A day later, Naruto was on the run once again, but under slightly different circumstances. As like before, he was being chased by Anko, but there was a twist. He had to avoid the senbon needles that she was throwing at him.
The thing that made Naruto scared beyond belief, however, was not the senbon. He was afraid of the various poisons Anko dipped the needles in. There were only three of four that weren't poisoned, but neither of them knew which ones weren't.
The boy had been scraped by a few needles during his run, and they were affecting him a little, but the fox and his own blood allowed him to become somewhat immune to the poisons over time. He just had to experience them in same and small doses every once in a while to build up the immunity to them. He also had two Senbon needles into his back, but he still continued to run.
Anko called it his immunity training, and it was just for Naruto and his abilities. She could have just given him the poison little by little without chasing him, but this also helped him in speed, maneuverability, and everything else he had gone through the day before.
As the two ran through the village, Anko threw a few more Senbon as him, making sure not to hit anyone other than the target she was aiming for. She could easily hit him every time, but she needed to make him feel like he did actually have a chance against her.
A half-hour later, Naruto's back was filled with Senbon needles, and the boy was moving at a sluggish pace. Naruto was still struggling to move, as he wasn't going to give in and lose. He was going to beat these poisons and still evade Anko. Fortunately for him, Kurenai was up ahead, and the boy put in more effort to move over to her and hide behind her.
Kurenai looked at Naruto with shock and surprise. She took notice of all of the needles in his back, and quickly grabbed a hold of him to start carefully taking the needles out.
It wasn't long before Anko came onto the scene, and looked at Kurenai with mass confusion. "Nai-chan, what are you doing?" She asked her friend, watching her glare back at Anko as she pulled out the last of the needles.
"Me?" She asked, already having an idea of what was happening. "What the hell are YOU doing!?" The red-eyed beauty let go of Naruto and poked a finger accusingly at Anko. "Why does Naruto look like he's going to fall over when it isn't even past noon!? Not to mention looking like a PIN CUSHION!"
Anko still looked at her confused. It should have been obvious what she was doing, or at least she believed so. "What does it look like?" She asked her. "Poison immunity training!" She continued with a happy grin.
"Anko you can't be serious!" Kurenai yelled. "He's six years old and he's only been training for a few days. You can't do something like this to him this early on! His body isn't ready for it."
Anko shook her head. "He'll be fine. That Uzumaki blood of his and his tenant should make sure that he gets over the poisons pretty quickly." This made Kurenai groan.
"He's still six! Advantages or not, he isn't ready for something as strenuous as immunity training. Those hallucinogens will be absolute hell for the boy and you gave him an unbelievably large amount of toxins of all kinds at the same time. He might heal fully in a few hours, but it'll seem like an eternity to him." She tried to bring Naruto into a hold, but he seemed to have moved from his spot before she did so. She looked at where he was in confusion, and this caused Anko to look around as well.
He wasn't anywhere near anymore, that was definite. He was only moving at a snail's pace when Kurenai found him, so he couldn't have gone far. "We need to find him."
That was something they both agreed on.
They had searched as much of the village as they could within a thirty minute period, and the two women eventually stopped to take a small break. They reunited at the Dango shop, and the two of the looked at each other.
"Alright, you're right. I should have waited a bit before putting him through that." Anko said in resignation.
"A bit? Anko, I'm glad that you agree with me, but you shouldn't have started something like this until after he graduated from the academy! And how are you so calm about this? Your six year old son is kami knows where, and you're looking like nothing happened." This got Anko to growl and glare at Kurenai.
"I know he's in trouble. I know that he's somewhere in the village and we can't fine him. I know that he's going to have the worst time of his life, but I can't let that get to me!" She practically yelled at her. "I know that I messed up, Kurenai, and I'm going to fix it, but I can't do that unless I'm calm and I'm focused. When we find him and take him back to my house, then I'll get all emotional." Anko then walked out of the dango shop, motioning for Kurenai to follow. She did as such, and the two of them walked off to where the clan compounds were. "There will always be someone better than you, and I'm just trying to prepare him before his life goes off the deep end."
The two quickly arrived at the Inuzuka compound, where Anko hoped to find one of two Inuzuka women. She didn't prefer one over another, as she was sure that either of them would be able to track the boy down.
Anko knocked on the door and waited impatiently, hoping for any capable tracker to open up the door. When the door did open, Anko was glad to see who was on the other side.
