Alice woke up in a cold sweat, total darkness her greeting and comfort. Beside her lay Naruto, scrubbed clean and looking peaceful in his sleep. The small smile that had appeared while he slept melted her heart. She stroked his hair absentmindedly, and thought back to the dream that had woken her. "So...terrible. I have to tell the Hokage immediately..." She lay down once more, but slept no more that night.
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"Onee-chan! This food is terrible! I want my ramen!" Naruto was up, and feeling guilty about having to drag him to Konohana on their first day together, she had prepared her first Japanese breakfast. It wasn't Yuu's cooking, but Alice had thought she had done a decent job.
"No, ramen isn't good for you in the morning! Maybe later...for lunch!"
"BUT I HATE VEGETABLES!" Oh, so that was it.
"There are barely any vegetables! Come on Naruto, I thought you would like this! I don't usually eat food like this you know!"
"You...don't?" Naruto gave her a suspicious look. "What do you eat then?"
Alice never really had thought about it before. "In the morning...uh...bread?"
"A lot of people eat that!" And Alice remembered the bread at the store. It looked like it tasted like cardboard.
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After buying Naruto a toy, his first ever as the tiny boy informed her, she went directly to the Hokage. Leaving Naruto in the hall with a ball and ANBU guards to play with, she entered the Hokage's office.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama."
"Good morning. I'm surprised to see you again so soon. Is there a problem?" Alice shook her head vehemently. She didn't want the Hokage to think her incapable of handling Naruto.
"No Hokage-sama...it's just that I need to tell you everything I know as soon as possible. Some things I know of may have already happened, and I want to help this village as much as possible."
"Very well, this is a perfect time...begin, please."
Alice must have been there at least an hour, explaining about Orochimaru, the little she knew of Akatsuki and than..."and sir, there is also a threat from within Konoha. Uchiha Itachi..."
"Uchiha Itachi? He is one of our most promising ninja. What of him?"
"Well...sir. He will...one day murder his entire clan."
The Hokage's eyes grew wide at this, and he shook his head. "No. This is not possible. I will not believe it."
"Please..." Alice looked pleadingly at the Hokage. "It will happen in only a few years...act now and you may prevent it."
The Hokage frowned and continued to shake his head. "No! And there will be no more discussion of this, are we quite clear Ali-su-san?"
Alice bowed and left.
♥ ♥ ♥
"What was that about, onee-chan?" said Naruto innocent and curious.
"Oh that?" said Alice, already in love with each and every one of Naruto's expressions. "I'll tell you when we get home."
He looked at his caretaker curiously. "Why...not now?"
"Because...it'll take a while to explain, and you want to eat ramen first, right?" She explained, openly sweetening the deal. Naruto seemed satisfied, but not satisfied enough to not pull Alice along. She was surprised at the strength already in him, because despite his tiny frame and young age, she was having a hard time to resist the pull of his tiny fingers. Mentally, too it was painful to deny any request he made, and laughing she complied with his silent request to hurry home.
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"Tellmenow, tellmenow!" Naruto implored. Alice had just finished making his ramen, and set it and her own on the table. She was heading back to the kitchen to clean up her minor mess, and Naruto had grabbed her hand to hold her back. "Beside, 'nee-chan! Your ramen will get cold..." Alice giggled at concern over the sacred ritual of ramen, but listened to his good sense and sat down next to him.
"Well, Naruto...I was reporting to the Hokage about certain issues. Issues concerning the future." Naruto, his brief prayer of thanks done with, had his chopsticks held out for his meal. With Alice's words, he stopped mid-ramen.
"Like what, 'nee-chan?"
"Hmm...issues dealing with enemies that could hurt Konohana."
"But, 'nee-chan, how do you know about that?" Alice sighed at this reasonable but troublesome question.
"Well...because I sort of...already know the future."
Naruto's eyes grew round as saucers, whispering, "...Really?" Alice smiled shyly at that.
"Uhh...yeah. Really."
"WOW! Onee-chan, you're amazing! Can you tell me my future?" Naruto pleaded, eyes golden with the anticipation.
"No! No one should know that!" she said, but kindly. She didn't want take chances, and saying something could cause him to be overconfident about one thing, or scared about another. It was best that he develop his own personality, without a future image of himself hanging over him. Naruto crossed his arms, and pouted at her.
♥ ♥ ♥
Alice waited a week after that, not wanting to tire out Naruto by making another visit to the village again. She still had to visit the hospital, so they could perform their..."tests." She shivered a little, wishing she did not have to go. But an order from Hokage-sama was an order from Hokage-sama. But she went, sometimes carrying Naruto, sometimes holding him by the hand. He was happy enough, a plethora of butterflies were out and his gaze was continually fixed upon them. They reached the hospital quickly enough, and not knowing how this has been set up, she goes to the front desk. The woman there smiles at her, and tells her that though every doctor in the hospital is interested in her, it is the first available that will be sent down. She nods, and sits down with Naruto in her lap. She teaches him a version of the itsy-bitsy spider that she sort of made up. In Japanese it's twice as sing-songy and Naruto loves it. She's about to teach him the piggy toes song when a man appears, an ANBU member. He apologizes for the cat mask.
