Authors Notes:
Here's the second chapter of my second fanfic, i hope you all enjoy. Any and all reviews are appreciated and encouraged so say whatever comes to mind; also, if anyone manages to find a mistake in any of my chapters please point them out to me. I usually write, edit, and publish these chapters within 3-4 hours so i'm not entirely confident in my ability to write flawlessly.
Any suggestions on the possible pairing decisions for Naruto and my OC are welcome, just leave a review and ill consider who i choose. As it stands, i do have a plan of sorts for Naruto, but my OC is open game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Naruto stared at the Hokage in curiosity. The old man was still smiling warmly, and gave an occasional chuckle at his curious expression, but Naruto was still suspicious. Not two minutes had passed since he had been told of his new adopted brother and so far, no one had said anything. He himself was busy trying to search the Hokage's expression for sign of this being some cruel joke, while the old man in question continued to smile as if he hadn't said a thing.
The apparently named Izo hadn't so much as moved since the announcement. From what Naruto could guess, due to the large amount of bandages wrapped around the boy's eyes, he was listening intently to what was going on within the room. For a minute or so, Naruto actually wondered what it would be like to not be able to see, only to realise that it must have been horrible and quickly banished such thoughts to the deep dark parts of his mind.
"Is everything ok?" Izo asked quietly. He had begun to worry about the awkward silence that had settled upon the room.
"Everything is fine Izo, although I think it might take Naruto here a while to process things," Hiruzen said calmly.
"Old man, what the hell is going on here? What do you mean my adopted brother, does this mean I was adopted?" Naruto asked in slight shock as he stared at Hiruzen hopefully.
The elderly Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's energy. Only he was capable of acting as if nothing had happened less than a day after being put in the hospital.
"No Naruto, you weren't adopted" he answered, resulting in the blondes hopeful expression to fall from his face. "But Izo here has been adopted into your clan" he added, gaining a confused look from the boy.
"But I don't have a clan" Naruto said quietly.
The smile on the Hokage's face widened ever so slightly. "Actually, as the only Uzumaki in the village, you have the ability to adopt people into your family. Should your family gain enough members, then it would be eligible for a spot on the council and recognition as a clan," he explained.
Naruto gained a thoughtful expression as he processed the information he was being told. He may have been bright for his age, even if most would argue otherwise, but he was still only seven years old; no matter how bright he was it still took him a while to completely understand things.
"So if I can adopt people into my family, then how did he get adopted without me knowing?" he asked while pointing to Izo.
Hiruzen let out another light chuckle. "Because I adopted him into your family, and yes I can do that; being Hokage does have its advantages after all," he said, adding the last part quickly when he saw Naruto about to say something.
"But that's unfair!" Naruto whined.
"Oh is it now. Am to understand that you do not want Izo to be your brother?" Sarutobi asked with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something but quickly snapped it shut and thought. He turned and looked at the bandaged boy across the room, who remained quiet and calm as he listened to what was being said.
"No offense, but I don't know anything about you" he said apologetically.
Izo shrugged nonchalantly. "That's fine, I don't know you either so call it even" he replied casually.
"Perhaps you two should get better acquainted, ill return later and you can decide whether or not you wish for me to make the adoption permanent," Hiruzen suggested. "I also have some other matters of which to discuss with the both of you, but those can wait for later; for now, why don't you show Izo around the village Naruto, he hasn't been here before and I'm sure he would be grateful"
Naruto grumbled at the old man. "Fine, but it won't do much good if he can't see"
"You don't need to worry about that, I'm sure he'll manage," the aging Hokage said as he looked to the ash grey haired boy. "Won't you Izo?"
"Sure, I guess" the boy answered simply.
"Good. I will see you both this afternoon," Hiruzen said before leaving the boys alone in the still very cold room.
Another awkward silence fell upon the room as Naruto studied the older boy cautiously. Izo, for his part, was content to wait for Naruto to say something, but it also seemed that the blonde was more than happy to keep staring at him. Izo calmly reached up and pulled apart the bandages wrapped over his eyes, making a small gap over his left eye.
Naruto instantly tried to peer at what was underneath the bandages, but the gap was too thin and the bandages overshadowed whatever was underneath them making it impossible to see his eye. That only made things worse for Naruto since he always hated not knowing things, and if this guy was going to be his brother then he wanted to know as much as he could.
"I do believe it's considered rude to stare" Izo said quietly.
"Says the guy whose staring right back at me" Naruto said quickly.
"Touché. Perhaps we could start on the tour you were meant to give me, I would like to know more about my new home" he replied casually.
