90 degrees
By Fancyspinner
For warnings and disclaimers see part 1. This chapter is really darned long and is still being written, so I'm splitting it in two. I understand that reading for long periods of time on a computer screen will hurt the eyes.
Note: Thanks to Sarla's "Inoichi Yamanaka" spelling correction.
Part 5: Arrangements and meetings (part A)
As Naruto slept and the Sandaime plotted, Gai was looking around his home in horror. It had seemed like such a great idea to have the Jinchuriki stay with him – and if he was going to have one child stay with him, why not 2? As he looked around his home, definitely not set up for children, the answer came to him in a slow realization. His house was a mess! Like many Shinobi, clutter just happened between missions. There wasn't really much time to keep up a home. He didn't have an apartment because this house had belonged to his parents and it was already fully paid for. In his eyes, that meant one less bill. He certainly had the room to keep the boys but he did not have enough furniture. Then there was his kitchen. He was an ok cook and very creative but would the food he ate be ok for a couple of growing boys?
"Hmm," he mused to himself. "I wonder if I beg Tenzo if he'd come and help me?" Gai could probably pay the kid. He nodded in satisfaction. First, he'd make sure Tenzo hadn't gone with Kakashi on his mission.
With the vague beginnings of a plan formed Gai cleaned and scrubbed as quietly as he could. He put away the food supplies he had dropped off before he'd gone to spy on the orphanage. Then he went and organized all the stuff that bastard Ibiki had put away.
Gai had thought the Jonin was beyond the prejudice of most of the village. It made him angry and sad to know that he could have misjudged someone so drastically. He hoped the man was in pain for at least 24 hours. Gai knew that even with a strong hot tea and some pain killers what he'd done would hurt every time the man tried to speak. The thought caused a very pleased smirk to flash on Gai's lips.
Gai kept an ear out for the Jinchuriki and when he heard only the steady breathing of the child, he quickly put away the medical supplies and cleaned up the blood. There was so much of it.
Finally, Gai lay down on a futon he dragged out of a closet and fell into an exhausted sleep.
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Dawn found Kurenai sitting in a hospital room with an orphan that apparently was too beneath the hospital staff to tend. How had things become so out of hand in Konoha? After the sacrifice of the Yondaime, it became ok to torment a child. Now, apparently, it was ok to deny medical attention to those without family? It was more than Kurenai could comprehend.
Konoha had been founded on different ideals than those of the other hidden villages. Its founders had believed that working in partnership with the civilian population, Konoha would have the ability to better meet the needs of everyone. It had been true through the reign of the Yondaime. Now, she wasn't so certain. Sharp divisions seemed to be cropping up and the civilian population seemed to be taking over. There seemed to be less working together and more looking out for one's own interests.
A tiny whimper snapped her focus back to the child on the bed.
"Lee. You're in the hospital." She made her voice soft and comforting.
"Naruto?" Lee sounded upset and Kurenai did her best to put his fears to rest.
"Naruto is with Gai and he is safe."
"Safe." Lee sighed and drifted back to sleep.
The Medic-nin had done good work, once she had persuaded the older woman who had looked down her long nose at the child.
"You are a medic and your job is to provide the best care possible. If you are not able to do that I will have you replaced."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.
"Hey Kurenai."
"Anko?" She blinked at the quiet young woman before her. She was actually dressed in subdued colors and wasn't yelling or using a new and creative way to enter a room.
"Yeah, Ibiki sent me to check up on everyone."
Kurenai snickered.
"Oh?"
"So, where's the Jinchuriki? I was there last night Kurenai."
"He … his healing is like nothing I've ever seen. I couldn't heal this one though we all tried. Even that lazy copy-nin."
Kurenai smothered her grin at the light blush that touched Anko's cheeks.
"Ah he's not lazy, Kurenai! He just doesn't have any connections. If it hadn't been for you Ibiki and … even Gai… I'd probably be as, apathetic as he is."
"We all know loss, Anko. He's choosing to live in the past."
"He's out on a mission as of today so all of this is just talk." Anko waved the entire conversation off with the flick of a hand.
"How was Ibiki bright and early this morning?"
Anko snorted out a laugh. He was quiet.
"If he and Gai are going to be seeing a lot of each other maybe you should go talk to him?"
"why me?" Anko wined.
"Because he likes your youthful spirit! he also knows you wouldn't allow harm to come to Naruto. Ibiki has lost his trust."
