"MAMA!" The word was screamed in a childish voice that contained nothing but pure terror. One three year old Akiko Saisei sat in her bed, hands buried in dark-reddish orange hair, with her brown eyes clamped shut in fear. She curled in on herself, her head resting between her knees, as she shook like a fallen leaf in the wind.

Akiko tried desperately to ignore the images racing through her mind. Images of giant snakes demolishing buildings and the walls wrapped around the village. She tried to ignore the dead corpses, civilian and shinobi, young and old, that littered the ground around her. She tried to ignore the beasts in the distance so large that a single sweep of their massive tails would cause entire sections of the forest that hide their village from outsiders to fall to the ground liked paper-thin domino, which stood no chance to stand in the first place.

"Make it stop...please make it stop!" The little girl gasped quietly between sobs.

She flinched as her mother's caring arms wrapped around her and she was picked up. Her mother slid onto the bed, propping herself up on the wall and rested Akiko in her lap against herself.

"Oh Akiko..." Her mother sighed as she rocked the little girl, as she had nearly every night since the girl was born, "Hush. It's alright. It's just a silly dream, that's all. Just a dream. It's okay now. It's over. Now, why don't we go to sleep? Hm?"

"I don't like sleeping..." The little girl whispered.

Her mother's arms tightened around her, "I'm sorry, Akiko. I'm so, so sorry."

"They won't stop!" The girl snapped, and despite the childish voice, all Himawari could hear was pain, "I don't wanna sleep anymore! I don't- I'm not- I'm not supposed to see dead people!"

After this outburst, the usually well spoken three year old began to sob and babble in a different language. It was one Himawari had never heard before her daughter's birth. While some passed it off as nothing more than baby-talk, Himawari knew the truth. Her daughter spoke another language. The pattern was too clear, and when her daughter was like this, too repetitive to be nothing more than baby-talk.

With a sigh, Himawari kept a tight grip on her little girl and got up, ready to start the day. It was five in the morning, but her daughter wasn't going to sleep any longer, and Himawari knew she herself wouldn't be getting any sleep at this point either. It hurt too much to think of sleeping while her little girl sat there so scared.


After the three year old was fed and dressed, and Himawari had woken up after a few sugar-filled cups of tea, the pair left the house. It was still rather early in the morning, but already people were out and about. Inside the clan compound, young Uchiha's were out training and the old were out for relaxing walks and clan meetings.

Outside the compound, stores were opening up and Ichiraku Ramen was already serving a few customers, likely ninja's home from an out of village mission. Despite how cheap the stand looked, it received lots of good business, particularly as the Hokage himself was often found there, eating with Naruto Uzumaki.

"What're we doing today?" Akiko asked her mother as she tightly gripped her mother's hand. Brown eyes jumped from one object to the next, from person to person. Every fiber of the little girl was tense and ready for some form of attack or other.

"First we have to get some food, and then I was thinking we might go to the toy store or something...maybe the park after that. I also heard Itachi-kun's back from his mission, so you could also spend some time with him, if you'd like." Himawari listed off.

Without her job as a shinobi, Himawari had far too much time. It was better this way though, as she could now spend all the extra time doting on her daughter, who, after the nightmares she suffered from, deserved to be spoiled rotten.

And a sure fire way to spoil her was to let her visit her older 'cousin'. She worshiped the boy, and he seemed to enjoy spoiling her as well. There was an odd comradery between the two, and when they thought Himawari was not there listening, she could hear their discussions. Peace, technical theory, Sasuke, dango...the future.

The trip to the market was short, and little happened. Akiko nearly glued herself to her mother in an attempt to stay away from the people around them and stay with her mother, and Himawari merely explained away this behaviour as 'she's very shy' whenever someone asked if Akiko was alright. After getting all the necessary supplies for the week ahead, Himawari was quite glad for her previous work as a shinobi. It meant she was strong enough to carry the groceries and graceful enough to walk smoothly with Akiko clinging to her leg without tripping over the girl.

"Alright Akiko-chan, why don't we go get you a new stuffed animal?" Himawari asked her daughter. After a moment, Akiko detached herself and stepped away from her mother, towards the toy store. With a smile, Himawari followed the three year old in.

Akiko didn't waste a second and made her way towards the stuffed animals. She disliked dolls and how they were all stupidly pretty, and she definitely hated the ninja toys.

While the three year old was aware that the world was a dangerous place and she was likely to be in danger if she didn't become one, she was still scared of the shinobi lifestyle. Her nightmares had shown her too many horrible deaths for her to want to be one, even if her mother, father, cousins and a number of the people she knew were ninjas. It just...scared her too much.

The shelf was overflowing with stuffed animals. There were different sizes and colours, and all kinds of different animals to choose from. As she skimmed the variety, one caught her eyes. It was a little red fox.

