Ninja Doorman

Chapter 4

The Hokage looked into my eyes. It was hard to tell what this man was thinking. Sure, he looked saddened, but there was something else. It was more like a feeling. A lot like how you would feel if you knew someone was analyzing you.

"Hajime…" Hiruzen started, not taking his eyes away from mine. He was most likely looking for my reaction. "You are smarter then you let on, huh?"

Nothing I could have done could have stopped my eyes from widening. In my old body I was a great liar. But in this two year old one I could hardly stop some actions.

If I was in full control I would have made sure my face did not move, always stay passive. Here I had half the mind of a child that wanted to react to everything. Blurt out stupid things at the wrong times, cry over spilled milk, and throwing tantrums. I was so… childish.

I hated it. I would give anything for my old body.

"Hajime-san?" the old man snapped me out of my fear induced paralyses. "Are you hiding your intellect?"

My eyes looked down to my lap as my hands clenched the covers. Of course he would figure it out.

"Yes…" I decided to bite the bullet.

There are worse people out there who could be sitting in Hiruzen's seat next to my bed.

I heard him sigh next to me.

"Why?" was his simple million dollar question.

I have never been so frustrated in my entire… two lives. There were many things to say. So much information.

But I couldn't think of the right words to use. Mostly because I lacked the words needed to convey what needed to be said.

"I don't… want to be…" I bit my lip and tightened my grip on the bedsheets. "I don't want… to be too… smart." In the corner of my eye I saw the man tense a little, although I couldn't tell why. It could have been a range of things; most likely it was the fact that a two year old was saying this so seriously. "I don't want… trees to take me away." I didn't know the word for ROOT, so tree was the next best thing.

"Trees? What do you mean." He asked me.

"Trees make… you mean… make you hurt people… do bad things." Was the next scrambled answer I pieced together.

When I glanced over at him I noticed his eyes focusing on me with a look of concentration. By the way he looked I got the feeling he was trying to piece together if what I was saying was either the ramblings of a child talking about the monsters under his bed, or if what was being said was genuine.

I knew ROOT picked up children who showed promise in orphanages. That was how Danzo got Kabuto and, by extension, Orochimaru. I was not sure if my orphanage was one of those places.

How many orphanages are in Konohagakure?

"The trees are not going to take you away." my head turned to the man. It looks like he either understood, or he shrugged it off as me being two. Either way he started to look a little amused. "I don't know who told you such stories, but this is Konoha." He gave me a warm smile as his hand came up and ruffled my hair. "Konohagakure is the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The trees protect us by lending us their leaves."

My brow scrunched up as I processed what he had said. It was a nice speech, but that meant he did not understand what I meant. Not like I would be helping myself if he understood. I knew the people within ROOT did bad things, horrible things, but they were… necessary, in a way. A world full of ninja needed people to act as… well, ninjas. To do the shady things the rest of the village did not want to become involved in.

But I bet if Danzo was not involved, those in ROOT could be far more helpful. What would soon happen to the Uchiha Clan is just one of the prime examples why that man needs to die.

Not that I could do anything about it.

"Now, Hajime…" I looked up to the man as he pulled his hand away. A small smile was on his face, and yet I could almost see the curiosity as well. "I took the liberty of having some Iryo-nin take a look at you."

My heart raced as my features gave in to what I felt. I had only just found out about my… abnormality. I am not just an adult in a two year old body.

I am a freak in a two year old body.

I could feel tears forming. Already, the child part of me grasped what that could mean. I was already a social outcast at two.

"You are unique. Do you know what chakra is?" he asked me. I almost said yes, but managed to make my head move side to side. "Chakra makes it possible for people to preform jutsus and other things. Just keep in mind the chakra you have is special." He must have noticed how I was reacting seconds ago and placed a hand on my shoulder to try and comfort me. "When you get older I will explain to you how it is special. Would you like that?" my head nodded on its own at the question. "Good. Now… do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama…"

"Something happened when you touched Naruto." Hiruzen started. "Tell me in your words what happened."

I swallowed and kept looking down. "I… um… I feel… things."