A woman in her thirties opened up the door and looked at the two woman on the other side of the door. Like almost everyone else in the compound, she had the fang-like markings of an Inuzuka, and a feral appearance to match. She knew both of the women who were at the door, and smiled slightly at them.
"Ah, if It isn't Anko. Hana's been talking a lot about you, and your apparent son Naruto." She said, getting a much younger woman inside the house to become flustered.
"Kaa-san!" Hana said in the background. Tsume simply shook it off and became serious.
"You two look a little scared. What's up?" She asked semi-casually, knowing that if Anko was in such a state, even if the signs weren't apparent to the normal eye and senses, it wasn't a good sign.
"We'll talk later, but we need to track someone down. I'll owe you a favor afterwards, but we need to find him now." Anko said urgently, trying to keep a calm look as she informed the Inuzuka matriarch.
Tsume arched an eyebrow. "Track who?" She asked.
"Naruto." Kurenai spoke up, now getting Tsume's full attention. She couldn't let something bad happen to the boy.
"We'll definitely talk later." Tsume said back, her eyes narrowed, turning her head so she could look back into the house. "Hana! Get your dogs and go with Anko. She needs to track Naruto." She ordered, which made Hana nod and call the triplets through whistling.
Kurenai looked at Tsume with curiosity. "I don't have any problems here, but why is she going and not you?" She asked the older woman.
Tsume looked over at Kurenai and glanced at Anko. Kurenai must not have been with Anko when Naruto went missing the first time around. "The triplets are already used to Naruto and his smell, from what I've heard from Hana. Her pups need the practice, and in all honesty when they reach Kuromaru's age, they'll be just as good, if not better, when it comes to tracking."
Kurenai nodded in understanding, and the three of them waited only a few seconds before Hana came running to the door, stopping next to her mother. The youngest woman in the group looked at Kurenai and Anko. "Hello Anko-san. Naruto's missing again?"
Anko nodded and sighed, looking down at the ground to avoid any eyes. "Yeah…I….kinda rushed into his training and now he could be anywhere, not to mention suffering like crazy because of the hallucinogens…" She muttered the last part, but it wasn't effectively quiet enough because Hana and Tsume could hear her clearly.
"Hallucinogens!? Anko, what happened?" Tsume said in a stern voice. She knew how hurt that boy was. If he started to hallucinate, only kami would know what would start appearing in front of him.
Anko sighed again, slowly looking up at Tsume. "I put him into immunity training too early. His blood and…tenant… will keep him alive, and he'll get over the poisons and other things faster than most people, but that doesn't mean that he won't feel its effects any less." She paused and let the information sink in. It was obvious to the Inuzuka women that Anko regretted doing such a thing to her little boy, but was most likely not thinking fully at the moment, or didn't fully understand how harsh it would be for him. Tsume was about to say something, but was stopped by Anko. "Scold me all you want later." She said in a calm but firm voice, glancing at Hana before turnring around. "We need to find Naruto first."
Kurenai and Anko jumped away first, going slow enough for Hana to catch up before moving faster. They stopped at Naruto's old apartment again to get another whiff of his scent, as it was still pretty strong there, and then took off once more.
Anko knew where they would be if they kept going in the direction that they were going in, and she hoped that Naruto wouldn't be found being in the jaws of some beast, or hitting the gates.
Kurenai also had an idea of where they were going. She had been to Anko's personal playground a few times before, so she knew how to get there.
It didn't take long, and the group eventually stopped when they were faced with a large chain gate blocking their path. Near the gate was a small hole that someone could probably go through if they were small enough…or if they were Naruto's size.
Anko looked at Hana. "Is he in there?" She asked, getting a nod from Hana, who kept her eyes on the dogs that were making their way through the hole near the gate.
Anko stepped forward and unlocked the gate, motioning for them to move ahead. When everyone was inside, Anko closed the gate and continued to run with the group. It didn't take long for them to find Naruto, who wasn't all that far into the forest of death.
When they stopped, the group saw a rather large black panther slowly making its way over to Naruto. Anko and Kurenai noticed the panther, and decided to stay quiet. The cat didn't have any intent on eating Naruto, as it was moving far too slowly to have that sort of desire at the moment. It was watching Naruto, and soon enough the panther walked right over to Naruto and grabbed onto his collar by using its fangs. The two elder women couldn't let that Panther get away, and threw a barrage of kunai at the cat, causing it to drop Naruto while it became injured and ran off.
