Chapter 4

Late summer in the Land of Fire is hot, humid, and wet. As I strolled through the West Market, trying to decide what to eat for lunch, I grimaced at my sweat drenched dress. I'd already changed once today, after some light training with Daddy, and it looked like I'd need to change again before I went to Hana's house to hang out. In the distance, thunder boomed gently. The various fast food vendors hawked their wares, the smells of pork, chicken and beef flooding my senses.

I'd gotten my first paycheck from cashiering at the flower shop Daddy ran, and this would be the first time I'd bought something with my own money. I'd made a little over five thousand yen for the nine or so hours I'd put in, and had given myself half of that for spending money, the rest in a savings account Mama had set up for me. After some mild internal debate, I settled on gyūdon, a dish of steamed rice topped with beef. Batting my eyes and giggling softly at the older preteen behind the counter got me a cupful of broth added to my bowl.

I picked a bench a dozen or so yards from the food stall and sat down to enjoy my meal. Both Hana and I had hit puberty at the beginning of the summer, and were enjoying the perks that her growing bosom and my rapidly increasing height had brought us with younger store clerks throughout town. We got mistaken for a couple of pretty civilian twelve year olds, rather than our actual ages of ten and nine respectively. It led to plenty of evenings spent giggling over our antics.

"E-excuse me, Nee-chan? Can you help me?"

I looked up to see a tiny, whiskered Lord Minato peering anxiously at me. He eyed what remained of my meal hungrily. Throat dry, I patted the bench next to me. He hopped up, feet swinging far above the ground, and I gave him the rest of my meal. As he ate, I gazed at him in wonder. So this was the Uzumaki kid. He was relatively clean, although I could see smudges of dirt on his hands and knees. He was also shorter than I thought to see a four and a half year old- he and Ino were almost the same age and I was sure that she was at least three inches taller than him.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" I asked, when he was done eating. He looked down at his feet, not looking me in the face. I gently lifted his chin up, so that he could see my face.

"I dunno how to go home," he whispered, olive skin blushing red. "An' no one else will show me."

"Do you know where you live?"

He nodded. "At the Shikibu Home."

"Why did you come here?" That orphanage was across the village from here, and there was no good reason for a four year old to be here by himself. Even Miss Tsume, as laissez-faire as she was, only let Kiba go to the end of the street by himself.

"Himiko-baa-chan took us to the zoo. But when we was headin' back, I fell, and when I got up, everyone was all gone!"

The petting zoo was only a ten minute walk from where we were. I could see how an elderly caretaker for children would think that was a good idea. There were mules, ponies, goats, and even older Nara deer there for young kids to bond with. I got off the bench, throwing the empty bowl away. I held out my hand to the little boy.

"C'mon. I'll take you home," I told him.

He grabbed my hand shyly and we made our way to his home. As we walked, going slowly as not to tire him out too much, he began to open up and talk about himself.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, Nee-chan. I'm four. How old are you Nee-chan?"

"I turn ten in November, Naruto-chan."

"My birthday's in October. That was the goodest thing I ever eated! What was that?"

"It's called gyūdon. I'm glad you liked it."

"Do you eat that all the time Nee-chan?"

"Nope. Only sometimes."

"If I was a grown-up, I'd eat it all that time."

"What do you usually eat at home?"

"Ojiya or sometimes miso soup, or even zaru soba."

We continued on that vein as I took him home. He was a sweet, cheerful boy, polite in his own rough manner. In some ways he reminded me of Ino, with his ever present grin and developing sense of humor. By the time we arrived at the orphanage, I was positive he and Ino would get along wonderfully, and had pushed the spectre of Lord Minato out of my mind.

A young woman, a dark skinned brunette, rushed out the door towards Naruto. There was just enough time for Naruto to squeak "Aya-nee-sama", when she grabbed him roughly by the arm, jerking him out of my grasp. She landed three hits on his back and bottom before I recovered enough to grasp her arm. She glared at me, futilely struggling to rip it out my grip.

"What is your problem?" I gritted out. It wasn't that I had anything against corporal punishment, but this? This was absurd and ridiculous. "Let him go."

"He is in trouble," she snapped. "He left the group to do who knows what, and only show's up now after we've spent well over an hour looking for him. He needs to be punished for that."

"He was left behind after he fell," I informed her. "He found me, and asked to bring him home. That isn't his fault. You don't need to do this to a child."

"Who are you to tell me what I will and will not do?"

"Kiji-san!" A sharp voice cracked. "What is the meaning of this?"

Naruto wrenched himself out of her hands to hide in the skirts of the severe looking elderly woman who glared at the young woman, Aya.

"She was punishing him for no good reason," I informed the matron. "Didn't let either of us explain or ask him what was going on or if he was okay. He asked me for help, and I broght him here as soon as I could."

"Thank you Yamanaka-san," the woman, who I assumed was Himiko. I was slightly surprised that she recognized me, considering my hair and skin were darker than most of my clansmen. "Aya-san will be taken care of."

Aya somehow winced and scowled simultaneously. I nodded firmly, and waved goodbye at Naruto. He smiled shyly at me, a mildly timid boy once again. That evening when Ino came home from pre-school, I made sure to hug her well.

I never wanted her to be as lonely as that little boy seemed to be.

Author's Note: Here's chapter four! We'll be wrapping up Arc 1, Childhood next chapter.

I've been doing some research for this story, trying to decide how various cultures and cuisine would function, using cobbled together maps of the 'Naruto' world, knowledge of how geography and food availability influence such things, and a sprinkle of artistic license.

Konoha's cuisine is Japanese-ish in Nature, with coastal cities having more seafood dishes, and inland having more mammalian based dishes (beef, chicken, pork, venison in the rural areas). I say Japanese-ish, because the cultural taboos against meat eating due to Buddhist influence doesn't really exist here. I imagine in a blood-soaked world like this, ancestor veneration would be the most common religious feature.

Ojiya is essentially a rice stew, that can be vegetarian or not, that I imagine would be a good meal to stretch over a large amount of children. Zaku soba is a meal of cold soba noodles, which are made from buckwheat. Soba noodles are usually eaten chilled with a dipping sauce or a hot broth.

The name of Naruto's orphanage is from the name of Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji, widely acknowledged to be the first novel. Considering that Kishimoto drew the names of many of his characters from historical persons and places in Japanese history I feel comfortable continuing in that naming tradition.

Special thanks to helenGet the first reviewer of last chapter. Also special shout out to The Rouge Beta, whose lovely reviews always put a pleasant smile on my face.

My most sincere apologies for being so late. I had this chapter completely written up- and then I was busy all day, and didn't remember that I didn't post it until I went to work. Chapter 5 will be posted on 11/12/2014, in nine days. Once again, I apologize for the lateness.