New Lives
Chapter 52
Kidoumaru walked quickly toward the Academy, he still had a while, but he wanted to prepare some special 'surprises' for his students.
"Kidoumaru." He turned to see someone he had hoped not to see, he'd never actually met Hyuuga Hiashi, but he had seen pictures.
"Hiashi-Sama?"
The Hyuuga seemed almost as cold a people as the Uchiha, outside of Hinata, at least, and Hiashi had been the loudest voice on the council calling for Kidoumaru's death when he'd first arrived. He walked over to the boy and looked him in the eyes, 'You've proven me wrong, boy. I believed that you could not be trusted, especially as you had unraveled the secrets of the Byakugan, but you've proven yourself a valuable ally to this village. I misjudged you badly and nearly cost you your life. I would like to apologize for that."
Kidoumaru was stunned silent, the head of the Main Branch of the Hyuuga clan apologizing to a foreign nobody like him? "Thank you. It's alright, I'd have probably done the same thing in your position."
Hiashi smiled thinly, "Somehow, I doubt it." He nodded politely and walked away.
...
Sasuke was surprised to find Deidara fast asleep in the guest room of Obito's house. They let him stay overnight? He shook his head, The world's going crazy. He shrugged and walked downstairs to get breakfast.
...
Orochimaru's cold, pale hand stroked his cheek. "Itachi, you are a very beautiful boy, aren't you?"
Itachi flinched involuntarily, he'd heard it before, of course, from men even, but this... "This is why you dismissed Kabuto?" His voice was calm and steady.
Orochimaru leered at him, "I can bring him back in, if you want."
"I want you to take your hands off of me."
The Serpent hissed, "What you want doesn't really matter." He shoved the Uchiha, hurling him into a wall, and Itachi pulled out a sword, "Now don't be like that boy, you'll only make it harder on yourself." Itachi swung at the beast, and Orochimaru dodged easily, "Oh, a fighter! This will be fun." Itachi moved to swing again, and Orochimaru dodged left, only to be hit from a right swing, his right hand fell to the floor. The Snake screamed and clutched at his bloody wrist, "YOU LITTLE #!" Itachi swung again, the blow would have killed the Sannin, had he not teleported away.
A large number of guards rushed into the room and attacked, only to be killed or driven off. Itachi calmly walked down the hallway. Word had spread quickly among the Serpent's servants, the few guards he saw pulled back, not willing to die for their loathsome master.
That little idiot with the ridiculous hair tried to stop him, but a punch in the stomach left him floored. Itachi looked down at the boy, "He's not worth it, Abumi. He doesn't care about you, he'll be the death of you." Zaku shouted profanities at him as he struggled to get up. Itachi merely shook his head and walked on, turning his back, not about to lower himself to kill such a pathetic creature.
The Oto-Five stood in the doorway to the outside, blocking his path, he readied his sword. The smart one, Kidoumaru, was staring at the blade, knowing better than to look at his face. His Sharingan eyes.
"Pull back."
"WHAT #!? Are you #! Nuts, Orochimaru-Sama will..."
"I'll take responsibility, just pull back!"
The kids stepped aside.
"You are a genius." Itachi walked past the small group and into the sunlight, then took to the trees.
"So that's how it happened, huh?" Kisame sat back and picked up his drink, "I take it Bone-Boy wasn't there?"
Itachi shrugged, "They usually kept him in a cage, he was too dangerous. Kaguya Kimimaro would have been an interesting opponent, but what I wonder is, where was Kabuto? He was, from what little I've seen of him in action, a Jonin-level or higher ninja, he could have put up a reasonable fight."
"So, after that you reported that he was a traitor and had him kicked out of Akatsuki?"
"Yes, a pity he escaped, that Serpent was a true coward. I was proud when I heard that Sasuke had killed him." He looked toward the window, where the beach was visible, "We can't live like this forever, we have to get money somehow. Kakuzu has probably already taken any Akatsuki funds that remained."
Kisame yawned, "There's always a job available for ninja, even, or especially, for Missing-Nins like us, a few assassination contracts for cowards who don't want to face their enemies themselves, some guard duty. I'll scare up something, don't worry about that. Every government has it's dirty little secrets to protect, and they pay well..."
...
The class had begun training in the Forest of Death, for the moment they were merely learning the terrain and what to avoid.
"Okay brats, who's ready to go camping!" Dosu and a few others liked the idea, but most appeared hesitant, "Ninja don't always have a nice soft bed with mommy to tuck them in at night, we have to sleep under the stars, a lot. Sometimes we even have to sleep in the rain or snow. Hardship is part of the game, and it's best you learn how to deal with it now." A few more nodded in agreement, "Okay! We'll have to get your parent's permission, I don't want them to think I've kidnapped you or something. " He paused, being a ninja was also dangerous, some of these kids probably didn't have parents, "If you don't have parents, get permission from your guardians, if you live alone... Just..." he was a bit distracted by that thought. He knew Naruto had lived alone for years, so it wasn't impossible, even in an 'enlightened' village like this one, for a child to be simply abandoned. "Just tell me, and I'll make sure you have whatever you need. Okay, now we get down to work..."
Dosu grinned, "Haven't you forgotten something?"
Kidoumaru looked at him in confusion.
"When is this camping trip?"
Kidoumaru put a hand over his face and shook his head, Man, I'm getting forgetful in my old age! "It's this weekend... Sorry about that, I got distracted, if this was a battle, I'd be dead by now." He clapped his hands, "Okay, today I'm gonna' teach you maggots how to make shelters with available resources..."
...
"His powers make him dangerous, you have to be able to control him if he's to attend a normal school." The principle leaned forward on her desk, "It takes so little to provoke him."
Akira frowned, he'd been called down to the school to learn that Zaku had blasted a kid who was bullying him into a wall, "He wasn't hurt, Zaku has excellent control over his abilities."
"But not his temper. Look, I know he's had a horrific life, but he can't go around taking it out on other people."
Akira shook his head, "From what I hear, it was the other boy who started it. Zaku has a right to defend himself from bullies, especially since the school won't."
The principle shrunk back a bit at that, "We can't possibly keep all of our students from mistreating others..."
"Then those others have a right to do it themselves." Akira bowed slightly, "I'll talk to him about violence being a last resort, but I won't tell him to just let himself be beat up because he's stronger than the other kids. Good day, ma'am."
The principle opened her mouth to speak, but Akira was already gone.
Zaku followed Akira out, "So you're not mad?"
"No, you were defending yourself. I don't like violence, and if you can find a way to avoid a situation like that, do so. If not, just be careful not to hurt the other guy. We both know that you're much stronger than any of the other kids here, except Kin, of course."
Zaku nodded, "I know, but he said that me and that Snake had..."
Akira sighed, "Then he's evil as well as stupid, joking about something like that." He paused, then turned to Zaku and smiled, "We've been thinking, and we've already talked to Kin. We love you both, but if we adopt both of you, then you obviously couldn't have a relationship, you'd be brother and sister. So we've decided to adopt you, Zaku, and act as Kin's official guardians."
Zaku stopped in his tracks, a look of utter disbelief on his face, "Y-you want to adopt me? Why... Why not Kin?"
"Because we thought you'd be better off this way, and Kin agreed."
Zaku stood silent for a moment, and Akira noticed his lower lip quivering, suddenly Zaku wrapped around him, sobbing.
To be continued...
