7
Naruto's mind closed up. He hadn't expected the man to try again so soon. But then again, Tobi had been abusing him for years, even in this time period. What could he do? There was a knife at his throat. He couldn't move! His hands had been deftly tied behind him, to an iron ring that stuck out from the wall. He-!
Kit! Calm down. You are a ninja. Think about your situation. Kyuu said smoothly, letting only a hint of worry show through into her words.
Easy for you to say! He snapped, knowing it was low but unable to keep the words to himself. This has never happened when you were bonded with me. You couldn't feel it!
I know, but I don't want it to happen to you again! She replied. She would have spoken again, but was interrupted when Tobi spoke. Not that the disgusting man had even realized she'd been speaking to his victim.
"Did you think you could get away with it? With letting your new little friend stand up for you? You know he only did it because he doesn't know what you are, right? He doesn't know what a monster you are, that you are the shame of this village! I've heard your newest goal you've been spouting around the village: Hokage? Don't make me laugh! You will never be the Hokage. You're the little punching bag of the village, my own personal whore! I heard from a teacher that you only barely passed the academy exams. What was that? Your fourth try? You make me sick!"
Tobi went on along this same line of ranting before he realized that Naruto wasn't listening. "What have I told you, demon!" he hissed. He moved the hand that held the knife he held against Naruto's throat only to grasp the boy's neck tightly with his right hand. Naruto gagged. "You will listen when I am talking to you!" He punctuated this with a strong backhanded blow to his jaw. Naruto wavered in place slightly, but forced himself to stay upright. If there was anything Tobi hated more, it was when he had to pull the boy off the ground. It made no sense, as he abused the boy to the point that he fell to the ground more often than not.
Tobi slashed the knife in his left hand across Naruto's cheek, raising a thin line of blood. Then he ran the knife from the bottom of his new black shirt to the top, cutting the front of it neatly open. Naruto remembered the other reason he'd never bothered to get more expensive clothes in that moment. They were always ruined by the end of the week. Releasing Naruto's neck the man brought his fist to Naruto's stomach, punching him so hard his feet left the ground and he hit the wall behind him. He yelped as the iron ring his hands were tied to dug into the middle of his back.
Tobi showed the thin, carefully sharpened point of his knife to Naruto, holding it not centimeters from the gasping boy's right eye, reminding the boy of the position he'd held Mizuki in not two days earlier. Naruto froze all movements, even abandoning breathing, the moment he discerned the metallic glint in the darkness. Tobi chuckled, then, just as quickly as the new amusement had appeared, a familiar dark shadow passed his visage. He backhanded Naruto again, this time holding nothing back. Naruto's head jerked sharply to the side from the impact. He didn't manage to keep his feet this time, falling to his knees, only held completely off the ground by the cruel grip the rope held him in. he felt more than heard the pop of his left shoulder leaving the joint and he held in the whimper that rose to his lips.
He desperately reached for one of the kunai that hid in the sole of his shoes. He'd only just felt the handle of the small kunai when he was jerked by his dislocated shoulder to his feet, to meet the eyes of his captor. The man showed him a warped grin. It was then that Naruto realized the man was insane. This realization broke him out of his frightened trance.
I can't…Kyuu I won't let him touch me again. I don't want to be sent from the village, but I will if I have to.
I understand, Kit. Do it. Naruto nodded solemnly. He refused to bow down this time around. He desperately wanted to walk along with his friends and family again. He wanted to protect them like he couldn't the first time. But first and foremost came himself. Six years ago, he'd promised himself he would always look out for himself; not be stupid and selfless and suffer for things that weren't his fault. That had been the first time he'd beaten this very same man back. Of course, he hadn't killed him, but that was because he'd wanted to be Hokage. He'd wanted to kill him, believe it, but he'd been lucky the man hadn't reported him.
Naruto focused his chakra into his hands. He made the hand sign easily, as his arms had been tied together at the elbows. For a moment, Naruto reflected on how stupid the man had been not to bind his hands separately, but then he realized that the man thought he was a rookie ninja and that he couldn't harm any villagers. Well, the second was true…the first? Not so much.
He released the chakra in his hands, causing the rope to burn away quickly. Tobi stood in front of the boy, frozen in shock at the sudden burst of light the jutsu caused. Naruto was only glad that his young chakra system could handle the moderately hard jutsu. Seconds later, though, Tobi jolted into movement. He slashed his knife at his chest, foolishly assuming that he would still get his playtime, and not going for a kill mark.
Moving quickly, Naruto ducked under the slash and grabbed a kunai from the pouch at his leg. Swinging upwards with his fist, he punched the wrist that was holding the knife, causing Tobi to drop the blade into Naruto waiting hand. The blond threw the blade away, further into the now dark alley. He held his own kunai to his tormenter's throat. Knowing the danger, Tobi held still, but Naruto missed the man's right hand slipping under his shirt towards his belt in his fury at the man, which was quickly growing to overpower the adrenaline that pounded through his veins now that the switch in control had been made.
