Chapter 1: The limitations…
The Hokage could only sigh at the stalemate between Inu and Naruto. He rubbed his temple between his fingers and exhaled to try and release some of the pressure from a growing headache. Inu stared silently at Naruto, his ashen eyes now darkened dangerously, hands in fist which trembled in desperation. Naruto could only innocently watch Inu's body movements as impending danger dawned on him. He had just argued with his, probably, the only chance of a happy life. Naruto could only shudder to feel the confliction inside Inu which made him scowl as to why he was fighting. He opened his mouth but left it hanging having no words to say to the man.
"Enough", the Hokage's voice sliced through the thickening heavy air, "I think Naruto you should think it more seriously. This is your only chance to have a family so do-" Naruto jerked his head, swerving around recklessly.
'Talk about family. He will just abandon me like the others, after all, he's getting paid for it so he gets free money.' Naruto cursed himself for losing his cool but the Hokage should have anticipated this. After all, he was the one who punished the orphanages which isolated and neglected Naruto under a false charge. There is a ninety-nine percent chance that this Kakashi man will do the same. Before it was hundred percent chance, knowing I won't leave the village, but after knowing a person like Inu existed made the good one percent. Naruto thought calculatedly.
The Hokage could only sigh letting the smoke from his pipe waft away and dissipate into the air. He murmured a curse, after all, Inu's chances had been dashed by Naruto's naivety and ignorance. He knew after Inu's speech that he had tried to leave hints that Kakashi was Inu but Naruto was most likely too tangled in his thoughts he had carelessly brushed it off. Inu was stretching his boundaries to the limit to try and get Naruto to realise the truth but Naruto was just a child. Hoping for a child to analyse his speech patterns was like asking a blind man to explain what he sees. Another sigh escaped the ancient man.
The leaders warm brown eyes switched between the two. "Naruto you don't have a choice in this matter. You are underage, even if you support yourself to the bare minimum standards, as your guardian I'm can't give you a voice in this matter." Naruto's face deformed into of horror which would have amused the Hokage to no ends if it did not reflect Naruto feeling betrayed by the Hokage. Inu noticed the bright twinkle in the old man's eyes as he smoked his pipe.
"Now that's over with Inu I want you to return Naruto to me in a few days. But now he is all yours…" the Hokage spoke mischievously getting comfortable in his chair, "Naruto you will be living with Inu for this period. So be a good boy and don't cause the man any trouble, he has the brightest will of fire I've seen for a long time. You might just learn something."
Naruto's face glowed in admiration wishing on whatever star was shining on him a quiet 'thank you'. Eagerly the youngster lunged out his seat ready to spend the day with Inu.
Inu muttered a curse and reached out to steady the boy who smiled thankfully back to him. His worries now washed away he mentally crossed his fingers, hoping for a positive experience with Naruto. Inu quickly gave a sincere bow then a buzz of thunderous blue electricity crackled in the air. Naruto felt the shock of energy coming from Inu as the Hokage's office disappeared in a blinding white flash.
The two beings stood awkwardly in the middle of a pitch black room. Naruto shook with terror. Was that a dream? He paled at the looming dread. The warmth of Inu's hand was also gone. Shivering he opened his mouth to release a raspy voice shouting 'Inu!?'.
Light flooded into the room as Naruto blinked rapidly, spotting Inu turn violently around with a kunai in his hand to defend, hearing Naruto plea of help.
"Uzumaki-san?" Inu stared at Naruto strangely, seeing no threat, they stood stiffly staring at each other. Both waiting for something to break the deafening silent which blanketed the room uncomfortably. Naruto let a look of relief take over but his face burnt up in embarrassment, sheepishly he mouthed an uptight apology, bowing clumsily. Inu somewhat relaxed but kept his kunai at hand.
"Don't worry Uzumaki-san I'll protect you." Naruto felt light-headed at the seriousness in Inu's voice. Everyone knows that as a child they could not detect any evil as they looked at the world with an untainted perceptive. They couldn't notice how someone's body trembles with excessive sweating when in fear, how fire burnt in people's eyes when angry or determined, how slow and seductive ones voice becomes when people try to manipulate you and make you dance to their tunes. But Naruto noticed. He always noticed.
