A/N: Happy belated new year everybody! "Soonish" turned out to be much longer than I expected, ehem, so here's the second part of the previous chapter without further delay.

However, here's quick shout out to VeraciousFFConsumption — I dedicate this chapter to you as a heartfelt thank you for your kind words and the fact that without them, I believe it might have taken me much longer to actually sit down and finish this one.

You reminded me why I like writing this story so much!

Music: "Next Generation" by Paolo Mantini

— Chapter 23 —

(Trying to) Stay Out of Trouble Part 2

Safe Places and Dark Spaces

It wasn't until some of her panic ebbed away that Fuu realized she might be in trouble, after all.

Not only had she stood watch as Naruto stole something (and in her mind it didn't really matter that nobody would miss the bandaid) — no, Fuu had run away.

And although she was still convinced that helping someone who'd been hurt had been the right thing to do, Yamanaka-san would surely notice her absence at the hospital when he came to pick her up.

… Try to stay out of trouble…

Now, torn between the desperate need to explain herself and the fear of what kind of punishment awaited her, Fuu's head swiveled around in panic as none of the streets looked familiar to her.

She'd never been here with Hatake-sama or Kurenai. Not even Asuma had led her to these parts of town on the two memorable occasion he'd tricked her into believing they'd gotten lost and would be late for dinner…

There were only few people in the streets; some mere shadows lurking in front of empty storefronts that were covered in flaky paint, long faded with sun and rain. Fuu caught her own reflection in one of the dusty windows as they raced past; turning down another narrow alley where some tree roots bucked treacherously beneath the loose cobblestones.

Fuu didn't have enough air in her lungs to ask him where they were heading. Naruto seemed to have pretty good idea anyway — apparently wherever one ran to after they'd been caught stealing.

Regardless of Fuu's doubts and questions, Naruto continuing to pull her with him while he evaded the masked ANBU shinobi. Going so far as to crawl through backyards and overgrown gardens; leading them further and further away from the bigger and brighter streets.

By now there were smudges of dirt on Fuu's face and dress while the wilderness of some of the greenery left red scratches on her ams and cheeks. It stung and Fuu's by now frantic attempts to search for a familiar street, shop or face had inevitably begun to slow them down.

The passersby however merely repelled her fear widened eyes with cold glares of their own. Their stares void of warmth evaded them with darkly mumbled words and nasty swearwords.

Fuu couldn't fathom why all these people were so angry with her.

Did they already know what she'd done? Had they found out that she'd stolen something?

With a new panic settling in her stomach, Fuu wondered if they would make her and Futaba leave town now. If it had been some sort of test — like the one's they'd made her and Futaba do to find out more about them.

"Wha?" Naruto loudly complained once Fuu finally managed to pull him to a stop. His blue eyes squinted at her while people parted for them; giving them as much of a berth as the narrow alley allowed.

"Tha- That wa-has bad" Fuu wheezed, rubbing with her free hand at her eyes. She felt both angry and ashamed of her actions. "We need— go back! I p-promised Futaba to— "

"Hey little girl, is everything all right?"

The shadow that suddenly towered over them caused one of Fuu's knees to give away as she stumbled back in surprise. She couldn't really make out the stranger's face but her eyes soon fell to the broom in his hand.

"Makin' a little girl cry! Get away from her, you monster!"

While Fuu didn't quite understand what the man was talking about, his loud voice startled her enough to make tears spill down her cheeks. She merely sniffed as Naruto's grip on her hand suddenly tightened and the boy inched closer to her; bright eyes glued on the stranger.

"She's fine!" Naruto declared as he attempted to hide Fuu behind his own tiny frame.

The stranger, however, moved much quicker.

With an iron grip his hand closed around Fuu's little arm; a rough tug making her trip towards him. She struggled to free her arm but the man only tightened his hold on her.

"Not so fast!" he grunted with a breath that smelled sickeningly sweet. "I said away with you, filth!"

He attempting to shoo Naruto away with his broom; pushing the paddy straw against the blond boy's chest to keep him at a safe distance. When Naruto fell back, the man's shadowed face turned back to Fuu and he clicked his tongue at her antics, "A nice little girl like you shouldn't be around such a foul creature."

