Announcement:
!WARNING! There will be a… disturbing child abuse scene here, more on implications rather than the actual scene, so I sincerely hope it doesn't psychologically trigger any reactions to my beloved readers.
You have been warned.
Presenting Academy Days part 7, sub-arc 2: Uzumaki Truths (7/8)
P.S. the whole chapter would be in Naruto's POV, the line breaks are just there for necessity, well, except the last part.
Happy Reading!
Thinking
"Bijuu speaking"
Something Else
*Japanese (non-usual)
Shinjitsu [真実]
English Meaning(s) for 真実
Truth; reality; Fact
真("Shin") reality; genuineness
実("Mi") real; seed
《Arc 2: Academy days: Uzumaki Truths》
–Part 7–
Chapter 13: There are just things we have to learn
"Because you're not normal, Naruto"
She shot her head up to see a man approaching, his singular eye bored into her, making her flinch from the emotionless look. She stared at the bandages wrapped around his other eye, and his arm, from what she could see.
"Who are you, 'ttebayo?!" she asked loudly, somewhat hoping for her stalkers to hear her
The man chuckled, "no one is near us, Naru, you are too good in hiding yourself," he said with a smile that made the back of her neck tingle, along with an anger she couldn't understand from within her, "too well"
"What do you want?" she had decided to ask
The man continued to smile, he extended a hand towards her that she had already regarded as suspicious, "I wish to tell you why you are hated, why nobody loves you"
She tensed, she'll find out why?
From within her, there was a vehement denial, but she tried to push it away
"-ka, no! Idiot, don't...DARE!...AWAY! STAY AWAY, YOU DAMN BRAT!"
It was the voice again, she frowned. She knew the voice was trustworthy, but this man knew the reason why. He knew why the people didn't like her, why they were mean to her and Shika and his family.
"You do?" she asked hesitantly and the man's smile widened
"I do," he confirmed, urging her with his hand, "come with me, and I'll tell you"
The blonde pursed her lips, she furrowed her brow before she stood up.
Mind made up, Uzumaki Naruto made her move.
She took his hand.
The journey was quiet and short. One minute, Naruto was reaching out for the man's hand, the next, she found herself walking in a sedated pace behind the man in a very dimly lit hallway. Her eyes were turned downwards, eyes focused on the long black robes that the old man wore.
"Where are we, Jijii-san?" She heard herself softly ask
For a good while, the child thought that the bandaged man wouldn't answer. But she was proven wrong by a short and court answer of, "I won't tell you, Naruto"
She decided that remaining silent was for the best.
The young child was led to a room, the old man leaving her for kami knows how long already. She had silently sat on her bed, feeling lonely and upset, more than anything, she wanted Shikamaru beside her. She wanted Yoshino-nee to play with her hair again. She wanted to make Shikaku-jii laugh with her stories again.
She wanted to go home, and it was the first time amongst many that she regretted her decision to reach out for the man's hand.
Naruto didn't know how long it took, she was pretty sure she fell asleep and was starving, but the door soon opened to reveal someone in a hood. Her heart hammered in her chest, she didn't know if it was excitement or fear, but she followed after the man that gestured for her to follow.
The walk was long and numbing to her usual hyperactive mind. She wondered if she'll know who her parents were, if the man would tell her why she had to hide the fact she was a girl.
Their arrival in a giant empty room made her pause. She curiously looked around the metal walls that surrounded her. It had looked so… empty, it made her shiver. It was as empty as the man she had followed. It was as empty as the bandaged man. That fact made her stomach feel funny as she suddenly felt the regret of following after the bandaged man.
It was her sense of feelings, after all, that kept her alive all these times.
The man she followed pointed at the middle of the room where a singular circle was painted in red, just big enough for her to stand in.
"Want me to go there?" she asked the man curiously with a tilted head
The man only nodded before leaving the room the same way they had entered— through a singular thick metal door that slammed heavily behind the man's departure. The blonde frowned in annoyance before walking over to the red circle.
