Chapter 11 - Shadow!Warning!

A small shadow could almost be seen as it slipped behind a wall.

The hiding entity looked around in the slowly brightening daylight. Few people were about, but it was still too early to safely move around. Last time, several people had tried to corner her before she could get to the Hokage's tower, nearly succeeding. But that wasn't her destination this morning. Her stomach grumbled in protest at the mere thought of her reasons to be out.

Not seeing anyone in along the road, she took off towards the next closest alley that was still hidden from anyone that she couldn't see before. Each change in location gave a slightly different perspective, and a different area of sight. She knew the furthest travel point from one alley to another, that still guaranteed safety.

Another few shifts brought her into sight of the greatest place in her world - Ichiraku's Ramen. The balding old man let her eat, didn't glare, actually talked to her, and was actually nice. He was the second person in her life to do more than ignore her existence, spit or glare in her direction, or simply curse her away.

Smiling brightly, Narumi watched as two cute girls entered the back. She'd seen them enter a few times, but only just realized they were there to help the man fix food. The last time, she had actually tried it while they were there, hoping it wouldn't make her sick like other places did sometimes, when they actually allowed her to eat. The little redhead didn't know why, but she felt that 'people' were the reason she felt bad, not just the food. And two new people helping make her favorite food upset her a little. But she tried it a few days before, and it still tasted the same. So she was going to try again.

Just as the owner turned the sign, she fled under the flaps. A few times she had eaten there with others either sitting within, or people coming in as she was already there. Both times, she felt that they left too quickly, and it was her fault. Despite the owner's rebuttal that it was fine when she asked, she could tell that it was her fault, and should avoid allowing it to happen. So she either came early morning or late night when nobody else would come.

Her smile could light up even the sun as she watched the adult walk out the kitchen. "Hey Jii-san, I have a little money! Think I could have a bowl of Miso?" Her excited voice was quiet, much different than usual, but she didn't want to draw attention while trying to hide her presence from others.

"Of course. How many would you like Naru-chan?" Almost startled by the change in address and tone, she completely missed the thoughts of money or related thoughts.

"A-Ah? Just one?" Her eyes just watched as the man nodded with a smile and walked back into the kitchen. Her mouth hung open, eyes still staring at the spot he disappeared through.

"..Huh?" It wasn't until a bowl was placed in front of her that she took notice of his returned presence. Looking down, she nearly fell off the chair with a surprise squeal, "this isn't a small!"

"Mn, I'll get started on another, just in case you want it. Make sure to take time to enjoy it."

Narumi just stared at the disappearing man. Now almost totally freaking out, she looked down. The scent easily had her mouth watering in the short instant it had been in front of her. Drool quickly escaped her mouth. Her stomach started protesting again, and this time didn't stop. Soon enough, the craziness flew to the back of her mind, and she started shoving the holy food into her mouth.

It wasn't until the third bowl was nearly depleted that she came back to herself. Seeing the fourth put in front of her, she almost thought of ignoring it in favor of asking her questions. Almost.

Soon, it too had disappeared into her bottomless stomach. She leaned back in bliss, eyes glazed over from eating a full meal for once. Though they weren't the large bowls, they had been bigger than her usual. The sounds of footsteps outside broker her out of the dream, and her body tensed again. Thankfully it was just passing by the stand. Narumi sighed in relief at not driving a customer from the stand.

"Thank You Oji-san!" Narumi smiled, then dug her small hand into her shorts pocket. She realized she didn't have enough to pay for so much, and was obviously horrified at her actions!

"Don't worry about it, Naru-chan." The gentle voice stopped her thoughts once more. She looked up at the man questioningly. "It's already been paid for. A someone or two decided that you need to eat more, and is taking care of the cost. I can't name who, but don't worry about it, and come by every day if you can."