"Plea-hease let me go, mister" Fuu whimpered; soon followed by distressed sound as the man's unrelenting grip made her skin burn. "Ow!"

Eyes narrowing in anger, Naruto swiftly evaded the broom to lunge himself at the man, "Let her go!"

Before Fuu even realized what was happening, her arm was free and the stranger struggled to pick himself off the street; the broom in his grip now shaking as though he was afraid.

"The— The monster attacked me! Help! Someone— Help!"

Fuu watched with wide green eyes as Naruto took a few steps back; his fearful gaze suddenly all over the place. He looked as though he was expecting something, almost as if this situation was nothing new for him…

"Disgusting vile creature! SOMEBODY! Help, he's trying to take the girl!" a woman's voice shrieked and Fuu instinctively ducked away as this time long red nails tried to grasp her.

With another growl, one that sounded a lot the time Pakkun had chased off another Ninken who'd bared his teeth at Fuu, Naruto now pulled her securely behind him. While Fuu wasn't overly concerned with the sound he'd just made, the woman with the awfully long nails jumped away as though Naruto was a nasty rodent that had just crawled out of the sewers, "Get him! Someone get him!"

The voices around them grew louder. There were more people now. Not just the few who'd been standing at the side, but a wall of tall shadows who now started to close in on them. Fuu instinctively pressed closer to Naruto; wishing very much for Hatake-sama to show up like he always did. A bit late but always just in time.

Especially when a crooked smiling man pulled something out of a pocket that glinted strangely in the dim street lights. "Attacking innocent people! Let's just get rid of tha' little bastard once an' for all!"

Green eyes briefly locked with blue as Fuu struggled to understand what was happening. She'd never met so many mean angry people before. To her Naruto was loud and pushy, yes, but right then, surrounded by his own townspeople he just looked so very sad. And Fuu didn't like how nobody seemed to care; instead bending down to pick stones off the ground.

"… They threw stones at me."

"Stop!" Fuu suddenly found herself yelling; moving to stand next to Naruto with one of her trembling hands blindly feeling for his. He immediately tightened his grip, almost to the point where it was painful, but Fuu ignored it in favor of raising her voice as loudly as she dared, "He's not a monster! He just wanted to help me! Please, I beg you, don't hurt him again."

One of the men, a burly bald giant, scoffed at her incredulously, "What do you know, brat? Go home— 'girl like you shouldn't assort with such… filth." Eyes narrowing on Naruto, he grimly stated, "He will know our pain."

The hearts of the people around her made Fuu's tongue curl with an acrid bitter taste. Her mind soon went fuzzy with the feeling that something truly awful was about to happen. Just like that time Hatake-sama had been in danger at the hospital and nobody but Futaba had known how to help him.

But Futaba wouldn't be here in time either and no one else knew where she'd run off to…

Slowly Fuu turned to seek reassurance from the one person she felt closest to right then. Trusting Naruto to find a solution because in her eyes he was older and he'd taken her here. So surely he'd know what to do?

But Naruto just kept staring right back at the people, anger rolling off him in tangible waves. If he too sensed that something was coming their way it only showed in the way his blunt uneven nails dug into the palm of her hand.

Before Fuu could however communicate that perhaps they should leave, someone in the crowd threw the first stone. She didn't see the movement or the hand. There was just that sudden flare of pain which forced her to look down at her arm.

A bright red line had appeared where the rock had grazed her.

And then, before Fuu even fully realized what just happened, the situation completely escalated. Naruto, who'd noticed that she'd been hurt, released his bruising grip of her hand to launch himself at the people with a desperate howl.

"Why did you do that?" he cried, his blue eyes shining with tears and hurt and pain, pain, pain. "She was just being… nice! Why do you always have to— LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Hatake-sama had told Fuu that there was always a reason behind people's actions. And how most of them were selfish — regardless of whether that person would obtain something of material value or merely gain satisfaction from the emotional reactions of others.

Fuu hadn't quite understood what he'd wanted to say but she'd still thought about it a lot. Especially since Hatake-sama had encouraged her to pay attention to other people's feelings instead of cautioning her like Kurenai did most of the time. According to him it was important to always be carefully when something didn't feel right.