'I want it.' She thought to herself. She liked the fox. Actually, she liked foxes in general. It had always confused her why people reacted to negatively. She had once seen one of the clan members shoot a fireball at one that managed to get into the compound. She knew about the demon fox that attacked the village three years ago, only a few short days after her birthday, but she didn't understand why anything that related to the fox was bad. That just wasn't right.

It was discrimination.

Was there a word for racism towards foxes?

No. Probably not.

Perhaps she would make one someday. Foxism? No. That sounded like a religion. And it was one that would likely result in painful death around Konoha.

Shaking her head, she walked up to her mother, "I want this one."

Himawari only paused for a moment, surprised to see the toy fox, but it was gone a moment later. She remembered the night of the attack. It was three days after Akiko's birth, and Takashi, her husband, had been sent out to try and hold off the beast, while Himawari, still recovering from the difficult labour, had been sent with her daughter to the war shelter.

Takashi wasn't Akiko's father by blood, but in the few short days he had known the girl, he had taken her as his own. It had made Himawari so happy to know he loved that little girl, even if she was the child of an enemy. But for as long as she had known Takashi, he had always been like that.

"If you're sure."

"I am." Akiko said, and she lifted her head to give her mother a bright smile.

"What'll you call it?"

"Kyuu-kun."

Again, Akiko's mother stared at the girl, before she let out a quiet sigh, "Fine honey, but don't let anyone else know Kyuu-kun's name, alright?"

"Yes, Mama." The three year old chimed happily.

The toy was bought and the pair left the shop. As they left, a man bumped into Himawari.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that!" Himawari apologized with a concerned smile, "Are you alright?"

"Of course, I should have been looking out." The man said, before he left. Himawari shook her head and reached down the grab Akiko's hand, only for her to discover her three year old was gone.


Akiko stood at the fence by the park, staring at the blond boy on the swing. Her mind was full of scattered fragments of memories from her nightmares. She wanted to scream and cry and hug the boy all at the same time, but she also knew all three of those things were socially unacceptable. She was an Uchiha, and Uchiha didn't cry in public. Nor did they scream bloody murder.

When an Uchiha got stabbed, they were meant to merely grunt if they had to.

Apparently.

And hugging the blond boy, whom everyone was foxist to, was not allowed either.

He'll suffer.

Akiko knew this. She saw it in her dreams. He was like some of the other people she passed on the street. They were people she'd seen die, or lose loved ones, or take lives themselves. This boy...

She could feel something in her pull towards him. She wanted him to smile. She wanted him to know who she was and to know she supported him. To know she cared.

With a determined nod, she entered the park, ignoring the frantic calls of her mother. The woman was an ex-kunoichi.

She'd find Akiko sooner or later.

She stood in front of the boy, who sat on one of the swings by himself. He was around her age, and from what she understood, he wasn't supposed to be out and about, all by himself. It was dangerous for children their age, especially him, to be alone.

Although, she supposed it wasn't likely that he was alone. Some part of her swore that he was being watched over by the masked men. Or course, whether it was safe or not all depended on which masked men it was that was watching him.

Were they the servants of the monkey high, high up in the tree, or were they the broken who were ensnared by the man in the roots? Did they work for the silver-lined clouds...or did they only answer to the one with the red stones?

A frown tugged on the corners of the little girl's lips as she continued thinking, but she quickly wipe it away, focusing on the blond boy.

Blue eyes, wide and full of distrust rested on her, narrowing as they stared at her.

"Whaddya want?"

Again, Akiko frowned. Kids their age weren't supposed to sound that guarded.

"Do you wanna play with me?" The question was greeted by a sudden hush. Everyone had stopped talking. Adults and children alike stared openly at te little girl standing in front of the blond boy. He was smaller than she was, dressed in raggedy clothes and he looked underfed.

What kind of threat did he pose to anyone?

"What?!"

"Do you want to play with me?"

"You're just askin' me that so you can play a trick on me!"

Brown eyes widened for a brief moment, "Why would I do that?"

"Everyone does! Everyone hates me. You don't wanna play with me..."

The little red-head crossed her arms and took up a confident stance. An annoyed look settled on her face and she locked her brown eyes with his blue.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" She questioned him. Her tone was quiet, but the boy still flinched at the seriousness in it, "You can't go making decisions or motives up for me! I decided I wanted to play with you because I wanna play. If I was going to play a prank I'd play it on someone I knew deserved it. I'm not a bully."

The blond boy shifted slightly, looking embarrassed, but still uncertain of the girl.

"My name is Akiko Saisei, who're you?"

"M-me? I'm...I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

The girl could tell that this was the start of something beautiful.

"A pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki." She smiled brightly at the blond.

Naruto gave a timid smile in response and let the girl take his hand. He noticed there was something...different about this girl. She felt different from other people.