"Pathetic, I tell you. Ok, I'll try to pound some kind of rational thought into the Green beast's head."
The two women exchanged grins then burst into peals of laughter.
"Oh and Anko-chan?"
"Yea?"
"Get some real rest. If you want you can stay with me. You know where everything is. Asuma sent me a message that he was going to be busy so I don't know how much of him I'll be seeing."
"thanks Kurenai. I'll give it some thought. Let me see if I can catch Gai before he takes it into his head to train or something."
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Naruto woke and didn't know where he was. Everything was all mixed up in his head. The first thing he became aware of was that he actually felt warm. That meant that he had enough blankets for once in his life. The next thing he became aware of was that he was laying on something soft. His bed in the orphanage was lumpy and not at all soft. Then the memories came. He remembered Lee coming to talk with him and giving him food that wasn't bad. He remembered taking Lee to his room so that no one would be mad. Then the people had come and hurt them. It got confusing after that. He remembered a man taking them away and then a lady trying to fix him and Lee. There had been another man with only one eye.
He crept out of the blankets. He folded them as best as he could. They were really big and hard to pick up but he would do his best. He remembered the bathroom where Gai-san had taken him. Naruto smiled once he remembered the name. He went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up. He wondered where Gai-San was sleeping. He went to the room where he had been fixed last night and spotted Gai-san on a bed that looked like the one he had used at the orphanage, only it looked more comfortable.
Naruto walked over to a pile of big pillows and sat down to wait for Gai-san to wake.
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The instant Naruto entered the room Gai woke up. He didn't move because he wanted to see how the child acted when he believed he was not watched. He heard the child move over to the cushions he had for visitors to sit. He watched in some amusement as the boy clambered up and then scooted over to the wall. Then the humor faded as he watched the little boy make himself as small as possible, and sit there.
Gai was pretty sure he could wait out a 4 year old child. After a few minutes had past Naruto stood up on the cushions and began to walk on them along the wall. He tapped on the wall. Then he walked a little more and tapped on the wall again. Then he giggled.
Gai figured it was time he got up. He just had to do it without frightening Naruto. He moved as quickly and quietly as he could and was pretty certain Naruto had not noticed as he was still playing some kind of game with the wall.
"Naruto." He called as softly as he could.
Naruto was now leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.
"Naruto!" Gai called louder this time.
Naruto turned slowly to look at him.
"Gai-San?"
Gai smiled.
"Very good for remembering my name, Naruto. I need you to come down from there now. We have many things to do today.
Naruto quickly jumped down. It wasn't high at all but with Naruto's undernourished condition it was harder for the little boy to get down than it should have been.
Gai was eccentric so his home was less traditional than most. Being that he was generally off on missions his home lacked any sort of garden or plants. It was all pretty bland.
The tap on his front door had him tensing. He scooped up Naruto suddenly realizing that the little one had lost his towel somewhere along the line. Then memory hit him and he felt utterly stupid.
"By Kami, Gai. You are not as absent minded as you pretend." He griped to himself.
"Naruto, stay right here." He ran into the other room and grabbed the towel he had used to protect the boy's modesty and dropped it over him yelling to give him a minute to whoever was at the door.
He ran into his kitchen and snatched up the storage scroll Ibiki had given him last night. Tapping the main seal it opened and Gai grabbed up a package that read daywear and ran back to where Naruto lay.
"Ok, Naruto. We have company so I'm going to help you get dressed. We're going to do it very quickly.""
Gai discovered that Naruto was very good at dressing himself and faster than he would have thought possible, Naruto was ready to face the day. He looked cute. He was wearing Black pants and a Blue shirt with a pair of sandals. He slid the pair of sandals off Naruto's feet until it was time to go. The material was high quality and was very much like what was used to make Anbu clothing.
"Enter," Gai said trying to sound very relaxed and not as if he had been running all over the house trying to dress one little boy.
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Outside of Maito Gai's front door Mitarashi Anko wondered what was going on. Gai never kept someone waiting outside. She wondered if caring for a child would be too much for the Taijutsu Master. Anko was very proud of her self control at not just kicking in the door.
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"It's breakfast time, Naruto. Come sit here. He guided Naruto over to a small table and had the little boy sit. Then Gai went into the kitchen to figure out what to give the little boy to eat.