Stinging sprung up in her eyes. Someone was paying for her? The Hokage was already giving her an allowance. And Ichiraku-san said it wasn't him. But who else could it be? She didn't know anyone else! Her lips trembled at the rare kindness, tears springing forth. "Th-Thank You-u"

He waved it off, "don't thank me. It's their idea. I couldn't do this otherwise. Just come more often, will you?" He left off that he probably could, but it would probably put his business under if he tried. The two helpin him out really did allow him to take care of customers much easier, faster, and give them better service. Having people spread around the fact that he allowed the 'demon brat' to eat at had really drained his business recently. So providing better quality service to pull them back was truly a godsend. It did help that the girl in question tried to avoid others when she realized it herself, but he wouldn't, couldn't, blame her.

"Tell th-them thank you for me?" She nearly sobbed out, but kept from breaking down. She had to get going soon. Otherwise she might cause problems. She dropped from the high stool with his nod of assent. Peeking between the flaps, she waited for a clear opening before dashing to a nearby alley. Narumi exited the other side and ran towards another, quickly doing the same. Finally, she started walking along the streets normally.

For the rest of the day her thoughts kept flowing back to the chef's change and the random kindness given to her. Who knows, maybe she could meet the person someday soon? Then she would have a third precious person in her life!

Run! Run! RUN!

Four padded feet hurried as quickly as they could move across the road. Golden fur fluttered in the wind. A tail flitted back and forth to keep balance. Ears swiveled as they heard the quickened steps chasing after her.

Kyaa! I can't believe I took this day!

Eh? What's wrong?!

I'm b-being chased! Stupid man won't give up!

Run up a wall or something?!

Eyes glinting at the idea, the small fox-shaped girl quickly turned towards the nearest building before simply doing just that. Her pads left the dirt covered road and up the wooden building. She could hear cursing below her as she continued up to the roof. As soon as she reached the top though, she almost regretted it. Two rooftops away, a black figure had just leapt towards her direction. Fur quickly standing on end, Fuyuna's heart froze at the incoming sight.

A second later, the figure flew over her, completely ignoring her existence. Her body shivered, baffled at not getting attacked, captured, or any other possibility. Slowly, her puffed out fur flatted. Looking behind her found nothing but the inner wall of the rooftop. Blinking owlishly, she followed it down to just underneath her feet. Yellow… The stupid roof is completely yellow!

She felt like laughing, but the narrow miss kept her from doing so. Though it wasn't her exact shade, most of the roof was painted golden, with lumber spread about it. The shades produced by the unused wood, and reflecting yellow from the rest had somehow hidden her from sight.

Moving across to the other side, she carefully walked down into another alley, and back into the darkness. More footsteps caught her attention, and she quickly hid underneath more trash and boxes. Once more, her purser flashed by, but without a goal within sight anymore. Black tipped nose poked out from the hidey hole as the cursing grew distant. Finally got away… Oh, don't traverse the rooftops.

Eh?

Just… don't.

Okay?

Once more on her way, the golden fox followed her nose. Her sharp eyes picking out the best places to hide and scamper to. Inexperience had her going back and forth to get further without being seen as dead ends kept popping up. But eventually she found her goal sitting alone in on a tree swing in the park. Unable to get close without being seen, the ice fox stayed in the surrounding shrubbery.

Not knowing when the obvious sad child would be leaving, and not one for sitting still for too long, Fuyuna darted from bush to bush, eventually ending up in the one closest in front of the redhead. She kept herself visible to the girl, but not to much else. The bush easily covered the sides and back, but not the front where she was purposefully attempting to garner attention.

A child, though much further away than the redhead, turned towards her direction, and she easily slid back behind the leaves. Soon enough the child's attention was upon something else, and the golden fox was once more attempting to garner attention.

Finally, the redhead shifted her gaze back in front of her, and away from the other children. Blue eyes noticed a tiny movement within a bush some ways from her, finding a color that should not be within the green. Her brows furrowed as she squinted. The moment happened again, and she got up from the swing. She kneeled in front of the plant, trying to make out the strangeness within.

"Kya!" Once her face was close enough to the bush, a foxy face poked out so quickly she didn't realize what it was until she felt the wet lick against her cheek. Narumi blinked as she rubbed the wet spot. "You!" Her voice lit with happiness. "You're back again!"

