Blue Eyes and Butterflies

by Novus Ars

Naruto is dragged away from everything he knows by the Kyuubi to a new world frightfully similar to his own but major things have changed and, worse, he is forgetting everything he had once known, some of which could be helpful in this new world. femNaru - This will not be finished. I was asked to put this back up as is.

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Bowl of Ramen

"They've demanded their shinobi returned to them." Silence stretched across the room. Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the outrage flash for but a moment across the Hyuuga head's usually unreadable face, the frowning contemplation fill Nara Shikaku's eyes, and the other various reactions throughout the room. No one spoke around the half circular council table. The Hokage leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on entwined fingers.

The peace treaty had been a farce in the shinobis' minds. Even though there was an actual treaty now, only the civilians and DaimyÅ could possibly believe that Kumogakure and, by extension, Kaminari no Kuni had come to make peace. The Kumo-nin Itachi-kun had taken down had admitted as much, after a few days with Inoichi of course. They had come planning to take Hinata from the start. She would have been forced to breed, for a lack of a better word, until she was no longer capable of bearing children. But that wasn't going to happen. Itachi-kun had saved her.

Hiruzen glanced over to his right, where one of two seats permanently assigned to a clan head resided. Uchiha Fugaku sat coolly regarding him. On the Hokage's left sat the empty Senju seat. Usually the Hyuuga head would be seated besides the empty seat but today he sat besides Aburame Shibi, who had nearly always sat beside the Uchiha head. Sarutobi couldn't help but wonder that, if the Aburame head hadn't been his usual early self, would Hiashi have sat right besides Fugaku?

Politics, the elder heaved a sigh. It always boiled down to politics. "Kumo has threatened to take action if we refuse to send their representatives back to them. Apparently they will be properly disciplined for their unauthorized and illegal actions." Sarutobi couldn't keep the sarcasm from his voice at the end. "As it stands, we do have the treaty we just signed with Kumo and because of the wording within the document, we cannot, not send the kumo-nin back without breaking the treaty."

Hiashi's eyes flashed with fury and the man virtually hissed out, "They are the ones at fault. We have their own shinobi admitting to their true orders!"

"Agreed. Kumo should be reminded why we are the greatest of the five." Danzo stated sharply as he stared intently, earnestly at Sarutobi with his one good eye, "We must make an example of the Kumo-nin."

"And how do you expect us to do that, Danzo?" Interrupted Hiruzen before Danzo began a impassioned speech as he was wont to do in cases like this.

Danzo's lips curved into a slight smile, "Public execution."

"Not a good idea, that." Muttered the Nara head, as he sat up straight.

Inuzuka Tsume barked out, flashing her teeth challengingly in the Nara's general direction, "Why's that?! It sounds like a good beating. Kumo won't forget this."

"Troublesome woman." Muttered Nara Shikaku even as Aburame Shibi spoke up.

"Why is it not a good idea? It is not because of many reasons." The heavily clothed shinobi paused and glanced over at the Nara head. The two seemed to stare at eachother for a moment before Shikaku groaned and slumped back into his seat.

The lazy genius explained, "Kumo has had time to recover from the war. We are still recovering because of the Kyuubi attack. They have two fully grown jinchūriki while we have none. Then there is the treaty. We agreed that, if a shinobi of one side is killed by shinobi of the other side within the next year, the village of that shinobi may demand retribution." The Nara closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, "We all should just be glad the ANBU didn't kill the Kumo-nin. I won't put it past Kumo to demand compensation of a Hyuuga's body, though we'd be able to argue back that they should only receive the ANBU's."

Uchiha Fugaku stiffened at that, "So we cannot make examples of any of these shinobi. Executing them and then having to execute the ANBU would not be productive on our side." Danzo tried to interrupt but Fugaku continued, "But that does not mean we cannot emphasize on the failure of the Kumo-nin." the man looked over at Hiashi, "Perhaps they will find themselves unable to properly control their chakra from now on and of course Kumo cannot push this under the rug. We can use the failure of its shinobi to pull clients to Konoha. We can make Kumo regret this."

