I update once a month just so I can keep ahead with the chapter as I tend to jump around when I'm writing (I wrote chapter 1, 2, 5, 3, 6 and then 4, just filling in the gaps of 4, finishing 5 and thinking about what to put into 6 only know one central idea) sorry for running on a bit.
Thank you again for all those favourites/alerts/reviews. Naruto isn't mute he's just rather shy and is slower opening up to people, some people faster than others.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just some dvds and games.
Sarutobi Chapter 3
Blue eyes gleaming in the corner of the room, all that can be seen in the darkness slinking ever so quietly to the cot in the middle of the room jumping up onto its railings; the blue eyes peered down onto the sleeping newborn. 'It was a strange sight looking down at this newborn, the slow rising of its chest, the shallow sounds of its breathing, the serene look upon it's wrinkled little face'. The blue eyes walked delicately along the railing. 'How easy it would be to simply just end it with a swipe of my claws but no, that wouldn't be fair, especially not to the mistress.'
Eyes turning towards the futon located in the room the shadow gracefully climbed down the railings and landing with a soft poof, padded across the room to the futon and nimbly jumped on to the duvet. 'And now this one again he's come into my territory the strange little child with blonde hair and whisker like markings on his face' A small sniff. 'Smells strangely... ...almost demon like'. Blues eyes widening. 'This is the demon. Humph stuck in a little child how amusing'. Turning smoothly away dropping from the futon with a small thump the shadow slunk gracefully towards the open doorway into the next room gazing steadily about the room before leaping up on to the bed. Elegantly moving from the end of the bed to the middle noticing two occupants in the bed the shadow proceeded towards the left side where the female of the two laid, the shadow moved in a circle before laying down and closing its eyes.
A patch of moonlight landed on the shadow to reveal a small blonde feline. Orange stripes patterned the blonde with a splash of white on the tip of its tail. The female moved her hand so that she was absently stroking the cat, enjoying the sensation the cat curled onto its back to reveal a little white underbelly allowing the human to stroke its belly.
(Line)
Two Anbu stood either side of a doorway minding their time to the end of their shift they were currently surveying the hallway which consisted of nothing, not one person had entered this particular hallway which made for a rather easy and boring job for the two anbus. One anbu was wearing a turtle mask while the other was in a cat mask; both were wearing the typical anbu attire.
A shift in chakra pulled the attention of both anbu before the shift disappeared, cautiously the cat anbu moved so that he was further down the corridor. Glancing around he saw nothing till he looked at the plant he noticed a second shadowed shape hidden beside it. 'Hmm that's the cloak of invisibility technique. It's small; and it's about time my shift ended so that could only mean...'
A shift in chakra the other end of the corridor pulled their attention to that direction. 'How'd he manage to do that?' moving back towards the doorway Cat positioned himself to one side of the door way, hand prepared to pull out a kunai at a moment's notice.
"Da-Dum..." the only sound in the corridor but where was it coming from?
The two anbu stationed outside the door looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Da-Dum..." The sound appeared to be moving closer but where was it coming from. 'He's stalking us'. The two anbu looked left and right until...
..."Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum!"...with a flourish the cat mask that had been adhering the young anbu's face was now moving at a frightening speed down the corridor. In complete shock both anbu's watched as the yellow blur sped around the corner. Just as his anbu partner was about to look at his unconcealed face, cat ran after the yellow blur he instantly recognised that was giggling with glee.
(Line)
"RAAAAR!" "RAAAAARR!"
"Naruto waaait!" "I'm gonna need my mask back..."
Naruto, wearing orange shorts and white t-shirt holding the cat mask (he had stolen off his favourite anbu) on his face using both hands while running and making roaring noises and being chased by a mask- less anbu was having a great time. Cat was his favourite anbu because he took the time to get to know him and play with him. He played all sorts of games, but hide and seek was his favourite.
