Replies to Reviews:
Yolea Irk's: Great observation! Expect to see Itachi more often as the story progresses!
Biaster: (I had to look up the meaning of slash) I'm sorry that you're put off by it but I also understand if you do not want to continue reading. I wanted to put the pairing in the summary but thought against it for two reasons. 1. There wasn't enough space to add it in. 2. Because it will happen much later on in the story. Thank you for you comment though.
Ice Night, Neema Amiry, northwind132, Hiei-Uchiha, gues, & PetiteEmperor4: Thank you all for the feedback!
AznPuffyHair: Honestly, I want to gear this story towards the friendship and family category. Romance isn't my strong suit and this story won't have romance in it for awhile. The suggestion of genderbending the avenger is interesting to me and I'll keep it in mind. (I'm also happy that you understand my grammar and writing issues, bless you!)
SakuraLuck: Eh? Really, I honestly can't see these two becoming an item.. Maybe badass friends? Hm…
AmethystPone: I understand the fear of the slash, I have seen how writers write and I want to avoid that. There are indeed some exceptions and I can recommend a few!
Armedlord 2.0: I understand where you are coming from. If you decide to keep reading I would appreciate it. If not I understand. *^*
RandomPudding: Yeah, I'm not going to put too much thought into it.
Star1X: I have plans for Hiruzen. He's going to be a badass in this fic.
Iheartlife888: Thanks for reviewing!
Leafeon: You'll find that out later
Notes:
Umu, I didn't think people would be put off at the pairing. Keep in mind I said I suck at writing romance. Not to mention that the pairings will happen later on, MUCH later on since this is a slow build fanfic. Also, romance is NOT the main category for this fanfic. The main categories are Family/Friendship. I'm sorry for the slash, (I just looked up what it meant). If you wish not to continue on the story I thank you for reading this far! I understand the need to run away from pairings such as this one (I came from the hell known as Wattpad, I completely understand).
Also the reason I chose Sasunaru is because, come on, think of the amount of potential those two can have if they start off actually getting along (or have a mutual relationship) at a young age. The amount of destruction and headaches those two can cause, oh my goodness it can be glorious!
*Edit 2/23/18: I have decided to make the genre of this fic Family and Slice of Life. Pairing will happen much later on in the book.
Okay, so…
Cu and Shirou's respect for Konoha has sunk down low. Dangerously low.
Even so, they couldn't do shit about it because what's done was done. Still, there was probably better solutions and ways to go with this problem than what was happening right now.
Still, they held their end of the bargain and told the old man of their origins. Of course, Shirou didn't tell him about being a counter guardian. Cu didn't even know about him being a counter guardian.
Of course, in order to tell about their situation they had to give a lot of background information. The old man looked like he was this close to calling bullshit on both of them. However, he surprised the both of him when he stayed quiet throughout everything.
"Nothing will leave this room." He said when they were finished. "I'll give you both a permit to access the shinobi library and archives to research. If there is a problem contact me. As for now, I will summon you both for another meeting to discuss my thoughts. Wait outside for the boy you saw earlier."
"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Cu grumbles as he stared at the fish in the pond. It was around seven o'clock when they returned home, meaning they spent a good three hours talking with the Hokage.
"It was hard to read him, he was too quiet." Which didn't help the situation at all. It left them with their nerves on high alert. It left them with too many thoughts and too many things to look out for.
Fuck they should not have told him but they needed to know about Naruto. That boy was their master now.
He was still a child as well.
A child that held something extremely dangerous inside of him.
Cu mumbles to himself as he watches one of the fish darts towards his direction before swimming away.
"I'm going to make a quick breakfast." Was all the archer said before walking away.
"Are we in trouble?"
The question from the small blonde child throws the hound of Ulster off a bit. It was out of the blue and Cu nearly drops his cigarette.
"What? Why?"
Naruto scoots a little closer to him on the floor. "Dog's not here and he usually tells me when he has a mission. Weasel was here earlier but he told me he can't talk about it and you two aren't at work today."
Cu blinks, "We don't work on Sundays Naruto." His hand came up to ruffle the child's hair. "No, we're not in trouble or anything. I'm pretty sure dog will come back."
Cu isn't sure about that considering how much of a beating he took from both him and Shirou. He's pretty sure that the village has good medical technologies so Dog should be ok.
Naruto plays with a loose thread on his shirt and Cu goes back to the television.
Only for the Weasel kid to appear on the kotatsu.
