PhonenixWytch - did you pick up on what I meant to happen in his exam or are you just really perceptive?
RoXaS707 - duck butt soup is pretty much what started this story off I believe lol.
craven34 - Naruto's left handed and very good at his aiming his teacher noticed this and tried to disadvantage him by making him use his right hand. Teams and training are on the way not next chapter though. I would like to use the last bit of your review in a chapter later.
blackroselover - maybe.
I've used my beta for about half the story now if between us we've missed things i'm sorry. Sorry for the errors, I know why this is now.
Naruto starts off as 8 then 9 at the birthday scene then 10. Hope this doesn't confuse too much.
Thank you for the alerts and reviews.
Naruto = flash back
'Naruto' is thoughts/thinking
"Naruto" signing/sign language
"Naruto" speaking.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just some DVDs and games.
Good things don't last forever. But good deeds last a lifetime. Chapter 10
"Hey Naruto what do you think we'll look like when were older?" Konohamaru asked looking up from the book he'd been feigning to read.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked continuing to write on the scroll
"Do you reckon I'll take after mum, dad, grandpa or Uncle Asuma?" Konohamaru asked again turning to look at Naruto.
"Well you're the perfect mixture between mum and dad and very much like granddad so probably granddad" Naruto chuckled thinking about their slightly perverted grandfather.
Konohamaru shuddered also thinking the same. "What about you?" Konohamaru asked
"Me. I'm my dad but I'd like to be uncle Asuma." Naruto mused before spilling ink slightly on the scroll.
"Me too Uncle Asuma's the best" Konohamaru readily agreed.
Asuma stood in the doorway of the house listening to the two boys in the living room. He smirked shyly scratching at the back of his head.
"Hey Naruto, do you think I'll get Uncle Asuma's wind elemental manipulation thing?" Konohamaru eagerly asked.
"Nope I reckon you'll be stuck with the typical Sarutobi elemental natures" Naruto stated.
"Which are?" Konohamaru grumbled.
"Fire and Earth although grandpa's known as the god of shinobi so you might learn more." Naruto smirked looking up from under his bangs.
"What are you?" Konohamaru enquired
"wind and I really want water or maybe fire as my second" Naruto smirked smugly "I like the way that the second hokage had control of water, but if I have fire then I'll match uncle Asuma" he smiled finally looking up from his scroll. "That and Cat had a water affinity." Asuma and Konohamaru stared at Naruto that was the first time he'd mentioned Cat, others had mentioned Cat but never Naruto.
(Line)
Ume Kita was not happy she had searched everywhere for Naruto and was now waiting outside the academy waiting for Riku and Kenta. They'd finished their training session and had decided to search out for Naruto as it was his birthday. She turned to find Riku walking through the gates; he shook his head when he saw her looking at him. Two out of three hadn't found Naruto.
There was a low rumbling sound, Ume and Riku looked at each other before carefully moving away from each other and at the gate Kenta came storming through the gates and flying past the two before coming to a stop suddenly the rumbling however continued looking at Kenta's stomach they found the source of the rumbling.
"What? I skipped lunch to meet up with you guys. I'm starving" Kenta stated holding his stomach only to be hit on his head by both Ume and Riku. Sitting on the floor clutching his head with twin bumps atop it he looked up at them eyes watering.
"Did you find Naruto?" Ume asked rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"No there's not a sign of him anywhere" Kenta stated jumping to his feet "but Lady Sarutobi is visiting the orphanage today so we can ask her where Naruto is."
"That's a good idea we already cornered Iruka into telling us when his birthday is according to the school records" Riku stated running his hand through his spiked mousey hair that fell to the right. Ume flicked her hair out of her face.
"Come on then" Ume stated impatiently walking away from the two boys.
They made their way across the village to the orphanage. It was a small building for what it was used for the fencing around the outside had gaps in it, there was no grass to play on, and the children's equipment was derelict. The children entered through the gap where the gate used to be.
Lady Sarutobi shut the door to the orphanage with a bang to make sure the door closed as she was walking across the courtyard angry at the sorry state that the property had fallen into. She looked up when she heard her name called.
