The Black Sheep

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto's springtime of youth! Yosh!

Chapter 7: Red

Naruto and Mitomi were trudging through the sandy desert of Kaze no Kuni once again. The hot sun was beating down on the duo as they made their way to Sunagakure. Mitomi looked up into the sky with her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sand churning around the pair of children. Naruto was once again complaining about the "stupid fucking desert" when he heard Mitomi release a small gasp.

He looked up from his pouting position to see what was going on when he nearly choked on his own breath.

Once they cleared a large dune and were standing on top of it, right there in front of them, was the gorgeous Paradise of the Desert Wasteland, Sunagakure no Sato. The outer walls of the village stood tall and proud over the rest of the desert surrounding it.

Naruto stood there, mesmerized by the massive expanse of civilization, before Mitomi spoke up. "Naruto-san, as much as I want to observe the outside of the village, wouldn't it be better to get inside?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while grinning and said "Oh… yeah... hehehe."

He then began walking towards the imposing gates of Sunagakure before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Mitomi shaking her head. "Naruto-san, we cannot just walk up to the gates. We are not from this village and we have no form of identification to get in. Legally."

Naruto swore he thought he saw a glint in her eyes as she said that. "So… what do we do then?"

"It just so happens that I was tasked with a reconnaissance mission by Danzo-sama three years ago. There is a similar tunnel into the village here to what you saw at the last ROOT base."

Naruto gawked at his female partner before asking "You… you came to Suna by yourself at five years old?!"

"Do not be ridiculous. I would not survive here alone of all places. I had a fellow operative accompanying me."

"Oh... okay." he said simply. "How old were they?"

"He was four I believe."

Naruto sweatdropped before said "Whatever… just lead me to the secret entrance." before he trudged off.

Mitomi blinked. 'Did I say something wrong?'

She was brought back to reality when she noticed that Naruto was walking in the complete opposite direction to their objective. "Naruto-san! You are going the wrong way! The entrance is over here!"

Naruto halted abruptly, stumbling, and then face planted into the sand before standing back up, spitting out sediment from his mouth. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I did." Mitomi stated. "Just now."

Naruto stuttered, trying to say something to the raven-haired Uchiha before he gave up and just walked back to her and followed her to the east side of the village, where he noticed that one brick in the sandstone wall in front of them looked out of place.

She put her right hand up in a half-ram seal and stuck her left hand out to touch the brick in question, all the while maintaining an intense look of concentration. Naruto stood there and watched her, experiencing a wave of deja vu.

Once she got the passage open, they both began walking down the long corridor illuminated by torches. How they were still lit, Naruto did not know.

A light at the end of the tunnel signified that they were getting close to entering the village. Once they made it to the exit of the passage, they began ducking behind buildings and trying not to be seen.

"What's up, Mitomi-chan? Why're we hiding?"

"We cannot just walk around with these cloaks on, Naruto-san. We look to out of place. Also, our clothes that we have on underneath bear the symbol of our clans; your Uzumaki spiral and my Uchiha fan. We must obtain new clothing to blend in and not be pinned as Konoha spies."

"Okay, that makes sense. So, where are the clothing stores at?"

"We have no money, Naruto-san. We need to steal them."

"Stealing? Oh hell yeah; that's one of my specialties, dattebayo!"

They continued hiding from the populace by jumping in between alleyways or cutting through streets with not many people walking along them. They had finally reached a shopping district of sorts and saw a clothing store in between a cafe and a flower shop, which only had desert plants like cacti. 'I wonder how Ino-chan is doing?' Naruto thought to himself. He quickly shook that thought from his mind however, because he knew he would just get depressed if he thought about his old home and the people living there. They walked around the store to see if there was any other access point into the establishment besides the front door.

They managed to find a small air vent, to which Naruto undid the lock and removed the cover of, and promptly wiggled his way inside. "Are you sure you are okay to do this, Naruto-san? I have training in stealth and I believe that I would be better suited for this task."

"Listen, Mitomi-chan. Although you might have a little more training than I do, I think that I'm gonna do it 'cause I've been stealing shit my whole life. The villagers all didn't take too kindly to Fuzzball, so they didn't let me buy a lot of things."

"Very well, then. I will stand outside and watch to make sure nobody witnesses this."

Naruto then began crawling through the cramped metal passage until he saw another opening that led down into the store they were looking for. He scanned the room to make sure that the shopkeeper/ customers weren't milling about before dropping in silently. He looked around the room and carefully tiptoed over to the children's size section.

