You know how in the summary there's a warning for dark themes? Well… Something slightly unsettling happens in this chapter so, I'm apologizing in advance.
One month after Naruto's sixth birthday, Kakashi was promoted to Chunin.
An entire year went by right under the blonde's nose, and she was getting better and better at kenjutsu. Naruto found herself training with Kakashi and Minato more often while Sakumo was on duty and her Academy classes were over. Even her "loser squad" was growing stronger, having either Minato or Sakumo teaching them a little something here and there. The blonde even got over her heinous speech impairment, and if she mispronounced something it was usually because she was being too lazy to actually speak properly.
A time came when Naruto and her friends, (that includes you Kashi) were seven years old, and Minato came by the Hatake compound on a sunny Saturday, Kakashi's day off. Coincidentally, Sakumo was off too, and he was in the kitchen preparing lunch for his little hellions. Obito, Guy, and Anko were busy for the day, but they'd promised to come by the next day to tear up Sakumo's house.
The littlest Hatake and his blonde sparring partner stopped beating the stuffing out of each other and greeted the blonde teen that was excitedly making his way over to them across the koi garden.
Naruto's brows rose in silent question as she noticed exactly how flustered her teenage father was.
"Maa, hey Sensei." Kakashi called.
Minato skidded to a halt before the children, cheeks bright pink.
"You guys won't believe what happened today!" He exclaimed, beaming like the sun.
Naruto chuckled, propping her hands on her hips. "What happened you dork? Spit it out already and tell us!"
"Alright alright, you know that girl I told you about?" Minato asked.
Kakashi's eyes crinkled in a particular fashion, telling both blondes present that he was smirking beneath that mask of his.
"You mean Kushina-san? The girl you've been pining after since your Academy days?" The Hatake asked slyly.
All the blood drained from Naruto's face.
She stretched out her senses, ignoring Minato as he went beet red and began sputtering.
'I know that chakra…' Naruto thought, stomach twisting with dread. 'How could I have not noticed it so close…?'
Kurama sighed.
'I knew you wouldn't be able to avoid her until you were old enough to handle an influx of my chakra.'
"Y-yes, well, she finally agreed to go out with me…"
"After years of being shot down." Kakashi piped up.
"Oh hush you brat. Anyways, I want everyone to meet her so…"
"You brought her over." Kakashi said helpfully.
Minato grinned, and Naruto began to panic.
'That's your leftover chakra.' The blonde thought in horror. 'She's in the kitchen right now. Kami Kurama... Mom is in the freaking kitchen! What am I gonna do!?'
'Well for starters you could calm down.' The bijuu offered flatly.
'Are you crazy!? I could kill her by syphoning the rest of your chakra, and you're telling me to calm down!?'
'Yes I am telling you to calm down!' Kurama snarled. 'Do you want to notify everyone in the vicinity that you've got something to hide? Kushina won't recognize that my chakra is leaving her when the time comes, but she will become ill if she gets any closer, so make up an excuse and leave.'
She didn't even need to make anything up because she was feeling a bit faint. Her chakra shuddered in its coils, filling to the brim as sweat began beading along her brow.
Her eyes flickered from blue to violet, and she felt herself beginning to burn up.
"Hey, are you alright?"
The blonde made the mistake of not paying attention to her surroundings while yelling at her partner.
'Naruto you fool! Get out of there!'
Naruto blearily looked up at the person touching her shoulder in concern. Pretty violet eyes examined her beneath furrowed red brows.
"Hey, what's wrong 'ttabane?"
Naruto flinched back violently.
'When the heck did Mom get there?'
'Now! Leave NOW!' The fox bellowed.
"Naruto?" Kakashi and Minato were looking at her, moving to help her in some way.
Naruto squeezed her eyes shut when she felt them about to turn red. Without meaning to, she slapped away Kushina's hand.
"D-don't touch me." She growled, making the redhead flinch.
"Naruto…" Minato frowned. "Calm down alright? Don't take it out on Kushina, just tell us what's wrong okay?"
Naruto panted, turning her back on them, she felt like she was boiling from the inside out. Her face was flushed with a sudden fever, and no one seemed to notice how pale Kushina was getting by the second. It was only a matter of time before the redhead began feeling ill as well.
"Nobody touch me." Naruto rasped.
Kakashi stepped forward, dark eyes serious. "Naru-"
Her body burst into a golden glow, blinding them momentarily, and before anyone could blink she was gone.
Naruto staggered as she lost control of her Kyuubi Cloak's incredible speed, her foot slipping on a loose tile atop the rooftop she'd been zipping across before she lost her balance, the sudden and awkward stop sending her tumbling forward violently.
With a pained grunt, Naruto tucked herself in a protective ball, her small form tumbling off the side of the rooftop and plummeting into the alleyway below.
The blonde flipped herself around to make a last minute rough landing, but to her utter surprise, she fell right into someone's arms.
"Sorry!" Naruto yelped.
"You're nothing but trouble aren't you Naruto?" A familiar laid back voice drawled, followed by a careless sigh.
The blonde looked up at her savior, recognizing her classmate and the person she had met in the Chunin Exams so long ago.
"Ibiki!" The blonde blurted.
The tall boy sighed again and set the short blonde onto her feet. Masked face flushed, Naruto looked up at the boy.
At age seven, Ibiki was still one of the tallest people she knew. Well, at least compared to her peers. He had lightly tanned skin, and white hair cut to short spikes. His eyes were deep brown, always uninterested and half lidded. She didn't know him very well, just that he spent a lot of his time with Asuma, Aoba, Raidou and Genma. As a child, he was very laid back, almost awkward, and he didn't speak unless spoken to.
"Thanks for catching me man, could've been an ugly spill, y'know?"
Ibiki shrugged. "Welcome." He grunted.
Naruto beamed at him, taking in her surroundings, noticing they were in a shadowed alley filled with dusty cobweb draped crates and puddles created from mixtures of egregious fluids. Infirm rats darted from shadow to shadow, cockroaches scuttled from corner to corner.
Naruto rose a questioning brow.
"What are you doing back here all alone Ibiki?" The blonde asked.
