.Disclaimer: 11:11 am. I wish I owned Naruto...Now it's just a matter of time.
Story: Naruto: Kakuzu's Apprentice
Written by- Narutofan90000
Shinwai looked at his sensei in disbelief. "You did what?" He asked, forgetting about his ramen completely as Hinata blushed and Naruto reddened a bit, turning his head away and coughing.
Shinwai shook his head, getting rid of some of his shock, he smiled deviously. "Naruto and Hinata, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-aaargh!" He slammed into the ground. Clutching the top of his head. He looked up at Naruto in mock anger. "How could you?" He asked, bouncing to his feet with a small grin.
"Easily." Naruto replied, matching Shinwai's grin with his own. Hinata looked at the clock hanging on the wall and decided it was time to get the boys back on track.
"Uhm, Naruto-kun?" She tried to get the boy's attention. "It's almost time to head back home." She used the word home hesitantly, having not totally accepted the place as her own home yet.
Naruto nodded his head and picked up Shinwai by the scruff of his shirt. Holding the kicking and swinging boy in the air, away from his body, Naruto took out his wallet to pay the tab.
"I'll pay it Naruto-kun." Hinata offered, having more cash than she wanted now that she was the last of her clan. The money was being used to make her life better now, as if fate was making up for her shitty childhood.
They reached the apartment and after a quick chorus of good-nights, went their separate ways, Shinwai to his room, Hinata to hers and Naruto to the sleeping mat he had laid out.
Hinata's Nightmare -
Hinata walked up to her father, and hugged him around his knee, which was as high as the five year old girl could reach. "I'm sorry mommy's gone daddy." She said, looking up at the stern man. Hiashi looked down at his daughter in disgust.
"If you hadn't been born, your mother would've had the strength to live through Hanabi's birth." He said coldly, lashing out at his young daughter.
3 a.m. -
Hinata sat up in a cold sweat, tears streaming down her face as she remembered one of the most traumatic events of her childhood. Shaking, she stood up and went to the door of her room, heading towards the kitchen for some water.
Naruto's nightmare-
"I won't do it!" The young boy shouted defiantly, looking up at Hidan, refusing to look at the poor old man shackled to the wall that Hidan had captured for Naruto to sacrifice to Jashin.
Hidan backhanded the boy and sent him flying, cracking his head against the wall, pain flashed in Naruto's head, causing a white light to blanket his eyes. Blinking rapidly, Naruto managed to clear his vision as Hidan buried a right hook into his stomach, forcing the boy to cough up a small amount of blood. The Kyuubi was rapidly healing his body, but Naruto wasn't used to such brutal strikes and quickly sank back to the ground, in the fetal position.
Hidan grinned sadistically down at the boy and kicked him in his exposed kidneys, eliciting a howl of pain from the small five year old boy, who couldn't even find an escape from his tormenter in unconsciousness, due to the Kyuubi's healing. Naruto uncurled, clutching his back even as Hidan slammed his heel into the by's ribcage, shattering it, only for it to be healed a minute later. Hidan grabbed the young boy by the hair and lifted him up, slamming the boy's frail form into the wall, splitting his skull. Naruto faded briefly into unconsciousness.
When he woke up, Hidan moved his lips to the boy's ear. "If you don't kill him, I'll make you watch me slaughter every man woman and child to ever come through these halls." He hissed, dropping the boy to the ground.
Naruto's body heaved as he tried to take in air. On all fours, he crawled away from his tormentor, refusing to look up. Blood fell from his mouth as he crawled away, coming from his lungs as he coughed. The thick globs of blood didn't bother the boy, knowing he'd be healed by tomorrow. Still crawling, he bumped into something bony and fleshy. Looking up, Naruto saw the old man, looking at Hidan with rage burning in his eyes, straining against the chains that held him against the wall.
"Damn bastard, why don't you try doing that to someone your own size?" The old man shouted, spitting at Hidan. Hidan looked at the old man with a sneer on his face.
"Why would I do that?" He asked, picking Naruto up off of the ground by his hair.
"He's so fun to play with!" Hidan shouted the last two words, slamming Naruto against the cinderblock wall, face first. A loud crunching noise was heard throughout the small, dungeon-like area, making the old man wince. Hidan dropped Naruto next to the man and walked towards the door. "You have two minutes to kill him Naruto, or I'll come back with Kakuzu." Hidan threatened, slamming the door behind him.
Naruto sobbed as Hidan left the room, his ribs still sore and his nose leaking blood all over the place. The old man looked at the boy in pity, then in revulsion when he saw the huge cut over the boy's right eye, already staring to heal. 'How could they do something to one so young?' The old man thought sadly, coming to terms with what he had to do.
