CHAPTER 2
Finally out of the hospital, I dodged the friends who were trying to arrange an 'I Didn't Die' party, and went in search of my little blonde saviour. I was, understandably, very happy about being able to breathe again, and wanted to thank the one responsible. So far, I wasn't having much luck though. I had discovered his favourite haunts and found them empty, his apartment was locked up and silent, and the Academy was out for the day. Eventually I came across training ground seven, where my old ANBU captain was standing in front of the memorial stone, as he was wont to do.
"He'll be on top of the Fourth's head." The man stated without turning to face me. Of course Kakashi-sempai would know where Naruto was. While he was too scared of facing his past to personally deal with the boy, he was always keeping an eye on his well being from a distance.
"Thank you Kakashi-sempai." I bowed respectfully. The man waved over his shoulder, returning to his memories and regrets.
Sure enough, at the Hokage monument, sitting on top of the head of the Fourth Hokage was Naruto. A breeze came through, picking up loose leaves and ruffling the blonde hair of the boy, making him shiver at the temperature. I sat next to him, blocking the wind from taking further warmth from his skin.
"Hayate-san." The little blonde smiled at me.
"Naruto-kun," I smiled back. "I wanted to thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I'd be slowly dying in a hospital bed right now. I owe you my life, so if there's anything you need at all, just let me know, okay?"
I cleared my throat as small amounts of brown blood were still making their way up from my lungs. I spat the mucus/blood mixture over the edge. Naruto leaned forward to watch its descent, giggling as he leaned back again and faced me.
"Good shot. You got a passing ANBU on the head." The boy giggled. I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment, imagining being caught spitting off the Hokage Monument. I coughed again as Naruto continued to laugh.
"You know, I've got to get back into training tomorrow." I addressed the small blonde by my side. "You should come train with me. I'll even teach you how to use a sword." I turned to face his wide blue eyes, and stunned expression. The kid was just too cute to be a ninja.
"Really?" He squeaked in disbelief. I had to resist the urge to snigger at his high pitch.
"Sure. I mean, you saved my life, so the least I can do is teach you how to keep yours." I replied, shrugging. It would be good training for me to go over all the basics again anyways. In lieu of a verbal response, I was gifted with a patented Naruto tackle-hug. Usually those were reserved only for the boy's favourite academy teacher, so I felt special and happily hugged back. Up yours Iruka-sensei, you're not the only one who gets hugs anymore.
"So, how did you break the tumours up? No one even knows how you figured out where they were, much less cut them out." My curiosity eventually got the better of me. I was relieved when Naruto didn't immediately pull away, and left my arm comfortably over his shoulders. The boy seems to be a secret cuddle bug.
"Well, you saw how my eyes went funny when I brought up Kyuubi's chakra?" I nodded at that. Remembering Naruto's partial transformation, it still seemed more cute than scary to me. Then again, he was thinking, not angry or fighting.
"When that happens I can see how Kyuubi normally sees. So I can like, see points of decay or where someone's physical weak points are, and then I know where to target in a fight. I could see where the cancer was, it had a really ugly colour to it, last week when you were taken to the hospital. The vision thing works on buildings too, oddly enough. I should give it a cool name like 'Eye of Decay' or something." He rambled.
I had to laugh at the name, even though it's an absurdly useful ability to have. No wonder the demons were so all powerful, they can see where everyone's weaknesses are. That was probably how the Kyuubi got through all the village's defences and bypassed the perimeter seals so easily.
"Why'd you choose me though? You could have broken in to the hospital and helped so many other people. Why me?" I couldn't help but ask, despite my eternal gratitude.
"I don't know." Naruto shrugged. "When I first saw you, the coughing just sounded so painful, so I drew on the chakra, and saw the effects of the cancer. Then there were so many people following as the med-nins took you to hospital, and they'd all miss you if you died. I couldn't not help." He scratched at the back of his neck, admitting what he saw.