Instead of answering, Ibiki just walked further into the alley, moving aside a splintering crate. Wordlessly, Naruto followed the white haired boy's lead, peeking over his shoulder as he crouched down before the mouth of an open box.
Blue eyes widened at the sight of a fluffy pink blanket wrapped cozily around a litter of eight kittens.
The cute little white spotted critters were fast asleep.
'Awwwww~' She inwardly squealed, eyes sparkling.
Naruto's company shifted, drawing her attention, and for the first time, she noticed the backpack he was wearing. Ibiki simply slid the bag from his shoulders and set it at his side after zipping it open. He took something from the bag-a can, the blonde realized, and peeled it open.
"Cat food?" Naruto whispered.
"Mm." Ibiki confirmed, once again going into his bag, this time retrieving a decently sized porcelain bowl.
The white haired boy shook the cat foot into the bowl, and set it down before the box the kittens slumbered in. He placed the empty can in one of the drink holders on the side of his pack.
Naruto moved from her looming position over the boy's shoulder to his right, comfortably squatting at his side and watching the cats snooze.
After a long moment, the blonde grew antsy in the silence, not wanting to think about why she was in the situation she was in in the first place.
"Where's their Mom?" She mumbled.
"Dead." Ibiki grunted curtly. "Had a broken leg. Don't know what from. But I spotted some older civilian kids torturing her. Shaved her of fur, spun her around by the tail, threw her in a bucket of old rainwater, and watched her drown."
Naruto's eyes widened, and she clasped her hands over her mouth in silent horror.
"Gosh that's awful." She breathed.
"Mm."
"And you just… you just watched them do it?" Naruto asked, looking at the boy beside her, studying.
Ibiki shrugged, staring hard at the sleeping kittens in the box across from them.
"I was trying to understand." He muttered.
Naruto's brows furrowed, and she moved closer, as if having close proximity could help her grasp what he was saying.
"What were you trying to understand?" Naruto finally asked, after Ibiki continued to unblinkingly stare at the sleeping kittens before him.
"Why." He rasped.
Naruto was taken aback by that simple and utterly loaded single syllable word.
"I didn't get it." Ibiki told her lowly. "I don't get it."
"Tell me." Naruto encouraged, nudging the boy with her shoulder in silent comfort.
The blonde knew it was only a cat. Yes it was sad, it was entirely wrong, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Ibiki needed to tell someone. It wasn't simply the cats and their mother. Naruto could see that much. But it was what the cats and their mother signified. What they showed about the world and the people in it.
Naruto had learned a lot about the world. She'd learned a lot and no one ever really knew how much, because she never really felt that she could tell. That she should tell.
What Naruto would have given back in her original time to have someone just listen.
To have someone know that the shadows she hid behind her smile couldn't simply be erased with a bowl of ramen and a ruffle of her hair.
Ibiki had a shadow in his eyes.
Ibiki needed someone to listen.
Naruto would listen.
"Tell me." The blonde said again, quiet. Gentle.
Ibiki's eyes slid away from the kittens, and they sliced into Naruto. They peeled away her face, bared the bone underneath her skin and flesh and just looked. They saw.
Naruto could see why many in the future had not dared to tell Ibiki a lie.
And she could also see that he knew she wanted to hear. That she would listen and wouldn't judge what he thought. What he perceived.
Ibiki's eyes went away again, trained once more on the cats, and Naruto felt her face stitched back together, felt the bones under flesh and skin where they should be, hidden from infection.
"I don't understand." Ibiki murmured. "It wasn't a mission. They were civilians. It was just a stupid cat. But they killed it, they tortured it, and they laughed. The people are the village, and if this is the kind of people, the village we protect as ninja... if this is a ninja's only purpose... to protect this, then what is a ninja?"
Naruto paused.
She blinked, took a breath, and sat down fully on her bottom.
"Ah, yeah, that's a good question." The blonde sighed, looking up, absently studying the afternoon blue blanket decorated with fluffy white clouds.
"That's a really good question." She repeated.
Ibiki snorted.
Naruto blinked up at the sky.
"So, you watched because you were trying to think of a reason why normal people do such a horrible thing, because they're not ninja?" Naruto asked. "You were trying to figure out, as a ninja, what kind of person were you for protecting people like that? If your purpose is to die for cruel people, then how much worth do you have?"
"Mm."
"Well," Naruto sighed, looking down and back at her solemn companion. "I'm sure you know that all people can do cruel things, but not all people are cruel."
Ibiki said nothing.
And Naruto knew. He did know.
"I can't say if any person has a worth, ninja or not. No matter how crappy of a human being they may be, they're still a person." Naruto said. "It sucks, to think that there are really messed up people in the world that do messed up things, but as a ninja, I think that I want to protect the people that are good. I want people to live with equal amounts of peace, y'know? You can't understand the cruelty of others simply by looking, and even if you could, you probably won't like what you find. You still won't get it even if you do get it, y'know? You won't because you don't think the same as the person who is being cruel. You'll want to change them, how they think and look at the things around them, so they don't do those messed up things. But sometimes, you're not gonna be able to change people. Sometimes they're not gonna get you, y'know? 'Cause they'll already be set in their ways, they'll already be sure of their beliefs. But that's why you gotta hold strong, and act on your beliefs as a ninja. A ninja protects. You may not always get the people you protect, or even people at all, but it's whatever. You're not alone."
Ibiki was looking at her now.
Naruto smiled, eyes arching into happy crescents.
"I'm a ninja too. Sometimes I don't get it either."
Ibiki's eyes widened.
"None… none of that really made sense." He said.
Naruto snorted.
"I know, but you get it?"
"Mm." The side of Ibiki's mouth turned up ever so slightly. "I get it."
Surprisingly, the duo spent the rest of the afternoon in silence.
The cats had begun waking up after about ten minutes of the kids finishing up their talk, and they both took turns making sure all eight kittens were equally fed. Ibiki had brought some milk and another bowl in his bag as well, so Naruto had spent a lot of time policing particularly greedy kittens so their siblings could actually get some of the milk.
The sun was beginning to set, and Naruto knew her friends back home and the complete mom that was Sakumo would be getting worried.