But Fuu wasn't sure what to do now that those people had started to attack the small boy with bitter hatred and so, so much pain in them.

However, before Fuu knew what she was doing, she'd already taken a small step forward to where an old woman had just pushed Naruto to the ground; the recovered broom man beside her now holding him down so that the others could approach him.

"A-ANBU" Fuu cried at the top of her lungs, arms waving around widely as though she was trying to attract someone's attention.

In truth, she hadn't seen any of their masked faces in quite a while but Hatake-sama had mentioned that they were the strongest shinobi in Konoha. So, in her panic, it was the only thing Fuu could think off.

To her surprise the people around her did jump away from Naruto; opening their lines just long enough for Fuu to grab the boy's hand before dragging him away.

And this time it was her own, rather shaky high-pitched "Run!" that led them further down the maze of streets.

Fuu couldn't recall how long some of them had followed them; calling dirty words she'd never heard before. She only remembered that at one point Naruto had taken over once again — how he pulled her down even more unfamiliar streets and alleys before they eventually stumbled off the cobblestone path to disappear between a group of trees.

When Fuu had wanted to know if they should just go back to the hospital, he had given her a vehement "No" and she hadn't dared to ask again. After the incident she still felt too shaken up to insist they should seek out other grown-ups. Deep down she knew that Yamanaka-san would help her but then again, Fuu hadn't expected those people to just attack them either.

She'd thought about asking why they thought Naruto was a monster. Why they would want to hurt him so much and how he was connected to the pain they'd felt just by looking at him. It was all so very confusing and frightening and Fuu had never witnessed anything quite like it, much less found herself at the end of such dislike.

But she didn't ask.

Somehow she had a feeling that Naruto wouldn't like talking about what happened and if the desperate grip with which he held onto her was anything to go by, he didn't want her to leave…

"Where are we going?" Fuu found herself mumbling instead, struggling to keep her legs moving forward even though she could rely on Naruto to continue pulling her.

"This is my super-secret hideout, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed when he finally came to a stop in front of a stone wall.

Fuu dazedly blinked up to see how high it would reach up only to find the darkening sky. The sight stirred something in her, but Naruto's voice made her loose hold of that nagging feeling that they were running out of time…

"See there?" Naruto continued excitedly, pointing to something sticking out of the mountain. "Since my face is gonna be on this rock one day, 'tis only fair that I know this super awesome hiding place."

Ah, Fuu thought as she stared at the protruding chins of the Hokages' faces from below. Hatake-sama had mentioned he might take her here sometime…

"C'mere!" Naruto waved at her and only then did Fuu notice that he had disappeared from her side.

He was standing in front of a narrow opening that had been hidden by shrubbery, so Fuu carefully made her way over the loose stones and almost stepped on a yellow metal plate.

It read, Danger! Do not enter!

"Naruto, what about this sign?" Fuu asked as that nervous feeling from earlier returned at full force. "I don't think we're supposed to go in there. It's probably not safe." Looking around the place, Fuu hugged her arms around her shivering body; mindful of the cut on her arm. "You know… maybe we should go back. I don't think that they will still be looking for us."

"Don't be such a girl" Naruto complained with a sour face as he walked over to her. "We'll be safe here. Nobody knows this place."

With an unhappy pout, Fuu mumbled about how there was nothing wrong with being a girl. Eventually, however, she caved under Naruto's pleading stare.

"Is it really safe… ?"

He grinned at her encouragingly, "Definitely! I've been here many times before, dattebayo!"

Fuu chewed her lip, strangely inclined to just go along with the boy's plans after what had happened in that alleyway. He had protected her, so surely he wouldn't make her do something dangerous, right? And right now, she just wanted to sit down somewhere and rest her feet.

As soon as her heart didn't beat as fast anymore, she'd go back to the hospital and explain everything.

With some of her worries calmed, Fuu considered the obstacles before her, "But promise that we'll go back before it gets dark, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah" Naruto rolled his eyes — even if he did run back to help her climb over the rocks that blocked part of the entrance. While Fuu squinted as she tried to adjust to the dark, Naruto pushed with both hands against the stone wall a few steps inside. "See? Told ya it's safe! Come! I've got secret stash of snacks further back. I'll share some with ya if you'd like!"

