The Silent Fox
Chapter 3 – Sign Language
It was gone 9pm by the time the Sandaime was finished with his work for the day, and made his way home under the protection of his night guard detail. Tiger, Dog, Owl, and Crow gathered in the centre of the Hokage's office as the new 'Fox' sat on the spare armchair behind the Hokage's desk, seemingly enraptured by the grain of the wood.
Tiger spoke first, "Since you all seem to be complicit in this, I hope you have some ideas as to how we'll be looking after the boy. We're not babysitters, so we'll need to train him to hide and watch at least. The keeping quiet part should come naturally to him though." Tiger spoke that last part with a pointed glare in the direction of Owl and Crow.
"I'll take him home with me." Dog spoke up quickly, "he can stay with me for the meantime, and I'll see if I can convince my loudmouth of a neighbour to move to a room down the hall so that Fox can have his own room next to mine. I won't complain about the peace and quiet of course."
Owl stifled a giggle at that. There was a hall of residence for ANBU and select elite Jonin, that allowed them to live away from the civilians, since their occupation disenfranchised them somewhat from the peaceful lives of ordinary citizens. Dog had been complaining about his irrepressible long-time neighbour Maito Guy for years, and now it seemed he wouldn't let go of the chance to get rid of him.
"I'll get his clothes refitted too," Dog continued, "I can ask Cat since she's handy with a needle, but we'll have to add a strap to his mask till we can teach him to use chakra to keep it on. Then we can keep him with one of us in the larger part of the rafters during shifts, I'll lay a Fuinjutsu array that he can sit within to help conceal his presence."
Owl picked up the thread of conversation now, "We can teach him to start signing. He hasn't said anything, but he eventually responded to my greeting earlier, and we'll need to get him to start communicating. Plus we'll need to be able to tell him things discretely anyway once he's trained up a bit."
Tiger nodded along with Owl's suggestion, "Good, well he seems to respond well to the three of you, so you can all take turns up there with him. Feel free to try to teach him to sign on the job, but don't get too distracted. The rest you'll have to teach him in the evenings."
The other three ANBU nodded, and Dog turned to pick up the boy. "I'll lay the Fuinjutsu array tomorrow morning, for now, I need to sort things out for this one." With a small nod to his colleagues, Dog shunshined away.
TSF-TSF-TSF
Dog looked down at the little boy sleeping softly on his bed. He'd taken the clothes and given them to Cat, who had agreed to alter them for an open favour to be redeemed at a later date. Naruto was now dressed in one of Dog's t-shirts, which ended up looking more like a dress on the child, but at least the boy looked comfortable. He'd have to go to a specialist shinobi supply store to get more outfits made. Even in times of war, when early graduation was usual, a shinobi as small as Naruto was now was an extreme rarity.
Only now that he was asleep did Naruto seem like a normal child. Sure he'd allowed himself to be carried, but he would tense up whenever Dog got close, and the only sounds he really made were his breathing, and a small squeak of surprise the first few times that Dog had performed a shunshin with the boy in his arms while conscious. He regretted not being able to see the child sooner. In the wake of the attack of the Kyuubi, and the Yondaime's death, there had been so much to do, and Konoha's forces were stretched so thin that he'd been on missions non-stop for almost a year. Back then he was still a full time field agent, so there was none of the luxury of being able to spend time in Konoha that he had now as one of the Hokage's guard detail. When things had finally settled down, Dog was told by the Hokage in no uncertain terms that he was forbidden any contact with Naruto, and that the boy was being looked after in the orphanage. He had once sneaked in to see the boy around the time of his second birthday, but word had somehow reached the Hokage, who sent him out on consecutive missions for six months straight until he swore to stay away.
Dog sat now at the edge of his bed, head cradled in his hands. He had failed his Sensei's son already, and he hated the idea of him now being trained as a shinobi so young, even if it was mainly just for show. Dog knew he was solitary and unsociable, and he put it down to his own early start on his career as a shinobi; but given the choice between leaving Naruto all alone and this, he would take this any day. If the boy had even half of his father's talent, he would be an outstanding shinobi, and as a Jinchuriki, he was destined to be drawn into this lifestyle eventually.