"The Hokage's permit." He says as he hands the envelope to Cu. "There are two just in case. Please do not lose them."
Naruto blinks rapidly as Cu takes the envelope, causing the Weasel to disappear.
"What's a permit?"
Cu narrows his eyes, "Basically written permission for us to do something." Naruto seemed to perk up as he tries to lean over to get a good look at the paper.
"Jiji's letting you do something!? I wanna help!" Ah, the enthusiasm of a five-year-old.
"Do you even know what these are for?"
Naruto shook his head then crossed his arms over his chest, "Nuh uh, but it has to be something special right?"
That is how the five-year-old found himself in the library several hours later with a look of dread on his face. Naruto looked like he wanted to run across Konoha to get from the place.
"He's not allowed in here." Was the first thing the librarian at the front desk said. Naruto was currently hiding behind Shirou. Said man was looking at the man in disinterest. This was the library the Hokage instructed them to go to and they weren't budging just because of some old man at a desk.
"We don't care," Shirou deadpans, "We've come here to check out a few books and then leave."
"That thing isn't allowed here."
At Naruto's flinch, Cu happily slammed the permit into the man's face and watched with great satisfaction as the man flailed and fell out his chair.
Cu isn't one for waving around authority and power but if it was going to make old shits like this mess themselves then he would gladly do it.
"We'll find everything ourselves. If we need assistance we'll find someone else," Shirou says as Cu snatches the permit away. The Hokage was kind enough to give them a list of things to start off with. "Come on Naruto."
Said blonde happily stayed attached to the two.
"The Basics of Chakra," Shirou reads out from the lists, "Apparently this is where we start."
Naruto rose an eyebrow, "You two don't know 'bout chakra?"
Shirou shook his head as Cu reads the list over. "No, we're not Shinobi Naruto."
"Yeah but most people know what it is right? Jiji says everyone has it and they teach what it is at the academy."
Shirou side glances at the child, "Is that so? The academy teaches these things?" He asks in a whisper. Naruto nods.
"Jiji said something about me learning it because I have to start going next year."
Shirou hums, he'd have to think about that later.
"Found some," Cu comes to them with a few books and scrolls. "I didn't know which one to get, there's a lot of them."
"Get all of them," Shirou deadpans and Naruto pales at the number of books and scrolls. He's already been tortured with learning to read and write at the Teahouse. Now there's more?!
"We'll start with these then just come back when we're done."
"You-you guys are going to read all that?" Naruto asked with a face of disgust.
Shirou raised a pale eyebrow, "You're going to read some too. From my understanding, you said you started school next year correct? There's nothing wrong with getting a head start."
Naruto groaned.
There were eighteen books in all. The majority of them consisted of scrolls. They found out that the books were specifically made for children. Shirou gave Naruto one of those first. He gave the boy his first assignment of at least reading the first chapter. It should not be too hard since the book was mostly pictures.
Shiro took started with his own scroll in the common room and Cu took his to his room. The lancer mumbled something about needing to take notes.
Hm, it was going to be a long Sunday.
"Hokage-sama are the rumors true?"
The Hokage clicked the pipe in his mouth with his teeth as he stared at the other man in the council room. Shimura Danzo, one of the elders of the village, along with the civilian and the shinobi council
"There are many rumors Danzo-sama."
"The one about the child being taken away from the orphanage and living with two civilians," Danzo said firmly.
Ah, of course, the Hokage knew what he had been speaking of. He was hoping that was not the case but of course, people talked and if it was about Naruto it would spread faster than wildfire.
"It is." Hokage answers and the response is instantaneous.
"WHAT?!"
"Hokage-sama that is not a wise decision!"
"He's going to put them in danger!"
Mind you, it was mostly the civilian heads who made their outbursts. The head of the shinobi clans were more disciplined to wait for their turns.
"Are you all done now?" The Hokage asked with a raised brow. He knew he would get a reaction but that didn't call for such unruliness.
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, have you performed a thorough background check of these two?" Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha clan addressed him loud and clear over the civilian heads' chatter.
"I have." Which was somewhat true. He did find civilian files on Emiya and Chulainn. However, there was little information on them. During their talk, he pointed it out and said that he would have to end up making detailed files for them.
He wouldn't let the council know that though.
"Hokage-sama we do not trust the child with two civilians!" Ugh, another civilian councilman.
"Ho?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand why you would think that, seeing as though he has yet to harm anyone and is always getting physically and verbally abused."