Running into the hokage's office while still being chased by Cat, Naruto unknowingly disrupted an important meeting with the higher ranking anbu ninja of the village. Naruto stopped suddenly mid stride moved the mask to the side of his head and turned to the Hokage and bowed in an apologetic manner.
With mirth in his eyes the hokage chuckled; "how did you get your hands on that then?" holding his hand out waiting for the mask to be placed in his hand. With disappointment evident in his body he reluctantly took the mask off of its slanted position on his head and placed it in to the hokage's extended hand. Once the mask touched the hokage's hand he threw it to the empty space just to the left of the crowd of ninja where it was caught and placed onto the face of the anbu who was forming in front of him.
"Try not to lose that Cat" the Hokage reprimanded.
Naruto, who was facing the hokage with eyes closed so as not to see the anbu's face, turned and opened his eyes to see the imposing figure of Ibiki Morino staring down at him. Ibiki Morino was a big bear of a man with a broad frame and scars covering his face; to most children he was 'the scary man', any child's nightmare; Naruto however cocked his head to one side whilst looking up at the man and smiled.
"Bear" Naruto said
"Excuse me" Ibiki Questioned
"Bear?" Naruto repeated cautiously
Bending down to the child's level, Ibiki stared at the strange child before him.
"Why are you not afraid of me?"
"Why should I be? Because of your scars? Scars are a measure of your endurance and testament to your skill and to your will of fire, knowing that you will give your life for the village and your hokage. Besides scars are just damaged tissue and the worst one's aren't the ones that you can see, in here". He holds a hand to his chest "and here" he pointed to his head. "Besides you should never judge a book by its cover."
"Bear?" Ibiki questioned
"You're kinda like a bear all big and grrr" Naruto replied while making gestures with his hands. For big, he raised his hands above his head and for grr dropping his hands to his head and making clawing motions
Again Ibiki raised his eyebrow at the little blonde boy in front of him
"Well you're big and all imposing like and a bear is big and the scars give off an ominous impression kinda like a bear and you're gruff and burly and have a long coat like a bear and it's kinda the first thing that popped into my head when I saw you-
Naruto realising what Ibiki had done, paused for a short moment then spoke.
-you're good by the way".
"Do you reckon they'll be awake now?" Naruto said turning to where he knew cat was standing
"Who?" Ibiki replies
"The Sarutobi's, not everyone's awake at five in the morning you know, especially if you've just got in from a mission at two in the morning"
"Come on little one let's get you somewhere where you're not causing a disturbance hmm" Cat's husky voice sounded as he bent and picked Naruto up and carried him out of the room stopping briefly to bow to his superiors and the hokage.
"That's the most I've ever heard Naruto say. And to speak to you Ibiki of all people that's astounding." The shocked hokage muttered.
(Line)
Naruto hated his long shaggy blonde hair. Hated how the old man's eyes would flick up to a picture in his office when he saw Naruto. Hated how people would comment on his blonde colouring. How ninja would stop and think about something then change their mind whenever they saw him or stop and do a double take. He knew why this was. The fourth. It was his fault. He had the same long shaggy blonde hair as Naruto. He died the night Naruto was born. He knew he needed a hair cut so that people would stop seeing the fourth when they looked at him.
Naruto was rather bright as he walked around the shopping district, wearing orange shorts and white t-shirt with a red spiral on the centre and blue sandals; of course he didn't mind much it would help discover his prey or them discover him hopefully.
The subtle scent of dog reached Naruto's nose before he spotted the wild spiky brown hair of his prey, slowly Naruto approached being cautious to approach away from the wind so his scent wasn't detected. Good practice for ninja training as he didn't favour confronting the dogs. Of course Naruto is only five so naturally someone noticed him as he was picked up by the scruff of his shirt and lifted into the air to come to the attention Tsume Inuzuka. Staring down at the messy mop of blonde hair Tsume was intrigued that Kuromaru had brought him to her.
