"Guardian of the Fox"
Chapter 4
"Bonds in the making."
"That-that was amazing!" Turning around to face the exited seven-year-old, Mycroft took the opportunity to learn more about his new charge.
The boy was small for his age (Dear God, he's smaller than the already tiny Sherlock was at that age), his hair was spiky and almost cartoonishly yellow (so very different from his little brother's dark, fluffy curls), his eyes the clearest blue he has ever seen (he wasn't sure such a color was even physically possible), and his chubby cheeks adored by whisker-like scars.
But that was not all he deduced.
He also saw the bruised (injured right shoulder, favoring the left leg, large bruise forming on the ribs, scratches on arms from children nails), malnourished body (orphan, lives alone, barely gets enough money to afford food) and the dirty clothes (the shirt and trousers haven't been washed in exactly three weeks, and are a size too small as he grew out of them about a week ago).
"You were like'' The boy lowered his voice to mimic that of Mycroft's. "'Leave or face a fate worse than a hit cheek!'" "You sound a bit off, by the way, but that's okay! I don't mind! And they were like 'Nope!' an-and then you were surrounded, and then you started swirling and punching like… like a real ninja! Are… are you a ninja? If you are, c-can you teach me that? I-It's okay if you're not a ninja, I still want to learn those awesome moves!"
Mycroft chuckled under his breath, kneeling before the injured child.
"I am not a ninja, I'm afraid." He stated, language setting for permanent Japanese and amusement clear in his voice, "I'm something more of a… mercenary. But" he quickly interrupted, seeing the child's excitement faltering "I'm sure I can teach you a thing or two if you're up to it."
Blue eyes brightened considerably, the boy struggling to his feet.
"I-I'm up to it! Ow!" A pained yelp escaped the poor kid's mouth as he tried to stand up on his injured leg.
"Though your enthusiasm to learn is commendable, I think we should patch you up first, don't you?" Mycroft said, pushing the boy towards the ground gently.
The child chuckled softly before looking up at him with a large toothy grin.
"Right!"
Mycroft nodded.
"Alight. Since you can't stand I believe the only option of transport is giving you a piggyback ride." The fox-haired youth then turned his back towards the smaller child. "Can you place your arms around my neck?"
"I… I think so." Mycroft could hear the boy struggling behind him before a gentle weight pressed against his back, and a pair of dirty arms made their way around his throat.
"Very good." He nodded, moving his hands towards the boy's legs to support their weight. "Are you holding on tight?"
"Y-Yes."
"Alright. I'm going to stand up now, okay? Hold on." Felling the skinny arms around his throat tighten, Mycroft slowly raised to a standing position, slightly bothered by how little the tiny child weighted. It felt more like picking up a child-sized ragdoll than an actual child.
Having accomplished that, the red-haired youth turned around and began walking towards the direction, which the tiny footsteps on the dirt road told him his new charge was heading towards, before the attack began.
"Now… with that settled, how about telling me your name, hmm?" Mycroft asked, after taking a few steps and adjusting his hold on the blonde's legs.
"Hai! My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to become the Hokage when I grow up! Believe it!"
The elder Holmes had no idea what a 'Hokage' was, but it was nice to know his new baby brother had a goal he can help him achieve.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto. My name is Mycroft Holmes." He said, glaring daggers at the passing villagers that were sending them both dirty looks. Some had a bit of decency and looked away. Others sneered even harder.
Mycroft made sure to remember them in the future.
"Mai-kuro-futo?" The child tried to pronounce the foreign name, making the fox-haired boy wince. He forgot how hard it was to pronounce for those outside an english speaking country, as everyone in his line of work, people from other countries included, were already used to calling him Mr. Holmes. "You have a very strange name, Maikurofuto-san."
"With the way you say it, I'm inclined to agree." The red-head deadpanned with a chuckle. "How about we stick with calling me Maik? It's certainly easier to say."
'I'd probably burn my house down in shame if Sherlock and Mummy ever heard me say that.' He thought a bit bitterly. 'It's a good thing they're not here to enjoy this, or something really would end up burning.'
He felt Naruto giggle against his back.
"Alright, Maik-san." The blonde then wriggled a wee bit. To everyone's eyes it looked as if he was just adjusting to Mycroft's hold over him, to the Holmes himself it was clear he was trying to hide as much as he could from the disapproving glares being thrown their way.
To get Naruto's mind of the bullying villagers, Mycroft decided it was time to learn a bit about this new world.
"You mentioned becoming the 'Hokage' when you grow up." Receiving a small nod of confirmation against the back of his neck, the fox-haired boy continued. "What exactly does a 'Hokage' do?"