"Lady Sarutobi" Riku called
"Umm where's Naruto? We were hoping to celebrate his birthday with him." Ume asked
"What happened to this place?" Kenta asked
"Well they never treated Naruto well here and the head of the orphanage squandered all the money since then and was finally released of their position along with all the others working here." She coughed "it'll be closed soon because it's so derelict. The rest of the children here will have to be on the streets. The council will probably attempt something though" Sayuri sighed then coughed again.
"And Naruto?"
"Oh he's away he'll be back by Monday. We tend to celebrate his birthday the first Monday after the actual date and whenever he's back" she smiled "come to the Sarutobi residence on that day he'll be happy you're there". Sayuri said walking away from the trio.
(Line)
The third looked round the room searching for a certain blonde feline seeing no sign he placed his hands on his shoulders feeling no fur he quickly snapped his hands to his head for once Nami was not in the room or on the hokage.
"Are you going to tell them?" the third asked cleaning out his pipe.
"No I don't want them to know it's not fair to them." Lady Sarutobi said from her seat on the sofa in the hokage's office
"It's also not fair to them keeping them in the dark." He said placing his pipe on his desk
"I don't want to burden them" she shied away from his scrutinizing gaze.
"Now your sounding like Naruto" the third sat back in his chair "what did they say"
"It's volatile"
Naruto was walking past the door of the office heard the volatile part, he stiffened in shock.
(Line)
Naruto had been jumpy all week he'd seen his mum frequent the hospital a lot he remembered the conversation he had partly overheard. It set him on edge. Now he thought about it his mum had been more vacant over the past two years.
Although he was starting to become more independent he lived at his apartment most days on occasion he'd spend a day or two at home or at the tower and once at Asuma's.
Naruto had followed Sayuri to the hospital and was surprised when she walked over to him.
"You're following me Naruto" Sayuri chuckled
"Me no. No. I'm umm I... umm" he stalled for a convincing lie.
"You're what Naruto?" Sayuri playfully asked
"I wondered what your favourite flower was?" Naruto lamely came up with as an excuse.
"My favourite flower?" she asked confused.
"Yup" he nodded firmly believing his lie.
"It's a rose. A red rose. Ichirou used to get me one on occasions" she smiled sadly. Naruto nodded solemnly then hugged her and ran off.
(Line)
Naruto walked through the house shedding clothing till he was dressed in his black tank top and grey shorts and bare feet. It was the early morning Monday and he had arrived home at his apartment which he still had to furnish properly, not that he spent a lot of time there but that was beside the point. He shook his head it wasn't really good practice to talk to yourself. He walked past his calendar and doubled back to check the date. 'Oh right it's that Monday' he thought. He looked to his shelf where his gifts sat. There was Ro is teddy since he was younger, the goggles Cat gave him and Cat's mask.
Cat said once that he'd help him to decorate it and he just didn't have the heart to do it without him.
There was a knock at his apartment door, grumbling Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes and padded over to the door. Grinning eagerly was an overly cheerful Asuma and a just as eager Konohamaru.
"Hey kiddo" Asuma mussed Naruto's hair.
"Happy birthday bro. Look I lost a tooth while you were away" Konohamaru crowed, stepping into the apartment.
"We let you sleep in. But you know the drill boys day then back to the old man's for dinner and presents" Asuma shut the door behind them. Shooing Naruto away to get up properly, he was still wearing his tank top and shorts.
Naruto jumped in the shower, shuddering when it sprayed out cold water, he washed quickly jumping out the shower he grabbed a towel and walked back through to the main part of his apartment to rummage for some clothes.
Asuma and Konohamaru gazed around the apartment. It was rather bare they decided. His bed which was the biggest object was placed under the window facing the east side of town. His pyjamas and sleeping hat strewn across it, Mr. Ukki sat on the shelf above the bed along with his first teddy, his goggles and Cat's mask.
The table with one chair was in the centre of the room. The west wall was where the door was located with the sink and oven taking up the centre of the wall his kitchen cupboards where on the north wall with the fridge. He got rid of the ramen box that used to be by the door. He had a shoe box on the south wall along with two doors one leading to the bathroom the other to the toilet. And the corner of the room was another room the training room.
