Disclaimer... I do not own Naruto...Never did...Never will...sigh.
Written by... Treina (Angel Crack)

Names.
Mujaki . Shino's Dad
Kaiwa . Shino's Mother
Nidashi . Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)

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Aishiteru Naruto

Chapter 7- Falling

Naruto - Age: three

After an hour of fussing, squirming and screaming, Nidashi was finally able to get Naruto clean. He set Naruto, who was now trying to calm down, next to Shino, who was already half asleep on the main room couch.

Shino could tell it was very late and wondered where his mother and father could be. Did they abandon him? Shino never in his life ever had the thought or worry that his parents would leave him, but then, he never had to be away from them for so long. As grown up as Shino may seem, he was very clingy with his parents, more so with his father but then again, he was with his mother every day, all day.

Beside the bath incident, Naruto was pretty content, he was at Nidashi's house once more, with a full stomach and clean clothes, Naruto was all to happy to fall asleep.

But Shino watched the blond with worry, would he have to live like this for the rest of his life? Did they really abandon him? Shino's heat raced as he fought back tears and got up to stare out of the window.

xoxoxoxoxox

Mujaki was finally able to catch up to his wife, but she still refused stop, and would not dare let him see her.

He finally grabbed her wrist, "lets go home," he ordered and began to drag her in the direction of the house.
"No..." She pleaded, "its all wrong, we were never meant to be...I cant stay here!" Deep down she knew this was true, very very true...but somehow what she was doing now felt wrong...very wrong.

"Kaiwa, you are my wife and you belong at home with my child," he said in a very serious tone, "...tell me," he fought with his struggling words, "what were you raised for?" As he asked that question, a violent pain clogged his thought, but he knew that it needed to be asked...it was the only thing he could use to bring her back.

She was stuck dumb, how could he ask her such a thing? During their entire marriage she somehow knew that her husband must know about her parents, about her life as a child and what she was raised for. He was right, her husband, the man she learned to be perfect for was ordering her to come back, and here she was plainly and bluntly disobeying him. What was wrong with her?

She sunk to her knees and looked up at him, "I'm so sorry."

xoxoxoxoxox

Old man Nidashi watched Shino stare out the window, he had been like that for an hour now and Nidashi had thought up 100 different things to say to the child, but thought none of them would help and half of them he wasn't sure if they held any truth. He could tell Shino that his parents would definitely come back, but he really wasn't sure of that.

Nidashi knew what Kaiwa had to do this night and he felt pity for her. For the twenty years that he had lived in this house, he watched many brides fall in love and then get banished. Knowing that their love can never come back, a lot of the Aburame men become un-stable...after that happens, Nidashi didn't know. But through the years he watched as the clan got smaller and smaller. Out of all the clans, Aburame were the most strict about their marriage laws, so strict that over half the woman in the village wouldn't even dare take a look...unless they were young and didn't have a brain.

Nidashi chuckled at the thought of his daughter, he remembered the times when all she could talk about was a certain Hyuuga that was in her class, and when he was assigned to a different team, she was depressed for weeks. He remember the pain she gave him every morning when he would wake her up for training and missions. Soon enough she quit being shinobi and was happy working in the little store her mother, Nidashi's wife, owned.

But then the fox came...

"Look!" Shino yelled, pointing out the window, waking Naruto up.

Nidashi got up to take a look and saw Mujaki walking down the street toward the house and relief passed over him, but maybe not as much as little Shino, who was on the verge of jumping up and down right on Naruto, who was now wide awake and staring at Shino with a puzzled look on his face, what was this supposed to be? Payback? But when he noticed the pointing finger and Nidashi also staring out the window, he got up to see what all the commotion was about.

Then he saw Shino's dad walking up to the house and his heart sank, would he have to leave again and go back with that weird family? Why would no one allow him to stay with Nidashi, the person he wanted to stay with...not that the Aburame family wasn't nice, they were just weird. Shino flew off the couch and ran to the door, eagerly awaiting his fathers knock.

xoxTAP TAPxox

Mujaki knocked quietly, hoping not to wake the two kids, it was almost three in the morning and he assumed that they were both in bed but was surprised to see the door open and Shino come running out and into his arms.

"Come in for a moment," Nidashi requested and he stepped into the small house.
"How is Kaiwa?" The old man asked, trying to choose his words carefully.
"She's at home in bed right now, its been a long night...how were the kids?" He figured a change of subject would be appropriate, he didn't want Shino to begin worrying about things that he had no control over.
"They were both angels...Shino stayed up and watched for you, I think he was a bit worried," Nidashi replied, smiling at little Shino who was still in his fathers arms.

