Author's Notes

Revised as of 03/06/2022

LEGEND BELOW

"In the beginning..." = Normal speech.

''I kinda wanted to know.'' = Normal thoughts.

"You bleed, I wonder?" = Powerful beast speech.

''That's what I thought.'' = Powerful beast thoughts.

The sun hung high in the skies of Konohagakure, depicting a warm and welcoming afternoon day for the village residents. However, it was misleading in the sense that today had already been, and was likely to continue being stressful. The locals filled the streets, bustling around too and fro happily, completely oblivious to the potential return of their most feared enemy.

Hiruzen sighed. He had really wanted to keep it that way, but he knew that there was no chance that anyone would ignore the Kyuubi's second coming. He was about to have his hands full, more then he already did, and he didn't know who was to blame for this.

It really was quite distressing.

At this very moment he was on his way over to young Naruto's house, hoping and praying to anyone willing to hear his plea, that the boy he knew wasn't gone. He knew that he was being hopeful, but he couldn't help it. If Naruto truly was gone, then whoever was responsible was going to suffer a painful end by his hands, mark his words.

But if that innocent boy was still in there, still in control, then no one, not even the damned council was going to stop him from doing what he should have been doing since day one. That boy needed him right now, needed others too. He could at the very least offer that, he owed the boy's father that much.

Hiruzen let out another sigh as he spotted Naruto's house up ahead. It was time. He signaled his ANBU that were trailing him to wait in standby for any further orders, while he made his way up to his front door. The three he talked to earlier had been sent ahead of him, and he found Hana standing near the door.

"Hana." Hiruzen greeted with a nod.

"Hokage-Sama." The feral looking woman greeted back.

"How is he?" He asked quietly, patiently waiting for an answer. Hana seemed to let out a breath before responding.

"Fine, all things considered, but..." There she seemed to pause. "He's become despondent... There's a sense of hopelessness around him." She trailed off, giving the Hokage a helpless look. "I don't know, Hokage-Sama..." Hiruzen's shoulders seemed to sag as he sighed again.

"I see..." He muttered, quietly thinking for a moment. "What's he doing right now?" He found himself asking.

"Staring listlessly at a wall while being comforted by the little Hyuuga Princess..." The woman responded with a frown, crossing her arms under her chest in habit. Hiruzen frowned at the answer, but it couldn't be helped.

"Hokage-Sama, if I may?" Hana asked. Getting a nod in response, she continued. "I've only observed him for a short time now, but... From what I've seen, Princess in there is the only one that brings him any comfort... I don't think it'd be a good idea to separate them for long..." She informed seriously.

"Ah, thank you for informing me." Hiruzen said, filing that bit of information away for later. "Now, I've come to see him." He stated. Hana nodded before leading him to the room. He stopped short of opening the door. Taking another breath, he knocked. This was a trying situation, and he needed to approach it as such. Simply barging in would do nothing but cause tensions to rise. He could feel Hinata almost jump in surprise from the other side of the door.

"H-Hello? Who's there?" Hinata called out from within the room. From where her voice came from, it was clear she was underneath or behind something large.

"Hinata Hyuuga?" Hiruzen asked through the door. The girl hummed in surprise, but quickly responded. "This is Sarutobi Hiruzen... May I come in?"

"Oh, yes! The door's o-open.." The girl called out. A moment passed before the door opened, and the Hokage walked in. The old man's suspicions were confirmed when he found the girl resting under the fox's large arm as she deftly ran her fingers soothingly up and down his ears.

The fox...

Hiruzen didn't think it would be that easy to come to terms with that fact, but... After having to witness it firsthand, his heart quickly reached the realization that this fox could not in any way actually be the Kyuubi itself. There was no deception in the fox's... in Naruto's heart. He could sense no underlying hatred or burning venom trying to be concealed, something he was sure the real Kyuubi would have a hell of a time trying to hide. No, all he saw was Naruto. But what he saw still worried him.

"Naruto-Kun.. Hokage-Sama is h-here to see you." Hinata urged softly, trying to get the fox's attention. At first it seemed like he wasn't going to respond, but then he finally tore his gaze away from the wall and turned to Hiruzen. The first words out of his mouth cemented the truth in Hiruzen's heart.