"Well," Naruto spoke up softly, gently squeezing the kitten's paws that was lying face up on her lap. "It's getting late Ibiki, so I should be heading home."
"Mm." The boy nodded, pulling the cat nestled in his short spikes down from his head and placing her back in the box she shared with her siblings.
Naruto rubbed noses with the kitten in her hands gently in goodbye, grinning behind her mask and following Ibiki's lead.
The blonde helped lie down the other kittens that were climbing all over Ibiki's lap, and even found one lazing about at the bottom of the boy's backpack.
Ibiki wrapped the fluffy pink cover back over the kittens, stood up, and moved the splintering crate that shielded them from the elements back in front of the cardboard box that was their home.
"I'll walk you." Ibiki said.
"Hm, nah that's okay buddy. I'm sure Saki-chan would have a heart attack if I started bringing boys home." Naruto snickered. "Plus, you live near the Academy right? That's on the other side of the village. It'll be way dark by the time you get home."
"Okay." Ibiki shrugged, zipping up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders. "See you I guess."
Naruto exuberantly waved goodbye as the boy slipped his hands into his pockets and shambled off.
"Bye bye Ibiki!" She called after him. "You're a pretty cool guy aren't ya? I hope we can hang out again soon!"
Ibiki didn't turn around or respond in any way, but she saw the boy's shoulders hitch slightly, telling her he'd snorted quietly in humor.
Naruto grinned.
She totally just made a new friend.
Once Ibiki's form was completely swallowed by distance, Naruto's smile dropped, senses honing in on the chakra signature that was suppressed with such expertise that she couldn't even distinguish the nature or if its owner was male or female.
"Are ya gonna keep hiding and watching me like some perv, or are ya gonna come out and tell me what you want?" She called, hands coolly slipping into her orange track jacket pockets.
"Now what's a kid like you doing with chakra sensing abilities so good that you can find me?"
Naruto's breath hitched at that voice.
Good Kami she couldn't catch a break could she?
First her Mom and now him? Why oh why did it have to be him?
Naruto swallowed the sudden lump clogging her throat, and turned around to face the towering man. She looked up with persistently stinging eyes.
'Oh god he's so young he doesn't even fully have the wart yet.' Naruto thought, heart squeezing painfully.
"Hey kid you alright?" Jiraiya asked, white brows furrowing under his spiky bangs. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
'Hah, that's so close to the mark it's not even funny.' The blonde thought darkly.
"Ah, yeah." Naruto rasped, blinking away the wetness in her eyes, craning her neck almost painfully to study that familiar, yet unfamiliar tan face.
The blonde slapped a goofy grin on to her face, eyes arching closed to hide the pain shining in them.
"Oh yeah I'm good. You just remind me of an old man I once knew."
"O-old man!?" Jiraiya sputtered, red markings on his face disappearing as he flushed in indignation.
"Yeah, you look just like him Jiji-san." Naruto said, relaxing slightly as she allowed Ero Sennin's goofy nature to soothe her aching heart.
"J-Jiji!? Kid, do you know who I am!?" The Toad Sennin exclaimed.
"Some old guy?" Naruto asked, opening her eyes once the pain was hidden away, batting her blonde lashes in false innocence.
Jiraiya choked.
"Alright kid, that's it!" He huffed. "I'm not old! I'm in my prime! In fact, I'm such a stag I could bag any woman I want!"
'Oh yeah casanova?' Naruto thought blandly. 'If that's true then why the heck does Tsunade-baa-chan punch you through the wall every chance she gets?'
"A stag?" Naruto said instead, still blinking innocently. "Just who are you?"
"Ha! Who am I?" Jiraiya laughed, hands going to his hips. "I'm only the greatest connoisseur of women to ever grace Fire Country!"
Naruto felt a deep wave of nostalgia wash over her as Jiraiya began hopping about in his odd kabuki dance, exclaiming about the east and the west.
"I am the great and gallant Jiraiya of the Sannin!" He finished grandly, standing atop a garish toad he'd summoned in a poof of smoke.
Naruto's blue eyes sparkled at the sight.
She hadn't seen a toad summon in ages. Because she was back in time, she couldn't summon them because her name wasn't on the contract at this point, meaning she had no access to the Sage Mode she'd learned on Mount Myoboku.
"Uwaaaah!" The seven year old exclaimed, rushing forward to snuggle into the colorful toad. "You are so awesome! So squishy and orange and just awesome!"
"W-what the?" Jiraiya strangled out. "Don't ignore me!"
The toad the Sannin was standing on preened under Naruto's attention and awe.
"At least someone appreciates me." The amphibian grumbled, yellow slitted eyes rolling up to slice a glare into Jiraiya momentarily. "Unlike some people."
"What!"
"Squishy-san you're the best!" Naruto gushed.
The toad gently patted Naruto's unruly blonde head. "And what's your name little lady?"
"I'm Naruto! Pleased to meet ya!"
"I said don't ignore me!"
"Oops, sorry Squishy-san, Pervy old guy. I've gotta get home, or Saki-chan will notice I'm still gone and go into anaphylactic shock."
"I told you I'm not old!" Jiraiya yelled.
"Kay, it's Ero Sennin then." Naruto declared, flashing him a blinding smile behind her mask and giving him a cheerful salute. "See ya Ero Sennin!"
The Toad Sage's eyes bulged out of their sockets at the demeaning nickname, gawping as Naruto ran off in a blur of unruly gold.
Of course Naruto had sensed him as soon as she lost her footing atop the roof earlier, but she hadn't known it was him because he was so good at suppressing his chakra signature. The blonde had simply stuck around to look after Ibiki, to see what the person wanted, surprised they didn't show their self the entire time she was with the young Morino.
She had deduced that the person wanted to see one of them alone after a bit. So, she'd sent Ibiki on his way, finding that the unknown signature didn't follow after the boy.
So she knew then that the person wanted to see her, and called them out.
Now that Naruto thought about it, even though she was no longer a toad sage, Ero Sennin could probably sense that she could use nature chakra, so he'd grown curious and studied her. It was a good thing Naruto was so good at playing the fool and she was able to beat a hasty retreat.