Dressed in his orange jumpsuit he turned to have something thrust out to him. Asuma held out a sketch book with a bow on it.
"You haven't been sketching lately, I guessed that you filled up the pads you already had." He supplied looking at the pile of stuffed and filled sketch pads lying next to the bed. "Did you ever think to change the training room into your bedroom and make this area the training area or more homely." Asuma asked.
Naruto just looked at him. Asuma shrugged. They made their way out the door.
(Line)
This was why Uncle Asuma was the best he feed the boys ice cream and played their childish games with them till Naruto snuck away into a tree and started sketching the scene that played out before him, Asuma throwing Konohamaru into the lake, the splash wars that followed Konohamaru's resounding laughter.
They eventually made their way back to the Sarutobi residence with Naruto lagging behind the other two just as they entered the gates Naruto stopped and looked up at the sky. He smiled at the sky remembering good times then followed his brother and uncle into the darkened house.
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY -
The lights flicked on and Naruto was bombarded as he entered the Sarutobi residence not only was his family here but so were his friends Riku, Kenta and Ume. Recovering from his shock at seeing the new editions he smiled one of his amazing smiles, before being dragged over to the sofa and plopped down to begin unwrapping presents.
He got the sketch pads from Asuma earlier along with a new set of kunai seeing as he buried his last set in a rock. Konohamaru had found a book Naruto had not seen before it was a red and blue cover with Kensuke written on the front. The old man had decided to introduce Naruto to the scrolls about weapons. His mum made him a recipe book with all her recipes in it and room for more in it. Ume bought him a new blue t-shirt when asked about it she blushed and mumbled about it matching his eyes. Kenta had bought him some seeds because he knew Naruto liked gardening. Riku had bought him a set of books in a series which had just recently been completed.
He thanked each person in turn then waited as he sensed someone coming near. I didn't have to wait long till the young turtle masked ANBU appeared, it wasn't often he would show himself to Naruto even if he did follow him around. He pulled out a case from inside his cloak then kneeling he held the case out for Naruto to take.
The case was black and about the length of Naruto's arm. When he opened it up there was cushioned in the case was an elongated kunai with the Konohagakure symbol on it. He picked it up out of the box looking back at his guests then back at Turtle.
"It's a Konoha chakra blade. The blades are made from a special metal that absorbs chakra with which the user can produce added effects." Turtle said. "It's not from me. It's from Cat. He had it made before he went on that mission, I picked it up for him and as instructed by him gave it to you on your birthday just as he wanted to."
"He got this made for me?" Naruto asked
Turtle pulled back his mask to reveal short sandy coloured hair fell into his face he had slightly tanned skin olive coloured eyes and an amazing smile which he picked up from Naruto. He pulled Naruto close and hugged him.
"Yeah he did, besides I'm pretty sure this isn't the last thing he got for you. He loved you Naruto just as all these people do" he gestured to the people in the room behind them. "Happy birthday Blondie" he hugged him again before placing his mask back on his face and vanishing from the room as Naruto hugged the case close to him.
Ume walked over to Naruto and hugged him from behind as a tear escaped him. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear. He smiled then and wiped away his tears, "Who wants cake?" he smiled.
The cake was round and had happy 9th birthday Naruto written on it in orange icing, this shocked the trio they thought Naruto was 10 not 9. Seeing this Naruto explained how he and the young Hyuuga were the youngest in the class as their birthday were at the end of the year and that technically they both should have been in the class below. Nodding they understood they sang happy birthday and watched as Naruto blew out the candles.
(Line)
Sayuri was led out into the garden by the hand as Naruto pulled her along. Her eyes were closed and when she finally stopped and was told to open them the sight she saw took her breath away.
The entire garden was full of roses. Red roses they lined the sides of the garden and were in full bloom and were just beautiful she stepped down into the garden awed by the beauty that had so delicately be crafted just for her. After examining every bloom she turned with tears falling to face Naruto.
"It's so beautiful Naruto. Thank you." She cried hugging him and kissing him on the forehead.