"Naruto-kun!" Hana shouted in fear as she dashed at Naruto and caught the boy just before he hit the ground. He was cradled in her arms as she rolled on the ground, stopping after rolling around a few times. When she stopped, she moved to a seating position, and examined the boy.
By looking at Naruto's face, they could tell that he had been crying quite a lot, most likely from the hallucinogens that were in his body. He was whimpering quietly in his sleep, and he couldn't stop shaking. His suffering wasn't over yet, it seemed.
Kurenai remembered how Naruto purred when she had first met him, and she wondered if that could calm him down now, in such a bad time for him. She glanced at Hana, who seemed to have been taking an interest in Naruto's wellbeing for the moment.
He was a boy half her age that experienced things that she had yet to face. He was a brave kid, and she hoped that Naruto would make it through this okay. She looked up in surprise and shook when she heard Kurenai speak.
"Pet his whiskers." She said with a small smile, getting Hana to look at her with confusion and as if she thought Kurenai was crazy. The look on Kurenai's face told Hana that it was exactly what she had said, and now the older woman was silently encouraging Hana to do it.
Slowly and hesitantly, Hana moved one of her hands over to Naruto's face, and began to pet the whiskers on the left side of his face. The reaction she got from him was surprising, but relieving. He stopped shaking and whining almost instantly, and began to purr softly in her arms. She was surprised, and continued to pet his whiskers as she stood up and began to walk out of the forest with Anko and Kurenai.
As he was being lifted, Naruto's eyes opened a little and looked at Hana, who was carrying him and petting the marks on his face. "Angel…" He said quietly, smiling at the blurry but still strikingly beautiful girl holding him before falling back into unconsciousness. This caused Hana to blush, and Anko and Kurenai to look back at the two in curiosity. They wanted to make sure that he said what they thought he said.
Anko and Kurenai walked side by side. Hana was holding onto Naruto so that the two of them could talk without worry of waking the boy.
Kurenai looked at her friend sternly. "I'm going to be Naruto's Jonin instructor when he graduates." She told Anko, who looked at her with confusion.
"What?" Anko replied, unsure of why she was bringing up who his Jonin instructor would be. "What are you talking about? Naruto's going to be on my team and we'll have the best team in Konoha! Probably pass the Chunin exams as a rookie." She spoke confidently about her son.
Kurenai shook her head. "If it weren't for me, he'd be in the stomach of an animal right now. If you were his sensei, you'd take him and his team on a B-rank the day after graduation. I'm sorry Anko, but I'm much better suited to be his instructor." The red eyed genjutsu mistress then smirked. "And if you think otherwise, then we could just bring up you filling Naruto with posions and him getting lost to the Hokage. See what he thinks on the matter…"
Anko sighed and grumbled as she looked back at Hana and Naruto. "Fine..." She said to her friend, grumbling the next word that came out of her mouth. "Meanie…"
~Elsewhere in Konoha~
Ibiki sat a small restaurant near the outskirts of Konoha. It wasn't his absolute favorite place to eat at, but they had good food and good service.
The scarred man looked across the table and glanced at both of the shinobi in front of him. One Kakashi Hatake, and one Yugao Uzuki. The two still had their uniforms on, but did not have their ANBU masks with them. Well, Yugao didn't have a mask on, but like always, Kakashi had his mouth and eye covered by another mask and his Hitai-ate.
"I should ask, but I think I've already got it figured out. " Ibiki said with a small smirk. Yugao and Kakashi had both asked him to join them for a somewhat late lunch. The minute they spoke to him without their masks on, he had suspicions of what was going on. Even in such a large village, word can travel quick when the right people are spoken to.
"Do you now?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly. He wouldn't have expected anything less than a man just as smart as Shikaku. "Then tell us what you've figured out."
"I overheard that you two made a bet with Naruto to chase him around the village. I also know that you were tasked by the Hokage to make sure that he stayed in his hospital room. He found out, and now he asked the two of you to take some time off so you were free for when he decides on your punishment for going against his orders." He told the two of them, getting Yugao to sigh and nod at the master interrogator.
"Yeah. We kind of asked you to join us for lunch so that we could stop thinking about what he'll do to us, but that's how it went." She explained. "Hokage-sama asked us to talk to him after he was done talking to everyone else, and told us to cash in our off-days so we'd be open whenever." She sighed once more. Kakashi nodded to this, but stayed quiet as he felt that he didn't need to say anything else.
