JennyTheWhiteWolf: I have had the idea of this story for a while now, but it is only recently that I have decided to actually write it. Anyway I hope that you enjoy it and I hope to hear any sort of feedback from you guys.
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Naruto. Enjoy!
Sarutobi sighed heavily as he read the report once again, as if reading it again would change the contents of it. How could such atrocities occur right under his very nose? He had been careful with guarding the boy, hadn't he? He had top men and women guarding the boy and yet now, according to the report in his hands, he had been beaten severely and his apartment left in shambles. Something was wrong here, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
"Tell me Wolf, what condition is the boy in?" Sarutobi looked away from the paper to view the woman kneeling in front of him. Her attire consisted of the standard black and gray armor of an ANBU operative, but unlike the normal ANBU, she also wore a white, sleeveless cloak with the kanji, for fire, on the back. Her ebony black hair was held in a braid that went down to her hips. She had the spiral tattoo on her right shoulder and, to complete her look, she wore the white mask designed to look like a wolf. Her obsidian eyes could be seen as she locked her gaze with Sarutobi.
"I had placed him at the hospital for treatment. His rate of healing is beyond anything that I have ever seen, but his wounds bother me, Sir." Sarutobi looked at Wolf with question so she elaborated.
"They are clean cut; professionally done, if you will. No mere thug has the sort of precision that these sorts of wounds require."
"So you believe that a ninja may have been responsible for Naruto's condition?"Wolf gave a slight nod. Silence pervaded the room as Sarutobi took in her words; his hands, gripping the paper he held tightly. After a time, Sarutobi put the paper down and walked to the window to view the village in the midst of night. Lights were on and the night life had just barely begun.
"Do you have any Intel on the ones who were behind the attack?" Sarutobi turned to Wolf while leaning against the windowsill.
"No sir, but such actions will not go unpunished. If you wish I will bring them in myself." Sarutobi sighed knowing why this affected her so. She was upset with the lack of action taking place and the ever increasing amount of hostility towards the boy was quite frankly, getting out of hand. He knew for a fact that he would need to do something about it. Sarutobi thought for a long moment before looking to the woman who was watching him intently. He knew exactly what she wanted from him and as more and more time passed it seemed all the more likely that she would get her way. She wanted someone to care for the boy, namely the boy's godfather Jiraiya, but since he can't care for the boy on account of his ninja responsibilities outside of the village; he was left to find an alternative. That in there lays the problem. He cannot be placed with a clan regarding his status as a jinchuuriki. As much as he hates to say it, he can be regarded as a weapon and that would certainly tilt the scales of power and on top of that he knew that they would not be able to see him as Naruto. Also a majority of the civilians think him to be the fox incarnate and shun his very existence. This is where the woman before him comes in. She, Atsuko Uchiha, wanted to at the very least to care for him and at best adopt him. He had to tell her no on account that even if she was shunned by her clan she was still a part of one and placing Naruto in the hands of Uchiha would upset the balance within the clans. The Uchiha's were already under speculation for what happened during the initial attack by the fox anyway. Still she persists and as time goes by he finds it harder to refuse her.
"Sir?" Sarutobi turned to face Atsuko.
"No, I will get someone else to do it." Sarutobi then raised his hand and another ANBU agent materialized beside her though this one had a hawk mask and long brown hair tied at the nape of her neck.
"Hawk I wish you to take these individuals into custody and have T&I deal with them." Hawk stepped forward and took the outstretch folder from her Hokage. After she went through the contents she handed the folder back and bowed before she shunshined out. Atsuko in the meantime kept her gaze upon him, not once averting her eyes.
"You know that this could all be avoided." Sarutobi sighed knowing what was to happen. He decided that he would much rather sit for this, what he knows will be a long conversation.
"You know I cannot allow you to take him." This time Atsuko glared at Sarutobi.
"And why not? I owe it to Kushina-sensei to care for her child as much as she cared for me as her student; and who better to care for him. I graduated the academy at five, promoted chūnin at seven, and then jōnin at twelve, and finally joined ANBU at thirteen and a year later ANBU captain. No one other than Kakashi-san can boast about such a claim. I want what is best for him and I am tired of caring for him from afar." Sarutobi shifted his weight and thought on what to do. He too wanted what was best for the child, but he was hokage and as such had to consider the bigger picture.
