The Hokage and Anko were shocked to hear what the medic-nin told them. They couldn't believe it. Not only was he missing, but neither of the ANBU assigned to him reported in about it. Instead, some random worker at the hospital told them about his disappearance. They could only wonder what happened to the three of them, but their imaginations didn't drift far off due to Hiruzen speaking.
"Anko, get to Naruto's house and wait there. I'll send an Inuzuka over to you so that Naruto-kun can be tracked." Soon after he spoke, the old man released a wave of Chakra, signaling a nearby ANBU to their location. It was one of the special ANBU, as they were right next to the Hokage mansion.
"What do you need, Hokage-sama?" The ANBU spoke, his dragon mask unmoving.
"Go to the Inuzuka clan and have Tsume meet Anko at Naruto's house. She should already know the way." He ordered the ANBU, who bowed to his leader and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
The old man simply glanced at Anko before watching her take off to Naruto's house. She knew where it was because she had visited it once earlier in the day as a way to pass time.
"Whatever happened, we will find you Naruto."
-several minutes earlier-
"Hokage-sama is going to kill us."
"Not if Anko does it first."
"Maybe they'll take turns beating us to death."
Two masked ANBU jumped from rooftop to rooftop as they tailed a figure in front of them. He was unbelievably fast for his age and size, but it was probably due to all of the exercise he got from constantly running around. Not to mention that he had slipped away from the two on more than one occasion during their little chase.
The one with the cat mask shook her head as she continued to run.
"No. Anko would torture us slowly and painfully, and then Hokage-sama would bring out an amazing jutsu to finish us off in the most gruesome way possible for allowing this to happen."
That was most likely the best case scenario, with the worst case having them bot being tortured and beaten by snakes and apes while being told to take better care of Naruto, being left with an inch of their lives so that they could recover and have the whole process be repeated again and again.
No, it could probably get much worse than that.
They had to move their focus away from the possible ways that they could be tortured and over to the person who was just in front of them, but wasn't any more. One moment he was on the rooftops like the ANBU were, but he suddenly disappeared from their line of sight. He probably dropped down into the streets below. While they now had the high ground, the person they were chasing could maneuver through the alleyways and crowds. He had a fair amount of knowledge of all the shortcuts and places that one could hide at, and his size allowed for him to fit just about anywhere.
It was far too late for them to find Naruto and bring him back without any worries. They had been chasing the figure that was previously in front of them for several minutes now, and somebody was sure to notice that Naruto and his guards were in his room.
The two ANBU dropped down to the streets below as well, and had just dropped down in time to see the head of hair that they were looking for in a sea of brown, black, and other colors. They smirked under their masks and continued to chase after him.
People seeing him and the ANBU run through the streets simply assumed that he had done something wrong like usual, and didn't form the usual riot. It was odd, but appreciated by both the chased and the chasers.
Not long after, they had managed to chase him into a denser part of the village, with thinner roads and several more dead ends. They knew that the chase was almost over. His movements were beginning to get a little slower, and he didn't take every twist and turn available to him as well. They had to end this and capture him so that they could get Naruto and bring him back to the hospital.
"Stop so we can end this!" Yugao called out ahead of her. The person simply smirked and made an effort to move faster.
"Not a chance! You'll have to capture me!" He shouted back, the smirked never leaving his face as he continued to run, jumping back up to the rooftops to give himself a little space.
Kakashi and Yugao continued to tail him, both sighing inwardly as they should have known that he wouldn't go back without a struggle.
Kakashi threw several kunai in front of him. He wasn't trying to hit the person he was chasing. He was hoping that they would become an obstacle to him, and make him either slow down or trip.
As he planned, the person in front of them tripped over one of the kunai that had lightly dug itself into the roof, and caused him to fall over and back down onto the ground. He was good, but not good enough.
The person grunted as they hit the ground, glaring at the two figures who appeared before him.
"That's not fair! You can't use Kunai!"