Ibiki arched an eyebrow at the two of them. His eyebrow then lowered back to its original position, and the scarred man spoke again. "Well, I can take a good guess as to what he might do. It might not help you though, and just make it worse on the two of you."
"Shoot." Kakashi replied simply, Yugao nodded to her partner's response.
Ibiki leaned forward and got into a thinking pose. While he was almost always an unmovable stone wall that lacked emotions, he was a little less so around his friends. "You'll be taken off the force, most likely put in as a jonin instead, and probably given some secret and unspoken, but highly paid mission of guarding Naruto. That way, you'll have more leniency as people, and you won't be subject to being taken off of watching Naruto, only to be replaced by someone who doesn't share our views on the boy."
Yugao's eyes widened slightly, but noticeably. "That's… Pretty feasible." She said honestly. That sounded like something Hiruzen would do, especially in regards to protecting and watching over Naruto. And as much as she liked her mask, she could only do so much with the boy when she was on duty, which was all the time. Now, without the need for a mask, or ANBU clothing, she and Kakashi could help the boy out a lot more, without worry of breaking ANBU rules or anything. She could possibly teach him kenjutsu so he could be as good as his biological mother.
Suddenly, Ibiki picked his head up, suddenly alert for something and looked off in a seemingly random direction. Neither Kakashi nor Yugao knew what was going on with him, as they hadn't seen this before, but they didn't want to ask questions until after. They could hear Ibiki whisper a single word under his breath before quickly getting up out of his seat and rushing out of restaurant. That one word that he muttered under his breath was "Anko."
~Inuzuka compound~
At the Inuzuka compound, the clan matriarch was walking through the halls to get to her study. Like always, the rooms and hallways were as clean as humanly possible. It was rather odd how a clan so close to dogs had so many neat-freaks, including her daughter Hana and herself.
As she reached her destination, Tsume opened the door to the study and closed it behind her. Normally, she would have kept it open for Kuromaru as well, but he was sleeping at the moment, taking some rest from their recent mission.
The Inuzuka woman walked over to her desk quietly, opening one of the drawers and digging around in it. She swore that she had what she was looking for was inside her desk, but that didn't seem to be the case. As the search went on, Tsume began to become more frantic in her search. Eventually, she found the item she was looking for behind a picture of Hana, which was taken the day that she got her Ninken.
Tsume looked at the scroll now in her hands, but she didn't look at the contents inside. She knew very well what was inside, as it was engraved in her head from hours upon hours of reading over it. The scroll was of a dark blue color, and rather plain except for the swirling pattern keeping the scroll closed. As she looked at it, two voices appeared in her head, repeating the words that she had heard several years ago.
"It would be a benefit for all of us." The male voice echoed throughout her head.
"There's no obligation, but we ask that you at least hold onto it and look it over, even if you say no in the end." The female voice said, reminding her of two good friends that she had lost years before.
She had been tempted to sign the scroll so many times throughout the years, but she didn't want to do it because it would keep the two that were involved in the scroll's deal from seeing anyone else but each other. She had tried other methods to care for him, but they were all shut down.
Sarutobi didn't know about the scroll. If he did, then he probably would have been at least partially for signing it, if not totally against it and demanding it be handed over. The scroll, though, was as legitimate as it could get, and not even the current Hokage would have the ability to deny the authenticity of the document. It couldn't be destroyed either, as the seals on it kept it from withering, and suffering from the effects of Nature and jutsu.
Anko would have to see the scroll for herself and tell Tsume what she thought about it. There was a possibility that she would be on the same boat with Tsume, but there was also the possibility of her wanting for the Matriarch to sign the scroll.
"You're in charge of the kid now, so it isn't just my decision anymore…" She muttered to herself, looking up and at the door as she heard another door opening. It was rather quiet in the compound at the moment, and with the enhanced senses that all Inuzuka had, she was sure to pick up the sound of light chatter, a door opening, and several feet walking about. Opening the door, she was able to hear her daughter call out to her. Tsume smiled and began to walk back out into the main room, the scroll in her hands.
Anko and the others, a few minutes ago
Hana hadn't attempted to stop what she was doing, it was just too much fun, not to mention cute and adorable. It didn't seem that Kurenai or Anko minded, though, as neither of them talked to her about stopping what she was doing. Hearing that wonderful sound every time she did it was music to her enhanced ears.
