Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, evil people in this fic are all mine though.
This story is something I've been working on along with A Prisoner's Silence and several other stories. However these stories I will not start posting until there absolutely finished for the sake of fans who hate waiting.
One more thing. Someone wrote me and told me that I need to write shorter paragraphs so that people would be able to find their place easier if they turn away for a moment. Well I did that with this story so just tell me if you think there too short or too long or whatever… Would greatly appreciate it!
One more thing: I have to give credit to my wonderful beta 'The Epitome of Eccentricity' for helping me with my story. He's offered to help out my other beta, 'Fortuna16' with 'A Prisoners Silence' to critique my horrendous grammatical errors. I think I'll take him up on the offer. I need all the help I can get after all. Thank you both!
Chapter two: The People in the Apartment building are so nice…
Guruko gave an irritated growl when the alarm clock went off later that Wednesday morning, since he'd never actually gone back to sleep after Naruto's attack. The dog lunged at the beeping machine and bit deep into it until the thing died away. When he heard a small groan, Guruko quickly turned back to the blonde he'd been lying next to. Naruto turned his head towards Guruko with a tired expression.
"I hate it too, but buying a new alarm clock is going to cost me money you know." Naruto said softly. Giving a guilty start, Guruko moved closer and nuzzled Naruto's cheek, checking the small blonde for the high fever he'd possessed last night and almost all morning. Naruto stroked the dog tiredly as he did this, a small smile of amusement on the pre-teens face.
"I'm okay," Naruto assured him as he sat up. The dog growled a warning at the blonde, angry that he would try to get up so soon after being in so much pain. Naruto gave the dog a pat on the head, but otherwise ignored the obvious reprimanding. "Shhhh. It's not a big deal," Naruto told him, "it happens two or three times a week. I'm not dying or in any kind of danger from it. Just a lot of pain; nothing I can't handle." Guruko's body tensed at the blonde's words, visibly shaken by the revelation. Kakashi would have a fit when he finds out. How long had it been going on?
Naruto stumbled out of bed, taking a few moments to balance himself and take a steadying breath. The blonde turned to Guruko with hands on hips, eyes wearily watching the dog that stared back. "There's not any kind of dog Morse code out there that you can use to tell Kakashi about this is there?" Naruto asked suspiciously. Guruko almost flinched, but thanks to some of Kakashi's personal training managed to keep it at bay. Guruko shook his head, which caused Naruto to sigh and mutter under his breath, something along the lines of 'Just like Kakashi.' Naruto picked up the dog and brought him into the kitchen with him before proceeding to carry on normally by pouring Guruko food and water then putting the pot on for tea.
Guruko watched all this in morbid fascination, eyes carefully trained on the blonde to make sure he didn't suddenly fall to the ground screaming. When the kettle whistled, Naruto hurriedly poured the tea, adding only a little of the precious sugar into the cup. Naruto then carefully sat down at the table, a slight wince escaping that caused Guruko to immediately jump to the preteens side, eyes imploring. Naruto took a long breath before letting it out and looked down at Guruko, who stared up at him in alarm. "Really, you don't have to act like a mother hen, the pain lingers a little, but by the time we get to the training grounds with Sasuke and Sakura it will be completely gone. 'Your not going.' Guruko thought to himself. It wasn't obvious; in fact if you weren't looking for it you'd miss it- the look of total exhaustion on Naruto's features.
Guruko already had been wondering how Naruto managed to work all day, every day without being tired, but this was ridiculous. So he'd watched closely since the blonde awoke, and finally came to the conclusion that it wasn't that the blonde wasn't tired or exhausted it was that Naruto hid it nearly flawlessly. He suspected that the only reason it was 'nearly' instead of 'perfectly' was due to the fact that Naruto stopped pretending the moment he would get home. Guruko noticed that Naruto practically dissolved the moment he stepped through the door these past two days he'd been staying at the apartment. His smile would drop, his body would release all of the built up tension the dog didn't even know was there until it was gone, and this very worn down expression would consume his features.