Too busy throwing nervous glances at the ceiling, Fuu didn't notice the elated look on Naruto's face at the thought that not only did he have something to share, but also someone to share it with.

Rubbing her tired eyes, Fuu nervously whispered, "How much further?"

"Just around the corner" Naruto called over his shoulder; unconcerned that the volume of his voice loosened some debris from the tunnel roof. When Fuu still didn't look all that convinced, Naruto stepped up to an old support beam. "C'mon, don' be such a sissy!"

To prove his point, Naruto kicked against the wood for good measure and Fuu covered her head with a shriek.

Naruto laughed at her. "Told you nothing's gonna happen!"

And perhaps it was his kick, the boisterous laughter or even Fuu's cry, but with a low whining creak —the kind that gave you just about a moment to contemplate what you've done— the wood above them suddenly gave away…

In retrospect, Futaba felt foolish for actually believing that waking up next to a bleeding shinobi (who at that point had seemed pretty determined to throttle her) should have been her new low.

Of course staying at the T&I department didn't exactly line up with her idea of how she wanted to spend her future here in Konoha. But Futaba still found an odd sense of comfort in the semblance of normality it gave her — opening her eyes to the same sights for more than just a night.

Nothing felt quite as jarring as waking to trouble and disorientation. To darkness and yet another foreign weight burying parts of her body beneath it. And for a brief moment Futaba struggled with how raw this sense of being out of control left her.

Once again the night found her bruised and hurt and buried.

Somewhere too dark to see the lines which now swiftly appeared on her arms; the fuinjutsu her father had so graciously gifted her with unfurling beneath her skin as memories poured forth; roused by the smell of damp stones and things slowly rotting away far from any light. It triggered a strange fear in her — a sense of nameless dread that now crawled to the surface of her consciousness.

This one however felt nothing like Fuu.

It twisted beneath her eyelids as she blinked, dark and barely human; making Futaba choke on it as she desperately began to push at whatever it was that kept her down, prevented her from bolting, running…

Her blunt nails broke on its ragged surface; heart hammering away in her chest—

"Fuu? Fuu!" A small hand grabbed hers — tightly, desperately. "I'm so sorry, Fuu! Fuu? Please, plea-hease be okay!"

The heat bleeding through her skin at the contact burned Futaba almost to the bone; the backlash of her chakra suppressants refraining her from lashing out against whoever had taken the liberty of touching her.

"Where… ? Who—who are you?" Futaba rasped with now tightly coiled muscles; trying to drag her leg out from under the rock to able to defend herself.

To the stranger's credit he didn't let go of her once he realized that this was no longer the four-year old girl he'd been trying to drag out. Instead he seemed to consider her with his head tilted to one side and it was only then that Futaba noticed that there had to be some sort of light source in this strange place. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to make out the shape of a kid, his body kneeling close to her outstretched hand.

"Who are you?" he demanded with a stronger voice than before. Although the sudden change had obviously confused him, he didn't appear to be overly suspicious of her. He did however sound a bit indignant, "And where'd Fuu disappear to?"

Sighing as she finally managed to pull her leg free, Futaba discovered she could move it without too much pain. Nothing seemed broken so perhaps, despite the somewhat questionable circumstances, she should just count her blessing. Even if they, as always, came in disguise…

She perked however, when there was the barest whisper further down the tunnel. Apparently, Fuu and this boy had been playing inside an old mine shaft when the roof had come down. It would explain the debris and stone; the splitters of wood she now impatiently brushed out of her wild hair.

Narrowing her eyes, Futaba almost jumped when —with a bout of vertigo— someone suddenly spoke up.

'When I first discovered this… place, I immediately knew I'd put you here should you ever become too boring. After all, haven't you told me that you've become quite fond of the darkness, Futaba-chan?'

The voice rang through Futaba's mind with sudden clarity; filling the half-dark around her with glimpses of shadows and the rustle of rodents.

'Perhaps it'll give you enough time to think about what you've done. That is, if you still remember who you are by the end of it… Others I've put here quite literally lost their mind. Perhaps you're be able to feel their echo? I made sure they knew you name for when they wanted to curse someone…'

There, a ghostly touch running along the line of her jaw… Breath fanning against her face.