The Hokage sat back and watched the debate bounce between two main sides. To execute or not was apparently the question. Danzo was correct in the fact that they could not show weakness. All the other villages were still watching to see if the Kyuubi attack had affected them in a way detrimental to their skills. Did losing the Yellow Flash and many other shinobi weaken Konohagakure enough that there was a better chance at defeating the village this time around?

But in turn, they could not handle the price of war, true war and not the small skirmishes that had consist of this one so far. Konoha could not afford to antagonize Kumo. That was why they had been trying to find peaceful ends from the beginning. In the end they had to avoid war. Konoha would have to work harder to keep their position as the most powerful of the main villages.

The third Hokage sat up straight, pausing the argument between Danzo and Inoichi. "Your thoughts on this matter were greatly appreciated." The council members settled back into their seats, all eyes stared intently at him. What was the decision he had reached?

"The best route for Konohagakure is to return the shinobi. They will be escorted to the border of course." A flash of frustration flickered across Danzo's face even as Hiashi moved to protest, "It would be best that a Hyuuga representative was part of the escort. Would you do the honor Hiashi-san?" The Hyuuga paused for a moment before giving a curt nod of agreement. Hiashi has gotten the silent offer the Hokage was offering. He had a chance to have his revenge by doing what Fugaku had advised. "Excellent, this meeting is adjourned."

As the shinobi, and the two civilian representatives, moved from the room the Hokage called out, "Ah one moment Shibi-kun, Inoichi-kun. I have a few things to discuss with you both."

"Of course Hokage-sama."

AUAU

The pitier platter of water and the whisper of wind in the trees soothed the little girl sitting with her toes dipping in and out of the small pond. Glazed blue eyes followed the dance of two dragonflies. She wasn't fully there. Her mind kept going back to what had happened. She had been everything, everywhere. She had been nothing and nowhere. She was part of a whole but so small a part that she couldn't help but feel empty. So what was the point? There was just so much in the world. She was nothing. She would come and go. Nothing she did would change that.

Her eyes slid down to the ripples in the water. They moved outward, fading before reaching even halfway across the pond. The ripples she made during her life would affect the world as much as these ripples. Nothing would change, would be affected.

The soft brush of cloth against her arm caught her attention. Blue eyes slowly turned and regarded Shino but the boy wasn't looking at her but at her toes. It didn't matter, Shino wasn't any more important than herself. He would leave the world and nothing important, nothing long lasting, would have stayed.
Inconsequential.

Blue eyes lowered back to the pond and Naoko dipped her big toes back into the water. The ripple faded quickly once again.

Useless.

Her toes tapped the water again.

Pointles-

A second ripple moved into and partly combined with her own. It was bigger, faster even. It made a greater effect. Naoko moved her eyes back to her feet in contemplation. From the corner of her eye she could just spy another pair. The new set of feet tapped the water with multiple toes, making sharp ripples in the water. Senju Namikaze Naoko smiled.

AUAU

The Hokage and Yamanaka head watched the two young children. Inoichi leaned against the wall as an Aburame brought refreshments out on the porch. Children shouldn't be so still or silent. That was Inoichi's opinion. Of course he was basing this off his daughter and her friends. Maybe he should base the opinion on Shikaku's kid? Inoichi shook his head at that. Nah, if any of their kids were odd, it would be Shikaku's.

Shibi quietly stepped out onto the porch. A few other Aburame followed. "She has not been very responsive." Spoke one of the elderly Aburame in the group.

The third Hokage said, "Oh?" as he turned away from the children.

The elder nodded before explaining. "Shino-kun does not know why Naoko-san is presently staying with us but he has come forwards with some concerns involving her lack of action."
Inoichi frowned, more than slightly confused. "How would he know how she should be acting?"

Shibi answered, "Why would my son know? It is because he has played with her a number of times now."

The blond blurted out, before he could help himself, "They're friends?"

"They have played." Corrected Shibi. "and I have witnessed it. She should be more...exuberant."

The Third nodded in understanding. "Have you had time to work with her on the butterflies?"

"No we have not." Shibi paused before carefully choosing his words, "We have been waiting for her to come forward on the matter. Though," The clan head nodded slightly over to the youngest Aburame present, "Muta has read a book on butterflies to her."

