I don't own Naruto, just having a bit of fun!
Sorry for the long wait, life is kicking me down a lot recently. I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing, editing and posting, but don't expect regular updates for a while.
Chapter Three
Naruto wandered around the back streets of Konoha, trying to avoid the villagers as best as he could. He knew that it was going to be hard being back here, back before he had the respect of the villagers. But even he had not been prepared for the level of hatred that they had aimed at him. Naruto was just happy that Shikamaru wasn't there at the moment, he knew that the older child would be wanted to do something to them.
For now, Naruto was on his own as Shikamaru had a family dinner going on with Choji's family as well as Ino's. The two had been meeting early morning when they could. Naruto smiled as he thought of the moaning that Shikamaru was doing each time they met up. The lazy Nara enjoyed his sleep, but it was nice to spend time with him, without the watchful eyes of Yoshino Nara and the villagers trying to make sure he was kept away from anyone that might just might be a friend.
Naruto looked around and smiled, he was near the outskirts of Konoha, near the clan district. He wished he could go and see Shikamaru, he hated being alone all the time. He gave a sigh as he went towards one the smaller parks nearby. He should be able to play there, most of the time there was no one else there since it was just after dinner time.
Naruto reached the park and smiled when he saw there were only two others on there. He shouldn't be bothered if he kept away. He began to enter it when he hears someone muttering from close by. There was a woman, tall, and looked to be a kunoichi, with the way she was standing and the clothing she was wearing.
"What are you doing here demon?" she growled as she slowly walked closer to him.
Naruto backed up, wondering what he should do. He knew that running was never the best idea, and that was because most of the time he did that, it cause other people to join in and chase him as well. "I…" he stuttered out, wishing he had enough chakra control to do a shunshin. He was getting closer with all the training he was doing, but it was still going to take some time for him to be able to do it.
"You don't belong here," she told him, her voice even lower as she reached him, "Get out," and with those words, she lashed out at Naruto.
Naruto brought up his arms to protect himself, but he felt he chakra empowered fist impact him and he flew to the side of the park, "Argh!" he yelped out as he felt something crunch and fall to the unforgiving ground.
"Tatsuo," the woman called out, "We're leaving now, I will not have you near that filth," she said as she went to her son and took hold of his hand and began to lead him away from the park.
Naruto stayed where he was, his shoulder throbbed and he had a feeling it had been damaged. He knew that Kurama would be able to heal it, so at least he wouldn't have to go to the civilian hospital. Naruto opened his eyes slowly, looking at the ground.
"Are you alright?" came a kinder voice.
Naruto looked up and couldn't help the little smile on his face, "I'm fine," he answered the other child.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," he introduced himself and then turned to the older boy that was walking up behind him, "And this is my brother, Itachi-niisan." he smiled.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he smiled back about to lift his arm and then winced as it throbbed in pain.
"Let me have a look Naruto-kun," Itachi said as he knelt down next to his little brother and the blond haired child.
"It's okay, it'll be fine by tomorrow," he protested.
"Let me see," he insisted as he gently moved Naruto's other hand and gently felt along his arm and shoulder. "I think it might be broken," he told him softly, "Let's get you to the hospital, they should be able to treat you there."
"No!" Naruto shouted as he tried to move away from the almost teenager.
"Naruto, if nii-san says that you have to go to the hospital you should," Sasuke encouraged him.
Naruto shook his head, "No, I don't need to go. Honestly, I'll be just fine. I need to go home," he said. He knew that it would be a bad idea for him to go to the civilian hospital, they never treated him. And when it looked like they had, it would often be the case that they had caused more damage. While that wasn't a problem when it came to the Ninja hospital he would eventually go to, he wasn't able to do so without being a genin.
"Naruto," Itachi said softly, "It's alright, that is what they are there for," he added, but he could see that there was something wrong.
Naruto shook, "Please, just want to go home," he mumbled as he began to get up.
Itachi grabbed him and picked him up, "I don't think that's a good idea," he said, "Let me make a small detour to make sure Sasuke gets home and then I'll take you home as well," he reassured him.
"You… You don't have to do that," Naruto said, "I'll be fine on my own," he added.
Itachi gave a small smile, "It will be fine."
Itachi began to talk towards the Uchiha compound as Sasuke began talking, "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you here a lot?"
Naruto smiled a little, "No, I'm not here that much. I try and stay out the way of people." he mumbled as he answered him.
"When you're better, you have to come back and play," Sasuke said as soon as they reached the compound doors.
"I will," Naruto smiled at him from where his head rested on Itachi's shoulder.
Sasuke gave a nod and a wave as he went inside. Itachi looked down at the young child, "Going to tell me why you don't want to go to the Hospital?" he asked after Naruto told him where he lived.