He was immediately drawn to a brown high collared long-sleeved shirt with orange trimming along the arms and edges of the collar, and white cargo pants with black shinobi sandals. Naruto didn't know much about girl's fashion, so for Mitomi he grabbed a brown qipao dress with black trimming and a black obi, with black skin-tight shorts and black shinobi sandals.

He then walked over to the front desk and grabbed some loose change that was sitting on the counter. 'We might need this later.'

He was walking briskly back to the opening in the air duct when he saw something that almost made him vomit right then and there.

There, sitting in the clearance section in the back of the store near the cash register, for only 10 ryo, was the most hideous, vile, horrible garment to ever be seen by mortal eyes:

Assless chaps.

To avoid ruining the carpet from his sickness, he ran clumsily back up to the duct and crawled with renewed vigor back the way he came.

Mitomi was greeted with a panting Naruto that looked like he just lost his appetite.

"Did you get the clothes, Naruto-san?"

"Yes."

"What is wrong? Did you see something?"

"Yes."

Mitomi, although she didn't show it, was a little put off by Naruto's new attitude.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Deciding to leave it at that, Naruto and Mitomi resumed their exploration of the village before Naruto's stomach began growling.

"Alright then, we need to see if we can find some sort of library or place that has information on your eyes or their original wielder."

"But Mitomi-chaaaaaaaaan… I'm hungryyyyy."

She sighed. "Very well, Naruto-san. I will see if there is a cafe nearby. Then we shall go to the library."

After wandering the village, the duo found themselves standing outside a small cafe. The cafe was, like many of the other buildings in suna, made from sandstone and, while small, attracted a good amount of people.

Mitomi believed this to be an excellent place for them to relax before continuing their search for knowledge.

Naruto didn't care so long as he got food.

The two entered the establishment, getting more than a few looks once inside. Mitomi took this moment to realize that they both looked very conspicuous. They were two children, both under twelve years old, without any sign of a parental guardian, and nobody had ever seen them before. Thinking quickly, Mitomi grabbed Naruto's hand and ran to the counter.

At the counter stood a young woman with a perplexed look on her face, she was wearing what Mitomi believed to be her uniform and had brown hair and brown eyes. Overall a plain and average person.

Speaking up, Mitomi said "Excuse me ma'am, we're from the local orphanage, the matron allowed us to come here because we ran out of food. How much will this amount get us?" After she finished speaking she held up the pouch of ryo Naruto stole and handed it to the employee.

After hearing the younger girl's story, the woman's eyes took a softer, more sympathetic look. Taking the pouch, she began to count the small amount of ryo the kids had, only to come to the sad conclusion that they didn't have enough to buy even their cheapest item.

However when she looked up, she witnessed one of the most effective of jutsu techniques:

Koinu no Me no Jutsu (Puppy Eye Jutsu)

Forced to look upon the cute and sad looks of the two children, the woman's will crumbled almost immediately.

Unable to bear it any longer, she gave in by handing them both two halves of a sandwich.

"Here ya go kids, it's not much but it's the best I can do. And don't worry about paying, it's on the house."

Naruto, not used to the kindness, immediately began jumping up and down "Yatta! Thank you miss! You're so kind!"

Flattered by the energetic young boy's compliment, she responded "No problem, have a nice day now!"

(5 Minutes Later- Outdoor Park Bench)

Naruto and Mitomi were chowing down on their food while chatting with each other.

"So, do you think they have good ramen here in Suna?"

"Naruto-san, I do not believe that they would use their water supply on things such as ramen. Out here in the desert, they cannot obtain water easily, as it does not rain that often. I heard that they are going through some budget issues at the moment as well, so they cannot just import it from one of the surrounding countries or villages."

"So… there's no ramen in Suna?"

"I highly doubt it."

Naruto's face paled before adopting a grim face. "Tonight, we dine in hell."

"I do not know about that, Naruto-san."

"What do you mean?"

"I was hoping we could settle down for a little while, maybe lay low until ROOT or Konoha stops pursuing us."

"How long will that take?"

"I believe maybe a year or so."

Naruto curled up into the fetal position and began mumbling to himself while a raincloud loomed above his head. "No ramen… no ramen for one year… Why me? Did I do something wrong? Why must the Ramen Gods punish me this day? Give me a sign Teuchi-ojisan! Give me a sign that there is something else to live for! Ayame-neechan, save me from this hell!"

Sighing at her friend's antics, Mitomi dragged him back to the park bench and continued eating her sandwich.

"Naruto-san, I think we should take this opportunity to get to know each other."

"We already know each other, Mitomi-chan. Aren't we friends?"