"Oh, finally came to check in with me? I suppose?" Naruto's deep voice grunted, his eyes staring into the Hokage's. The statement stung like a knife wound in his shoulder, but he deserved it. He'd left Naruto on his own for far too long, and now it had become apparent that he'd suffered because of it.

But…

When he looked into those red eyes, he was reminded of the night that Konohagakure was almost lost. But he knew that those eyes now belonged to someone else. That, and the only one that ever dared to call him out like that was Naruto.

"Naruto... My god boy, how did this happen?" Hiruzen breathed out, stepping closer to him. An enraged look seemed to take over the fox's eyes, and Hiruzen realized that he just stumbled across something serious.

"Naruto." He started seriously. "Who did this to you?"

"You expect me to believe this is unrelated to you!? I wonder?!" Naruto barked, eyes blazing. Hiruzen visibly recoiled at the statement.

"Naruto, my boy? What are you saying?" Hiruzen asked, hurt. The fox's snout scrunched up, eyes tightening.

"You have the gall to ask, insisting you do not know? Do your ANBU not operate under you? I wonder?" He growled.

Hiruzen's eyes widened in horror.

"Snake is your ninja. Is he not?" He stated, his anger fading away under Hinata's ministrations. "He did this to me, make him fix his error."

"Naruto..." Hiruzen said slowly, his voice gravely serious. "Did this, Snake, wear a mask?" The others might have thought the question unimportant, but to him it meant everything. Naruto nodded, re-cementing Hiruzen's fears. "Did this mask resemble a serpent?" Another nod.

''Damnit...'' Hiruzen cursed silently. ''Someone wearing an ANBU mask, of course!'' It was no wonder Naruto trusted this man so easily! Naruto knew that the ANBU served him, and so he trusted them. But to make it worse, this ANBU actually had the knowledge to back up his disguise as well, truly a bad situation.

"Did he ever take his mask off?" Hana suddenly spoke up, offering a question. Naruto's furry brows squinted in thought, trying to recall.

"Yes… I do recall his face…" Naruto muttered. "However I, he.." He took a growling breath to try and calm himself, reveling in the comfort brought on by Hinata's roaming hands. "He had white skin, dark hair... And his eyes were like a snake… I apologize… I cannot remember any more, I suppose…" The fox struggled to recall anymore, but the Hokage had heard enough.

"Shh.. Its o-okay Naruto-Kun..." Hinata could sense that speaking about the man hurt him, and this interrogation wasn't helping him. But for all that, Hiruzen now knew without a shadow of a doubt, who the perpetrator was, and he was not happy. Naruto visibly calmed under her touch, something only Sarutobi had noticed.

"Orochimaru..." Hiruzen muttered to himself, too quietly for anyone else to hear. Well, besides Naruto, as his ears twitched at the sound. The Hokage stood up suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Naruto, my boy, I'm sorry. It seems I've failed you again... The man that did this was not working for me…" Hiruzen said with a sigh, raising a hand to silence the fox that was about to object. "But I've had enough of sitting on the sidelines... I know I can't fix this, but, I'm going to try and make it better. I've got a meeting to summon, I won't be long..." With that said, he made his leave. The group watched him leave, a strange sense of relief building inside them.

Naruto wanted to shout at the man as he left, but he just couldn't bring himself to. Without the man saying it in words, he knew that Hiruzen felt himself to blame for what had transpired.

If it was anything, he knew that Hiruzen was done messing around now. Far too late to stop what had happened, but perhaps he could give the aging Hokage another chance…

It was the early afternoon now, and Hiruzen had just finished sending out a notice to all clan leaders. He was calling for an abrupt and unexpected meeting between them all. He hated to have to bring them all in on such short notice, but it couldn't be helped.

With a tired old sigh, the head of the village let out a puff of smoke from his pipe. It was days like this that made him pick up smoking again, a bad habit that he couldn't seem to break away from. He knew that it wouldn't be long before every clan head was gathered together under his roof, so he was currently busying himself with trying to find a way to appropriately broach a sensitive topic with them.

That being said, he had a feeling that nothing he said would make this any easier, for all parties involved.

"Welcome in... Naruto has become every civilian's nightmare, and I have no idea what to do... Any suggestions?" He mused out-loud sarcastically. The man felt like slamming his head into his table. He just couldn't believe it!

Well he could, but that was besides the point. The day he let his deranged student go rather then stopping him when he had the chance, he knew that one day it would come back and bite him in the ass.