Yugao shook her head at him, taking an unnoticed glance at Kakashi.
"We can use any techniques at our disposal. You should be lucky I didn't decide to use my sword. That's a part of the rules." Yugao said, getting a nod from Kakashi.
"Yeah. That's how it goes, and you could have been off much worse." He said to the person on the ground, who still looked up at them with anger.
"You guys didn't say anything about rules!" He shouted at them as he got up, brushing himself off.
"Well, this is ninja tag. Even you should know how it goes, future Hokage-sama." Yugao said in an uncharacteristically kind and somewhat mocking voice.
Kakashi nodded once more and looked around. It might have been too enclosed to see the sun, but the lighting of the area said what needed to be said. "And the sun hasn't gone down before you were captured, so we can't talk to the real Hokage-sama about letting you out of the hospital." He said, looking back down at the person in front of him.
He was silent. He didn't want to accept his fate. He knew that he was beaten up pretty badly this time, and he knew that the Hokage would keep him up in the room for a month until he decided that he was healthy enough to move around again. He looked up in mild surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder, which came from Yugao.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Naruto. Hokage-sama and Anko are probably worried sick. We didn't leave them a note or anything saying that we'd be with you. Let's get going." She took her hand off of his shoulder and began to walk back to the hospital, and was followed by Kakashi and eventually Naruto himself.
A little more than two hours ago, Naruto had woken up. He didn't know all the details about what happened, but he knew that he was beaten up and someone came to save him. Kakashi and Yugao filled him in on everything else, and deeply apologized to him for what they had done, or what they hadn't done. He accepted their apologies and asked them if he could leave the hospital, as he was feeling much better thanks to the healing of the Kyūbi, added with his own Uzumaki blood.
They had told him that they didn't have any say when it came to releasing him from the hospital, and only the Hokage and the doctors and nurses assigned to him could do anything about that. After sever minutes of complaining about it, a deal was made between the three. If Naruto could last until after the sun sets in a game of ninja tag, then Kakashi and Yugao would talk to the Hokage about possibly letting Naruto out of the hospital. If not, then Naruto would owe each of them a favor to be done some time in the future.
Looking back, neither of them knew why they agreed to it. They could get in serious trouble for giving the Hokage a scare involving Naruto, not to mention what Anko would probably do if he had gotten injured again. Luckily, he wasn't, and the bruise that he had gotten from the fall disappeared in only a few minutes.
Hopefully the Hokage and Anko would have mercy on their souls.
-present time-
The dragon masked guard of the Hokage appeared at the Inuzuka clan ground and knocked on the door to the main home. It did not take long for someone to open the door, and young woman there was quite surprised at seeing an ANBU at her home.
The girl looked at the ANBU curiously and took a step back, allowing for him to come in. "What do you need, ANBU-san?" She asked politely, something uncommon for an Inuzuka to do.
The ANBU simply stood where he was and looked at the girl before him. She had the marks of an Inuzuka, but she didn't look as feral as the others. She had a Konohagakure headband wrapped around her waist as a belt, telling him that she was at least a genin.
"Hokage-sama needs Tsume Inuzuka to help in tracking down someone. It's an order by the Hokage." He said monotonously, as per the usual with him.
The Inuzuka girl looked up at the ANBU and shook her head. "Kaa-san is out on a mission right now. I can help, though! The triplets are really good at tracking!"
She looked into her home and whistled, causing three pups to scramble to their master. She then looked back at the ANBU and gave him a nod of assurance. "Lead the way."
Ryu stayed quiet for a moment, internally deciding on whether or not to take Tsume's daughter to the Uzumaki house in place of Tsume. She should have to do.
The ANBU nodded back and began to run at a pace that the Inuzuka girl was capable of. It was still fairly fast, but it wasn't the ANBU's top speed. The three dogs all climbed onto the girl in various spots and held on as she began to run as well. It was a good pace for her, and she was glad that the ANBU was going that slow for her.
