Author's Notes: Chapter thirty-eight! Definitely the calm before the storm. Or rather, the hurricane.
LaundryGirl: I went with both my sisters, then with my mom and the boarding school she drives a bus for. The bus was full of boys and they were pretty excited about it. And don't be embarrassed--fangirling isn't a crime yet. Take pride in it! XD
Jelp: I'm trying to make plans so that ideally, all my readers will be informed if I die unexpectedly (I'm still young, anyway, so it'd be hard for me to die of old age). Still, try to think positively for me--I rather enjoy being alive. ;)
sashlea: Unfortunately, character development for parallel!Naruto is going to be vague during Door Number Two. However, I intend to rectify that in some 'deleted scenes' following DNT's completion.
Title: Door Number Two
Author: Reaper Nanashi (Lady Shinigami)
Pairing: None Intended
Word Count: 3,160
Type: Multi-Chapter (Work In Progress)
Rating: T (bad words, sexual innuendos, blood, violence)
Date Submitted: 7/27/07
Disclaimer: No.
Claimer: Genko, Byako, Shakko, Hotaru, Nyoko, Aya, Hitomi, Shinju, Akane, Takako, Tsukiko, Mimi, and anyone or anything relating to them is mine
Summary: Maybe it's a dream, maybe it's real. Naruto doesn't know how he got there, but he's not sure he wants to go home. Perhaps the little decisions aren't so little after all--one choice can change a life forever . . .
Chapter Thirty-Eight - Ophidian
His father stared, at first unable to comprehend what he was seeing. " Naruto, you . . ."
" What in the world . . .?" Hotaru recovered first. " Naruto!"
" What?!" he cried, voice high. " Nyoko's heavy and this solved the problem!"
Hotaru turned to the Fourth. " What is that?"
His father was extremely amused and did not move his hand. " Looks like a girl to me."
Hotaru hit him in the arm.
"It's a modified transformation jutsu," Naruto explained, hoping that his openness would help dodge any information-digging, "that's all."
"For what purpose?" Hotaru prompted.
". . . Pranking, generally."
The Fourth burst into peals of laughter, even ignoring when Hotaru elbowed him hard in the gut. "That's rich!"
"It means he's been spying on women, you dope!"
His father grew serious instantly. "Have you been spying on your sisters?"
"No!"
"Your mother?"
"No!"
The Fourth considered him, then said, "I guess I'll let it go, but only if you swear you'll never do something like that again without warning someone."
"Arashi!" Hotaru protested.
"What?" his father asked. "It's not like he'd remember names and faces, so we can't go all over the village apologizing to every woman we come across."
"He's violated women's bodies!"
"What am I supposed to do, Hotaru? Take the jutsu away from him? Paddling has never worked, after all, and grounding him won't make it go away."
"Just . . . There must be something!"
The Fourth looked at her, then sighed softly and gestured for Naruto to move closer. He obeyed and they began to walk down the street toward the bathhouse. "Naruto, while honesty requires that I admit you've come up with something very entertaining, at the same time you've also done something terrible. It's not okay to look at any woman's body when she doesn't show it to you voluntarily. That's abusing her trust and taking what doesn't belong to you, even if only visually. Like your sisters, for example. They come from appalling backgrounds and much of the time they've been through what you've done, only it was taken to the next level. If you had been spying on them and they had found out about it, they would have cried because I'd told them that things weren't like that here and it would have made me a liar and both of us no better than those people in the places they had come from."
Hotaru nodded firmly.
Naruto wilted beneath his parents' disapproval. So this is what it feels like to be scolded by your parents . . . I'm seventeen years old and I feel like I'm less than half that age. Somehow, it was a thousand times worse than the villagers' shouting or even Iruka's righteous fury. ". . . I'm sorry." It occurred to him that the women he had been spying on came from a place that hated him, so it was really much more fair than his parents knew. Still, particularly for his mother's sake, he did not take the apology back.
His father placed a reassuring hand on his head and smiled gently. "Just keep it in mind, okay? Women are bashful creatures of self-consciousness--they'd think something was wrong even if they had the perfect body. Like your mother. She holds herself to a standard I still haven't been able to understand even though she has curves in all the right places."
That was not a thought Naruto was ready to consider. "Dad, please . . ."
"Arashi!" Hotaru screeched. "He's twelve years old!"
"So? If he can spy on women in bathhouses then surely he can talk about their bodies. Good gods . . ."
"Not Mom's, please," Naruto requested.
"Not mine, thank you!" Hotaru snapped simultaneously.