When Naruto started to grab his shinobi attire Guruko limped over to where he knew the blonde kept his pouch and weapons before biting a hold of it, dropping it onto the floor and promptly laying over it. When the blonde walked over, fully dressed, to see the dog on his weapons pouch, he let out a sigh of frustration. "Look Guruko, I need to meet the others so give it up, I need to train." Naruto said as he knelt down to take it. Guruko snarled at him to keep away, clearly getting his message across. Naruto retracted his hand and glared at the dog.
"I'm not going back to bed. I'm not staying home. I'm completely fine, now give me my weapons!" Naruto said in agitation. Guruko merely growled back. 'I can be just as stubborn as you!' Guruko thought. Naruto stood up and glared daggers at the dog before turning and heading towards the door. Guruko grabbed the weapons pouch in his mouth and limped over to the door until he stood in front of it, dropped the pouch and laid on it once more. "I don't have time to play with you mutt," Naruto spat angrily.
"I need to train so that I can get better missions so that I can afford to get the fuck out of here. Now move!" Guruko lowered his head a bit, startled at Naruto's tone. Never before in the last year of knowing the blonde or the last two days of staying at the preteens apartment had Naruto ever been angry with him. "This is the exact reason I never tell any of my team about anything, because then they'd pull stupid shit like this!" Naruto snarled as he eyed Guruko icily.
"They could never understand how hard it is to simply live. Everything costs money; food, shelter, water, heat, electricity, clothes. Unlike them I don't have everything handed to me on a silver platter. If I come to the bridge sick, they tell me to go home to get better, but if I don't work, I don't get paid. If I don't get paid, I don't get medicine or food or water or any of the things that make you better. No, I end up doing no work, not getting better and feeling even worse because they won't let me work. Now I need to leave." Naruto hissed at the dog. Naruto's anger rose when the dog refused to move.
"I feel the love, really I do," Naruto said sarcastically, "I'm sure I'll feel the gnaw of starvation in my stomach when I can't get food and the freezing cold air when I can't pay for heating too." With every word Guruko felt lower and lower before he eventually laid on the ground with his ears flat to his head. He'd not considered the consequences being so severe for the blonde. Kakashi never mentioned things being so difficult for any of his students so the dog assumed they'd all been fairly well off, especially since the third Hokage himself looked after the well fair of Naruto and now the fifth greatly cared for him. Had Naruto starved before? Had he been left to freeze as the blonde's words suggested he'd had?
Guruko got up and moved away from the pouch, which Naruto quickly grabbed and fixed on his leg before the dog changed his mind. Guruko watched as Naruto opened the door and looked back strait at him, the blonde's motions hesitant. In a much softer voice than before he spoke, "If you still want to come to training grounds with me your welcome to… I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean to… I just sorta' lost my temper. I… just really need the money right now. Okay? I know you were only trying to do what you thought was best…" Naruto trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Guruko limped over to the blonde and as Naruto bent down licked the blonde's cheek as a sign of forgiveness. Naruto gave him a small smile and picked the dog up to head out.
The blonde made sure not to jar his leg down the three flights of stairs and for that Guruko was thankful. After last nights jump to the bed he'd been in more pain then when Kakashi first got the cast on with the vet touching it 'hard' in order to see exactly what was broken. Suddenly Guruko felt the arms holding him tense and his body pushed closer to the blonde's chest. Their pace quickened, no longer a soft ride as Naruto attempted to get out of the building without seeming rushed. Guruko peered around and found that the only other person around was a women in her late twenties, just leaning against the wall next to the exit/entrance of the building. She was rather pretty, with silky black hair that touched her shoulders in just the right way, and piercing light brown eyes that seemed to miss nothing.
As Naruto walked passed her Guruko was surprised to see the women clamp her hand onto Naruto's shoulder. Naruto's grip tightened on the dog and the blonde's eyes took on a blank look that scared the crap out of Guruko. Guruko growled at the women, warning her off, but she ignored him as if he was nothing but a cat! "Good morning Naruto," The women said sweetly, "I trust you had a wonderful nights sleep." Guruko could feel Naruto's fingers clench slightly around his fur, under his body. Did this women know about whatever hurt Naruto last night? Why did Naruto seem frightened of her? Guruko watched Naruto visibly struggle to get his emotions under control before slapping a grin on his face.