"Also don't say I can't care for him simply because I'm an Uchiha. You are the hokage; you can convince whoever it is you need to that this is best for all." Sarutobi thought on it and sighed heavily.
"There would be repercussions from such a decision and you yourself would have to make some serious life changing decisions. Are you willing to make such drastic changes in your life? The council will cause all sorts of trouble I'm sure." Atsuko kept a steady gaze upon the older man, but was unwavering in her decision.
"Yes I am willing to do what I must for sensei's child. It is the least that I can do for all that they have done for me and my brother." Sarutobi looked dejected at the mention of her late brother. Obito had certainly kept him on his toes as hokage. He was more than glad to hand the title of hokage to Minato for more than just retirement. Though he misses the times that he, and in turn Atsuko, were brought in for the multitude of pranks upon mostly the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. Though that did not stop the duo from those that they thought deserved it. He upon a time was a victim when he did not allow them to be placed upon the same team. Sadly those times are gone and lost. He simply shook his head to be rid of the memories in hopes that he could give Atsuko an answer. One that he hopes would be acceptable.
"You could very well be disowned from your clan, but I doubt that troubles you overly much." Atsuko shook her head.
"No I am only accepted when it is convenient for them to do so. They want a weapon that they can control and put away when they wish to. I am nothing else, but that to them. My sister can hide away with her husband and continue to pretend that I no longer exist. So in truth it would not really change all that much. The things I can see changing is my current residence and my status as ANBU if need be." Sarutobi looked a little taken aback by that. He knew that Atsuko had naught, but her career since the passing of those dear to her.
"You are willing to let this affect your shinobi career?"
"Yes sir." Sarutobi took a moment to consider his options and figured that by this point the alternatives to the decision he was about to make were no better than the one he was deeply considering. Truth be told he had been thinking on it for some time and had just been trying to find a way to do so. Now he thinks that he just may have with the new attack on Naruto from shinobi personal.
"Alright I have decided that you, Atsuko Uchiha, shall from this point until I say otherwise, shall be Naruto Uzumaki's temporary guardian. I still wish for you to be a part of ANBU, but as reserve. I know that you are a long way off from needing of money, but I suggest that you start up some sort of business enterprise like the Yamanaka flower shop, since you will have a lot more free time on your hands. I also recommend looking for a new place of residence since I highly doubt that the current one is adequate for more than one person, am I right?" Atsuko nodded her consent and he continued.
"I do not believe that the village will be happy about this turn of events, but it is for the safety of the boy, however I warn you that you will most likely face opposition and not just from the civilian half." Atsuko simply crossed her arms and her eyes hardened. She certainly looked like the Uchiha she was in that moment.
"Again it will be no different since those fools cannot even look me in the eye in fear that I may cast a genjutsu upon them or even as far as set them ablaze with Amaterasu."
"That may be, but I still advise caution. Do not be so ready to challenge the whole of the village. Numbers can still do many a good ninja in by being overconfident."
"Hai I shall be careful. I shall collect Naruto from the hospital and begin looking for a new place of residence first thing tomorrow." Sarutobi nodded his consent.
"I would like weekly reports until it is no longer necessary. I do not wish to get your hopes up on this, but if things go well we can look into making this more permanent." If the mask was not still placed upon her face Sarutobi would have seen one of the rare smiles on Atsuko's face.
"Thank you Sarutobi-sama. You will not regret this, I promise you that. I will do all that I can in hopes of making it up to sensei and to Naruto." Sarutobi nodded.
"Then you may leave to get Naruto for I am sure he is scared and lost in more ways than one right now."
"Hai and again thank you." Sarutobi himself smiled as he watched her leave his office via shunshin with the wind element disrupting the stack of paper that lay upon the desk.
'I hope that things turn out ok, not just for Naruto.'
Atsuko was running across the rooftops towards the hospital; continuously opening and closing her fists hoping that would vent some of her rage. What purpose or reason is there to make someone attack a child? Answer: there were none; none that could possibly justify their actions. The child is the container of the Kyuubi, not the Kyuubi itself. Not everyone knew that, but everyone mimicked the actions of their peers; complete and utter fools, the lot of them. Atsuko was distracted by a shift to her right and became tense before she recognized the chakra signature as Panther. He wore the standard ANBU uniform, with a tanto strapped to his back. His brown spiky hair was a vibrant contrast against the white of his ANBU mask in the shape of a panther. Atsuko turned to see his dark brown eyes, staring at her.
