Chapter 2

The next day, Naruto woke up in the same room he was in the day before. Smiling happily for the first time in his life, he flexed his body gently to see if he could handle more strenuous movement. Not feeling any pain, he slowly made his way to the door and stepped outside to the smell of something wonderful. His stomach grumbled loudly as he slowly made his way downstairs and to the kitchen to find Zare hovering over the stove making what seemed like eggs, sausages, and toast.

Sensing his... nephew, it still felt weird saying that, enter the room, Zare turned around and said, "Good Morning Naruto, I hope you had a good night sleep. Seeing you up and about shows you've healed nicely. Have a seat breakfast is almost ready"

"Good morning Zare-o-o-oji-san" Naruto said meekly then looked down hoping the man who was his saviour and only link to his family would not take offence.

Stunned for a few moments Zare slowly made his way towards the small boy, kneeled down and wrapped his arms around the boy and said as lovingly as possible, "Good morning, my dear nephew"

Naruto buried his face into his uncle's shoulder and sniffed back any forming tears.

After a few minutes, while still in the embrace of his uncle, Naruto smelled something funny and said, "I think something's burning"

Eyes opening widely, Zare immediately released his nephew and rushed to the stove and said frantically, "AHHHHHHH! I burned the eggs!" before throwing the frying pan, contents and all, into the sink and turning on the water, watching it sizzle.

"*sniff**sniff* and I was looking forward to eggs too" he said in a playfully dejected tone.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at his uncle's antics as he made his way to the table and sat down.

During the meal Zare cleared his throat causing Naruto to look at him and said, "By the way Naruto, the offer I made to you last night is still open. You are more than welcome to come live with me, if that is your wish. This house is actually the family household so technically this house is your Blood Right"

"Can I have a few days to think about it?" Naruto asked meekly.

"Of course you can! There is no obligation what so ever. If you don't wish to move in, I will still support you in any way I can" Zare replied with a warm smile.

"Thank you. Umm...can I ask you for something?" Naruto said softly.

"Naruto, I am your uncle, I am family. You don't need my permission to ask me something. Just ask and I will answer you as best I can" Zare replied trying to make the small boy understand.

"Can you walk me home? After what happened that night, I-I-I don't want to go home alone" Naruto said voice laced with fear.

"It would be an honour Naruto. But first, finish your breakfast" Zare said with a playful grin causing Naruto to chuckle before finishing his meal.

Half an hour later, while Zare was washing up the dishes, there was a knock on the front door to which Naruto replied, "I'll get it" before running off towards the door.

"Oi!" Zare called out to him, "Don't run! Just because you don't feel any pain doesn't mean you're not still healing"

Hearing a familiar voice saying, "Hey Naruto, glad to see you up and about" followed by a round of giggles from his nephew, Zare yelled, "Hey Obito, I'm in the kitchen!"

A few seconds later Naruto rushed back into the room and took his seat while Obito strolled in and said, "So... How's my favourite 'Denizen of the Dark' doing today?"

"Just fine, thank you very much" Zare replied, "And please don't call me that in front of my nephew"

"Nephew!?" Obito replied.

"He found the picture" Zare said.

"Ahhhhh" Obito replied in understanding, "Well it's about time someone told him about his background" then sat next to Naruto and said, "Did you know your dad was my sensei when I became a ninja?"

"REALLY!?" Naruto replied as his face lit up, "Then does that mean I can call you Obito-oji-san?"

"Or Obi-oji like my nephew does" Obito replied with a goofy grin.

"O-O-Obi-oji" Naruto said as his cheeks turned rosy and a happy smile crept across"

Obito just blinked for a few seconds before saying, "Ok, I don't care what people say, this boy is adorable. If you don't take him in then I will" while ruffling Naruto's hair causing the boy to give the same goofy grin Obito gave earlier.

Zare, having seen the whole exchange said, "I swear to God, if there weren't proof saying otherwise, people would think the two of you were related"

"Well excuse me for being a bad influence" Obito replied in mock offence.