For a while there was silence and Naruto hoped that Mujaki wouldn't say it, wouldn't call him to go with him, he didn't want to go. He repeated his wish over and over again in his mind until the silence was broken.

"Well, we should head back, I'm sure we all could do with some sleep," Mujaki stated, turning to Naruto, "come Naruto," and he extended his hand.
Naruto shook his head, he wasn't going to go, they couldn't make him leave! "No"
"Naruto!" Nidashi snapped, "what are you saying? Go home and go to bed! You can come back tomorrow if its okay with Kaiwa."

Since when was it her decision and not the Third, where was the Third in all of this? Naruto crossed his arms and made a pouting face.
"Naruto we are leaving now," Mujaki stated and put Shino down.

The blond shook his head with defiance and Mujaki began to near the child. What was this man going to do? He had said all but three words to Naruto during his stay and as he got closer, Naruto noticed how frighteningly huge he was, towering over him like he himself was nothing more then a bug.
"No!" Naruto yelled backing away on the couch. What was he going to do? Would he slap him like that one woman who locked him in that room?

Mujaki picked Naruto up and slung him over his shoulder, in a way Naruto enjoyed it, but when he noticed that they were heading to the door he was not pleased at all. He began to kick and scream, he didn't want to go back there, he wanted to stay here!

"NO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Nidashi shook his head as he watched the three walk up the street, "its no good to get attached so easily Naruto," he said in a sad voice before going back to into his, now empty, quiet house.

xoxoxoxoxox

When they got back to Shino's house, Mujaki put the two kids strait to bed and retired himself. Luckily for Naruto, he left the door open, but Naruto still found that he couldn't sleep, he just stared at the ceiling for hours and when the sky began to get lighter, he dozed off.

As he slept, he found himself in a strange dream. He was falling and he wasn't stopping, he fell and fell and fell, until Kaiwa awoke him with her smile, but he jolted awake, afraid that he had actually hit the bottom. When he looked around, heart still racing, Shino was already awake and changing his clothes while Kaiwa opened the window.

"Come to the kitchen for breakfast when your ready," she said to the both of them two didn't show any response that they heard her, but right now she didn't really care and made her way back into the kitchen.

Naruto felt like he couldn't even get up, his whole body and mind felt tired, so he laid back down, closing his eyes. Little did he know, that he had only slept for two hours and the sleep that he received during that time was not great. But he did get to sleep peacefully for an extra half hour, until Kaiwa came in to see if he was okay, she was begining to get a little worried, Shino had already finished his food a while ago and was now in the yard playing.

She walked quietly and slowly to the bed, automatically she figured that the blond was sick, considering how long he was sleeping this morning. She pressed a hand against his cheek and then Kissed his forehead, Shino walked in and stared at them wondering what they were doing.

"Shino come here," she called, and then kissed his forehead as well.
"Hmmm...your not feverish," she said in a relived tone, "Naruto..." she called shaking him gently.
Shino pounced on the bed, "wake up! wake up!" he began chanting while jumping up and down on the bed.
"Shino get down..." she ordered, "your fathers going to be leaving soon," she added in a suggestive manor.

Naruto who was now wide awake, but still very sleepy, looked at Kaiwa, who somehow looked different.
"Your food is cold, I'm heating it up now," she said with a smile and placed his clothes out for him.
He attempted to dress himself and did a pretty good job for a three year old, that, and it was a one piece with a zipper, but he was pretty proud of himself. He rushed into the kitchen when he smelled the food and had no problem downing it all in under five minutes.

Later that day, both kids would go to Nidashi's house to play, then they would return to the Aburame estate when the sun set. For weeks they did this and Nidashi couldn't be happier about the company. About every other day he would take them to the hot spring and after a while, Shino was sure he would be able to walk there blindfolded. They never tired of the place or Nidashi.

Shino found it interesting, not even a month ago all he would do was sit in front of the window and wait for his father to return. Without his dad, he really didn't find anything fun. But he made sure to keep a close watch on this blond, this kid, who had invaded his home and territory.