"I'm very glad that you did what you did." I smiled, and gently ruffled his blonde hair. Choosing to help someone he didn't know, only so that the people who loved them wouldn't be left alone. For someone who was rarely shown any kindness, this was definitely an interesting way for the boy to develop.
I was quietly glad I'd decided to do some practise by myself before Naruto finished at the Academy. It had been a somewhat long and trying day for me, and I needed to calm down before I sliced someone open.
Some of my friends were in the 'You're not dying, let's party' mindset, while others were only 'cautiously optimistic', and then there was a minority who think the demon is playing tricks with me or has taken over my mind or something. So of course, several people from all of these varied opinions had to converge on my apartment and proceed to argue about how their view was right and everyone else was wrong. It's just lovely when everyone's discussing you over your head.
As I ran through another kata, I could pick up Genma and Raidou's chakra nearby. They seemed to be just keeping an eye on me from the trees at the edge of the training ground. It didn't annoy me; I knew it was just because they cared. I mean, I'd been on death's door and all the Doctors had given up all hope just over a week ago. Genma was leaning more towards the 'not dying so let's party' side of things while Raidou was more 'cautiously optimistic'. I was glad it was those two and not one of the ones that were steadfastly against Naruto out here today. At least they were smart enough to know the difference between a small blonde child and a one hundred foot high glowing red demon.
While Raidou had always had that sort of clarity regarding Naruto, Genma had had to come to that point the hard way. He'd lost just about all of his family to the Kyuubi, and in his grief had transferred the blame to the kid. That had abruptly changed when Gen had rescued a blonde 5 year old from a very drunk ex-ninja who was beating the child while yelling at him for making him spill his drink. Having an emaciated child with haunted eyes thank you for saving them and admit that they shouldn't have been out on their birthday anyway, would change any person's views. Rumour has it, the jonin has left a birthday cupcake with a senbon sticking out of it at the blonde's apartment every year since.
I finished my kata as Naruto made his way onto the training ground. Nearing me I noticed a one handed ram sign and his eyes fading into red for a few seconds, before returning to their usual bright blue. I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Just making sure I got it all. It'd suck if I missed a bit or something." Naruto shrugged. I had to agree with that statement. With that, I started Naruto's lesson on basic sword skills.
Two hours later, we were sitting on the grass of the training fields. Finished with the challenging parts, I had Naruto cleaning and oiling the katana he'd used. It was the same one that I'd used as a 12 year old. I think its good thing we're both vertically challenged, and he seemed to be following similar growth patterns to what I did as a child. It took the guesswork out of selecting the right size blade. Seeing us just sitting now, my two friends decided to join. Naruto tensed slightly at their approach, eyeing them warily, but continued his cleaning.
"Hey Kid. Hey Chibi." Genma greeted cheerfully, seating himself ungracefully on the ground. Raidou smirked and joined the circle. Naruto stopped what he was doing, and twitched his nose. He leant towards Raidou, sniffing the air around him, and then leaned towards Genma on his other side, sniffing again.
"You're Cupcake-san." The small blonde exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the man.
"Cupcake-san?" Genma asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you're the one who leaves the yummy cupcakes in my apartment; Cupcake-san." Naruto nodded, crossing his arms across his chest. I joined Raidou in snickering at the exchange. Cupcake-san indeed, Genma was never going to get away from that nickname now.
"Yeah, the name's Genma, Chibi." The man clarified gruffly.
"Nope," The blonde disagreed. "Cupcake-san. You call me Chibi, I call you Cupcake-san."
"But you are a chibi." He argued back. "You're just so little."
"And you sneak around delivering cupcakes." At that comment Raidou lost all control and fell to his side laughing uproariously. I retained marginally more dignity, and didn't fall down.
"Not a word guys." Genma grumbled, clenching his usual senbon between his teeth in annoyance.
"Sure thing Cupcake-san." Raidou giggled.
Another Chapter for my sole reviewer Jits. I hope you enjoy. :-)