"If you know what is good for you, you will never touch me again. If you do, don't think I won't kill you without a moment's hesitation. The only, and I mean only, reason I haven't is because I have things I need to do and I can't be labeled as a traitor yet. You are a vile creature and don't deserve to live!" Tobi glared at him for another minute before Naruto saw the slight movement of the man's jaw. For a second, He thought that Tobi intended to speak, but when he opened him mouth, Tobi spat in his face.
In the moment the distraction lent, Tobi whipped another knife from his belt. He slashed it across Naruto's dislocated arm, immediately causing a deep flow of blood to begin to run from it. Naruto recovered quickly, however, stepping back and ducking under the man's next swing, not bothering to disarm the man, aiming for that sweet spot that would stop the monster from breathing ever again. He had warned the man, after all. He watched as if in slow motion as his kunai came ten inches of the man's throat. Eight inches. Five. Three…
The tip of his blade was stopped a hair's breadth away from piercing Tobi's throat. Naruto looked, almost stupidly, at his arm, seeing the hand that encircled his wrist gently keeping his death blow at bay. He followed from the hand, up the arm, and, finally, to the face of the one who stopped him. In the shadows of the alley, it took him a second, but Naruto recognized the figure to be his sensei. Not Kakashi, no. It was his other sensei. One of the three Sannin. The Toad Sage. Who had been a dead man up until two days ago.
Jiraiya smiled reassuredly at the blond, unknowing of the true relationship between them. Using his grip on Naruto's wrist, he maneuvered him to stand behind him and let go of his wrist. Naruto obediently stood down, sheathing his blade in his weapons pouch. From this perspective, Naruto could see the tight grip he held on Tobi's arm. The hand that held the knife was shaking from the effort of keeping it in hand. Naruto could see that Jiraiya was pressing his fingers into the muscles and tendons of the muscular arm and, as the white haired sannin clenched his grip harder around the man's arm, Tobi finally dropped the knife. Naruto smirked, which set Tobi off.
"Who are you? I demand to know why you have interfered! He just attacked me! He broke the law!" He said, more like shouted. His face was red, and slowly becoming a nice shade of purple. Looking around him, Naruto suddenly noted the presence of a second person, who, at the end of the alley, held a common street torch, lighting up the dark space. There was another figure next to them, but he couldn't see who they were past the bright light of the torch. At the sound of his sensei's voice, Naruto turned back to the main entertainment of the area.
Oh, don't get him wrong, sure he was almost just violated, but, think about it. He just almost killed the person who had tormented him for most of two decades and his dead sensei had saved him. No, he was over the main problem already.
"I don't really think it matters who I am. I just saved your ass from getting killed!" Ah, Jiraiya and his eloquent way of wording. "Now, kid, tell me what just happened."
At being addressed, Naruto started, but he grudgingly began to tell what had happened, summarizing what had gone on in the last twenty minutes or so.
"I was on my way home when this man attacked me again-"
"Wait! Again?" came a voice from behind him. He started again. He recognized the voice, but, why would they be here…together. He decided he would figure it out once they dealt with Tobi.
"Yes." He could see Jiraiya raise his eye at the nonchalance and sophisticated tone of his voice. Oops. He kept forgetting he was a kid. "I'm sure he was going to kill me this time, whether meaning to or not, which was why I decided to defend myself. You should have been close enough to hear my warning. I had reason in attacking. I would rather be alive and a traitor than dead."
Jiraiya nodded. "Understandable." He directed his next words at the man. "You realize that there are laws preventing villagers from harming ninja using the oath that they have taken against harming the villagers against them, don't you." He grinned. "They are fully allowed to defend themselves in such cases that the villager is in the wrong."
Naruto drew in a quick breath. He had never heard of this law. Granted, it made sense now that he thought about it, but still. He'd grown up, hearing that there was no such thing from the very people who had beaten him. Why should he think otherwise? He nearly seethed in anger. He'd taken all the beatings for nothing. He wouldn't have been named a traitor for defending himself against a single one of them.
The other voice spoke up reminding him of where he was and what was going on. "From what I see, you are fully in the wrong, Mr…"
As Tobi didn't deign to answer, just scowling at Jiraiya and the person speaking to him from the shadows. Naruto decided to answer for him.
"Miyazawa. His name is Tobi Miyazawa."
Jiraiya gave him a curious glance, then nodded. He pushed Naruto gently towards the other figure, who put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna take him to Sarutobi. We'll have him out of your hair in no time!" He grinned at the boy.