She stood, and for a moment nothing happened. That was until she tried to blink the hazy fog that started to build around her vision. Naruto scrunched up her face as she squinted to see through the haze, only to fail to see through. She huffed before deciding that she could get out of the circle, only to grunt as her forehead slammed into an invisible wall.
"What the heck, dattebayo?!" she shouted as she rubbed her forehead
She blinked, seeing the black spots in her vision. She opened her mouth to complain once more before her blue eyes rolled at the back of her head at the blonde child unceremoniously collapsed on a slump form in the middle of the red circle where she once stood.
Naruto wasn't loved as a child.
She knew that, and yet, as she watched scene by scene pass by in front of her, she felt more disconnected towards her village.
Jijii had only held her once, as a babe, when he brought her to the infantry sector of the hospital. She was alone in her own ward, crying for—most probably, her parents. The old man had held her close, wrapping her warm with cloth.
Then he left, and Naruto did not see him until that fateful night when she was four years old, with Shikamaru in tow.
The masked stalkers and nurses took care of her, minimally, until she was swept into the orphanage system with her own rotating guards of masked stalkers.
Not that it was any better.
She had her own room, separated from the other kids. The helpers only visited her during the exact times to be fed and burped. Then once more, she was alone. Until she met An-nee.
Naruto didn't know how old she was, but she was silent. Little things always made her curious and excited, and when one purple haired masked stalker entered her room, took one look at her, and took off her mask to personally play with Naruto, the blonde was the most excited ever in her short time of life.
An-nee took care of her, An-nee taught her minimal stuff on how to speak and read.
An-nee was also there when Tana-jii(1) scared her.
Naruto's blue eyes were dull as the scene continued to play through the haze.
It was her birthday, An-nee told her, her third birthday. She didn't know why it was important, she didn't know what was a birthday or what does it mean to have a third birthday.
All that was important was that An-nee was excited, and the little girl followed the facial expressions the older teen made to amuse the child. But An-nee had to go too soon, and Naruto was used to it. So she didn't expect the door to crept open after only some mere minutes. She didn't expect the scary Tana-jii, the man that always shouted at her during play time, the man that kept tugging at her hair angrily whenever she passed him, the man that always refused to give her food, to walk in the room funnily.
She didn't expect the turret of emotions she was suddenly exposed to.
It was hazy, it was blurry, but it was at that moment that Naruto, the five year old who was forcibly watching her old memories, understood that Tana-jii really wanted to hurt her.
Little three year old Naruto was frozen with wide, blue eyes as the man had yanked her from her feet, making the child plummet to the cold wooden floorboards. Her then waist length golden weaves of hair had sprayed behind her, eliciting the ire of the man with flushed cheeks.
The child whimpered as the man yanked her hair in a fist-full, bringing out a kunai and hacking through her hair. The process made the child cry out in pain, begging for the man to let go.
But his grin stayed, his eyes wide with an emotion that made Naruto whimper unrelentingly.
"You're not a girl! You're a demon brat!"
Blonde hair fell out of his grasp and to the cold floor surrounding her
"YOU'RE A MURDERER!"
Tears fell down her cheeks as the man brought the kunai high into the air.
"DIE!"
Her lips parted, eyes wide, and she froze
Naruto wanted to close her eyes, her hands having made way to cover her ears to block out the sound. But her blue eyes were wide as she remembered. She was forcibly remembering her past and it was stirring something inside her.
Fear.
Anger.
Pain.
She screamed as she suddenly felt cold.
She screamed even when the man punched her hard on her jaw, drawing blood and a bruised face.
She screamed until An-nee was suddenly holding her, cradling her and humming to calm her down. But Naruto saw what happened.
She saw the red flames that bubbled around her. She saw the flames that had wrapped around a screaming Tana-jii. She saw An-nee got hurt from the flames, but still continued to reach her.
She saw, and it hurt.
Scenes flashed to when Shika got hurt, and the flames came out once more. She watched as Shika disappeared in the flames. Then Shikaku-jii. The Yoshino-nee. Then Jijii. Then Hina-chan. Then Suke. Then Ita-nii and Shisui-nii.
They disappeared within the flames, not looking back once.
