Prompt: Fox and Bunny

Can You Read My Pain?

"Look, it's that thing again…you know the one with the-"

"Shh! We're not allowed to talk about that!"

Sixteen-year-old Naruto tensed, holding his backpack in a white knuckled grip, jaw clenched as the words flowed over his senses. Having grown up underneath a sea of glaring eyes, micro-aggressions and flat out abuse at the hands of his village's citizens, young and old, he would have thought his skin was closer to steel than vulnerable flesh at knife point.

He'd gotten soft.

The last three years following his return from his trip with the Legendary pervert Jiraiya, his status as village pariah had waned considerably.

His secrets were out in the open in Konoha, the one about the beast that lived within him and the one about his parentage, something even he hadn't know until three years ago. Being the only son of the beloved Minato Namikaze had relieved quite a bit of pressure from the young man's shoulders.

Some people were still…weary of him, and he still drew hateful gazes from time to time, but his days of physical abuse were over.

His days of total exclusion were long gone.

There were no more embarrassing moments of being kicked out of shops, or overcharged by mean spirited vendors.

Stray whispers caught his ears every once and a while, however, they were so few and far between he barely had time to stew over them.

This village was not like Konoha.

He'd heard more whispers here in the last few minutes than he'd heard all last year and it was really starting to get to him!

He couldn't understand it!

He'd never been to this village before in his life, how did they know he was a-

A hand tapped his tense shoulder.

He turned to three faces painted in unique renditions of concern.

Kakashi gave him a piercing look, a concerned frown curved Sakura's lips, and though he appeared impassive and unconcerned, Sasuke met his eyes, passing a silent question between them. Before he could put on his mask, before he could shove a false smile to his face and regurgitate a chipper reassurance that would be under-minded and revealed as a falsehood by the stress-heavy expulsion of his verbal tic, his sensei ripped the weight of stigmatization clean off his shoulders.

"They aren't talking about you, Naruto," Kakashi murmured, gazing off at something ahead, and to his left.

The young Jinchuuriki blinked, shifting his eyes in the same direction, curious to see what other monster resided in Kusagakure besides him.

It certainly wasn't the fearsome bogeyman he imagined.

Amongst a sea of hateful stares, a young girl stood hunch shouldered at a vegetable stand holding a patched up sack in one shaky hand and coins in the other. Navy blue locks obscured much of her face, but he could just make out trembling lips between her shiny strands.

She was swathed in a ratty brown cloak that dwarfed her already petite form, flowing from her neck and bunching over he toes, but with her arms raised, the sleeves slid down to her elbows, showcasing a smattering of dark bruises on her pale skin; one of which were in the shape of fingers encircling her bony wrist.

He sucked in a harsh breath, cerulean orbs sharpening as he traced the road of black, purple and blue.

He felt every bruise as though they were his own, just as he felt every glare and insult as though it were directed at him.

"Can't you read?" the burly vendor growled, pointing to a 'human's only' sign hanging below his ripened fruit, "I don't sell to your kind!"

Clutching the bag and coin to her chest, the girl spoke, but he couldn't make out what she was saying, however, he knew for damn sure whatever words she had spoken didn't warrant the pig headed bigot rounding his vegetable cart with wrath in his eyes.

He bellowed at the poor girl, spewing vile insults he'd heard before, slapping the raggedy sack from her hand.

Fed up, Naruto charged forward, only for the hand that tapped him earlier to grab him fully, holding him in place.

"Naruto, I understand how you feel-"

"No you don't," he snapped, glaring fiercely at his teacher, "if you had any idea how I feel, how she feels, you wouldn't be trying to stop me, dattebayo."

The white haired jonin exhaled, "fair enough, I may not understand fully, but I do empathize with her situation, Naruto. You of all people should know that."

He did know that.

Kakashi-sensei had been one of those pillars he relied on.

"I'm not saying we're not going to help her, however, we're here on a very important, very sensitive mission, we can't afford to act rashly with the civilian population. Not with the climate the way its been between out villages."

Jaw tightening, Naruto swung his eyes back to the figure picking up her threadbare bag.

He knew a little bit about the tension between Konoha and Kusagakure, something about the later getting their hands on a scroll with some forbidden jutsu inscribed, claiming they hadn't stolen it though admitting they hadn't reported it to Konoha in a timely fashion.

Ever since then, they'd been on the shit list of the Leaf.