He was just selfish enough to hope that he'd be dead by then. Let the younger generation deal with it!

Yeah, because that worked out so unbelievably well the last time he did that. Brand new young Hokage dies not even a year into his position, leaving his child alone without another parent to care for him. That worked well, didn't it...

''I'm going to be in this seat until it kills me...'' He knew it to be true. No one currently residing in the village was deemed an acceptable replacement for the god of shinobi. His top ANBU was extremely powerful and skilled, but didn't possess the right mindset for the job. His own son was off on a practically permanent mission guarding the Fire Daimyo, and tension had been placed between them for years.

Then his other student, who he really hoped would take up the seat, decided that the village was just too much for her and left it. Honestly, he didn't feel like he could trust anyone here with the position yet.

But that being said, he knew that if push came to shove, Kakashi, his top ANBU would take the spot if needed. Hiruzen just didn't want it to come to that if he could help it, as the young man in question already had been dealt a bad hand since early on in his life.

The old man was interrupted by the return of his ANBU, the spec-ops ninja appearing with a small swirl of air. The ninja bowed, before offering his report.

"Hokage-Sama." The man said with an air of professionalism. "Everyone you asked for has been alerted. They should be arriving shortly." He informed. With his piece said, the ninja disappeared back into the shadow of the room. The old man let out a sigh, setting his pipe down.

People knew that he only used it when stressed, so he felt it better that he not. Barely a minute passed before a knock sounded at his door, signaling the first arrival.

"Come in." He ordered. The double doors opened with a creek revealing the leader of the esteemed Hyuuga clan, Hiashi Hyuuga. The man was well groomed and adorned in a very bland yet powerful kimono.

"Hokage-Sama." Hiashi greeted with a respectful bow, the tone of his voice neutral.

"Hiashi." Hiruzen returned. "The rest should be here any second." Following his words, the sounds of other people arriving could be heard. "Ah, there they are now."

Through the open doors a small group of people walked in, quickly taking note of the tension.

The group consisted of the inquisitive Inoichi Yaminaka, leader of the mind reading Yaminaka's. Shibi Aburame, the quiet head of the clan of chakra insects using ninja. Choza Akimichi, a large man with an equally large heart and the current leader of the big boned Akimichi clan. Beside him was his best friend and longtime teammate, Shikaku Nara, probably the smartest man in battle tactics inside the entire village.

Standing off to the side of the rest was a pretty white skinned black haired woman, her pitch black eyes a trademark of her clan. She was doing her best to appear professional, but the stress could be seen in her eyes and the placement of her hands, as they fidgeted with the hem of her kimono, and constantly readjusted her glasses. She was the representative of the famed Uchiha clan, and was doing her best to not bring any shame to her family name.

The Uchiha were prideful people at the height of their power, but.. After ninety nine percent of their clan were wiped out in a freak accident two years ago, only her and the heiress to the main family remained alive. With the heiress not being of age, she was forced to take up the roll as temporary clan head and advisor to the young heiress until she could handle it all on her own.

That being said, she was a mere newly minted Chunin at sixteen years old when the massacre took place, and had no skills in politics whatsoever. Whatever her plans for the future were, were completely disregarded in favor of quickly learning to take up her new role as head. She struggled heavily, but she never gave up her duty to defend and properly take care of the young heiress, even when it wasn't beneficial for her.

Strutting her way into the room only a few moments behind the rest of them was the beautiful yet wild looking woman, Tsume Inuzuka, single leader over the entire doglike Inuzuka clan. The woman was referred to as the clan's mother figure, and had the protective attitude to follow it. Her long brown hair was spiked and untamed, and a dark purple lipstick adorned her lips. With her arms crossed under her breasts, a frown formed on her face.

"This better be important..." The first words out of the brown haired woman's mouth were typical of her attitude, and Hiruzen let the remark go unpunished. Seeing as everyone he asked for had arrived, Hiruzen let out a sigh.

"Alright, seeing as everyone's here, I can begin." Hiruzen started, his gaze taking in the room. "To be brutally frank, we've run into a big problem." He spoke seriously, yet his tired gaze explained a bit more to those paying attention. "And I do not have the ability to care for this situation without making more of an issue..."

"Hokage-Sama..?" Hiashi questioned, his tone practiced but still concerned. For the Hokage to be serious as he was, something definitely had to be up.