It was true, Hana couldn't stop petting Naruto's whiskers.
Hearing him purr and watching him react to her wasn't something she could put into words, but she just loved the little, adorable boy in her arms. It was hard to hear that he was going through immunity training, as she knew it was difficult. People that had Inuzuka blood were born with an astounding immune system, so Immunity training wasn't as bad for them as it was for just about everyone else.
As much as she loved petting him, she knew that she couldn't do it in public. People would wonder what she was doing, and would also become infatuated with petting the boy's whiskers. She had to make sure that it never left the compound, however, she was planning on telling her mother about it, just to see how she would react.
She also had to make sure that it didn't leave the mouth of her little brother, the little blabber mouth and idiot.
The group walked on for a few more minutes before reaching the compound, and Kurenai held the door open so Hana could bring Naruto inside first. Hana nodded with a smile as she walked through the door, and looked around for her mother.
"Kaa-san?" She called out, walking over to one of the couches and sitting down, keeping the little boy in her arms as she continued to pet him.
Kurenai shut the door behind herself after Anko walked in, and the three waited for Tsume to enter the room. Anko and Kurenai were guests, and it wasn't right for them to wander around the compound unless given permission to do so. Clan compounds had a different set of rules than normal houses, and the two of them knew that.
Tsume entered the main room with a scroll in her hands. She looked around the room and spotted her daughter, Naruto, Anko, and Kurenai. Kurenai was watching Hana pet the unconscious Naruto, and Anko was looking around from where she was standing. Anko's head looked over in the direction of Tsume as the Inuzuka woman came into view. She had a calm, yet stern look on her face as she walked to the group. Anko knew that she wanted to know about Naruto and his condition, so she wanted to get that out of the way. Unfortunately, she was stopped by the youngest woman in the room, who smiled and called out to her mother again.
"Kaa-san! You have to try this!" She stopped petting Naruto for a momentand held the boy out to her mother. "He purrs when you pet him!"
Hana looked at her mother expectantly, who simply looked at her quizzically and as if Hana had grown a second head. She wasn't sure if this was a joke or not, and the Inuzuka matriarch slowly reached out to pet the boy's whiskers.
Much to her surprise, Naruto actually did purr like Hana said he would, and she was instantly hooked on petting him. It was an unexplainable feeling, but she couldn't stop petting the boy. She eventually had to stop because Hana pulled him away, almost like she wanted to keep the boy and pet him forever.
Little did they know, a little boy with brown messy hair was watching the entire thing, and even giggled at the sight at the boy purring. In an instant, he was gone from the scene, completely unnoticed.
After Tsume was done petting Naruto, the matriarch of the clan looked at Anko, and took a step away from the group. "Let's talk in my study. You can come too, Kurenai." She spoke as she walked away, getting the two women to follow her to the study, where all of the clan business was done and taken care of.
Once they were in the study, Tsume shut the door and looked at the two of them. "So…please explain to me why Naruto looked like the villagers had a piece of him." She said calmly, trying to keep the famous Inuzuka temper down for the moment.
Anko gave out a nervous smile, and Kurenai did the same, as she was also at fault for Naruto making his way into the Forest of Death.
"I kinda rushed his training…" Anko said sheepishly.
Tsume raised an eyebrow. "What kind of training?"
Anko sighed and looked down at the ground. "Immunity training…"
Tsume almost popped a blood vessel at what she had just heard. She knew what the boy held, and what his family line consisted of, but he was still too young and inexperienced to go through something as strenuous as immunity training. "You WHAT?!" She yelled at the younger woman. "He's six years old, Anko! You could have done anything other than Immunity training, and that is one of the worst ones aside from interrogation!" She growled and sighed, placing a hand over her face. "Honestly Anko, what the hell?" She ended somewhat quietly.
Anko sighed and growled in slight anger. "I know I fucked up, and it won't happen again. I don't need you people to keep telling me what I did wrong when I already know it myself!" She began to pace around the study. "I messed up. I get it. I rushed his training, yeah. Now shut up about it and move on! I wanted to get it out of the way by giving him small and almost harmless amounts, just enough for his body to identify and become immune." She stopped and sighed once more. "I'll stop and work on something else, happy now?" She knew that she messed up. She knew that it was a bad idea, and she didn't need for every person she came across to tell her what she already knew.