Naruto turned towards her with a big toothy smile, hands no less tight on Guruko though. "My night was wonderful, I couldn't have slept better." Naruto said in a surprisingly sincere tone. There was a silence where both humans and dog knew Naruto was suppose to be courteous and ask 'Well, how was your night Ma'am?' Naruto never asked though, he just continued to smile and then slowly began backing up until he was at the doorway.
"Can he talk?" She asked sweetly. Naruto looked down at Guruko wearily before shaking his head. "No, he can't." Naruto said as he took another step backwards and turned, "I have to go, bye!" "Naruto!" The women called causing Naruto to halt though hesitantly. "I'm not a patient or nice women," She said sternly. The toothy grin faltered before it fell completely. "I know," Naruto said gravely before taking off without a single glance back.
Naruto didn't stop until they reached the training grounds where Sasuke and Sakura were to meet him. Guruko found the conversation ten minutes ago to be deeply disturbing, every few seconds peering up at Naruto who seemed to be ignoring him, eyes focused strait ahead and nowhere else. Naruto gently set the dog down before preceding to the nearest set of trees and withdrawing four kunai from his weapons pouch, two in each hand, each between a knuckle. Guruko watched as Naruto flung the deadly projectiles into the trees bark with a tenacity, accuracy and viciousness he'd rarely ever seen from a Gennin. Guruko made sure to stay far from the blonde as the preteen continued. They were early, very early actually. Guruko wondered if Naruto came early every day to do this or if this was odd for the blonde.
Two hours later Guruko couldn't help but gap. Never once did Naruto slow down in his assault of the trees, each time he ran out of kunai he would hurriedly rip them from the bark's hold only to begin again. Naruto didn't even seem particularly tired. In fact the blonde was still overflowing with negative emotions. The killing intent the blonde held the entire time caused the dog a great deal of trouble since it made the air difficult to breath. Guruko had been forced back fifty feet just to be able to handle the sheer force of will that was Naruto. Ten minutes before Sasuke and Sakura were to arrive the blonde suddenly froze, just about to toss yet another kunai.
The blonde peered behind him at the sun and deftly twirled the kunai before stashing it and closing his eyes. Guruko could hear Naruto mumbling to himself before the blonde shook himself not unlike a wet dog and took deep, deep breaths to calm himself down. Slowly, ever so slowly, the killing intent in the air wavered and died, just like that. Guruko watched in fascination as Naruto open his eyes, walked over to the trees and began to wrench the kunai out to stash back in his bag.
By the time Sasuke and Sakura arrived with their respective charges Naruto seemed to be a completely different person. He sat on the grass, a broad smile on his face and greeted his team as if he'd not just ripped apart several of the trees in the area. Sasuke surveyed their training ground till his eyes fell on top of the torn apart trees. The pale preteen frowned deeply. "Damn Jounin have been training in our field again." Sasuke said irritably. Guruko gapped at the Uchiha.
"I know right?" Naruto agreed, his voice just as annoyed, "Kaka-sensei was suppose to have talked to them about it." Guruko's head twisted 180 as the dog stared at Naruto in utter shock. Naruto patted Guruko's head, not even batting an eyelash as he blatantly lied to his team without the slightest hesitancy. Naruto stretched nonchalantly, easily ignoring Guruko's eyes boring into him. "We should get started huh?" Naruto stated more than asked.
Even after the two hours of early work Naruto performed before team 7's training the blonde worked through the normal exercises that were part of the team's regimen. Then through the chakra exercise that Sakura explained to the blonde, but not without insulting the preteen at least three different times through the explanation, much to Guruko's annoyance. The exercise was to keep a leaf atop the forehead with chakra, simple enough except that Naruto was having an extremely hard time with it. Guruko limped over to the sitting blonde, dark muttering escaping from his lips every few seconds when the leaf would flutter to the ground. Guruko lay beside the blonde, watching him carefully.
