Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto. If I did I'd not have to spend time cleaning house or cooking meals. I could spend the day typing away on my comp. Of course you probably wouldn't be reading this either if I owned Naruto.
Chapter Two: His Return
It was his fifth year in his cave when the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen came for a visit. She'd stayed for a long time and yet it seemed she'd barely been there a moment. She'd spoken in a voice softer than a summer breeze yet louder than the ocean's roar. Her hair sparkled like moonlight on a calm river and her eyes shone with all the glory of the heaven he could never reach. He was lost in her. He didn't remember what she'd said or done but he felt her there. In his cave. His home. In her he found what he'd always wanted. What he'd tried so hard to get. She loved him. He knew she did. She valued him. For him. Not for his power but just for him. Tears fell unnoticed from eyes that had long since ceased to see anything. She comforted him. And when her visit was done he left the cave on shaky legs he'd never thought to use again. He didn't think about it. He didn't think about anything as his shuffling steps led him home. He knew he needed to go back. He wasn't done yet. There were more battles to fight. And whether he liked it or not it was why he was still here. No one else could fight those battles and win. Only he had the power. Only he could win the war.
He arrived at the gates of the village without a word. He stood there, a shaggy unkempt man in a tattered orange suit staring with empty blue eyes. The ninja on duty refused to let him in and so he'd gone to ground in the forest. And waited. She would take care of it. He knew she would. He trusted her. She'd said to go back and he had. Now he just had to wait for her to clear the way.
He slept. The season was warm and he slept the days away. People passed by and didn't see him. Animals came and dropped off food for him. Others brought him feathers, grasses and leaves. Slowly they brought enough to form a cover for his sleeping form and all that showed was his bright yellow hair. Trees, reeds and grasses sprouted from the seeds the animals brought and made an enclosure for him. A humble den of sorts. For a month he slept.
When he woke he approached the gate again and again he was denied entrance. He wandered back into the trees. He sat in his new den and waited. The sun set and rose and again he went to the gate. Again he was turned away. Day after day. He cared not. Every day he went and every day he came back here to wait for the next day.
Time passed and the air grew chilled. The wind blew through his tattered clothes that hung in strips but he didn't feel it. The fire inside blazed warm enough for him. In bare feet he walked to the gate. New guards turned him away and his feet passed over the snow without leaving a print. He watched through his stringy hair as the sun sparkle through the tree's bare, ice covered branches to dapple the snow with silvery lights. Every day he would walk in bare feet leaving no prints to the gate and every day they'd turn him away. He was getting tired of it but this was his life. She had said to go back and he was here but they wouldn't let him in. He would wait. Wait and eat the food his animal friends brought for him. She wanted him here so she would make it happen. He believed in her.
Then when the weather turned warm again, he'd come. The man with the mask. The man afraid to show his face. Afraid of being known. But he'd known him. He recognized his scent. Indeed he could never forget him. And the man knew him. As he'd turned away from the gate, the masked man had seen him and called out to him. Called him by name. He'd ignored him and kept walking. The guards had said no again. He went back to his blind. The masked man had followed. He'd known he did. The masked man found him sitting at the base of the tree eating what the animals had brought him. And he'd run away. He'd watched the man run off without interest. It didn't matter. She would take care of him.
Less than an hour later he was back with two others. A woman with a purple diamond on her head. A man with long white hair and red streaks on his cheeks. They'd talked to him for most of the day but to him it was just noise. He couldn't understand them. He didn't know what they were saying. The sun set and he laid down in his shelter to sleep. The woman and the men stayed with him. Not understanding why he didn't come with them they just watched him sleep.
Morning came and he awoke. He ignored the people in his blind. He stood and walked to the gate in his bare feet. They trailed behind him. Far enough back not to spook him but close enough to see where he went. He stood at the gate waiting. The guards again refused him entry and he turned away. The purple diamond lady stopped him. She put a hand on his arm and turned him around again. She said something in angry tones to the guards and they flinched and went pale. He tilted his head to the side but let her guide him through the gate.