Tsume nodded. "Good." She then handed her the scroll that was in her hands. "Take a look at this when you have the time. Since you're watching over him now, it isn't just my decision anymore."
Anko took the scroll hesitantly, and noted the spiral that sealed the scroll. She didn't say anything, but nodded as she put the scroll away for now.
Kurenai only looked at the scroll for a short moment before Anko put it away, but she was still able to see the spiral that kept the scroll close. She said nothing as well, but spoke up for a moment to avoid the awkward silence. "So…Anko has graciously agreed to let me be Naruto's instructor when he becomes a genin and when I become a Jonin."
Tsume raised an eyebrow and looked at the pair curiously. "Oh? Do tell." She motioned for Kurenai and Anko to go on.
Anko sighed once more. "Yeah…After today, she has it set in stone that she won't be allowing me to be Naruto's instructor when he graduates." She then smiled slightly, nodding in agreement. "Though, it's probably for the best."
Tsume nodded as well. "I'd think so. Hey, I have a son about Naruto's age. They'll probably get along well too. Maybe they'll be teamed up later." She said with a grin.
"Yeah." Anko said in response. "Well, we have to get going, make sure that Naruto heals right…" She laughed sheepishly as she looked at Naruto, who was still under Hana's care. The Inuzuka girl didn't want to give Naruto up, it seemed, but she knew that the boy had to return home with his mother eventually. With a little trouble, Hana handed Naruto back to Kurenai. "Don't worry" Kurenai said with a smile, taking Naruto away from Hana. "When he wakes up and recovers, he can see his Angel again." The red-eyed woman laughed as she walked out of the house next to a laughing Anko, leaving Hana blushing as Tsume raised an eyebrow at the name.
Kurenai and Anko returned home with Naruto, only to see Ibiki at the door waiting for them. Anko simply sighed and began to tell the tale of the day's events.
~Omake – Nonstop nightmares. Effects of Anko's poisons.~
Naruto was running through the streets of Konoha as fast as his little legs could take him. It wasn't all that fast, as the poisons that were in his body were already affecting him on a physical level. His vision was already starting to get blurry, and his limbs were heavy. His thinking was also slowed, but he was still at least somewhat capable in his current form.
Earlier in the day, Naruto had been told by his adoptive mother that he was going to go through Immunity training, and what he had inside of him would be able to help him get through it faster than normal people. Of course, they both knew that she was referring to the fox, but neither felt like saying it out loud.
Anko wanted to make it interesting, though, and told Naruto to run while she chased him and threw senbon dipped in the various poisons. She ensured him that she had deadly accuracy, and wouldn't hit him anywhere dangerous.
With each passing second, Naruto's body became less and less responsive to his brain, moving on its own, and his vision was changing and distorting all of the time, making it difficult to stay in a straight line. However, he was able to make out the presence of Kurenai, and made an effort to get behind her. Rapid healing helped his body become immune faster, but it didn't make the process any less painful. Hopefully Kurenai could help him stay away from Anko…for a while.
Naruto felt himself being moved, but with his current situation, he wasn't sure if it was his body moving on its own, or if someone was moving him. Suddenly, he felt several sharp pains in his back, and when that happened, his vision returned, but the hallucinogens also kicked in at the same time.
Naruto believed that he could hear something, almost like a faded and distant bark, and the little boy looked up at one of the rooftops to see three dogs running and jumping around as if gravity didn't have a hold on them. To him, it was like they were flying.
"Flying puppies…" He muttered, trying to keep his head up. When he was let go from Kurenai's grasp, the little boy decided to follow the pups, trying to keep up with them while on the ground.
It was difficult, but he managed to keep his eyes on the pups, and followed them through the village, seeing many odd things as he walked around. Some people had off colored hair, or extremely large eyes, and some looked outright cartoony. Some people lacked faces, but he could tell that all of them were looking at him with distain and anger.
He tried his best to focus on the dogs, but the looks that he felt he was getting were starting to eat away at him. He couldn't escape the feeling of the village's anger this time, so he just had to endure it.
Eventually he reached the outskirts of the village, and many more odd things began to happen around him. Colors were changing, people were starting to become more distorted than before, and he felt immense pain, yet no pain at all, at the same time.
He was in the area where the training grounds were, and the pups that he was following were now on the ground in front of him, leading him to a vacant training ground.
Naruto had no idea where he was going, but he knew that he wanted to follow the pups and get to them. They seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place why he felt he had seen them before, or where he had seen them.