In little time, they arrived at the Uzumaki house. The Inuzuka girl had never been near this specific house before, as it's old and beaten up appearance would have told her if she had been there before.
When she got there, she noticed that there was a woman waiting in front of the door. She appeared impatient, almost frantic, and familiar as well.
It didn't take long for her to recognize the older woman that was not in front of him. "Anko-san!" She said with surprise.
Anko couldn't have mistaken the girl for anyone else, and was truly assured when she heard her voice. "Wow, what a surprise." There was no sarcasm in her words, as she was actually feeling surprised inside. "Where's Tsume?" She asked, her franticness being heard in her voice.
"She's out on a mission. I'm the next best thing!" She wanted to assure these people that she was ready to do whatever the Hokage needed her mother to do.
Anko sighed inwardly. She had to get to know more people than the three people she was always around. She was already on good terms with Tsume, so becoming friends with her shouldn't be too hard.
"Alright, let's go. I need your pups to find Uzumaki Naruto, and as fast as possible There's a whole bunch of stuff in his place than we can use for his scent." Anko told the Inuzuka girl as she practically kicked down the door. It was already beaten up, and he wasn't going to be living there any longer, so it wasn't really a problem for her.
Hana tilted her head in confusion and slight worry. "I don't think it's good to just break into his house, even if it is a means to find him."
Anko shrugged her shoulder and began to walk around, looking at things and wondering what would be the best thing to get his scent from. "It doesn't matter. I'm his parent now, and he's moving out of this dump as soon as possible."
Hana just sighed and kept the triplets from going wild in a completely unmarked place. It had so many smells, but two of them stood out to her. Ramen and blood.
"Aha!" Anko shouted, holding one of the several identical jumpsuits that Naruto had in his wardrobe. She handed it over to Hana who took it and offered it to the Haimaru triplets, who sniffed the outfit several times before jumping off of Hana and yipping as they ran out of the house.
"They already have his scent, let's go!" Hana commanded, surprising Anko slightly. The two of them, along with the dragon ANBU, followed the pups all through the village to find a certain blonde haired hero.
The three ninja chased after the three pups as they followed a strong scent. The individual scents that mixed together to smell like Naruto were already strong on their own, but even more so when mixed together.
The ran past the ramen stand, through several streets and alleyways, and over the rooftops.
"Whoever had Naruto was being chased." Hana noted as they ran.
Anko nodded and followed the Inuzuka and her pups. "No normal person would run in this pattern otherwise."
There was a moment of silence between the two women, but Hana spoke up so that things wouldn't be awkwardly silent. "Anko-san, you said something about now being Naruto's guardian?" She inquired, not knowing that a woman, who was probably around the age of twenty, had a child of her own.
Anko nodded to the girl. They had only just met earlier that day, and she had only vaguely heard about Anko from her mother, so there was a lot of unknown information about her in the eyes of Hana. "Yeah. I officially became his parent this morning. I thought that I'd have a few days to get ready for this, but something just had to happen."
Hana nodded. She understood the situation somewhat, but not all that much because of her age. She had heard about Naruto from her mother as well, but wasn't sure what to make of him because of Tsume's reaction. When Hana heard her mother talking about the boy, she seemed angry, and was muttering something about the Hokage and the Council. If she would have focused more, she could have remembered what she said, but she wasn't all that interested at the time.
Shortly after, the pups began to pick up speed. Hana knew this as a sign of them getting closer to their target. "Almost there." She said to the two older ninja around her, letting them know that they were close.
The group of six dropped back down into the streets and continued to run, but the path that they were running in was much straighter than before. It was odd, for the kidnapper to suddenly change tactics like that instead of continuing to weave around to make it harder to be tracked.
The Haimaru brothers jumped up into the air and tackled someone, bring them to the ground. The person who had just been tackled by three small dogs was standing next to two other people, who simply looked down at the third member, their reactions hidden by a still face. The three pups didn't weigh all that much on their own, but together, they were able to tackle the small person they were tracking. The pups began to lick the person underneath them, moving all around as he laughed.
