Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, despite all of it's awesomeness. I know, I know, it should belong to me. But it doesn't. And so I don't get to make money on this story either.
Chapter 2: Four Years and Elderly Musings!
Darkness filled the Hokage's office, unbroken by anything save for the red embers that danced, merrily consuming the tobacco and medicinal herbs so that Sarutobi, the leader of Konoha, could inhale them slowly. And despite the calming effects of the smoke that filled his lungs, what was going on in the great man's head and heart was far more similiar to the flames, flickering and consuming, hungry.
The loving contenance that many of the villagers affectionately referred to as 'the grandfather of Konoha.' Considering how easily they let their hatred consume them, it probably wouldn't have been a surprise to realize that his soul was as twisted and blackened as the rest.
It certainly wasn't aided by the fact that he had been unable to sleep due to his faltering plans. It wasn't that the village was in danger, nor had any particularly upsetting thing occured with any of the other villages. Not even a single genin had been lost on a mission for over a month - a neary unprecedented thing to have occurred. No, the whole reason he'd been awake all night was due to one Naruto Uzumaki, who, despite Sarutobi's best efforts, refused to break.
He simply couldn't understand it! His plan should have been perfect, invulnerable, impossible to dismantle or defeat. After all, he had gone to such lengths to ensure that the power of human sacrifice, the Jinchuuriki, would become his useful weapon.
He had realized the information that the Kyuubi had not been defeated, as everyone had assumed outside of a few, but instead had been sealed inside of the boy. Of course, through a few twisted words, he had ensured that the people would hate the boy - telling them that the Yondaime had been forced to seal the demon inside of the child with risky safeguards, as their had been little time for planning if he wanted to save any of his 'wonder, loyal villagers.' Like the sheep they were, the villagers lapped the poison up eagerly.
He ensured that every time a group of villagers cornered the boy, that no ninja would intervene unless it was a life-threatening situation. Not only would the boy recieve no physical, positive reinforcement, he'd constantly be treated negatively.
If, by any chance, there was someone who treated the boy well, like the owner of foolish Ramen shop, Ichiraku Ramen - Sarutobi thought that was the name - they were forced out of Konoha or reprimanded. The former had been necessary in that case, and several orphans who had begun the rapid process of becoming Naruto's friends were scolded, causing the majority of them to begin treating Naruto cruelly. The few that hadn't were simply moved to other orphanages.
Before the age of five, Naruto had been well on his way to breaking. With no one treating him as a human - or even an animal - the mind and soul of the jinchuuriki should have been ripe for the plucking... And yet, after his fifth birthday, everything went so very wrong.
Naruto, poor, disgarded Naruto, had somehow recovered emotionally! Despite the caustic sneers and snarls that he gave to the citizens who assaulted him verbally and physically, despite the beatings that the child took, he was managing to smile when he was unaware of anyone around.
There was no explanation for the change. Nobody had befriended him - the ANBU's constant vigilance ensured that - and yet he acted like he had a friend, grinning up at the sky whenever he got lost in thought, like he had a bloody crush on a girl!
And with this mood swing having taken place, the possibility of making himself the sole person the boy believed in had become all for naught. His chance to have claimed the child as his weapon - as a person who had elevated Sarutobi above anything and everything else - had failed.
There would be no weapon who desired to do nothing but succeed at whatever mission or task the Hokage set for him. No weapon who would ask Sarutobi, 'How high,' when the old man would say jump. No silent killer who could take care of all human problems both in village and outside of the village, with nearly no chance of being defeated!
No chance, unless Sarutobi could figure out just where his plan got derailed, and then managed to find out how to set it back on track!
Sarutobi was brought out of his internal rant as the crackle of breaking wood resounded, like a clap of thunder, followed by the unexpected pain of teeth smacking against teeth. Grunting, he clutched his jaw in pain, before glancing down, and then letting out a quiet, hateful, "Shit!" He'd apparently grinded his teeth so much that he broke his favorite pipe. Staring a bit forlornly at it, he blinked in surprise as he noticed that he could finally begin seeing again, and swivelled his chair.
Rays of light had begun to reach out from the horizon, the sun peeking over the forest that gave the VIllage of the Hidden Leaf it's name... And with the coming of the light, the dark, angry aspect of the Hokage vanished beneath the surface, leaving only the kindly old man who the village loved.
Perhaps today would be another chance to try and win the boy's trust. He heard that a new sushi place had opened up today. And it'd be such a nice treat for the now nine year old boy. After all, he could still be someone that the blonde looked up to. After all, one of these days, those suspicious blue eyes would get tired of scrutinizing him, and instead accept the gift that was his attention. It had to happen... Had to...
The same creeping rays of light slowly reached inside of another room, not so unlike the hokage's in that it had originally been shrouded in darkness, causing a rather large lump in bed to stir, irritably. Rather than irritation at plans failing or a lack of sleep, it was because of the fact that the lump wanted more sleep.
And while said lump's mother loved the kit, there were things to do today, as there were every day. A crooning sound that was audible to only one person that sounded like love incarnate despite the gutteral quality to it, stated, "Up kit"
The mental sensation of a massive muzzle nudging him caused a quiet giggle to be heard, before a petulantly childish voice that had none of the depression it had only a few scant years ago pleadingly mumbled, "Jus' a few more minutes..." The sound of lips smacking together was heard as he rolled over onto his side... only to fall out of the bed as his request was met by a roar!