"Hai, that is the only time she has spoken." The young Aburame said, "Naoko-san has asked questions on some of the subject matter."

"The only time?" Breathed Inoichi.

"Hai."

The group fell silent. This was complicated. What could they do when they didn't really know what had happened? She needed to speak with them but she was three. What could they expect from a three year old?

"We have learned something." Sarutobi and Inoichi turned back to the Aburame elder. "The butterfly Shibi-kun brought is still present. We have kept it within one of the atria. It has not eaten but it is still alive. It has been a week and six days since it was placed within the atrium. It appears to be a normal butterfly besides the lack of feeding."

Shibi quietly added, "There does not seem to be any negative effects from the separation but, as the child is not back to her normal self, that is debatable."

The third Hokage nodded slowly, "I would like to see the butterfly."

"Hai."

Inoichi interrupted, "I think I'll go speak with her. She might talk with me."

Aburame Muta lifted one of the plates of honey flavored senbei. "Please try to have her eat some of this." Inoichi took the plate with a nod before watching Muta direct Shino inside for some unscheduled training.

The Yamanaka clan head moved across the garden and knelt down besides the silent child. Blue eyes looked up and met his pupil-less ones but no words of greeting followed. The little girl simply turned back to the water. "Naoko," Inoichi paused. How to go about this? "have you enjoyed staying with the Aburame?"

The little girl responded, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that she ignored him, with tapping her toes into the water.

AUAU

The third Hokage regarded the little butterfly sitting on a lily pad, the long tube that apparently qualified as a mouth was tapping the water. "Are you certain it's not drinking?"

"Is it drinking? No, it would be done by now if it was." Responded the quiet Aburame Head. "Hokage-sama, may I propose something?"

Sarutobi turned and regarded the Aburame, "Of course. Do you think we should proceed with a dissection? It might be for the best."

Shibi stood silent for a moment, "I-Hai Hokage-sama. A dissection would be the next step but that is not my proposal." Seeing that he had his leader's full attention, the man continued. "Is it possible to adopt Tano Naoko? Her abilities are related closely enough to our own that we may be the best caretakers and teachers for her. She should not be left alone."

The elder sighed heavily, "I'm afraid that adoption is out of the question for her." The Third raised his hand to stall Shibi's words. "She does possess an unknown ability, that may or may not be a new bloodline, and this ability does appear to use bugs, making you and your clan one of the best to care and train her. But this matter is not simple. Her heritage makes her politically too important to allow any one clan a greater claim on her person than the rest of the clans."

"May I know how she is so politically important?"

Folding his arms behind his back, the elderly man looked back down at the little butterfly. "I would think it obvious at this point, Shibi-kun. Tano is not her last name and she is related to one of my students."

Shibi stood perfectly still for a few more minutes, digesting his lord's words. "I see. Shall we see what hime-sama's butterfly is like?"

With that, a net was used to catch the little butterfly and the two shinobi joined the rest of the Aburame waiting for them. Besides Muta and Shibi, only the elders of the Aburame clan knew exactly why Naoko was residing with the main family. So it was not surprising that, with Muta off training Shino, only the clan head and the elder council were present for the dissection of the odd little butterfly.

Shibi carefully spread out the butterfly's limbs, as the bug was now drugged up too much to do anything but lay there. Taking out a tiny, thin knife the bug user slid it into the exoskeleton to only find the blade suddenly sliding through nothing. They all started at the glow of chakra, dissolving into the air. Though the butterfly had felt and acted like a normal butterfly(besides not eating), it had apparently never been. It had only been a chakra construct.

AUAU

The soft gasp that escaped the little girl brought Inoichi's attention back to her. "Are you alright Naoko-chan?"

Blue eyes were round with wonder as she looked up at him and finally the little girl whispered out in awe, "He wants to adopt me."

Inoichi was more than slightly confused. "What?"

The little girl shook her head and turned back to the pond with a smile. The Yamanaka sighed at that. At least she had said something. That was a plus, even if it made little sense. She wasn't fully gone like she had been before Inoichi had gone searching for her in her mind. She seemed aware but there was an odd separation between her and the rest of the world. It was like she was disconnected.