They arrived at the bathhouse just as a few of the girls did, all of whom carried bathhouse equipment.
"Thank you, my lovelies!" Arashi chirped, smiling gratefully. "Sorry I made you come so far just to keep a secret."
The girls smiled back shyly, clearly a little uncomfortable in the crowded surroundings, and blushed when he hugged them and kissed each on the cheek. With the buckets of supplies left behind, they began to head home.
Naruto was glad, belatedly, that they had not noticed him.
They split up at the front desk, Hotaru taking Nyoko into the women's side and shooting the Fourth dirty looks when he made suggestive noises or said suggestive things.
"Mom's right," Naruto noted, swiftly cancelling his jutsu as they headed into the men's side. "You are a pervert."
His father grimaced at being reprimanded by his own child. "Kid, I hate to tell you this, but I'm a man. It comes with the territory."
"I don't do that kind of stuff."
"Wait until you hit puberty."
Naruto almost told him that he had--ages ago--but caught himself at the last minute.
"I also got this way because of my stupid teacher and my stupid student, so don't ever spend more time around them than you have to or it'll happen to you, too."
Too late for that, Naruto muttered to himself. Way too late.
They washed and then settled into the hot water. Naruto moaned as the heat found and soothed knots in his back, arms, and legs that were left from his trip to hide away in Wave Country. He let his face rest on a surprisingly cool, dewy stone and closed his eyes as the penetrating warmth melted his insides into a pleased puddle of goo. Callused fingers carefully trailed along his forehead, over his temple, and into his hairline before drawing back and repeating the gesture. Lulled by the tender touch, Naruto sleepily opened his eyes.
His father looked at him, hair limp with the water and startlingly long, his expression soft. "How've you been, Little Fox?"
"Much better, now that I'm home." He sighed heavily. It was like I was back where I'm supposed to be, hiding from assholes and scrounging for decent food. Nothing I was a stranger to, but immensely unpleasant all the same. "I missed you and Mom and Nyoko."
His father leaned down and kissed his forehead. "We missed you, too."
Naruto gazed up at him, then smiled. "I'm glad you're my dad."
"Oh really?"
It was clear that he wanted to know why, but Naruto closed his eyes again, unwilling to explain. "Yeah." It's not totally about him defeating Kyuubi or having everyone adore him like I used to think. It's about him being a gentle, kind Hokage and father. He's been showing me what I need to be when I go back and he doesn't even know it. But I guess . . . I guess that's a dad's job, right? To show his children what a man is supposed to be.
It is the sire's duty to set the best possible example for his offspring, Kyuubi agreed. If he fails at that, he's an unworthy stud and should die.
Naruto grimaced internally, but he was mostly used to the fox's casual talk of killing--foxes were predators, after all. And would you say Dad's unworthy?
He has many shortcomings, but he is a proper sire, Kyuubi conceded in a sour tone. Or, at least, as proper as can be expected from a race that has abandoned most of its good senses. His paternal instincts are unusually strong, but they will serve his bloodline by guarding his kits from harm and thus ensuring the continuation of his bloodtraits.
Bloodtraits? Naruto echoed, feeling a sudden surge of excitement for no viable reason. You mean a kekkei genkai?!
A what? Oh . . . Kyuubi snorted. Displeased as I am--not--to burst your bubble, no. Bloodtraits, moron. The things passed along during breeding.
What, genes? Naruto had to admit that he had set himself up for that letdown. One day, he would remember that things were just a little different when talking to a fox. Why the hell didn't you just say that?
I did. It's not my fault you're too stupid to grasp what are clearly far too complicated concepts.
He nearly fell asleep--his chats with Kyuubi did not always keep him awake, especially in such quiet, warm surroundings--but managed to keep himself up by yawning repeatedly. Hazily, he could remember closing his eyes and leaning against the Fourth's arm, feeling the smooth play of his father's bicep as the older blond animated his conversation with some other men with a few tame hand gestures. He let himself drift off to some distant location, secure in his safety but not quite asleep, and groaned barely half an hour later when the Fourth nudged him persistently.
"Go away!" he hissed.
"We have to get out, Naruto. Unless, that is, you want to be a wrinkly red raisin?"
Grumbling, Naruto climbed out of the bath and toweled himself off, then dressed and met Hotaru and Nyoko in the front hall. His father joined them a moment later and they headed home through the falling night, Nyoko babbling excitedly to her family about everything they had done for that day. They reached the top of the Monument and Naruto paused to look back across the village and out into Fire Country.