"This problem revolves around Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi... I'm sure everyone here knows about him..." With that short sentence alone, everyone in the room was forced to realize the importance of the situation at hand. The fact that Hiruzen would so easily break his own spoken law about not talking about said Jinchuriki was worrying, to say the least.

"The Uzumaki boy? Yeah I think I speak for us all in saying we know about him." Tsume said with a thoughtful frown.

"S-Something happened to him didn't it...?" Siouxsie, current clan head to the Uchiha said nervously, readjusting her glasses again. Leave it to the Uchiha to point out the obvious, even though it was true. Hiruzen sighed, but nodded to her statement.

"Yes. Sadly you are correct." Hiruzen stated. "And, I am partially to blame for this..." He sighed, leveling them a tense look. "It seems that my past mistakes have finally caught up to me, and are once again causing a problem."

"Past mistakes..? Hokage-Sama, you don't mean...?" Inoichi prodded, his mind already connecting the dots. The only past mistake Hiruzen ever really dwelled on the most was his student turned criminal.

"Orochimaru." He stated. The room seemed to tense at the name of the traitor. "Without me ever being made aware of it, Orochimaru managed to infiltrate the village and get into direct contact with Naruto, alone and unsupervised... I believe this happened days ago, and I've only now come to learn of it... and the problem that has arisen because of it..."

"Days... You mean to tell us, that that traitor has been wandering around the village unsupervised for days now!?" Choza shouted in shock. It was a terrifying thought, and dwelling on it brought no comfort.

"I'm afraid so. After gaining access to the village, he sought out Naruto. I don't know exactly what happened after that. And-" Here Hiruzen took a shuddering breath. "-He somehow turned Naruto into a nigh perfect representation of the beast he was supposed to contain..." Dead silence pursued in wake of his statement.

Inoichi looked as if his mind had just short circuited, his face twitching in shock. The look of utter horror that crossed Shikaku was probably the most emotion that anyone had managed to pull out of the man within the last decade. Hiashi was trying to keep a level head, but the tension around his shoulders told a different story. Chōza's face had gone white.

"What!?" However, it was Tsume that broke the dreadful silence, her shout rocking the walls. The woman grabbed her hair. "He did what!?" She repeated loudly. Her shout shocked Siouxsie, the woman dropping her glasses.

"Right now, at this very moment, Naruto is at his apartment, being watched by the only ones that he trusts. The list of people is short, those on it being your daughter, Hiashi; And both your sons, Shikaku, Tsume. Sadly, I do not think I am on that list any longer…" Hiruzen stated. Hiashi practically fell out of his seat.

"Hokage-Sama? You left my daughter alone with a nine tailed fox...?" The Hyuuga leader's question echoed throughout the room. Hiruzen winced. Perhaps he shouldn't have put it in such a way.

"Yes. I did." But that wasn't going to stop him now. "Naruto is holding himself together quite well, all things considered. But I've seen that legendary anger shine through the cracks, and for some reason little miss Hyuuga's touch calms him down. I'm afraid that more then just the body came with this horrible transformation, as I believe some of the Kyuubi's legendary anger may have come along with it as well as other... things..." With that little tidbit of information, Hiashi was forced to sit back and think.

"What are we going to do..?" Inoichi's question brought the main issue at hand back to the forefront of Sarutobi's mind.

"Back to the main point. With this new situation unfolding, we have to deal with it quickly and quietly. I want to get to this before anyone from the civilian council gets word of it. As it stands now, Naruto is not a registered ninja yet, and comes under the civilian counsel's control..." The old man stated, leveling he problem on the field.

"As he is now, do you honestly think that Naruto will allow himself to be trampled by the council?" Tsume retorted.

"No. But I don't want it to come to that." Hiruzen stated.

However, quickly thinking of a response, Siouxsie spoke up.

"H-Hokage-Sama, if I may?" She asked, readjusting her glasses again. At his nod of confirmation she continued. "If you were to make young Naruto-Kun a ninja, he would fall under your control..." Siouxsie spoke quietly, as all eyes turned on her.

"Hmm, yes. Interesting. I'll have to do it in quiet. I will need multiple clan leaders present to do this however, otherwise proving this in the council would prove troublesome." Hiruzen said, a grin starting to form. "Brilliant. I knew calling you all here would aid in solving this dilemma." Siouxsie blushed under the Hokage's praise, but hid it by readjusting her glasses again.