The boy stirred again in his sleep, and Dog looked down at him. Dog pursed his lips into a frown. He had too many worries for the future, and he wished he could just resolve them now, as them hanging over his head made him anxious. For now though, he could only try and sleep. As he lay down on the bed, the boy shuffled closer to him unconsciously, eager for the heat. Dog's face relaxed a little into a small smile, and he closed his eyes.
TSF-TSF-TSF
It was 10 am the following morning, and Owl was not having much success with teach Fox sign language. Dog had placed the Fuinjutsu array before their shift started at 6 am, being uncharacteristically early for once, and since then, Fox had been sitting quietly in the wide part of the rafters above the Hokage's desk. Owl had been making non stop attempts to communicate with the boy, who had initially returned his 'hello' hand sign once again this morning, but didn't really react to much else other than to stare blankly at him as Owl's movements became increasingly exaggerated with his growing frustrations. Crow watched on implacably from the rafters a few feet away, his emotions impossible to tell from behind his mask.
Fox looked up as the door to the office slammed open, although the rest of the ANBU were unsurprised, having sensed this particular hurricane making his way down the hall. Maito Guy stood proudly in resplendent green. As he strode to stand before the Hokage's desk, Fox leaned over the edge of the rafters, peering down at this loud and bright new entrance with unabated curiosity.
Guy was in full swing, shouting his mission report at more than slightly too loud a volume, when he sensed an attack from above. He crouched low to give him a little more distance and time to react, as he looked upwards at the unexpected threat. He briefly drew back his fist, before recognising that the small form falling towards him was in no position to launch an attack. Relaxing a little, he reached his arms out and caught the tiny figure, who now looked up at him, wide eyes visible through the slots in the fox mask. Guy was taken aback by the absurdity of it. An ANBU accidentally falling out of his hiding spot was hilarious, not to mention this was obviously a child, given the slight, almost weightless figure.
The Hokage's cough broke the silence. "Owl, keep a better hold on Fox will you?". Owl dropped sheepishly from the rafters, taking Fox from Guy's arms, before quickly returning to his previous position, now keeping a grip on the boy.
Guy continued with his mission report, slowly at first as he was a little perturbed, but he finished up quickly enough. "Very well, Guy." The Hokage replied, "Well executed. You can take a day of leave tomorrow before coming back to accept a new mission. You're dismissed." Guy turned towards the door, a question running through his mind. He was about to turn and ask, when the Hokage spoke again. "And Guy, do keep what you just saw quiet won't you?".
Guy nodded, and made his way out of the office.
There were a few moments of silence as everyone listened to Guy's footsteps retreating down the corridor. "Owl. Bring him down." The Hokage said. Owl jumped back down swiftly, with Fox in tow. He quickly dropped to a knee.
"I apologise, Sandaime-sama, I should have kept a better watch." At that, Owl glanced to the side, and, seeing Fox still standing, pulled him down, manoeuvring him into some semblance of the kneeling position that Owl had taken. Hiruzen smiled a little as he watched this, as Fox turned to look at Owl, and tried to adjust his position a little to copy the older boy's positioning.
"He seems to be quite intuitive Owl, how is the sign language coming along?"
Owl gulped audibly. "Not well, Sandaime-sama. He responds to a greeting, but I haven't been able to teach him much else. It's not quite the same as learning in a classroom during ANBU training." he said with a small grimace.
"That's okay Owl, it's only been a few hours," Hiruzen replied, "besides, I might have an idea. Fox! Look at me." Fox did as he was asked, although he seemed to shrink a little at the Hokage's raised voice. Hiruzen continued, this time raising his hands from the desk and beginning to make hand signs that the two ANBU could see as he did so. "During the Third Great Shinobi War, we had to teach many regular Chunin and Genin sign language. Iwagakure's Explosion Corps did mass damage, and there were many cases of burst ear drums and ruptured ear canals that rendered our Shinobi deaf. There was one case however, in which a Chunin was able to pick up sign language far quicker than anybody else in that accelerated program, although he never returned to the field. He lost most of his lower jaw and his tongue to an explosive jutsu, but one of his ears survived, although with reduced capacity. Because he was able to hear, his teachers could speak and sign to him at the same time, which allowed him to learn much quicker. It might help if you try that with Fox. The Fuinjutsu that Dog applied should mask your voice so long as you keep it low."
