Chapter 4

Over the next several weeks Keiko saw more and more of the tiny blond boy. He frequented her apartment most days for either a meal or a game and occasionally spent the night. She could see Naruto was certainly getting more and more comfortable in her presence. She taught him how to play Gomoku, a simple and straight forward game he took a liking to. Keiko also showed him how to play Shogi, a more complex game that he had yet to win. The frustration on his face and the way he held his head was so amusing to her she had to contain her laughter, but she would always start to feel bad for him and end it quickly.

Keiko much enjoyed his company, it was almost like having a little brother around. The strange looks started once again from the villagers, but not because of what she wore. Most everyone in the village knew about her relationship with Naruto and how she had become a sort of surrogate older sister to him. Keiko could feel eyes on her all the time since she started hanging around Naruto. She would sometimes pause in her day to day activities and she could sense she was being watched, and not by any villagers. Often her mind would go back to Danzo and the Hokage, the Anbu.

If she had to guess the eyes she felt on her were not always just the villagers giving her a judging glance. It was the Anbu, following her and keeping tabs on her. They did well to hide their presence from her and she was fine with that. While it annoyed her that she was untrusted yet by her superiors she had faith that with time it would get better. They would see that she was only trying to do the best she could for young Naruto.

Her work at the academy had also taken a strain. Co-workers were a little less talkative and some of the children talked to her less. Keiko had no doubt that it was because of Naruto. She sat in the break room of the academy, apple in hand as she looked out the window in thought.

"Hello, Keiko."

Keiko turned to look at Iruka as he entered the room. It had been a while since she had seen him. Usually he would greet her most days, lately it was as if he was fighting his own personal demons. There was often an internal conflict brewing in his eyes. "Well hello, Iruka. How have you been?" She offered the chair next to her and she watched as the man thought on it before joining her. There was a stiff silence around them. Keiko could sense there were words he wanted to say but he was having trouble getting them out. "What's on your mind?"

Iruka looked at her then, eyes lost. A mixture of emotions caught within them, "How do you do it?"

She blinked at her co-worker, "Huh? Do what? My job? Well, Iruka, if you want to learn more about the library system I-"

"No," He held up his hands before placing them on his knees and looking out in front of them. "I mean, Naruto."

Keiko's face fell into a flat line and she had to resist the urge to groan. Not this again. "He's just a boy."

Iruka shook his head, "If you knew, you wouldn't say that. He's not just a boy." The man put his head in his hands, unsure of how to talk about this. "I don't know how I will be able to handle teaching him. He starts later this year and I don't know how I can handle training that mon-" His head jerked up as he caught himself. Iruka looked to face Keiko and her expression was haunting, or perhaps it was the lack of expression. Hey icy blue eyes regarded him coolly and he could see the tense muscles in her finders as she gripped the apple tighter. He wasn't sure if it was his nerves or if the room suddenly got colder. Iruka waved his hands in front of him, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean tha-"

"I believe you did." Keiko said evenly. "Do tell. Obviously everyone knows something that I do not. Please, enlighten me so I may understand."

He looked away from her, "We're not allowed to speak of it. The Hokage made it forbidden in order to help protect him." Keiko only listened as Iruka wriggled nervously in his spot. He sat there for several long minutes before relenting, "I haven't told you how my parents died, have I?"

That threw her for a loop, "What does Naruto have to do with that?" Her voice was much softer, sensing this was a sensitive subject.

Iruka's face was haunted, as if he was reliving the memories he wished to forget. "It's been about seven years ago now. Since the nine-tailed fox attacked our village. That night, the fox leveled half the village and many great ninja lost their lives..." Iruka fell silent.

Keiko placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Your parents..."

He nodded, "Yeah, I tried to stay with them, but another shinobi took me away. I wanted to save them," He let out a short exasperated laugh, "I would have died too if not for that man. My father said it was the parents job to protect their child. I can't blame them."

There was another long moment of silence as Keiko sensed where his story was headed, "But, you blame Naruto. Why?"

Iruka looked her in the eye and leaned in toward her ear, whispering the words so no one could hear them, "Naruto is the nine-tailed fox."

Keiko leaned back, eyes wide from what he had just told her. "Naruto is a boy, not a beast!"

Iruka placed his hand over her mouth, "Keep your voice down, what I told you should never be repeated."

He took his hand away and she nodded, "Does Naruto even know?"

"No, since no one is allowed to speak of it."

Keiko nodded. It all made sense now. Why the entire village treated him so harshly. They blamed him for the tragedy that fox was responsible for, not him. Keiko gripped Iruka's shoulders and forced him to look at her, "Iruka," Iruka blinked, unsure of the situation, "I, more than anyone in this entire village, know that Naruto is the furthest thing from a monster."

"You say that, but every time I look at him all I see is the fox." He turned away from her. He didn't know if he would ever be able to look at Naruto the same way she did.

Keiko sighed, "But you know that Naruto is not responsible." There was a pause as she assessed him, "Iruka, you have a big heart. I know you always try to do what is best for your students too, it's why I like you so much."

Iruka looked at the ground and swallowed the lump in his throat, did it suddenly get warm in here? He willed himself not to blush in front of her, reminding himself that they were only kind words.

"But," she continued, "I think you have to open yourself up to Naruto first. Then maybe you'll be able to accept him as he is, see the true Naruto, and not the fox."

He sighed and nodded.

Keiko stood, a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It will take time, but I'm sure Naruto would grow to like you very much." She smiled at him kindly and turned away just before the blush dusted his cheeks pink. "I have to get back to work, have a good rest of your break, Iruka."

