A/N: Updated as of 2020-08-16
After the whole incident in the tree, things went downhill fast. Whatever neutrality I had with the caretakers was lost. They set out 'Rules' for me to follow, and even when I obeyed them, they didn't seem to agree.
"Leave Mishina-sama alone!" With bared teeth and a growl in his throat, Kabuto stands between Ichiko-san, one of the caretakers here at the Orphanage, and I. A twinge of satisfaction swirls in my gut; the boy is already behaving slightly animalistic.
'We are rubbing off on the kit. Hardly surprising, considering how much he worships you.'
'I admit, it is beyond adorable. However, I really should reign him in…'
"Kabuto-chan, stop." The boy goes still and looks over his shoulder to meet my eyes. I can see the pleading look on his face; his lips are slightly puckered and his eyes are wide and glistening. Just like I taught him. "She can't hurt us, you know that. My shadows don't let that happen, sweetie." His shoulders slump, and he bobs his head.
"Hai, Mishina-sama. Gomen-nasai." Ichiko-san scoffs.
"That Demon has you under her thrall, gaki! You ought to stop hanging off of her. She'll get you too, eventually!" I groan internally.
'This abusive idiot still doesn't get it.'
'Hardly surprising. This whole village is full of mindless sheep. I could eat them all, if you want.'
'As much trouble as that would save us, it would create a whole lot more.'
'A pity.'
I catch Kabuto mid-spin, stopping him from once more getting into it with one of the bothersome adults around the Orphanage.
"Kabuto." He freezes. "Enough. I will get lunch, you go back to our room. Be quiet, Naruto should still be sleeping." I focus on my chakra, following the thin line of power back down the hallway. Momentarily immersing myself in the shadowy chakra barricading our bedroom door, I check in on Naruto. "Yup, he's still asleep." His small, sunny ball of chakra throbs calmly with his heartbeat, wrapped around almost gently by the boiling chakra of a bijuu. It took a full week to train him to sleep when I wasn't holding him, so I am very proud of this achievement. I am still totally uncomfortable leaving him alone, but I experimented a bit (a lot, and got help from Kurama) until I figured a way to leave a mass amount of visible shadow chakra in the room with him.
"…Hai…" Kabuto turns to walk back to our room, but he hesitates. Much to my shock, he quickly grabs me in a hug. He releases me again almost immediately, but this is still monumental. I really am rubbing off on him. I feel the Fox's shock before his sniff of dismissal fills my mind. Kabuto is gone in a matter of seconds, making a quick retreat after his uncharacteristic display of physical affection.
Oh, look, there goes my composure right along with him.
As soon as Kabuto is out of sight, my body starts to tingle slightly. I look up to meet the disgusted gaze of Ichiko-san with shaking fingers. Impressive killing intent for a civilian, but Kurama shields me from the worst of it.
"You have been here for two weeks, Demon. Don't you know the rules yet?" My tongue feels thick in my mouth. Of course, I do, is what I want to say, and I didn't break them. It was Kabuto.
Ichiko-san turns around, slowly marching down the hall. I follow. It took less than a week to break me again. Pathetic. I lived through my old life, I escaped this. Here I am again, letting this happen. He would never punish any of the other kids like this. Special treatment for the Demon.
The tall man stalks forward, passing the open door to the dining room. A few steps later I pass the same door. With a brief look, I can see that all the children are happily sitting around the large table eating food. Konoha provides for her children. The adults aren't as kind.
My body moves on autopilot as Ichiko-san leads me into a room at the end of the hall. The inside is ominous, completely empty. Where there once was a window there is now several pieces of wood nailed to the wall. I walk in, and Ichiko-san closes the thick hardwood door behind me.
I fall to my knees, , I hold out my hand. The sound of Ichiko-san putting on a pair of medical gloves makes me gag, and I clap my free and over my mouth as my cheeks warm.
Ichiko-san's plastic-wrapped hand roughly seizes my outstretched right hand (small, so small), pulling me forward as I flinch.
"Rule number one, no fighting." I nod meekly, my eyes now on the floor. "Broken." My body jerks. Please, no, I didn't mean –
SNAP!
My wrist is snapped in an instant, and I see stars. My chakra boils under my skin, but I suppress it.
Ichiko-san drops my hand, and my arm falls back to my side.