"Yes, Naruto-san, we are… friends, but how much do we really know about each other? Besides your eyes and your clan as well as your 'problem', I know nothing about you. You only know that I am an ex-ROOT operative and an Uchiha. If we are going to travel the elemental nations together, I believe we should strengthen our bonds by telling each other about ourselves."

"Alright, I guess." Naruto said simply. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!" he started off. "I like ramen, sleeping, Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-ojisan, Jiji, Sasuke-teme, you, and Mikoto-oba..." He got a far-off look in his eyes when he said his surrogate mother's name. "I hate expensive things, asshole villagers, and Uchiha Itachi." He paused for a second like before, but this time, a look of pure rage washed over his face.

Seeing where this was going, Mitomi quickly began speaking in order to divert Naruto's attention away from his thoughts. "Well, my name is Uchiha Mitomi. I do not 'like' very many things apart from rice balls, quiet places, and y-you as well I-I suppose..." She got a bit flustered before regaining her composure and continued eating. " I dislike crowded and loud places, Danzo-sama, and a select few ROOT operatives."

They finished their food in a comfortable silence, enjoying the scenery of Sunagakure. The pair thanked the server for her kindness once again; Mitomi then asked her for directions to the nearest library. Once she supplied them with the information, they navigated towards their destination with a map that Mitomi had drawn based on the information given. On their way there, Mitomi made sure to remind Naruto of their purpose of going there. In a hushed voice, she explained what they were going to do.

"Now Naruto, remember, we are going here for the sole purpose of gathering information; Reconnaissance, if you will. Do not tell anybody about the true reason we are here. Tell them a story that would not be that farfetched so that we do not arouse suspicion. What we need are books or scrolls, or anything that pertains to the Rikudou Sennin and/or his eyes."

"Yeah, yeah. I got this, Mitomi-chan. You're telling me this as if I was an idiot."

"Well..."

"OI!"

(A Few Minutes Later- Sunagakure Library)

The duo found themselves at the bottom of a large set of stairs leading to the entrance of the Sunagakure library. As they began their ascent, Naruto was taken aback by the appearance of the building. It was made of a refined sandstone and built with stone statues of famous historical figures surrounding it, Naruto didn't know the names of these people but, because of how they were portrayed, he was sure they were incredibly important.

The library's entrance consisted of a row of several stone pillars. Eventually they were met with the large doors leading into the library. The doors were made of a dry wood and were obviously old due to the several small cracks splintering across the surface.

Pushing the door open Naruto's gaze turned into one of pure awe. The interior of the building was almost nothing like the exterior, while the outside was a lighter tone, the inside was a dark cinnamon in color, giving it a much warmer ambience. There were rows upon rows of bookcases, each containing a plethora of volumes on a myriad of topics.

In between each column of bookcases there were tables, obviously meant to be used by visitors to sit down and read through their individual books and scrolls.

Naruto was shaken from his reverie when Mitomi placed a hand on his shoulder, looking over he saw that she appeared to be slightly concerned.

"Naruto-san, are you well? You appeared to be distracted." she asked

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts before finally turning to his companion, his signature smile back on his face, before finally replying.

"I'm fine Mitomi-chan, it's just that… This is the first time I've been able to get into a library."

Mitomi was unsure of how to respond to that. She knew that Naruto was a social outcast and was most likely not allowed the same privileges as other children, but to not be able to enter a library? An institution where people may expand their knowledge without charge? Mitomi had no idea the people of Konoha could be so cruel.

Deciding to move on from this train of conversation, Mitomi told Naruto that the best and fastest way to find what they wanted was to divide and conquer, meaning while Mitomi was checking out one side of the library, Naruto would be doing the same at another section.

Once they finished discussing their plan of action, the two children split up and went to their positions. Mitomi began pulling books off the shelves one by one, putting the previous book back where it came from.

Naruto, on the other hand, not having been taught proper library etiquette, was peeling the books off one by one, like Mitomi, but threw them all over the floor. Some of them, he never even bothered to close. This caught the attention of many of the visitors, as well as employees.

One girl in particular was completely miffed, as well as angry, as to why someone would treat books that way. Granted, it was a child doing this, but couldn't their parents teach them any manners? Though she was a child herself, and she also has no parents, but...

Naruto just minded his own business, ignoring the looks he received from the villagers; after all, that was something he was used to. While he continued rummaging through the bookshelves trying to find the right book to gather information on, he noticed a mop of bright red hair making its way towards him. Deciding to ignore it, he went right back to searching for what he was looking for.