The fox leapt out of the bush and into the lap of her giggling 'sibling'. Soon enough, Fuyuna was drowning in the pleasure that is petting. Purring her approval, she nearly fell asleep to the bliss. Only when it stopped did she remember why she was looking so hard today. Unlike the last few weeks, where the twins would only show up around evening when their sister went back home, today she had a different goal.

Leaping off her affectionate sister, Fuyuna once more entered the bush. She didn't notice the pout of the redhead, but knew that she would want more attention. Darting out the side of the bush, the golden fox quickly disappeared into another. Looking back, she knew that Narumi had seen it, and patiently waited. Finally, the human got up and walked over. Once within reach, gold fur once more darted to another bush, causing a deeper pout on her siblings face.

This continued until the Uzumaki in human form finally caught on, and started chasing the little fox. She didn't even realize that they'd eventually left the playground and back into the village. Though when the fox didn't run from its hiding place, Narumi finally noticed others were around. Just as she started thinking about it, the fox ran into another hiding spot across the road. Narumi followed again.

A few more times of this had her realizing the little fox was actually avoiding the sight of the surrounding people. Just as she had been doing in the mornings as she secreted to Ichiraku's! Laughing, Narumi turned it into a game, and started following the fox's example to not be seen. She couldn't help but wonder if all animals acted this way. The chase picked up pace as they entered more and more secluded areas of the village, with less people traversing the streets.

Finally they came to a stop just outside a forest. The road they were currently on led to a walled compound, but the fox obviously wouldn't live inside such a place. Nor did it appear to be headed there either. Instead, it ran into the really tall grass. She would be unable to follow it if there hadn't been a thin path made from the small creature flowing through it. Though it got harder and harder to follow as the grass seemed to grow as she moved through it. Well, get taller as she went deeper into the forest.

It had been fun before, but now that she could only see the thin spot of parted grass where her furry friend was moving at, she wasn't so sure. Her doubts and frustration increased as it got harder to follow, and the amount of time she'd been following within the forest lengthened. But she kept on. Her friend was leading her somewhere, and she wanted to know.

Eventually Narumi could hear the sound of water. Unlike anything she'd heard before, the subtle sound seemed to roar. But it still sounded like water. During her approach, it just seemed to get louder, and her more sure of what it was, but still very confused at how it could be possible.

Those doubts cleared up as her wide-eyed gaze moved up the wide falls. It wasn't all that high, but still several times her height. She was startled from the view as soft fuzz rubbed against her leg. Looking down, she smiled at the cute creature. She'd almost come to think of the two foxes as her best friends. It once again led her again, but this time into a patch of flowers, a very large patch, that covered much of the area by the waterfall. It laid down upon them, which she happily copied.

For the first time in her life, the redheaded child was completely at ease. She could never remember feeling so relaxed. Her smile, a rarely seen genuine expression, increased when the furball curled up against her arm as she shifted to the side to hold the purring creature. The girl didn't even notice her tiredness before falling deeply asleep among the flowers and fluff.

Far up in the trees, a black-clad woman gazed down upon her ward, a child shunned by others, a little girl that is being manipulated into hiding her gender for her own safety. A fragile existence that has little in her life to appreciate, and nearly nobody to care for her. Even she hadn't allowed herself to approach the child. Only when the Hokage practically forced the job upon her recently had she even taken an interest. But now that she was a guardian, she was unable to personally interact with the girl.

But she was currently in shock. If someone had tried to sneak up on her, they would be able to do so with the simplest ease. Maybe even if they had tried to attack the child below, they might have been capable of doing so.

The past couple weeks, she had taken notice of the two foxes that were obviously alternating between days to keep the lonely child company for a few hours each day. Even after reporting the strange occurrence to the Hokage, no orders to take action were given. Though he too found it highly suspicious, there was no indication of foul play. Indeed, there were rumors of the two foxes, and even he had heard of them. Only now had they been spotted by an adult, but only by his ANBU. That in itself was strange. But with the rumor and little evidence of danger, he had merely ordered her to be attentive to the creatures.