"Kill me." He said softly, causing the boy to look up in horror.
"No way! Killing someone is wrong!" He shouted vehemently, trying to stand, but falling back to the ground in pain.
The elderly man's face hardened. "You're training to be a ninja, by the looks of it. If you never learn to kill, you'll die." He said, trying to get through to the boy.
"I can't do it." Naruto said, trying to drag himself away from the man now.
"Boy, you need to do it to save us both!" The old man shouted angrily, pushing the boy into the reality of the situation.
Naruto shook his head, trying to disagree with the man. Before he could, the old man cut him off. "As long as you promise me that you'll never kill anyone who doesn't mean harm, and only kill to save yourself and others, I can accept my fate." He said nobly, raising his head in the air.
Naruto looked at the old man in wonder, a man who was literally giving his life so Naruto could continue his existence, cursed as it may be. Naruto nodded dumbly, taking a kunai from the pouch on his waist.
"Make it quick." The old man made his last request a second before Naruto slammed the kunai into his head. Crumpling to the ground, the light left the old man's eyes and Naruto sat over his body, sobbing.
'Goodbye Sensei.' He thought, wiping his eyes and standing up as Hidan opened the door.
3:02 A.M. -
Naruto sat up, suppressing his screams as tears and sweat fell down his face. Naruto sobbed quietly for a minute before regaining his control. Wiping his eyes, Naruto stood up, heading towards the kitchen, needing a drink.
Hinata closed the small fridge, plunging the kitchen back into darkness as she started to walk back towards her room, glass in hand. Reaching the door way to the kitchen, she bumped into a dark figure, slightly taller than her. Crying out in surprise, she dropped her glass, shattering it. She tried to back away from the broken glass and water, only to be grabbed by the arm and pulled back.
Pulling Hinata back from her fall, Naruto used a little too much strength and she slid on the water, which sent her careening into him, knocking both of them onto the floor.
Naruto looked up at Hinata, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as she activated her byakugan, attempting to see him clearly. Naruto smiled up at her, already able to tell her face was as red as a ripe tomato. Not able to resist, Naruto hugged her close to him as she tried to pull away. "Well, well, who knew you were so forward Hinata-hime, this is only are second date, if I remember correctly." He said, a grin on his face as she turned even redder, and then passed out.
Naruto chuckled to himself and slowly started to get up, careful not to disturb Hinata as she rested. Finally managing to stand, he picked up Hinata bridal style and took a step forward, getting glass in his foot for his efforts. "Jashin dammit." He hissed angrily as he hopped on one foot, trying to ignore the pain. Hopping forward, he slipped on the puddle that had formed from his blood mixing with the water and careened towards the ground.
He turned quickly to keep Hinata from being hurt and slammed his head into the counter.
Naruto hit the ground seeing stars, and blindly reached out to grab the annoying little star that kept floating just out of his reach. Naruto finally caught the star and his vision started to return. Seeing the situation he was in, and what he had actually grabbed, he quickly yanked his hand away from Hinata's breast. Naruto's face was a red Hinata would envy if she ever saw it. Quickly schooling his features, Naruto looked at her and smiled a small, genuine smile.
'She looks so beautiful.' Naruto thought, unable to take his eyes off of her. Gently, he brushed some of her hair from her face and planted a soft kiss on her forehead before getting up again and, managing to get past the glass and puddle this time, he carried her to her room and placed her on the bed. He kissed her once more and put the blankets over her. Walking towards the door, Naruto took one last look at Hinata, who was sleeping peacefully, and smiled. Turning back around, he went back to his small bed and lay down, looking at the ceiling. 'I think I love her.' He thought before going to sleep.
-Next day-
Naruto woke up feeling warm. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw it was only 5a.m.
'Great.' He thought before sitting up. Naruto looked around and saw a glass next to his bed.
Curios, he reached out to grab the glass, only to freeze with his hand halfway towards the glass. Looking at his hand, he saw it was dripping. Closing his eyes and preparing for the worst, he turned his head down and cracked open one of his eyes. Seeing what he feared, Naruto's other eye opened, both filled with cold fury and a hint of mischievousness as he whispered. "Shinwai."
Three blocks away, Shinwai sat laughing at how he'd managed to pull off his prank when a shiver ran through his body. 'Someone wants me dead.' He thought, scared as he thought of how his parents had ended up. His eyes tearing up, he looked around in fear before he ran back home, hoping to get distance between him and the suffocating feeling of dread, that was enveloping him with every step he took closer towards his home. Breaking into a full run, Shinwai tried to shake of the feeling that he was about to die as tears streamed from his eyes as he slammed through the front door and ran inside, only to be met by and empty be that Naruto was supposed to be in. The feeling was too much for the little boy as he collapsed, sobbing and trying to breath, he used the last of his energy to scream, "Nii-san!" before passing out, unable to deal with the pressure any more.