"...But I'm the only doctor currently available. I'm sorry, but because I'm a special unit, I also cannot give you my name. Please do not be intimidated." She smiles at him, not at all upset. She leaves Naruto at the children's waiting room, and he immediately begins trying to teach the other children the new song he has just learned. The ANBU doctor leads her to a white room, and shuts the door.
♥ ♥ ♥
"First, we want to know. Do you breathe?" the doctor asks, his curiosity obvious even with his mask.
"Uhh...yes."
"Do you need to breathe?"
"What compound do you breathe?"
Now Alice was stuck. She didn't know scientific terms in Japanese, and said the name in English, hoping that would suffice. "...Oxygen?"
"Please write down the symbol." He said, handing her a piece of paper and pencil. She writes O, and he nods, understanding.
"Pure...?"
"...No..."
"Do you bleed?"
"Yes!"
"May I take a small sample of your blood?" Alice agreed, thinking this was not unreasonable. She turned away as he brought out the needle, and proceeded to take a sample from her.
"You have veins in all the same places...and now..." he made a few motions with his hands, and looked at her, slowly. "You also appear to have all the same bones, and bone structures. Of course, there may be some minor differences but..." He started to feel her arms, her legs. He did a reflex test, listened to her heart, took her pulse using chakra, and examined her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Finally he said...
"Amazing. Everything appears the same. The only difference that could be found was by the Hyuuga sent to your residence. He claimed you had no chakra pathways. Other than that you appear to be totally human in this world." Alice was relieved to hear that. That meant that people here could treat her, should she ever fall ill. It also meant she knew how to take care of Naruto, for the most part. She got up to leave, but the doctor held her back.
"We'll be keeping this blood and doing some tests on it. We probably won't need you again, but you should know that if anything...unusual comes up, we may call you back." Alice nodded unworried about this request, but extremely worried about Naruto. She rushed back to the entranceway and Naruto, and then they went home.
♥ ♥ ♥
And so their days passed together. Naruto became closer and closer to Alice. He often slipped from calling her onee-chan to oka-chan. She never corrected him either way, and always responded to both. He eventually stopped, calling her only oka-chan, and the day it happened her heart was more complete than it had ever been before. He became a little fox, curling up beside her one minute, running free the next. She knew she probably should have taught him to be more reserved, like the other children of the village, but couldn't resist holding him and showering his golden halo of hair with kisses. To make up for lack of control, she was determined to make him the best student that he could be in his ninja studies that were to come. She began teaching him to read as soon as she could get him to sit still for over five minutes. She even went to confirm with Yuu-san that each and every sign of Hiragana and Katakana matched theirs. She even tried a few kanji for good measure, and finding those perfectly matched was reasonably confident that she could teach Naruto to read. He was a slow learner, but extremely dedicated. When he put his mind to it, he would not stop until he had learned it. But butterflies sometimes won out over the next five sounds of Hiragana, and Alice couldn't blame Naruto. She'd put her book down, and get out the butterfly catcher, the second toy Naruto received. And while she knew others would have accused him of being overly simple, Alice knew that it simply showed a vivid imagination, one that neither needed nor desired any supplemental material given by the more complex toys. In fact, even with his early years of neglect, Naruto had shown a healthy attitude and a willingness to adapt to new situations that most children his age did not have. He always shared, and displayed a level of familiarity with most people he met. Alice found it immensely refreshing, it reminded her of the best of people in her own world. And while the ninja of this village sometimes showed a Japanese-esque aloofness, a majority of the time they were very enjoyable people to deal with. Alice rather thought it was the constant threat of death that hung over these people's heads, forcing them to bond quickly in what time they had together.
"Now Naruto, this is the symbol for 'ba'. It's very easy...just 'ha' with two little choun choun above it here." She took his hand, drawing the letter with him in the dirt. She had made him set up the exercise like a paper, his name further up on the ground, and his work beneath it. "Now...you try. Make me five 'ba' sounds, okay?" Naruto started working, his eyes crossed in concentration. Alice left him, his tiny pink tongue stuck out of his mouth in concentration, eyes squinted at his work. The fall leaves fell down around him. She made her way back inside, fully intending to start dinner and fold laundry. Unfortunately there was someone here.
"Ali-su-chan!" Alice mentally cringed, not upset over the familiarity, but that it was this man being...well, familiar.
"Gai-san! What...to what do I owe the honor of your presence?" Alice said, not unkindly. She liked him for his energy, and he made her laugh, but she certainly didn't want to marry him. She barely knew the man, and he was, to say the least, not to in accord with her aesthetic tastes.
"Because! I have come seeking your beauty...as the sun seeks the lotus! Darling, where have you been?"
Alice giggled a little, unable to hide her amusement. "I've been...taking care of Naru-chan." She called the boy in, so that she would have proof of her activities. He responded readily to her call, but stopped in the doorway, when he caught sight of Gai.