"Nobody loves you, Naruto"
The blonde looked up with wide eyes to the bandaged man who was frowning at her, hand on the crown of her head, "That's not true!" she hoarsely exclaimed, tears pricking her eyes, "Shika loves me!" she tries to ignore the scene that kept showing Shika turning his back as he left the village gates, "So does Shikaku-jii" she ignores that Shikaku-jii went with Shika, "So does Yoshino-nee," she ignores how Yoshino-nee sadly looked towards the retreating backs of her husband and son, "and even JIjii!"
Tears were freely falling down her whiskered cheeks now, even as she stared up at the man with a determined face. The man simply hummed, tilting his head ever so slightly as he caressed the blond's cheek, eliciting a flinch from the child, "are you sure, child?" he coldy asked, freezing Naruto from the lack of emotions once more, "love does not exist in a Shinobi's dictionary"
Naruto weakly shook her head, "that's not what Jijii-said" she muttered as she looked down on her feet.
"They can't love you, child, you are a weapon. You only exist for the sake of the village," the blonde stubbornly shook her head, "that demon within you is the reason why you are disliked, Naruto," that made Naruto froze
'A… demon?' she thought with fear
"You leave me no choice, child" The cold tone made Naruto look up, only for her blue eyes to widen as a sudden jolt of electricity ran through her body.
"Jijii-san?" she asked, voice shaking in terror
The last thing Naruto saw was a cold smile, before her body suddenly started to convulse, the pain made everything numb. She couldn't even scream as she unconsciously tried to stop shaking, to stop screaming, to stop convulsing.
Then she was suddenly gasping on the floor. Hearing a growl, she confusedly looked with bleary eyes to see Aki-chan. But Aki-chan was bigger, and Jijii-san's arm was suddenly red. The blonde reached out for Aki-chan as the fox turned to regard her with red eyes. A gasp escaped her lips as she was suddenly moving, mind half registering that it was Aki-chan who had her.
They kept moving, Naruto could feel others' presence, but Aki-chan kept running. She didn't know how long, but suddenly, she was on the ground, masks decorated the wall in front of her. She tried to keep her eyes open, to look around her, but Aki-chan curled up around her, and it felt so… warm.
Naruto contentedly sighed as darkness swept her once more.
She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to eat.
When Naruto woke up in the hospital, she just sat silently, staring out blankly to her lap. She heard Yoshino-nee cry out in happiness, wrapping her in an embrace. She felt Jijii's warm hand on her head, talking to her, trying to get her to talk to him.
But she kept silent.
She didn't know why she felt disconnected, she felt blank.
"Are you okay, Naru-chan?"
"Where did you go, Naru-chan?"
"How are you feeling, Naru-chan?"
They ask her the same questions over and over and…
And she just wants Shikamaru beside her again.
Shika.
She knew something happened with Shika, She knew she talked to someone, but whenever she tried to remember, her head hurts.
But she wants to remember.
"Don't push yourself to remember, Naru-chan," Jijii had softly said, one of the evenings he visited her. He had smiled sadly, and Naruto wanted her Jijii to be happy, but he hugged her, "don't force yourself, Naru-chan"
So she didn't.
They said she was unconscious for a week. She woke up on Shika's birthday. It had taken two more days before Naruto was brought home with Yoshino-nee.
Home.
Yoshino-nee hovered near her, always ready to give anything that Naruto might need. Naruto could see Yoshino-nee worry, she wanted her to stop worrying.
But Naruto still stayed emotionless.
It was around night time when Naruto woke up to a soft scratching sound. The blonde child had left her bed to the window, easily opening the classical-japanese styled window, bright red eyes met bright blue eyes.
Then Naruto broke down crying.
She remembered, Kami, she remembered what happened. The bullies, running away, the odd memories of her childhood.
Everything but who was the man and where he took her. But she remembered her past, she remembered how Aki-chan saved her. She could barely remember Sasuke and a pretty woman that looked like Sasuke.
But most of all, she remembered the door, Kurama, Miyuki-baachan, Shika, and the pretty blonde woman that promised to save Shika.