Choosing between innocence and life was unbelievably difficult. Would he have wanted to be naïve to the end and die believing in delusional false hope? Or would he allow himself to be corrupted by selfishness for a desire to live only to repeat the vile acts that others had enacted on him, becoming the villain he had no choice to become. Of course, anyone would want to die happy- even if it meant being blinded by lies- because in this world death was everyone's neighbour. But to Naruto death was his forever rival but also his most loyal companion, who was always present through Naruto's thick and thin times. It should be no surprise that Naruto was tainted.
Inu saw Naruto's eyes dilate as whirlwinds of thoughts circled in his head. Not wanting to disturb the already unstable child, he surveyed his temporary lodging. They had Keijō shift into his abandoned apartment, located in the ANBU district. Depending on which sector of the ANBU you worked for decides where you are placed. For instance, a Taka's (Hawk's) speciality is surveillance and hunting, therefore, his accommodation is most likely near the border. However, Usagi's (Rabbit's) skill sets compel him to live nearer to the centre of the village as she is an ANBU trained to infiltrate therefore she is needed closer to the Hokage building for emergency missions. But most ANBU is scattered out around the village therefore if something were to happen in a certain sector there are already ANBU nearby ready to handle the situation without the needless involvement of the Hokage. The old man already has paperwork to defeat every day giving him an excuse to stall internal and external affairs of Konohagakure, of course the man would have exploited the situation and demanded he take a regular survey of how the ANBU handled the case, but we all know he just wanted to escape the stuffy office littered with stacks of haphazardly laid paper to smoke his pipe in the open air.
After the collapse of the Shi no tokei (Death Watch) - the name the Uchiha work under to enforce the law- there was a major strain on the ANBU units to take over the policing of the village. The Chuunins and Jounins were already in short supply after the Sūkikyō no higitsune (Cardinal Fire Fox) attack performed by Kyuubi no Kitsune. Inu- or should I say Kakashi- could still feel the oppressive chakra of the Kitsune seep out of the ground. The Yondaime had accomplished an honourable feat. But at what price?
Sometimes watching Naruto provoked unexplainable anger in Inu. His Sensi – the Yondaime – spent his time feeding Kakashi bullshit on how his family was so important. More important than the village. More important than the wishes of the Fire Daimyo. More important than one's own life. But no the Yondaime just had to go play heroics.
And look where it lead the village. Naruto is just eight years old and has already suffered a severe head concussion, a broken spine, multiple broken bones, cuts which bled rivers and bruises which made large purple lumps on his body. Inu had made his way to the bathroom running hot water into the small tub. He remembered the time he picked Naruto's file and in an act of disbelief he had charged to the Hokage's office to confirm this truly was Naruto's records. His hatred, for the Yondaime, started too burned deeper in his heart as he pictures the Naruto who the Yondaime had exclaimed to be loved by all and compared it against the Naruto described in the file. Of course, Kakashi took action immediately and requested be Naruto's guardian.
If the Yondaime and his wife wanted to choose the village over Naruto than I will choose Naruto over the village Kakashi had steeled himself to uphold this promise, after all, Naruto had enemies from inside the walls of Konoha as well as the outside. He had to be more professional with his approach. After all one slip up could cause Naruto to mistrust Kakashi. So Kakashi had to be at the top of his game.
"Uzumaki-san, please can you come to the bathroom." Kakashi's voice echo down the hall and made Naruto jerk out of his own day-dream. The boy hastily made his way to the open door to see a warm bath running while Kakashi- meaning Inu in Naruto's eyes- was pointing out the toilettes and how to turn off the tap. Naruto nodded and Inu left the boy to his own devices to look more presentable.
Naruto stripped of his temporary gown, he was dressed in after the operation, the boy couldn't help but let a pink tinge play on his cheeks after he noticed how low the neck line and airy the piece of article was. Letting Inu see him in such clothes made him want to dig a hole and die of embarrassment. Putting back his feelings Naruto entered the bath only to nearly trip having felt the temperature of the water. Having a hot bath was what he always dreamed of waking to but unfortunately due to his circumstances, including his landlord messing with any facilities mean to be available for his tenants, Naruto gripped the sides of the tubs and lowered himself carefully. The landlord always haughtily explained with a snobbish voice that 'animals did not need hot baths…'. His muscles relaxed as he felt an invisible large amount of pressure lift from his shoulders. He had not noticed how much stressed he was under until he had released a content sigh.