"I wasn't saying you were, and speaking of taking the boy in, I asked Naruto during breakfast and he said he wanted a few days to think about it, so I was going to escort him home. You can join us if you want"

"Sure seeing as I'm free for the whole day" Obito replied.

A few minutes later the trio exited the house and began making their way towards Naruto's apartment.

Some fifteen minutes later Obito asked Naruto to run ahead a little bit so he could talk to the boy's uncle and as soon as the boy was ahead enough so as not to be heard but not out of sight, he spoke, "How how much have you told him?"

Understanding immediately, Zare replied, "He knows who his family is and all that but I didn't have a chance to tell him they were still alive. He cried himself to sleep before I could"

"*sigh* You do plan on telling him right?" Obito asked in a protective manner, he had taken a shine to the boy and he was showing it.

"Of course I do!" Zare said clearly offended, "It's just that... if he's anything like his mother, he will stop at nothing at wanting to go see them and if the council is as underhanded as you say you are, I don't want any attention being drawn on the subject. The last thing I need is an international incident to breakout between Konoha and Whirlpool"

"True" Obito pointed out, "and what about the uh *ahem*?"

"You seriously want to take the round-about way to asking me that?" Zare replied with a raised an eyebrow at his friend's immaturity.

"The law is still in effect and we are being followed" Obito said matter-of-factly.

Zare's eyes glazed over for a few seconds before returning to normal and said, "Not anymore and for your information he was part of Root and a Shadow Clone"

"You're kidding!" Obito replied incredulously.

"Are you seriously going to try and doubt me? I swear I will get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I-OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Zare replied before suddenly rushing forward, completely surprising Obito, who looked ahead to see Naruto was curled up on the ground while a bunch of kids were throwing rocks at him. Obito's blood boiled at the scene in front of him and rushed forward to help his best friend's nephew.

Meanwhile Zare performed a few hand signs causing a wall of shadow to erect itself around Naruto thus protecting him from harm.

"What the hell is wrong with you kids?" Zare said angrily.

"We were just putting the demon kid in his place" one kid said snidely.

"What did you say?" Zare asked menacingly while a black aura flared around him, absorbing all light causing the immediate area to dim.

The children stared in complete horror before Obito placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "Easy there big guy. At the rate you're going, you'll scare these kids to death" causing Zare to calm down then turned his attention to the children and said, "Now scram before I change my mind"

As the children ran off in terror, Zare dispelled the shield around his nephew then picked up the whimpering child while brushing the dirt and dust of his face and as soothingly as possible said, "Shh, shh, shh. It's ok there gone now. No one's going to hurt you"

After a few minutes, Naruto finally calmed down and gave a nasal grunt when asked if he was ok before wrapping his arms around his uncle's neck and buried his face in his shoulder. Zare rubbed his nephew's back soothingly as they continued towards Naruto's apartment.

When they reached the apartment, the two men stared at it stunned. The place had been ransacked, stuff was strewn everywhere, furniture destroyed, walls covered in graffiti and the putrid smell meant that the vandals hadn't stopped there. Zare place Naruto on the ground before clenching his fists in rage before storming off to God knows where.

"Oh dear" Obito replied as his friend stormed off, "Come on Naruto lets catch up to him before he does something reckless" while picking the boy up and running after his friend.

When they caught up with him, Zare was standing in front of the Hokage's Tower, his face still twisted in anger.

"Zare be reasonable, there's no reason for you to-EEEEEP!" Obito squealed as Zare glared daggers at him before running up the outside staircase.

"Oh for God's sake!" Obito said while placing Naruto on his shoulders and running after his friend.

When they reached the top, Zare burst in and immediately began demanding for the Hokage.

"I'm sorry, but he is in a Council meeting right now and mustn't be disturbed" the receptionist said.

"Perfect" Zare replied evilly as he stormed off toward the Council Chambers.