Naruto looked down, not able to meet the other's eyes. "They don't like me and make me feel worse," he answered him.
Itachi sighed, "I thought that might be the case, let's get you home and maybe I can use my limited medical knowledge to help," he told him.
Naruto nodded and the two were silent as Itachi went through the streets quickly. Naruto cringed as he heard some of the things that people were saying as they went past. He could also feel the tension in Itachi's muscles as he restrained himself from doing anything. It didn't take much longer for them to reach the rundown block of flats where Naruto lived.
"I need to get down," Naruto said quietly as they reached his front door.
"Just pull out your key," Itachi began to say when Naruto shook his head, "What?"
"I trapped the front door and windows. Only those that I allow can get it, I need to let you in," he whispered. It was something he had set up as soon as he went to his flat when he had left Shikamaru that first day in the past.
Itachi frowned a little, but slowly and gently let Naruto down. He watched as the young child used his chakra to disable the traps and to key him into the apartment. Itachi could see that traps would work to keep most people out. But with a little determination, they would be able to trigger them and get through in the end. "Thank you for trusting me," Itachi told him softly.
Naruto looked at him and smiled a little, "You helped, not many would help me."
Itachi nodded as he followed the child into the apartment. He looked around and winced inside, the place was run down, and it looked like it had been broken into a few times in the past, with the state of the walls. From what he could see, Naruto could take care of himself, the place was neat and tidy, well kept. There were a few things out, a couple of books and a few scrolls.
"Sorry about…" Naruto trailed off with a shrug, he knew that the place wasn't the best, but he couldn't help it since it had been broken into and the villagers and a couple of ninjas had taken to destroying his things and the property itself. He had done his best to repair it, along with a little help from Shikamaru. So it wasn't as bad as it had been.
"Nothing to worry about," Itachi smiled at him, "Now let's see what I can do for your arm," he said as he went over to one of the three dining chairs and sat down, he pulled out another and faced it to him and waited for Naruto to it in it.
Naruto slowly went and sat down. With gentle hands, Itachi helped him take off his jacket and t-shirt. The Uchiha prodigy could already see the bruises that were coming up. He gave a sigh, he went through a few hand signs and his hands glowed with the healing green light of a medical jutsu, "I'm not the best, but I should be able to heal it enough that it won't take so long," he smiled reassuringly.
Naruto nodded as he Itachi began to heal him, he could feel the pain fade away bit by bit. It was nice, and he couldn't help the smile on his face. No one in the past had helped him, except for Jiji. But even then, he couldn't do it often thanks to the council always waiting to pounce and get rid of the old man from his position of Hokage. It would be another three months before Ichiraku Ramen would be opening, where Teuchi and Ayame would welcome him with open arm. Their store had been destroyed and Ayame had been hurt during the Kyuubi attack, she was still recovering, as was Teuchi from the loss of his wife, during the same attack. They had never held a grudge against him like the rest of the villagers. And he still had another year before he would be going to the academy and meet the sixteen year old Iruka. He knew that the teenager would be against him in the beginning, but unlike any others, he wouldn't stop him from learning and treated him with indifference at worst and at best, just like another student. It had taken two years for Iruka to see Naruto as a child under his care rather than the demon he contained
"Thank you," Naruto whispered as he looked up to Itachi as he finished, he made to test out his arm when a gentle hand stopped him.
"I want you to rest it for a little while," he smiled at the young child. There was a hint of something in the older one's dark eyes as he looked at Naruto. It was something that he couldn't place.
"It'll be okay, I heal really quickly," he told him a grin on his face as he tried to brush off what had happened.
Itachi nodded, "If you say so, but if you need help don't be afraid to come and find me. If you can't find me, write a note and leave it in the post box by the Uchiha compound, I'll check it every day," he said as he waited for Naruto to answer him.
"Ar… Are you sure?" he stammered, not believing what he was hearing.
"Yes, and if you want to play, I can always bring Sasuke with me," he smiled ruffling the blond hair playfully.
Naruto grinned at him, "Awesome," he said, "Shikamaru and the others would like that," as he thought of the other rookies. It would be a good way for them to bring the group together.
"I'll take my leave now," Itachi said as he got up from the chair, "Take care of yourself," he said as he ruffled Naruto's blond hair once more.
Naruto watched him as he went, a smile on his face as he rubbed his head, messing up his hair. Naruto would have to tell Shikamaru what had happened in the morning, though he wondered if he shouldn't edit a little bit. He didn't want Shikamaru getting angry over what happened. He sighed as he looked around the small apartment and went to the under the counter fridge and opened it. Thanks to Shikamaru he had food in, that wasn't just ramen. He did himself something to eat and settled down for the night. He wouldn't be going out again that night.