Once she was sure she was far enough away from her old mentor, Naruto ducked behind a flower shop and meat market, into another less shabby alleyway. Leaning her back heavily against the side of the flower shop, Naruto pulled her mask down, bringing her left hand up to her trembling lips, and biting painfully into her shaking fist to try and gain her bearings.
Her chakra flared uncontrollably in distress, and the trembling girl cursed around the fist in her mouth, biting harder as she wrestled with her wild chakra, trying to force the flow back into her coils. She grimaced as she tasted the coppery tang of blood, her knuckles stinging painfully.
She flinched, remembering a sunset painted sky, standing under a tree on the side of the road, a tall man smiling softly at her, offering her the other half of his blue popsicle.
Naruto's heart squeezed, and her eyes pinched shut as she whimpered.
"Haha, thanks! You're the best Ero Sennin!"
"You brat! I told you never to call me that!"
Her chakra burst from her in a crushing flow of despair.
"Naruto!"
The blonde was jolted from her memories by a familiar voice, using all her might to pummel her chakra, forcing it back into its repressed state.
"K-Kashi?" She choked, blue eyes shooting open and following the silver capped form of her fellow masked nin. He dropped down from the roof of the meat market across from her, landing with a nearly indistinguishable clack. Kakashi made his way over to the blonde girl, crossing his arms in irritation.
"Where have you been shorty? Everyone's been looking for you all over the place." Kakashi said, dark eyes studying the girl's slumped form perceptively.
"What's wrong?" He asked after a moment, silver brows furrowing in worry.
"I ah, um… It's nothing Kashi." Naruto lied, slowly lowering her fist, only for the gleam of red on her knuckles to catch the boy's keen eyes.
"You got hurt?" Kakashi asked, catching her hand gently, turning it over and studying the bloody grooves her teeth left in her skin. "Wait… these are-"
"Let go already!" Naruto snapped, yanking her hand away from the silver haired boy, stuffing it into her jacket pocket. "Nothing's wrong. Let's just go home already."
The blonde moved to storm past the boy, only for him to catch her shoulder firmly, whirling her back around with no effort at all.
Naruto's jaw set stubbornly when she recognized the no nonsense scowl on Kakashi's masked face.
"No, we're not doing this." Kakashi stated. "You're being irrational. And I want you to tell me why."
"Oh, so I'm being irrational?" Naruto threw her hands up, feeling impossibly annoyed with the situation. "You're the one who's being irrational. You're seriously crying over a bite when I regrew my entire freaking arm? Why don't you just leave me alone? Huh? Can't you see I don't want to talk to you, or anyone about anything?"
The blonde was huffing by the end of her explosion, both hands tightened painfully at her sides.
Kakashi just looked at her. He didn't look angry or hurt, or anything. His blank expression irked her beyond words.
"I'm not crying over anything, Naruto." The Hatake stated. "You're the one who's crying."
"What?" Naruto snipped, glaring fiercely. "I'm not crying."
The blonde hadn't given in to her emotions like that in a long time. Sometimes she came close, meeting Jiraiya being a perfect example, but she hadn't shed tears over her feelings in months.
"You are." Kakashi said firmly. "How do you think I found you? You don't have to shed tears to be crying Naruto. Your chakra told me all I need to know."
"Yeah?" Naruto asked hotly. "Then maybe you can read my chakra telling you to fu-"
With a roll of his eyes, Kakashi stepped into her personal space, her cursing cut off with an undignified squeak when he pulled her into a hug.
"You're being irrational." Kakashi said again, voice muffled as he pressed his masked mouth into the right side of her unruly blonde head, his lips brushing the sparkling frog clip pinning part of her bangs back. "What's wrong Naruto?"
The blonde immediately felt the fight drain out of her.
Naruto released a shaky sigh, shoulders sagging as she accepted the warmth of Kakashi's embrace, and returned it tentatively.
"I can't tell you everything but I… I was such a jerk." Naruto mumbled weakly. "Kushina-san must hate me."
The blonde bristled when Kakashi's form shuddered with laughter.
"That's it?" The Hatake snorted.
"Kakashi you jerk!" Naruto huffed, pulling away and whacking the boy on the side of his head. "Here I am pouring my heart out to you and you laugh?"
"Ugh, Naruto, calm down for once and let me finish." Kakashi said, rubbing gingerly at his abused head.
Naruto pulled away from him, and crossed her arms, bottom lip jutting out in a visible pout due to her lowered mask.
"I laughed because the idea of Kushina hating you is absolutely preposterous." Kakashi explained, coolly crossing his arms again. "You should have seen her after you ran off, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, going 'what did I do? what did I say? Oh god she was so cute but she hates me doesn't she Minato!?'."
"Wha-really?" Naruto asked hopefully, blue eyes sparkling with hope as she invaded Kakashi's personal space, their noses nearly touching as she demanded to know with her gaze alone.
For a long moment, the Hatake studied the utter blue that made up Naruto's eyes. He could glimpse flecks of twinkling silver scattered across her irises.
'Pretty…'
And another moment had him realizing what he was doing.
"M-move!" Kakashi spluttered, face flushing faintly as he slapped a hand over the girl's face, pushing her out of his personal bubble.
Naruto yelped, stumbling back. She rubbed at her abused nose, pouting at Kakashi indignantly.
"Anyways," The little Chunin stressed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Yes, really. She was worried about you. Everyone was."
Naruto shrank behind her bangs, shoulders hunching in guilt.
"Why did you run off like that anyways?"
"I-I um…" Naruto floundered, trying to think of a believable lie.
'You are known for your chakra sensing abilities.' Kurama supplied, rousing from the doze he'd fallen into since Naruto ran off, his sealed form adjusting to the influx of chakra they'd both received.
'Oh yeah. I'd hate to take advantage of Mom being a previous Jinchuuriki, but I guess there's no way around it.'
Kakashi raised a single silver brow.
Naruto pretended to be embarrassed, scuffing her sandal on the ground as she ducked her head in shame.