As for Naruto, it took him months to get even a little used to the Aburame house, it was three months until he was able to fall asleep at ease and the dream of falling faded from his mind. The Third wasn't seen much and Naruto sometimes wondered if he did something wrong to make the Third not want him, but that thought never lasted long for he would find something else to indulge himself in, the world was so big, how could you linger on one subject to long and then miss everything else that passes you by.

xoxoxoxoxox

Naruto Age: Four (about a year later)

Then, on the first day of the rain season, Naruto woke up to a strange feeling. As he looked around, he had a strong feeling that something wasn't right. Where was the smell of cooking food? The faint sounds of people walking around in the kitchen and main room? Everything was silent, everything but the rain that was just beginning to fall.

Naruto got up, dressed himself and walked into the main room, but still, no one was there. He wandered around the house for a while until he came upon door that lead to the backyard and gardens. That's when he heard something, something like crying...then.
"Stop!" he heard Shino's father yell in rage and what sounded like a crowd of people were heard talking and murmuring among themselves.

His eyes grew wide at the sound of anger in the man's voice, his heart pounding hard against his chest. All at once he wanted to open that door to see what was going on behind it, but something inside him told him not to. Naruto's fear grew to great heights as a crowd seemed to be getting restless. The crying of Shino and Kaiwa mixed with the murderous rage that was escaping Mujaki's mouth seemed to be growing louder.

"Silence! Be still everyone!" Came the voice of an unknown man.
Everyone was quiet and all that could be heard was Shino's small whimpers for his mother.
"The trial concerning Kaiwa Aburame will begin shortly," there was a small pause, "Kitu, secure the surrounding premises and inform the Hokage of this matter, we are not to be disturbed," another pause.
"Trial begins in five minutes, everyone be silent for the elders arrival."

Not one sound was heard, even Shino wasn't heard though all the silence. So long a time passed that Naruto was once again getting the courage to open that door. Maybe everyone left and it was all some big joke...or they were putting on a play for someone. Tons of possibilities filtered though his mind, but one thing turned off half of them. Why was Shino crying? Out of all the months that he had been with that family, the blond never once heard Shino cry. Another question, why wasn't he crying now?

Naruto placed his hands on the handle and as he slowly slid the door open, but all he could see were the backs of very tall men. He crouched down a little lower and then, between the legs of an un-known man, the first thing he caught sight of, was Kaiwa. Fear wrenched his heart as he watched them tie her to a huge wooden pole, they must have placed it there recently because Naruto couldn't recall there being a large wooden pole in the middle of the yard.

Tears ran down her face as she watched her son watch her with the same broken eyes. "Why must he watch this!" She wailed, "why must he be here"
"Because child," one of the elders answered, "Shino Aburame should know what his mother is."

Shino was confused and wasn't sure what he should do. He kept looking at his father, who was being held back by about ten other Aburame men, couldn't he do something to stop this nightmare? What the hell was going on? What did he do to deserve this torture? What were they going to do to her? More tears ran down his face as he reached for his mother. "NO! YOU CANT!" he screamed, they cant! They cant!

"Silence him!" Another elder ordered, "the trial begins now," he announced, turning to the rest of the clan.
"A whole year has passed us by since we, the council, came to the conclusion that Kaiwa was not fit to be Aburame, in this years time, we have watched her closely...and perhaps we were right to take her name," he paused a moment and looked at Mujaki.
"But we kept her name for the sake of this child," he pointed at the young Aburame, who scowled at him in return.
"What is your reasoning?" he demanded, knowing what a bunch of crock this whole thing was.
"We were willing to overlook the fact that you were still keeping that demon fox in your possession."

What were they talking about? A demon fox? Naruto's heart skipped a beat, he could remember that fox, that fox that was standing on the bed looking strait into his soul just to rip it all apart. Naruto clutched his chest with his fist, that had to be the same one they were talking about.

"But when we found this," the elder gestured to a young man who then handed him a small box, "we were filled with overwhelming grief and regret," he opened the box and showed everyone what it contained, a beautiful blue butterfly. But it was still, it didn't move at all, yet its beauty and color still caught every eye in the yard and a few of those eyes instantly recognized the butterfly.

Both Naruto and Shino knew that it had to be that one butterfly...on the first day Shino went to their secret place, the one that twirled around them both in a playful manner, but Shino knew that it could easily be a different one.

"This rare butterfly was bound to Kaiwa Aburame by the song of her husband," he handed the open box back to the young man and he showed it to Kaiwa.
"Shortly after we found it, it died of despair, "he continued and the young man handed the box back to the elder, "at that moment, we decided to watch her and preserved the beauty of her butterfly," the elder was happy to see that the rest of the clan seemed to agree with him, this greatly relieved them, the elders were paranoid about the clans reaction to the decision to preserve this creature, they haven't done it for over a century and in a way, it was sort of "forbidden" but was never officially classified as a forbidden jutsu, they really didn't see the need.