Today though… Watching as the intelligent vulpine pull her ward's attention, comfort her lonely soul, then have her follow it through the village while keeping completely hidden from others? It wasn't expertly done, but with her ward following so closely, not a single eye caught sight of the creature, and the few that could had only seen her ward trying to sneak around.

Even more, it had led the boyish girl to the forest of the rumors. She watched as the child followed, albeit frustratingly, through the tall grass. Where they stopped though, she had never seen an area so beautiful.

The small river was maybe three or four meters wide, waterfall was easily ten meters in height, surrounding trees anywhere from fifteen to thirty, grass short enough to not be a bother around the waterfront, and several flowerbeds about the area. Specifically, just under the rock face on either side of the waterfall. At least as wide as the stream itself on either side, and a good few meters long, the assortment of random flowers enhanced the view of beauty to nearly unimaginable levels. A breathtaking sight to say the least.

But the fact that one of the foxes led her ward to such a place? Showing her the love that should naturally be given to a child? Even if it wasn't human, it had given her more attention and comfort than any other had probably done within the girl's short life. But the real shock came from the smile upon the mistreated child's face. She never seen such a smile from the girl before, almost as if any smile seen before was utterly fake. The ANBU watched as the redhead lay there, happily dreaming, hugging the suspicious golden vulpine as it purred their troubles away. Maybe they were fake? That thought would make anyone feel terrible…

A shift in the grass brought her attention back to reality. The darkening skies told her that she had actually been there for far longer than she wanted to believe. Had she been so out of it? Her gaze fled back to the moving color within the grass. A bright red.

That quickly shaped into the form of the another fox. The blonde stripes that slide from either eye, an inversed colouring of the other fox, told her it was the twin sibling. It was strange how they looked exactly alike, yet inversely colored. It made it's way into the field, traversing the flowers towards her ward. Eventually it crawled into a place between the redhead's arms and her tummy.

Despite her rank and the requirements of it, she was still young, still a girl, and still enjoyed cuteness. It was simply ingrained into her being, as it was with nearly all females. She cursed not having a camera on hand for such an adorable scene. It would probably keep the old Hokage happy with her for months. Instead, he's going to be upset that there wasn't any evidence of it! ..Maybe she'd keep quiet? She cursed her mission.

Silently fuming, she continued looked at the scene below as if betrayed by lady luck herself.

I feel like how I'm writing is changing away from what I wanted it to be like…
So long as the story stays enjoyable, I suppose it doesn't matter too much?
Thoughts?

Monsieur La Critique:
Naru: to bear fruit / to ring/to echo/ bell sound?
Naruto: Maelstrom
Narue: Blessing
Narumi: Roaring of the Sea
Narua: N/A
Natsumi: Summer/Beautiful

The changing was supposed to be them getting used to it. Despite their liking, the girls are still both the same girl, and lived most of their lives as Narue. It might still come up here and there, but are slowly drifting away from it. Also, Minato was terrible at naming (I think?). But there is symbolism in the names relating to old Uzushio. Everything to do with Kushina and Minato name-wise had some link to water or weather. I named 'Narue' for representation of Mokuton.

Prankpokolypse will happen. Eventually. I just have to get the setting right for it to eventually happen. Yes this will turn slightly dark and/or serious, but will also flow back into fluff. There's simply too much in the air about their situation to always retain fluff as a constance. (Also, I admit to be terrible at people skills / jokes / da funny myself. Though I do enjoy reading such so incredibly much)

I have around 18 chapters written, but I think I'll have 25 by the time the first arc finishes. There's a small draft on the direction I want it taken, but I want to finalize my idea before writing the rest of this part out. (I've never written a draft out before! Yay me!)

My other story is apparently on temporary hold. I've got some new ideas tossing about in my head, and am currently undecided on which where to go with it. There will be a go, and it will be magnificent! I just gotta decide… Though the same could be said with this story, so maybe it isn't? *Indecisive?*

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Reviewing!ThankYou!
Basically!Thank!You!Everyone! :3