So yea, I'm really happy this up. I'm just sorry it took so long to update.
Disclaimer - still don't own Naruto wail
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Thoughts
Guardian Angel – Chapter 3 – Arrival
The bright sunlight streaming through the windows woke Naruto from his sleep. He groaned and rolled over, only to groan loader, as the pain from the previous night hit him. He slowly sat up.
His orange jumpsuit was torn and covered in dried blood. His hair was matted where blood had dried and it was all caked down the side of his face. He looked a mess.
He stood up and winced. He shuffled out of his bedroom and into the small bathroom. There was a small stand in shower with a toilet and sink, painted a horrible baby puke colour.
He striped of the clothes and chucked them in a corner, well they can't be worn again, and stepping into the cubicle, he turned on the shower. The water was freezing, he couldn't afford the heating bill, not that there was any point in paying, his landlord liked to mess with him and often turned it off anyway.
Despite the cold temperature, he enjoyed the shower, it washed off the blood, and woke him up. Glancing at his torso, he saw that it was badly bruised. His rib area looked black, he prodded them and winced, but at least they weren't broken.
Stepping out the shower, he dried of using an old towel, and made his way to his room to find another orange jumpsuit. His stomach rumbled, and he remembered that it had been over twenty four hours since his last meal, he was starving.
He switched the kettle on. At least he hasn't turned the electricity off, he thought bitterly, filling up a cup of instant ramen. He left it for three minutes, impatient that it took so long.
His impatience reminded him of their first day as Gennin, when Kakashi-Sensei had asked them Likes, dislikes and hates. No, don't think about that, he thought as the memories of Sasuke called up painful thoughts. At least he had left to follow his dreams, that was colder than he had ever gotten.
But at last his meagre meal was ready, and he tucked in, barely tasting the food before it was swallowed.
Looking at the clock he realised he was late. Shit, now I'll be later than Kakashi, if that's even possible. Only one way to find out.
And so he jumped out the window, again taking the rooftops to the edge of Konoha. He jumped down into his usual alleyway, and made his way to the gates. Halfway there, he heard a shout, and flinched, running the rest of the way. Every step was agony, but it was better then facing the villagers. He didn't know if the shout was directed at him or not, but he didn't want to hang around to find out.
He walked to the training ground; again it took him longer than it should have, as every step was agony for his bruised ribs. When he got there, he realised with a jolt that even Kakashi, who was famed for being late, was there.
He raised his hand in greeting. Kakashi jumped up, he seemed pretty angry.
"Naruto!" he shouted, mock angrily. The blonde flinched, and instantly panicked, from his experience, shouting was followed by anger, anger was followed by violence, violence usually taken out on him.
He instinctively withdrew into himself, bracing himself for a punch, a kick.
"What's wrong Naruto? It's not like I'm going to hit you, I was only joking." He said, concern obvious in his voice.
Sakura punched him playfully in the ribs, it was hardly her usual powerful, chakra filled death punch, but it hurt his already damaged ribs.
He gave a sharp intake of breath, and his legs buckled as pain shot through his torso, and he landed on the dewy grass.
He kept his eyes shut tight, not wanting to face them, as he knew that this looked bad.
"Naruto? Are you ok?" He nodded, not trusting himself to talk. Kakashi looked up at Sakura, concerned.
"I…I…didn't hit him that hard, I didn't mean to hurt him" she stuttered, her voice nearly breaking. Shit, this was bad, very bad.
He whimpered as a warm hand rested on his back, aggravating his bruises. He heard his name called softly.
"Can you stand up, Naruto?" asked his Sensei. He nodded, and firm but gentle hands helped him to his feet. He stared at the grass, and let himself be guided over to the same tree where he had sat the day before.
"Are you going to tell us what's going on?" asked Kakashi, concern obvious in his voice.
He sighed, and took his orange jacket off, wincing with every movement. Slowly, in order to cause as little pain as possible, he lifted his black tee-shirt over his head. He heard them gasp as they saw his saw his blackened chest, and he mentally slapped himself for letting them see him so weak.