As the leaf once more fluttered to the ground Naruto glared at it venomously. "I've got too much chakra for this stupid exercise to work," Naruto growled in irritation. Guruko could agree with that. The leaf exercise required a minimum amount of chakra, similar to the regular bunshin jutsu, which is why Naruto could not perform the said jutsu. Never the less the blonde continued on his useless crusade, something Guruko wanted desperately to ask why when they both knew he would not be able to. Guruko peered at Sakura, the girl being carefully instructed by Sasuke each time her aim would be off. She probably held not even the smallest inkling about how much chakra her teammate had and thus hadn't considered it when she gave the exercise to him. Guruko knew that Naruto would never mention this little fact to the rosette though. Naruto kept all information about himself and his 'power' a tightlipped secret.
"God damn it." Naruto swore as the leaf fell once more. Guruko's attention came back to the blonde. 'Why don't you just go and ask her for something that requires more chakra?' Guruko wondered. The afternoon sun was at its highest when the team broke for a break. Sakura walked over with Pakkun in her arms and shook her head at Naruto as he once more tried to keep the leaf attached to his forehead and failed.
"Naruto, that's by far one of the most simplest chakra exercises I know. Even academy students can easily do it. I can't believe that you're that untalented," Sakura said in exasperation. Guruko watched Naruto's fingers curl and shake, but the blonde quickly hid it by stuffing his hands into his jacket. "Ah, Sakura-chan, that's harsh." Naruto said in a mock hurt voice. Sakura just huffed and turned to Sasuke. "Do you guys want to go eat lunch now?" Sakura asked her teammates though it was clearly more so directed at Sasuke. Guruko watched Naruto's face fall for a moment before the blonde forced his features into a grin.
"Where would you guys want to eat?" Naruto asked happily. Sakura peered at him for a second, deep in thought. "There's a really good buffet they have near the academy," Sakura said slowly, eyes toward Sasuke for her crushes approval. Sasuke shrugged and started walking in the direction of the academy with Uhei right behind him, Sakura more than happy to hurry to his side with Pakkun in her arms. Naruto's face fell into weary resignation before slowly turning back into a grin and walking over to Guruko.
Naruto picked up Guruko and followed after his teammates and the other two dogs at a slower pace. Guruko noticed how Naruto shoved a few leaves in his pockets on their way though. Naruto caught up to them, but instead of walking beside the two decided to stay directly behind them as they moved through the crowds. "What are we going to do with the dog's?" Naruto asked steadily. Sasuke gave Naruto an annoyed look, something Guruko was quickly becoming angry at.
"Kakashi's dog's are allowed in all public places within Konoha," Sasuke said dryly. Pakkun gave an indignant snort at Naruto's question as well. "Kakashi told us that a long time ago Naruto and it was in the instructions," Sakura added in the 'are you really that stupid' tone of voice. "Right, right. I remember," Naruto said slightly dejected, though neither of his teammates seemed to care.
When they were outside the restaurant Guruko felt Naruto's arms stiffen around him. "Hey Sasuke, Sakura?!" Naruto said, much louder than necessary. They both turned toward him. "I'll go ahead and grab the dog's something to eat if you take Guruko in for me. Go ahead and start eating cause I don't know how long I'll be. Okay?" Naruto asked as he held out Guruko to Sasuke. Guruko gave a whine as Sasuke nodded and took him into his arms. Naruto turned and walked away as the rest of them entered the restaurant.
"Where the hell is he?" Pakkun growled out in his deep voice irritably as the dog's stomach growled at him. It was an hour and a half before Sasuke and Sakura finally got fed up with waiting for the blonde and left for the training grounds, three hungry dogs in toll. "Well get you some food on the way there," Sakura promised them as they turned down the main street. Guruko scanned the crowds, eyes trying to catch the orange jacket that stood out like the sun in the blue sky. "Sorry!" A loud familiar voice called out to the group. '
Almost like he was waiting for us to leave the restaurant,' Guruko thought, looking at he blonde with suspicion. Pakkun once more growled at the small blonde who took a step back and would have raised his arms in surrender if not for the brown bag in his hands.