"I… well, I sensed something weird when Kushina-san showed up. I panicked 'cause it reminded me of something a long time ago. I had to get away, so I snapped at you guys." Naruto explained, feeling rotten when Kakashi's dark eyes filled with understanding and acceptance. "Sorry about being such a jerk by the way."
"Honestly," Kakashi sighed, shaking his head at the blonde before beginning to walk off. "I suppose that's understandable. But you didn't need to disappear for several hours."
"Sorry…" The blonde said again.
Kakashi shrugged.
"C'mon shorty, let's go home."
Naruto fumbled over herself, pulling up her mask and rushing after the silver haired boy coolly walking down the street, taking his lackluster response for what it was.
Forgiveness.
Halfway home, Naruto picked a fight with Kakashi.
"So…" The blonde drawled, gaining a questioning look from the masked boy from the corner of his eyes. She smirked. "You were worried about me too, weren't you Kashi?"
The silver haired boy rolled his eyes.
"Not exactly," He said, grey eyes crinkling in a familiar infuriating fashion. "Because you're so irresponsible and didn't ask Dad to wash all of your masks, you're using one of mine. Unfortunately you're a hopeless klutz, and I didn't want anything to happen to it."
"Kakashi you utter jerk!" Naruto huffed, taking a wild swing at the smirking boy's head, which he smoothly ducked under and hopped away from.
"Oh, it's so on." Naruto declared, face blooming into a devious grin.
Kakashi's eyes bulged when she summoned two chakra arms, and wisely took to the rooftops.
"Get back here Hatake!" Naruto yelled, taking the opportunity to create a Kage Bunshin to switch out with.
As the clone gave chase on the youngest Hatake, the original headed for the Hokage Tower.
She really needed something from Jiji.
A few minutes later, a golden blur shot through the Hokage's office window, uncurling and landing in a neat crouch across said Sarutobi's desk.
"Ah Naruto my dear girl." Hiruzen said, trademark pipe tucked between his lips. "Come, sit sit. Help me with my paperwork."
"Ew, no way!" The blonde exclaimed, arms crossing in an X formation.
The Hokage laughed, coaxing a fond smile from the blonde, who dropped her arms and hopped down from his desk.
The ANBU that guarded the office knew Naruto's chakra signature by then, and before bursting into her Jiji's office as she was so fond of doing, she always flared it twice so they would know it was her that was about to hurtle into the window.
"Well, if not to help me then what can I do for you?"
Naruto simply pulled down her mask, her expression serious.
Immediately, Sarutobi's face grew grim and he signaled his ANBU away, flaring his chakra to activate the privacy seals in his office.
"I've got trouble old man." Naruto said. "Kaa-san came to the Hatake Compound today. I drew in some of the Kyuubi chakra still lingering in her seal. I was fast enough to get away before she could realize what was happening, but I know I'll have to face her again. And at this point, my body is too weak to handle a large concentration of bijuu chakra in my coils."
"Mm." Hiruzen grunted, blowing out a plume of smoke in thought. "That is quite worrying. But if you thought there was no solution, you would not have even bothered running to me, would you."
Naruto smiled slightly. "Yep." She chirped. "I need you to put a suppression seal over the one on my stomach, to keep it from actively drawing in bijuu chakra. One that'll be easy to remove once Kaa-san isn't near me anymore."
"But obviously you cannot run to me every time you need the suppression seal replaced." Hiruzen muttered, keen mind already flipping through his vast knowledge for a desirable solution. "Suppose you run into Kushina-chan in the market, or anywhere really, and you need to keep from drawing out the bijuu chakra within her, it would look suspicious if you had an excuse to leave every time she is around."
"Yeah…" Naruto frowned, biting her lip in thought. "You're right. What are we going to do Jiji?"
The Hokage gently ruffled Naruto's hair, smiling at her reassuringly.
"I will put the suppression seal on you, and then I will teach you to do it yourself." Hiruzen decided. "But perhaps it's time you begin learning the finer details of fuuinjutsu, Naruto-chan."
The blonde girl eyed the smiling kage suspiciously.
"What are you plotting in that head of yours Jiji?"
The Hokage smiled secretively.
"You know," The Sarutobi drawled. "A student of mine actually just left my office, complaining about disrespectful masked brats."
Naruto's heart skipped a beat.
"You… you didn't." She breathed, unable to form a complete sentence.
"He has no idea why I called him back so suddenly." Hiruzen continued, chortling slightly under his breath. "I'll send him on his way again. But first…"
'Oh no.' Naruto thought in dread. 'Jiji you didn't. Please tell me you didn't!'
"He'll teach a certain someone a bit of fuuinjutsu."
'Oh Kami he did.' Naruto thought miserably.
"Now," Hiruzen said. "Let me help you with that seal of yours."
"I'm so sorry!"
"N-now now, none of that 'ttabane." Kushina said, flustered as she watched Naruto bow at the waist in apology before her. "Seriously Naruto it's fine. Stop it."
"Really?" The little blonde asked hopefully, standing up straight and flashing a pair of glistening baby blue eyes.
Kushina took one look and fell absolutely in love.
"Y-you…"
Kakashi, Sakumo, and Minato watched the scene from the sidelines, having received similar apologizes from the blonde a bit earlier, and now took the time to bask in the awkwardness.
"You are so freaking cute 'ttabane!" Kushina squealed, making the little blonde yelp when she glomped her, squishing her cheeks against hers and rubbing them together affectionately. "So cute I just can't stand it! Oh I love you! I love you I love you I love you I love you!"
Red crept across the edge of Naruto's mask.
"So… all forgiven?" The blonde asked, chuckling when Kushina began pinching her masked cheeks and cooing at her.
"I love you!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
Sakumo and Minato grinned. Kakashi just sighed and shook his head, grey eyes twinkling with hidden mirth.
'Well, things certainly won't be boring around here.'
Monday
Naruto sat at her desk sandwiched between Anko and Obito, Guy sitting beside said Uchiha.
It was the end of the day, and despite Akira-sensei sending out super powered warning sticks of dea-chalk, students were already packing up to go home.
'Hey Kurama.' Naruto called mentally.
The great beast released a long suffering sigh.
'However can I be of service?'