"H-hey! Get off of me!" He managed to get out. He looked up at his two companions and continued to laugh. "Help me out here!"
Soon, the three ninja caught up to the dogs, and were surprised to see what was going on. The Haimaru triplets were on top of Naruto, licking and smelling him all over. The boy was laughed uncontrollably, and the two ANBU assigned to watch over him were standing at his sides, simply watching him and the dogs.
Hana thought that the little blonde boy being attacked by her pups was simply the cutest thing in the world, and sighed with a smile on her face as he stood a few feet away from him.
Anko on the other hand was relieved to see him doing well, and without a single scratch on his body. She knew that his Uzumaki blood and the Kyūbi made him heal much faster than normal people, but it hadn't even been twenty four hours yet and he was perfectly fine.
Anko stopped next to Hana, and Dragon stopped next to her. The snake mistress glared at the two ANBU who were currently as scared as physically possible. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice, only scaring kakashi and Yugao more.
Hana whistled and commanded the triplets to come back to her, which they did almost instantly.
Slowly, Naruto stood up, looking at Anko curiously.
"That's her."
"Her?" Naruto asked aloud.
The Kyūbi shook his head from inside the cage and continued to look through Naruto's eyes. "Think, don't speak. You'll make these people think that we're even crazier than they already probably think."
Naruto nodded his head and thought his words in his mind. "Like this?" He asked his tenant, who nodded in conformation.
"Yes. You and I will talk like this. That woman, the crazy one; she's the one who saved you the other night. I believe you owe her thanks."
Naruto stepped up to Anko and looked at her curiously. "You're the lady who saved me?" He asked her, truly wondering if this wasn't just some sort of trick.
Anko smirked and looked down at the boy, pointing to herself with her thumb. "That's right! I, Mitarashi Anko, saved you from the villagers! No need to thank m-woah!" She said in surprise as she looked down at the boy who was now hugging her legs with an astounding amount of force.
"Thank you, thank you!" He chanted out loud. He had done the same thing for the two ANBU when he first found out that they were watching over him. There was an astonishing low about of people in the entire village that actually saw the boy as something other than the demon fox.
Anko looked down at him, but with less surprise than before. "Naruto, can you tell me what's going on here? And why you and these two are out here and not at the hospital?" Her voice started off as normal, but went back to that sickly sweet tone as she neared the end of her question. The ANBU were scared once again, and said nothing as they stood there.
Slowly, Naruto let go of Anko and looked back at Kakashi and Yugao. "Well, I woke up a little while ago, and they told me what happened, and that you saved me. I was feeling good and I wasn't hurting, so I wanted to go out! They said that I couldn't, but I said that if I can play ninja tag with them until sunset, then they'll talk to Jiji about letting me go home!" He explained to her the situation, getting the two ANBU assigned to naruto to sigh in relief.
He then pouted and glanced at the Neko and Inu masks before looking back at Anko. "But they cheated and used kunai to make me trip and fall off the roof." He said, pointing his fingers accusingly at the two of them, who began to sweat once more.
Hana and Dragon simply watched the sight before them. Hana didn't think that a little boy like that could be too much trouble. He looked like a lost pup that just wanted a home.
Anko sighed and cast her glare at the two ANBU. "So, you two let him out of the hospital, without telling anyone, because of a bet?!" She yelled at them, her glare becoming fierce. It then changed to a smirk as the turned away. "Dolphin is sure going to hear about this."
Yugao then got on her knees and looked up at Anko. "Please Anko! He'd kill us for this!" She begger her friend. It wasn't like her at all, but in truth, Anko and Dolphin scared her a little.
"What do we have to do to keep this quiet?" Kakashi asked, standing still and looked at his snake using friend.
"You two will be helping me train Naruto." She said with confidence. She didn't plan this, but her attitude made it seem like she did.
Kakashi shrugged and nodded, both saying "Fine!" Simultaneously.