Gai decided on simple and cut up some fruit and then put a pot of Miso soup to warm. Hoping Naruto could drink out of a cup, he gave him some water. Gai hoped the water would help him gain some weight.
"Here, eat this for right now."
Then he heard footsteps and turned slowly, doing his best not to frighten the child, who had fallen on the fruit as though he had not eaten in days.
"Gai, is everything ok?"
"Anko, it is good to see you! This is Naruto. Naruto, this is Anko. She is a Jonin like me and she is a friend, ok?"
Naruto nodded.
"I was just making some breakfast for Naruto. Did you need something?"
Gai went back to his kitchen and stirred the pot on the stove. He noticed that Anko was following him.
"Gai, I was asked to come talk with you."
"Oh," he found himself wondering how long her calm façade would last.
"I saw Kurenai and the other little boy at the hospital. He'll heal up just fine."
Gai acknowledged her words even as he reached up and grabbed a couple of soup bowls and poured some of the soup into each bowl. The bowls were one of the few things he had left from his mother. They were clear thick glass and easy for little fingers to grasp.
"Want some?"
She shook her head.
"got any dumplings?"
"no dumplings today, sorry."
They walked back towards the other room where Naruto waited quietly. Gai placed the bowl next to the child and nodded for him to drink it. A sweet little smile flashed over Naruto's face and Gai and Anko exchanged looks and nods.
"I know you didn't just come to talk about your meeting with Kurenai?" He allowed his statement to turn into a question.
He sat protectively next to Naruto and began to drink his own soup.
"No, Kurenai told me what happened between you and Ibiki."
Gai couldn't quite keep himself from tensing up.
"And." His voice fell flatly into the space between them.
"Will you tell me what happened?"
"He showed up with a couple of storage scrolls and said the hokage had sent him and that Asuma was busy. Then he implied," Gai's eyes flickered to Naruto, "well, we had a disagreement."
He watched as Anko fidgeted in her seat. Then she took a Kunai out from somewhere and began to spin it rapidly on the tip of one finger. Gai winced. That was a sign of extreme restlessness on Anko's part.
"Look, Anko I just lost my temper a bit. I thought he was different. He always seemed to really look at things for what they were. Guess I was wrong. You can tell Kurenai that I will be able to work with Morino and Yamanaka and I won't make a scene.""
"Gai, what is Ibiki's job?"
"Huh?"
She suddenly launched herself across the space between them and punched him on the head. Naruto suddenly moved between them trying to push at her yelling "noooo!" at the top of his lungs.
Gai scooped the flailing boy into his arms.
"Oh Naruto its ok, girls are very strange they do that a lot.
Naruto had wrapped himself around Gai and was sniffling and mumbling to himself.
"Bad, demon, bad, bad."
"Shh! Shh!"
Anko was looking horrified though if it was because she could hear Naruto's broken words or because of the unexpected protectiveness the child had shown, Gai didn't know. He suddenly got up.
"Anko, I need to see the Sandaime now. After that, I think I'm going to introduce Naruto to a treat and then I'm going to go visit Lee. Can you please," he waved around at the dishes, "Put this in the kitchen for me and I'll wash them up later. Sorry about this."
"Ok and uh, I'll lock up too."
Gai hurried into his bed chamber and set Naruto down on to the bed.
"I'm going to get dressed so I need you to stay right here."
Gai quickly slid into one of his green suits. Then he ran into the bathroom for his morning ablutions and was ready to go.
"Naruto, we are going to see the Hokage to talk about where you will be living, ok?"
Naruto quietly got up. Gai took his hand and led him out the front door making sure that Naruto put his sandals on. It occurred to him, only when they were most of the way to the hokage tower that he probably should have cleaned up Naruto's face. He stopped and wandered over to a rammin stand and asked the proprietor if he could borrow a warm damp towel to wipe up Naruto's face. The old man looked at Naruto for a long moment, then he smiled.
"My name is teuchi. Ichiraku's makes the best Ramen in the entire elemental nations!"
Gai smiled.
"Here you go," Teuchi continued less than a minute later, "this should do the trick for the young man."
Gai's smile got wider and he gently wiped Naruto's face clean.
"Why don't you bring the young man over when your business is complete. He might like to try some of my Ramen."
"I was going to introduce him to a treat later today; ramen might just be the thing."
TBC:
A/N: there are some very interesting cites on Japanese customs. I read that Japanese believe that water will make you fat so considering that Naruto is very under weight Gai gives him water.