After a few month of ink battles and sanction fights, Kusagakure folded.

Team 7 was here to get their surrender and plans for restitution in writing.

Still, they couldn't just ignore her!

"There's a right way and a wrong way to handle this. We're on our way to meet directly with Kusagakure's leadership, we'll bring out concerns to their attention and-"

"They'll sit on their asses and pretend to care," he shot back, yanking his arm away, "I'm not just gonna walk away when she needs help now."

That said, he marched across the busy market.

"Naruto!" Sakura called.

He ignored her, blue eyes narrowed, teeth clenched tight enough to crush diamond as the girl straightened and spoke again to the vendor.

"I said no!" the burly man growled, shoving the cloaked teen.

Naruto crossed the distance with a burst of chakra, catching the thin girl as she went tumbling. He felt something spark in that instant of contact, something dark and blazing he couldn't put words to, but it was quickly shoved to the background as he negotiated his upright position with gravity. He'd expected a more substantial burden, and it kinda threw him off a bit. She weighted less than a feather, her frighteningly skinny form further stoking his incensed temper that this asshole could put his hands on someone so much smaller than him, a person that hadn't made a single move to defend themselves when by all accounts had every right to beat the ignorant man black and blue with his own vegetable cart.

Had he not been holding onto the poor girl, Naruto might've done it himself!

"Leave her alone!" he growled, pressing her carefully behind him, though keeping his hand securely around her as a crowd of spectators circled them, "what kinda adult picks on girls!"

"Outsider," the man sneered, "you don't have a goddamn clue about that thing you're protecting! She's a fuckin-"

"Henry!" a voice shouted from the gathered crowd.

Lips snapping closed, Henry the Bully glared at the whiskered cheeked teen, then his narrowed brown eyes tipped up to the headband tied around his head.

"I don't want no trouble with the Leaf," he grumbled.

Flipping his cart sign from the 'human's only' side to the 'closed' side, he kicked the brake up and rolled his cart down the dirt road.

Naruto glared at his retreating back, wishing he had something to lob at the man's head.

The crowd dispersed, whispering amongst themselves, buzzing excitedly, pointing and staring like they were viewing two freaks at a sideshow.

He ignored them, turning his attention to the only person that really mattered in this situation.

Forcing the lingering rage from his face, he gave her a small, reassuring smile, "hey, are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?"

She didn't answer.

Merely watched him with her strange, but pretty, pupiless eyes, pearly depths wide and glinting with a wonderment that told him more than holding a conversation with her would, its revelation piercing straight to that forever wounded part of his makeup.

He could read her pain like words in a book and every fucking paragraph was a blow to his chest.

Nobody had ever stood up for her.

Nobody had ever reached out a hand to her.

She was used to being treated less than human, and it enraged him to no end, even worse, it wounded that little boy that still lived in his heart all over again.

He stared back at her.

Entranced.

She had the saddest eyes he'd ever seen…

Eyes he hadn't see in a long time, the eyes he used to see in the mirror day in and day out before his revelations.

She was living the life he had left behind.

Suffering a slow death beneath the ignorance and cruelty of a small-minded village.

She was young, certainly not much older than he was if indeed she was older, though he didn't think she was. She was very attractive with her pixie features and fair skin, but with sadness clinging to every facet of her being, she exuded more of a tragic beauty, a fragility that was painfully bewitching.

She stepped back, breaking his trance, her bag clutched to her chest as though she feared he'd take it from her.

Sure he'd helped her, but…

…she was weary of people, of him.

He knew the feeling…

Sometimes he still felt like that feral orphaned he'd been for most of his existence.

Hell, he'd felt it moments earlier when he thought this village had been jeering at him.

He stayed where he was, raising his hands to show he was harmless, though he knew trust didn't quite work that way, and for people that had never been given a reason to trust or couldn't afford to be caught with their guard down, it could be near impossible to put faith in any 'good Samaritan' claiming they were different than the status quo.

"Hey," he murmured, raspy voice as soothing as he could make it, "I'm not gonna hurt ya, I promise…"

She didn't seem frightened, though she still looked ready to bolt.

"I just…wanted to help, dattebayo. That's all."

Her sharp gaze pinned him to the spot, rapidly taking his measure and assessing his risk to her.

"Thank you…"

Her voice was a shock to his system.

Soft and forlorn, hauntingly beautiful, just like her.

She threw him a quick head bow, then turned and ran.