'Dude, stop being such a condescending jerk.' The blonde huffed. 'I just wanted to ask you a question.'
'That's pretty much all you're good for, seeing as your puny human brain can rarely comprehend anything above basic instinct.'
'Seriously, you're being a creep.' Naruto pointed out, face morphing into a put out expression.
The fox scoffed, unmoved.
'Ugh, whatever.' The blonde gave up, rolling her eyes heavily. 'I wanted to ask you about Saturday.'
'What about it?'
'How come Mom couldn't sense that I was a jinchuuriki? Don't all bijuu holders have this uncanny ability to recognize each other?'
'Well, your mother is no longer a jinchuuriki, whether she holds bijuu chakra or not. She may have felt something, but she would not be able to discern what she was picking up on at your meeting. And now that you've decided to wear a suppression seal in her presence, she won't even have an inkling to what you are.'
'Huh, looks like we lucked out, huh buddy?' Naruto thought, grinning.
'Fool.' Kurama snorted, brushing the blonde off with a sway of his many tails before settling down for a nap.
Akira-sensei was wrapping up his lesson for the day. "And that concludes today's cla-"
The young Inuzuka teacher choked off with bulging eyes as a complete maniac flew straight through one of the windows lining the far walls of the classroom, scattering shards of glass everywhere, evoking screams of terror from many of the little kids sitting about the room.
Naruto openly gawped as a familiar orange toad landed on top of Akira-sensei, who yelped, collapsing under the amphibian's weight face first, arms hazardously splayed out before him.
The blonde blinked as a familiar white haired man stood atop the toad, hands on his hips, head thrown back as he guffawed obnoxiously.
"What in the name of youth?" Guy muttered, thick brows furrowed in bewilderment.
"Holy..." Anko breathed. "That creep took out Akira-sensei without even trying."
"Is that a giant frog?" Obito mumbled, blinking rapidly.
"Toad." The blonde corrected immediately.
Her three friends whipped their necks around so quick she winced in pain for them.
"You know him!?" They blurted.
"Please get off me!" Akira-sensei wailed.
Naruto buried her face in her hands when Jiraiya finally stopped cackling and began arguing with his toad summon about using a door like a normal person and 'dammit I thought the window was open would you stop complaining?'.
'Kami have mercy.'
"Naruto, get your butt up here girl! I know who you are kid so you're not gonna pull a fast one on me again!" Jiraiya bellowed.
Naruto sank lower into her seat, as if trying to melt into it, and therefore erase her existence.
But really, she was only trying to hide how happy she was to see the perverted idiot.
As her classmates gawked, her friends demanded answers with their curious gazes, Naruto stood up, eyes squinting closed as she grinned uncontrollably, warmth blooming in her chest.
"Hello again Ero Jiji!" She laughed. "I hope you didn't break a hip pulling that stunt."
"You brat!" Jiraiya exclaimed, face flushing crimson.
'Well, Ero Sennin is now officially in the picture.' Naruto thought. 'Can't say I'm disappointed. He's just as much of a goofy dork here as he was in my time.'
Kurama snorted, not being able to agree more.
"P-please..." Akira-sensei whimpered. "Get off of me..."
Aaaaaand DONE!
Okay, so I know I said Naru would be eight but… yeah, I'll have to postpone that age it seems. For bearing with me, here's a present! :D
Omake
Even at seven, Obito was still a sensitive guy.
Since he'd met his best friends in the entire universe, of course he hadn't cried as much as he used to, because he hadn't had any reason to. Don't get him wrong, he loved them all to pieces, but being part of the "loser squad" did nothing but cause him trouble if he was caught alone and unawares.
Just the Uchiha's luck that he'd stayed out past sunset to help a little old lady with her groceries to her home all the way across the village after training with the gang at Kakashi's house. Even better, three Academy students due to graduate in a few months that had a history of picking on him caught him leaving the old lady's house. Weirdly, they were triplets, with the same brown hair and beady dark eyes. Kuro, Kuroda, and Kurona. And to top that off, the area was conveniently vacant of anyone who could help him.
The sun was setting, and the cute pink house behind Obito was not a place he was willing to run to for shelter.
"Oh lookie what we've got here you guys." Kuro drawled, hands slipped into his baggy pants pockets.
"It's the loser of the Uchiha clan." Kurona continued, smirking cruelly.
"Don't you mean the black sheep of the Uchiha?" Snickered Kuroda.
Obito frowned, fists tightening at his sides. 'Seriously? These guys still don't have anything better to do then to pick on someone younger and smaller than them?'
"Now now boys, be nice." Kuro chided mockingly, turning back to Obito to ask in false kindness, "Whatcha doin' so far from home little sheep?"
"What's it to you?" Obito asked defensively, taking a short step back, but holding his ground in the same mulish way he always did before they beat him up, or humiliated him. "Why don't you guys just get lost? Don't you have any lives?"
All three of their faces twisted into ugly sneers.
"Oh man you've still got that nasty mouth on you, don't you loser." Kurona sneered.
"It really pisses me off." Kuroda said, cracking his knuckles forebodingly.
Kuro's face melted into a serene smile that still held an undertone of his rotten personality. "Oh man I've missed you, little sheep. We used to have so much fun together, but now you've always got those freaks flanking your sides and we can't hang out anymore."
"Missed? Hang out?" Obito gritted, ducking his head so his unruly hair shadowed his eyes, shoulders shaking slightly as he used every ounce of his self control to keep from lunging at them. "You mean you missed making my life miserable? Making me carry your stuff? Dunking my head in the toilet? Stuffing me into the dumpster behind the Academy and locking it when I was scared of the dark?"
"Oh yeah," Kuroda said, snorting in laughter. "That was fun."
"Your big head just fits so well inside the shithole, y'know?" Kurona chipped in, mouth twitching humourously.
"You guys…" Obito said lowly. "You guys are…"
"Awww stop it you two." Kuro said, pouting. "Look at Sheep-chan. He's shaking. You'll make him cry again."
"Who cares?" Kuroda snorted. "Actually, he should be thanking us. We're giving him a bit of spine."