"Oh for- Will you stop for more than five seconds and let me catch my breath! Running up the Hokage Tower with a five year old on my shoulders is not exactly a walk in the park" Obito said in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry" Naruto said sadly.

"There is absolutely no reason for you to apologise" Obito replied while looking up at Naruto, "The reason I put you on my shoulders was, firstly, to make it easier to get up the stairs and, secondly, I thought you might find it fun... Did you find it fun?"

"Yeah" Naruto replied with a playful giggle.

"Good boy" Obito replied while placing Naruto on the ground and taking a hold of his hand as the two of them made their way to the Council Chambers.

Upon reaching the doors, Zare placed a chakra infused foot on the doors, blowing them off their hinges and into the centre of the room. The occupants inside jumped at this sudden outburst as several ANBU appeared and took defensive positions around the Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was about to speak when a voice he hadn't heard in almost five years said, "Hello Hiruzen. You're looking well" as the dust settled and Zare stood there with a very displeased look on his face.

"Sazare-kun! What are you-?" the Hokage said before being interrupted by Zare who said, "Relax Hokage-sama, my business is not with you but those traitorous bastards behind you" the latter was said with so much venom and killing intent that several of the ANBU faltered in their stances.

"How dare you accuse us of such ludicrous slander as treachery!?" Utatane Koharu said as she stood up from her seat at the Hokage's side.

"Oh!" Zare said with a sarcastic smirk before his brows furrowed and said, "Then explain how you kept this from me for the past five years" as he stepped to the side revealing Obito and Naruto standing just outside the doorway with Obito holding onto Naruto's hand.

Upon seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku, current Uchiha Clan Head, stood up and said, "Obito, what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Cram it Fugaku! I've had it with your damn superiority complex and arrogance. If it weren't for your constant suppression, this child would have had a much better life" Obito said angrily his Sharingan active.

Fugaku was completely taken aback by his wife's cousin. He never spoke to him like this even if he was the closest to the family, so this sudden change in attitude clearly showed he meant business.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mitokado Homura said while standing up, "We were told you were missing. How could we have possibly have contacted you?"

"Don't you feign ignorance with me!"Zare said menacingly, "I've been in this village for the past five years. It was you who told the Hokage I was missing. It was you who led me to believe Naruto had died! I T WAS YOU WHO TOLD NARUTO AND THE HOKAGE THAT THE BOY'S MOTHER AND SIBLINGS WERE DEAD!"

The Hokage and his advisors stared dumbfounded and confused as Zare stood there seething with fury, a pulsating black aura surrounding him, before crying could be heard and everyone turned to find coming from Naruto.

Obito quickly knelt down in front of the crying boys and said, "Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong big guy?"

"M-m-my ears hurt" Naruto said between sobs.

Zare instantly calmed down as Obito hugged the boy and said, "Awww, come on lets go and get something to eat. Your uncle will join us as soon as he's done fixing this mess" then picked up his friends nephew and made his way out of the building.

Once confident that they were out of sight, Zare's anger returned as he glared at the two advisors as if asking what they had to say for themselves.

The Hokage turned and looked at his two advisors as Zare detected a near insignificant spike in chakra, consistent with a spike in emotion and acted. Before anyone could blink a man sitting in the corner of the room was wrapped in a thick black tendril, emerging from his own shadow, and was brought in front of Zare.

The Hokage turned to find Danzo, leader of Root, hanging in front of Zare wrapped in a black tendril.

"Sazare-kun, what is the meaning of this? Put Danzo down" the Hokage said.

"He knows something and I intend to find out" Zare said as he placed his index and middle finger on the man's forehead and both their eyes glazed over. A few minutes later Danzo collapsed on the floor panting as Zareh glared at him angrily and said, "It was you. You're the one who deceived the Hokage. You're the one who lied to me, to my family. You're the one who RUINED NARUTO'S LIFE" while planting a hard kick in Danzo's side.