"I second the Hokage's decision."
Silence.
"Shikaku-san?" Danzo looked at the head of the Nara. Shikaku has a bored expression on his face and gives Danzo a side glance before speaking again.
"From my perspective putting him in a well-grounded home could actually do well for his mental stability. My statement from before- about agreeing with Hokage-sama stands with this. If you civilians keep treating him the way you do then he might grow anger and resentment. Then we will have a bigger problem on our hands. Right Danzo-sama?"
Danzo says nothing but another civilian head says something instead.
"What do you mean 'you civilians'-"
"Nara-san is correct," Uchiha Fugaku speaks up. "The Uchiha police patrols Konoha and most of the complaints we receive about the child are from civilians. Most of the reports are so ridiculous that we think you all just use the child as a scapegoat. Not only that when we do patrol we only witness civilians going after the child. Shinobi just tend to overlook him and carry on about their days because of missions and work."
"I supposed I would have to agree with the Hokage and Nara-san." Hyuuga Hiashi adds. "The only thing I wish to know is why these two civilians in particular? Most of the shinobi clans tried to adopt this child when he was an infant. Even you tried to take him in Hokage-sama, but he was given to a foster family and dumped into an orphanage the second he learned how to walk."
There were many ways to answer that question and most of the councilmen waited patiently. The Hokage remembers the long meeting of trying to gain custody over Naruto. It was long and tiring. Naruto was originally supposed to go to his godfather but he never showed up. His supposed grandmother would not step foot back in Konoha and that led to the clans trying to gain custody of the child.
The Hyuuga clan wanted to make him a main branch member. The Uchiha wanted him for reasons of power and such. The Nara weren't interested. The Inuzuka, the Mitsashi's and the Yamanaka's tried to reason as well.
The civilian council, however, was large at the time, and with Danzo on their side, they managed to overthrow the shinobi council in keeping the child away from his origins.
They saw him as a weapon and it made the Hokage sick.
"It's because he is a weapon of Konoha and that's all he is!" Dazo shouts.
Well, that caused an uproar.
The Hokage rubs his temple, this meeting was going to be all day.
Tenzo hurts.
Like I just got thrown off the Hokage monument, got hit by said monument, and blown up by the sun hurt.
Okay maybe he is over exaggerating but that does not negate the fact that he got his ass handed to him.
If he hurts this much he is pretty sure Kakashi is having a bad day.
Neko managed to check out the hospital early because she was the least hurt out of the three of them. Tenzo and Kakashi had to stay overnight.
Tenzo was lucky, he only had a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, and a sprained ankle thanks to Emiya kicking him through a few trees.
Kakashi, on the other hand, had to fight Chulainn all by himself. Even though Tenzo did not see the full fight he does remember the blue blur slamming into Kakashi and launching him over the forest top.
Yeah, they got their asses handed to them.
"I am going to kill that blue mutt." He hears Kakashi mumble through his mask. He is currently glaring at the ceiling with one eye. Tenzo would have laughed if it didn't hurt him. His superior was strapped in the hospital bed, limbs propped up and gauze wrapped around him.
Okay, Tenzo might have snorted.
Kakashi glares at him.
"I see that you two are fine and dandy."
"Crow." Kakashi mumbles as the Anbu guard shunshined into the room. The Crow mask nods towards each of them.
"Shisui-san." Tenzo greets.
"So it is true that you two got beat up?"
"Who told you that?"
"Ran into Neko on the way here." They could practically hear the grin in the other's voice. Kakashi growls.
"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?"
"Weasel's there. Also, I heard that Danzo called a huge meeting because of those two guys you two were fighting."
"He saw it?" Tenzo asked ad Crow shook his head in negative. "Nah, the civilians spread the word around that the two picked up the Uzumaki kid. You know how they are."
Kakashi only huffs but Tenzo lets out a sigh of relief.
"So why are you here?"
"To get a picture of our precious hospitalized captain!" There was a flash and then Crown flickered away.
Kakashi wassoooooo going to kick Chulainn's ass one day.
"So it's basically mana and prana- just a different word."
"Basically, however there doesn't seem to be any records of magic circuits. Instead they have chakra coils."
Cu tilts his head to the side as he scratches the back of his neck. They managed to read it all in under three hours, including the children books.
They were seated in the dojo and had most of the scrolls rolled out.
"Okay," The Irishman writes down a few things. "Chakra is basically what they need to survive, kinda like us. Except we need a master for it."