Owl nodded, and called out an affirmation, and so it was that fifteen minutes later found Owl renewing his efforts to teach Fox some sign language.
"I am Owl" He said to Fox, signing along at the same time. "Who are you?"
It was his third attempt at this, but at least this time Fox seemed to be paying attention. Owl sighed, ready to try again, before Fox began to raise his hands. 'I am Owl', he signed.
Unknown to Fox, Owl was now grinning widely behind his mask. "No." He said, "You are Fox, I am Owl." Fox looked up at him for a moment, before begginning to sign again. 'You are Fox, I am Owl." Owl slapped his hand to his forehead and sighed. He vaguely heard Crow chuckle across the way. It was going to be a long afternoon.
TSF-TSF-TSF
It was a few minutes past 6pm when Dog finally got through his front door, carrying Fox in his arms. The boy was wide awake despite the twelve hour shift, if only by virtue of the fact that he'd managed to get comfortable enough to fall asleep for a few hours in the rafters of the Hokage's office once he'd eaten lunch. Dog heavily suspected that Owl had indulged the boy and held him so that he could do so, not that Dog would fault him for it. Now though, it was time to get him fed, and maybe give him a little training if possible.
Even if he was wearing the mask, Naruto obviously didn't have any of the shinobi skill set whatsoever, not even enough to wear his fox mask properly. Dog had used his chakra to shrink it down a little, the inlaid Fuinjutsu of the mask altering its size with the proper application, however, Naruto would need to be able to apply some amount of chakra to it constantly in order to keep it on. For now, Dog had fashioned a makeshift strap across the back, which had kept it in place for the day, however it couldn't have been all that comfortable to have the mask chafe his face every time he moved, as opposed to being stuck fast by chakra.
Depositing the now de-masked Naruto on the chair next to the kitchen counter, Dog retrieved a pork bun from his small freezer unit and put it in the microwave. They were a recent acquisition to keep the boy fed on something other than tasteless ration bars. Dog had gotten used to just living from ration bars, excepting the rare occasions that he ate out, as there had been such long periods of time that he was almost perpetually on missions that he'd formed this arguably bad habit, and had never bothered to break it, even now that he was almost exclusively on guard duty.
He retrieved the now steaming pork bun from the microwave and plated it up, putting it on the counter in front of Naruto, who began to poke at it tentatively. The only question now was what to teach the boy. A few moments later, and he struck upon the obvious. The leaf sticking exercise. It would help Naruto begin to draw out his chakra, and would also make him practice channelling it to his face, which he'd then be able to use to wear his mask properly.
"Fox." Dog said, grabbing the boy's attention. The boy turned to look, wiping away the remnants of the pork bun from his mouth, and began to sign. ' I am Fox, you are Owl'. The boy didn't smile, but Dog did. He replied, signing along, "No Fox, I am Dog".
The boy's eyebrows furrowed for a moment. 'You are Dog', he signed.
Dog's smile widened, and in response, Naruto smiled too. It was a little thing, but an improvement; although Dog could tell that it wasn't quite natural; Naruto must just be copying his facial expression.
Dog pulled a leaf from one of his pockets, before sticking it to his forehead and holding it there with his chakra, thus leaving his hands free to continue signing as he spoke. "I'm going to teach you to do this Fox. When you can you'll be able to wear you mask properly. Here's what you need to do..."
A/N: Shout outto the Rush Hour films with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. The whole "He is me and I'm You" scene didn't age all that well, but it does still make me giggle. It kind of inspired that first little proper exchange of sign language between Fox and Owl.