"Please umm Inuzuka San I'm sorry to of disrupted you but I was wondering if it would be umm possible for you to please cut my hair? Naruto asked nervously while being growled at by the three Haimaru brothers. He'd obviously interrupted the walk to the academy as both Tsume's children were present. Tsume looked at Naruto inquisitively "well I umm just wondered cause you must groom your what are they called not dogs" Said animals growled at him "familiarly so I thought you might be able to umm show me how I could do it, 'cause I'm not sure that the barbers would allow me in" Naruto trailed off.
"Familiars you mean" Kuromaru corrected
Taking pity on Naruto "Fine pup but I got errands I need to run first" she indicated her head at her daughter.
That wasn't an experience that Naruto wanted to repeat too soon, the Inuzuka compound scared him far too much to warrant another visit there. Tsume Inuzuka wasn't what scared him the dogs however did, animals just didn't like him. Hopefully he wouldn't need a hair cut again for a while.
(Line)
Naruto wearing orange shorts and white t-shirt had got his hair cut. Well he'd got it all sheared off so it was no longer in his eyes and he wasn't all hot and stuffy and all messy all the time. Besides nearly everyone recognised is blonde locks so by default with those locks no longer there he shouldn't be as recognisable technically speaking that is.
Naruto looked over his shoulder as he walked down the road to see a small blonde cat, with orange stripes and a splash of white on the tip of its tail and stomach. Naruto quickened his pace moving effortlessly from the amassing crowds glancing back he made out the white tipped blonde tail bobbing through the crowds. Naruto was beginning to panic, animals in general hated Naruto almost as much as the villagers did, he often found that cats would hiss and claw at him while dogs would growl and raise their hackles.
So in general he tried to steer clear of animals even if he just wanted to pet them only the once, which is why Naruto panicked when he realised that he was being followed by a cat. Naruto's quickened pace turned into a run as he tried to outmanoeuvre the following feline. Naruto glanced back once again as he turned into a dead end to find no sign of the blonde cat, turning round in glee to face the dead end he saw the blonde cat stood atop the fencing where it leapt down knocking Naruto quivering in fear to the floor.
"Meow"
From the entrance of the alleyway a masked figure approached the extremely frightened child cowering on the floor with a small cat leering over him.
"Hey little one, what's wrong? Asked the cat masked anbu. Looking up with tear filled eyes Naruto jumped up into Cat's arm where he trembled and sniffled and cried. Shocked but catching the blonde figure carefully, Cat instantly started rubbing circles on his young charges back trying to soothe him. Looking up from the quivering bundle in his arms to see Sayuri's cat staring at him blue eyes inquisitive, with its head cocked to one side, eerily similar to how Naruto does.
"Naruto why are you afraid of Lady Sarutobi's cat?" Cat enquired. Wet mumbles against his chest were incoherent even to his well trained ears "you're gonna have to speak clearly little one, I can't understand your tearful talk" he said, whilst Naruto was wiping the back of his hand across his nose.
"Mum has a cat?" Naruto sniffled into Cat's shoulder.
"Yeah she does." Cat nodded "Now are you going to tell me why you're scared of it?" Naruto dipped back a little so he could see Cat properly
"Animals in general hate me almost as much as the villagers do, cats hiss and claw at me while dogs growl and raise their hackles. It's kinda scary I'd understand if I done something but I don't think I have.
'How strange the little child thinks animals hate him when were just reacting to the demon we sense inside him. Maybe he doesn't know about the thing inside him.' Quirking her head to the side a little, 'he said the villagers hate him then no wonder he's scared he thinks we'll do what the villagers do and I'd be quite willing to do just that with a swipe of my claws.' The cat's eyes narrowed 'damn stupid villagers' Stretching languidly the cat straightened before swiftly moving towards the kneeling duo and upon reaching them started weaving along Naruto's legs rubbing against him moving round to the child's front the cat climbed up into his lap purring contentedly when Naruto after a quick glance at Cat, hesitantly started to rub the cats head who closed her eyes in contentment.