". . . Naruto?"
Naruto looked westward, unable to see the myobu but aware that it was there. It's going to be hard to defeat it . . . Kyuubi shifted absently and sighed boredly from within his cage. A terrible thought struck Naruto then and he turned frantically toward his father, who was looking at him with mild curiosity. "Dad," he said, and was shocked to hear that his voice was quivering, "you aren't . . . the myobu . . . you can't . . ."
"Naruto," the Fourth said gently, "that doesn't make any sense."
"You can't!" Naruto blurted.
"Can't what?"
"Seal it!"
His father drew back, startled and confused. ". . . How did you . . .?"
"Promise!" Naruto commanded hysterically, subconsciously aware that such promises meant virtually nothing. Death was an equal opportunity thief. "Promise me you won't seal it!"
Bewildered, the Fourth replied, "Naruto, I know you're close to Kyuubi, but this is most definitely not the sa---"
"I don't care about that stupid fox!" he shrieked. "I don't want YOU to die!"
Arashi gaped slightly. How the hell does he know about the shiki fuujin? . . . No, he can't. He must mean that he doesn't want me to get within range of the myobu's attacks. ". . . I'm afraid I can't promise you anything, Naruto, aside from care with my actions. A myobu is . . . not weak. That's under normal circumstances. It's hard to say what the clerics have done to this one."
"But Dad . . . what if you die?"
Arashi gestured for Hotaru to take Nyoko into the house. Hotaru resisted firmly. "Arashi, what's this about?"
"Hotaru, please? I'll explain it to you later, okay?"
Hotaru harrumphed and turned up her nose slightly as she marched into the house.
Arashi massaged his sinuses. "Great." He refocused on his firstborn and crouched down to be more or less at his level, though Naruto was big enough to be taller than him by that point. "Naruto, this isn't a normal circumstance--it's not one where I'm supposed to sit back and let everyone else do all of the work for me. I don't want to die and I don't plan to die. Ever. But . . . I can never promise that I won't. I'm very powerful, but there are some things that are greater than me. Still, I can't just let them walk all over me and take my family away." He swallowed the lump that developed at the thought. "I couldn't bear it if you died, Naruto," he whispered, and the mere thought made his heart shudder. "I couldn't. It would kill me."
Naruto could not stop his lower lip from trembling. "Dad, please . . ." he whimpered as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "Please don't leave me again. I'm not ready. I'm not ready . . ."
Arashi braced himself on a knee to support his son's weight better and rubbed the boy's back soothingly. Then Naruto's words really reached him. ". . . Again?" Naruto did not answer. "Naruto, when did I ever leave you?"
"Hokage-sama."
Naruto flinched violently and Arashi snarled both protectively and for being interrupted in the middle of an important conversation. "What?"
The ANBU was out of the line of sight, but that was probably better for the elite's own safety, bodily and professionally. "You have guests. Sandaime-sama and---"
"They can wait!" he snapped.
The ANBU left, but it was too late; the connection had been broken. Naruto drew away with a tiny sniffle and smiled with glassy eyes. "You should go see what the old man wants. I just got a little too excited, I guess."
He turned and ran to the house and Arashi got to his feet. "Naruto!" The boy did not even slow his steps and Arashi sighed worriedly and dusted his knee off as the smaller blond disappeared into the house. With a westward glance back over his left shoulder, eyes searching for something not yet close enough to be seen, Arashi turned to the manor himself.
Inside, Akane was waiting for him and Takako was hurrying past the doorway with a tea tray in her hands. "Sandaime Hokage-sama is here with his student."
Arashi managed to chuckle a bit as he slid off his sandals. "My dear, I am a student of the Sandaime, as are Naruto and my own jounin-sensei. You're going to have to be more specific than that."
Flustered, Akane stuttered, "Oh, well . . . I . . . I'm afraid I . . . I'm afraid I don't know his name. But he's thin and has long hair an---"
"Stop. I know exactly who it is. Thank you."
Right then, there was a terrific crash in the hall and Takako yelped in fright. Arashi ran to the doorway and looked into the corridor only to see Naruto standing unsteadily on one foot, his free leg and both his arms outstretched to balance various delicate porcelain saucers and cups. A steaming teapot was nestled among the boy's blond spikes.
"Don't rush so much, nee-chan," Naruto admonished Takako gently. "You were going so fast I couldn't even get out of your way."
"I'm so sorry!" she cried.
"Apologize by taking this stuff off, please."
"Oh!" Takako scrambled to her feet as Akane darted toward them and the two girls were quick to collect the expensive tea set.