"Is something bothering you, Captain?" Atsuko unclenched the fist that she held and forced a relative calm over herself.
"Nothing more than the usual bias of the village as a whole, but my status as ANBU is now upon reserve by my own request to take care of other matters. If you wish you may speak to the hokage upon it further as I need to see to my new charge." Panther nodded silently, already suspecting the reason as to why for the sudden change.
"Alright, but don't be a stranger. ANBU will surely become a mass of lazy degenerates without you there constantly keeping us in check." Atsuko gave a short chuckle at the comment.
"You do know that you can't keep the rest of us away now. You'll have all the time in the world for, let me see if I remember how you put it." Panther pretended to ponder his own question when he smiled to himself and added, "ah yes it was; I don't have time for meaningless and pointless gatherings simply for social protocol."
"That was because you wanted to throw me a 'birthday party'." Panther laughed good naturedly and shrugged.
"Well I tried, but the point is you can't keep us away for long. Be seeing you stick in the mud." In a split second he shunshined away while Atsuko ignored his last comment. As much as she was to deny it, he and the others in ANBU tended to make her feel a little better with all their unusual quirks. Though that would not stop her from being hard on them, after all the slightest mistake in the field could mean certain death. Before she knew it Atsuko had arrived at Konoha's hospital. She jumped down from the roof and enterhim. If it wasn't for her need to see the hokage she might have even treated him herself. The thought of them ignoried the building. She began toward the place that she had seen the boy last. She had to force the people there to even let the boy in let alone treat ng Naruto angered her, but she pushed the feeling aside as she made her way into the room to find it empty. Suspecting what happened she made her way to the hallway ignoring the burning anger that wanted to come to the surface and bring forth a literal fire to the place. Finally she made it to the lobby. Not many people were in sight, but the first to see her cringed away from her and began to shuffle away. She walked over to the counter where a woman around her late twenty's stood frozen in place. She stared at Atsuko with a mix of surprise and poorly veiled horror. As Atsuko came closer to her, she began to tremble slightly.
"I-Is there s-something I do for you ANBU-san?"Atsuko paid no mind to the clearly terrified young woman.
"I want to know what room young Uzumaki-san is residing." The expression upon the secretary changed in a matter of seconds to open hostility and hatred.
"That demon? Why would you want to see him? Or are you here to finally finish what should be done?" After receiving the room information Atsuko sent out a small measure of killing intent and watched the secretary visibly flinch and began her trembling all anew.
"He is no demon, be aware of that wicked tongue of yours before it gets you killed. Am I understood?" The secretary was frozen too terrified to even speak. Atsuko took another step closer to her, the distance between them diminishing rapidly.
"I said am I understood." The secretary took a moment to find her voice and it came out hoarse as if she has not used it in years.
"Y-Yes M-Ma'am." Atsuko crossed her arms in front of her.
"Good, I would hate for anything unfortunate to happen to you Yuki." Yuki paled considerably at the mention of her name. It was no where written on any sort of name tag. The woman blinked in surprise as Atsuko disappeared in a gust of wind.
Atsuko felt a little better at having found at least someone to vent a little of her anger off of. The room she was heading to was or is the worst kept room in the hospital. In fact it was a room most of the faculty avoided due to the poor conditions of the place. The more she found out about how Naruto was treated the more frustrated she became. When she came to the room she noted how filthy the place was and how not much if anything in the area worked at all. She opened the door with her gloved hand and saw the boy with brilliant blue eyes and golden yellow hair sleeping peacefully on the poor excuse of a hospital bed. She could see that the nurses or doctors at least put the minimum of treatment to him seeing the bandages around his wounds. They probably suspected she was there long enough for that at least. However, they looked to be in need of changing and being here of all places speaks of what they mean to do, or not in this case.
