Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto), or Marvel (IT is owned by Stan Lee… or Disney… someone who isn't me anyway). So please don't sue me… Please?
"It looks like the children had a fishcake…"- Person Talking
'And ate it, too.'- Person Thinking
[YYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhhhh]- Specific noises
/Awesome Music Technique/- Techniques
:Line Break:- Line breaks
"What are you doing here?", shouted the high pitched voice of one of the kids.
"He's here to take us away…", whispered another fearfully.
"We haveta fight him!", shouted one brown skinned child.
"YEAH!" shouted the first one, "We're not gonna let you take us away, we'll fight you first!"
"What- No, I'm not here to take any of you away." Naruto spoke belatedly, attempting to admonish the children's unruliness.
"He's lying! He's gonna take us away, and he's gonna do awful things to us!"
"N-"
"He'll take us away and experiment on us in a lab somewhere!"
"St-"
"He's going to make us join the circus where other kids will laugh at us and throw food at us!"
"STOP IT! STOP SHOUTING!", screamed Naruto hypocritically.
When the children's terrified shouts, screams and wails had died off, Naruto tried to make sense of things.
"What the hel…heck are all of you doing in my bed?"
"Your bed?" , one of the boys answered, "This is our bed!"
Naruto clenched his fists in exasperation.
"NO this is MY bed!" he shouted back.
"WE FOUND IT FIRST, AND FINDERS-KEEPERS!" Shouted one of the boys again.
Stopping himself before he could shout 'Nuh-uh!' Naruto came to a painful realization. 'I am having a shouting contest with a group of nine-year olds…' he thought, rubbing a bit of maturity into his forehead.
He looked back up at the children with red, swollen, tired eyes.
"I am too tired for this. I am going to sleep. If you want to stick around, whatever, there should sheets in the bureau over there. If you don't stick around, also whatever, but right now, I am sleeping in my own damn bed." having said that, he collapsed back onto his sheets, pulling them around him despite the initial dampness.
"H-HEY!" shouted one of the boys again as Naruto pulled himself deeper into the covers.
'I'll deal with them in the morning.' Naruto thought, the whispers of the kids talking amongst themselves lulling him to sleep.
:Line Break:
Naruto woke with a groan, to the feel of grimy sheets and a weight on his chest. His eyes snapped open to observe the foreign weight in the form of a pink haired child lying on his chest.
'WHO THE HELL IS…Oh yeah,' Naruto thought, remembering that he still had kids in his hideout and that he hadn't been transported back home where a scantily clad Sakura gave him fruity drinks and Ramen, like his dream had told him, 'I still have to figure out what to do with these kids.'
Slowing trying to roll the girl off of him, Naruto's hand brushed up against another foreign object, that felt almost like the wood the bed was made of. 'But there isn't supposed to be anything there…' Naruto thought looking over at what his hand lay on.
Looking at it, it had the same brown, woodish coloring of the furniture, but seemed a lot smoother. The truly odd thing about it, however, wasn't the color, or the texture, but its nature, and it's location, coming out of the little girls back.
Scooting back off the bed, Naruto got a better look at the little pink-haired girl. There were similar growths of that brownish stuff all over her body. Her arms showed little spikes of it, her legs showed dull plates of it, and one side of her face was formed larger than the other. Getting the flashlight out of his desk drawer, Naruto looked at her companions, whom he found in a somewhat similar state. One looked as if he was a giant boulder, with appropriate human appendages and two sets of eyes, and the other he had originally confused for a giant dog, given the hair, claws and jaws, but now he could see that it was a boy, if for no other reason than size and shape.
'And I thought some of the clan techniques at home were crazy…' Naruto thought before shivering in slight disgust at a memory. 'Shino's still crazy though. Or at least creepy, with those bugs of his.'
Looking back at the girl of the group, Naruto saw vivid green eyes staring back up at him.
"Morning." Naruto said, nodding his head and speaking at a mostly reasonable tone.
The girls eyes bugged out and she burrowed deeper into the blankets, covering her head.
Naruto frowned at that, and moved closer to the bed.
"Hey, you don't have to worry, I'm not going to hurt you." He said, trying to placate the young girl. Her response was mumbled into the sheets.
"What?"
She took her head out of the sheets, her eyes clenched into a frown, and she said in a soft, nervous voice, "You don't have any clothes on.", before ducking her head beneath the sheets again.
Looking down, Naruto saw a sight that would scar any nine year old girl, and let off an embarrassed yelp, before making a bee-line for his dresser.
The two boys also in his bed jumped up at his scream and started scrambling about.
"What's wrong! Sarah, why were you screaming?"
'Damnit!' Naruto thought as he hastily pulled on a pair of underpants.
"I didn't scream, it was him!" Came the voice from under the covers, an arm poking out from the sheets in Naruto's scantily clad direction.