"I got their food, lets go ahead and head to the training field and they can eat there," Naruto said cheerfully. Sakura walked up to Naruto, her hair shadowing her face before she raised her fist and smacked the blonde's head with it. Naruto took a few steps back, not even the smallest bit surprised by the assault on his person. Guruko growled at the rosette but the girl assumed that the growl was meant for Naruto. "We were waiting for you for nearly two hours, you dimwit!" Sakura cried out angrily.
"I know! I'm sorry but the butcher had a lot of people in line so I had to wait a while," Naruto explained sheepishly. Sasuke sighed. "I suppose well have to stop by some where to grab you something to eat then," Sasuke said aggravated. "No need," Naruto assured, "I grabbed a sandwich on my way back." With that they headed off to training.
As they walked home around four that afternoon Guruko couldn't help but shiver. Above him, Naruto focused his attention on the ground in front of him, head bent down as his feet hurriedly walked down the street. People either moved away from him as if the very air around him were the plague or purposely tried to bump into him. Naruto was able to dodge all such attempts with an ease that clearly spoke of years of experience. The thought disturb the dog greatly. He raised his hackles at a few, but Naruto would always stroke his fur soothingly, as if to comfort him.
Guruko growled as one particularly large man with black bandages covering the entirety of his head barged past the much smaller blonde and glared down icily at the preteen as he simply and gracefully twirled around him, not once lifting his head from staring at the ground, and continued to walk. Naruto stroked back Guruko's pointy ears and his grip on the dog tightened a bit, though not uncomfortably so. "Shhhhh… Stop growling at people. Your gonna get me in trouble you know." Naruto whispered quietly to the dog.
Guruko gave a small snarl at the blonde, clearly not liking the idea of just letting the people get away with what they were doing. Naruto sighed heavily. "That big guy you just growled at?" Naruto asked softly as they continued to walk, "He's an Anbu captain, someone even Kakashi would have trouble with. You should never have growled at him cause now he's angry at me, it was fine that I dodged but it's bad if I show any reaction to stuff like that. It always comes back to bite me in the ass. So please just ignore it." Guruko huffed at the blonde as they entered Naruto's home.
Soon after, Naruto poured a bowl of food for Guruko and place it beside the table. "I know your not hungry now but I won't be back till very late so its there for you," Naruto said as he filled up the water bowl next. Guruko grumbled but it was more in amusement this time around. The blonde then proceeded to make an exceptionally comfy mini bed beside the big bed, created out of the only extra blanket Naruto had in his home. Then preceded to check the heater to make sure it was warm enough for the dog. Then made sure all the windows were tightly shut against the cold of the night and curtains drawn.
It all reminded him of something Kakashi said about two months ago when the subject of Naruto came up. "Give the boy an opponent and he becomes a calculating strategist bound to defeat the enemy with some ingenious scheme, try to get the blonde to explain how he did it and you'll just get a headache. Give the boy someone to care for and he becomes an overprotective mother hen bound to drive you nuts with his carefulness, try to ask why he cares so much or argue against it and you'll suddenly become the opponent."
Guruko rolled onto his back as he watched the blonde begin to boil water, then inwardly groaned as he poured rice into the pot. 'Does he eat anything but white rice and ramen?' Guruko thought angrily. As the water boiled, Naruto made sure to water all of his precious plants and to Guruko's immense bewilderment, Naruto actually talked to them. He went around the room talking softly, as if to keep from offending ears that did not exist, and told them all about his day. Kakashi's words came back to him. "Naruto talks to everyone whether they can hear or understand him anyway. You have to remember that Naruto's been alone all his life. I often fined him talking to himself while he trains just to fill the air with noise. I think it's just his way of trying not to feel too lonely. "
Guruko watched the blonde with sad eyes. He understood now. Naruto's obsession with plants, why so many and so well taken care of. They were the only company that Naruto ever got. Guruko had to wonder if he was the first guest that Naruto had ever had in his home before. "Hehehe… so you don't like me either huh? That's okay not many people do or animals I suppose in your case." No, he was definitely the first to be here. The rice was done cooking by the time Naruto made his round; the blonde eating his rice quickly and to the very last grain.