"Right," Shirou flips through one of the books, "There's no magic either. They call them jutsus, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu."
"That's the one we need to look at right?"
"Yeah, we'll get it next time."
"You two are still doing this?" I pouting Naruto comes in while rubbing the sleep out of his eye. "I'm booorreeed."
Cu snorts and Shirou's mouth twitch upward for a bit. "Oh?"
"Yeah, since you two don't work on Sundays I got nothing to do." The blonde whines while playing with Cu's ponytail. The older didn't seem to mind.
"I guess we can take a break." Shirou says while standing up and Naruto cheers.
The next hour is spent making a light lunch. After that Cu makes a comment about how children shouldn't be trapped in a house all day and Naruto sides with him. That's how they end up going to the park.
Naruto is all for it the second the trip is mentioned and nearly runs out the house barefoot and without a jacket. Shirou catches him in time and dresses him appropriately.
"It ain't that cold out!" Naruto whines.
"Says the five-year-old about to run out the house without shoes on." Shirou deadpans and hands Naruto the small jacket he bought for him. Naruto stares at it before slipping it on. The piece of clothing looks two sizes too big for him but he'll grow into it.
Naruto practically drags them out of the house, which is a funny sight.
"Park, park, park!"
"Calm down kiddo!"
"This the first time I get to the park with someone!"
The statement makes them falter and Cu heaves a sigh of frustration. He bends down, picks Naruto up and places him on his shoulders. "There, now we can go faster."
"Oh!" Naruto perks up as they turn towards the streets. "Haha, everyone looks short!" Cu huffs out a laugh but Shirou keeps quiet. He eyes how the people are looking at them. Most were whispering and looking them up and down. Other people seemed to be carrying on with their own work.
Naruto points out things and makes a few silly comments about how some people have bald spots in the middle of their heads and how people look like dwarfs. Cu only laughs but Shirou mumbles something about being respectful.
They make it to the park in a few minutes. Cu bends down so Naruto can climb off and the child practically dashes for the swings.
"There's not that people here.." Cu mumbles.
"Well, it is Sunday. I take it they'd rather stay indoors and it is getting colder."
Cu takes out a cigarette from his jacket and lights it with a lighter. "Well, they're missin' out on a good day."
Shirou raises an eyebrow, "Isn't that Benkei's lighter?"
"Shh, she doesn't have to know."
A moment of comfortable silence sets between them as they watch Naruto try to swing on the swingset. Which ends miserably the first few times because the boy always ends up letting go and falling.
Or maybe he was trying to jump?
After the third time, Shirou sighs and decides to help him and actually give him a lesson in the physics of it. Which ends up with him pushing the small child.
Cu watches in amusement as Naruto nearly swings back into the archer.
Then something catches his eyes.
A little thing, more like a little girl. Behind the ONLY tree in the middle of the park.
She's just… watching them.
More like she's watching Naruto. The little girl is mostly behind the tree, only her head poking from around it. Cu can clearly see the dark hair and pale eyes.
He wonders if Shirou and Naruto noticed. If they did they didn't say anything about it.
Still, was the little lass shy? Then again she is alone.
"Hey," Cu tapped her shoulder.
The girl squeals and sure enough it gains all of their attention. Shirou looks over to his direction and Naruto seems to look confused. Cu places both hands on her shoulders and bends down to her level to calm her down.
"Hey now, I was just wondering why you're only watchin'. Didn't mean to scare ya missy."
"O-Oh." She breathed out while looking at the ground. "I-um, I just…"
Seeing as how this wasn't getting anywhere Cu decided to ask a different question.
"What's ya name missy?"
"Um- Hyuuga Hinata!" Her voice cracks at the end of it and she becomes a bit more flustered. Cu pegged her as an overthinker or maybe she wasn't used to talking to people? In a way, it reminded him of Naruto and the way he was around strangers. He didn't like that.
"Hm, well you can call me Cu missy. Why don't you go play with Naruto? It's pretty boring being here by yourself right?"
The small Hyuuga seemed to play with her fingers as she looked over to where Naruto and Shirou were.
"I've never been around anyone my age…" She says it quietly. "I never have um time to play so-so…"
"Welp! Today's your lucky day! Naruto I found ya a new friend!"
"Yatta!" The small blonde dashed over in seconds. Shirou stares in amazement at the small blonde before following after him.
"Hi! I'm Naruto!"
"Hi-Hinata…"
There was a beat of silence before Naruto does that big grin of his.
