Dancing In The Dusk
Disclaimer: Shinigami's Sister owns neither Naruto, Teen Titans, nor this laptop. She does own the Wicked soundtrack, two black cats that think they're attack dogs, a television, a working DVD player, and the Inuyasha 2 DVD.
Rating: M
Summary: When it comes to children, there's no such thing as abomination. When it comes to the parents, well, that depends on how they treat the children.
CHAPTER 3: OUR FAMILY
Raven thought that Konoha looked like a pretty decent place, for the most part. People milling about, laughing, gossiping, shopping, acting neighborly in general. Children frolicked merrily under the watchful eyes of their parents. She noted how the young women talked reverently about 'Sasuke'. She had almost decided to like this place, when she noticed The Change.
It was a chain reaction, in a way. One person would notice Naruto, and the woman in his arms, and their face would twist into a malevolent sneer. Someone else would wonder at the expression, and look in the direction of where the first person was sneering. It was the catalyst for the entire village. Mothers whisked their children to the sides, and for a time they all fell silent. Then the whispers began.
"That monster is back! If I was at the gates, that freak would never have gotten back!"
"Look at that! The demon must have brainwashed her!"
"Or she wanted it."
"Who would ever want to be with that thing...that hideous thing?"
"Yondaime died, so it could live? I'd take the Yondaime any day!"
"He was a disgusting thing then, and he's even worse now!"
"We should kill him."
"No, he's got the Godaime protecting him."
"Then he should kill himself! Before the monster kills our children!"
Raven felt tears of rage burn her eyes, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. How could they be so cruel? So callous? Didn't they see what a wonderful person he was? Didn't they see how beautiful he was? How kind, and gentle, and wonderfully caring?
No, she thought, they can't. All they can see is something that tried to destroy their town almost two decades ago. He was an innocent, and they chose to ignore it. And why? Because fear is a powerful and contagious disease, passed through the recollections of the old to contaminate the youth.
"Your village is beautiful," she announced, "but the atmosphere, and lack of a friendly reception leaves me wanting. However, I will give four stars for the wonderful customer service." She smiled teasingly at the enormous blond.
Naruto was surprised out of listening to the villagers by Raven's words. He continued to walk while gazing at her with a bemused grin. He felt wonderful, more than wonderful, in her presence, better than he'd ever felt around even Iruka. There was an aura about her, one that forced him to be the person he once pretended to be. A happy, exuberant, naive person. She was like a drug, one that kept him on a permanent high.
He would keep her safe no matter what happened. He would cherish her, the way he had tried tried to cherish him.
The way he had tried to cherish Sasuke.
The sinking sun cast long shadows upon the streets of Konoha. Naruto carried Raven to the Hokage's Tower, alone in the middle of the road. It was a fairly long walk, made all the more longer by the silent malice that edged their path. The soft 'tap..tap' of Naruto's footsteps resonated, the sound multiplied a thousandfold in the mob mentality of the people. The first stone had been unjustly cast, and in the wrong direction.
The silence was shattered as a group of children, maybe twenty to twenty-five in number, ranging in age from five to fifteen, stampeded down the alley, a cloud of dust forming behind them as they ran. Their eyes gleamed with manic glee as they shouted wildly, "He's back, he's back! The boss is back! Naruto-nii-sama has come home!"
The attack was led by Konohamaru, Naruto's disciple in pranks. The boy was now fifteen, with gangly limbs and a boyish grin. He led the largest (and only) gang in Konoha; a group of misfits and delinquents, orphans and rejects, called the Hino Ko They ran wild through the streets of Konoha, pulling harmless pranks on whoever they could, and were policed by one force: Naruto.
Most of the kids in Hino Ko Konoha hadn't had homes, or had been abused at home, and had chosen to live on the streets. They had gone forgotten by the other citizens, reviled for what they would do to survive. Most chose pick-pocketing, but a few chose to prostitute themselves. That all stopped after Naruto and Konohamaru rounded them up.
Naruto had taken them all to his apartment, small as it was, and had given them a decent meal, a place to sleep. He no longer had a living room, but a giant squishy mattress for a floor, made up of twenty twin beds and sleeping bags. They all slept out there, unless they had a nightmare, in which case Naruto would make hot chocolate for anyone that was up, and take the one who was having trouble to sleep in his room.
Naruto loved these kids; they had become his family, his sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. He protected them fiercely, made sure they were well-fed and appropriately clothed, and got those that wanted to be there into the ninja academy. They adored him for caring about them, respected him, and for that, they wold listen only to him. No other person had cared, therefore the kids considered them irrelevant.
"Stop right there!" Naruto commanded. The kids complied, and watched in wonder as he set down a new woman they hadn't seen in their rush to get to him. He turned back to them, flung out his arms, and cried, "Who wants a hug?"
This invited unintelligible screams as the younger children rushed to the front and jumped, clinging to any body part they could reach and effectively downing the tallest and strongest and bestest man in Konohagakure. Then the others pounced, forming a massive wriggling dog pile of laughter.
Raven watched silently, a fond smile gracing her face and bringing light to her pale features. She had known he was a good person, but the mob of children who rushed to greet him confirmed it. She watched Naruto swim up grinning from the mass of bodies that sheltered him, and wave her over. She walked sedately, highly amused by the suspicious looks that Naruto's children were giving her.
Naruto pushed himself up and smiled at the kids on the ground. "Everybody, I'd like you to meet Raven," he announced, bowing grandly to the violet-eyed woman. She performed an exaggerated curtsy in return, bringing giggles from the girls.