Naruto somehow locked his door on the way out with Guruko in hands before they turned to exit the building. It was as they exited that Guruko noticed how the rest of the apartments, at least from what you could see of the outside, seemed to be much better kept up than Naruto's. Somehow Guruko knew that the worse off condition of Naruto's home was in no way connected with Naruto's lack of care. Naruto kept his home extremely clean and dustless. The only thing not kept up was Naruto's always unmade bed, but Guruko guessed it was from Naruto's lack of knowledge on proper house keep rather than laziness.
Guruko sensed it five seconds before it happened. It took four for a bark to exit his mouth and gave Naruto only a single second to react. Naruto twisted the front of his body away from the wall he'd been walking beside, forcing his arms to encircle the dog and leaning his head forward over the dogs front, using as much of his small mass as a human shield as possible just as the attack came. It came as a full on body slam by a much larger and stronger body into the wall he'd just turned away from. The man, using the full force of his larger mass and his forearm in front of him as the focus point of all his power, met the nearly unsuspecting blonde full on.
Naruto felt his head nock harshly against the wall, his brain doing a loop de loop inside his skull. A split second later the forearm came crashing against his throat, the scream that had been escaping the blondes lips cutting off and trapping in his lungs so that they felt as if they'd burst. Then the rest of the man's body came crashing against his, pinning his legs against the wall as the enemy finally came to a stop. An object in motion will stay in motion till another object stops its motion. Simple physics, but Naruto was always one who hated that kind logic any way.
Thankfully, Guruko was fine. Trapped between their bodies, angry beyond belief, having a difficult time breathing because of the pressure, mouth closed shut by one of Naruto's hands, but otherwise fine. Naruto's body successfully shielded him from the blow, which in itself angered him. The damned blonde was suppose to have done something to protect himself not him! Guruko struggled to get free as he heard Naruto choking for air, the large body pinning him against the wall refusing to let up pressure. If Naruto had dropped Guruko before the assault came then the blondes hands would be free right now instead of pinned down against his body and Guruko's.
Guruko felt their bodies being raised into the air, the man pushing the small blonde up the wall with his forearm easily. Guruko could hear the sickening sound of flesh scraping against brick, something no human would be able to pick up. The dog tried to snarl, tried to wiggle free, but could feel that the only thing he was doing was causing Naruto pain by smashing into the blonde's already taxed lungs.
"Enjoying yourself?" A deep male voice asked calmly as Naruto continued to choke for air. Suddenly their bodies fell to the ground, but Naruto never let Guruko fall out of his arms, even in so much pain he refused to let the dog get hurt because someone had a personal vendetta against him. Naruto coughed harshly, hands moving up to his neck as he tried to breathe. Guruko burst out from Naruto's hold and viciously snarled at the tall, broad shouldered man before him. Black hair with brown streaks all throughout it's length, which sat almost proudly just beneath the man's tan ears. If Guruko could guess he'd say the man was just over thirty years in age. He wore no ninja attire nor did he have a headband, but no non-shinobi could move so fast. In fact not many shinobi could move that fast.
Narrowed eyes of a deep brown stared down and past Guruko at the blonde behind him, still gasping for air. Guruko snarled again to garner the man's attention from Naruto. Guruko tried to lunge at the man, but his body slammed against some kind of chakra barrier around the man. Guruko yelped as the left side of his face went numb and he could no longer feel his nose. The man laughed darkly. "Well, it seems you've got yourself a cute little guard dog, one of Kakashi's to boot." The man whispered out softly.
Naruto continued to cough harshly, unknown to Guruko, his windpipe had been crushed and his Bijuu was weaving his chakra into the blonde's throat to heal it as quickly as possible. Blood dripped to the floor from Naruto's lips, his wet, hacking cough horrible to hear. Guruko didn't see the blood though, his eyes were trained on the enemy as he moved between Naruto and the man. He would try to attack again, but then that would leave Naruto wide open for another assault, which the blonde wouldn't be able to handle if he couldn't breath. "I hope you enjoy your day, Naruto. I have some work that needs my attention at headquarters." The man said simply and with that was swept away by an array of leaves.