"No, leave the tea--I can hold that." When the dishes were taken to safety, Naruto put his other foot down and removed the teapot himself. "That was lucky, wasn't it?"
"Thank you very much for your help, Naruto-sama," Takako said shakily. "I promise I'll be more careful next time." She vanished into the lounge and Akane scurried off to do whatever her duties were for the evening.
"That was pretty impressive," Arashi acknowledged.
Naruto turned to him, smiled a little, then ran down the hall and flung his arms around his father's ribs. He nuzzled closer and inhaled deeply as Arashi embraced him, confident once more in his control of his emotions. I'll find a way. I swear I'll change this. I won't let him die, no matter what I have to do!
Kyuubi picked disinterestedly between his fangs with a pinkie claw. Don't be an idiot, little boy. We don't have the rights to this body's fate. If he wants to get his stupid ass killed, let him.
Naruto snarled silently. You bastard, he saved this version of you! Saved your sickening, worthless life and let you live here! Isn't that worth anything to you?!
Expecting a protest centered around not having asked to be protected, Kyuubi surprised him a little by saying, I haven't tried to kill him yet, have I?
Startled, Naruto had to concede the point. With the seal split, Kyuubi probably could have taken control of their current body more than the one time he already had. Fine, but don't mutter about him dying when I can hear it. I don't like you as it is.
And here I was weeping for your affection, was the sarcastic response.
"Arashi-kun!" called a vaguely familiar voice. "Who taught you your manners?"
Arashi chuckled a little and Naruto listened as the sound was muffled comfortingly by the Fourth's fit, healthy body. "I don't know. Nobody's admitted to it yet." His father lifted his right arm and Naruto's left side was squashed slightly as the other person hugged the Fourth. "Wow, it's been ages since you were here last. How have you been? Seen anything new?"
"More than you ever will, stuck behind that desk," came the gentle tease.
"Hey, once upon a time you wanted to be stuck behind that desk."
"Well, we can always change our minds . . . unless we don't know what we want."
"Oh?" Arashi teased back. "And what can't you decide upon?"
"Are you telling me someone as young as you has no regrets of impetuosity?"
Arashi rubbed Naruto's back soothingly. "Not ones that would include me losing what I have now, no."
"That's a very mature viewpoint. From whom did you steal it?"
"Aha ha ha, you geriatric snaca. You're still in really good shape for your age, but you need to remember that I'm getting to be a sharp old fart myself."
"Perhaps something like that is possible . . ."
"Hey now . . ."
The voice chuckled and said, "So is this the great heir?"
"You bet. You'll have to excuse him. He's had a big day and I think he's still a little tired since he's been away from here for so long."
"Sarutobi-sensei told me about that," the deepish voice noted, slightly concerned. "How is that coming along?"
"Terribly. I have nothing on these guys--nobody knows who or what they are."
"Why don't we have some tea and you can tell me what's going on? I may have heard a thing or two." Naruto felt a hand settle carefully on his head and scruffle his hair a bit. "What do you think, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto looked around and up at the speaker . . . and felt the blood drain from his face. He whirled so that his back pressed against the Fourth's front, his arms spread out to either side defensively as his stomach churned in time with his gasping breaths. Fuck! Everything's the same with him as back home! How could I have not noticed this?! Recognized his voice?! Is it possible I'm still such a dumb shit even years later?! He sought about for a weapon, but there were none in his line of sight. Damn it, I have to protect Dad! Especially with the myobu coming . . .
"Easy, Naruto," Arashi coaxed.
"Goodness," the man said in surprise, rather taken aback by Naruto's sudden anxious movements. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes. Naruto just has a little trouble around people he doesn't recognize. He'll be okay in a minute." Naruto felt his father's hands on his shoulders, restraining him carefully in case he tried to bolt. "Come on, Naruto! You remember Orochimaru-jisan, don't you?"
To Be Continued . . .
Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:
Ophidian is a derivative of ophidia, which is a Modern Latin term for a snake. Snaca is the Old English term for the same.
---
Yes, I am accusing men in general of perversion. So what? I freely admit that women are perverts, too, just usually more subtle about it. There's probably a statistic on it--there are statistics for even the stupidest things--but I'm not going to go looking for it.
---
Ha ha! Thus has Orochimaru finally been introduced! If his friendly behavior has caused your brain to fall out of your head, please catch it before it hits the floor--my mother's chihuahuas try to eat everything that drops from above.
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Reviews are very much appreciated, thank you.
--RN (LS)