"This is unacceptable." Atsuko took out a small scroll from one of her many pockets and opened it upon the smooth surface of the cart within the room. Several seals lay upon the scroll and under them small script depicting the item, but once she put a bit of chakra into it several medical supplies came into view. Not wanting to scare the boy she decided to remove her mask, after all she is going to be spending an unidentifiable amount of time with him. After placing said mask on her belt at her right she leaned over and gently shook the boy by his uninjured shoulder. He groaned in discomfort a couple times, but after began to be more aware he attempted to jump up. When he realized that a firm grip held him down he followed the arm to see the face which the arm belonged to with terror in his eyes.
"It's alright Naruto no one is here to harm you. I myself will make sure of it." Naruto looked to Atsuko and noticed the mask at her hip. Recognition lit his face as he stared at her.
"Wolf you don't have your mask on? Why are you here? Where are we?" Atsuko mentally sighed as she brought her hand to rest on the boys head.
"Do not worry Naruto, we are at the hospital, but we will be leaving for my home as soon as I look after your wounds once more. Is that ok?" Naruto nodded his head in silence. He remembered that out of all those that had masks like that, Wolf was the few to care for him. She was nice to him. She even gave him a frog cap for his birthday after he said he liked them. Some of the others did not like him at all and hurt him when they could. What he didn't know or understand was why she did it. What was different about this person when all others have hurt him and called him horrible things? After a moment he decided to finally ask.
"Why are you helping me?" Atsuko had finished removing all the bandages from Naruto and after then began to pour medical chakra into her hands and placed them over Naruto's wounds.
"It's because I want to and it is the right thing to do." Naruto looked on confused as Atsuko moved her hands over the cuts and bruises and was fascinated as they disappeared and relief replaced the pain.
"But why do you do this? Why are you different? Why won't you hurt me? Why do people hurt me?" Atsuko mentally growled at all those who were responsible for Naruto's pain.
"Know this Naruto, I will not harm you and I will do all that is in my power to make you safe, I promise you that and I do not break my promises. It is part of my nindō, my ninja way." Naruto looked up at Atsuko wondering why she would promise such a thing to him. Everyone hated him and hurt him. Why was she any different? What does she want with him? And what was a nindō? So many questions filled his head and spoke the only one of the million that seemed to fill his head.
"Who are you?" Atsuko smiled a small smile at him. It seemed slightly awkward as if she did not do so in a very long time and she forgot how to do so, but it calmed him regardless.
"Atsuko Uchiha and you are Naruto Uzumaki." Atsuko held out her hand to the boy who looked at it awkwardly before placing his small one into hers. She shook it gently before letting go. He looked confused at the gesture, but did not ask about it.
"How long will you stay Atsuko?" Naruto looked away from her not wanting to know the answer.
"For however needs be, but it will be for a while yet." Naruto looked at her confused.
"How long is that?" Atsuko tilted her head to the side in an attempt to show the boy that she was pondering his question.
"I am not sure, but if I have my way it will be for a long time yet. I want you to know that I will protect you while I'm here, you are safe with me." Naruto reached out and grabbed a handful of her white cloak and rested his head against her chest. Naruto felt so conflicted about her, but in desperate need of comfort started to cry silently. Unsure of what to do, Atsuko wrapped her arms around the boy and felt him tremble in her arms. Pure instinct took over as she felt him sob into her chest and she rocked the boy gently back and forth while resting her chin upon his forehead. In a passing thought she realized that she used to do this for Obito when he was upset.
"How about I take you somewhere out to eat. Would you like that?" Naruto looked up at Atsuko with a warm smile even while fresh tears were streaming down his face. He couldn't bring the words out so he just nodded his head. Atsuko brought her hand up and wiped the tears from his face. It was this moment that she felt some of her long time companions in ANBU approach. She was curious as to what they were up to.
"Apparently some of my friends decided to visit. Is that ok with you Naruto-chan?" Naruto simply nodded, but looked apprehensive about the meeting. When a soft knock could be heard Naruto's head spun so fast at the noise it nearly caused him whip lash. Atsuko watched the reaction hating those that caused it. Naruto then looked to Atsuko for guidance and she tried her best to reassure him by placing a hand on his shoulder and gave him the briefest of smiles.