Ichiko-san grabs my other hand, pulling it towards him.
Ichiko-san speaks.
"Rule number two. No talking to your betters. Broken."
CRA-A-ACK!
Less clean. More pain. He crunched the bones together. Rules – Wrist – Bro-o-o-ken.
Black in my eyes. Why? Dark, not night, why? Pain, Why? Where – Naruto – Where Kabuto – Pain BAD painbadbadbadbad–
'Rest, kit. I'm not putting up with this any longer.'
Hmm… open eyes? Owww, light hurts. Okay. Oh, not just eyes. Everything hurts. Ow.
I slowly crack open my eyes, keeping my body cautiously still. The first thing I see is blood, everywhere. Then the body. The clothes… Ichiko-san. Crap.
Reluctantly I move my arms, attempting to take inventory. Ow. Still broken.
'Kit… couldn't… show Hokage!' I jolt, faintly hearing Kurama's voice in my mind. He's so quiet – and my chakra is pretty low…
'You killed him? Kurama I'm trying to prove I'm not a monster how could you–'
'Shut… UP! You… hurt… not… okay! Humans… monsters. Hokage… move… away… see… hurt.'
Oh. Oh…
'I'm an idiot, aren't I.'
I hear a faint huff. Yeah, I know I am. So… I need to get to the Hokage, but my arms aren't usable and my chakra is low. I need help. Who is nearby? ANBU? I take a breath and dive into my chakra sense. Kids… my kids… a few other adults (notgoodnotsafe)… I push further. No one is in the vicinity of the orphanage.
Wait. What is… a flicker… ah, they are suppressing more then I'm used to. Definitely ANBU. Familiar. Safe. I flare my minimal chakra, hoping they respond.
Nope.
I surround them with my chakra sense, focusing on them. I wonder if I can… poke. They jump in alarm, then skitter around like a startled cat. I bark a laugh, then yelp in pain. No, no moving. Okay. At least that works. I poke them again, and keep the pressure on. They jolt in shock again, but then I feel their chakra hesitantly touching my probe. Gently I wrap up their small outreach of chakra and tug it slightly towards me. They don't move. I do it again, stronger. They start moving, and I relax. I feel them nearing the building, and they come to rest on the roof of the orphanage. Almost directly above me. I reach out with my chakra again, surrounding the ANBU gently. I can feel them reach out with their chakra once more, searching. I softly grab it and tug down.
Their chakra streaks suddenly, and I can feel them flickering around to the entrance. They swiftly move through the halls towards me.
I feel them pause outside the door.
I whine. I whine like a abused, kicked puppy.
The door bursts open.
Then they are crouched in front of me, and oh I'm lying on the floor. I look at them; white dog mask instantly recognizable, the fluff of silver hair sticking straight up is unmistakable.
I smile. Oh, my mouth tastes like blood. I stick my tongue out in disgust, scraping it against my teeth.
"Uzumaki. Report." I huff a laugh. Ah, good ol' Kakashi.
"I-chi-ko. San. Broke. Wrists. Left, bad. Help? Told. Ho-ka-ge. Bad. Idea."
The poor man is momentarily frozen.
"Bring. Me to. Hokage." I sigh. I know Kabuto will take care of Naruto for the time I am gone. In an instant, I'm scooped up into Kakashi's arms. He's very gentle, but the movement makes me hiss in pain.
"Gomen." I rest my head against his chest. The next moment we are blurring through Konoha, then we are outside the Hokage's office. A smile breaks out on my face. So cool.
"Teach me?" My soft request makes Kakashi look down at me. He tilts his head in thought.
"Maybe." I can feel him flare his chakra, and we hear the Hokage say 'Enter'. We walk in through the door. I can hear the sharp intake of breath from the old man, and I don't bother to look up.
"What has happened? Inu, what is going on?" His gravely voice is urgent and laced with concern. Well, how nice of him to be worried.
"Uzumaki was attacked by a Caretaker named Ichiko. His body is back at the orphanage. Uzumaki's wrists are broken." I glance at the Hokage, and we make eye contact. He looks really upset. I raise my eyebrow.
"Can… I just say… I told you so?" I snicker. The old man smiles slightly, a resigned expression on his face.
"You were indeed correct, Mishina-chan. Inu, please leave her with me. Go and summon a medic-nin, and retrieve Naruto-chan from the orphanage." I speak up quickly, my other boy coming to mind.