Naruto shook his head and stepped forward, shaking off the hand, although it had felt good for the contact. "I will go with you. I spoke with the third Hokage not long ago about this problem, and he'll want to know where I stand on it. I'm sure he will want to know how I am as well." He nodded his head at the figure behind him. "I'm sure she can tend to my injuries there as well." Naruto almost laughed at the expression of confusion on his teacher's face at that moment. "I need to talk to you three as well. Can you go ahead to his office? I need to do something. Privately." He added when they showed no signs of moving. To say he was amused when Jiraiya nodded and they left within the next minute (with Tobi screaming all the way, of course), was an understatement.
Once the alley was empty of all but him and a few piles of trash, Naruto walked out of it. He was beginning to get dizzy, but he easily hid that and walked smoothly despite the still twinging blows to his belly and back. He looked around. Seeing nothing, Naruto smiled. He knew he'd just felt Sasuke's chakra.
xXx
He sat back easily in his chair and looked out the large window to the left of his desk and sighed. It had been almost an hour since he'd left Naruto. It was nearly dark now and he wondered if the blond had made it home safely yet. He'd finished all his paperwork for the day and was only waiting for an important visit from his old students. Well, two of them, at least. He sighed.
The next moment, he had to keep himself from falling out of his chair at the sudden appearance of Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and a familiar man, probably a villager, who was being held firmly by Jiraiya and was shouting obscenities at the man. He stood up calmly, at least appearance-wise. Could they never walk through the door?
"What is the meaning of this?" Sarutobi asked firmly.
Jiraiya looked up apologetically, before knocking the man out and dropping him to the floor.
"Sorry, Gramps…"
"Why must everyone call me that?" He retorted irritably.
"Because we love you?" a tired voice from behind him sounded. He jerked around to pinpoint the source seeing none other than Naruto. However, before he could say anything about the lack of the use of doors, Naruto jumped from the windowsill to the floor and straightened fully, revealing the extent of his injuries to those in the room.
Naruto's left arm was completely drenched in blood and hung limply in the cradle of his other arm. His left cheek was in much the same condition, but the cut had already closed, leaving only the thin layer of dried blood. Nothing else was visible, but everyone in the room could see a twelve year old boy shouldn't have been able to stand in his condition.
Tsunade quickly went to his side and pulled him down into the couch that was against the wall on the right side of the room. Before she could start running diagnostic jutsu, however, Naruto listed the injuries off.
"Dislocated left shoulder, blood loss, two cracked ribs, one broken. No internal bleeding. Kyuu's closing up the rest of them now. You'll have to help her with the ribs, though." Before Tsunade could say a word, Naruto reached up with his right hand, grasped his shoulder, and rammed it back into place. All without as much as a whimper. Then the gash on his arm began steaming and healing right in front of their eyes.
There was silence in the office. Then…
"I thought it was him, Tsunade. It's Naruto!" Jiraiya cheered.
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up now." She shook her head and moved over Naruto so she could get to his chest. A green glow shone for a few minutes, and then, when she backed away, she wiped a bit of sweat her forehead. "They're healed, but you need to be careful..."
Naruto waved a hand to dismiss her usual speech about being easy on his injuries. He already had it memorized. "They will be back to regular strength in the morning. Like I said, Kyuu's working on it. But I was having trouble breathing, so I needed a quick fix."
"You know you're not helping their shock, Naruto. You obviously know them. Explain." Sarutobi gave him a long suffering look. Naruto grinned back at him.
"But it's fun to see all these people again." Seeing as how Sarutobi and Jiraiya had been dead in his time, it was more than nice to see them again. "Ah, well." He fixed Jiraiya and Tsunade with a piercing look. He sighed and started on revealing his identity to them.
"What do you see when you look at me?" He asked.
The two of them exchanged puzzled looks, but Jiraiya answered anyway.
"I see a smartass eleven or twelve year old little genin who's bloodied and beaten up. Why?"
Naruto smirked. "I'm a twenty-one year old seals-master, an ex-anbu captain, the nine-tailed fox container, and, finally, I was the only living user of the Toad Sage Techniques. Now I'm one of two." Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Oh, and let's not forget that you're my sensei."
Sarutobi looked like he couldn't figure out whether to laugh at his students' shock or stare in surprise at the list of titles Naruto had just called out. There was another lull of shock induced silence, then laughing broke out. Of course, it was Jiraiya.
"Stop telling lies, kid! Toad Sage Tech! Ha!" Naruto smiled grimly.
Kyuu, I think I've got enough for a small demonstration, haven't I? Think my body can handle it? He's got to see it to believe it, I think.
Yes, but only a little.
Right.
A split second later, he was behind Jiraiya (who'd been on the complete other side of the room, by the way) with his hand against the back of the man's neck. Jiraiya froze, then turned slowly to see Naruto with dark bags around the eyes. A clear sign of Sage Tech. Even Sarutobi was looking on amazedly.
"Who are you?" Tsunade asked, even though she'd already heard the answer to the question. He'd learned by now that it was just a reflexive question for people to use when they were shocked speechless. At least most of the time.
He turned and smiled at her.
"Uzumaki Naruto."