The Hokage, temporarily dazed by the sudden revelation, gained a fierce expression and said, "All ANBU are to uncover their left shoulder immediately!"

Two of the five ANBU still had their shoulder covered and were the subject of Zare's wrath. With a flick of his wrist, Zare summoned two tendrils from the two ANBUs' shadows, had them wrap around their necks and squeeze hard until an audible crack was heard before dissipating them and letting the two masked ninjas fall to the ground dead.

"*sigh* I have no idea how things got like this, but I hope that what I do next will help me atone for the wrong doings against that poor boy" the Hokage said before his face turned stern and said, "ANBU! Arrest Danzo under suspicion of high treason, I want him taken to Ibiki and drained like a ripe orange...and let Ibiki know, he can have his way with him"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" one of the ANBU replied while the other two picked up the unconscious man and all four of them disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"I thank you for your gesture Hiruzen, however you must understand that unless you were directly responsible, I would never hold you on account" Zare said his expression much calmer than usual, "Although, if you still feel guilty, there are two things you can do. Once agreed upon, consider yourself redeemed"

"First, I want full custody of Naruto handed over to me, second once you are finished with Danzo, I wish to pass final judgement as the current Uzumaki Representative in Konoha" Zare said followed by a deep sigh.

"Consider it done. I shall come over tomorrow with the necessary forms" the Hokage replied as he too let out a deep sigh.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Zare said while giving a respectful bow, "Now if you excuse me I have a luncheon with my nephew" then turned to leave, but before exiting the chambers, Zare turned his head to one side and said, "Thank you for taking care of my nephew Hiruzen, you have my eternal gratitude" then swiftly left the Council Chambers.

"You are most welcome" the Hokage said before the entire chamber went into an uproar, many of the clan heads demanding an explanation while many of the civilian representatives expressed their displeasure at the intruders requests.

"Enough!" the Hokage yelled in an attempt to bring order, "The Uzumaki Representative in Konoha holds more influence in this room than every single one of you combined. His orders are absolute! Final judgement over Shimura Danzo as well as full custody of the individual known as Uzumaki Naruto will be handed over to the individual known as Makizaki Sazare, do I make myself clear" before scribbling on a sheet of paper, signing it, stamping his seal on it twice, rolling it up and making it disappear in order to be filed away in the village archives.

Half an hour later, Zare stepped into Ichiraku Ramen where, sure enough, he found his best friend and nephew literally inhaling the noodles in broth.

"I swear to God the two of you are related" Zare said startling the two of them out of their trance.

"What can I say?" Obito said with a goofy grin, "I'm a bad influence"

"Indeed you are" Zare said while taking a seat, "and please tell me that my nephew is still on his first bowl of ramen"

"Nope third" Obito said before returning to his meal.

"Good God you're going to kill him" Zare said before turning to the man behind the bar and said, "Two Miso Ramen please... for a start. Oh and he's paying" while pointing at Obito who just stared wide eyed in horror, noodles hanging out of his mouth, at his best friend and getting an evil grin in return.

Several hours later, the trio were walking back to Naruto's apartment, with Naruto sitting on Zare's shoulders while Obito followed, tears streaming down his face at his now empty wallet.

When they reached the apartment, Zare put Naruto down and said, "This place is a tip, come on Obito help me clean up" while beginning to pick stuff off the floor.

"Wait" Naruto said then ran off into the back of the apartment and returned several minutes later with a large stuffed toy frog and a back pack before saying, "I wanna go home"


Author's Notes

yay chapter 2 is up, that means chapter three is finished. (Round of applause)

Anyway, before we go into more trivial matters, I just wanted to say thank you to all those who checked out, added to favs, and or reviewed my story. I know it seems pointless but I'm sure all of you know how it feels when your a first time writer and your story get praised. So as an added treat I've up loaded chapter three in advance.

Enjoy

P.S. No yaoi

P.P.S Be gentle with the reviews, I still be n00b.