"See not so bad now is it?" Cat asked. Naruto shook his head while still rubbing the cat's head. Smirking behind his mask Cat removed himself from Naruto and his new found feline friend Cat glanced cautiously out the alleyway remembering what Naruto had said about the villagers, noticing a few presences either side of the entrance, he casually raised his chakra level which caused both Naruto and the cat to twitch momentarily, before lowering it again when the presences had retreated away from the alley.
"Now how am I going to explain to your mother about your hair?" Cat stated as he ran his hand through Naruto's non-existent hair.
(Line)
"No Bath! No Bath!" Naruto shouted as he ran gleefully through the corridors of the hokage tower. The ninja meeting in the hokage's office could hear the entire commotion. 'How does he still have all this energy?' the Third thought whilst rubbing his forehead tiredly. 'And who forgot to shut the door? Damn ninjas'. The ninja's in the room mostly contained disgruntled expressions upon hearing the voice of their ire, which soon turned to complete shock upon hearing the next sentence.
"NARUTO UZUMAKI SARUTOBI!"
Naruto stopped running just outside the office doorway turning with eyes wide and face completely shocked to face the annoyed expression on Sayuri Sarutobi's face, marching up to Naruto, face red and stomps landing heavily on the wooden floor.
"That made you stop, I see, next time maybe I'll add your middle name. Huh what's wrong, why are you looking at me like that?" she said anger quickly dissolving into confusion.
"You called me Sarutobi?" Naruto questioned in his quiet gravelly voice
"It made you stop running didn't it?"
"But I'm not a Sarutobi"
"Are you not the Hokage's grandson?"
"...yeah... ...but I'm not a real Sarutobi" he whispered
"Oh Naruto," she said kneeling in front of him "you may not be a Sarutobi by blood, but we treat you like family that's why the old man will never let you go without receiving a hug, why I tuck you in at night, read you stories, help you when you're confused or hurt. Family isn't just about blood and who you're related to, it's about people you trust and care for and they become your precious people."
"Precious people?" He questioned tilting his head to the side in a cat like fashion.
"People who you trust and care for, they're the ones who become your precious people the one's your willing to give everything for". Taking a breath she continues "You may not understand it yet but you will one day and that's why you'll make such a great big brother to Konohamaru." She said embracing him in a hug.
The ninja in the hokage's office were stunned. They couldn't believe what they were seeing; the demon child was partially covered in mud with twigs and leaves sticking out all over his hair. And there was lady Sarutobi willing, talking and caring for this monster and what she was saying really started to cause them to think.
"Granted you don't have Sarutobi in your name at all, but you're a speedy little one and I want you bathed and in bed by eight o'clock how else am I going to catch you, besides you've got a long journey ahead of you tomorrow." She said knowingly. The ninja's in the office face planted.
"No bath" Naruto said stubbornly
"Why what's wrong with baths? It's all bubbles and toys and little rubber duckies" she questioned making little squeezing motions with her hands when talking about rubber ducks. Naruto had a blank expression on his face.
Suddenly the hokage's daughter-in-law got a dark look on her face "I don't want to know how they washed you at the orphanage. She took a deep breath "but no son of mine is going to stay all dirty and grubby because some incompetent fool can't see the little boy you are. I would never hurt you Naruto you know that; trust me when I say you'll enjoy a bath, its lots of fun."
"Okay" Naruto meekly replied and took Sayuri's proffered hand and together walked back the way they had come to enjoy bath time.
3080 words this chapter.
Da-dum is only in this chapter 'cause it got stuck in my head at work I was spinning on my chair going da-dum... (spin to the other side) ...Da-dum.
I'm not too sure about this chapter it may need some more editing again.
Please review and let me know what you think.
Thank you very much.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.