XxXxX
Naruto went through his kata's slowly, making sure to go through them correctly before he began to speed himself up. His body was still young, and not used to doing them all the way through. Though he hoped it wouldn't take long for him to reach at least academy standard. He stopped and turned quickly as he heard someone coming towards him.
"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru yawned as he walked over to him, "Sorry for being late, mom wanted me to do a few chores first," he groaned as he flopped down on the grass near the blond and looked to the clouds.
"That's okay," he said as he then added, "I need to tell you about last night," he grinned as he began to tell him what had happened. He had to restrain Shikamaru at one point, but he got through the tale.
"So we have a way to talk and get to know Sasuke and Itachi," Shikamaru nodded as he began to go through the different scenarios he could think of.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah. I think we should see about getting them to play today and introduce them to the others. If we can get the lot of us to work in groups more. Maybe Sasuke would be more of a team player when it came to the academy," he said as he began to think of what they could do.
Shikamaru nodded his head, "Yes, that would be a good idea," he stood there for a moment, "Then again, it was more because of the massacre that he secluded himself from others. At the moment he is more approachable," he pointed out.
Naruto glanced over, "You're right. When I first met Sasuke, we were in the academy. I think I remember that he was serious and quiet, but still enjoyed things around him. If I remember right, he was friends with Shino and the two would often talk and spend their breaks together," he said as he got up from where he was lying in the grass.
Shikamaru nodded, "Shino and Sasuke were good friends. Shino said that Sasuke was a good friend to have back then, but then Sasuke stopped their friendship after the massacre. He became cold towards Shino."
Naruto nodded as he went towards the tree, "He was afraid." he said as he began to try and run up it. "When I first properly met him, I talked to him a lot, he said a few things. Mainly leave him alone and that. But I could see that he was hurting, you could see it in his eyes, though as time went past he started to hide it. A rivalry was all he could handle and I was that for him. We pushed each other all the time. We fought all the time. He didn't handle friendships well since he didn't want to get close to someone and get hurt again, like he did with Itachi," he sighed as he stopped running up the tree and fell back down, flipping and landing on his feet. "Do you think we'll be able to stop him from being like that?"
"Yes," Shikamaru replied, "You've already met him, and started the base for a friendship with him. That could be the start of the change. I need to think," he hummed as he sat up, "Troublesome," he muttered as he closed his eyes.
Naruto chuckled and went back to running up the tree. He wanted to try and get tree walking down as soon as possible and then start on water walking. He had been doing a little before and had already broken two trees. Not including the five from the day before. He was getting better, though to him it felt like he was standing still. Shikamaru was deep in thought, trying to use what they had at the moment to formulate a plan that could stop the Uchiha from plotting against the Hokage.
Shikamaru opened his eyes when he heard a yell, only to see a blond missile flying across the forest. "Idiot," he said affectionately.
"Too much chakra again," Naruto mumbled as he ran towards the tree once more and tried to run up it again.
"Sasuke's father is the linchpin," Shikamaru finally said loudly.
"Gha!" Naruto screamed as the voice of Shikamaru startled him and he lost concentration, falling to the ground below the tree he was attempting to run up.
"You okay?" the brunette asked in concern as he got up and ran over to make sure.
Naruto rolled over and looked at him, "Yeah, what's this about Sasuke's dad?" he asked as soon as he got to his feet once more.
"He is the linchpin if we can get him to be out in the village, connecting with the villagers again. Then he can help against the distrust that the villagers have been feeling towards the Uchiha Clan. We need to do something about the distrust," he began, "But…" he trailed off with a shake of his head.
"You can't think of anything?" Naruto asked him.
Shikamaru went quiet, "Something big needs to happen to bring them together. Everything that I think of is… extreme. It would mean putting people in danger, and I won't do that," he snorted and flopped back.
Naruto smiled at him as he walked over, "don't worry about it. We have time to think of something, for now. Let's try and get Sasuke to be our friend and get the others to learn how to work well together," he said as he sat down next to him again.
Shikamaru nodded as he looked at the clouds, "And let's see if we can stop the fangirls," he muttered darkly.
Naruto laughed and nodded in agreement, "We'll do our best in that," he grinned as he stopped laughing.
"I need to go home in a bit, meet at the usual park?" Shikamaru asked him.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I plan to try and send word to Sasuke and Itachi to come as well. We can start with getting them all to be friends today," he smiled as he lay back and cuddle up to Shikamaru, "I miss this," he mumbled.
Shikamaru smiled gently, "Same," he said as he turned onto his side and wrapped an arm around Naruto bringing him closer, "same," he sighed as he closed his eyes and enjoyed having Naruto close, while his mind tried to think of something that might work.
Thank you for the wonderful reviews, you are all brilliant and amazing. Hope you have enjoyed the new chapter as well!
