A/N; I just received my first flame and I'd like to send a very special thanks to… Guest? Terrible, not even a person I can thank. Besides, Inoobe, who made my day with their kind words and rgentile101, who is obviously new to Naruto fan fiction. Let's welcome him aboard, because he's obviously got good taste!
*Roaring cheers*
Day four
Just after midnight a burning shop in the middle of the marketplace drew the first response team to put out the fire. After some time, a huge crowd had gathered around the burning shop. Parents along with the crying children they held, and young adults were stricken with grief, at the knowledge of the kindly old puppet maker's death. They stood transfixed as the fire was finally smothered with another water jutsu.
The military police was there to keep the area clear, with bright orange rope tied to wooden stands. There, off to the side, stood an older teen girl in a black jacket and fatigue pants. Three dogs sat around her sniffing the air and eyeing the people around them while they waited for okay to go in.
After another 15 minutes, "Looks like it was a low level fire jutsu", came from inside the half standing building. Inuzuka Hana grimaced at his lack of secrecy.
Murmurs flew like wild fire, carrying the news to those too far to hear the idiot's flapping jaw.
Hana walked through the doorway, chard wood crumbling beneath her, feet. A wave of her hand to quell the whining of her dogs as she retreated into the mound of hot, wet, charcoal. The brunt corpse had to be next to him, the smell of it, like a bright beacon.
"A little discretion next time, idiot", she said softly. A man with a white jumpsuit, goggles and a white cap, looked a bit abashed as he smiled weakly, "Sorry about that detective san." Coming around a burnt counter top, her eyes fell upon the husk of a man. The cheek bones were deeply cracked, and the nose was bashed in, taking most of the top front teeth with it.
"Brutal", she spoke in disgusted awe. Her dogs began to whine long before the crunching alerted her to another person joining them. "Ahh, Hyuga sama", the forensics investigator in the goggles said and a man came to kneel next to the body, eyes bulging from his heritage.
"I apologize for my tardiness."
"Save it. Looks like the murderer really hated this guy." She spoke without averting her eyes from the partly crushed skull of the man.
"They did a good job covering their tracks by burning the place, but there are faint chakra imprints all along the walls. I'm guessing no one heard or saw anything?" The man spoke.
She turned to see him holding his white robes above the black remnants of the shop. His long dark brown hair hid one of his eyes as he gazed at the body, eye returned to their normal state. "How'd you know Yonji?"
"The lingering chakra could have been from seals. This, along with the vicious way the man met his end would indicate premeditated murder."
At her questioning gaze Yonji continued, "They would have had to sneak in when the owner was out to put up these seals. And, it would have taken quite a while for them to do so, given the amount of lingering chakra on the walls that are still intact."
"Wow, I guess you'll be the one to write up the report again. Though one thing bothers me and my pups above all." Hanna said looking around to her dogs.
"And that would be?" Yonji said, looking around for anything he might have missed.
"No scent. At all. Not even a cover up scent."
The bark of dog brought a smile to her face and she clasped the shoulder of her partner, "Spoke too soon, got a scent trail of the old man's blood, too fresh to be him."
Later
After the fall of the Uchiha clan, the Inuzuka and Hyuga clans had stepped in to keep the military police running. Inuzuka Yoma, jonin and lead detective, was now staring at the details regarding a murder that made his ass chap. Not to have a scent was a huge blow to their perfect record. The scent of the dead man's blood, away from the scene of the crime, had accompanied the tracks of a small animal, but the foot prints didn't quite match anything. And then it just ended, with a tongue and a tooth buried a foot down. No foot prints or scent coming from that location. He'd even pulled in a favor from a hunter ninja to take a look at it, and he said there was nothing. Like they'd just vanished.
He leaned back into his chair with a sigh, "The one lead we had on this and poof, gone."
He paused eyes growing wider. "Poof."
Original
Naruto woke up with the sun on his face. He shot up but was halted inches away from the bed. He looked down to see that his wrists and ankles were strapped to the bed. He flex his chakra for the Kage bushin no jutsu, but paused.
'Should I really be making them anymore? What if I lose focus again and make another killer?'
The bloody face of the man he'd killed flashed before his eyes, and he shut them fiercely. Tears began to roll down his cheeks.
'I have to tell Jiji, tell him everything. I'm a murderer. I can't be trusted with this jutsu anymore.'
Suddenly, a tugging sensation later, he was standing in front of the Iron bars of the seal.
"Don't you dare!" roared throughout the cavern.
Naruto took a step back, fear gripping him as the air turned malicious.