Aki-chan jumped in from the open window, pinning her in her place with those bright red eyes. Naruto whimpered, wanting Yoshino-nee to comfort her at that moment. The small red fox tilted her head, before dashing out of her room through her slightly open door.
Naruto curled up on her wooden floor, whimpering through her tears as she tried to sort out her memories. She remembered the orb, she remembered touching it. She remembered the blonde woman. The woman returned, telling her that Shika was safe, Shika was okay.
She said something else.
But she couldn't remember right away. Naruto's head was aching. She wants to remember, she needs to remember. A gasp escaped her lips as she was suddenly pulled to an embrace. Her blue eyes snapped up, expecting to see the same shade of eyes, only to meet familiar warm brown eyes of Yoshino-nee.
"Naru-chan?" the woman had called out worriedly, and Naruto had quickly clung to the woman, sobbing as the mother called out hushed soothing words, rubbing the child's back in a soothing manner
Naruto didn't let go until she woke up the next morning.
"You don't have to go to the Academy, Naru-chan," Yoshino-nee told her softly, hand tightly grasping the smaller tan hand of the blonde.
Naruto stubbornly shook her head, looking out to the Academy building that loomed in front of her, "I wanna go" she muttered
"Alright," the woman relented with pursed lips, "I'll pick you up later, okay? If someone hurts you again, Neko is somewhere here, so just call for her, okay?"
Naruto only nodded before walking in the building. Her head was down as she tried to ignore the whispers that surrounded her. But she froze before her hand could reach the door for her own classroom.
"Acting like she has a mother," she could hear her teacher hiss out angrily, "she wasn't even loved by her parents, what's even the point to try and act loving for a monster"
She hid her tears behind her blonde bangs as she forced herself to enter her room.
When she was dismissed that afternoon, it was to her surprise and delight that Aki-chan was waiting for her. Naruto had beamed happily, ignoring the looks of fear upon seeing the small fox from the adults around her, she ran towards the fox.
Only for the fox to run off a few paces.
She stopped in confusion, and her friend had also halted. The small creature turned back with a tilted head, and Naruto hummed. The blonde ran after the fox, its pattern of running and stopping to turn back to the blonde had remained. Naruto knew that Neko was probably following her, but she made no move to lose her stalker, instead, following after her friend until they reached the steps leading to the top of the Hokage mountain.
"You want us to go up there, Aki-chan?" she asked curiously
The little red fox only turned and ran up the steps briskly. Naruto only beamed at the challenge and ran after. She walked cautiously as soon as they entered the forest behind the mountains, trudging into a landscape that seemed vaguely familiar, she gasped upon spotting a broken down temple with a very familiar spiral.
"Aki-chan?" she called out to the temple
The little fox peaked out to meet her gaze before trudging in once more. The blonde only shrugged before following after. She gasped in open awe at the weird looking mask displayed on the walls, but as she reached out to touch one, Aki-chan's yip took her attention.
"What is it Aki-chan?" she asked the fox as she walked over to her instead. She looked down to see a red fox mask on the ground, "whoa what is that?"
Aki-chan's yip made Naruto look at the fox once more, "you want me to touch it?" she asked the fox who only yipped once more. The blonde shrugged, "okay then"
So she grabbed the mask, looked at her friend once more, then she wore it.
Her village was destroyed.
She couldn't move, as she continued to watch as her body, as she moved her giant paws, destroying anything and everything that faced her. But her mind was muddled, she could feel confusion that wasn't her own as her body moved. She could feel the anger as she continued to… to kill.
Then there was a snap and she was suddenly free. An earth shaking roar came from her, and she was suddenly destroying everything again, this time, anger coarse through her.
But it wasn't her, it wasn't Naruto.
She suddenly froze as her vision swam and she saw a small blonde baby surrounded by candles. Her body roared in anger, but Naruto's eyes widened in fear.
Why was she down there?!
Then she watched, disconnected, as the monster she was suddenly felt weak, she felt how her baby self absorbed the thing that destroyed her village. She saw how everything started to grow dark.
She saw memories that weren't her own, of a weird man with horns, smiling gently towards her. He spoke fondly as he laughed. But what got her was the name that he uttered.