"Yeah, tough love builds character." Kurona grinned, shark-like. "Just look at him now, prancing around with that green freak, purple haired skank, and blonde bitch."
"You bastards!" Obito screamed, bursting forward before he could stop himself. Kurona went down as Obito flew up, left foot slamming smack dab in the middle of his smarmy beady eyed face. The Uchiha used the boy's ugly mug as a springboard while his brothers gawped uselessly, backflipping away from his tormentor's face, a spurt of blood shooting out of his freshly broken nose.
"Gah!" Kurona screeched, falling heavily on his bum, hands flying up to clutch at his crooked and red gushing appendage, eyes watering helplessly as Obito landed smoothly and hopped back to gain distance.
Obito stared at Kurona as he howled in pain, crying cowardly tears over his broken nose and whimpering pathetically.
'What… what the heck was I even afraid of them for?' The Uchiha thought, defensive posture sagging slightly. 'Were they always this… weak?'
"You little shit!" Kuroda yelled, shaking himself out of his frozen shock.
"You're dead!" Kuro snarled.
Obito jolted, shrinking back at their livid glares, before he realized what he was doing and sent the dark look back at them ten fold. The two triplets still standing stiffened at the glare being drilled into their faces, stunned that Obito actually slid into a solid taijutsu stance.
"If it's a fight you chumps want, I'll give you one." Obito declared, feeling blood rush in his ears as he swelled with confidence. "There's no way I'm going to just let you get away with bad talking my friends."
He didn't need courage to fight them, because he wasn't afraid of them anymore.
He wasn't a crybaby ninja.
And even if he was the black sheep of the Uchiha clan, he was the best friend of Naruto, Anko, and Guy. And with those three by his side, Obito didn't care what anyone else had to say about him.
"Come on." Obito taunted. "Let me show you the business end of this loser's fist."
"You're not thinkin' of shedding some blood without lil' ol' me are ya princess?"
Obito's eyes widened, a huge grin stretching across his face as four chakra arms burst out of the ground, two for each remaining triplet. The glowing gold appendages took hold of the waists of either of their pants, gaining exclaims of surprise and horror from his tormentors as they were pulled down around their ankles.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
Guy came speeding around the left side of the little pink house behind the Uchiha, leaping up, bushy brows caved into a fierce scowl as his foot crashed into the side of Kuro's face, sending him flying with an undignified yelp.
As Kuro spiraled through the air and collapsed in a pantsless heap on the ground, giant welt blooming across his assaulted cheek, Guy flipped into a ball, uncurling, bandaged hands slapping onto the ground, legs spinning around in a blur as they kicked Kuroda across the face, sending him flying as well, only, straight into Anko's waiting fist, who had come shooting around the right side of the house behind the Uchiha.
Kuroda had two steaming welts on either side of his face from Guy and Anko, and he laid on the ground in a twisted heap, sniveling as he tried not to burst into tears.
The chakra arms had dispersed, and the creator of them hopped down from the roof of the little pink house, striding up and hugging Obito from behind, warm masked cheek pressing into the Uchiha's left one.
"This is the last time you bother my buddy here you three, got it?" Naruto called out, usually kind voice dead serious.
"We're only going to say it once." Anko spat, cracking her knuckles.
Guy crossed his arms, mouth set into a thin line. "Leave our friend alone."
"Or these losers will beat some character into you." Naruto finished.
The three bullies nodded vigorously, gingerly touching at their injuries.
"O-okay, we get it, geez!" Kurona sputtered, pinching his broken nose closed to staunch the bleeding.
"I-I guess the fun's over, huh Sheep-chan?" Kuro muttered, smiling bitterly. "We'll just have to find a new friend to play with boys."
Kuroda just shook his head, wincing as he pressed a bit too hard at one of his swollen cheeks.
"Now leave us." Guy said, dark eyes unforgiving.
The triplets nodded, stumbling to their feet to scurry off with their tails between their legs.
"Wait a second." Anko called out, slipping her hands into her skirt pockets.
"Anko?" Naruto called as the bullies paused, tone telling Obito that she was raising one of her blonde brows in question.
"Shhh, hush Naru. I got this." The purple haired girl assured her, mouth twisted into a wicked grin as she sliced her hazel eyes back into the triplets. "Leave your pants. All of you."
"W-what!?" Kuroda spluttered. "Are you crazy? We said we'd leave him alone already!"
"Don't care." Anko said, shrugging. "I said leave your pants, so you're gonna leave 'em. And I know your kind. You're persistent. Unless you're utterly humiliated or beaten into submission, you're just gonna keep coming back for more. So I'm gonna give you this lesson now, so that every time you see me, you'll remember how you had to walk home in your underwear. You'll remember that the embarrassment you feel isn't worth a damn to all the crap you put Obito through."
Anko's sharp grin had morphed into a disgusted scowl halfway through her explanation, and her hands were clearly clenched into furious fists in her pockets.
Obito stared in awe, finally registering that he hadn't blinked since Naruto's chakra arms had pantsed Kuro and Kuroda.
He blinked, surprised to feel tears immediately spill down his cheeks as a result.
"Let me help you out." Naruto said, releasing Obito from her hug and stepping around him to stand at his side. She had grown over the past year, still shorter than the Uchiha, but the same height as Guy and Kakashi. She'd had a field day once she realized she'd outgrown Anko for the moment, who was unfortunately the official runt of the group.
Chakra arms came speeding out of her back, curving around and taking hold of all of their pants, yanking them off as they squirmed and fought to pull them up from around their ankles.
"H-hey!"
"N-now just wait a second!"
"You can't just-"
Baby blues narrowed sharply.
"Watch her." Anko sneered.
Kurona fought Naruto's arms the hardest, as he was the only triplet who hadn't been pantsed. Anko had decided to simply draw a kunai and cut them off of him.
"You know what? All this trouble you caused fighting us pissed me off. So, I changed my mind. Leave your shirts too." Anko said sadistically.
Obito startled out a laugh through his tears, feeling Naruto's assuring bandaged hand on his shoulder.
Her golden arms wrestled the triplets out of their shirts as well.
"Now beat it ya chumps." Anko ordered.
