Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, The Professor, God of Shinobi and ageing grandfather thought he had seen it all but here he was looking through his crystal ball at a scene of a dinner party among friends with Naruto in the centre. Sure Naruto wasn't talking to any of them, the young Hyuuga and Haruno were arguing with each other very loudly, Miko was constantly doting on Naruto or trying to hide her tears and the youngest Nara was asleep. It was a scene of chaos, one of people who did not get along together, Naruto clearly wanted them all gone.
It was a scene that shouted 'we are Family' to all that would listen.
Others might not have seen it, they may have just seen some people who were forced to be together but that was not entirely true. It was Naruto's house, he lived there and not the others, not a single one of them besides Naruto had to be there if they didn't want to and even Naruto could leave if he truly desired it.
They weren't close at the moment, some of them could barely tolerate each other and yet despite it all here they were eating dinner together.
It was probably a stupid idea that Hiruzen had. An astronomically stupid idea that could result in much unforeseen pain and suffering. However if the view in his crystal ball was anything to go by then it would be worth it. It would be worth the risk for just a small chance to give Naruto the family and friends that the young boy desperately needed.
...
Naruto stared at his kitchen in confusion. It was morning. Everyone had left early last night. Why was Shikamaru sleeping at his table? Why was Sakura and Miko making breakfast together? Why was the pipsqueak here?
"My lord!" Miko called out in that fake happy tone that always put his nerves on edge, "breakfast will be ready in just a moment. I apologize for the delay!"
Naruto could feel his powers straining at their leash, fighting to break free, to reign havoc on the people in his kitchen, to destroy their fragile minds but he managed to reign it in. Barely. This was going to be a bad day, he just knew it.
"Why are you here?" he decided to ask as he walked to the fridge and opened it, looking for something to eat.
"We are here for breakfast, peasant," the pipsqueak stated. "While it may not be as high in quality as a standard Hyuuga fare, I must admit that your servant's cuisine has a rustic charm to it." Naruto could hear the sneer in her voice.
"Big words for a little girl," he muttered as he reached for an apple only for his hand to freeze, pull back and close the fridge door. He turned around to find Shikamaru lazily looking at him, his head barely raised from the table.
"Breakfast is almost ready just wait," the Nara yawned.
Almost all movement in the kitchen had stopped, everyone except Miko staring at Naruto, while the red headed girl still carried on preparing the breakfast and quite clearly not looking at anyone else in the room.
Naruto then turned his head back to the Nara, "remove your shadow," he said, allowing his annoyance to show on his face briefly.
Out of everything that happened Naruto did not expect Sakura to hit him over the head, "stop being so anti-social you baka! Sit down and have breakfast with your friends." Before Naruto could react Sakura strode over to the table and smacked Shikamaru over the head as well, "and you don't use jutsu on your friends you asshole!"
"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru groaned, releasing his shadow as he rubbed his head. He got smacked again.
Naruto rubbed his head as he moved towards a seat at the table, he didn't want to do it but Sakura's smack had hurt and besides he should probably get used to dealing with his new team anyway.
After a few minutes Miko and Sakura placed several plates of food on the table and everyone started to eat, talking and arguing with each other. Sakura kept trying to start conversations with him while the pipsqueak insulted everyone and everything around, causing Miko to finally lose her temper and threaten to dismember the 'little pale eyed bitch with a fucking spork making sure that all that would be left behind was a pool of blood and a pile of bones!' Naruto made a mental note to remember that one as the pipsqueak was silent for a good three minutes. All the while Shikamaru slept.
After he finished eating Naruto pulled himself to his feet and made for the door, only to be stopped by another smack to the head courtesy of Sakura. "You baka," she hissed. "Thank Miko-chan for making breakfast!"
Naruto stared at Sakura, it was so tempting to let lose the hold he had on his powers. He never did like being told what to do and being ordered around by this girl who broke into his home and kept hitting him, it was just making him more and more pissed off but it wasn't worth it. Not yet.
He turned towards Miko, "thank you for breakfast. It was delicious." it was clear from how red Miko was that she was struggling not to laugh at Naruto, probably waiting until he left before she did.
Without another word or any hesitation, Naruto walked out of the kitchen, he needed to destroy something right now.
...
In a dark room deep beneath Konoha a certain figure stirred. Hair filthy and matted, eyes sunken in and stomach empty the figure of Yuuhi Kurenai looked around. She was not sure how long she had been in this earthen cell, with no light and no one to talk to. The seals and chakra woven into the very dirt worked to disorient any prisoner, strip them of their perception of time, strip them of their will to act and to guarantee that whether or not they died in their cell, their time there would at least be a nightmare.