"Come in." Atsuko stayed the way she was and merely watched as her team filed into the room one at a time. Naruto watched from behind Atsuko as the three newcomers came into the room. Each of them had a different mask with a different animal on each. The first to enter had a Hawk mask, her long dark brown hair being held in a low ponytail. When he looked closely he could see she had white pupil less eyes. He took his eyes off of her to the one that followed after her. He had a Beetle mask. His hair was a deep black and when he looked into his eyes saw that they are a bright emerald green. Then he saw Panther walk silently behind the others.
"Skittish little guy, though how the boy warms up to the Crimson Wolf Is beyond me. Though gotta say accommodations are crap. Who the hell puts sick or injured here." Hawk glared at the walls as if they were to blame. Atsuko understood the feeling and gave a small nod her way.
"So it's true that you are going to be his guardian?" Beetle eyed the boy curiously before looking at the ANBU captain in silent question.
"Yes I am to care for him now as it was meant to." The three of them took in the news silently.
"So that means you're looking for a new place to live huh?" Atsuko looked to Panther suspiciously.
"Yes, why do you bring that up?" Not that any of them saw, but they could feel the wicked grin that wanted to spit the man's face.
"Then we need to throw you proper house warming party." Atsuko shook her head, but did not feel up to dashing the man's hopes of finally getting her to attend a social convention of any sort. He never did this sort of thing to Kakashi. Why did he insist to do so to her?
"This is for Naruto, not myself. You may come over once he's properly situated."
"I guess that's the best I'm going to get." Hawk had come up and smiling behind her mask brought out a pen and paper from out of no where.
"Can we get that in writing? I won't believe you otherwise." Atsuko shook her head, but relented and signed her name under the statement saying, access to home granted. Everyone, but Naruto laughed slightly, but stopped seeing Naruto confused and uneasy.
"In any case I could always help in your training if you really don't want to see me so badly?" The three of them silently groaned. Atsuko took training to a whole new level and the last session left them all with bruises and some burns here and there, not to mention all the cuts. Over all her so called training was hell and felt more like punishment than actual training.
"Oh yes because I just can't pass up the opportunity to be burned, cut, or downright beaten oh and mind I say that is without the sharingan to help you so let's add a bit of humility into that mix shall we." Panther crossed his arms in front of his chest while chuckling lightly. If it were anyone else she would not take such blatant disrespect, but these few are her comrades and friends and knew he did not mean it. He was merely playing with words to annoy her. Hawk shook her head and smacked Panther in the arm.
"Stop being so sarcastic you numbskull, lest I go fetch Kakashi-san." Panther crossed his arms and glared half heartedl at Hawk.
"Don't waste your breath on him, he never learns." Panther turned his glare to Beetle.
"Regardless I would like you to meet Naruto, my new charge to watch out for." Panther came up and messed with the kid's hair who stared at him shocked.
"I feel for you, to get stuck with the likes of her." Panther finished off his sentence with short whistle and stepped back. Hawk came up and smacked Panther lightly behind the head, again.
"Why do you insist on hitting me?" Beetle let out a soft chuckle and approached the boy.
"We may seem a bit strange to you and trust me when I say we are. You basically just get used to it." Naruto looked at them strangely and watched as Hawk came forward and leaned down to his level.
"You sure are a cute little guy and trust us when we say that you are in good hands." Hawk smiled even though no one else could see it. She then stepped back knowing that the kid needed his space.
"So uh you all work with Atsuko?" Hawk nodded at Naruto.
"Yeah so you might see us every now and then so don't be shy to say hi every once in a while."
"Are you guys leaving?" Naruto found that he liked the strange masked people. They were nice and not glaring at him from what he could tell anyway.
"Yes we will be leaving unless there is any need for us to be here?" Beetle looked to Atsuko who shook her head.
"No that is all; you can leave now if you like." The team nodded and left each leaving in a different property. Hawk with a veil of mist, Beetle with streaks of electricity, and Panther with a swirl of leaves.
"Are you ok Naruto?" Naruto nodded his head, but she could see that he was clearly shaken by her friends. They showed no open hostility, but they're presence frightened him and at the same time made him curious.
"Would you still want to get something to eat?" Naruto nodded his head. She put on the filthy black shirt he had glaring at its poor quality and condition. Atsuko then stood up and after some prompting on her part, got Naruto situated on her back. When she opened the window she felt him tense.