Naruto looked up at Anko, curiosity still in his eyes. "Train?" He asked her.
Anko nodded and knelt down to the boy, getting on the same level that he was. "Yeah, train! A Hokage has to be a great ninja right?" She asked rhetorically, but still getting a nod from Naruto. "Well, you've already taken the first few steps by managing to outrun Dog-face and Neko here." She ruffled his hair and stood back up.
"Let's talk to the Hokage so we can head home."
The sun had fully set, and the sky was now being coated in a dark blue. It was starting to get late, and a group of five ninja, one boy, and three dogs, were walking through the streets of Konoha.
Naruto and Anko walked up in front, and behind them were Hana and Dragon. Yugao and Kakashi went back to hiding, watching over Naruto like they were supposed to. The Haimaru triplets were resting on Naruto's head and shoulders. They had taken quite a liking to him; it seemed, as they were fairly happy resting on him as he walked. Hana thought it was a cute sight to see a little boy with her pups, and almost didn't want to ask for them back when she had to go. Almost.
Anko didn't tell Naruto what she meant by 'we', when she said that they would go home, and she only said that it was a surprise for when the Hokage officially released him from the hospital. He was persistent about knowing though, and continued to ask her about it until they reached the Hokage Mansion.
"Can you pleeeeease tell me!?"
"Nope."
"Pleaseeeeeeee?!"
Anko sighed in annoyance. If he didn't stop, she would tell him right there to shut him up. Luckily, they had just reached the Hokage mansion.
The old man was standing in front of the mansion like he had been when they had gotten news about Naruto being missing. He looked at the group as it approached, and smiled at the sight of Naruto next to Anko. He would have preferred to not see the two of them arguing, but he was happy seeing him safe and sound.
When they got close, the group stopped in front of the village leader to hear what he would have to say.
Hiruzen first looked at Dragon, who looked back at the old man. "Thank you for helping, Dragon. You're dismissed." Dragon nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Hiruzen then looked at Hana with curiosity, tilting his head slightly at the sight of her and not her mother. "Hana, I'm thankful that you brought Naruto back, but can I ask about your mother? I asked for Dragon to get her."
Hana nodded and bowed slightly. "Sorry, but she was out on a mission. Tracking a lost relative outside of Konoha." She explained to the village leader, who nodded and smiled.
"Thank you, Hana. You will be paid B-rank money for this mission."
Hana bowed again and looked up at the old money. "Is there anything else, Hokage-sama?" She asked him, getting him to shake his head at her.
"No, but if you would like to stay, you can. You're pups seem to have taken a liking to Naruto-kun." He said, glancing at the blonde boy who still carried the pups on his shoulders and head. Naruto smiled at Hana and glanced at the two on his shoulder.
"They're so cool!" He said somewhat quietly, knowing that the pups were either close to falling asleep or already there. This made Hana laugh a little, who just nodded at the boy and watched him looked at the ninken with amazement.
Hiruzen then looked up at the sky expectantly, and glanced at some nearby trees. "Inu, Neko. Please Explain."
The two ANBU agents appeared in front of the Hokage and bowed to him, quietly saying "Hai Hokage-sama" at the same time.
Yugao was the first to speak up. "Hokage-sama. A few hours ago, Naruto woke up and attempted to leave the room. We redirected him to his bed, but he insisted that he was fine and that he should be let go from the hospital. We managed to strike up a bet around a game of ninja tag, where he would stay the hospital and wait if he was to lose, and we would talk to you about releasing him if he won." She explained most of the situation, but left out the part where Naruto would owe them a favor if he lost.
Kakashi picked up where she left off. "We didn't expect for him to be as fast as he was. I can honestly say that he could outrun us with us going at a fairly fast pace. We only caught him because I used kunai to make him trip. If it was just running, he probably would have won." That boy had stamina like no other. Even ANBU get tired at some point, but when ANBU fell down after hours of rigorous training, Naruto would still be going at it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for several minutes. He was sure that Kakashi and Yugao would be punished in some way for allowing Naruto to leave his hospital room without notifying anyone beforehand, but they had just graded the boy on endurance and possibly resourcefulness. He could truly become a devastating ninja in the future with the help of Anko, Kakashi, Yugao, and everything left by Kushina and Minato.