He tried to think of what it was. Maybe it was because she was so nice? But then again, Jiji was nice, and he didn't feel like that. It wasn't because she was offering to play with him. Other kids used to do that, but they'd either hurt him in the end, or their parents would come and tell them to stop playing with him...and then they'd never talk again. It definitely wasn't that.

Maybe it was because she looked so scared? She wasn't scared of him, but she was scared of something. Naruto could relate to that...he was scared a lot of the time too. Was she like him? Did people chase her out of stores, and did other kids bully her? Did adults chase her down the streets, throwing things and yelling bad words?

Was she lonely too?

Maybe that's why she looked so sad too?

"What do you wanna play?" Akiko asked, snapping Naruto from his thoughts.

"Um...I dunno...what do you wanna play?"

"Oh...Um...let's play tag!" She said, still smiling as she dropped his hand.

"Tag?" He looked down, embarrassed, "How do you play that?"

Akiko blinked. He didn't know what tag was?

What do they teach kids these days?

"Well, one person is 'It', and they chase the person, or people, who aren't 'It'. When the 'It' person catches you, they become 'not-It', and you become 'It'."

"Oh!"

"Yeah. I'll be 'It' first, you just have to run away, okay?"

Naruto was about to agree, but paused. "Wait...you're not gonna trick me, are you?"

Akiko frowned, "What do you mean?"

"How do I know you're not gonna just leave?"

"I already told you, dumb-dumb. I'm not a bully. I like you."

"Why?"

With a deadpan expression, Akiko replied, "You have pretty eyes."

While this was true, it wasn't really the reason she liked him...but she could hardly just say 'Hey, I have nightmares of people you care about dying in the future, while people continue to look down on you and ridicule you, even while you try to save our lives.'

Yeah...not gonna happen.

"What?!"

Akiko gave him a small, honest smile, "Trust me. Please. Just wanna be your friend."

"Fine-"

"Akiko!"

At the sound of Himawari's voice, both children flinched. Naruto ducked behind the girl, even though she was too close to his size for it to be effective.

The girl tilted her head up at her mother who had appeared before her in a whirl of chakra clouds.

"Mama."Akiko shifted slightly to stand completely in front of the little boy, her arms crossed and a firm set in her jaw.

"Where did you disappear to? I was so worried, I thought something had-"

Himawari's blue eyes widened at the sight of the blond boy cowering behind her daughter. Himawari looked down into Akiko's eyes and nearly froze at the frigid look in the child's eyes. There was something guarded and judging hidden in there.

After a moment, Himawari seemed to deflate. So, this was her decision? Himawari would have to stand by her then. It was her job.

It wasn't that Himawari hated the boy. She could never. He was Minato's son. He was Kushina's son. Hating him would...would be like hating her own child.

It was fear that made Himawari wary around the boy. It was fear of that fox. She had seen much in her existence, but she would never see anything like the demon fox that attacked their village. That decimated their population, killed her comrades, her last living family, her husband.

It was not hate but fear. She was terrified at the thought of the fox returning, breaking free from its prison inside that little boy...sealed up tight, at the cost of his parents' lives.

The mother supposed it would have been easier if Akiko did not look to determined. It would be easy to pretend to hate the boy and move on...forget about her guilt at not taking him in because of her own cowardice.

Now, however, whatever she did next, she knew she'd have to think hard about it, because the look in her child's eyes told her she was being judged...her every action weighed.

To think, a trained kunoichi such as herself, feeling nervous because her own daughter was giving her a look.

He would likely be laughing at her, at this very moment.

"Oh? Akiko-chan...who's your new friend?"

And just like that, the look was gone. Instead, her little girl was back, warm brown eyes filled to the brim with childish delight, despite the horrors she saw. But still, something determined lingered in her eyes.

Himawari let out a relieved sigh.

Mirroring her, Akiko let out her own sigh. It was safe. She had been worried her mother would turn out to be cruel to him...like all the other adults. Knowing her mother would be kind...it assured her that what she was about to say would be alright. It would work out.

She would do anything to stop the nightmares. She needed to stop the nightmares. And for that, she needed Naruto...who needed her.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki," Akiko replied, gesturing to the boy hiding behind her, " and I've decided to adopt him."


And there we have the second (first...?) chapter of Forever Tied, the rewrite of Forever Family! As you can see, the difference between the two stories, and more specifically Akiko, are pretty obvious...I think? Ah...whatever. I have big hopes for the rewrite.

The original wasn't very well thought out in the beginning...since i basically started this fic to pass time, and see if I could write a Naruto fic.

I'm hoping this fic becomes just as popular as my other fic, Demon Eyes someday, but until then, I'd love it if you all continue to show your support!

Big thanks to BloodyCamellia, Sparksofrandomness, kuromiin and SilentKiller123 for reviewing!

Forever Tied has: 4 Reviews, 40 Favourites, 76 Followers, 1 Community!

Love ya guys!