"What kind of things?" Hiruzen asked me, showing interest at my words.

"I touch something… I know who… touched it." That was the best way I could describe it with my vocabulary. "Everyone… not the same."

"I see." The Hokage nodded his head and cupped his chin with a hand. "Would you be able to show me?"

"Yes." I was already in deep. Fibbing at this point would be pointless.

"First you touch something." He started. "After that, what happens?"

"I… touch who touched it… and know."

"Interesting." he hummed as he got up. "Wait here a moment." I watched as he opened the door and stuck his head out. It was clear he was talking to someone, but I was unable to hear a word. When he came back he had something in his hand as two Anbu walked in behind him. I instantly recognized Sparrow. The other mask looked like an otter. "Open your hand." I followed the order and a small scroll was dropped in it. I felt the chakra. "Sparrow. Otter. Hold out your hands." The two didn't even hesitate to hold their hands over my bed, palms up. "Tell me who the scroll belongs to."

I hesitantly reached up and placed my hand on Bird's hand. The scroll was not his. The chakra from the scroll was familiar, but it was faint.

My hand went on Otter's next, and I instantly became confused.

It didn't belong to him either. At first I thought this was a trick, but the scroll was not the Hokage's either. Sure he touched it. That did not mean it was his. He only held it for a small period of time before handing it to me.

But where did I feel the chakra from?

"Is something wrong?" Hiruzen asked when he saw my face.

I stayed quiet as I struggled to remember where I felt this chakra. And when I sat back my eyes widened.

"The lady!" I yelled in realization. "The nurse!"

I could still feel small wisps of the nurse's chakra on my arm. It was faint, and she did not have much chakra to begin with, but it was her.

"Good job." Hiruzen smiled widely as his hand messed up my hair. I smiled at the praise as I looked down shyly. "That is an update on your condition I asked for an hour ago."

"What?" Sparrow blurted out in shock. I could not see his face, but Otter looked just as surprised.

"Someday you could be a great tracker, Hajime." I looked up at the smile on his face.

The conversation from there continued as you would expect. Mostly Hiruzen and the two Anbu talked about my condition. Hiruzen explained to me what I was feeling was chakra.

I already knew this, but he does not need to know that.

Otter and Sperrow tested me a little more by handing me random things around the room and having me guess who handed them to me when my eyes were closed.

Hiruzen had to leave fifteen minutes later, and I ended up talking with the Anbu until the nurse from earlier came in and said I was free to leave.

I held Bird's hand as we walked through the streets. This was the first time I had been outside of the orphanage. All of the sounds and people left me in awe. I hadn't been in such an environment since my past life. And looking at the faces of the Hokage's made the situation feel surreal.

There was even quite a bit of damage here and there from the Kyubi's attack.

"Here we are." Sparrow stated as we arrived at the front of the orphanage. Some kids were playing outside, screaming.

One of the caretakers walked to the gate and bowed at the Anbu. "Thank you Anbu-san, for returning Hajime to us."

"Just following orders." Otter spoke for the first time in a rough voice.

"Looks like this is goodbye, Hajime-san." Sparrow tilted his head at me while ruffling my hair with a gloved hand.

I took the hand presented to me and stood next to the woman who greeted us.

They both said their goodbyes and turned away from us.

"Sparrow-san!" I yelled at the top of my small lungs before they could leave. The lady next to me jumped, not used to me being loud like an actual child. He turned to me and tilted his head questioningly. "Thanks for saving me!"

I could hear some chuckling from Otter as Sparrow scratched the back of his head. Sparrow then nodded before they both disappeared in a speed there was zero chance of me being able to follow.

Since then my life continued on almost as if nothing happened. There were a few differences, one being that I had a reason to sneak into the nursery.

I was warned not to touch Naruto by Hiruzen. He said what happened is I am somehow allergic to some types of chakra.

Yeah… I didn't buy it, but he didn't need to know that.

I knew why I had such a severe reaction. It was Kurama's chakra.

My body could not take the power, and I guess it could be possible this could happen with other Jinchuurikis.