"Hey wait!" he called out.

She was gone, turning the corner of an alley bracketed by two tall buildings and disappearing.

FBFBFBFBFBFB

He saw her again, way, way out in the fields beyond the windows of the stuffy meetings he was dragged to, picking what little wild fruit and vegetables she could find on the outskirts of town and stuffing them in her over stitched bag.

It was never much any time he saw it.

He looked for her often, when he was around and about when off-duty, carting around a bag of produce, hoping she'd lower her guard enough to take it if he could ever catch up to her, and though both his teammates acted annoyed with his obsession with the girl, Sakura carried around a new dress that was leagues too small for her, and Sasuke had a cloak in his bag that was a shade of color he'd never be caught dead in.

Kakashi-sensei had held true to his word, bringing up the girl at the end of their conferences.

Naruto's prediction had held true as well.

The old farts in charge claimed they were 'working on correcting the girl's unfortunate circumstances', also known as: 'we're not doing shit'.

They wouldn't even tell them why she was being treated the way she was.

Not that there would have been a good enough excuse in his book!

"This is so frustrating!" he growled, plopping down on his bottom beneath a large tree, setting his bag of food beside him, "I know I saw her around here! Where'd she go that quick?"

For all her fragility, she was freaking fast!

Standing in one spot then gone the next, it was almost like the surrounding forest swallowed her up whenever she wanted it to!

"Dunno," Sakura shrugged, taking a seat to his left, flipping her long pink hair as she folded her knees in that girly girl way girls did, "maybe we should leave her alone, it doesn't seem like she wants to be found."

He frowned, not liking that plan, though he'd already figured that the fleeing girl didn't wanna be caught.

Sasuke sat across from them, taking in his bestfriend's deep scowl, "the dobe's not going to give up," he accurately assessed, "he's got that hardheaded look on his face."

He made it sound like Naruto was being stubborn just to be stubborn, and some of that was true, but that wasn't all it was!

"I think…I think that girl is a Jinchuuriki too, dattebayo."

"Really?" Sakura questioned, emerald depths wide.

"Yeah," he replied, frowning up at the sky, "like, the first time I looked her in the eyes, I could see it, ya know? She knew."

A brief pause ensued, leaving only one of the trio confused.

"She knew what?" their female teammate asked.

He shifted, meeting the fathomless depths of onyx.

Silent communication passed between the blonde and brunette, a voiceless exchange so common among the two boys.

Sasuke gave a near imperceptible nod of understanding.

After a few moments of pinging her eyes from Uchiha to Uzumaki, comprehension dawned on the sharp kunoichi.

"Oh. I get it."

Sakura didn't know fully what that meant personally, but she did understand what he was trying to convey having watched the strange but strong connection between her two orphaned teammates.

The girl shared a trauma only someone that had gone through the same would notice.

Just as Naruto was to Sasuke, apparently the girl was to Naruto.

"Not that I don't believe you," she began, skeptical but not mocking, "but isn't it kind of a stretch?"

He shook his head, "I could sense…something when I touched her, that day with the vendor. There was this weird spark, this…chakra that felt off."

"You didn't mention that before!"

"Kinda slipped my mind," he chuckled ruefully before once more turning serious, "the more mine and Kurama's chakra mixes, the better my sensory gets, and I'm telling you guys, there was something there. It felt strong and…" he frowned, straining his memory for that fleeting sensation, "kinda fuzzy but angry I think."

"Maybe the anger was coming from her," Sasuke suggested, crossing his arms.

"Nah, this had a different feel to it…it sorta reminded me of Kurama's anger but if he were a different creature," he pouted annoyance, "I would try and ask that crazy fox if he sensed anything but we're not really on friendly terms, 'ttebayo."

That was a vast understatement.

Kurama would as soon rip him to shreds than answer a single question.

"And there's the way they talk about her," he pointed out, anger twisting his face, and from the way Sakura's pink brows creased and Sasuke eyes hardened, he knew he didn't have to explain who 'they; were, "the way they treat her…it's just like how I was, and sure, there could be some other stupid ass reason, but I know those eyes. She's just like me, I'm sure of it."

"That's quite the convincing argument, Naruto."

They peered up at their sneaky sensei casually eavesdropping while he read his pervy book.

He was lounging in the tree above.