It was as Kurenai thought this that she realised that for one reason or another, the effects of her cell had been negated. At least for a short while.
"Is-is s-someone th-there?" she croaked out weakly, her voice rough with disuse. Just how long had she been kept here? Weeks? Months? Years?
There was no response.
After calling out several times and still not getting a response Kurenai weakly pulled herself to her feet. She was unsteady but her legs would hold her, Hadn't been here for years then. The unsteadiness could be a symptom of hunger or atrophy but at the moment Kurenai couldn't tell, all she knew was that for whatever reason she was aware and she wanted out. She needed to breathe fresh air, see the sun and be free from the hell hole she was currently in.
She stumbled weakly until she found a wall and used it to manoeuvre herself around her cell. While it was dirt an earth jutsu would be pointless as it was filled with someone else's chakra. She followed the wall until eventually she found a door. A simple wooden door with a handle.
The door was unlocked.
The room outside her cell was just as dark and still Kurenai couldn't see a thing. The floor however was stone, not dirt. It was rough and uncomfortable on her bare feet, cracked and uneven in places, rough and jagged in other places. Kurenai cut her bare feet on several sharp rocks or tears in the concrete but still she moved on, one hand on the dirt wall guiding her to her eventual freedom.
After several minutes of walking the wall suddenly fell away and Kurenai stumbled, falling forward and cutting herself once more on the uneven floor, dimly she wondered what had happened to her clothes but the thought was shaken away quite quickly. Her clothes did not matter at the moment, what mattered was freedom, fresh air, the sound of birds and the feeling of the sun on her skin. Then her world exploded into pain.
A light filled the room, blinding her and causing the once proud Kunoichi to shriek in pain. "So nice of you to join me for tea, Kurenai," came the light hearted voice of the man she once called Hokage. How long ago was that? She wondered to herself. How long ago since she last served the man? How long ago since he threw her in this hell hole?
"Now I'm sure you are wondering just what is the reason why I have brought you here, make no mistake I have brought you here. You see originally I was just planing on demoting you, putting the fear of god into you and calling it a day," the Hokage's voice chuckled at that. Why was he so happy when everything hurt so much!? "but then it was pointed out to me that you had brutally assaulted a jinchuuriki in the middle of Konoha, one known to be mentally unstable at the best of times. What would have happened if the fox had used the opportunity to break lose, or to worm it's way into young Naruto's confidence? No just a demotion and telling off was not good enough, you essentially committed treason and as such you needed a far harsher punishment so I had you confined here for an indefinite period."
Kurenai, weakly, feebly pulled herself to her knees and then her feet, opening her eyes as she did so. Everything was blurry and painful and so bright. Why was it so bright!?
"Tell me Kurenai?" the Hokage's voice continued on. "What is it that brings a group of people together?" Kurenai didn't answer, she couldn't, it was too hard to focus on his words let alone on even responding to them. However it seemed that the Hokage did not expect an answer as he just continued on, "some people would say shared beliefs or bonds or even experiences and those could be true, they do bring people together but they take time and they don't always work. Do you know what answer it is that I'm looking for? The answer that I am looking for, that truly brings people together in a short amount of time, that can make even rivals or those who once hated each other work towards a common goal is quite simple. A common enemy. And thanks to your actions Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto all have a common enemy with you. Their jounin sensei," by this point Kurenai's vision had cleared enough that she could just see the old man, her Hokage standing in front of her, a smile on his face.
She opened her mouth and croaked out a single question, "h-how long?"
"Three days, not even a week. However if you desire more time in here then I suggest you fuck up this mission. Do so and I'll be happy to ensure you die of old age down here." Kurenai was disturbed that the smile never left the old man's face.
"H-hai Hoka-kage-s-sama," she responded.
The Hokage nodded, "now let's get you cleaned up and ready for your new students." A few hand-seals later and Kurenai was blasted with water, it hurt, bruised and battered the Kunoichi but she kept silent after al it could always be worse. Much, much worse.
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So sorry for the late update, work and well work has occupied most of my time and with my days off well it was just too hard to get in the mood to write but I think im mostly settled in with the new job now.
What do you think of the story so far? I know it's gotten kinda dark but the team and characters introduced so far all have enough problems that introducing them all to you and each other could not have gone happily. Don't worry however as there will be moments of happiness, fluff sunshine and rabbits on the way, some of those rabbits may be the monty python kind however.
So as always read, review and Sieg fucking heil!