Naruto arrived at the training ground, which was surrounded by a tall fence that had multiple warning signs. Naruto, unable to read, having never really been properly taught, only knowing what he had been taught by those kind to him, or having learned on his own through great effort, and this was made harder in his current condition, couldn't read the signs, but he assumed that they were welcoming him into the training grounds.
Naruto watched as the pups crawled through a small opening at the bottom of the fence, and the boy followed them without care.
As soon as he walked through, the pups began to move faster, and it became harder for Naruto to keep up with them. The air around him was dangerous and dark, but also calming in an odd way. The forest that he was in was almost untouched by human hands. The animals here lived and hunted by themselves, growing and adapting to their dangerous homes appropriately. This was as natural as nature could get, with the exception of the main tree at the center which also acted as a tower.
Even away from all of the people, Naruto still felt the air of hatred surrounding him. Because there was hardly anything else for his young brain to focus on, it was eating away at him much quicker than in the village. It was starting to make him violently uncomfortable, and he just wished that his new mother, Anko, could come in and take away the pain.
"You'd like that, huh?" A familiar voice said, venom dripping from every word. "For me to just come on in, and save your ass like before. Learn to take care of yourself better, you little shit."
Naruto was sure he knew the voice, but he had never heard Anko say anything in that sort of tone with him. He was sure, though, that her words were filled with the same hatred and malice that the rest of the village had. He didn't like this, and he wanted it to stop.
"Stop?" The vision of Anko said with a laugh, appearing in front of Naruto with a look of hate. "It's too much fun to see the demon of Konoha cry like a baby, so why would we stop?"
Kurenai, Ibiki, Neko, and Inu all appeared, giving the boy similar looks of hate. He couldn't see Neko and Inu's faces, but he was sure that they felt the same way that the vision of Anko did.
"Do you really think we care about you? We're just making you comfortable so we can knock you back to the ground again and see you in pain. You killed so many people, and since you're just one monster, we'll hurt you ten times over for every person you killed."
Ibiki stepped up, giving Naruto a glare of hate that could be replicated by no other. "I was going to kill you and rip you apart when I saw you at Anko's house, but it would be much more painful for you to let you suffer by people you thought cared about you."
"You're an idiot, my dear godson. To even think that people would care about you. The Ichirakus only like you because you give them money, and the Hokage can't stand you." Kurenai spat out, looking at Naruto with a harsh expression. He was currently on the ground crying, surrounded by the hallucinations of the people he cared about.
Hiruzen Sarutobi moved the others aside, getting a good look at Naruto. "To think that I would actually care for filth like you. The only reason I do anything for you is to look good in front of everyone else, to make it seem like I am kind enough to like someone like you. You killed hundreds of my people, and the yondaime himself. Scum like you shouldn't exist."
Everyone took turns saying harsh, hurtful, and hateful things to Naruto, the boy turning into a sobbing mess. He didn't know that it was all a hallucination, and believed that everyone he thought cared for him actually didn't care for him at all. He thought that everyone turned on him, that he was truly alone in the world.
Nearby, a rather large panther with pitch black fur was able to hear the sobbing mess that was Naruto, and stalked over to the boy. It watched carefully as Naruto lay on the ground, crying and sobbing uncontrollably as he attempted to say something that the panther could not understand, just as Naruto was beginning pass out from the overload of emotional pain. The animal could feel the air of hurt and pain that Naruto was giving off, and stalked closer to him, keeping its eye on the human child. It had taken note of the extra presences in the area, and knew that it had to be quick, so that neither it nor the boy would be eaten or hurt.
The panther lowered its head and bit down on the collar of Naruto's jumpsuit, the boy being lighter than it expected the boy to be. The large cat picked its head back up, raising Naruto off of the ground by a good two feet. It then heard something whizzing through the air, and quickly dropped Naruto to run off. It had planned on going back for the boy once it was safe, but at the moment it had to hide.
Naruto felt that he was falling, but he had given up on life, and didn't care if he hit the ground or not. However, he never hit the ground like he expected to. Still, he didn't seem to care, and lay lifelessly in the arms of whoever was holding them. They were probably taking him somewhere where they could beat him up, and he didn't see the point of resisting. Suddenly, he felt at ease, and all of his troubles went away. He couldn't understand what this feeling was, but he liked it and enjoyed it. He even purred in the arms of the woman holding him, and he looked up at her only to see the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He smiled slightly, as he could see the woman's distinct red markings on her face. "Angel…" He said quietly before drifting into unconsciousness. All of his troubles were eased at the moment, and he didn't care what else happened around him.