"Cough, cough, cough…" Guruko turned to see a stream of blood dripping steadily onto the cement as Naruto held his throat, which to the dog's horror was turning a deep black very quickly. Guruko nudged Naruto to stand, pulling at the blonde's sleeves. Naruto shakily complied, first on hands and knees before steadily trying to life his body further. The dog watched in panic as Naruto's entire body shuddered before dipping toward the ground again, the blonde only just managing not to nock his head against the cement. "Cough, cough, cough…" Guruko threw his head up and howled loudly, seeking the attention of anyone nearby. Guruko limped down the hall, eyes searching for any soul nearby. That's when he saw a glimpse of someone just entering their door, all the way down the hall, with a bag of grocery's in her arms.
It was the women from earlier. Guruko didn't want this women to know he could talk but… Guruko howled loudly, limping down the hall as the women turned towards him. "Well, if it isn't little Naruto's dog. You didn't seem to like me this morning, why the change of heart?" The women asked in amusement. Guruko whimpered and howled again, turning around and limping back. The women got his message and followed him. Guruko knew that for some reason Naruto greatly disliked this women, that he even seemed afraid of her, but Naruto's life was in danger.
When the women turned the corner and spotted Naruto coughing up blood and clutching his throat she immediately swooped down and sat in front of him to assess the damage. "Cough, cough, cough…" Naruto's eyes widened as she took his chin in her hands and examined his neck. Guruko watched wearily as he saw Naruto attempt to back away from her but was too weak with his oxygen deprived mind to put up much of a fight, especially when the women's grip tightened.
"It appears that you're in a predicament, aren't you little one?" She asked softly, eyes boring into his. Naruto's eyes were beginning to roll into the back of his head. "If I heal this will you come this weekend? I'll be having a friend over as well." She asked in that stern voice Guruko heard earlier. Naruto's entire frame stiffened. Guruko wanted to snarl at the women and at the same time whimper for her to help him. He was so confused as to what was going on.
"Kyuubi will be able to heal this so either way you'll live," She said in a clipped voice, "However he won't be able to heal it in time for you to avoid a few weeks in the hospital. Then you'll be behind in your bills again… that wouldn't be very nice now would it? Hospital bills, rent and other things…" She asked softly. Naruto continued to cough, the blood coming without stop, tears of pain unwillingly dripping from the blonde's eyes. Guruko whimpered beside him, nudging the blonde and glaring angrily at the women. To use a situation like this to get Naruto to agree to something? It was unimaginably cruel.
Naruto shook his head, forcefully wrenching himself from her grip and backed away. The effort was immense though, he'd already been unable to breath for several minutes. Naruto coughed up a rather large lump of blood before laying his head on the ground. Guruko whimpered from beside Naruto's head before growling fiercely at the black haired women. "What can I do? He refuses to take my help." The women said calmly to the dog. Guruko pulled on Naruto's sleeve, who weakly stared back at him before turning his head ever so slightly to the women and giving her a slight nod, and then succumbing to unconsciousness.
A wicked smile graced the beautiful women's face before her hands glowed a greenish hue of healing chakra. She quickly went to work, first and foremost opening the windpipe back up. Naruto painfully gasped for air, his chest barely moving up and down as the beautiful women preceded to force air into the lungs while simultaneously aiding the Kyuubi to stitch the windpipe up.
Guruko watched in sheer terror as the boy's breathing hitched horribly and the wet coughs grew worse as air came in to fuel them. The dog whined piteously as Naruto's pale face slowly but surely grew tan once more. When after forty-five minutes past by and the green hue of chakra finally vanished, Naruto's chest moved easily up and down, though the blood all around him like some sick ritual was disconcerting. The women wiped her brow with her sleeve before smirking to herself and looking down at the dog and boy before her. Guruko couldn't help but shiver at the cold gleam that shown in the women's eyes.
"He won't be going any where tonight that's for sure," the women said to herself. Guruko watched her wearily and as she went to pick up the boy, Guruko placing himself firmly between the blonde and the beautiful women. She snorted in amusement. "Do you want me to leave him in the hall like this or would you like me to take him back to his room?" The women asked. Guruko, whose hackles had raised and hair was ruffled, forcefully calmed down and stepped aside. The beautiful women placed her arms under his legs and behind his back before she lifted him off the dirty floor and cradled him against her rather large chest. Guruko limped after her as she headed for Naruto's apartment, rummaging through the blonde's pocket for the key and awkwardly opening the door, similar to Naruto's own plight just about an hour before hand.