"N…Naruto, how did this happen?" stuttered Sakura, sounding surprisingly like Hinata.
"I fell down the stairs" he mumbled, staring at the ground, avoiding all eye contact.
She crouched down in front of him, looking at him tenderly.
"Was this the villagers, Naruto" she asked gently. He shook his vigorously.
"No! As I said, I fell down the stairs, there was some damp, the block of flats is getting quite rundown" he said, his lie getting stronger and sounding more sure the further he got telling it. She sighed and stood up.
"We might as well drop training for today, we can't do much with you like that" came Kakashi's voice. Thank God, they seem to be dropping it this time. I must be getting better at lying.
"Come on then, Naruto" said Kakashi, turning on his heel and heading back towards the village.
"I don't need to be walked home!" he shouted indignantly, stumbling as he stood up.
"Sure you don't" came the sarcastic reply. He crossed his arms, but followed him nonetheless.
They walked through Konoha in Silence. Naruto was staring at the ground the entire time, and Kakashi was glaring at all the villagers, sending people with snide remarks on their tongues scurrying for cover.
In no time at all they had reached the door to Naruto's flat. Wow, time really does fly when no-one makes your life hell.
"Well, this is me" he murmured, unlocking the door, "You can come in, if you like" he said awkwardly, holding the door open. Kakashi slipped past him.
"I would offer you something, but I kinda need to do the shopping" he said, laughing slightly "But you can have some water."
"Yea, waters good" he went to the sink, and filled a paper cup with metallic tasting water from the tap, and handed it to his Sensei.
He was shocked at the dump that Naruto lived in. His sofa was stained, and looked like it had been found in a dump, there was no kitchen table, there were no doors other then the entrance in the flat, just the frames, and instead of a window, there was a hole covered with a black bag. It was dismal.
There was an awkward silence, as Kakashi perched on the sofa and sipped his drink, and Naruto fiddled with his fingers, not really knowing what to say. He yawned.
"Uh...I should probably go now." Said Kakashi, standing up.
"Okay, Sensei." Replied Naruto, glad of the release.
Once his teacher had left, he went back to bed, he was still tired from the events of the night before.
He woke up, it was around seven o'clock in the night. He heard an ominous crackling sound.
Leaping up, he ran to the sitting room, where his sofa was on fire, it obviously hadn't been lit for very long, as it hadn't spread, but he would have to act fast. In the corner of the kitchen, which was part of the same room, there was a bucket, collecting water from a leak in the ceiling.
In a flash, he had picked up the bucket, and thrown it over the burning furniture. It didn't do much, but it helped a bit.
As quick as he could, he filled the bucket with water, and thrown it over the fire. After doing this several more times, the fire had finally be smothered, and he flopped down onto the floor.
All that was left was a pile of ash, and scorch marks, showing where it had once been. He swept up the ash, and threw it out the window, there was nothing he could do about the marks.
Damn landlord, why does he have to a key? Sneaking in here, trying to fry me while I sleep, that's low, even for him.
He jumped out the window, not wanting be in the flat, afraid of what the landlord would do. So he went to Hokage Mountain, and watched the village. Regardless of how he had been treated, he wanted to protect it, to ensure that no-one would ever be as sad as he ever was, that everyone felt the love they deserved, and to be recognised as a worthy ninja.
And there he fell asleep, curled up on Tsunade's head.
The raven haired youth stared up at the wall before him. How long it's been since I was last here. Maybe I'll wait, just tonight. He turned, the moonlight highlighting the strange fan emblazoned on his back, and found a nice spot by the wall.
There he slept, under the milky moon, shrouded in the shadows of the night.
Thanks for reading. Reviewers recieve happy thoughts. If you have ideas on what you would like to happen, tell me, though I do already have some ideas.
I know he only appeared at the end...sorry 'bout that.