A shocked gasp could be heard behind him.
"You don't know who a Hokage is, Maikurofuto-san?!"
"I assume it's a position of power, and I thought we agreed to call me 'Maik'." Even though it pains my very existence to tell you to do so. "You may have noticed that I'm not exactly from here."
"But everyone knows who the Hokage is!" The child insisted. "Don't you have a Kage back in your village?"
After a few seconds of gears in Mycroft's genius head grinding, the red head came to one conclusion.
"This suggest that the 'Hokage' is a position of authority, am I right?" He asked following the pointed finger Naruto stuck out to indicate a turn.
"Uh-Huh! The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village! He keeps everyone safe, has an awesome white hat, and everyone has to listen to him because he's the strongest!"
'So, in other words,' Mycroft's mind supplied helpfuly. 'he's the equivalent of a mayor/governor. Basically the man calling the shots, as Anthea would say.' The thought of his faithful assistant brought a dull ache in his chest.
At least she was on his side when everyone else decided to turn their backs on him. Despite popular belief, she didn't stick with him simply because he was her boss.
Being with him 24/7 gave her insight into his heart, no matter how hard he pretended not to have one, and allowed her to see that everything he did was in the best interest of both his family and country.
She was probably the only person that genuinely liked his company and was really pissed-off with how the rest of the family treated him.
He wished he could apologise for not saying 'goodbye' before he... left.
Shaking the unpleasant thoughts away he focused on the child he was carrying.
"So the Hokage is the leader of the village, correct?"
"Hai!"
"But earlier you asked if my village has a 'Kage'. Does that have a separate meaning, or is it just short for Hokage?"
"Only Konoha has a Hokage, Maik-san." Naruto spoke, trying to sound wise. "You really don't know much about the Five Great Shinobi countries, do you, Maik-san? Did you drop out of the academy?"
Had Mycroft been drinking, he would have choked.
"W-What? No!" He shook his head sternly. "I did no such thing!"
"It's okay, Maik-san." Naruto patted him on the shoulder. "I don't like going to school either, but Iruka-sensei said I won't be able to become Hokage if I don't gradu-grade... pass the academy."
The red-haired Holmes closed his eyes, took a deep breath and counted to ten.
It was time to weave a believable lie, before the yellow-haired brat begins to think he's some kind of drop-out.
"To be quite honest with you, Naruto" 'Ha!' Mycroft's conscience laughed but he ignored it. "I wasn't raised in a village like you were." 'That's not a lie so shut it!' He thought back, before focusing on the story he was now telling.
"Really?" He could almost see the large blue eyes growing big in wonder and curiosity, and had to smirk. Naruto took the bait, hook, line and sinker.
It was time to put those manipulative skills he was so proud of to good use.
Let us see what else he's willing to buy.
"Indeed. Once the officials leading my country discovered I'm a genius, they took me from my parents and gave me to an outside facility."
"Why did they do that?"
"It's a simple political move, Naruto." Mycroft shrugged. "My intelligence posed a threat to their rein. They feared I would grow up and eventually overthrow them."
"They were afraid you'd become a Kage?"
"Indeed."
"But.. .why?" The child asked, confused. "Won't they be old and stinky by the time you grow up?"
Mycroft laughed at that.
"Perhaps." He agreed, amusement present in his voice. "Though I suspect it was more about securing their offsprings place on the throne, than theirs."
"Oooooh…" Naruto nodded in understanding behind him.
"Regardless of the actual reason, they wanted me out of the way. So they sent me to become their personal, mindless mercenary."
"Like ANBU?" Naruto perked up suddenly.
"...yes, exactly." 'Note to self,' The fox-haired youth thought. 'Find out what 'ANBU', is.'
"ANBU are mean." The blonde said, anger in his voice. "They never come to help me when the other villagers give me a hard time, even when the Hokage told them to be nice to me." His voice then lightened up considerably. "But you're not mean like the other ANBU, you're like a very nice ANBU."
Mycroft smiled though he knew the child could not see it.
"I'm glad you approve of me then."
There was a few minutes of silence before:
"Hey, Maik-san?"
"Yes?"
"What's a face-faic-facit-"
At that moment Mycroft got reminded he was talking to a child that, in fact, does not possess the same amount of knowledge that he and Sherlock had at that age.
"Facility?" He then suggested helpfully.
"Hai." Naruto nodded against his neck. "That is a strange word."
"Ah, it is a bit fancy, isn't it?" The older boy asked sheepishly.
"Uh-huh. You sound like a grown-up, Maik-san."