"Wanna see how far I can jump off the swingset?"
Uchiha Itachi sits in the trees that surround the park. From where he is perched he was a clear view of the four individuals in the park. He could see Naruto dragging the little girl to the swing set with a nagging Emiya behind the two. Chulainn follows a slower pace with his hands behind his head.
It was weird.
The way Chulainn just walks up to the Hyuuga heiress without a care in the world and just touches her. If any of the Hyuuga's household guards were around they would have attacked. Maybe Chulainn didn't know of her status? Most likely because Emiya didn't have a reaction to the child either.
He shifts a bit, watching the two children playing. They remind him of his little brother Sasuke. He was around the same age as Naruto and the Hyuuga heiress. Maybe he would get along with them?
"Yo." Crow flickers in his side view, giving a wave. Itachi nods.
"Where have you been?"
"Checking on the captain's squad in the hospital." He said in the sing-song like voice.
Itachi snorts. "How are they doing."
"Tenzo's well. Captain is still in bandages. I checked with the head nurse and she said it might be awhile for them to heal him. The hospital is understaffed and most medic-nins are rookies."
Itachi hums, which means captain was going to be out for a few days.
"What's the kid up to?"
"Apparently he has made friends with the Hyuuga heiress."
"No shit?" Crow asked incredulously. Then looked at the playground. "Heh, you don't see that every day. I wonder how Hyuuga-sama's gonna react to that."
"He probably won't say much. They aren't in any danger."
"The kid just launched himself off the swingset- holy shit how did he catch him?!"
Shisui was correct, the two men had made some distance away from the swingset. Naruto had decided that he was gonna swing as high and fast as possible and decided to jump the last minute.
Only for Emiya to become a blur and catch him.
Chulainn is there in a split second as well as Emiya scolds the small child in his arms. The poor Hyuuga heiress is left staring wide-eyed. Naruto seems to be laughing rather hard and Emiya shakes his head.
There are a few moments before Emiya places Naruto down and the blonde runs back to the swingset.
"That was ….?" Itachi starts.
"Not a shunshin." Shisui says through his mask with all seriousness. There is a small bit of tension in the air.
"Cu Chulainn you are a man-child," Shirou deadpans as he watched the man hang upside down from the jungle gym.
"Oh come on Shirou. It's not like they had these things when I was around. All we had were trees and the forests. There were no things called playgrounds." The Irishman has so much joy in his tone as he swings back and forth a bit to grab another bar. "Seriously, whoever thought of this contraption for kids is a genius!"
Shirou snorts and climbs up to sit at the top instead of being more adventurous than the other. "Seriously Cu."
"You ever played on one of these when you were a kid?" The Irishman asked suddenly. He was somehow lying between a few bars, his legs over a bar but his waist under one.
Shirou narrows his eyes, and he has to actually dig in his mind for an answer. He gets a foggy view and a few hazes of voices.
"I think I did. However, I think I was the one that favoured the swings."
"Oh?"
"Hn," the archer nodded. "It was fun to hear the wind in your ears and have your feet off the ground." he shrugged.
Cu listens as he watches the two children on the swing. He then looks toward Shirou, seeing how the other had a certain look in his eyes.
He also takes note, of how Shirou's eyes sparkle.
There a honey brown one second and then they go back to that dull gray.
Cu hums.
"Can we try mochi?" Naruto asks, lightly tugging on Shirou's hair. The blonde was on Shirou's shoulders while Hinata was on Cu's shoulder.
"Huh, we just got dango!" Shirou says with a sigh. Naruto pouts.
"Can we try some tomorrow?"
"Fine fine."
Cu snorts and shakes his head. On his shoulders, Hinata was eating her own stick of dango. She had calmed down some after playing with Naruto for a few hours at the park. She was a pleasant little thing. She was still nervous when it came to talking.
Speaking of her.
"Oi, missy. Where ya live?"
Shirou seemed to take interest in the question and looks to her. She pauses from eating another piece of dango.
"The Hyuuga com-compound."
"Hyuuga compound…?" Cu raised an eyebrow. Shirou seemed to hum and Naruto makes a noise.
"Yeah, it's on the other side of the village with those big 'ol gates and trees and stuff." The boy starts to sway side to side and Shirou adjusts his grip on his legs.
"If we're going there we should head there now, it's starting to get dark." The archer comments while walking. True enough the sky was starting to blend into an orange and purple.