"When you get worked up I have to hear your pathetic dribbles. And the last thing I want to hear is that you're going to get us locked away in a dungeon with your chakra cut off!" The rumbling voice rising in intensity until the bars started to shake.
"What?" Naruto squeaked out timidly.
"If you tell the third about our deal, much less about the man you killed, he'll have you locked away and your chakra sealed. You made one mistake, and a particularly miserable human died", the Kyuubi said bringing his tone down.
"I thought you never gave up? Was all that garbage? You mean to tell me that the one human I was beginning to hate just a little less, is full of shit?" He said with the side of his face pushed up against the bars to look closely at the boy.
"I… I just…" Naruto tried to speak, but was unable to think of anything to defend himself.
"If you give up now, you'll never be anything, but the demon incarnate this village locked away. Prove you're not some punk kid. Keep your mouth shut and don't fuck this up."
Naruto returned, tears still coming down from his face. He looked at the restraints on his wrists.
'He's right. If I tell them about the Kyuubi, or the man…'
He took a deep ragged breath to calm himself, and said, "Kage bushin."
A shadow in a fox mask appeared, and was instantly cut down with a tanto, welded by an ANBU who'd appeared from thin air.
The owl masked ANBU stood staring its empty eyes at him, "I must ask that you reframe from using any chakra techniques. The Hokage should be here soon, and he will make the decision to release you from this hospital. Until then, you are to remain still."
The man's voice was crisp and professional, punctuated with the click of his sword's return to its sheath.
Naruto stared at him for a moment before looking away. "I understand."
He laid there for hours, waiting for the Hokage to show up. Hours, staring at the ceiling, or anything other than the masked man, now sitting in the corner facing him. He was like a statue, with his eye holes pointed directly at him.
'Creepy bastard.'
Finally the door opened to reveal the Hokage, followed by Yamanaka Inoichi. The Hokage's face was somber and he seemed heavier than normal, like the robes weighed him down. Inoichi stood by the door after closing it, crossing his arms and leaning back against it.
"Hokage Sama." Naruto spoke in unison with the ANBU, cracking the silence in the room.
"Owl, you can undo the restraints. I'm sorry we had to do that Naruto, but you'd woken up last night thrashing around, saying you were a monster." Hokage said, face held lose with what looked to be regret. The ANBU unlocked the restraints and Naruto sat up, rubbing his wrists before scooting back to lean against the head board.
"Bad dream." He said, averting his eyes from the gaze of the Hokage.
"Naruto, we need to know what happened", said the Hokage.
Naruto's heart began to thump so loudly in his chest he thought everyone on the room would hear it.
"I was running laps around the village, when one of my clones came to request more chakra for training. I wasn't sure I'd have enough to give, then I thought about the Kyuubi. I figured I might be able to take some of its power. I reached in and was able to pull some out, but I received much more than I could handle. I started losing control, and so I made as many clones as I could. I figured if I diluted the power enough, my clones would be able to retain control, or be weak enough to be taken out easily." Naruto delivered the prepared line, without making eye contact with the Hokage, feeling as though he'd break the moment he saw the old man's face.
"I'm sorry, Hokage sama. I was careless. I won't make the same mistake again."
Silence held the room in its grip, until the Hokage spoke a few seconds later.
"I believe that it was an accident, but there are still some consequences and precautions we must now take because of this. You are here by placed on probation, and will have all of your training supervised by someone who will be able to restrain the Kyuubi's chakra, should you lose control again. This here is Yamato", the Hokage said gesturing the ANBU.
The Ninja moved his mask, strange head gear framing a truly unremarkable face, and walked forward to stand beside the Hokage.
'His eyes are still creepy', Naruto thought.
"He will be watching over you until we are confident this won't happen again. He'll go over the restrictions that go along with probation, and you will be moving into his house. Please be careful Naruto." The Hokage finished and left the room.
Naruto was speechless. He was a step way from being thrown in prison.
'The fox was right. They would have locked me up.'
"Shit."
A couple minutes later Naruto was walking to his house, Yamato silently trailing behind him. He glanced at the man to see the same stony face and creepy eyes, darting about every so often.
"Would you at least walk with me? You look like escorting a prisoner." Naruto whispered over his shoulder, only to receive no response.
When they reached his house, his patience was about to boil over. He unlocked the door and went to step inside. "Wait here, I'll be right back after I get my stuff." Naruto turned to close the door and Yamato stopped the door and pushed past him.
"Hey, what don't you understand about 'wait here?" Naruto asked, voice leaking out the anger and frustration he felt.