"What does this prove?" Rage coursing though his veins, Mujaki tried his hardest to keep a steady voice.
"Your wife's mental state has collapsed," he answered, quickly silencing the young man.
"The day we found this butterfly was the day that we chose to take her name. For the past year we have researched heavily and what we have found disturbs us greatly," the elder handed the box back to the young man and picked up some papers that were sitting on the small table in front of him, he let a long pause pass before he continued.

The more he listened, the more Naruto didn't like it, he didn't like the feelings emanating off the people, and the look in the main elders eyes. As more time passed, the feelings grew and the fire in the old man's eyes grew hotter. Where was the Third?

"Kaiwa Aburame, maiden name, Kitaru was birthed in the hidden earth village and was moved here with her two parents at the age of two by order of Tsuchikage. When her parents died due to the invasion of the Kitsune, we agreed to take her in and raise her to be a bride."

He flipped through a few of the papers, "we have the information that the hidden earth village is now on the move and looking for her whereabouts, two weeks ago we looked into her parents and was surprised to find that her mother was a spy, but was killed before she could deliver any information. We were informed two days ago that they now know where Kaiwa is and what she could and does know about the secrets of this clan."

Mujaki's eyes went wide with horror, they cant do it, what the hell are they thinking! But Kaiwa lowered her head, she couldn't believe that these old men, who knew nothing about the woman she was, knew her more then she knew herself. She knew what they were planning to do...what they were going to show her son, but what could she do about it? Somewhere inside she was always getting ready for this moment...somehow knowing that something would bring it along. But her calm mind soon tore and she threw herself around trying to get loose from the ropes that held her tightly to the wooden pole, every movement causing a dozen splinters throughout her back and arms. How could she let this happen? Why didn't she leave when she had the chance? How stupid could she be? She knew it was coming and she sat by to wait for it.

Shino looked at both his parents with confusion, what was going to happen? He could feel the panic and need to do something rise within his two protectors, "what are you going to do?" Everyone stopped and turned to him. Oddly enough, they all had a look of sorrow for the boy. How could they answer that question without him hating the clan for the rest of his days.

"We are going to make sure that the bad guys don't get a hold of our secrets," the elder answered, gesturing to the young man who now held a lit torch in his hands.
"You must take him away," Mujaki demanded "he must not see this"
The elder's eyes went thin as he thought about the young man's request, "very well, take the child to Nidashi's hut at the end of the road," he said with irritation, "now be silent, I will speak with you after the present matter," he turned back to the young man and took the torch.
"Please, don't do this...please," Kaiwa pleaded for her life, red eyes, tear stained, her throat so dry that the words hardly came out.
"We can not allow the fall of our clan for one woman, you should know this," he formed a few seals and then threw the torch at the bottom of the pole and it all went up in flames.

Mujaki watched with tears of his own, how could he let this happen? He should have let her go when she had the chance, he should have never forced her back against her will...and she knew damn it, she knew something like this was going to happen. Since that day that he dragged her back to her home and son, she had been distant, like she really wasn't there at all, now she will never be...There will never be that small chance that she would return. She was leaving, and nothing he could say could change it. He cant even protect his own family more or less the Hokage.

Kaiwa didn't make a sound as she felt her flesh burn to the flaming pole, it was her fate to die this way and she knew it, so she let herself go and fell into darkness.

Naruto sat watching with every emotion running though his body, yet he was never aware of them the entire time, his eyes were glued to the fire. What the hell was this? His heart raced and when Kaiwa's head fell limp as the flames grew higher, he ran out into the crowd in panic.
"What are you doing? You cant! You cant! STOP!" He screamed, running to Kaiwa, not sure what to do when he would get there, but a huge man picked him up. Naruto's hands reached for the flames as tears flew from his eyes, what was this feeling? Suddenly, everything around him began to turn black, he suddenly couldn't make his body move, everything was spinning, spinning and then, he began to fall.

xoxoxoxoxox

During this late morning, Nidashi had decided to sleep in late and for a whole five minutes, he didn't hear the Aburame knocking on his door, until, 'BAM BAM BANG!' Nidashi woke with a startle to the maniac banging on his door like it was training equipment or something.

When Nidashi answered the door, he was met with the glare of a very tall Aburame man holding a shaking, anguished, pathetic looking Shino in his arms. But this man was clearly not the boy's father, "what have you been doing old man?" The tall Aburame asked, "you must take this child and make sure no harm comes to him," he handed Shino to Nidashi and turned to leave, not wanting to miss the verdict.