"Kurama," he had said.
'Why would this man know of her friend beyond that door?' And then she remembered.
"that demon within you is the reason why you are disliked, Naruto," someone had said.
Kurama was a demon.
Naruto is a demon.
The man that made her remember her memories as a baby told her.
But she remembered what the blonde woman, what Kurama had told her.
"Stay away from that man, he's dangerous"
But isn't Naruto a monster? Wasn't she more dangerous?
Naruto smiled again, after that incident. She tried to push it away from her thoughts, but sometimes, it just flows back. Then she'll frown, she'll think, 'Does Jijii know? Do Shikaku-jii and Yoshino-nee know? Does Shika know?'
But of course they won't know, right? Besides, if they did, then why would they be still willing to talk to her, to play with her. Why would they still be around her if they knew she was a monster?
Then Shikamaru came back, and Naruto forgot about everything. After two long weeks, she could smile and laugh with her best friend again. She could enjoy her birthday with her friends and pretty man. She found out that Hina-chan and her had a special relationship too!
It felt great. She felt loved, wanted.
And then she ruined it.
"Tell me, Naru!" Shika begged, "you said you went somewhere, where did you go?!"
The blonde shook her head, glowering at the older boy, "I WON'T, I DUN WANNA!" she shrieked, "I told you what you wanted, so leave me alone, Shika!"
'Because if he knew, he won't be friends with her anymore'
"Naruto, damnit!" Shika snarled, and it scared Naruto, "I just want to protect you!"
"And that's your problem Shika!" the blonde snapped back, eyes begging for him to stop, a frown on her face as she forced herself not to cry, "I don't need protecting, not every damn time! So please, leave this alone!"
Shikamaru flinched, and it scared Naruto that she had hurt her friend "where did you get that?" he whispered, eyes focused on the red fox mask that she held, that she had wanted to show her friend.
Not anymore, not if he might think she was a monster.
"You don't have to know," the blonde firmly replied instead, eyes turned away
"Naruto, please!" he pleaded again, stepping forward, "you don't know how dangerous that man is!"
She tensed, closing her eyes to keep the tears away. Shika, her fearless and brave friend was scared of that man she was warned about.
'Then he'll be scared of me too if I tell him, right?'
"I do know, I was warned, several times," she fought back," and I'm not letting him harm my family!"
Because Shika was family, because Shika's family was her family.
"I can protect myself!" Shikamaru defended, "so just tell me!"
The silence that followed was suffocating. Naruto
"You really wanna know?" she whispered harshly
Naruto saw Shika nod
Would she tell him? Can she handle Shika leaving her?
The answer was simple
"If I tell you," the blonde paused, "I don't wanna be your friend anymore," she turned away, ignoring how her friend's face shot her a betrayed and broken look, instead, whispering, "so please, just leave me"
She breathed out shakily before completely turning away and rushing to her own room. Her heart ached as she could picture Shika's broken look so perfectly. She tried to keep her tears and sobbing quietly, just like back in the orphanage, afraid that she'll be punished.
Then Shikaku-jii entered and she had tensed, but when he sat beside her, she looked up with begging eyes, arms up for an embrace. The man pulled her in an embrace, and Naruto felt safe.
But the guilt didn't go away, not even in her sleep.
Naruto stared at the dull red door in front of her.
"Naruto," the deep voice called out in a deep voice, "I know you're there"
"You're Kurama…" she softly spoke instead, fingers trembling against the door she faintly held
"I-" there was a pause and a soft sigh, "Yes, I was, but I mean well, Naruto" he hurriedly spoke
His voice was pleading, it was filled with hurt, and Naruto couldn't help but believe him.
But she could still see the looks of the people in the village towards her. She could see the visions of her infant days. She could see the destruction that she saw behind that mask.
"Naruto?"
She closed her eyes as she tried to stop herself from crying again, "I'll talk to you later," she easily pulled away from the door, running away from the being she thought was a friend. Running away from her life. Running away from the tears that fell down her cheeks.
She ran away, but only to be pulled in a warm embrace.
She looked up in shock, meeting familiar blue eyes and long blonde hair. But what caught her attention was the three whiskered marks on both the woman's cheeks.