"Ok, but after we get something to eat cause I'm starving!" the blonde exclaimed.
"Fair enough. Got anything in mind?"
"Do you like ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Izo tilted his head slightly in confusion. "What's a ramen?" he asked.
And just like that, Naruto fainted.
Hiruzen openly laughed at the scene of Naruto fainting as he watched the two boys through the crystal orb on his desk. He knew that there were going to be comedic moments between the two, especially after he had a short talk with Izo while they waited for Naruto to wake up; but he never expected to be laughing this early in the plan.
"It's good to see you're enjoying yourself Sarutobi," said Danzō as he walked out of the shadows in the far corner of the room.
"Can you blame me when we're leaving Naruto of all people to teach Izo the basics of normal life? We left one of the most uncivilised people in the village to teach an uncivilised boy how to be civilised; if anyone learnt of this, we would be the laughing stock of the village" Hiruzen said cheerfully.
"Indeed, but at least they seem to be getting along, or at least they were until Naruto fainted" Danzō replied with a smirk.
"Don't worry, he will be awake soon and I'm sure he will be dragging Izo to Ichiraku ramen as quickly as humanly possible"
"If that boy turns out to have the same addiction as the jinchuuriki, then this Ichiraku ramen will become the richest business in the elemental nations. Power won't matter when they buy the world out from under us," the old war hawk said with mock concern.
Hiruzen's eyes widened. "Let us pray that Izo does not take a liking to ramen"
"Well, theatrics aside, how fares Naruto? Did he recover mentally?" Danzō asked.
"From what I've seen so far, Naruto has simply brushed the incident off as he has the others. There may be repercussions later on, but until it happens, we will have no idea how seriously it affected him. As it stands, I'm not even sure Naruto actually remembers what they did to him; he did wake up thinking they had locked him in a freezer after all," the Hokage said solemnly.
"Yes, it seems Izo has gained enough control over his chakra to stop freezing things solid while he is awake; unfortunately, he is still unstable while unconscious. Hopefully this will correct itself over time with the correct training," the 'crippled' elder said.
"Hopefully. For now why don't we discuss what we plan to do with our new found alliance; I would like to start on minor changes to ROOT if that's ok" Hiruzen said calmly.
"Is there any particular reason you wish to begin changing ROOT so soon?" Danzō asked.
Hiruzen smiled mischievously. "My plans will require you and your organisation to kick start things. After that, I will require your personal insight on ways to improve the village; I trust we can come to an understanding on most things" he said happily.
Danzō smirked at his old friend and sat down in the chair opposite Hiruzen. "I think that this will be a very beneficial arrangement, for both of us"
"I think so too," agreed Sarutobi.
"What the hell do you mean you don't know what ramen is?" Naruto yelled in disbelief.
Izo stared at Naruto in irritation as he held his hands over his ears. He was not aware that people could be so loud, and thanks to several weeks of being blindfolded, his hearing had been amplified, making the yelling even more unbearable. He was beyond thankful that he was out of the test facility, but if this was the torture that he would be forced to suffer with to be free, well let's just say he'd rather die.
"Would you mind being quieter. Your yelling hurts my ears," he said calmly. "And to answer your question, I have never heard of ramen before, and therefore I don't know what it is"
Naruto just stared at the bandage covered boy in shocked disbelief. The concept of someone not knowing what ramen was, was the closest thing to a real life horror story he had ever heard of; it almost didn't compute in his mind.
"Blasphemy!" he yelled loudly, making Izo grit his teeth. "I am taking you to Ichiraku ramen right now!" he exclaimed just as loudly before literally dragging Izo from the room.
The looks the boys received from those they passed in the hospitals hallways were…odd. As it turned out, seeing a small blonde haired boy drag a heavy bandaged boy through the hospital was not a common occurrence. Many they walked past gave the two looks of confusion and concern, until they realised exactly who Naruto was; once they did, the confusion turned to disgust and the concern turned to hatred.
Luckily, any negative looks aimed at Naruto didn't last very long. Many were traded for worried looks at the heavily bandaged Izo who appeared to be getting guided along forcefully by the blonde child. Despite this, Naruto continued to lead Izo out of the hospital and onto the streets heading straight for his all-time favourite place to eat.
It didn't take long for them to reach Ichiraku ramen, something that Izo was grateful for; being guided around like a blind person by a loud brat that was supposed to be his new brother was not something he took pride in. Either way, he was glad to know that Naruto hadn't outright refused the Hokage's proposal. He didn't know what it was like to have a little brother, or any family for that matter, but he was intrigued by the idea of having one.
"Welcome to Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto proclaimed loudly.