"Many villages keep it a secret who their Jinchuuriki is, however, it's been mandated since the end of the Third Shinobi War that any village in possession of a Jinchuuriki must declare themselves as having such to all other relevant nations. Kusagakure has made no such declaration, thereby beaching the international peace treaty."

His head was spinning with all this legal jargon, he opened his mouth to ask for an explanation that didn't sound like another language when he spoke again.

"We'll investigate your suspicions, Naruto and if you are correct, we'll have no choice but to retrieve the girl and take her into custody."

Naruto whooped, throwing his hands up in celebration.

"Quietly!" Kakashi reprimanded, "tensions are still high, getting caught snooping around will only further aggravate the situation."

Dropping his hands, Naruto gave his nape a rub, throwing the white haired male an apologetic, bashful grin.

"Quietly, yeah, I can do that, dattebayo."

Sakura scuffed, Sasuke shook his head.

Kakashi exhaled silently, already exasperated, "Consider this an S ranked mission and behave accordingly."

FBFBFBFBFBFB

He finally caught up to her the same day Kusagakure authorities moved to hide their dirty little secret.

She tended to search for food deep in the forest where wild mushrooms and random vegetables grew. Calling upon every stealth skill he possessed (thanks pervy sage), Naruto shadowed her route, watching as she picked what little she could, plucking produce that was near rotten, and mournfully tossing away those that were beyond rotten.

It took a few hours, but once her bag was a quarter full, she headed off, running with the speed most shinobi envied.

He didn't lose her in the brush this time, but fuck did she make him work for it.

She slipped between the heavy doors of an abandoned temple and locked the doors with an even heavier locking mechanism.

It took him a while to find a way in, and even then, he had a hard time.

She hadn't locked everything tight just to keep others out…

…it seemed like her rigging was designed to keep her locked in.

He found her in the great hall, sitting atop old blanket piled in a corner, nibbling away on an apple.

"Ahhhh, so this is where you live."

He scared her half to death, and if her fear hadn't been so genuine and sad, he'd have laughed at her wide eyed expression, and the way she fairly shot ten feet in the air like a startled cat.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, then winced at the volume of his voice, "I wasn't trying to scare you and I swear, I swear I'm not here to hurt you. I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo!"

She looked pale, chest rising in falling as though she'd sprinted for hours, beads of sweat dotting her face.

Was she having a panic attack?

"H-Hinata," she replied, backing up a step.

"Hinata," he repeated, latching onto the benign nature of a name exchange, "that's a pretty name, ya know! Its really nice to finally meet you," he gave her a goofy grin, "been trying to catch up to you for a while, but every time I tried, you disappear like a genie! You're really fast!"

She stared quietly at him.

Her hands twisted her cloak, and the fear on her face destroyed him.

"I swear…I'm not trying to do anything bad," he murmured softly, his heart going out to her.

He could imagine what horrors had led to her feeling reacting like this.

"It's hard," he whispered, azure orbs a window to the pain he still nursed, the one that was identical to her own, "it's hard trusting people, letting them be near you, never knowing who actually cares and who's looking for a way to hurt you…"

She stilled, an unnervingly animalistic cease of motion as she read his book, chest slowing as she read the painful paragraphs of his story.

"I know how you feel, and that's why I couldn't just leave you alone, ya know…maybe I should've, maybe you'd rather I did but…I just couldn't leave here without letting you know that at least one person in this world understands how you feel…that one person isn't out to hurt you for something you never asked for…"

Her tears were like pretty crystals, dripping down her gaunt cheeks, splashing the dirty stone floor below.

She didn't run when neared.

She didn't push him away when he hugged her.

FBFBFBFBFBFB

"Thank you for…for what you did back then…"

They were sitting side by side on her clean but threadbare blanket, Naruto watching as she ate the produce he'd been carting around. He'd replaced any that'd gone bad before the stake out, and was happy Sakura had brought it to his attention that fruit spoiled fairly quickly.

"but…that vendor…H-Henry…h-he might be mad and try and-"

"You don't have to live like this!" he burst, peering earnestly into her face, "come with me to Konoha, you won't regret it, I promise! I won't lie to you, its not exactly the most Jinchuuriki friendly place either, but they won't abuse you and you won't get thrown out for just trying to buy food! In Konoha, I have friends and people that care about me, it's not perfect but I swear, in my village, not everybody there hates people like us!"

She froze, lilac orbs meeting vibrant blue, her little mouth opening and closing like a cute guppy.