The old man looked down at his surrogate-grandson and smiled at him. He had made his decision, and he hoped that Anko was ready for it. "Naruto-kun." He said calmly.
Naruto looked up at the Hokage with curious blue eyes. "Yes, Jiji?" He said back.
"What are your thoughts on Anko?" It was a rather sudden question, as Naruto had only just met her, taking under consideration that he could hardly hear or see anything the other night when she saved him.
The little boy hummed in thought for a whole minute. She seemed like a nice person from what she had said to him, and she seemed pretty cool if she could make Inu and Neko fear her in an instant. Her devious eyes and dangerous smirk are what hooked him, though. She would be a great person to pull pranks with. "I like her Jiji! She's really cool!"
The elder Sarutobi chuckled a little and glanced at Anko before returning his gaze to the boy. "Well Naruto-kun. How would you like to live with Anko? You'll get to stay with her in her house, and you'll also have another house where you can learn more about clans and someday taking my hat."
Naruto couldn't have been happier at the moment. Not only did he now have two cool houses where he could learn to become Hokage, but he also had a mom. She looked a little young to be a mother, even in his eyes, but he believed that she could do it. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He said aloud, his eyes watering with happiness as he jumped in the air, accidentally causing one of the pups to fall off of his shoulder. He caught the pup, and put him back on his shoulder.
Hana, seeing one of the triplet falling off and being caught, was scared for a moment, but was relieved to see that the sleeping ninken didn't hit the ground.
Naruto turned around and looked at Hana, who just smiled and waved at him. He smiled back, but walked up to the genin girl and took the pup off of his head and held it out to her. "Sorry about letting them fall asleep. Here you go!" He handed her the other two once she had put the first one on her head, and the other two went on her shoulders like how they were with Naruto. She girl just shook her head and smiled.
"No worries! They seem to like you a fair bit. Maybe you can head over to the compound and see them again some time!" She said to Naruto, who jumped in joy and nodded. Hana then looked at the Hokage and bowed slightly, being careful not to make the pups fall. "It's getting late, and I need to make sure by brother doesn't get into trouble. Goodbye, Hokage-sama." She said just as she left, only barely being able to see the old man wave back to her.
Anko smiled at Naruto and ruffled his hair, getting him to place his attention back onto her. A split second later, Naruto was attached to her legs again, constantly thanking her. He had no intentions of stopping soon, and Anko just ruffled his hair again before looking at the Hokage.
"So, can I take him home? He looks all healed up." Anko said, glancing down at Naruto once more.
Hiruzen looked at Naruto as well, and smiled at the boy before returning his gaze to Anko. "Only if you're ready. If not, he can stay at the hospital for a few more days."
Anko laughed a little and shook her head. She stayed quiet for a little so that she could hear Naruto slowing down. His grip was getting weaker as well. She could tell that the affects of a day of running around were starting to get to him. "I'll be fine, Hokage-sama. I'm just happy I could make him smile like this."
The young woman then looked down and smiled at Naruto before removing him from her legs. She could see that he was sad at being removed, but looked up at her in childlike curiosity.
"Alright Gaki, let's go home."
Yes! Five thousand words this chapter and I'm feeling good! I hope I surprised all of you with this chapter, and if I didn't then I'm going to have to work harder next time around.
Anko and Naruto are finally united, and his training on becoming a ninja will start soon.
Just so that you guys know, I will be doing a few small time skips, but not too many, as there is an event that I want to cover that happens before the team formations.
Also, I just want to say that Sasuke isn't going to be arrogant in this story. Thing will happen that will make him what I believe to be a better person.
As always, reviews are appreciated.
Until next time!