Izo actually lost his cool, pun intended, and smacked Naruto up the side of his head.
"I can read perfectly fine, so stop yelling everything!" he said harshly.
Naruto rubbed the spot where Izo had hit him and pouted. "You know, if you want me to adopt you as my brother, you're going to have to be nice. So far you're walking on thin ice," he said crossly.
"If you even want me to consider accepting the idea of being your brother, then you're gunna have to stop being so loud" Izo countered.
"You aren't my brother yet so you can't tell me what to do!" Naruto yelled.
"If you don't stop yelling I'll be your murderer!" Izo yelled back.
"Well you're yelling at me too now, so you can't get angry at me for yelling!"
"You were yelling first!"
"That's not the point!"
"It's exactly the point!"
"Both of you stop yelling or else!" screamed a female voice from the ramen stand.
Naruto and Izo stopped yelling at each other and turned to see who had interrupted their argument. Standing in front of the ramen stand was a young girl in her early to mid-teens; she had long brown hair, brown eyes, and a white bandana tied around her head. She was standing there glaring at the boys while holding a ladle in a somehow threatening manner.
"Oh, hey Ayame, how are things?" Naruto asked casually, trying to hopefully reduce the tension that hung in the air.
"Things were fine, until you decided to start a very loud argument with a poor injured boy. Why would you pick a fight with someone who can't even see?" she asked crossly.
Izo smirked at his luck; apparently, this Ayame girl hadn't been around to hear him say that he could read fine, meaning that he could use this to his advantage. He could tell that this girl had some form of connection with Naruto, and as had been the oh so elegant saying of old, payback was indeed a bitch.
"But he can see, and he isn't even hurt that bad!" Naruto whined pitifully.
Izo swiped 'blindly' at Naruto and missed by a long shot. Growling in irritation, he attempted several more times before sighing in defeat and hanging his head.
"Hey, uh, Ayame or whatever your name is, could you please hit him?" he asked while looking around 'blindly'. "I'd do it myself but I can't see him"
"No problem" Ayame answered as she walked up to the boy in question.
Naruto smiled nervously, holding his hands up in surrender, as he looked at the ladle she held tightly in her hand. Normally, such an item would be incapable of registering as threatening in any sense of the word; however, when said ladle is in the hands of an angry Ayame, the dangerous possibilities were endless.
"You wouldn't hit me, would you?" he asked weakly.
The sadistic smile that formed on Ayame's face, combined with the murderous glint in her brown eyes, was all the response Naruto needed before he began to run from the older girl.
"I hate you," a battered and bruised Naruto said weakly to a particularly smug looking Izo.
"I am sure you do" Izo replied with a smile.
Both boys were sitting at Ichiraku ramen, Naruto making a point to sit as far away as he could from Izo. Unsurprisingly, Ayame had caught Naruto shortly after his break for freedom, and had proceeded to beat him senseless. She had then gone back to guide the 'poor blind' Izo into Ichiraku's, while promising to give him a free bowl of ramen and banning Naruto from eating any ramen for a week.
"Here you go!" Ayame exclaimed cheerfully as she placed a large bowl of ramen in front of Izo.
Izo smiled in appreciation as he reached out and brought the bowl closer. His smile grew wider as he heard Naruto grumble and mutter something about stupid big brothers, and so he took his sweet time in devouring the first mouthful he managed to get. Since he was remaining blindfolded so as to maintain the act in front of Ayame, it took slightly longer than it should have for him to actually manage said task.
"Ok, I really hate you" Naruto said.
"And now I'm very sure you do" Izo replied casually.
"Are you even going to eat that?" Naruto asked while staring longingly at the bowl of ramen sitting before the bandaged boy.
"Hmm, I suppose I could eat it for the sole purpose of pissing you off" Izo began with a thoughtful expression. "But, I find myself not particularly liking this ramen stuff, so I think I'll pass"
Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he forgot all about the injuries he had sustained from Ayame. "Are you saying that you plan on wasting a perfectly good bowl of ramen, simply because you don't like it?" he asked angrily.
His eyes widened in shock as Izo pushed the bowl across the bench, allowing it to slide right in front of him. Naruto looked from the practically untouched bowl of heavenly goodness, to the half mummified and clearly insane person sitting on the other end of the bench. He repeated this action several times before giving Izo a curious stare.
"What are you playing at?" he asked accusingly.
Izo shrugged. "Nothing really, I don't like ramen, and you do; I figure it'd be better than leaving it to go to waste, and since Ayame said you weren't allowed to buy ramen for a week I thought you'd appreciate this one free bowl" he explained in a careless tone.