"Ladies, gentlemen," Raven began with an air of mock seriousness, "I am more than glad to make your acquaintance. Although I haven't heard much about you, I'm sure that we will become great friends." Her beatific smile caused two little girls, both with blonde hair and green eyes, to come up to her. They held hands as they walked, smiling giant, gapped-tooth smiles.
"You're pretty!" they chorused. If possible, Raven's smile grew even bigger. She knelt down to their level, and opened her arms. The act caused a major flow of power; the kids jumped from Naruto to Raven, knocking her backwards. She fell, breathless with laughter, under the massive weight of the children. Their voices mingled discordantly in welcome.
"I like you!"
"Are you gonna stay with us?"
"Do you like Naruto-nii-sama?"
"Do you like us?"
"Are you Naruto's new girlfriend?"
"Don't be stupid, Sanosuke, Naruto likes boys!"
"Will you be our mommy?"
There was a moment of anxious silence as Raven pushed herself into a standing position. Naruto found himself as anxious as the kids he called his children; however she answered that last question would change their future entirely. Even though he was sure of what her answer was, it never hurt to hear these things out loud.
Raven brushed the dirt off her cloak. With those hopeful faces staring up at her pleadingly, what else could she possibly say? "Of course I will!"
Shrieks and cheers filled the streets, and Naruto snatched up his friend before her new "sons" and "daughters" could attack her. He grinned at her, set her on her feet next to him, and loosed a piercing whistle that the kids recognized as the "shut up or else I'll give you to Iruka-sensei for a month" whistle.
"All right you little demons!" he shouted. "Yusuke, Takao, aaaaand Umi!" Naruto pointed to three of the fifteen-year-olds, a black-haired boy, a boy with dark blue hair, and a girl with light blue hair. "You guys are in charge this week. I want you to take the kids home, get them cleaned up, and pop in a DVD or something. I have to take Raven to see Grandma Tsunade, alright? We'll see you in half an hour. Now what are the rules?"
"No prank phone calls when you're not around, no being mean to each other, and obey the people in charge!" Raven grinned at the kids and waved.
"See you guys in half an hour," she shouted down. The one called Takao smiled and waved back.
"No worries...Ma. We got it all under control!" The group of three presented thumbs-up, then ushered the rest of the Hino Ko Konoha home. The pair of half-demons stayed there, smiling and waving, until the last of the gang vanished from sight. Raven slipped her arm around Naruto's waist and let her head rest on his shoulder.
"They're really good kids," she said quietly, "and I can tell that not a single one of them have a malicious bone in their bodies. I can't wait to get to know all of them." Naruto rubbed her arm.
"Yusuke was a thief," he said, "and not just a pick-pocket, a full on thief. Takao and Umi are brother and sister, fraternal twins, and they were both prostitutes. They didn't trust anyone but each other, and Yusuke, because he started stealing for them. They're best friends.
"I picked them up about a year ago; Takao and Umi thought I wanted them to have a kinky three-way, because they didn't know who I was, but all the street kids knew about some guy who was 'collecting' the kids. Once they got back to my apartment and saw the others— there were about seventeen at that point— they started crying, because they had been 'collected'.
"I love all kids, but the villagers would never let me near their children. But these kids are walking the streets, hungry and resigned to fate, and the villagers never gave a damn about them. And that's when Iruka-sensei told me that they believe in the 'closed-door' policy. You know, what happens to a person who's not in the family, doesn't matter? But I knew what they were going through, so it mattered to me.
"They're all responsible, mostly well-behaved kids. Only a few people know that. Most people think that they'll turn out evil, because I'm the one teaching them." he finished quietly. They had started walking in the beginning of the speech, and they had ended up in front of Hokage Tower. Naruto had been looking straight ahead the entire time, but turned to embrace his friend fully when he felt tears soaking through his sleeve. She wept into his chest, and he rocked her, not caring that people going out were staring, not caring that Shizune-san had stopped in front of them.
"Go on up, Naruto-kun," the woman whispered. He nodded, picked Raven up bridal-style, then left in a cloud of smoke.
"It's not fair!" she cried. "You're such a good person, and those boys and girls are wonderful! It's not right!" Naruto shushed her, told her it was all alright, that everything was fine. And it was. With Raven there, he wouldn't have to worry about the type of influence his girls would have. He set her down, wiped the tears away from her face, and smiled.
"You're right," he said, "it's not fair. But I love the kids, they love me, you love us and we love you. It sounds like something out of that stupid Barney song, but it's true. I promise you, Raven.
"I will always protect you." Raven smiled up at him, and the office door opened. They both turned to look, and Naruto swore under his breath.
Inside was a tall, chesty blonde, and a girl with pink hair and green eyes. Both looked shocked, but neither looked as shocked as the person holding the door. It was a boy, with black hair, black eyes, and skin that was almost as pale as hers.
"Hey there, Grandma, Sakura," Naruto nodded to the women in the background. The bo holding the door coughed lightly.
"Naruto...is this who I think it is?" Naruto smirked.
"Sasuke, this is Raven. I told you she wasn't dead."
END CHAPTER 3
Shinigami's Sister/ Notes- No, I didn't die. School just got in the way of pretty much everything.
Athena- :nods: She's doing good, though. But she needs to remember to do her goddamn homework!
Kali- We still haven't gotten to the part where Tsunade and Jiraiya are— :Raven's hand covers her mouth: MMM! MMMPH!
Konohi- Translation: Oh! Look! We have reviews!
Review Responses
duckyalchemist- Thanks! Here ya go!
Dan Inverse- OO I never thought of that...It's crazy, but until the Teen Titans show up, it might just work!
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SS- See y'all next chapter!
Konohi- Read and review please!
All- Bai-bai-buu!