"Where is Naruto?" Nidashi asked, worry evident in his voice.
"Who?" The man asked, looking at him like he was senile.
"The blond little boy, he's about Shino's age," he said in a somewhat relived tone, at least all this wasn't centered around him.
"I don't know what your talking about old man," and he was off, seen running back up the hill.

Nidashi suddenly realized how badly Shino was shaking, but his crying and whispers for his mother died down. What the hell was going on over there, and where was Naruto?

xoxoxoxoxox

The elder walked up to the broken man, who held Naruto in his trembling hands, he may not be able to stop the death of his wife. But no child should ever see somthing so horrid as the death of an innocent woman. No, no child should ever see what death looks like at all. "Gomen Naruto..." he whispered before he shot a death glare at the elder.

"You"
"I know what you will say...kill yourself if you like, but if you do, you should know that I will be forced to kill your son," he bent down and looked at Mujaki with what looked like pure sympathy, "you have already destroyed your wife, you wouldn't want to do the same with your beloved son."

It was over, his is life just turned into a living hell in which he can not escape, not even through death. What was this place? He would have never dreamed, never in a million years that the clan was so ruthless, "it will be your end," he stated in a low serious tone.
"We handed you this life Mujaki," the old man stated, choosing to ignore the last remark that escaped the young ignorant brat, "we can easily take it away. This is your life, you should be proud of it, you should know that we got rid of her for you. We cant have any of our clan members recorded as traiters, we had to secure your future"
"please, just...be quiet," Mujaki whispered in a mumble.
"What did you say?" The elder shot his head back, glaring into his soul.
It took him a few minutes to answer, "your mouth is full of lies, just keep it shut," he shot his head up, a deadly fire in his eyes.

In one quick second, Mujaki felt the sting and burn of the elders cane as it was whipped across his face, "watch your mouth boy," the old man turned around and began stalking off, "get rid of that...thing, now. The only reason why I have not delt with him myself is because I am under direct order to not harm...him. Get him out of here, I never want to look on that cursed face ever agian," and he was gone, leaving the broken man behind with the banished child in his hands.

xoxoxoxoxox

Nidashi had finally got Shino to calm down somewhat and fall asleep. This was the time when he wished he still had a few friends around, but he was too old and everyone had left him. Where is Naruto?

xoTap Tapxo

He rushed to the door, hoping his question would be answered and Naruto was safe, he couldn't bear outliving the blond as well, deep inside he had the dreaded feeling of death.

"Oh Mujaki," He was surprised to see the man again, he was very well reserved and mostly kept to himself, even within the Aburame clan. But now he was at his door, looking at him with seeming intensity, but Nidashi could tell that his mind was not with him and his sight passed right though him. The next thing he noticed was the passed out Naruto in his arms, "that goodness, come in..."

He nodded and walked in the quiet house, he assumed Shino must be sleeping, "...how is my son"
Nidashi smiled, "he's fine...had quite a fright, but he's sleeping now," he took Naruto into his arms and laid him on the main room couch, "how is Kaiwa?"

The Aburame said nothing, did nothing, he just stood there as if the question was never asked. For a while there was a long uncomfortable silence and Nidashi regretted ever asking the question, "your son is in my guest room if you would like to see him..." Nidashi suggested.
"No...I should be going...Would it be alright if he stays with you tonight?" Nidashi's heart skipped a beat, what was the man planning on doing?
"Its fine, he can stay here for the night," the old man replied with a smile, it really was none of his business anyway.
"I will be at the estate if you need anything," and he left, shaking as he closed the door.

xoxoxo To Be Continued xoxoxo

Review Replys for chapter 6- (insert in chapter 5)

left eye right eye brown eye: thank you for pointing that out lol I got caught up in my writing and didn't really think about it...but its soooo easy to picture him yelling at Kaiwa during certain parts P I hope he didn't yell too much in this chapter...

Kanemoshi: hehe...remember in how the butterfly fell...during all the commotion, both Kaiwa and her husband had completely forgotten about the butterfly, (which you find in this chapter, is bound to Kaiwa) While I was writing that, the mud thing came mind and I had to put it in, it was sooo cute! blush

Travista: I'm happy you enjoyed the fic, I hope you return to read future chapters )

Thank you everyone else who reviewed! Your kind words give me great inspiration, its your words that keep me cranking away at the keyboard. I am also terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter... but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.