. The kitchen was updated with the best appliances. Bathroom, office, dining room, ect. Finally we arrived at my room. Sasuke slid the door open and I was floored. A king sized bed was pushed against the wall. Black satin sheets covered it. Across from it was a walk-in closet that I couldn't wait to fill with clothes. A desk with paper and pens/pencils was on the last remaining wall. Lamps decorated the room.
"This is your room. Dinner will be ready when my mother gets home. About an hour."
And then I was alone. I sprawled across the dark sheets and cuddled with a pillow. This was heaven. It had to be. I sighed out a breath of contentment and fell asleep. Later I was woken up by harsh shoving. Opening my eyes I saw a dark figure standing over me. I quickly scurried as far away as I could. When the figure came closer I whimpered. Then it grabbed my wrist and I screamed. Running was heard and the doors were flung open. A flustered Fugaku and worried Mikoto entered the room. They saw the scene and wondered what the hell had happened. When the figure yanked my arm I screamed again. Part of the shirt I was wearing slipped off and showed some of my scars. Mikoto saw and she understood what was happening. I'm being touched. No one but enforcers touch me. It's them! It was all a dream! Suddenly a voice broke through my thoughts.
"Sasuke! Let go of him." The figure did so and I scrambled back to the wall, shaking.
"Mother? What is going on? I only grabbed his wrist to wake him up."
"I know. It seems he's afraid of being touched by you. Probably from all people. However to have such an extreme reaction. I would like to know why…" I made myself into a ball as she came closer. I didn't dare look up. Enforcers hated that. "Naruto, honey look at me." I didn't. "It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mom. You are in the Hidden Leaf Village. You are safe."
Safe. I glanced up. It wasn't an enforcer. It was a lady with a smile. 'Uchiha' That's right. I'm not there anymore. I escaped.
"I-I'm sorry. I thought…"
Her eyes softened. "It's ok. You can tell me." I looked at the other 2 in the room and back at her. She understood. "Sasuke, Fugaku please leave."They did so without questioning. They had no idea what was going on and were happy to leave it to her. They're gone now. You can tell me."
"I-I thought you were an enforcer."
She frowned "Enforcer?"
I nodded. "Someone who punishes us for breaking the rules. I-I was their favorite."
"What?"
"The orphanage I came from…" (He explained the rules and stuff, and what a favorite was) Mikoto was disgusted with what was being said. "And I always volunteered. I took the punishment for everyone I could. So I was their most favorite. That's how I got all these." I lifted my shirt and she gasped.
"N-Naruto! How did you get all these scars?"
"Chains, whips, beatings. A lot of stuff, but this one." I pointed to the one over my heart. "was from electricity. It went through my heart. It was an accident. I was supposed to die, but I had a secret that kept me alive. I almost died a lot of times."
"Oh Naruto!"
She wrapped me in hug. I thought I would freak, but I didn't. It was warm. Gentle, caring. I leaned into and sobbed softly. I always had to be strong for the other kids, they needed it, and now I was letting my fear out. Mikoto whispered words to me and rubbed my head. She rocked me back and forth until I calmed down.
"Feeling better?" I nodded. "Well lets go eat dinner."
We left the room and went downstairs to eat. I didn't want to see my reflection. I knew I would see puffy eyes and tear tracks on my face. As I sat down to eat I started pondering that feeling from earlier. Security, warmth. Thee room was silent except for the scraping of plates. After 15 minutes I finished eating and excused myself. I went upstairs and collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Back downstairs everyone was staring at Mikoto. Noticing their stares she placed her fork down, and folded her hands her lap. She met the gazes of her husband and youngest son before taking a deep breath. This would be hard to explain. She knew they would be shocked. All the village knew of was the regular beatings, not the torture. But according to Naruto it was reserved for him, since he took the brunt of everyone's 'punishment' just thinking about it made her sick.
"I assume you both know about the orphanage he came from right?" 2 nods. "Well the village only knew a fraction of what was going on. Apparently Naruto was tortured everyday with anything the 'enforcers' could think of." 4 wide-eyes. "He said he was a favorite. Who was punished with chains, whips, ect. And he always volunteered for everyone's punishment. He was at death's door multiple times. After so many years of this treatment he was left with the mental trauma of the extremes. He thought I was one of those 'enforcers' because no one but them could touch him. I'm surprised he's still sane at all."
"What is an enforcer?"
"The person who punishes the kids."
"Favorite?"
"A person who was on death's door multiple times. Someone who was beaten again and again with different methods each time. You 2 would have to see Naruto's scars to understand the damage."
"….You said no one could touch him."
"Yes. Since he was a favorite none of the other kids wanted to get involved with him. Afraid that they would get hurt for being his friend. He was isolated with the only touch bringing pain. It's an understatement to say I'm worried about his mental health. I'm going to see the Hokage tomorrow. Maybe Naruto can get a therapist."
"That would be a good idea, but something worries me." -Fugaku
"What?"
"You said he had a secret that saved him….You remember our mission. To try to find if he is the source of the Kyubbi's chakra."
"Yes. I understand that, but if he does hold it then this is even more necessary. Past jinchuriciis activated it through emotion. So he needs to be stable so as to not destroy everything."
"You are right usual. Sigh. I'll come with you to the Hokage's tomorrow. We can share information and ideas."
Mikoto smiled. "Ok then."
Sasuke remained silent through the whole thing. He would have to tell Kakashi about this.
Please review. It makes me come out of my emo corner!