'Such a sinful waste.'

Shaking her head to get rid of the memories invading her mind, Futaba focused on the boy's silhouette, "Excuse me?"

"Who – are – you?" He repeated, his fear now making way for the petulant impatience all kids seemingly mastered as soon as they knew how to string more than two syllables together.

"My name is Futaba" the guardian spirit told him while attempting to project the calm she herself didn't feel. "Can you tell me what happened here? Where are we? And why didn't Fuu stay at the hospital?"

The boy perked at her first words.

"Futaba? Fuu's sister? Whatcha doin' here? And where's Fuu? She was here before— before…"

Pushing aside the tenderness she felt at hearing that Fuu had apparently referred to her as her sister, Futaba turned to study the pile of rocks and debris behind her. She had a sinking feeling that this would turn out to be much much worse than wrestling with a fever high Hatake.

"Fuu and I, we both share this body. And she's— Well, she's asleep right now." Scrutinizing the boy for signs of injury, she tried not to sound as exasperated as she felt, "Is this a collapsed mine shaft?"

"They threw a stone at Fuu and I wanted to make sure she's alright" the boy sniffed, one hand rubbing at his face. "It was my fault and she was nice, so I had to make it right, didn't I? I showed her my super-secret hiding place but then…"

"You did good" Futaba soothed as best as she could. Absentmindedly reaching to pet his head, she was surprised when he flinched away from her.

Cursing her inability to just read his emotions Futaba abandoned the attempt to calm him this way. Instead she considered his alarming words. However, deciding that the boy was probably afraid, Futaba swallowed her anger and studied what little she could see of him.

"What's your name?"

A small hick, and then, after a bit of hesitation— "Naruto."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you, Naruto" the guardian spirit greeted him with a deliberately calm voice. He didn't need to know that her heart was hammering away in her chest or how she was seconds away from having an episode. "I believe Fuu mentioned you. It was very nice of you to talk to her. She doesn't have many friends so thank you for protecting her."

Carefully Futaba balanced herself against the intact tunnel wall to push herself up. Her legs hurt, but they carried her weight just fine.

She was quite thankful not all of Fuu's clothes had torn mid-transformation. Apparently they'd lent her some at the hospital because Futaba didn't remember to bring any. The flexible tights covered most of her legs even if the little dress made for a very short top.

"Well, Naruto, how about we find a way outside?"

For some reason talking to the boy helped Futaba with anchoring her mind. The chakra suppressants were still in her blood, even if she hadn't taken this night's dose yet. Contemplating with what options this left her, the guardian spirit approached the collapsed tunnel part; mindful not to cause any more damage. "How long have you been here? And does anyone at the hospital know where you two disappeared to?"

At first Futaba couldn't quite catch the mumbled words, but after some small encouragement, Naruto finally spoke up, "No, we had to run away because the mean nurse found us and then those guys in masks were looking for us, so we had to hide and then— then there were some people and… I promised Fuu we'd be safe here. "

Recognizing Naruto's efforts, albeit misguided, Futaba opened her mouth to say something but Naruto beat her to it.

"Futaba do you—"

'Futaba-chan, oh, don't be shy. I brought you tea, your favorite. I thought it was about time we have little chat.'

Futaba blinked; her hand half raised to her mouth.

A painful burst of warmth on her tongue.

She still greedily drank it. Even if it burned her lips, her tongue, the roof of her mouth and all the way down her throat.

She drank it fast. Fast enough to be able to hurl the delicate cup after him when he left her once he'd obtained the information he had come for.

The sound of the cup breaking. The echo, the following silence only broken by the mocking drip, drip, drip of rain finding its way through the stone. The rustle of small creatures that waited for her to fall sleep.

The numbness in her mouth turning to a poisonous sting…

"Hey!" the voice of the kid suddenly called, hands pushing at Futaba's leg with the insistence of someone who'd been doing so for quite some time. "Hey lady!"

"I need to get out of here" Futaba mumbled weakly and the little hands tightened their grip on her.