In tears and wearing steaming red faces, the triplets rushed off, bearing their rubber duckie patterned boxer shorts to the world.
Guy couldn't help throwing up both hands, flipping their backs the bird, crossing his arms once more when he was done. "Good riddance."
The hand on Obito's shoulder lifted, instead taking his and lacing their fingers.
"You okay?" Naruto asked softly, blue eyes peering into his own obsidian ones with concern.
"Yeah," Obito breathed, chuckling softly, heart soaring with so much love for these freaks he couldn't even put words to it. "Yeah Naruto I'm great."
"You know," Guy drawled out, in one of his rare somber moods. "I feel slightly unyouthful chasing them away from here in their underwear."
Anko snorted, sporting a refreshed sharp grin. "Oh yeah? Well how youthful was it for those jerks to dunk 'Bito's head in the toilet huh?"
Guy's mouth turned down.
"Yeah, s'what I thought." She said. "They're lucky there aren't any garbage cans around here, 'cause I'd have Naru dunk them head first into one with her chakra arms. Then I'd send the can rolling down the Hokage Mountain. On fire."
Guy shook his head, frowning mouth twitching slightly in humour.
"Y-you guys heard all of that?" Obito stuttered, ears blazing in shame.
"Don't sweat it." Naruto said, making him look at her again as her sparkling eyes crinkled with a smile. "To me, you're still the coolest guy."
'Aw jeez Naruto don't say stuff like that.' Obito thought, stubbornly using his free hand to scrub the fresh tears welling up in his eyes away when Naruto gently squeezed the one she held. 'You'll… you'll make me…'
Guy walked over, reaching up and placing a comforting hand atop Obito's unruly black spikes. The green clad boy's mouth curved into a small smile.
The Uchiha's teary eyes were wide at the accepting look Guy was giving him. He didn't think he was a crybaby. The green clad boy probably knew how much that meant to him. It just meant he got him. And that made it even easier for his tears to flow.
Naruto leaned her head against Obito's shoulder as Anko made her way over, right into front of Obito. Anko frowned for a long moment, before she gave up and simply threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close.
"You really are a useless princess." The Mitarashi huffed, face buried into the shoulder opposite of the one Naruto rested on. "Don't you know you're not supposed to fight without us watching your back?"
The Uchiha's lip trembled, face scrunching up as Guy ruffled his hair affectionately before wrapping his arms around all of them.
"Yeah… sorry." Obito mumbled, feeling two warm wet splotches seep into the cloth on his shoulder where Anko rested. "I didn't mean to make you guys worry. But thanks… y'know, for always looking out for me."
"What are friends for?" Naruto asked, voice wavering slightly as she sniffled subtlely.
"I love you guys." Obito whispered.
When all three of them hugged him tighter, he knew they were saying, 'I love you too'.
Later that same day it was pitch black out, and Obito had found that all three of his best friends had followed him because they were going to spend the night at Guy's house. After he'd finished helping the little old lady with her groceries they were all planning to jump out and surprise him from where they'd hidden behind her pink house. But then the triplets had shown up.
Instead of immediately jumping out to his aid and pounding the jerks, they'd all exercised the patience Sakumo and Minato constantly nagged them about acquiring.
They waited to see how Obito would react, and when they saw their friend was going to go out fighting, they knew they were going to fight too.
Both Obito and Guy were feeling a bit iffy about having the boys run off stripped to their underwear, but Anko and Naruto were roaring with laughter as they recollected the evening.
"And then Guy just came tearing out like some kind of maniac screaming 'Dynamic Entry!' like, what the heck is that!?" Anko howled.
"Brilliant!" Naruto guffawed. "It's absolutely brilliant!"
Obito and the squad were in training ground seven, even though it was around 8:30 at night. Before them was a blazing fire flicking up into the starless blanket above, built from Obito's fire ball jutsu, and a brutalized tree Guy demonstrated an up close Dynamic Entry on when they'd arrived, (Anko having wanted to see it again). The fire was also fed the clothing that Naruto had wrestled off of the triplets.
Strangely enough, because Naruto decided Obito and Guy needed to get over the fact that they'd stripped people, she'd began disrobing.
"W-what the heck are you doing?" Obito had spluttered, face beet red.
"What?" The blonde asked innocently, moving to pull down her shinobi pants. "You guys are my peeps. And if you're gonna feel guilty, let's all get naked!"
Guy's eyes had nearly popped out of his head when Anko had seen the logic in the exclamation and literally ripped off her shirt.
"Yeah!" Anko cheered. "Let's all get naked and have a party!"
Obito blinked, turning to Guy, for some reason expecting the other boy to talk sense into their crazy friends, only to bug out when Guy shrugged and simply ripped off his jumpsuit as well.
Obito gawped when Naruto ran over to Anko, stark naked and maskless, taking hold of the other naked girl's hand who was cackling uncontrollably.
The blonde had pulled Anko over to Guy, who was also naked by that point, save for his trademark scarf, which he made no move to take off.
The Uchiha just watched his three utterly insane friends hold hands and dance in a circle, the bonfire built on the clothing of his tormentors and Dynamic Entry splinters sending golden light dancing across their grinning faces.
"Oh what the heck." Obito muttered, mouth twitching before it bloomed to a full blown grin.
"Whoooo!" Obito cheered, streaking over to his friends, who easily opened their dancing circle to let him join.
They all laughed like loons, dancing to no real beat, skipping around the bonfire.
Sakumo nearly had an aneurysm when he found out the kids never made it to Duy's apartment, only to track them down and find them burning up training ground seven and butt naked.
"W-what the-" Sakumo could not utter words as he spluttered, eyes popping out of his head as Duy threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
"Ah the wonders of youth!"
Obito had laughed so much his stomach ached, but he still couldn't stop smiling. He looked at Naruto's serene whiskered face, Anko's sharply grinning mouth, and Guy's eyes pouring rivers of youthful tears. And he just simply… felt.
Yeah, they were all crazy. Everyone thought they were a bunch of losers but… Obito didn't care anymore than his friends did.
So he danced, naked as the day he was born, and he didn't stop feeling loved or loving the whole time he did.