"And Kabuto. He is mine now. He's pack." My voice grows slightly hoarse on the last word, my chakra flaring without my content. Looks like Kurama agrees. The Hokage looks startled, but sighs.
"Very well. Kabuto can join us as well. And Inu, bring another ANBU with you to… clean up." Kakashi puts me down, and I choose to sit on the floor with my hands delicately in my lap. The movement makes me see spots due to the pain. Kakashi is gone by the time I can see clearly once more.
The Hokage and I observe each other for a couple of minutes, not saying a word. He breaks the silence.
"How are your wrists feeling, Mishina-chan?" There it is again, the concerned, grandfatherly expression.
"Oh, they are in excruciating pain, Hokage-sama. The Kyuubi is withholding his healing chakra to make sure my wrists don't heal in the wrong way. That would necessitate the rebreaking of my wrists to set them correctly." I smile, tilting my head cutely.
I can see him flinch, cringing slightly. My whole body is aching, the pain is throbbing in tune with my beating heart.
"I'm terribly sorry this has happened. The medic should be here any minute to take care of them for you. We can organize a different place for you to stay after this; obviously the Orphanage will no longer be suitable." He steeples his hands on the desk in front of him.
"Obviously," I snicker, shaking my head.
(Is it? Bravado only brings a person so far. People left me there before. Again and again. Is it really obvious?)
As the Hokage suggested, just a minute later a medic-nin has entered the office. Their expression falters at seeing me, but with prompting from the old man they walk over to me. They immediately identify the issue with my wrists, and they (gently, thankfully) take hold of my arms one by one, setting them and using the beautiful, green healing chakra to stimulate the bones in my arms to heal. My left arm takes longer than the right, and it much more painful. I don't make a noise, and this seems to shock the medic. According to the medic, they needed to piece together several bone fragments in my left wrist. It certainly felt like it.
The medic leaves as soon as my wrists are fixed, citing that I need to use them very minimally so they can finish healing naturally. Kurama takes that as his cue to push healing chakra into them. My arms glow slightly, and when the glow dissipates all pain is gone. I grin widely. The old man stares in shock for a moment before recovering.
The Hokage stares in shock for a moment, but he recovers quickly. He clears his throat to begin speaking when we are interrupted by a chakra flare at the door. He once more beckons the visitor enter, and in walks Inu with Kabuto in one arm and Naruto cradled in the other. Immediately I coo in happiness, and Kabuto brightens immediately.
"Mishina-sama!" The darling struggles out of Kakashi's grip and quickly tries to grab Naruto from the man's other arm. I giggle, and Kakashi seems to take that as a cue that I'm okay with Kabuto holding Naruto. He hands over the baby and Kabuto sprints over to me. I stand and hold out my arms to greet the boys, happily laughing. "Mishina-sama, are you alright? ANBU-san came to get us, and I knew that something went wrong with Ichiko-san and I shouldn't have left you alone with him and I'm so sorry–" I knock our foreheads together gently, and growl a bit. He stops rambling and hums a bit in response.
"It's alright, Kabuto-chan. I told you to go, and I'm glad you took care of Naruto as I asked. Thank you." He tears up at my words and uses a balled fist to rub his eyes, displacing his glasses slightly in the process.
Naruto begins to fuss, and I see his face is red and irritated as if he's been crying. I comfort him, purring in concern. Kabuto notices and immediately tries to explain.
"A while after I left you, he just started crying out of nowhere like he used to do whenever you weren't holding him." Oh, that makes sense.
"He must have felt when I got too far away from the Orphanage. Speaking of, we won't be going back there. We are going to find a new home. Do you want to come with us, Kabuto-chan?" His eyes widen, and he stares at me with his jack slack. My heart warms.
"Really? You, do you really want me to come with you, Mishina-sama?" I nod my head, and ruffle his hair.
"You're pack now, Kabuto. You're mine." The boy shivers then grabs me in a tight hug. Yes, this boy is definitely mine. I keep my arm around Kabuto and take Naruto from him with my other. I look up at the Hokage and Kakashi, who had both been silently observing our exchange. "So, Hokage-sama. What can we do about getting an apartment for the three of us?
The Hokage sighs, looking his age as he deflates slightly.
"Would you like an apartment close to the Academy?"