"Ah Naoko-chan, mind if I steal Inoichi-kun for a minute?" Called out the Hokage, almost twenty minutes later, as he returned to the porch with the small group of Aburame. Naoko gave no reaction, so Inoichi moved back to the porch. The Third didn't wait long to continue the discussion. "We tried to dissect the butterfly a few minutes ago. Did she give any reaction like she was being cut or anything?"

Inoichi shook his head. "No, the only thing she's done was a good ten, twenty minutes before hand."

"Oh?"

Inoichi nodded slightly, "Hai, she gasped randomly and then stated in some disbelief that, and I quote, 'He wants to adopt me'."

The Third's eyes widened and Shibi straightened in faint shock. "Are you certain that is what she said? Twenty minutes ago?" Demanded the Hokage.

"Hai. Its the only thing she said while I was with her." The blond frowned, eyes moving between the Aburame Head and the Hokage, "Why?"

Shibi spoke quietly, "Why? Because it was about twenty minutes ago that I requested the right to adopt Naoko-san. The only person present, within hearing distance, was Hokage-sama."

The Third added, just a quietly, "And a certain, odd butterfly."

"I-I see." Breathed Inoichi. "So she might be able to-"

"Hai, it appears that way. Let us test this theory." Interrupted the Third.

"Wait, what happened in the dissection? Did you learn anything?" Ask Inoichi as the Third and Shibi moved swiftly across the garden to the little girl. One of the elders quickly explained what had happened to Inoichi. More and more questions were appearing with each answer they got.

"Naoko-chan." Blue eyes looked up at the Third but she didn't respond. "Do you understand why I cannot have you adopted?" The Third continued speaking after a slight nod from the three year old. "I would like to try something with you. If you work with us, without complaint, then I will take you to Ichiraku's and you will move in with Itachi-kun. Sound good?" Another nod was his answer, "Good, good. You will have to speak during this experiment but first I need a couple of butterflies of yours. Do you know how to bring out the butterflies without us cutting your hair?" A shake of her head led to the old man pulling out a kunai and kneeling down besides her.

Pausing, Sarutobi turned to the Aburame. "Each of you will take a butterfly and leave the vicinity. You will then state something to the butterfly and return. Do not destroy the butterfly nor set it free until after we confirm that Naoko knows what you said." Looking back to Naoko. "As soon as you know what they said repeat it word for word, to the best of your ability."

At the nod from both the Aburame and Naoko, the Third Hokage slid the kunai through a large amount of hair. The Aburame elders and Shibi each caught a butterfly and vanished, leaving only a scattering of leaves. Naoko slid her fingers through her hair. It was lopsided and was now much shorter in the back than the front.

"We can get that shaped up proper later, if you like." Naoko stared up at the tall blond, eyes flickering to the hair he had. It was clear that he couldn't decide whether to have short or long hair. After a moment, the little girl shook her head violently in denial. He was not going to get anywhere near her hair! The Hokage laughed heartily at her response even as Inoichi scowled.

"Oh!" Gasped Naoko, interrupting Sarutobi's godding at Inoichi. The men gave her their full attention as she spoke, voice slightly rough with disuse. "The guard changes at 0200." Naoko continued stating random sentences until she came to the last two. Her eyes were narrowed and mouth pressed thin from concentration as she started naming off a list of weapons the Aburame was apparently buying in the black market. After the first six items, Naoko struggled to name off anymore. To top that off, she simply shook her head when Inoichi inquired on the last.

Once the Aburame returned, it was confirmed that the sentences Naoko had succeeded in repeating were correct. The two she hadn't been successful with had been considerably longer than the others. The potential was left unsaid. Even if Naoko ended up lacking skills in all other areas, the chakra butterflies and the connection she had to them was a fountain of information gathering potential. But it was also a threat.

Sarutobi's and Inoichi's eyes met with grim worry. Before she had been an odd child that held a promise with the results of her blood matching the recorded genetic material of the fourth and second Hokages. She had been a replacement for Naruto, for Sarutobi's adopted grandson, who had been the old man's hope for the future. Indeed, the ANBU who watched her had only described an unusually focused, active three year old but what if there was more?