The four eyed rock kid and the dog-boy looked at him. "Then what were you screaming for?" Rock-boy asked.
Getting grew red as a cherry. "That's not important. Now just shut up, I just woke up and I don't want anymore shouting!" he shouted unnecessarily.
Quieting down, Naruto got out a few of what he thought were ration bars he had picked up at a store before his capture, passing those around, he had the three kids sit on the bed.
"Ok, we're gonna take this from the top." Naruto stared hard at the kids.
"First, who are you, starting with you mutt." Naruto said, pointing at the far left child.
The kid gave a growl, an actual growl surprisingly. "My NAME is Nick." He said in a whiny voice, offsetting the slightly intimidating growl.
Naruto nodded and then pointed at the middle figure. "And you?"
Still wrapped in the covers, the pink haired girl answered in a timid voice. "My name is Sarah."
"Ok," Naruto said nodding again before pointing at the final child. "And what's your name?"
The four eyed rock kid jumped up on the bed and started shouting at the top of his lungs, "I AM THE MIGHTY ONYXX, RULER OF THE WORLD AN-" before being knocked back down by Naruto.
"What did I just say about yelling?"
Four eyes glanced down ashamedly. "Sorry."
Naruto rubbed his head in frustration. "It's fine. But what did you say your name was?'
"THE M-" he started shouting before quieting due to a leer from Naruto. "My name is Onyxx."
"No it isn't."
"Shut up, Nick! It is too!"
"Your name is Sidney!"
"NO! It's ONYXX!"
"You're just mad cuz it's a girls name!"
"NO!"
"YEAH!"
"NUH-UH!"
"YUH-UH!"
"SHOUTING!" The children ceased their argument and turned to stare at the blond teen, and the bulging vein pulsing on his forehead.
"How is his forehead doing that?" Whispered Nick to Sarah, who could only shake her head in disbelief. Naruto took a few breaths to calm himself, and to make sure he didn't break his own no shouting rule.
"Now, I want you to tell me your name. Not a nickname, or some moniker, or even an anagram or whatever else. I just want your name."
Onyxx stared down at his feet for moment.
"Well?"
"…It's Sidney." The child said in a small voice.
"See how easy that was?" Naruto said before shaking his head, trying to beat down the oncoming headache. "Now, onto my next question."
"Wait," Interrupted the small girl of the group. "You haven't told us your name!"
A round of agreements later Naruto held up his hands. "Fine, fine, my name is Naruto. But now back to my questions." Looking over the group, he gave a nod when none of the kids interrupted him.
"Now, what are all of you doing down here? Don't all of you have families who'll miss you?"
Naruto only needed about a half a second to know that he fucked up with that line, as all of the now quiet children seemed to withdraw and grow sullen.
"What happened?" Naruto said looking at the kids. Unsurprisingly, it was Sidney who spoke up first.
"I'm an orphan, I never knew my parents. Ever since I was little, I've been shipped around from foster home to foster home, with no one ever wanting to keep me around."
Then Nick spoke up. "I knew my parents, but they died recently. And with how I look, there weren't too many people who wanted to take me in, and some people who were a lot less nice than that."
Naruto's eyes fell on Sarah in the silence that followed, but her eyes seemed entirely content with the blanket her hands were wrapped in. After another moment of silence, she said in a whisper, "I don't want to talk about it."
Naruto nodded his head, his own eyes now staring into his lap.
'Crap,' Naruto thought, 'I can't send them away if they have no place to go, but can I let them stay here?'
Thoughts raced in Naruto's head as he tried to figure out what to do.
Looking at the kid's faces though, his mind was made up.
'When I was their age, I at least had someplace to call home. I might be able to keep a home that well, but at least I can give them somewhere to sleep.'
"All right," Naruto said loudly, overcompensating to break the gloom that had settled over the troupe, "I decided that you all can stay here with me. But we are all going to have to share a bed for a few days until I can get you guys some of your own. From there…" Naruto paused as he struggled to find an idea. Finding none he continued. "I don't know, I'm kinda new at this, but we'll do something, ok?"
There was no response from the children for a second or two, before Nick spoke up, with the most pertinent and basic question he could think of.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why help us? You don't have to, and yesterday you didn't want to, so why?"
With a sigh, Naruto looked at the wolf-boy with eyes that had no place on a twelve-year old. "Because I know what it's like, to be how you guys are, and I won't have anyone else endure what I had to, not when I can help it."
"In the meantime, though," Naruto said in a chipper voice as he jumped to his feet, "Who wants lunch?"
:Line Break:
A week had passed since Naruto had taken the children in, and more than a few problems arose.