"Don't worry I've done this lots of times. Trust me it's fun." Naruto still held her tightly with both arms and legs. She was quite surprised by how much strength the boy actually had. She then wrapped her arms around the boy's legs and made for the window. In moments she jumped out and onto the roofs. Naruto kept his eyes closed until he realized that they weren't falling. As he looked up he had the most amazing view of the stars and the moon off in the distance, the lights below no longer hindering his view. Her steps were so quick and precise it didn't feel like they were jumping from one roof top to another or even telephone poles from time to time. It was as if they were flying. Atsuko smiled to herself somewhat as Naruto relaxed a little.
'Why is she doing this for me? Being nice to me? Is this what it feels like having someone care?'Atsuko felt the small change in Naruto's demeanor and wondered about it. Could he truly not have had any once of kindness shown to him? She squashed the thought away knowing it would only further anger her and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. They were quickly approaching her destination so she jumped down to the streets and lowered him from her back. Naruto quickly grabbed hold of her hand and the two walked to Ichiraku Ramen Bar. A man in his late thirties greeted the two of them with a bright smile.
"Welcome to Ichiraku's how may I help you?" That was when Atsuko's features could be seen under the light and the man's own features brightened with recognition.
"Well if it isn't Atsuko? It's been a while. What have you been up to these days?" Atsuko smiled at the man and pulled Naruto to stand in front of her and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"I was just bringing young Naruto here to have the best ramen in town Teuchi-san." Teuchi took a look at Naruto and smiled brightly at him.
"Ah a first timer huh? Once you've tried our ramen you'll be sure to come back for more. Just ask Atsuko here she's one of my regulars. "Atsuko sat Naruto on one of the stools who looked at the man strangely.
"What would you like Naruto? I think I'll have the miso ramen." Naruto smiled having decided that he liked the man who welcomed him warmly.
"I'll have the beef." The man smiled.
"Excellent choice, I'll have your orders right up." Teuchi turned to begin making the ramen, but was still able to hold a conversation.
"You know Ayame can't wait to see you again. You've quickly became her idol. She adores you." Atsuko actually smiled fully for once.
"How is she doing by the way?" Teuchi smiled.
"Active as ever said she wanted to be a chef just like her daddy so she could help feed the military forces of Konoha, an ambitious little girl her. She's ten now, crazy how time flies. How old are you Naruto and what would like to be when you grow up?" Naruto looked up at the sudden question, but realized that he couldn't answer.
"Six and I don't know." Naruto began to fiddle his hands not wanting to see disapproval in one of the few to smile at him.
"Don't worry about kid you have all the time in the world. Besides when you have someone like Atsuko looking after you I'm sure you'll be great." Naruto looked up to see Teuchi smile and place a steaming bowl of ramen in front of him and Atsuko. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the man who had acknowledge him. He then picked up his chopsticks mimicking Atsuko. It was only after she corrected his hand placement did he try some of his ramen. After the first bite his eyes widened in surprise and then proceeded to inhale said ramen. Naruto barely stopped to breathe and after the bowl was finished began to breathe normally again.
"That was the best food I ever had." Teuchi beamed with pride.
"It heartens me to hear you say such."
"Would you like another bowl Naruto?" Naruto smiled and nodded excitedly at Atsuko. "This time let's try to chew a little more." Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Another beef ramen for Naruto please Teuchi." Teuchi smiled and went to work on Naruto's bowl. Atsuko in the mean time began to eat her own bowl. She tentatively tasted the soup and smiled to herself, she missed this place. Naruto in the mean time created a little ramen dance in his wait. When Teuchi placed his second bowl in front of Naruto he gave Teuchi the biggest smile she's seen.
"So think that you'll be coming around more often Atsuko?" Atsuko smiled at Teuchi.
"If Naruto behaves we may even be back tomorrow." Naruto looked up at her with bright eyes and a full mouth.
"weally Awsuko?" Atsuko nodded her head.
"Make sure you swallow your food before speaking Naruto." Naruto swallowed his mouthful and wiped his mouth.
"Really? You promise?" Atsuko nodded her head.
"I promise and you know me and promises." Naruto nodded.
"You never break them." Atsuko nodded and ruffled his hair who gave her a wide smile in return. When she turned to look at Teuchi she was surprised to see him give her a large smile with teary eyed expression.