Akane was mad. She had never in her short life seen such disregard for these tomes of knowledge. She watched as a spikey-haired blond kid wearing sunglasses- inside- literally tore books from the shelves and threw them all behind him. If that wasn't bad enough, he wouldn't keep his voice down. She constantly heard him mutter things like "Son of a bitch." "No… not that one…" "Where the fuck is it?"

Deciding that she had heard enough, she tapped the boy in question on the shoulder, to which he turned around, seeing what she wanted. "Yeah? What is it?" He asked, in a rather blunt fashion.

"What do you mean 'What is it?'" Don't you know that you're not supposed to treat books in such a way? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Akane all but yelled, completely disregarding her thoughts from earlier about keeping quiet.

Hearing the commotion from all the way across the library, Mitomi stood up from her seat at one of the many tables littered throughout the establishment. She sighed before walking towards her companion to see what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into this time.

She walked up to where she assumed Naruto was, but couldn't see him through the rather large wall of books. Once she removed a few to be able to get through to her friend, she noticed a rather flamboyant child not too much older than themselves chewing him out for the way he treated the books. Looking at her, she seemed… out of place. As if she wasn't from Suna. Nobody, that she knew of, had caramel skin in the Desert Paradise. She decided to not think about it; she didn't want to come to conclusions, after all.

She approached the redhead and began to come to the aid of her blond friend.

"Hello." Akane turned around to find a smiling Mitomi; however, something about the smile was off… as if she had to practice it. Deciding to return the kind gesture, she smiled back at the newcomer, before said person spoke again. "Hello, miss. Sorry about my friend here, he can be a bit… dense at times."

"Oi."

"My name is Mitomi, no surname. Me and my friend Naruto here, also no surname, reside at the orphanage." Remembering her comment about Naruto's parents earlier, her smile wavered a bit into a sheepish expression. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble here? I will help put these books back to atone for my friend's antics." she continued. Akane continued smiling at Mitomi, but now maintained a glare in Naruto's direction. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll clean this up myself. My name's Akane, by the way; also no surname."

"Once again, I apologize. You see, Naruto has never been to a library, so he never got a chance to learn the proper etiquette when in an establishment such as this." At that, Akane's eyes widened considerably. 'What? How could you never have been to the library before?'

Seeing Akane's expression, Mitomi decided to elaborate, without giving the whole truth of course. "Where we are from, Naruto was cast away from normal society. They kicked him out of many buildings on a regular basis, only because they did not like him. Perhaps his parents were not the best of people and they take out their frustration on him since his parents are not around. I do not know." She widened her eyes even more when she heard Mitomi's explanation. 'He's… he's like Gaara and me!'

She softened her gaze on the boy, who by this point had his head down. All of a sudden, her eyes grew wide again 'Oh shit… Gaara! I was supposed to meet him today!' Her head shot up and she quickly said "E-excuse me… I forgot that I have some… urgent business to attend to." before rushing out the library's front door, leaving a dust trail in her wake.

Mitomi turned back to Naruto who still had his head down. "Come on, Naruto-san. We have to continue searching for the right books." When he didn't respond, she asked. "Naruto-san, what is wrong?"

"Were...were my parents… bad people?" he muttered. A wave of guilt washed over Mitomi, who then promptly began consoling Naruto. "Your parents were not bad, I don't think. I just said that in order to lessen Akane-san's anger towards you. They were good people, I am sure of it."

'If only you knew, Naruto-san, if only you knew.'

(Elsewhere In Sunagakure- With Akane)

'Shit! I forgot all about our meetup today! Hopefully he's not mad at me...'

These sort of thoughts were the only thing that Akane could think about when searching for her fellow redhead. She'd already looked everywhere for him. The playground, the Kazekage's mansion (or at least the outside; they wouldn't let her go in since she wasn't the Kazekage or at least related to him in some way), and the rooftops of all the buildings.

Just when she thought that she wouldn't be able to find him, she heard screaming coming from one of the lesser populated districts in Suna. When she looked in the general direction of where she thought the scream came from, she saw a wall of sand forming in an alleyway between two buildings.

'Oh no… Gaara!'

(With Naruto and Mitomi- Sunagakure Library)

By this point, Naruto calmed down and was acting like his old self again. Unfortunately, that did not mean everything was going well... for Mitomi, at least.

"Mitomi-chan, I'm booooored!" cried Naruto in a desperate plea for a break from sifting through books all day long. "It's been several hours! Can't we take a break?"

After an hour of enduring his insistent complaining, Mitomi relented. "*Sigh* Fine, Naruto-san. We will take a short break. We might as well familiarize ourselves with the layout of the village since we will be staying here for an extensive amount of time."