"It's you!" she exclaimed, too shocked to pull away from the embrace.
Little Naruto quickly saw the white orb in the middle of the hallway again. She was there again.
The woman snorted with a grin, "hell yeah it's me," she said with a bright grin, gently ruffling the five year old's hair who only huffed from the action, "why are you back here, kiddo?"
Naruto looked away with a pout, "I had a fight with Shikamaru"
The older blonde cocked an eyebrow, "really? What about?"
Naruto flinched, turning away from the eyes that she saw from the mirror daily. She was scared that the woman would turn away from her too.
There was a sigh and Naruto blinked when she found herself in a grassy field with a picnic surrounding her. The woman groaned in satisfaction as she popped her back with a quick stretch before laying on the grass beside the five year old.
"Ya know," the older blonde hummed, "I never expected I have to save myself, I saved up a fracture of my chakra so the inevitable future would be easier for me, but I guess this is more important"
"Wha?" the five year old curiously asked
The woman laughed as she sat up, passing the child a bright grin, "never mind that, Naru-chan," the woman paused, turning away with a scowl, "damn, that was weird"
The child furrowed her brows in confusion, "you know my name," she accused, "who are you?"
She hummed, jumping to her feet as she held a hand towards the child, "I can't tell you yet, Naru-chan, come with me, m'kay?"
Naruto blinked before shrugging and accepting the woman's hand. In a blink, they were in a cave, with giant glowing blue gems surrounding them. The five year old gasped in glee and amazement, "what is that?!" she excitedly asked, pointing at the gem structures
The woman laughed, tugging the child towards the nearest gem, naruto peered in, gasping once more to see the day she met Shika in the forest, "these are your memories, Naru-chan," the woman fondly said, "now look at Shikamaru's face and tell me what you see?"
The image in the gem froze to focus on Shikamaru's face just as he was looking at a busy soon-to-be four year old Naruto, a smile on his lips. Naruto blinked, blue eyes focused on the image before looking up to the woman who had a warm smile on her face, eyes trailed on the younger blonde, "he looks," the child paused in thought, "happy?"
The woman nodded with a smile. She snapped her fingers and Naruto gasped as all the gems in the cave all lit up with random faces of Shikamaru, all had the same expression in his face and eyes-happiness.
She saw how Shika first met her. She saw how Shika's face lit up after she was safe from Tana-jii. She saw how Shika's sleepy face was still filled with happiness whenever she woke him up.
Shikamaru was happy, and it was…
Because of her?
"Shika cares for you, Naru-chan," the woman softly spoke, crouching beside the girl to equally meet two pairs of bright blue eyes, "a whole lot"
"Really?" the child shyly asked, "even if I'm a monster?"
The woman sadly smiled, "you're not a monster, Naru," she petted the child's short locks of blonde hair, "you're not a weapon either, no matter what that evil man says"
Naruto grabbed on the woman's shoulders as she was pulled up in her arms, "but Kurama," she muttered, looking away, "he hurt"
The woman hummed, "Kurama didn't mean it, I promise you," she said with a smile, "Kurama can be a really good friend, ya know? He's not a monster too, he's a big softie"
Naruto tilted her head curiously, "why do you know Kurama, nee-chan?"
"I'm Kurama's first friend, ever, Naru-chan," the woman laughed, "I should know Kurama"
The five year old thought with pursed lips, "can I be friends with Kurama one day?"
"Of course, Naru-chan," the woman purred, nuzzling the child who giggled from the affection, "when you're ready, I'm sure Kurama can be your best friend. He won't leave you, ever"
Naruto grinned at the woman
"Now go home, and say sorry to Shika, okay?" the woman added with a light scolding tone, "you shouldn't fight with your friends"
The little Uzumaki nodded again, "mki, nee-chan"
The woman smiled, putting the child back to her feet, before ruffling her hair, "it was nice to talk to you again, Naru-chan"
Naruto beamed, "will I see you again, Nee-chan?"