She seemed to be the result of Orochimaru's experiments, and even if she wasn't, she had to have been created or altered by someone. As such experimentation was illegal, that someone could not be an ally â€" or at least a trusted one.

The Third offered his hand to the child. She was already being watched, to some extent, by trusted ANBU. And Itachi was loyal to a fault, the boy would inform him of any strange happenstance. He had already done so with bringing the chakra butterflies to his attention, after all.

If she was a spy they would know it. If she suddenly started acting differently, the only real indication of a sleeper agent, it would be noticed. When she finally joined the shinobi ranks her sensei may have to be informed of her potential position â€" sleeper agents can wake at any point in their lives after all.

The Third offered his hand to the child. "Ichiraku's, Naoko-chan?"

Naoko nodded quietly as she took his hand. "Can Shino and Itachi come?"

The Third smiled, "Of course." Nodding to the Aburame elders as they bowed goodbye, the third looked over to Inoichi, "I will speak with you later."

"Hai."

Shino and Shibi rejoined the two at the gate of the Aburame compound. The four quietly traveled through the village with the Hokage traveling besides Shibi and Naoko staying near Shino. It gave the impression that the Hokage was joining the Aburame clan head and heir for a meal, and the little girl was a tag along friend of said heir.

It was beneficial that a number of civilians and shinobi had either seen Shino and Naoko together before or have heard of the unlike friendship. Aburame rarely gained friends or even acquaintances and when they did, they weren't female (it was a common belief that Aburame had either a process of asexual reproduction or used their bugs to help create their children). So, of course, it had become a widespread rumor and no one thought for even a second that Naoko was actually there with the Hokage. If they had, her true identity would have been revealed sooner than anyone in the know wanted.

Itachi was already at Ichiraku's when the group got there, giving the appearance of a happy accidental meeting. Naoko silently settled into a seat between Itachi and Shino. She only spoke when asked for her order. This time her silence wasn't only because of her dis-attachment to the world. It was because of the feeling of welcome, and love, and comradeship, and so much more that overwhelmed her as the aroma of ramen swallowed her whole.

It felt like home.

Blue eyes rose at the click of the bowl settling in front of her. The spilled soup on the floor. The bowl her caretaker had dropped. She was the bowl, the soup as she had been before, as she would always be. Blue eyes gleamed with wonder as she stared down into the bowl of ramen and into her reflection and the reflection within the eyes of her reflection and beyond. This was her and this was everything and nothing and everyone and no one.

"Naoko?" Itachi muttered in concern as he moved away from his own bowl of ramen. It was a truly frightening thing seeing an untouched bowl in front of her. "Are you alright?" Had the Hokage's message been too early? Should Naoko come live with him yet? How could she when she couldn't even eat ramen?

Blue eyes looked up at him filled with a strange emotion and a surprising amount of unshed tears. Ramen had always been a central part of her life. It had connected her to so many people; their faces flashed across her mind too fast to focus on any single one. But that didn't matter, what mattered was what it reminded her of.

Family.

She had created a family consisting of friends and comrades that would be by her side always. She wasn't alone, she had known that even before she had connected to and become everything. Yet the overwhelming sense of the world had made her forget. Becoming one with everything made it both feel like there was only her -she was the world and the animal and plants in the world - and that there was just too much in the world - she could get lost in it and never find herself again. It made her terrified of the task she had set for herself. She couldn't save the world, not when the world was so big, too big.

Unknowingly, Shino had taught her (or perhaps reminded her) that while one person couldn't save the world, a group could. He had done so by simply tapping the water in time with her own tapping toes.

Now, with the dancing flavors of ramen and memories of half forgotten comrades surrounding her, she allowed herself to remember breaking apart into hundreds of butterflies. She understood now. Naoko understood the simple, terribly complex truth.

"I am Ramen."

"What?" Itachi asked even as Shino turned to stare at Naoko.

