Yay. Last chappie uploaded. Go me. All credit goes to Ashen Rose's beta-ing, insight, and dissection of each chapter that makes me itch to write another one just to read her comments. To all who've put up with me, your support is what keeps me going and I appreciate it more than words can never express. Here's to angst!Naruto-verse.
Guardian
Perhaps it was hopeless from the start.
Perhaps it was doomed, destined, to fail. If it had succeeded—if the dream had lasted—then things would not have happened that should have happened, if only to change a fate too sad to be destiny for so many.
But, like most dreams, it was beautiful while it lasted.
She did not know this when she woke up that morning, of course—she knew merely that it was time to walk Naruto to school (after forcing him into something other than neon orange), so he could actually eat breakfast instead of inhaling it like he usually did.
He adored kindergarten; even though he was constantly lectured by the teachers when he made a mistake (and he made more than his fair share of them) so as not to rouse Itachi's considerable wrath, and the other students teased him mercilessly, he thrived on the attention.
"Okaa-saaaaan!" he drew it out excitedly, giving her a huge hug like he did every morning.
Two blissful months of peace had passed without incident, leaving Kaida at peace with her life and glad that Naruto had blossomed. Things between her and Itachi had fallen into a comfortable routine; he more or less left her to her own affairs, only making an appearance in public with her when he felt like his possession was being threatened.
They saw each other many times a day, of course, and would sit outside together late at night and talk. He was brilliant, she was not surprised at that, but he was also struck by her own profound depth that he desperately needed.
"I believe that one day shinobi will become unnecessary," she said quietly during one of their talks.
"Indeed?" he arched an eyebrow at this.
"Of course. It is the only possible future this world has. Shinobi are tools, used without thought or hesitation, ruthless and remorseless before even out of diapers. If a shinobi is feared, then it is good—few people are willing to... aggressively... seek dominance of his village. If a shinobi is not feared, then that is also well—he becomes likable, better able to work and keep friendship with other tools. So, in his own way, he also uses his village without thought and hesitation. It is a terrible thing to be... unnecessary. But it is what I hope for. For shinobi to be obsolete is a frightening thing, to be sure: but it is the only way in which this world will survive, I fear."
"And how do you arrive to such an extreme belief?"
"Think about it: jutsu are getting more and more powerful. One day, there will be two—or even just one—jutsu too powerful for this world to contain and it will destroy itself. However, if that is not the case, and technology grows more and more preeminent as it should, and bloodlines eventually grow so diluted that there is nothing left—as is already happening—then there is yet hope for a future for this world. For if there is no more need for shinobi... if shinobi—nindo—indeed become cast aside... then there will be a chance—just a chance—that children will no longer need to be murderers."
They were silent for a long moment, each deep in their own speculations.
"Then all the more reason to be the most powerful now. If one can do that when it is still the age where shinobi reign supreme, then your name will be secured for eternity."
Kaida exhaled slowly, shaking her head gently.
"Then more the fool you, because with a greater power comes a greater responsibility to murder in your world. It is enough for me to keep my hands clean of blood for as long as possible."
He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, watching how the moonlight illuminated her.
"And do you really believe that you are not as bad as we shinobi? You, who have sold yourself to the devil for his protection? What makes you any different from us?" he sneered slightly, condescending, irritated at her superior attitude.
She lapsed into silence for a long moment.
"Nothing. And that is why I wish even more heartily, deeply, that people like myself someday become unnecessary."
As she stood up, face sad and resigned but still chiseled with a will of adamant, she was beautiful. His mind taking leave of him, seeing only her bathed in the moonlight so that it was almost like she was the one radiating it, he kissed her.
It was not a gentle kiss—she didn't expect something that he couldn't give. Nor was it unduly painful—merely hard like him and unyielding like her.
Being so young, both ten, it was so childishly done it could barely even be called a half-decent kiss, certainly not by adult standards.
And yet...
She stood there staring at him, eyes wide and shocked, and even he seemed startled by his actions for a moment before his gaze grew warm as it lingered on her.
"You are mine, little bird," he whispered into her ear as he passed by her, "and I intend to keep what is mine."
She should have objected, but there was nothing to argue against: she was his, and would be perjured if she futilely attempted to deny it. In doing so, arguing against the claim Itachi had on her , she also argued against his protection—and that was deadly.