"You said they were your favourite" he smiled "I like it when you smile so now you can smile whenever you're out here."
(Line)
"Its hard being with you Turtle and knowing you should be Cat" Naruto said swinging his chakra blade to get the feel of the blade.
"Then call me something else Blondie. I was there with Rabbit too." Turtle stated reminding Naruto that he had been at Cat's side a lot towards the end.
"So what am I meant to call you?" Naruto dismissed causing the blade to flare briefly.
"Hikaru, you can call me Hikaru" Hikaru replied moving his mask to the side of his head.
"Why Hikaru?" Naruto asked confusion evident on his face.
"It's my name, besides I'm not trying to replace Cat I could never do that I just want to be here for Cat if that makes sense." He rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Yeah it does." Naruto said serenely.
"My mum's dying Hikaru. She doesn't know I know. She's dying and there's nothing I can do about it and I don't know what to do."
"Naruto there's probably a reason why she hasn't told you"
"Yeah I'm eight years old. My real parents died when I was born, I lost my dad when I was five and Cat when I was eight; she's trying to protect us. But I don't want protecting I want my mum." Naruto's blade flared as his emotions flared.
"It's okay Naruto" Hikaru hugged the crying boy tight watching as the blade that had fallen from his grasp dimmed to its original state.
(Line)
"I'm not going to go out on a whimper Old man. I'm a ninja so you will send me on this mission or rue the day you crossed me." Sayuri shouted at the third.
"Just like Ichirou." Sarutobi muttered "you might not make it back." He sobered
"Better to die in battle then live in vain" Sayuri stated
(Line)
"Lord Hokage"
"Naruto"
"Would it be possible to use the money in my inheritance fund to buy some properties?"
"Why?"
"Well if say, the apartment where I live was to be refurbished and then given to the orphans who no longer fall under the care of the orphanage as long as they were able to look after themselves that is and where supplied a stipend till the time in which they were able to support themselves financially."
"How would you make that happen then?"
"Through careful negotiate between certain parties."
"These parties would include?"
"Here's a list of the purposed parties involved as well as the plans needed in order to achieve this final product." Naruto handed a slightly ink stained scroll over to the Hokage. "All you have to do is okay it. I've already got people on board this idea. Besides it helps the economy of the village as well as the next generation. And you can oversee every step without the council butting in." Naruto sold his argument quite well. The third nodded along, he stopped and ran all the possibilities through his head before he smiled and sighed off on Naruto's proposed scheme.
"Thank you Lord Hokage" Naruto bowed making his way out of the office. He walked over to the figure sitting on the chairs lining the wall, looking up a smile spread across Iruka's face at the way Naruto was beaming at him.
"I take it, it went well then?" Iruka smiled at Naruto; ever since Naruto had shared his dream with him he'd made sure he wouldn't do it alone.
"Yup. The hokage is sorting out the genin teams to help clear the building out, as well as the person to rebuild and design it then the genin teams will decorate and help furnish it. I've just got to get my stuff out oh and speak to old Mrs. Yamamoto to see if she'd still be interested in being the land lady."
"How did you find her anyway?"
"During work placement she was a customer in the Ichiruka ramen stand that stood up for me when another customer complained because I was working there. And I mentioned the idea to her so out of courtesy I should ask her again."
(Line)
The apartment building where Naruto lived had been stripped out, the walls reinforced and the rooms redecorated. They all had working electricity and running water with a storage tank of water stored on the roof. The walls were now yellow in colour a nice yellow though not some ghastly yellow and the slats were a reddish orange. Of the four floors available the bottom right most room and top left were the only two currently inhabited. The bottom room belonged to the new landlady and the top one belonged to Naruto.
Mrs. Yamamoto was a dumpy old woman her white hair in a bun on top of her head. She wore a pale kimono and traditional sandals. She was now the acting landlord of the apartment complex known as Koji House.