Naruto blinked hard, face flushing as he found his space suddenly invaded by the cute girl with the sad eyes.

"Y-you're a Jinchuuriki too?" she breathed, her face the most lively he'd ever seen it.

"Y-yeah," he bumbled, stroking his nape, "I'm uh, the container for Kurama, the nine tailed fox, dattebayo."

The information sent her reeling, Naruto found her expression a bit humorous. Her eyes were wide as saucers, mouth agape, her pale cheeks flushed an excited pink. He'd never seen someone filled with unfiltered, honest delight and happiness, it kinda made him feel good to have put that look on her face. Her brightness made his own heart flutter.

"I-I didn't know there were others like me."

"It's kind of a secret in most villages, and even if it's not a secret, like in Konoha, we're not really supposed to talk about it with outsiders."

She gave him a worried look, "then…you're not suppose to talk about it to me, right? I'm an outsider…" her gaze grew pensive, so pained it hurt his own heart, before giving him a determined look, "I won't tell anybody, I promise. I don't want you to get into trouble."

The thought that she'd rat him out hadn't even crossed his mind.

He didn't know her all that well but, he felt like she could be trusted with his darkest secret, and not just because it was one they both shared.

She genuinely seemed to be a kind and caring person.

His sensory abilities were still developing, however, her chakra felt really…pure. Soft and gentle like he was being covered in a swarm of fluttering butterflies.

"Heh, don't worry, Granny Hokage has a soft spot for me, she wouldn't get too mad at me," his face grew curious, "what's your bijuu like? Does it have a name? What kinda creature is it?"

"Oh, um…a b-bunny," she replied, bumming her fingers, "I'm not sure what's its name is…"

"A bunny!"

He couldn't imagine something so cute and fluffy being anything like Kurama.

She nodded, turning pensive, "it's…not a very nice one…"

He blinked.

"Sounds like another bijuu I know. How many tails does it have?"

"M-many…that's what makes it so…dangerous. The villagers call it the Infinite Tailed Beast."

"Infinite!"

She nodded, "that's because it-"

An explosion rocked the foundation of the old temple, startling them both.

In the span of six minutes, all hell broke loose, and Naruto learned the reason her bijuu was named the Infinite Tailed Beast.

FBFBFBFBFBFB

He reached for her freshly healed hand, relieved to see her flesh had finally grown back healthy and smooth. He'd been told what a transformed Jinchuuriki went through considering he never remembered his own transformation, but to see it for himself, to watch her skin be burned away by a chakra so vile and hateful, to feel her pain blasting him in waves as she lost control to the beast locked inside of her had been one of the hardest things he'd ever witnessed.

He swiped his thumb over her fingers, a whisper of discomfort sliding over his own.

His skin still tingled from his own boosted healing.

Wrapped up like a mummy, Naruto had snuck out of his hospital room to visit hers. He was sure Granny Tsunade would be coming to drag him back to bed and lecture him about resting his body properly. Hinata was in terrible shape, but Naruto wasn't exactly in tip top shape either.

He'd drawn on Kurama's power far more than he ever had before to stop Hinata's rampage.

And what a rampage it had been.

Kusagakure was in ruins.

Citizens had thankfully been evacuated, leaving the Konoha and Kusagakure shinobi to take on the Jinchuuriki.

Naruto would never underestimate a bunny again.

The furred, wispy creature towered over the tallest buildings, standing on its curved hind legs, but crouching on all fours when it was ready to leave its pursuers in the dust.

It was pretty cute when it wasn't trying to kill you.

It almost resembled a living cloud at times, though the razor sharp teeth, crimson eyes and steel rending claws weren't so lovable.

Then there was it's most deadly ability.

That fucking bunny could replicate itself like real life bunnies on steroids!

An out of control multi-shadow clone jutsu but with bijuu!

Infinite clones, Infinite Tailed Beast.

It made so much sense now.

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I had to cut myself off again T_T got caught up in another AU that's in the planning stage.

Anyway, a little bit of context:

This Sasuke left the village but was retrieved(and given the goddamn therapy he needed!) but still plans to take out Itachi. Naruto's secrets were revealed far sooner in his life, he and Kurama are not friends, but he does have access to chakra and knows of his name. Hyuuga are not a thing in Konoha and the political landscape for the Narutoverse is vastly different.

There's more to this story, but you know, time constraints and all that jazz.

Hope you enjoyed this mess, lol.

Laters

Sessakg~