"I-I can show you the way. I know how to get there from here." Hinata says in a meek voice.
"That won't be necessary." A voice from behind them. Hinata squeaks as they turn around.
The man before them has the same eyes as her and long dark brown hair. He's dressed in white and it kinda reminds them of a lord.
"Hinata, I see you've escaped your tutors." He comments.
"I'm s-sorry tou-san."
Oh, so this guy was her father.
Cu bends down to let the little lady off. She climbs down as runs toward her father. The man places a hand on her head before looking back towards the two men.
"I thank you two for watching over her. It seems the other members of the family were looking for her."
"I-I am sorry father-"
"It's fine, it just means they need to do a better job." Her father reassures the young girl.
Shirou hums and Cu snorts.
"It's no problem! Hinata-chan was fun to play with!" Naruto says it loud and proud and Shirou takes notice of how the girl's face went read at the 'chan' part. Oh my it's starting, isn't it?
The man's lips twitch in a small smile.
"I see. I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Hyuuga Hiashi, the current head of the Hyuuga clan."
Oh.
Oh shit-
"DOES THAT MEAN HINATA'S A PRINCESS?!" Naruto blurts out and Shirou winces. His enhanced hearing making him cry on the inside. Boy, this child had a set of lungs.
"Congrats Naruto you befriended a princess." Cu pats the blonde's head. Hinata is turning redder and Lord Hyuuga looks amused.
"Ah, anyway. I'm Emiya Shirou. This one-" He points at Cu and the Irishman has to raise an eyebrow at the way he's being introduced, "Chulainn Cu."
Cu snorts. He never understood the action of speaking your surname first and then your first name.
"It's nice to meet the both of you. However, we need to get back home and I have a meeting to return to." The man bows and so does Hinata before turning.
"If you two ever see her unattended again feel free to let her join you." He calls over his shoulder as they walked down the street.
"I have a friend that's a princess." Naruto says with a grin, causing Shirou to shake his head with a tired smile.
It's three days later when it happens.
Cu is running an errand for Benkei, one of the many things he has to do with his job. (He isn't mad because he gets to run around the village a lot and use a lot of energy.) When he runs into the Hyuuga princess again.
She has a companion with her as well.
It's a boy, long brown hair with some type of dark band covering his forehead. Hinata spots him first and tugs on the boy's sleeve to get his attention. The boy frowns at him.
Hinata, on the other hand, makes her way over to the Irishman, leaving the boy behind and chasing her. Cu snorts.
"Hello there missy." Cu bends down to her height and Hinata makes a small smile. The boy behind her has a stoic facial expression.
"Th-This is my cousin Neji-kun. We-We are lost-"
"We are not!" The boy snaps, a bit of a flush appearing on his face. Cu raises an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Hinata-chan away from her retainers and I was sent to retrieve her."
Cu doesn't know what it is but something about the boy is irking him. It's just the way he talks is wrong for a child his age.
"Then just walk back home missy."
"This is the third time today that she has run away."
Cu makes a face of surprise. Hinata didn't seem like the type to run away. She was so quiet and little and nervous all of the time.
Said girl was currently looking at the ground, red-faced and playing with her fingers.
"Hm," Cu rubs his chin, "I'm on an errand right now. You two can help me out for the day if ya want." He pats Hinata on the head and the boy seems to look offended by the action.
Hinata smiles, "Is Naruto-kun here too?"
"He's back at the tea house, but I'm sure the Lady wouldn't mind you two there as well."
Shirou stares at Cu.
Cu stares at Shirou.
Naruto stares at Hinata then her cousin.
Hinata stares at Naruto, Neji then her father.
Lord Hyuuga has an unreadable expression on his face as he stands in the doorway to the room of the tea house. It was specifically for employees only (the children were allowed in it since they were learning a few things as well).
Hinata hides behind Neji. Neji shifts uncomfortably under the Lord's gaze.
Benkei lets out a puff of smoke from her pipe.
"Well?" The Hyuuga lord asks.
"It was my intention to bring Hinata-chan back but we got … sidetracked." Neji speaks up.
"How?"
"First we went to the clothing store-" Cu starts.
"Then we had to pick up and organize the tea-" Naruto.
"Then we had to learn to make the tea-" Neji.
"Th-Then Benkei-sama taught us how to p-pour it- " Hinata.
"Then I taught them how to sew a few clothes and clean a few kunai-" Shirou.
"Then we had lunch-" Benkei.