Slowly, she sank back to the ground. Nausea constricting her throat, making her swallow as beads of sweat built on her forehead. It took her a moment to realize that it was her who was trembling and not the boy who'd already let go of her leg.

"I'll get help!" he decided with newfound determination and began to climb the rocks of the collapsed tunnel.

Futaba wanted to tell him to be careful, but her ears were ringing with mad laughter and she felt, more than she realized, that her shoulder was suddenly touching the floor; her head soon following. Almost as if her body no longer belonged to her and then, just when she thought she might finally slip into unconsciousness, the boy reappeared.

"Hey Futaba, quick, I made a hole! We can get outside!"

Gathering whatever strength she had left, Futaba forced her heavy limbs to comply. Naruto's little hands meanwhile kept pushing and pulling her to get her up those rocks. Babbling all the while to encourage her to go on, and how it wasn't much further now.

The first breath of fresh air felt like heaven. Futaba even closed her eyes and it wasn't until Naruto wiggled past her that she studied his handiwork.

It was impressive that he'd managed to dig this hole in so little time. She could even see the trees in front fo the tunnel where it opened a bit further down.

However, Futaba knew with just one glance that she wouldn't be able to fit through.

"Naruto… "

"I'll go through and help pull you out!" the boy excitedly explained as though her sudden weakness and weird behavior didn't inconvenience him in the slightest. Not to mention that she still was pretty much a virtual stranger to him and instead of turning tail, he'd stayed to help her.

"Alright" Futaba muttered between shallow breaths. "Go on. I'll be right after you."

The kid twisted and turned to struggle through the opening and he cheered once he was through.

"See! See? I told you, 'ttebayo!"

When he turned around however, wild and bright eyed, his smile fell as soon as he noticed his mistake.

"No!" he cried, running back to carelessly tear at the rocks in the hopes of widening it enough for Futaba to get through. She could feel how the rocks started rolling. Knew that it was only a question of time before more of the roof would come down and bury them both.

Swallowing her fears, the desperate panic to not be left behind, Futaba caught his already raw fingers gently in hers.

"Naruto. Naruto! Stop, it's— it's okay" she stared at the fear in his eyes and thought that perhaps it was merely a mirror to what he found in her gaze. "Just… get help, please?"

True to his promise Nature ran until his lungs burned. He couldn't get the woman's voice out of his head, the touch of her shaking hands as she'd pushed him outside…

"Please! Please I need help" Naruto cried at the first person he came across, throwing himself at the woman's legs to stop her from just evading him. She gave a high shriek, starting to hit him with her purse but he ignored her. After all, she just needed to understand. "You've got to help! She needs help!"

When even his pleading only earned him a smack against the side of his head, Naruto just put a hand to the bandaid Fuu had put there earlier and continued running towards the busier parts of town.

'He's not a monster! He just wanted to help me! Please, I beg you, don't hurt him again.'

"Get away from me you foul little creature!"

"No!" Naruto struggled and grunted when he got pushed to the ground; scraping his hand and knees. "Futaba, she needs help! PLEASE HELP HER!"

But that was when they threw another stone and Naruto ducked behind some bushes; eyes watering as his panic could no longer win over his fear for the hatred in their eyes. He wouldn't be able to help Futaba. He would disappoint Fuu. He—

"What are ya screamin' around for?" another voice called and rubbing away his tears, Naruto glared up at the new arrival. He looked quite strange with his white hair and the marks on his face. But he didn't seem to shrink away from him like the others did.

Instead he calmly asked, "What did you just say about a person called Futaba? You see, I happen to be in search of someone with that name as well."

VeraciousFFConsumption: Again, thank you so very much for reminding me why I started this story and I sincerely hoped the newest chapter lives up to your expectations!

/ … / Wheeew, so sorry for the late update and just to be on the safe side, I won't make any promises as I am still busy with work, family and —if everything works out as planned— I might move across the big pond! But I almost forgot how much fun I've had plotting this and I do hope I'll be able to update more often in the future.

The picture I painted of Naruto's life seems pretty harsh but it's going to improve due to what happened in this chapter. Also I can promise that after this chapter there will be much less drama and more light retellings!

Also, anyone a guess about who appeared at the end of this one?