The first had been when Naruto tried to take them all out for lunch, only to be blocked out of the restaurant, even when he had money to pay. Originally he had thought that they were just trying not to serve him, but he had been there in the past with no hassle. Then he realized after a great many leers and glances towards the kids from the owner and the other customers, that it wasn't him that the owners were trying to keep out, but the children with him. At first it was demoralizing to see that the kids were going through life so similar to what he had endured in Konoha. But then when he thought about it, even he had people in Konoha who could help put a smile on his face. The Old Man, Teuchi and Ayame… and Iruka. All of them helped him when he needed them, and if he was going to help these kids, then he was going to have to be there for them!
Naruto escorted the kids back to the chamber, and then he went back up, stole the food he had wanted to buy, and left before the police ever even knew he was there, giving the kids the meal he had promised them, and punishing the man who stood in the way.
The second major problem that put a damper over all of them wasn't making sure the kids had furniture or things to do. That was easy. He could always go exploring with them whenever they got bored and with the stash of money he had saved up before he fought Spider-Man, he could easily afford small beds for each of them, and a small library of children's books for their comfortable rest and relaxation. Most of that money was burned up when he had to go and get new sheets, clothes, and equipment for lighting and maintaining their chamber, but the rest was still enough to cover luxury expenses.
No, the second main problem came one day after Naruto had broken another ATM when he had started getting low on cash. He stood on a rooftop, overlooking all of his pursuers when he saw a great white-blue light in the distance. Hopping over the building tops he finally saw the statue of the green lady standing on an island throwing off the white light out of her torch. 'Is this normal?' Naruto thought, observing the strange phenomenon. 'I haven't seen this before now, but is it like a celebration that comes once a year or something?' Taking a second to look down at the responses people were giving, mostly in the form of worried screams and scurrying Naruto drew the conclusion that it wasn't normal, and that he should take that opportunity to flee with his stolen goods.
The next day, when Naruto came to the surface, he was greeted with armed police on every corner. He stopped in front of a tv that was displaying the green lady and the white light and was actually speaking words he could understand, which seemed to be happening more and more.
Another day past and Naruto came to the surface again, intent on getting toiletries as his had all been used up in a massive toilet paper throwing contest. It was epic, but all the paper had gotten soggy, so here he was on a resupply run.
One of the first things he saw were men in black armor with guns on nearly every corner. Asking a passerby what they were doing there, she responded that they were there because of the Liberty Island incident, involving the damn muties.
'Well that means no runs to the ATM for awhile then.' Naruto thought, scampering around an armed patrol on his way back home.
A few days after that, yet another problem came to their attention.
He had been training his knife throwing with a wooden post as a target. Things had been going rather smoothly as Naruto re-accustomed himself with the different weights of each of his knives. Sarah had rushed in front of him as he was about to throw, with Nick chasing her in a high speed game of tag. After yelling at both of them for their recklessness, Naruto realized that even if the kids were to be better about their safety when it came to his training time and his knives, there would still be accidents and close calls, wont as kids were to forget things in their desire for entertainment.
So, reluctantly, Naruto began keeping his training regimen in the abandoned water treatment facility that he generally just used to get to street level.
'The only bonus is the extra space' Naruto had thought optimistically.
It was only a day after that episode before yet another problem had reared its head, this one caused by Naruto himself.
He had been going over his fight with the alleged Spider-Man, trying to find where he had gone wrong and what he could do better. Eventually his mind wandered back to the oddity that had happened after his fight had finished, at least it had to him, and right before he landed on the police car.
He remembered sticking to the wall by only his hand. He remembered channeling chakra through it at the time, and then once he had stopped he fell towards his impending injury.
So he had spent several fruitless hours trying to recreate the effect by trying to copy the amount of chakra he had in his arm at the time, and then doing a one armed pullup, thus signifying that his arm was in fact stuck to the wall. All of his tries were met with failure as his none-adhesive arm sliding down rough concrete.
After a few hours of that, Naruto grew so frustrated with his lack of progress that he pumped his arm full of chakra and slapped it against the concrete again.
The ensuing explosion launched him backwards twenty feet and straight into another wall.
Picking himself out of the Naruto shaped indentation he had made; he saw the crater in the concrete where he had slapped his arm. It was about 4 inches deep and 5 inches wide.
Staring into that whole, two thoughts competed for attention in Naruto's mind. The first was 'Ok, maybe a little less chakra next time.' And the second was 'If that was a slap, what could I have done with a punch?' As he made to stand, however, sharp pain emanating from his arm blotted out both of those.
He looked back down at his wrist and saw it was bruised already, and starting to swell. Holding his now broken wrist against his chest, he promised himself to try both punching with chakra, and to resume his climbing exercises.
Making his way downstairs, back to his home-base, Naruto smiled through his pain as he saw Sarah bouncing happily on her bed.
He didn't yet realize that the real problems for him and the children were just beginning.
AN
I know, I know, short chapter.
Even so, I needed to get a move on on my updates, so I shortened this chapter to get it out faster.
Let me know what you think or how much you missed me in a review!