"And now you're here." Back to Cu.
Lord Hyuuga pinched the bridge of his nose, "You did all this in a span of four hours?" He hissed out.
They all looked at each other then back at him and nodded.
That Sunday Lord Hiashi appeared at their doorstep with a content Hinata and a stoic Neji.
"I'll pick them up around seven." Then he left Shirou in the doorway with the two children.
Shirou does not know how the Lord Hyuuga managed to find their address but he lets the two children in any way.
The Hokage is amused. He is positive that if Danzo got wind of this he would be screaming at him but he doesn't care.
"You seem to be in a good mood Hokage-sama." Shikaku states as he hands the Hokage some documents.
The Hokage chuckles, "It seems that Emiya and Chulainn are on good terms with Lord Hiashi."
Shikaku sighs, he's seen to the new additions to the group around the village. He is surprised that Hiashi let two outsiders handle the heiress and his nephew. From what he had heard and seen the Hyuuga are strict when it came to outsiders.
Or Hiashi just didn't let the rest of the clan know.
Whatever it was it was troublesome and none of his business.
"Hokage-sama you are plotting something." Shikaku could tell by the way the man was chuckling.
"In due time, Shikaki, in due time. Now I need you to contact Inoichi from the T&I department…"
"How in the hell did they managed to get the Hyuuga of all people on their side?!" Shisui incredulously. Across from him, on another branch, Kakashi only sighs. This was too much.
"Well, they took care of his daughter more than once. Not to mention his nephew. Plus Naruto gets along with them."
"Why do I get the feeling that the Hyuuga clan will be out for blood…?" Tenzou asks more to himself.
Shisui drops his head, a sweat drop appearing on the side of it. "I did not sign up for this!"
"Shh idiot!" Tenzou scolds the Uchiha, "We are ANBU guards. Act like it."
"Oh, there you all are!"
The squeak that came out of Shisui will be forever remembered by Kakashi and he can't help but snicker as the Uchiha nearly fell out the tree at the sound of Emiya above him.
"When the hell-"
"I already knew you all were here." The archer says while looking down at them. He's perched on the branch of Itachi's tree. Kakashi looked over at the boy as if asking why he didn't say anything.
Itachi only shrugged.
"Anyway, I came up here to ask if you all would be joining us for dinner or not. Naruto wants to see you again watchdog."
Kakashi makes a noise at the nickname.
"Dinner?" Shisui perks up. Kakashi could feel the facepalm Tenzo was doing.
"We do not require any Emiya-san." Itachi speaks up first.
"Why 'da hell are you all whisperin?" Chulainn appears beside Tenzou.
"Where the fuck-"
"I smelled and heard all of you. Why are you all hiding in the trees?"
Apparently, these two men had no fucking idea what they were or what their jobs were. It's that or they just didn't give a damn. Seriously, who the fuck in their right mind just suddenly appear around ANBU guards!?
"Do you two want your heads chopped off!? What is wrong with you two?" Kakashi hisses.
"I was just wondering if they wanted dinner or not. It's bad of me not to ask right?" Emiya says while shrugging.
"We are guards that are not supposed to be seen."
"You guys aren't doing a good job at that…"
"That's because you two are not normal." Tenzou says lowly.
"If it matters can I have rice?" Shisui pipes up. Tenzou actually facepalms.
"Sure. We're having that stuff called yakisoba." Chulainn says without a care in the world.
"Anyone else?" Emiya asks.
They end up eating dinner in the trees and Shisui shunshins into the kitchen to deliver the dishes then shunshins back to his post.
They agree to never mention this in their reports.
"I'm happy they fired that old guy at the desk." Cu says. Shirou was too, the old man always gave them a dirty look whenever they came into the library. Now the person at the desk was a young man that only spared them a glance when they asked for something specific. He also gave Naruto biscuits and let him sit behind the desk while Shirou and Cu went off to search for books.
Naruto nods in agreement while taking another bite of his biscuit. "Whatcha tou go' anywa?"
Shirou gives Naruto a deadpan expression and flicks his nose. "Don't talk with food in your mouth. We got something on the arts of fuinjutsu."
Naruto's nose scrunched up in a pout and swallowed before speaking again. "What's that?"
"You'd know about it if you read the book I told you to read."
"I did read it! It's just hard to remember some stuff." The little blonde scratched his cheek. "'N some of the words keep switching up and it's hard to read sometimes."
Shirou frowns, he'd have to address that with Benkei sometime.