~Omake – Gossip in Konoha. The whiskered boy that purrs!~
It had been a little more than a day since the young Kiba Inuzuka saw the blonde boy about his own age. He had never seen the boy before, but his features stood out to him. He had blonde hair that was certainly different then a Yamanaka's, three marks somewhat similar to his own that looked like whiskers, and he purred like a cat. The last one made Kiba laugh every time he thought about it, and he knew that he had to tell someone about it.
Kiba was with his friends at the Akamichi BBQ restaurant with his friends and an older Inuzuka clan member. The other member of his clan was there to 'watch over the kids', so they didn't get into trouble, and throughout the day they hadn't done much.
It was a little past noon, and the group would have been at the restaurant earlier if they hadn't been so caught up in the games that they played. For now, they were hungry, and the Older Inuzuka member offered to pay for the meals of the kids that didn't have any money on them.
As they all sat at the table, Kiba thought back to the blonde boy, and laughed again. He thought it was incredibly silly how a boy could purr like that, and he knew that he had to tell his friends about it, so they could laugh too.
"Hey guys!" He said excitedly, and rather loudly as well. "There was this kid at my house yesterday, and he purrs like a cat!" He laughed, and so did all of the other boys in the group, but the girls simply looked at him in curiosity, wanting to hear more about this adorable sounding boy.
Kiba picked up on the looks that he was getting, and smiled more. "Yeah, he had bright blonde hair and whiskers on his face! My sister was holding him and petting his face, making him purr!" He couldn't stop laughing. It was the most ridiculous thing to him, but the people around him didn't think quite like he did.
A few tables away, one Ino Yamanaka sat with her friends, discussing all of the things that they had heard from other people. Ino's eyes widened upon hearing about a purring boy from the other table, and stayed quiet in order to listen in. Apparently, he was with a woman in a tan jacket, and another woman with long hair and red eyes, possibly people he lived with or was friends with.
Ino then talked about this purring boy with her friends, and it seemed that some of them had actually seen the boy on the streets. He had bright blue eyes and a smile that never went away. They all agreed to spread this around, so that they could find this mysterious purring boy easier.
In another table a little ways away, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akamichi were talking to and eating across from one another. Beside them were their mothers, Yoshino and Ume respectively. The two older women were talking to each other about simple things, like what would they be cooking for dinner, how the family is, and how to keep your lazy-ass husband in line when he needs to be.
Both the boys and the mothers were able to overhear Kiba, and eventually Ino, talk about this fabled whiskered boy, and while Ume and Yoshino knew who they were talking about, they were relatively quiet about the subject, instead talking about his two mentioned companions, the one with the coat and the one with the eyes.
Shikamaru sighed, looking at his friend across the table. Choji looked back and stopped eating for just a moment. "Should we find this guy and help him?" Choji asked.
Shikamru sighed once more and nodded lazily. "Sure, Whatever."
~Later, at the Inuzuka compound~
Kiba walked back to the clan compound next to the other member of his clan, still thinking about the odd boy he had only seen for a moment.
As he walked into the compound, the first person he could see was his older sister, who had a leather belt in her hands, snapping it against her hand as she looked at him with a mad smirk.
"Word travels fast, little brother. And I'm sure the whole village is going to hear about my new coat once I tan your hide!" She dashed after him, giving him a little time to react so that it could be a fun chase for her.
This went on for quite a while, Hana chasing Kiba around the compound with the belt, lashing out at him with it whenever she got close enough. She could have easily caught him, but she stayed at her current pace to scare her brother, and to make sure that he didn't spread rumors around ever again. The twisted smirk on her face made sure of it.
Well everyone! That's a wrap for this chapter, and honestly, I don't think that I'll be making the time skips as frequent as I thought. There's just so much that's going to happen, and really, the next few chapters are going to be jam packed with stuff.
That's all because of my friend and Beta, Ogremen. He's helped me come up and shape so many ideas for this Fanfic and others that I'm working on, and I can't thank him enough. Because of him, this fic will be much longer and more thought out than I planned on it being. I suggest you check out his profile, because he's an awesome guy to talk and collaborate with, and he has great challenges that could sinspire some people.
Until next time!