For if she denied it, he could declare their accord null and void, or worse that she had violated it. And she couldn't face the world alone again, Naruto a child still, after having a taste of home.
No. She was Itachi's—let the world know it, shout it from the treetops, and let her be damned so her most precious person could have a family, and a safe home.
"Ano sa! Ano sa!" a five-year-old Naruto bounced around happily, coming to peer at a girl in the corner. She had pretty pink hair, like a rose, that fell over her overly-large forehead, and was sobbing her little heart out.
"Wh-what's wrong, pretty girl-chan?" he knelt down in front of her.
"J-just go a-away," she hiccuped, "I know you're here just to m-make f-fun of me!" she bawled, and curled up as if trying to disappear into herself.
Naruto's eyes saddened for a moment, and he gently lifted her head up.
"But—but pretty girl-chan... I think you're boo'ful," he said softly.
Tear-filled green eyes looked wide-eyed at him, before she promptly smacked him in the head.
"OW! PRETTY GIRL-CHAAAAN!" he whined.
"My name is Sakura, and stop teasing me!"
"But—I'm not!" Naruto replied, horrified.
Sakura glared at him, peering up close in his eyes.
"I guess you're not. Well... then... thank you."
Her voice growing to a soft whisper, she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead before running off, giggling. Naruto, staring at her flabbergasted, did not see the weird dark girl watching him with shy white eyes...
"Did you have a nice day at school, Naruto-kun?" Kaida asked as she helped the Lady Uchiha, as she had come to lovingly call her, prepare dinner.
"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! I saw a pretty girl with pink hair and she was crying and I asked her what was wrong and she said to go away because I'd just make fun of her—never! She's too pretty!--and I said so and she hit me on the head—she's got a punch, okaa-san!--and I said "ow"--even though it didn't hurt me that much 'cause I'm so tuff—and I asked why she'd hit me and she said I was too making fun of her and I said nuh-uh and my good looks musta con-con-co—told her that and then she kissed me!"
All of this was said, remarkably, in one breath.
Whether that is a side-effect of being a jinchuuriki or just the strange ability of all five year olds, the world will never know.
Blinking, her brain trying to catch up, she smiled as the last part of the entirely too long sentence (she'd need to work with him on grammar later) and winked at him.
"So, Naruto-kun, you're already a lady-killer, eh?" Lady Uchiha giggled.
Naruto's mouth dropped.
"I do not kill girls!" he shouted.
Kaida snickered.
"N—Naruto-kun," she gasped, "that's just an expression to say that girls like you."
"Oh."
His face scrunched up, considering it, and he grinned a foxy-grin.
"You mean," he grew sly, "like they all giggle over Sasuke-idiot?"
The Uchiha family stared at him, Fujita raising an eyebrow and Itachi smirked.
"Undoubtedly, foolish little brother has acquired the somewhat... infamous admirers of the Uchiha men," he managed to keep his face straight.
"Oh, dear," Fujita sighed.
"How sweet!" Lady Uchiha giggled, face lighting up so that she looked more like a schoolgirl than a mother of four—at the moment.
Dinner passed by comfortably, mostly in silence broken only by the sporadic fights between Naruto and Sasuke that ended up in a handful of food (preferable bean paste, if someone wasn't quick enough to move it out of the way) in someone's hair and the two generally being banned from dessert.
Kaida let Lady Uchiha take care of Sasuke, as she had her hands full with Naruto. Itachi and Fujita looked on with amusement until they both ended up with rice and tofu, respectively, falling off their heads, Fujita made the decision that if they had that much energy they could put it to good use and bring in some firewood.
Grumbling, it soon turned into a competition between the two to see who could bring in the most, each coming up with... creative ways to hinder the other.
"Don't you think it's a little much, dear, for them to gather firewood by themselves?" Lady Uchiha asked worriedly, itching for an excuse to go to the kitchen and check on them.
"Nonsense. They'll be in our hair," here a rather larger clump of tofu fell off and he winced, "literally, unless given something constructive to do with all of that energy."
"I suppose you're right," she replied reluctantly.
They were silent around the low table until the boys' screams pierced through the air like a knife.
---owari---