A soft, brilliant smile spread slowly across the little girl's face, and life seemed to return to her. Naoko spoke loudly as her eyes moved to stare into the bowl, "I Am Ramen."
Naoko was alright. She knew she was because she now understood, at least in part, what she had experienced. It wasn't so frightening anymore. After all, she was ramen, just like everyone and everything and no one and nothing â€" and ramen couldn't be anything but delicious.

AUAU

Naoko slowly entered the academy room. She had been gone for nearly a month. Blue eyes wandered over the class; a number of the students were gone. She had missed the Genin Test. She was stuck in school till the next test a year from now.

"You're back."

Naoko looked behind her and brightened. "Yorimi-chan."

The brown haired Uchiha stared flatly at her for a moment. "You haven't been at the orphanage."
"Wha-"

"I checked."

Naoko blinked after the retreating, stiff form. The implications of Yorimi's words struck her a moment later and Naoko rushed after the older girl, "You came to check on me?!"
Yorimi flashed a frosted look Naoko's way before settling down in the last seat of one of the rows, leaving Naoko to find a seat farther up and away from her. Naoko frowned at her friend. She hadn't meant to leave Yorimi in the dark. Well, not fully at least. Naoko slumped into a seat. She missed graduation and Yorimi was mad at her now.

Her eyes fell to the floor in a fit of depression but it didn't last very long as the little girl found herself hopelessly distracted, something that had been happening too often since the incident. Her shoes made her toes look big. Maybe the shoes were too small. What would it be like being those tiny shoes? She could squish so many bugs but Shino would be mad. What about the grass? The grass would be squashed just as much as the bugs... They were stepping on her, uncaring as they destroyed her â€" bruising her. Blue eyes glazed over as memories of everything, of grass and leaves and nothing began to sweep over her to only be pushed back by the load swoosh of the door sliding sharply open.

"Good morning class." Called Funeno-sensei as he entered with a familiar curly headed woman. "As you know, with the conflict with Kumo concluded, your schedules are going to spread out to include other areas of the academy. These areas are going to be covered in the new and improved Genin Test next year."

Naoko frowned at her sensei. This was not cool. She was ready to graduate now. Sure, she was still working on the bunshin but the other two techniques were nearly perfect. These classes had better not be pointless but Naoko had little hope on that front. If they weren't pointless they would have not been ignored for the war time schedule.

"Girls, meet your new sensei, Suzume-san will be teaching you valuable skills for being a kunoichi. Please follow her to you're new class. You will rejoin us for the afternoons."
Naoko's mind stuttered to a halt even as she followed the other girls out of the room. No, this was not happening. She was not going to learn stupid things like flower arranging and tea ceremonies. With that thought, Naoko slipped out of one of the windows they passed on the way to the new class.

It would be a few months after the fact that Naoko finally admits to not knowing where the class is. Until then, this began a couple month long stint avoiding school and sadly, accidentally Yorimi. Of course Naoko was being productive during her absence, and she did show up for the afternoons â€" most days.

The academy teachers were told a very abbreviated version of what happened. The important part was that Naoko was a little absent minded right now and they were working on it with her but it was best to not call on her or worry too much if she doesn't show up. She was only three, almost four. They will be able to help her refocus by the time she was actually, physically and mentally ready for the shinobi life.

Nobody brought up the fact that their help for Naoko was rather lacking. What could they do but play mental games with her? And those games only got so far before she was distracted. There was only so many times one can play Go with a person who gets distracted by grass for thirty minutes randomly in the middle of her turn.
Then there was the butterfly training. No one wanted Naoko to try whatever she had done to dissolve into hundreds of butterflies but she needed to learn how to call upon them or learn how to dissolve her hair into them or something, whatever it was that created the butterflies. Which was the problem. What did she need to learn? And whatever it was, how were they supposed to teach her how to do it?

The only answer anyone had was simple. Cut her hair and have Naoko try to focus on what it felt like when her hair became butterflies. There were two issues with this process, though. The first was obvious, there was only so much hair you could cut off a little girl's head before people start wondering what's going on. They couldn't shave her hair off. People would really start wondering. The second issue was Naoko didn't seem to feel anything remotely related to the butterflies during the process. Sure, she could repeat sentences told near those butterflies but she didn't know how it happened. It just did.

They were going about this wrong but what else could they do?