-5a.m Naruto-
Naruto threw his pants into the wash, still radiating killing intent, all directed at Shinwai, who was at that exact moment trying to find his Nii-san to protect him from the very killing intent he was letting off. Naruto grabbed his clothes for the day and jumped into the shower, thinking of all the ways he'd punish the kid during training. 'I'll make him carry boulders all over town.' He thought to himself sadistically as he started scrounging for more ideas on how to punish the kid without hurting him too badly. Naruto finished his shower and was starting to run out of ideas. Sighing, he got dressed and started to brush his teeth, his killer intent still going strong. Naruto turned his head as he heard the front door slam open and reached into his kunai pouch and ran out of the bathroom, brandishing the weapon as he ran towards the front of the house, his speed doubling when he heard Shinwai scream. Barreling into the parlor, Naruto looked around, a wild look in his eye as he tried to find the intruder. His eyes landing on Shinwai, he raced over to the unconscious boy and turned him over.
Naruto looked at the boy, grimacing as he tried to find out what was wrong with him.
'I'll make whoever did this wish Jashin-sama had decided to collect their soul himself.' He vowed, his eyes cold as he thought of who could have done something like this. Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror. 'Hinata!' He thought, picking up the small boy in front of him and barreling through the parlor and down the hall towards Hinata's room, his heart in his throat, as he kicked in the door and was rewarded with a scream.
Naruto's eyes widened before he desperately tried to shield them from what he saw.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He cried out backing away from the doorway as Hinata threw whatever she could get her hands on at him.
"Get out! Get out!" She screamed, her towel held in front of her in an attempt at covering herself. Naruto ran down the hallway and through the parlor to the front door, not pausing once to consider the unconscious child on his shoulder, he went out the front door.
"I'll be back later!" He shouted as he slammed the front door and ran all the way to academy to put distance in between him and Hinata. Despite the distance, he couldn't keep the blush off of his face. 'Now what?' he thought to himself, having no clue on what to do now.
'School doesn't start for another three hours and I cannot go back there.' He pondered his situation. 'I can't be the first man to have peeped on a woman accidently.' (Bet you all thought I'd make Jiraiya sneeze right here, didn't you? Look back, he put "accidently" into that thought) Naruto put Shinwai down underneath the tree in the academy grounds and sat on the swing, thinking about what he should do.
"I've got it!" he shouted, three hours later before the students showed up, waking Shinwai out of his slumber.
"Got what?" Shinwai asked, still not totally awake as he listened to Naruto shout about his plans.
"Milk." Naruto turned around and looked at Shinwai, a big goofy grin on his face.
"I'm still not following." Shinwai said, slowly inching away from his insane brother.
"Don't worry, Shinwai, It wasn't important." Naruto deadpanned, a river of tears leaving his eyes as he looked away from his student, trying to contain his sadness. "Use your crystal chameleon jutsu; you're going to school today." Naruto said, still facing away from student as he thought to himself. 'Why must no one understand my way of youthfulness?' he thought, as tears ran down his face. 'If my next joke isn't funny, I shall run three hundred laps around this accursed village on my hands, YOSH!' he thought, curling his fist and raising into the air.
'You should buy some green spandex too! YOSH!' A voice sounded in his head.
Naruto shook his head and looked around quickly, seeing no one, he looked towards where Shinwai had last been. "Shinwai, was that you?" He asked, afraid that he was loosing his touch on reality.
"What?" Shinwai asked, having been off in his own little world.
"Never mind." Naruto said, deciding to ask the one last source he had at his disposal.
'Kyuubi?' he thought tentatively, hoping he wasn't going crazy.
'What Kit?' The large fox growled from the back of his mind.
'Was that you talking about green spandex?' Naruto asked.
'Yes Kit, it was, I love green spandex, can't you tell? The reason I attacked this village in the first place is because they didn't wear enough spandex.' The Kyuubi growled sarcastically, annoyed that his host would even think he would degrade himself to wearing something like that.
'Oh, alright then, I'll buy some after school.' He said to the fox, getting ready to leave his mind.
'Kit, I swear to all that is holy, if you dare to even think about purchasing spandex, I'll make sure you never have children.' He warned Naruto.
'I'd like to see you try.' Naruto scoffed.
'I'll find a way boy, I'll find a way.' Kyuubi growled menacingly.
'Ok, no spandex.' Naruto thought quickly, not willing to bet against the giant fox. Naruto left his mindscape just as people started to show up for school.