Naruto stared at Izo as if he had just handed him the Hokage's hat on a silver platter, which in Naruto's weird world of opinions was somehow equal to receiving a free bowl of ramen. Without even a single word of thanks, he inhaled the contents of the bowl within seconds, letting out a content sigh quickly after. It didn't take long for his eyes to widen in fear as Izo did something that would forever mark him as number one on his prank list.
"Ayame! Naruto took my ramen and ate it!" Izo yelled, adding a few quiet sniffles at the end for extra affect.
"Naruto!" Ayame yelled angrily from the back room of the store.
As Naruto tried to make yet another break for it, Izo reached out and grabbed him by his collar as he ran past; the older boy leaned over with a smug smirk until he was close enough that Naruto could literally smell the blood that was under all the bandages, something that slightly concerned the blonde.
"This is for not being quiet after I asked you nicely," he whispered. "Ignore me again and you'll end up with something much worse than a mere ass kicking and lack of ramen"
He calmly let go and leaned back, allowing Naruto to run off to who knows where. A few seconds, and several loud crashing sounds later, Ayame appeared from the back room. She looked at Izo, who was calmly sitting on his chair, and then to the empty bowl that had been left in front of the chair that Naruto had been sitting in. Her eyes narrowed in fury and she grabbed a much larger ladle than she had the first time she beat Naruto.
"Which way did he go?" she asked Izo quickly, only realising her mistake a second after the words had left her mouth.
"I…I don't know, I'm so sorry" Izo answered meekly while his bottom lip trembled.
Ayame's eyes widened. "Oh Kami, I am so sorry. I forgot," she said, running over to Izo and giving him a comforting hug.
Izo grinned victoriously as he wrapped his arms around the older girl. The sound of a man clearing his throat loudly made Ayame jump away from Izo, much to his disappointment.
"Don't you have a certain thieving brat to chase down?" the old man asked Ayame.
"Huh, oh Naruto, yeah I'll get right on that. But can you look after Izo, he can't see so keep an eye out for him ok, thanks dad" she said quickly before running off in the direction she thought Naruto had gone.
An awkward silence befell the ramen stand, making Izo wonder exactly how common awkward silences were in the outside world. He didn't move, and neither did the old man who he could tell was staring expectantly at him, as if awaiting some answers.
"You heard didn't you?" Izo asked.
"What, that you could see? Or what you said to Naruto as he made a run for it?" the old man asked calmly.
"Either" the ash haired boy replied.
"I have kept an eye on you and Naruto since you got within a hundred feet of this ramen stand. I'm not sure if I can hold anything you did to him against you, since I am more than aware of his excessive volume; however, I am not sure I can forgive you for lying to my daughter and using said lie to get a pity hug from her" the old man said.
"You are a disturbingly observant old man, you know that right?" Izo asked.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Now, are you going to apologise for deceiving my daughter?" the man asked with a pointed glare.
"I ain't apologising for anything. I might not be able to see very well, but I know cute when I see it, and Ayame fits that description," he said, crossing his arms defiantly.
The tension in the area rose a significant amount as the old ramen chef continued to glare at the boy. Neither of them paid much attention to the high pitched screams that sounded off in the distance, but it did make Izo smirk slightly. That's when he realised something, which in turn raised a very important question.
"How did I not notice you?" he asked calmly.
"Ha, you're a great many years too young to learn about the ancient techniques passed down to every father in the elemental nations" the man answered.
"Interesting. Such a thing could do with some further investigation, all I need is a wife in a few years," Izo said thoughtfully before turning to stare straight at the old man. "What are the chances of Ayame being single in around eight years?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
The old man's face morphed into a much similar grin. "I think that is something you should ask her, don't you think Ayame?" he asked cheerfully.
The potent killing intent that was suddenly directed at Izo was without a doubt one of the worst experiences of his short life, and that's after being a test subject for Orochimaru. He had heard about the unmatched power that was bestowed upon females when angered, but until now, he didn't believe that it held much significance.
Turning around quickly, he was met with a clearly angry Ayame dragging a thoroughly beaten Naruto. He still didn't know how she was managing to make a ladle seem so threatening, but she was doing it none the less.
"Hey Ayame" he began nervously. "Now I'm sure you can find the funny side of this, right?"
Said girl smiled brightly as she carelessly dropped Naruto. "Oh, I can definitely see the funny side of it, and it involves me beating the crap out of a blind kid" she said sweetly.
Despite his best efforts, Izo ended up suffering the same fate as Naruto. It took both boys several hours before they were once again capable of walking to the Hokage's office, both vowing to undo the adoption made by the old, and clearly insane, old man.