Yamato continued as if he hadn't heard the boy, grabbed a chair and sat against the wall.
Naruto sighed in resignation and went to grab his sealing supplies. Several clones appeared in his wake and they kneeled around the room. Naruto tossed supplies to each of them and they began to draw seals. He moved to his bedroom and closed the door. He dropped down to his knees and moved his bed. There, under several loose floor boards was his chest, which he pulled up and dragged to just outside the door. He stopped to put the boards back and pulled his bed into place. When he turned back to the chest he noted that the door was open and the chair Yamato was sitting in was, now, sitting outside his door.
"What if I was getting undressed?" Naruto said gesturing to his clothes.
Yamato's blank face did budge. "I didn't know you could make seals."
Naruto replied pulling the chest into the living room, "Yeah, I'm learning."
"What seals do you know?" Yamato inquired innocently.
"The storage seal is the only one I can do, but I'm working towards more." Naruto replied without a beat. 'Oh shit, they must suspect that I was the one to kill the old man. No worries, just play it cool. They can't prove it was me.'
"I see." Yamato said eyes watching the boy closely.
Finally the chest and everything else he could take with him was packed, and they were leaving. One large scroll hung horizontally across Naruto's back. They walked out of the village proper, granting them with a beautiful view of the setting sun, and continued into a forest.
"You live out here?" Naruto questioned, eyebrow raised.
"I do now." Yamato said, with a slight bit of wariness in his voice.
Naruto looked down thoughtful for a moment, "Sorry."
A few miles into the forest, they came upon a large clearing. In the center stood a large pond and off to the side was a house. The wood house looked small in the distance, though as they moved towards it, the length of the house extending out from the back could be seen. Yamato touched the door and it opened, to reveal a room larger than his entire apartment.
Naruto walked in and felt a deep sense of calm settle over him. 'Genjustu?' He wondered. He subtly put his hands together and pulsed his chakra, yet there was no change. Then, for the first time, he noticed there were no windows, or furniture, and the entire house looked like it was carved from one piece of smooth wood. He looked to Yamato, and made to voice his questions about the house, but Yamato put a hand up to forestall the questions he know were coming.
A hand sign and two chairs grew from the floor along the wall, partly facing each other.
"Mokuton." Naruto whisper in awe.
"Yes, now have a seat," said Yamato, as he walked over to sit down.
Naruto leaned his scroll onto the wall and took a seat across from the man.
Yamato took a deep breath and spoke.
"I have the Mokuton bloodline, which is a little known fact, since I'm normally out of sight. I made this house with my jutsu and you probably feel different here. The First's techniques were said to be able to quell the beasts, and I suspect that your prisoner's chakra, which is constantly being mixed with your own, is silent. We will leave and return with the sun to this house. You will practice harnessing the kyuubi's chakra in the morning, with me to act as a safety net in case you lose control. Then, you will be free to go about your business as long as I know what you're doing, and when and where you're doing it. If I come to where you are supposed to be and you are not there, or you fail to return home before the sun sets, you will be in violation of parole. At that time you will be hunted down and brought before the counsel for judgment. Also, if you use the Kyuubi's chakra at any time, other than when in my presence, you will face a minimum of one year in shinobi prison. Do you understand?"
Naruto sat feeling the gravity of this situation and a rock growing in his stomach. "Yes."
"Good, now your room is at the end of the hall and the bathroom is accessible from your room. I hope we can both make the most of this situation."
He finished with a weak looking smile, before patting the boy's shoulder and making his way down the hall. Naruto looked around the place a bit before grabbing his bag and heading to his room.
'One step away from prison.'
Inazuka Hana was furiously pacing around her room. She'd just dropped off the notes and samples from her case to the ANBU service outlet, and returned home to fume. While it was normal to hand over cases where a ninja was thought to be involved, they were usually given a few days to try and crack the case first. The Inazuka nose had proven to be an invaluable tool for solving crimes and she prided herself in knowing she always got her man.
"Whoever had killed that old man was a sick freak, and once they get a taste of blood they always want more. When they strike again, we'll find that son of a bitch. No one gets away from Inazuka Hana and her girls."
A few barks punctuated her impromptu speech and she turned to smile at her companions. She laid down and thought about the facts of the case, unable to sleep.
'If there were seals, I should have been able to pick up some trace of the bastard's blood somewhere. Maybe our guy has a way to lay seals quickly, or without using blood. That's the only thing that stands out and it's bound to come up again.'
Mollified that she'd at least thought of some direction to follow up on, she finally gave into sleep.
A/N; A bit short, but I like to break on days if I can. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.