"Alright Shinwai, let's get in there before Hinata comes." Naruto said, setting a brisk pace towards the academy building.
"Why aren't we waiting for Hinata?" Shinwai asked, not understanding Naruto's hurry.
"Just…Just because Shinwai." Naruto said trying to forget what had happened earlier.
"Okay." Shinwai said, still not fully understanding the situation. 'Man, Nii-san is weird today.' He thought as he followed the boy into the classroom.
-Class-
Shinwai looked at Naruto's sleeping form, completely pissed off. He'd been sitting on the floor of the classroom for two hours now, and had been slipping Naruto notes for entertainment. Now that his Nii-san was asleep, he had to actually listen to the dolphin spout about how great the Hokages were. 'I wonder if I could make it to Hinata's class without being noticed.' He thought, before quickly squashing that idea. 'Knitting isn't me.' He thought, shuddering in revulsion. He leaned back against the wall and blocked out Iruka's lecture, trying to get some sleep himself.
Shinwai woke with a start, and realized he was being carried. 'What woke me up?' he wondered, before the answer fell upon his ears. His poor, poor ears.
"Why are you pretending to carry something Baka?" the pink haired banshee shrieked, nearly bursting Shinwai's eardrums. 'Good Jashin what is wrong with her?' Shinwai thought in his mind as he winced in pain.
Naruto wisely remained quite, refusing to give the banshee more ammo.
'This'll impress Sasuke-kun for sure!' Sakura thought, rushing the blonde boy.
'Shit, can't dodge without hurting Shinwai.' Naruto thought, not having enough time to brace himself or move while trying to maintain his cover. Sakura slammed into Naruto, sending him to the ground.
Naruto released Shinwai, keeping the boy from getting hurt from Naruto landing on him, but also causing him to roll on the ground and release his jutsu, making him visible again.
"Oh my Kami! You were kidnapping a kid! Sasuke-kun will stop you!" Sakura screeched.
Said Uchiha saw the boy release his jutsu and, remembering Naruto seemingly pick up nothing after class, realized that the boy had hidden from everyone all day, in a class full of ninja. Making his way over, he caught Naruto's explanation.
"If you must know Sakura, this is my little brother, and he sat in class to learn what being a ninja is like. I wanted to see how long it would take a room full of ninja to find him, and surprisingly, he managed to keep from being caught. Even after he fell asleep." Naruto said coldly, not having patience for someone who would accuse him of committing such an act.
'It would be so easy to kill her now.' Naruto thought, relishing in the thought.
"Hey kid." Sasuke said, looking at Shinwai with an odd look in his eyes. "You were in our class throughout today, weren't you?" he asked, ignoring everyone else on the road.
"Yeah, what about it?" Shinwai asked, wary of the boy in front of him.
"How did you manage to hide throughout class without me finding out?" He asked, irritated that someone managed to show him up in his eyes.
"Shinwai always was good with the family jutsus." Naruto said, proud of his student. "He was considered a an up and coming protégé."
Shinwai puffed out his chest, proud that his brother was praising him.
"Oh yeah, then fight me." Sasuke sneered, looking at the young boy in front of him.
"What is wrong with you? Asking a nine year old to fight you, real tough." Naruto scoffed, standing in front of Shinwai.
"Get out of my way Dobe." Sasuke said, his eyes burning with anger at being denied something he wanted.
"Make me." Naruto said coldly, getting into a battle stance.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, rushing Naruto while making handsigns.
'What's he doing?' Naruto thought, getting ready for an attack.
"Remember to downplay your skills Kit." Kyuubi reminded from the back of his mind.
'I know Kyuubi.' Naruto thought, forgetting momentarily about the fight.
Sasuke finished his handsigns and used a kawarmi, replacing himself with Sakura and attempting a spin kick to an unprepared Shinwai's head.
"Shit!' Naruto thought, quickly using a shunsin between Shinwai and Sasuke and grabbing Sasuke's leg. Turning quickly, Naruto threw Sasuke into Sakura, using his full strength and sending them flying.
"Naruto?" a voice came from behind Shinwai. Naruto froze before turning around.
'Please don't let it be- of course.' He winced. ''It had to be her.' He thought.
Hinata looked at the two boys in front of her, one looking at the ground and the other looking at her sadly. "What's going on Naruto?" She asked, not understanding what she had just seen.
'How can he be able to do that if he said he barely knew the basics?' Hinata thought, finding the situation confusing.
Naruto sighed before steeling his resolve. "Hinata… we need to talk." Naruto said, subtly pushing Shinwai in front of him. 'And I need a body shield.' Naruto thought, fearing Hinata's reaction to the news he was about to tell her.