"Hokage-Sama?" Shikaku interjected. "Even if this goes to plan, I would still suggest we place Naruto somewhere where he would be supervised." He reasoned, but was quick to continue at the face Hiruzen pulled. "I suggest this for his safety and our own assurance, nothing else. You mentioned his, anger issues, and I feel this is a good way to study and help him following his rather abrupt and unwelcomed change."

He followed up. "And... If this change were to be permanent...? We would require the information to assist him through his trials."

Silence persisted following the Nara clan head's rather pointed observations. Hiruzen hated to say it, but everything Shikaku said was correct. He didn't know nearly the extent of Naruto's problems, nor anyway to deal with them currently. He had no idea how he was going to have to move forward following this. And, this was exactly why he had called this meeting in the first place.

"Hokage-Sama, may I suggest you transfer Naruto into my care?" Hiashi spoke up, bringing all eyes on him. "If everything that we've learned here today is true, then having him placed into the care of the Hyuuga clan would offer him protection from any unwanted visitors... as well as having him within close proximity to my daughter..." It was hard to tell, but they detected that Hiashi wasn't too happy about it. Even then, he was a man that had lived though tough times before, and knew when to not let his own personal feelings get in the way of things.

"If no one here has anything else to say about this, then I have no reason not to go along with your idea." Hiruzen stated. When no one spoke up, he nodded to himself. Following this, Hiruzen reached under his desk, pulling out a document. It was a bundle of papers pertaining to Naruto. From here he would be adding a few new documents to go alongside the others. Yes. He planned on getting the legal problems out of the way completely first and foremost. He was not going to allow himself to be blindsided by anything the council could throw at him when they learned of this.

"I suggest we change his name, less connection to who he really is for the people to use against him." The suggestion came from Choza.

"Perfect. Now I just need all of your signatures." At his word they all signed the document. Once the ink dried, he sorted the papers back into the folder and returned it to his desk. "As of right this moment, he is officially a Ninja of Konoha." He stated, though they could detect a hint of something in his words. With his piece done, he fell back into his seat, a sigh escaping him. With all said and done, the shear fact of what happened really started to settle in.

"I believe we should leave this at that for now. I want to reconvene in a week to further discuss this." Hiruzen stated, leveling a look at everyone. They all mulled him words over silently, before offering him their support. With that they made their leave, with only Hiashi staying behind to further cover Naruto's new living arrangements...

Two hours later Hiruzen returned to the apartment, and with him a small group of his personal ANBU. Now usually that wouldn't be seen as a good sign, but the reassuring look on his face served to calm any building worries in their hearts. Within a few minutes, they had gathered up all of Naruto's remaining possessions, forgoing all of his clothing for very obvious reasons.

Hiruzen didn't want Naruto to have to stay in the ruined building for any longer then he needed to, and as such had planned to move him immediately. This building held bad memories that he was sure wasn't going to do him any good by sticking around. By now Hiashi has most likely finished the temporary living arrangements at the Hyuuga compound.

Tsume had offered him a bed made for their own ninja dogs, and suggested that it might work for Naruto as well.

All of that combined, and with the fact that Naruto was also going to be rooming with Hinata, not much space was left in the room. Hiashi noted with a sense of dread that of Naruto was going to become a permanent house guest, that some redecorating, as he put it, was going to be in order.

The idea of his daughter and a nine tailed fox in a small enclosed space just didn't sit well with him. But he would suck it up and deal with it for the time being. From the times he's experienced with the boy since he was little, he felt like he could trust him.

And besides, if he wasn't able to separate them before, then he wasn't going to now.

Now all that was left was for them to transfer Naruto to the Hyuuga compound without alerting the entire village.

Without much struggle, the group had managed to sneak Naruto all the way to the Hyuuga compound unnoticed. It was as if a weight had been removed from their shoulders as they crossed the gate into the walled compound. Here he would be free from those hateful glares he had become so accustomed too. At least that's what he was told...

"A-Ah, come this way Naruto-Kun." Hinata urged with a soft smile as she led the massive Fox with her movement. They had just passed through the gates, and the adults had stayed behind to briefly cover a few things with the Hyuuga guards that stood by. Hiruzen lay it out quickly and rather pointedly. Besides him and select others, no one was allowed inside the walls for safety reasons, beside Shikamaru, Kiba, and Hana.