She walked into the apartment without further ado and across the living room/kitchen to enter the bedroom. She took her time, examining everything within the apartment before setting Naruto down on the bed, her fingers lightly tracing the jacket and then caressing the bloodied face, pushing back a strand of straw colored hair. "He really is adorable isn't he?" She asked the dog in a lilting tone. Without saying anything else she turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her.
Guruko never left Naruto's side that night, listening carefully for even the smallest amount of difficulty breathing. Luckily, it appeared that the beautiful women Naruto was so terrified of knew her medical jutsu well. Naruto didn't awake until late the next morning, far past the time to meet Sasuke and Sakura for training, incredibly too late for the appointment and there was no question that Naruto would get into trouble for missing work. When the small blonde finally stirred from the deep healing sleep he'd been placed in, Guruko made sure he was right there beside him. Naruto's eyes tiredly cracked open, the familiar icy blue staring at the dog for several long moments, dulled by lingering pain.
Naruto slowly sat up, leaning heavily against the wall, before his gaze fell to his lap and stayed there. Guruko moved cautiously up to the blonde, resting his muzzle on Naruto's knee and staring up at him. Guruko blinked in surprise when he found tears streaming down the face above him. The lips trembling with suppressed sobs that eventually escaped in the form of hiccups. Naruto's entire frame shook with them. Guruko moved forward and leaned against Naruto's chest, a whimper escaping the dog's throat.
The action caused what little control Naruto possessed over his emotions to break. Naruto buried his face into the dog's fur as sobs wracked his entire body, his hands pulled the dog in and hugged him tightly, desperately trying to garner comfort from the only companion to ever see him break down. Guruko nuzzled Naruto's face, licking the tears from the preteen's eyes. For a long time they just sat there in that position, a heartbroken expression adorning Naruto's features, a helpless feeling overwhelming Guruko.
When Naruto spoke his voice came out in a harsh whisper, still healing from the injury obviously. "I… I should get you… get you another appointment." Naruto whispered painfully. The dog looked up at Naruto stunned. 'No! You need to tell someone what the man did,' Guruko thought ferociously. Why wasn't Naruto telling anyone about these horrible things happening to him? Why would he keep it a secret if he could get away from these people and be safe? Naruto still shook terribly, obviously shaken up and in pain from the experience yesterday. Naruto sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"Kakashi… Kaka-sensei is going to be so mad." Naruto said softly, tightly hugging Guruko. 'Yes, he's going to be furious that this happened!' Guruko thought. 'He'll hunt down that man and make him pay for sure.' "I can't believe I missed your appointment," Naruto said, reprimanding himself, "I'm so stupid sometimes." Guruko gaped at Naruto. The blonde had been assaulted last night and if not for the fact that he was a Jinchuuriki he would have most likely have died before the beautiful women even got to him, yet he was worried about some godforsaken appointment? He'd been sobbing just a minute ago for goodness sake.
Naruto set Guruko to the side and unsteadily got out of bed, much to the dog's growing horror. Naruto sniffled and looked around. "I need to… to stop by work and apologize later too." Naruto said as he moved away and began going through the routine of getting ready for the day, as if he'd not just suffered a life threatening injury. 'Are you crazy?' Guruko thought, 'Get back in bed!' Guruko growled at the blonde who seemed to not even hear him.
"I need… to do laundry today too." Naruto said quietly as he pulled out a set of clothes and set them on the bed. Guruko barked loudly at the blonde, but still Naruto didn't seem to hear him. Naruto tugged off his clothes and let them drop to the ground, exposing his black and blue neck and causing the dog to wince. Naruto walked into the bathroom and soon after Guruko heard the sound of the shower starting.
A/N: I know that it seems like Naruto's getting hurt a lot but relax! This is the direct physical attack. I needed it for the plot to take place and the person who attacked is very important to the plot! This isn't a 'let's see how much we can beat Naruto' story. It was a necessary attack. You'll understand later.