"Alright, we'll just have to help you next time."
Naruto groans.
Weasel appears and the boy squeaks.
"Apologies Naruto-kun," He says before turning to Shirou and Cu, "The Hokage requests you all once more. Dog and Crow are around to watch Naruto."
Shirou would never get used to being teleported into the man's office. Judging by the way Cu always curses when it happens he thinks the Irishman doesn't like it either.
"Gentlemen." The Hokage greets.
"Hokage-sama/ Yo!"
The man is amused by their responses, which mean he's in a good mood today.
"Your papers." He says while handing them two different folders. They walk to his desk and take them.
"It's basically background information about you two since you all aren't from Konoha. Read it and memorize it. Don't be afraid to ask any questions."
They took time reading them.
"It's very vague," Shirou asks.
"Yeah but that's better right?" Cu asks and the Hokage nods.
"So far people just know you all as some of the many that merged in with the village during reconstruction. They ask for specifics make it up and stick to it. These are just for actual proof of citizenship."
The two men nod.
"Another matter I wish to discuss is your… living arrangements. You two told me you were living in an old vacant estate in the forest. I didn't tell you while we were talking last time but that estate belonged to the Hokage before me- Naruto's father.
The man held a hand up to stop them from speaking.
"The only people that know of that estate or the ANBU that are stationed there watching Naruto, you, me, and Lord Hyuuga."
"That's how he found out?" Cu asks and the Hokage nods.
"You two already know that Naruto doesn't know of his family because the information was voted to be withheld from him. I assure you it won't be withheld from him for long." -Because he was going to do something about a few specific people but he would not let them know that.
"You're going to tell him soon Hokage-sama?"
"I plan to tell him next year on his birthday." Hokage answers as he knocks his pipe against his ashtray. To tell the truth he's not sure how Naruto would take it. He expects the boy to be hurt about the information he was keeping from him. However, he didn't know how the boy would act after knowing. Would his attitude change? Would he be happier?
"Grandpa-"
Shirou nearly chokes at the nickname and the Hokage raises an eyebrow.
" -can I call ya grandpa? Naruto does it so sorry if I'm rude. Who is exactly keeping Naruto from knowing all this?"
"The civilian council." The old man says it bluntly.
"Makes sense." Shirou says while crossing his arms over his chest. "Ordinary people fear what they can't understand. Fear turns into hatred, a never-ending cycle."
The Hokage hums, "But you two are not ordinary people."
"Right." Cu says while sitting on the couch to the side. He's given up on being formal. If he's out of line the Hokage will tell him.
"Adding on to that, have you two figured out the origins of your summonings?"
"No." Shirou answers, "We're still doing research and we have a suspicion that the fuinjutsu you all have will have something to do with it."
"Fuinjutsu, the art of seals to put it vaguely. It's a very destructive yet magnificent thing if you can understand it."
"You wouldn't have anyone proficient in it? A teacher of some sort?" Cu asks.
The Hokage pressed his lips together in a tight line. "I know of one. It'll be hard to contact him but I will inform he's needed."
"Are you sure he'll help us Hokage-sama?"
"He'll help," The old man brought his pipe to lips. At the mention of Naruto and how he had caretakers, Jiraiya would crash through the front gates of Konoha to see who claimed his godson.
Emiya can win a war with just his cooking alone. That's what Shisui says.
I still have yet to find out how they managed to get into Sensei's home. I know the Hokage knows since he is not concerned after they had a 'talk'.
I'm thinking Sensei has something to do with them being here but- it's confusing.
Moving on,
The Hyuugas seem fond of them, well Lord Hyuuga does, which is a surprise. The Hyuuga's do not tolerate outsiders from what I have heard. I'm not sure why the man is allowing his daughter and nephew around them. I'll add it to the list of mysteries about the two.
Hatake Kakashi
Notes:
1. Yeah, Hiruzen will be more awesome in this. I like him as a character but goddam the man could have done SO MUCH MORE. I am here for that.
2. About the Shinobi council vs. Civilian council, to me it makes more sense. The general public fears more than the trained people. Not to mention I plan to show off the Shinobi clans in this fic to the civilian can go suck it. So expect more from them.
Fun fact: This fanfic wasn't originally named Teach Your Children Well. I basically had a bs name and it was called "These Kids Need Hella Teaching." I know, I know, criticize me in the comments.
Suggested songs: Starfall- Two Steps from Hell; Point Zero- Yuki Kajiura