They had been very briefly informed by Hiashi himself only an hour ago, so they went along with what the Hokage said fully.

While they did that, Naruto wandered off after Hinata, his eyes never leaving the back of her form as she walked. She wanted him to follow her, so he followed her. It felt right to listen to her words, to follow her directions. For the first time in his life, he was fully convinced of at least one thing. That he would follow this little girl to the ends of the earth and back, no questions asked.

It was strange, that even he himself didn't question it at all. But... Something about her, who she was, the way she talked to him... It just all made sense to him. For as short and painful as his life had been up to this point, her delicate little hands could take that all away instantly. He had no idea what he had done to earn her love and care, but he would forever protect her to repay her affections. She had always been there for him, even in his childhood days.

And her scent... It was familiar...

More so then it had any right to be...

It was strange, but as a fox, a sense of smell meant so much more then it did when he.. when he was human. She smelled of soft lavender. Years ago when he used to get lost in the woods, crying and hiding, the smell of lavender would pervade his senses and like a wave of soothing energy, he'd calm down.

Now, that same smell and calming energy hit him like a bolt of lightning, and the affect was so much stronger. He knew that it was her, she was the lavender that pervaded his nose and took total control over him.

And now, even when he felt scared of his new body, concerned of this new challenge, and worried of how he was going to be treated by the same village that he lived in, he couldn't become swept away by it. Every time those thoughts began to assault him, her smiling face would come to mind, and the feeling of being near her would stop those thoughts.

And earlier, when the bitter anger filled his heart at the thought of Snake betraying him, it was her calming presence and soft roaming hands that took that anger and that hatred and sadness, and threw it away. He would be strong, for her.

Naruto had no idea, but Hinata had accidentally cast a spell on him with her own body alone. Who she was as a person had purchased his allegiance, and one day she would come to understand the full weight of what her body and mind could do to him. But for now...

"Err... Naruto-Kun?" Hinata's soft voice broke him from his trance he had been placed in. He blinked rapidly, looking to her pale lavender eyes.

"Yes?" He responded, standing there waiting for her to continue. The girl was momentarily shaken by the devotion contained within his sharp red eyes, and almost completely forgot what she was about to say.

"O-Oh! Um... This is my room. Father said that y-you'll be staying here with me." She said, and his eyes were drawn to what stood behind her. He knew that Hinata was royalty, but...

Behind the girl was two fancy sliding doors that led to a large open room that looked like it was fit for a prince... Yet now that he thought about it, she technically was a princess in a way. The hyuuga were extremely rich people, so it was no shock that they treated the daughter of the clan head so highly.

But even then.

"This… This is your room, I wonder?" He breathed out, stunned. Hinata nodded beside him, bringing a delicate hand to her chin.

"Father insists that it is too s-small..." She noted off handedly. Naruto almost tripped over his own pawed claws at her statement. Ignoring his bewilderment, she moved into the room and he followed her in moments later. Off in the corner was a large pillow like bed, designed to be on the ground. Naruto gained the feeling that it was for him. That, or Hinata just enjoyed relaxing on massively oversized beds...

"Oh..?" Hinata hummed as she noticed the small note resting on the large pillow. It was signed Tsume Inuzuka. Nothing more was on it. "I-I think someone got this for you." She said, setting the note over by her desk. Naruto moved to the pillow, catching a quick whiff of it. It had hints of dog on it, but it seemed to have ever been used before...

His eye lids grew heavy and he suddenly felt tired. A large yawn escaped from him as he crawled up onto the massive pillow, and curled up like a cat, his massive tails curled around him. Over beside her desk, Hinata had lit up a candle. It was lavender scented. As he drifted off, his mind couldn't help but be drawn to the thoughts of the most recent events.

Only a few days ago he had been a human, and as much as they tried to convince him otherwise, he felt like he had been turned into a monster. How could anyone accept him as he was now? They already hated him, and now look at him...

"I don't want to be a monster... I suppose…" His whisper was so soft Hinata almost missed it. "But I shall suffer it..." She turned to him, but he had already fallen asleep, apparently finding solace in sleep. Her face softened as she gazed at his.

"You're not a monster..." She whispered, before quietly returning to her desk...

CHAPTER

3

END