"Uh...a handsome child! I can only assume your beauty has rubbed off on him..." Gai said uncertainly, eyeing Naruto's stare and open mouth. Naruto said nothing, but continued to stare. Alice could easily understand why, when she followed Naruto's line of vision. He had seen Gai's eyebrows, and it was obvious that they fascinated him. If she had been a little girl of four, and not a young lady Alice would have been right beside Naruto, staring at the caterpillar brows. Alice brought him the rest of the way in, leading him by the hand. But he retained his expression of absolute awe, and his released hand landing with a thud.
"Please excuse him...he's very shy around...new people." Alice said, blushing from the lie.
"Oh...I see. Well, anyway I was wondering...will you be my...girlfriend?" asked Maito Gai, oh-so-abruptly. Alice was simply relieved that he seemed to have no recollection of the marriage incident.
"Oh...I'm sorry Gai-san. I would, but you see I'm very busy here with Naruto, and more children may come any day now. Gai-san needs a girl who would be there for him constantly. It is only proper for a genius ninja such as yourself."
Gai-san was crying, a river of tears flowing freely across his cheeks. However, instead of being tragic, the effect was rather comic. "Oh well...as long as you do not become the girlfriend of that...KAKASHI. Or call him a genius for that matter. For he is my eternal rival, and I shall...!"
"Of course not, Gai-san. Now please excuse me, I must attend to Naru-chan." And she pulled the gaping Naruto away, as a very dazed Gai wandered away into the forest. Alice wondered why she kept having that effect on him.
♥ ♥ ♥
The seasons went by, each fading into the next. Fall's leaves disappearing into Winter's snow, Winter's snow melting to reveal Spring's blossoms. Each day Naruto grew, faster, stronger, healthier, and happier. And she thought of a lovely child he was, so handsome. She loved the little marks on his cheeks, and his sunshine hair. She could not help but be proud. To be sure, he wasn't a perfect child, and he often pulled pranks on the villagers. This was because of course, the way that they and their children looked at Naruto. Like he was a monster. One day Naruto came home to Alice, and for the first time she saw him cry. They had told him he was stupid, and not allowed to play. She had held him in her arms and rocked him. He was almost six at the time, and the pain she saw in his eyes when he came home like this made her think. There was another child like him...
♥ ♥ ♥
"Hokage-sama?" Alice knocked softly on the great wooden doors leading to the Hokage's office.
"Enter please," he said from within.
Alice crept in softly between the ANBU guards, including the one that looked awfully familiar to the one that had been there three years before. Naruto recognized him, perhaps because he was his first memory surrounding his first toy. Nevertheless, Alice could even hear through the doors that Naruto was refreshing the guard's memory. 'Boink! Boink!' went the noise, the sound of ANBU head hitting ball making her want to giggle madly. It was torture, as she had an especially important issue to discuss with him.
"Hokage-sama...I have...seen something." He looked up from his work.
"Yes, dear girl...tell me."
"It's...the matter of another child. In another village." He looked back down.
"We cannot interfere with the children of other villages. If the war you told me of is truly coming, then you may soon have many children to take care of. As unfortunate as it is, we cannot help every child."
"But...but this one is different! Like...Naruto." The Hokage looked up once more.
"He's...like an experiment. Inside him is sealed...something. A powerful spirit. It's called...the Shukaku." The Hokage's eyes widened, but he said nothing, so Alice kept speaking. "He's from the Village Hidden in the Sand. His father is the Kazekage...he's Naruto's age now, but he's been isolated and alone for years. He's...going to become unstable soon, because of the way the villagers treat him. The Kazekage will order his death soon, but Gaara will not die. Please...we have to rescue him before he becomes..." The Hokage made a gesture, and Alice went silent.
"Very well. I will send for ANBU immediately." He called for one of the guards to come in, and then ordered the man to bring two free ANBU members.
"...I will order them to go the Village Hidden in the Sand, and if what you say is true, retrieve the boy. When they arrive, please feel free to give them any further instructions or information." Alice thanked him, bowed, and went outside to wait for the members. When they came, they first went to the Hokage, but quickly came back out to her. She drew them to one side and quickly told of what she knew and what they would need to do.
"You will watch him at all times, until his father gives the order for him to be killed. Let the assassin try, for he will fail in the attempt. You may not however, take him right after that. The man must tell the child first that his father sent him to do this. But after he says that, you must destroy the man immediately. He cannot be allowed to say anymore. Do it so the child thinks he has simply died, and then rescue and bring the child back here. Most importantly..." The ANBU members looked up at these words.
"Most importantly...no matter what you see...no matter what you hear, do not look at this child as if he were a monster. Treat him as you would any other his age." And with that, the ANBU members bowed to her and left. Alice sighed, amazed that three years here had already past. She realized that she was now 21, and that at home she would have graduated by now. It was a sobering thought.
♥ ♥ ♥
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Notes for the Reader
• 'Choun Choun' refers to the two little marks made above certain Hiragana characters.
• Please review!