"Really? I didn't realize that... Well, in any case, I promise to use simpler words from now on, how does that sound?"
"Thank you, Maik-san!"
"Alright then, going back to you question, a 'facility' is a more 'grown-up' way of saying 'building'."
"Oooooh." Naruto nodded in understanding. "So they took you to a building?"
"Yes."
"What did you do then?" The blonde was fully entranced by Mycroft's tale.
"Naturally, I escaped once I was old enough to devise a successful plan." The older child exposited, the lie passing naturally through his lips. "I suppose I should thank them for giving me a sped up course on how to quickly kill a person. Otherwise I wouldn't be here to enjoy the sweet scent of freedom."
A few seconds of silence passed between them as they passed a ramen shop to their right, before Naruto broke it again.
"Hey... Maik-san?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think your mom and dad miss you?"
That question actually made the ginger-haired boy stop.
He thought back to the last time he saw them, remembering how angry they were with him about keeping Eurus's survival a secret. How they practically disowned him for doing what needed to be done.
How did they react to seeing the cold body of their prodigal son?
Did they disbelieve at first, having been tricked into thinking one of their children was dead, before?
Were they mad at him for taking the 'easy way out'? Did they feel guilty for driving him to suicide? Did they even attend his funeral?
Or were they too busy comforting their remaining children?
The amazing two that can, apparently, do no wrong in their eyes.
"No, I don't think they do." He whispered shaking his head and continuing his walk.
Why would they? He's been lying to them nearly all his life. Both about his little sister and about his true occupation. He betrayed their teachings and their trust, at least... in their eyes.
No. There was no reason for them to miss him.
"But... you were taken from them." The poor orphan asked quietly. "Why wouldn't they miss you?"
Mycroft swallowed thickly but answered nonetheless.
"Sometimes it's just easier to forget something is missing, than spending the rest of your days wondering if you'll ever get it back." He said eyes looking straight ahead. "I wouldn't really blame them if they replaced me with another child or two. For all they knew I wasn't coming home again and, even if we did manage to cross paths, I most likely wouldn't remember them."
"Oh…" The child behind him whispered. "That's... very sad."
Mycroft shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant about the subject.
"Life is as it is." He said, stopping in front of a large building Naruto has led him to, where he assumed his apartment was located. "I believe we have arrived."
"Y-Yeah…" The blonde child started to rummage his pant pockets for the keys to open the front door. "Here," a pair of silver keys appear in Mycroft's line of vision.
Nodding his head in thanks, the older boy made quick work with opening the door.
The apartment was as small as he expected it to be, if not smaller.
It had a total of two rooms: a bedroom and a bathroom, with the second room also playing the parts of the living room and kitchen.
Sneering at the small amount of space, and vowing to get a bigger one as soon as he gets enough money, the fox-haired youth entered the messy apartment and placed the injured child on a bed.
Having disposed of the additional weight from his back, Mycroft headed straight for the bathroom in search for some medical supplies. And was quite surprised when he found a nearly unused bottle of oxidized water, in the medicine cabinet.
Though, now that he thought about it, he couldn't see a seven-year-old using a disinfectant that stings any wound it touches, when simply hiding it with a bandaid was a lot less painful.
Shaking his head at the thought, Mycroft grabbed the bottle and some paper towels, and made his way towards the blonde child waiting for him.
After calmly explaining to Naruto why the 'stinging water' must be used on his cuts and bruises, Mycroft proceeded with gently dubbing at them with a soaked paper towel.
Once the lesser injuries were taken care off, the time has come for the elder boy to focus on the more serious ones.
The problem was the lack of equipment. Oxidized water won't do much against a dislocated shoulder and a twisted ankle.
He needed bandages, gauze and painkillers.
Things he'll only get his hands on if he goes to a hospital and steals it, since simply going to the pharmacy is out of the question because of the lack of funds.
"Now, I'm going to go get some supplies, okay?" Mycroft said, looking deep into the trusting blue eyes of his charge. "I promise I won't be very long, so stay here in bed and rest until I return, alright?" He then ruffeld the boy's spiky yellow hair.
"Alright, Maik-san!" Naruto responded after a few minutes of careful consideration. "I'll be good, believe it!"
Mycroft chuckled.
"I believe it." He assured him, with a small pat on the head. "See you in a little bit."
Having said that, the red-haired boy stood up and approached the door. Giving the little Uzumaki one last wink before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
His trip was cut short however, by a strong hit to the back of the head.
Before his body hit the floor and his vision turned black, Mycroft managed to catch a glimpse of his attacker.
A silver-haired man with a porcelain mask covering his face.
JA107: There...hope you like it ;)