The first set of orphans had been sent to the new re-education centre for youths and adults. Iruka was kept rather busy there it was mainly run at night but on occasion during the day so someone else would run Iruka's class in his stead. The re-education centre taught people to read and write as well as some maths. It also allowed for them to progress onto certain careers if they wanted. Naruto was kept just as busy when any of the orphans wanted to move onto a career they would demand that Naruto do it with them. So far they had acquired; a baker, a butcher, a blacksmith, an electrician, a plumber and an architect. The only problem was if they asked to be a teacher that still had to be okayed.
Today they were raising money to fix the orphanage, while the Hokage sorted out the final preparations for the night school. So far there had been a cake sale, a sponsored free fall (Naruto pushed Iruka off the Hokage monument), a throwing completion kunai, shuriken and senbon.
The Yamanaka had donated flowers and seeds to the orphanage. The black smith had made the beds and playground equipment. Hikaru had managed to get the Anbu involved, they had of course demolished the old orphanage using various jutsus then got a very angry Naruto telling them off as they could have used things from the old orphanage to make the new orphanage. The orphans had performed songs for the village; Ichiruka ramen stand had donated the earnings for the week.
The plans for the final design of the orphanage had been okayed the day before a d now since the ANBU had decided to destroy the orphanage they were being made to help fix it. The children were feed by the Ichiruka ramen stand and were currently visiting the hot springs with Iruka. The new workers of the orphanage were also with Iruka, Atsuko was the head of the orphanage and she along with Kazuko and Midori would look after the girls while Kazuki and Michi would look after the boys, while they were at the hot springs.
Naruto had quite easily ripped the ANBU a new one and the building they had replaced was twice the size of the original with windows on every floor. The building had two floors and space on the roof. It was longer and wider making it more spacious for the children. They no longer where crammed into one room they could share a room between two of have girls in one room and boys in another if they wanted there were bathrooms on each floor of the building.
The fence around the perimeter had been ripped up along with the rest of the grounds. The fence was twice as high and was made of what appeared to be an iron cast metal. It had a working and locking gate. There was fresh grass covering most of the ground and a path leading to the main building. The playground found to the rear of the garden now had new equipment including monkey bars, swings slides a rock climbing wall a fort and a tree house.
There was a storage tank on the roof and an electricity box was stationed by the door to the roof. There was a backup generator next to the kitchen; the kitchen had enough room to have all the staff in there making the food comfortably. The office was situated at the front of the building along with the main reception desk. There was a lounge, a study hall, a library and dining room all on the first floor. With rooms for the staff scattered about the building.
The grounds were to be patrolled by ninja at all times this was the future of the village that lived here they were going to be protected. The children here would be taught to read and write and as they got older to look after themselves. All of this was because they were the future and so far they had been neglected.
The property was final finished and they stood back to admire it. Iruka put his arm around Naruto and asked him if he had thought of a name to give to the building.
"Lady Sarutobi's Memorial Orphanage. She spent a lot of time here I'm sure she'd love what had happened to this place." He smiled thinking of his mother.
(Line)
Iruka had been assigned a new class by the hokage; this class consisted of ten year olds and the future clan heads and one blonde headed genius. It had taken a year for Iruka to be assigned to Naruto's class and a lot of persuading on his part. It was a lot of hard work but he finally got the class he wanted. Naruto's class and so far Iruka had discovered a new devilish side to Naruto. Naruto had discovered pranks yeah it was great Naruto had come out of his shell but this was annoying. So far he'd booby trapped the door, his desk, his chair...
... And the sprinklers.
The classroom was evacuated as the classroom filled with water.
"Naruto!" Iruka screamed with his head starting to get bigger, the beginnings of the big head jutsu starting to appear.
(Line)
The rain had long ago stopped making it clear to see what was on the stone. A single red rose lay on the stone, next to the name Sayuri Sarutobi.
I didn't want to make it too sad again but yes I did just let Lady Sarutobi die. I'm sorry it's not as sad as it should have been I will make it up to you.
Some things I leave out deliberately but I have taken what you said into consideration but chapter 10 was finished the same week 9 was and I just need to write the end of 11 which was almost finished the same week as 9 too, so chapter 12 will see some things you want sorted or fixed there.
Oh do you think my writing style has changed at all?
Please review and let me know what you think.
Thank you very much