The woman snorted with a loud laughter, "I'm sure, now go"
The last thing Naruto saw was sparkling mischievous blue eyes
Then she blinked to see a nervous looking Shikamaru standing beside her bed, "Shika?" she sleepily asked
"Heya, Naru," he whispered
Naruto yawned, scooting to make space for her friend, the boy blinked before grinning lazily as he sat beside her, "what's up?" she muttered, leaning her head on his shoulder
"I'm sorry, Naru" he blurted
Naruto sleepily blinked, remembering the argument and her conversation with Nee-chan, "I-" she paused as she felt her friend tense before she lifted her head to smile at him, meeting his brown eyes, "I'm sorry too, Shika" she finally said
Shika blinked before he grinned, his shoulders relaxing, "friends?" he asked
Naruto giggled, hugging her best friend, laughing as he hugged her back, "best friends"
Kurama frowned at the apparition of his friend, "You know what you did, right?"
The blonde snorted, "'course I do, fuzzball"
The mighty fox scowled at the nickname, but his worry was evident within his red eyes, "you'll have a harder time when the time comes, Naruto"
She smiled, "I know, but you'll be there," she sighed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "plus I can't let lil' me be like that, ya know?"
Kurama could only snort, "of course, you flimsy fleabag"
Naruto grinned up at the fox, making Kurama frown in thought that he wouldn't be seeing his friend like this for years to come, "take care of yourself, Kurama. You know what to do"
He could only huff, "yes I do, you have no need to tell me twice, idiot"
She sheepishly grinned, "I'll miss you too, fuzzball. See you in a couple of years, maybe"
Then he was alone in the seal once more. Only this time, there was an unexplainable heaviness within his chest.
"Who said I'll miss you?" he spoke softly in the silence, "baka"
Japanese:
Tana-jii- he's the man that kidnapped Naruto in the past chapter
A/N:
Well, this was a bitch of a chapter to write. I really don't enjoy putting baby Naru in so much pain. On the other hand, the Uchiha arc will officially start real soon.
One day, I will go back to edit my previous chapters, as I noticed some mistakes in grammar or spacings and stuff. For this, I apologise, I'm a college student taking up a pre-med course, same goes for my beta reader, my best friend, so it's obvious there would be some mistakes on our part. Hopefully, my beloved readers can understand this, but if you cannot, then I respectfully request you to not read, just as I had stated in the "rule page"
Thoughts:
I honestly pity my babies ;w; there are a bunch of angst within a character's development, and this is just part one of my story too. I hope you all are enjoying the story, although admittedly, I wasn't too fond of this chapter. The next chapter would be happier, I swear
Reply/s:
laurajustin Thank you! Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy
Loralie Gold Dream Yeah they do, don't they? :(
Namikaze18 Ensui Nara was taken from the actual series. He showed up during that time Naruto was in Turtle Island, I think. As you can see in this chapter, Danzo really fucked up lil Naru's mind. Shika acting as a child was also a precious moment to write, it was one of the few times his body overrode his 17 year old mentality.
Guest 1 ("Japanese pronounces") just a bit, but I appreciate Naruto for its Japanese-ness, and reading the dub is sometimes just so wrong.
Guest 2 ("writing quality")I can honestly say that your review was kind of hurtful. I am no way an English major and I do my best to write as well as I can. If it's still not up to your standards, I really do apologise. Hopefully, you can still enjoy the story despite the flaws within it.
Guest: Yuki you're not breaking any rules, dear, your review was a very sweet breath of fresh air for me. I'm glad you enjoy the interactions and the unpredictability of this little humble story. Try not to stay up too late though, that's bad for your health. I hope you and your family also keep safe in these times, too.
Guest: leonachoi Thank you for enjoying my story. I'm glad that the language and the plot are satisfactory to you. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it, too.
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"You have to take Naru away from the village"
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"It's… not safe for her here"
——
"Do you even understand what it means to be engaged, usuratonkachi?"
"Nope!"
——
"An adventure?"
"Yup, what do you say, gaki?"
——
"Itachi?"
"Hn"
"It's all falling apart, isn't it?"
"...hn"
——
"This is mad, Hokage-sama, the weapon-"
"Is nothing but a child"