Grumbling a the sound of the Kyuubi's laughter, his blonde head poked up out of the thread-bare covers that he had to make due with, and glanced around his room. Rather disgusting yellow-ish walls with crumbling paint greeted him, the only truely lovely sights that adorned the room being the colorful images of ramen, nature's heaven, that he had collected over the course of months. Not that his 'mom' would let him eat it all the time without first forcing him to collect some half-way decent vegetables from the surrounding forest, since the shops wouldn't sell him any that weren't rancid or rotting.
Affectionately, said 'mom' grumbled, "Shower, boy. Then you can eat that disgusting stuff."
Whiskers seemed to curve upwards in victory as he smiled foxily, before scrambling to his bathroom, which was hardly an approvement over his bedroom. In fact, as he slammed the door shut, a bit of plaster broke off of the wall and fell to the chipped and broken tile floor - not that he noticed. With only a yelp to reveal the fact that the water was ice cold in the shower, he quickly began scrubbing his body, cleaning it off, and then leaping out within two minutes of entering, zooming with the enthusiasm that only a child could manage to conjure up, flashing into the kitchen in a yellow blur so that he could start the water for his ramen, and begin chopping up the vegetables that were made mandatory by the loving affection of the demon he contained.
Breakfast devoured the moment it was finished - and the burns that his mouth and throated acquired from the too-hot water healed almost instantly - Naruto wasted no time at all to dart outside into the sunny day, beginning to chat almost immediately with the Kyuubi now that his mind wasn't focused on food, both arms crisscrossing one another as they held his head from the back.
"Ne, ne, Kyuubi-kaasan, since it's Sunday and I don't need to be at the academy today, what'cha want to do?" He could feel the vixen shake her head in amusement at his warm voice, and he felt pleased in the response. He knew that she felt guilty though, as he asked this question every day, putting her needs before his own. But she was the most important thing in the world to him!
Said kitsune felt a familiar warm tingle running through her body, before lightly swatting, mentally, at him with one tail. Despite the rough feeling of bristly fur, it became as soft as silky as it 'wrapped' around him, the emotional and mental response to the action causing even the day to feel warmer to the boy, especially as the beloved voice replied, "Mmm, well since last Sunday was yours, I suggest that you do one of three things today. Either Henge and go to the library to study, watch the remedial classes going on at the academy today, or.." Naruto could feel the shudder of revulsion that went through his 'prisoner,' and knew what she was going to say before she did. "Or... Oberve the two green horrors and learn how to build your body, physically."
"But... Kaasan, that's not necessary! You're already making me so much stronger!" He flexed one of his arms, gazing at it, and so missing the glares that several of villagers leveling at him... for all of five seconds. When he finally caught sight of the glares, his good mood evaporated, leaving him only to glare and snarl at them, lips curled back in an animalistic manner. An old woman nearly seemed to have a heart-attack, as for the briefest of moments, blue eyes turned red... But no, surely that was just a trick of the light!
Leaving the hateful citizens behind, and dodging around a corner just in time to avoid one of the rocks that were rarely thrown these days, caused him to decide he just couldn't put up with any number of people today. So that left... With determination filling him, he set off at a trot to watch Gai and Lee as they worked out.
End: Chapter 2
Whew. That was a lot longer than I expected it to be. Hope that it turned out alright, I just kind of tapped this out before I went to bed. Anyways, sorry if it's not quite following the storyline of Naruto, but... Ne! It's my story. :3
Also, an omake for anyone who is wondering just what happened with Sarutobi's plans to go out to lunch with Naruto!
Omake:
The conniving old man smiled, one hand raised upwards - looking almost feeble, like an old grandfather visiting his favorite grandchild - and knocked at the door three times. A minute passed, followed by another, and yet not a single crease marred that face. Perhaps the twinkle in his eyes dimmed a bit, but he simply knocked at the door again.
When no answer was given, he said in a sing-songy voice, "Naruto, it's your Jii-san! I'm coming in!" Pressing down on the door that was too decrepit to even have a lock, he opened it and then slipped inside. Eyes would wander along the disgusting apartment, taking note of the stains on the wall, and the failing plaster. It'd be perfect if only it was doing what it was supposed to be!
Stifling a sigh, he began walking through the apartment, calling out, "Naruto!" It was only after he'd finished going through the three rooms he was forced to concede that his plans had once again been foiled by that darn child!
He blinked a bit in surprise though, seeing a piece of paper on the refridgerator, and stepped forward. Could this be a letter from whoever was foiling his attempts to be the sole 'light' in Naruto's light?
He read it, before growling in disgust. It was just a letter to the foolish boy from himself.
"Reminder! Don't open the box in the ice box, I don't think that it's dead yet!"
Despite his anger, curiousity began to slowly fill him, causing him to open the tiny freezer, and glance inside. Only one box, so that meant that it had to be that. Reaching down, he lifted it up and rattled it a bit - recoiling a bit as he heard something shudder inside of it. Slowly, cautiously, he opened up the box...
Despite the fact that he was Hokage, he was unprepared for the greenish noodles that sprang out of the box and latched onto his face with all the skill of an ANBU! He screamed in a rather girlish fashion, before reaching up and gripping the ramen-gone-wrong, managing to toss it away only after wrestling with it for a full minute! It swiftly crawled away into the shadows, hissing at him.
When was ramen alive? Even more curious, how had ramen managed to leave several scratches on his face, or hiss? He left the apartment swiftly, deciding he would never recall this morning again.