A knock on the door made Naruto instinctively jump in fear. He felt like he was going to be caught doing something he wasn't allowed. But his emotions took a one-eighty degree turn when he heard Inu explain that he was keeping clothes outside for Naruto to change into. The silence, later on, forced Naruto to survey his surroundings. The bathroom was small but divided into two with a sliding shoji door which opened to lead to the actual bath. On the other side held the washing line and cleaning supplies hidden neatly in a cupboard. Closing his eyes the voiceless boy sank deeper into the tub.
Inu having placed Naruto's clothes on the line left to change into more casual clothes but made sure to have his mask securely attached on his face. The man heard a door shut carefully and a very fidgety Naruto entered his room. Naruto himself was dressed in a casual collared shirt with variegated blue and white stripes- which matched nicely with his eyes which shone like labradorite glowing an iridescent electric blue, the boy himself couldn't help but pull on his sleeve and play with his collar childishly. To boy wore golden sandy cargo pants, which helped with agility as they did not restrict when having to run. For his feet, Naruto was given an older version of brown work boots. A brilliant pink shade captured Naruto's cheeks as Inu quietly assessed the boy.
"Good." Was all Inu could manage as a compliment, he knew Naruto really needed some praise to boost self-confidence but Inu was no expert in the field of raising children. Naruto looked up to see the same mask concealing his face. But to Naruto's surprise, Inu was dressed somewhat casually like him except he wore a simple white shirt which was spilling out under a thin grey sweater. Looking closer Inu had not bothered to button up this collar, showing his creamy skin. A deep hum of approval filled the young boy's head to his horror. Inu wore fitted navy blue jeans and similar brown work boots.
The man leaned down and reached for Naruto neck. Instinctively the boy stepped back in fear to protect his throat, he didn't want to go through the trauma of remembering yesterday's happenings.
"I need to change your bandages Uzumaki-san, keeping them on might cause an infection." Inu spoke softly still reaching out, but mindful not to make any sudden movements, his large hands peeled away Naruto's as one would when encountering a frightened stray animal. Naruto could feel the warmth from Inu's hand ripple across his skin, rooting him to the ground in shock. The older man nearly growled after seeing splodges of blood tainting the soggy wet bandages. The man hurried to the bathroom for the medical supplied to return with a disinfectant and a fresh roll of bandages. Tenderly Inu dressed Naruto's wounds as the boy stood still as a stone statue they use to decorate their gardens, the boy did not hiss in reflex when the cotton ball dampened with the antibacterial liquid touched his skin. Having hardened over the years after having suffered severe wounds day after day. Like a never ending cycle of death. Go out and get hurt. Dress your wounds and sleep. Only to wake up to be hurt again. Then repeat.
That was Naruto's life until now. Now he can have happiness. Maybe? Now he can express his feelings freely. Maybe? Now he can be as selfish as he wanted like kids do these days. Maybe?
"Uzumaki-san, you can cry when you are hurt." Naruto looked up to Inu's mask with clear confusion." Lesson one: emotions aren't signs of weakness. They are there to make you human. Fear drives you to strive to be better. Happiness forces us to be protective of what you care about. Anger brings out the hidden potential in humans as they are pushed to their limits." Inu prodded Naruto's cheek with slight pressure. But Naruto stayed still feeling a slight sting and listened carefully to the coming explanation. "And pain, funnily, restricts us but that is what makes us human. One can't make progress without feeling a bit of pain. But remember one should not forget pain because it something everyone can understand. It is a universal tongue. So cry if you have to. It proves you have a heart which yearns for more." A silent tear fills from the cliff of Naruto's eyelid.
Maybe there was something better out there for Naruto. Maybe
Hi Minna! Sorry for the late update...don't hurt me! Anyway I have a reason! YES A REASON! I have exams coming up and yes they are IMPORTANT. That is why it took me ages to update so please do forgive me. Now I also want to say thanks for the support and favourites.
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Thanks for making me one of your favourite authours. Though I don't deserve it but thank you!
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