"That's why you're my favorite customer other than the fact that you and your team helped support me and my family for so long." Atsuko dug into one of her many pockets and deposited a bit more than the needed amount.
"Keep the change; you've earned it for putting up with me for so long. We better get going. Naruto here needs to get his rest. Say thanks Naruto." Naruto gave his thanks to Teuchi who nodded as he watched the two get up to leave.
"Alright I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a good night you two." Atsuko picked Naruto up and simply held him to her chest. Naruto wrapped his arms and legs around her putting the last bit of trust he had in her. She decided to shunshin to his little apartment complex. What she saw when she arrived did not surprise her in the least. The building was run down and filthy. As she got to his room she could see the doors nearly off the hinges. Once seeing that nothing was spared in the small complex she shook her head and then shunshined once more to her own residence. Naruto felt dizzy at having been one place only to blink his eyes and be somewhere else completely. When everything came to a stop he saw tall apartment building and watched silently as Atsuko began to climb the stairs. Finally approaching the top floor Atsuko set the boy down and dug for her keys. When she opened the door Naruto peered his head in to see the simplicity of the place. There was a living room, a kitchen, a single room, and though he couldn't see it there was a bathroom situated next to the singular room. Atsuko made her way to the room and brought Naruto down onto the bed. She then removed the much worn shoes he wore and swore to burn the damn things when she could. She would need to get him some new ones as well as a new set of clothes. She began tucking Naruto in absent mindedly. Naruto looked at her with an unusual expression upon his face. He looked happy, but at the same time it looked pained. She wanted to comfort him, but didn't really know how. Before she could do anything though the boy fell sound asleep, the day's events finally catching up with him. Atsuko made her way to the window and sighed. After a moment she put her hands together and made a shadow clone. She watched as her clone went for the window and disappeared.
Sarutobi sat at his desk finally able to clear it of all the crazy paperwork. For the first time in years he is actually ahead of the continuous stream of paperwork. To celebrate he began to look for his pipe for a smoke, but what he discovered were two rather large mounds of his hated foe in one of the large drawers, all of his hopes were dashed and he brought the stacks of paper on his desk and decided that he would rather have kage bunshin take care of the rest. He was distracted, however as his secretary came into the room to announce that Wolf had arrived to speak to him. Intrigued at the unexpected arrival he told her to allow her in. When she entered he could tell instantly that this was not really her, but a shadow clone.
"Shadow clone I see. Did something happen." Atsuko shook her head.
"No I just had a couple of questions." Sarutobi nodded and encouraged her to voice them.
"Well I was wondering if it was you who decided to send my team mates after me, because it was far too soon for it to have been Tenzo to do so."
"Yes panther came to ask me about you, but no he was the one to do so. I guess he was just excited and was lucky enough to get to the two quickly." Sarutobi chuckled.
"Though I doubt that is the reason why you're here." Atsuko nodded gravely.
"Yes the reason is that when I had found Naruto he was placed in the most unfit and unsanitary room that the place had. He was uncared for and as far as the staff was concerned better off forgotten." Sarutobi stiffened at the news, but nodded his head in acceptance of her words.
"Thank you for the report I shall have someone sent to investigate the matter further." Atsuko nodded her head and then disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Atsuko leaned over and ruffled Naruto's golden locks when she felt her clone dismiss itself and the knowledge of Sarutobi and her conversation came to her. Naruto shifted in his sleep, but made no real acknowledgment that he was aware of her. Atsuko shook her head and walked to the window. She wasn't sure what to feel at the moment. She said that she would protect Naruto, but she also said she would protect her mother and brother and they died because she couldn't save them. She didn't want to fail him and didn't know what she would do if she did. Either way she knew that she wanted to make Naruto happy and will continue to do so for as long as she can. She glanced at Naruto who gave off a soft snore. She smiled to herself before looking out the window. Somehow her life became a lot more interesting without her even realizing it.
JennyTheWhiteWolf: Ok I had to do some major revision since I was not at all happy with the story in general. I do hope to be able to get to doing more writing in general and get chapters up quicker. I have the whole story mapped out in my head it is simply a matter of putting it down in words. I hope that you all like this new edited version of the story and hope that you may continue reading and would love to hear feedback from you all. So please review and tell me what you thought of it.