Once inside he saw people-good people-freeze their activities as she propelled him where she wanted him to go. He walked docilely beside her with no real interest in where she was leading him. Until they got there. She led him to a building with a big red plus on the door. The smell of the place, as the masked man caused the doors to slide open, froze him in place. He knew this place and he didn't want to go back there anymore. The diamond woman tugged on his arm but he stood still. Rooted in place he stared with wide eyes at the area inside the doors.
He could hear them. It was like a buzzing in his ears but they made no sense to him. Just as he knew these were people he'd once known. However he couldn't think of their names. He knew they had names. But he no longer knew what they were. Finally she gave up and led him away.
She led him to another building and this time he gave no protest as she led him inside. There were more people-good people- inside here but he ignored them as he walked quietly beside the diamond woman and the men. He didn't see the looks of revulsion or pity on the faces of the people he passed. Nor did he notice the hall filling up behind them as they climbed the stairs. Finally they stopped before another door. Again the masked man opened the door and again he froze in place. The same smells came from behind that door as had come from the first place she'd taken him. He wouldn't go in there. He stood tall and firm. She tugged on one side while the man with the red face tugged on the other, both of them talking to him. He knew they were talking to him but the words were too quiet. He couldn't understand them. Just buzzing noise in his ears though he could hear the dismay in her voice. Their voices. He stood still not looking at anyone. Finally she led him to another room and let him go. He looked around and sighed.
It was the first sound they'd heard him make. Tsunade and Jiraiya both froze wondering if finally he had recognized something that didn't frighten him. Kakashi just wondered if he'd ever be normal again. Together the three watched as Naruto looked around the room. When he moved toward the window they got nervous in case he decided to jump but all he did was crouch down and sit on the floor under the window where he could look out at the sky. They watched him each lost in their own thoughts.
It was all Tsunade could do not to cry at the shell of the boy she cared for like a son. She had never given up hope of his return but she understood why he'd left. Every time she sent people out on a mission they were to look for him and try to bring him home. A few had brought back word of finding him but none had reported any luck in getting him to listen to them. Only Sakura had said he heard her. The rest weren't sure. All said he refused to answer them. He had only roared at them. Now she understood. She wondered just how much of him was still there and how she could bring him back. She had missed him so very much it never occurred to her that he wasn't somewhere inside the shaggy mess her eyes saw.
The day passed with the three of them just watching him. He didn't move all day. He just sat there under the window occasionally blinking his big blue eyes. Tsunade had other visitors to her office but Naruto ignored them all if he even noticed them. Some she sent out on missions but most she just dismissed as soon as they came in. All of them noticed him. Some recognized him but asked no questions while others wondered why there was a bum in the Hokage's office.
Sasuke came with Sakura and Sai. Seeing him, they known immediately who he was. He noticed them also. And apparently he recognized both, or at least one, of them just as quickly. They both tried to rush him. He didn't move a muscle but Tsunade saw the blue tint of chakra building up in his hand. She motioned for the others to cut them off and went to him herself. She knelt down in front of him and spoke soothingly to him. Slowly, as the two backed off, the chakra he'd been gathering faded away and he relaxed. Not that he hadn't looked relaxed before.
The masked man told the team to go find something else to do for a bit. He pushed them out the door, protesting all the way, and shut it on their heels. Sakura was still screaming about how he owed her an explanation. But Sasuke walked away with a puzzled look. He had never seen the Dobe so quiet. Something wasn't right here. Sai just smiled quietly and kept his opinion to himself as he went to find Yamato.
The sun faded from the sky and Naruto closed his eyes. He leaned his head back against the wall and dropped off into an uneasy slumber. While he slept Tsunade ran her medical checks and found that he was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration but was otherwise healthy. He was badly in need of a new outfit and a bath along with a haircut and general grooming but that was just outward stuff. Inside he was as healthy as any recluse could be that hadn't gone completely primal. But her scan only told about his physical health. It said nothing about his mind.