The rest of Keiko's day, she was in a haze. Everything made so much more sense now. Why Danzo said she was trying to use a weapon against the village. He thought she was going to use Naruto like a tool. If anything, this new revelation just made Keiko's distaste for the man grow. He had to know, and so did the Hokage. Didn't the Hokage know how the villagers were treating Naruto? Did he not care?

Keiko sighed heavily in frustration as she left the academy. She left early, knowing she couldn't concentrate on her work. Instead she left to head toward the training grounds and the forest beyond. It had been a while since she had worked on her techniques and it was time for a bit more practice. Making a quick stop at home to grab her weapons she went straight to her usual training spot.

Hours passed and Keiko had already made and destroyed numerous clones. She had a good sweat going as herself and a clone danced around one another in a flurry of steel. Keiko stood above a clone before it poofed from existence, her breath labored from the workout. She missed this. The deep burn in her muscles, the sense of accomplishment in her own abilities.

As she stood taking a breather she was caught off guard. A shuriken flew right passed her head and she turned, raising her weapons in anticipation for another attack. She was surprised though when she heard voices.

"I'm sorry Itachi, I'm not used to moving targets."

"Yes, but you should still be careful, you could hurt someone."

Keiko faltered a little, apparently he could see her before she could see them. Not even a moment later she saw two young boys come out of the wood work and she lowered her weapons slightly. They were dressed in civilian clothing and appeared to be brothers. The older of the two looked to be no older than thirteen, and the younger looked to be about Naruto's age.

"You nearly hit her." The older boy said.

The younger one looked panicked, "I'm so sorry! Itachi and I were training and he moved the target on me!"

Keiko put away her swords and smiled at the young boy. "It's alright. Ninja reflexes are good for a reason." She looked at the two of them, "Does your brother always train you?" She took a leap on calling them brothers, but it would seem she was right.

He nodded, "Yeah, Itachi doesn't have as much time now cause he is busy with work. He-"

"Sasuke," Itachi stepped forward, giving his brother a small smile, "we do need to get going. Mother will have supper ready soon."

Sasuke looked disappointed, "But, big brother, we only started a little while ago!" His eyes lit up as an idea came to mind. "How about you train with her? She uses a wakizashi, just like you!"

Itachi looked at his young brother for a moment, "Perhaps later, Sasuke." Itachi looked from his brother to Keiko who was studying them. Or more exactly, him. "My apologies, we must be leaving. Sorry to disturb you."

Sasuke looked at his brother as he walked away before turning to Keiko, "It was nice to meet you-" He blanked on her name.

"Keiko." She offered with a smile. "How old are you, Sasuke?"

"I'll be seven next month and I'll join the academy just like Itachi did!" He chirped happily.

Keiko smiled, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you there. I'm sure we'll see great things from you at the academy."

The boy blushed happily before turning and running after his older brother. It made him happy to know someone had faith in him, even if they were just a stranger!

Keiko watched them leave and eyed Itachi warily. He reminded her of that Anbu boy. There was no way it could have been him, right? She shrugged off the feeling and decided it was time to call it a day.

When she returned to the apartment she was greeted with the shining face of Naruto, "Kei!" He ran up to her from the Shogi board on the coffee table and wrapped his arms around her. "I've been waiting for you! The Hokage came and visited me, he said I'll be able to join the Academy soon!"

Keiko returned the embrace but couldn't find the strength to say anything. She was reminded of her conversation with Iruka, what Naruto really was. Her eyes looked at the little boy and her heart clenched. This child, who loved ramen, games and had an infectious smile was blamed for so much.

Naruto waited for her to respond and when he didn't get one he let go of her and looked up to meet her eyes. She was looking at him like they did. "Keiko?" His voice was small, portraying his age very well in that moment. Why was she looking at him with pity? He didn't want to be looked at like that!

Just as quickly as he saw it, it was gone and replaced with a heartwarming smile. "Naruto, come sit with me."

Naruto did as he was told and the two of them sat on the couch. Keiko chuckled at the Shogi board, he was trying so hard to get better at that game. She turned to face Naruto, "Naruto, does anyone ever call you a monster?"

He was surprised with this question, "Uh, yeah, why?"

"Has anyone ever told you why?"

He shook his head, "No, but sometimes they call me 'Fox' too." He paused, "Its weird too, because sometimes in my dreams I see one."

Keiko's head whipped around at Naruto, "You do?"

He nodded, remembering, "Yeah, sometimes I'll go to this super dark place and I see a cage. Its not very bright, but I can tell there's a fox in there, sometimes I can even see it's teeth and eyes."

"Naruto, you don't believe what everyone says about you, right?" She tried to forget what Naruto had just said. Perhaps, he knew more than she thought even if he hadn't figured it out.

Naruto didn't know how to answer her question and stayed silent. He didn't think he was a monster, but everyone else thought he was. To those people, it was true, he was a monster. Though he didn't know why.

"Just remember, Naruto, I'll always be here for you. No matter what anyone else says, you're not a monster. If they got to know you they would know that too."

Naruto smiled at her and nodded. He knew. He knew he could always count on Keiko. The last month had shown him that. She never pushed him away and let him be himself. He viewed her as an older sister and he knew she was the most important person to him. Naruto wanted to make her proud.

Keiko ruffled his hair, "Now, enough of that, any luck with Shogi?"

Naruto hung his head and groaned as Keiko laughed. He was starting to think Shogi was impossible!

And another down! I don't know how long I'll be able to keep up with such quick updates, but I'm really looking forward to some of these chapters I have planned! We have a long way to go yet before we reach the start of the actual series. Hopefully you guys like the ride as much as I do.

Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and Review!

Posted - 5/9/21