I still wanted to be Naruto's friend. Who in my situation wouldn't? But I would have to be careful with how I would interact with him. One handshake, one high-five, and I could be sent to the hospital. Or worse… die.

That was a lot to think about.

I watched Naruto sleep for a few minutes each night until Hiruzen came by and took the small blond.

Part of me thought he would take me too, but I knew that would be impossible. Having two people in the same home that could accidentally kill each other was a disaster waiting to happen.

Did not mean my weaker half did not feel rejected.

So I remained in the orphanage. A few years went by. I actually tried to behave so I would get adopted, but the damage the rumors had caused was already done. Even when acting normal, everyone saw me as a black sheep.

So… yeah. I felt lonely.

As time went by I started messing around with my chakra. I did simple things like making little pieces of paper stick to my hands. At first I got tired quickly after a few seconds. I knew I had to get stronger. And this was the only way I knew how to increase your amount of chakra.

Some shinobi in this world were powerhouses. Aside from the main villains, other shinobi could reface a mountain, create new rivers. That was just the beginning.

In order for me to survive I had to become stronger.

I tried to create chakra strings, but I just couldn't make it happen.

When I became four I started sneaking out of the orphanage. I could channel a small amount of chakra to my legs, but I would collapse from fatigue within seconds.

I walked through the streets, navigating through a forest of legs, and almost caused some people to trip over me.

I have been sneaking out for the last few days. Each time I returned the adults acted like they never noticed my absence. It was normal for me to find a place where I could be alone with my thoughts.

There were multiple reasons for why I ran off every once in a while. First was the orphanage was extremely boring. The rest were kind of obvious things like I grew tired of kids and what not. But the biggest was I wanted to explore. I wanted to see the sights, to see the village I had only seen in pictures and on screens.

When I found the Ichiraku ramen shop I had a huge grin on my face as walked up to it. There was I man serving ramen… To… Toko… Teuchi!

I asked myself why Ayame was not with him and face palmed. How old was she? She had to be a little kid or something. The girl had to be older than my current body, but young enough not to be of help in the shop.

So I would have to wait a few years before I could meet her.

"You want anything?" I snapped out of my thoughts and realized Teuchi had asked me the question.

He had seen me standing there.

I could smell the ramen and wanted to say yes, but I knew I had no money. The corners of my mouth dropped into a frown as I turned away and disappeared in the sea of people before the man could ask me anything else.

I was hungry. The food at the orphanage was far too bland for me. I had to eat, so I ended up forcing myself to swallow at least a quarter of a meal presented to me.

I just couldn't stomach it. Something was wrong with me. This was proved to me as the adults and other kids devoured the same meals that were presented to me.

There was the chance I was only given crappy food, but that was unlikely.

My taste buds were messed up and could only taste strong flavors. The day after I found out about this was the day all the spices and hot sauces were locked away with a large padlock.

I had practically drowned my food in red and green sauces along with all the spices I could get my small hands on. The looks on the kids and the adult's faces were a mix of shock, horror, and disgust as I shoveled the first food I have ever eaten that I could actually taste.

I was taken to the hospital even though I was fine.

I looked down at the canal under me from the small bridge in the middle of the village.

This place was somehow both crowded and spacious at the same time. I remember scenes from the anime. The Village was rather large.

My eyes shot up when something jumped over the street, one roof to the other. Before I could ask what it was I saw three more blurs follow the first.

Those are shinobi!

I was so amazed I did not keep track of where I was going. I ran into someone and found myself on the ground, rubbing my face.

"Damnit!" a woman yelled.

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. And when I opened my eyes I half wished I didn't.

The woman I had bumped into had just walked out of a shop. More accurately, it is a dango shop. And three sticks of said dango were on the ground, rolling in the dirt if they did not go splat on the stone path.

"My dango!" the familiar voice yelled in despair. My eyes slowly went up and took in the overcoat and mesh bodysuit. And when I got to her head I just froze. I knew who this woman was. Who wouldn't? Even though she looked a little younger than she did in the anime, there was no mistaking who this woman was. "I hope you can buy me more, Gaki."

That's right. I just ran into Anko Mitarashi.