The duo of children once again found themselves wandering through the streets of Sunagakure with no particular destination in mind. As they walked towards a more weathered section of the village, they noticed that the population began to thin out quite considerably as they ventured deeper into that area. People who were walking around began giving them wierd and apprehensive looks, as if they wanted to warn them about something.

"Man, what's the deal with all of these people?" questioned Naruto, confused at the looks people were giving him. "I do not know, Naruto-san." replied an equally miffed Mitomi. Undeterred by this; however, they continued, until they came upon something gruesome. As they turned a corner, they were met with a large bloodstain on the ground with chunks of something scattered around said bloodstain. Also shrewn about the area were pieces of cloth, most likely clothing.

The smell was the worst part; no matter where they turned they could not get away from the obnoxious odor of blood and innards that seemed to seep into the very air around them. For Mitomi this was nothing new, simply the result of a powerful jutsu on someone much less so, possibly even a civilian caught in the crossfire. She herself had employed a variety of jutsus that had similar results, albeit not as... messy. Naruto, she noticed, was not holding up as well as she was. His entire form was trembling as he took in the scene of carnage. Inevitably, it became too much for him as he fell on all fours and empty his stomach on the sand that comprised the normally clean street. She looked on in silence as her friend added to the already disgusting scene, unsure of how to proceed. On one hand they were likely in terrible danger. Due to the fact that the body- or lack thereof- was fresh, and whatever killed the poor soul was probably still in the area, they should leave, lest they themselves get killed. On the other, Naruto was in no shape to even attempt running. Coming to a conclusion, she walked toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto, noticing the sudden presence, looked up to see Mitomi's face through tear-stained eyes. In return she stared at him with a look of… pity? Remorse? Naruto couldn't tell, but he held onto her hand as if it were a lifeline, in that moment he felt almost numb and, although small, Mitomi's help was very appreciated. Gaining the willpower, Naruto shot a small, shaky smile toward Mitomi, to which she responded in kind. However, unlike before, this one was genuine.

The moment was lost when their attention was brought to the sound of what appeared to be sobbing.

Regaining their bearings, the two made their way toward where the sound was coming from: an alleyway near the remains of the body. Now more than a little concerned, Naruto began walking toward the sound. This action did not go unnoticed by his companion, who was now beginning to worry for her friends state of mind. You don't just run into an alleyway, after all.

After what seemed to be an eternity, but in reality was only several seconds, they reached the end of the alley, where before them was a young child, possibly younger than they were, crying. Concerned, Naruto reached towards the child, only to be surprised when a dome of sand engulfed the boy, causing him to give a yelp of fear as he yanked his hand back. When the dome dissipated it revealed the boy looking at them with fear-addled, bloodshot eyes. Closer inspection revealed the kid had black rings around his eyes, making him look similar to a raccoon. His hair was blood red, which contrasted strongly with his sea green, pupiless eyes. Above his left eyebrow, at least where his eyebrows should have been, was the Kanji for 'Love' in a bright red color.

Before either of the duo could react, the child in front of them let loose a shriek before a harsh killing intent began permeating the air surrounding them.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" shouted the obviously troubled boy.

Suddenly a wave of sand formed and slammed into the pair of runaways, sending them stumbling back toward the entrance of the alley.

Mitomi and Naruto scrambled to their feet and prepared for another attack that never came. The sand that was poised to crash down upon them stopped in midair, and slowly retracted. Naruto and Mitomi were confused as to why he stopped, until they looked in front of them.

Standing there with her arms outstretched, defending them, was Akane.


Holy shit, guys. I am SO SORRY for this very overdue chapter. Family issues that I'd rather not dive into have been happening in and out of state so I've done quite a but of traveling, plus school started for me so now I have to put a lot of focus into that (AP classes suck, yo). If that wasn't enough, I start work soon, so I have to focus on that as well.

I'll try to set up some sort of loose schedule for me to follow to at least get chapters out on a regular basis for you guys, but I'm not sure how that will work out. I don't want to set up a strict schedule for me to follow because then it will feel like an obligation to write, when I only do this as a hobby in my spare time, and it'll ruin my motivation. For now at least, I'll try to get a chapter out every couple of weeks, maybe sooner if I have the time and/or the motivation to do so.

Once again, I am really sorry about the long-ass delay, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

(P.S., The whole 'assless chaps' thing was one of my friend's ideas. We both laughed our asses off even though, looking back at it, it didn't seem that hilarious. I decided to leave it in regardless.)

Awesomesauce out.