lostmoonchild: I like reviews, oh I like reviews. Yeah, I know, it's Thursday here in South Dakota and some of you guys are probably going "What the heck?" but possibly not complaining. Sadly I gotta work tomorrow (again) and I don't want to update when I get home since it'll be: home, email, bed. On the bright side: you guys get the chapter early and I get to go to bed knowing that this week's update is done.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so don't sue.
Chapter Five
"Why the hell not?"
Tsunade gazed calmly at the obviously upset teenager, resisting the temptation to start some yelling of her own. "It's not that I don't think that you don't care." Tsunade told him. "It's just that I don't think that you'll want to stick around the village when rumors of Sasuke's whereabouts suddenly come up. If you take care of Hisoka then you can't very well leave her by herself and you sure as hell can't drag her along."
"I wasn't planning on it!" Naruto protested.
"Naruto, just let somebody more experienced take care of her. You're barely earning enough as a Chuunin to take care of yourself so how in the world are you going to handle raising a child that's going to need physical and mental therapy?" Tsunade asked. "Do you even know how much it costs to raise one child?"
"I'll manage!" Naruto argued. "Please! I know she's not going to do so great if I'm not the one taking care of her. Nobody else is gonna-"
"Naruto, that's enough. I know you want to take care of Hisoka but you're not ready to take care of a child." Tsunade leaned back in her chair with a weary expression. "I'm sorry but I have to say no."
He knew that she was right but still there was a burning desire to take care of the girl that so desperately needed him. "If no one wants her then can I take care of her?" Naruto asked with a defeated tone in his voice.
"You aren't going to sabotage the attempts of anybody that's going to take care of her, are you?" Tsunade questioned.
While he was tempted to say yes, Naruto knew he couldn't be selfish. Maybe there was somebody that could take care of her better than he could. Surely there was somebody in the world that could give her everything that she needed. A mom and dad, a bedroom to call her own, nice clothes… things that he couldn't give her. All he could really give her was love but that wouldn't put clothes on her back or make sure that she got all the help she needed. "No." Naruto replied after a few moments. "I can't do anything that'll result in her being hurt."
As Tsunade watched him leave her office, she couldn't help but wonder if the blonde that had just left really was the same loud brat that always made declarations of being Hokage someday. Maybe she should reconsider the whole topic but on the other hand it was even Kakashi's opinion that Naruto wasn't entirely ready for parenthood. Yes he had been at the hospital practically every day but Tsunade knew that sooner or later the blonde was going to want to hunt for Sasuke.
She reached for her sake and took a large swallow, closing her eyes as she felt the liquid burning as it went down. Sometimes this job sucked but she knew that somebody had to do it and she was just the poor idiot that got stuck with it.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
She wanted her Naruto but the people told her that she couldn't see him anymore. They said that he was a monster but she had seen monsters before and knew that Naruto wasn't a monster. Monsters didn't help little girls that were dying or comfort them when they were scared. Monsters just hurt people.
She was sent to live with different people whenever the people that were currently taking care of her got tired of having her around and each time they said that she'd never be able to see Naruto again. Not all of them called him a monster but each one of them always looked furious or hateful when he was mentioned. A few of them had even torn up and burned any picture that she drew of him so any pictures she had drawn of him where kept hidden from sight.
Hisoka stared silently at a wall, ignoring the knowledge that her pajamas were wet. If she woke up her current "caregivers" then she knew they'd start yelling at her for wetting the bed again. It wasn't natural, they claimed, for a girl that was five to be wetting the bed like some kind of baby.
Silently getting to her feet, Hisoka grabbed the sheets and pulled them off the mattress before shoving them into the hamper. "What in the hell are you doing?"
The girl flinched and drew back into a corner, watching as the person she was supposed to consider being an older brother pulled the sheets out and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "She wet the bed again!" The boy shouted.
She hated him with a passion and felt the tears gathering in her eyes when he began ruthlessly teasing her. Even though the people all said it had been three months since she had been released from the hospital, she could still remember seeing the softness in Naruto's eyes when he came in the middle of the night after getting a call from one of the nurses. He never teased her for wetting the bed. He just comforted her and cleaned her off while the nurses remade the bed. Then he sat with her until she fell asleep before he returned to his own home.
These people just took pleasure out of yelling at her and making fun of her when she did something. They hated it when she sucked her thumb or started hitting pillows. Everything she did was a mistake to them and she was almost too afraid to even leave her room, which was fine with them. She knew what she was to them and hated them for it.
She knew as they forcibly dressed her and shoved what few clothes she had into a bag that they were kicking her out. They'd tell Tsunade that she was a troublemaker and a thief and that they didn't want someone like her in their household. "We tried our best, Hokage-sama," they'd say, "but she needs special care that's beyond our means."
Then they'd leave and she'd be left alone with Tsunade while the older woman tried to find somewhere that she could stay for the night. When morning came the nightmare would begin all over again and there'd be nothing she could do to stop it.
Hisoka didn't bother paying attention as the lies were spoken to Tsunade, choosing instead to practice her counting and the few words Naruto had taught her to say with her hands. She had them down but it calmed her when she did whatever Naruto had originally taught her to do.
Suddenly there was the sound of wood breaking and Hisoka jumped, her eyes widening when she saw Tsunade's fist had broken through her desk and scattered papers everywhere. "You listen to me." Tsunade said, her voice dangerously calm. "I don't want to hear any more lies about Hisoka. I've been getting reports that she stays locked up in her room for most of the day and when she does leave her room, she just gets yelled at for things that are beyond her control then gets yelled at more when she starts sucking her thumb or wets the bed at night."
Immediately Hisoka's thumb went into her mouth and she began sucking rapidly as she listened to Tsunade yell. Her gray eyes flickered to the people that had brought her to the woman's office and saw that they looked shocked about their lies being revealed. "Now get out of my office!" Tsunade yelled.
The people immediately left and Hisoka pressed herself tighter against the wall when Tsunade's weary eyes fell on her. "I'm sorry." Tsunade apologized as she got up and knelt down in front of the girl, watching as she flinched away. "I couldn't let them say those idiotic lies and get away with it. Karasu!"
An ANBU member wearing a crow's mask appeared suddenly and bowed slightly to Tsunade. "Yes, Lady Hokage?" Karasu questioned.
"Get Uzumaki Naruto and tell him to come to my office. If he complains then tell him that I have an A-ranked mission for him of the utmost importance."
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
No sooner had the ANBU member left did Tsunade let out a sigh. "Let's just hope that Naruto's apartment is habitable for you." Tsunade told the little girl. "At least for the next week or two anyway because there's going to be lots of things he'll need to do."
Happiness soared in Hisoka's being at the realization that she would be able to stay with Naruto. No more being afraid of what would happen if she did something wrong and being told that he was a monster. She'd be able to stay with her Naruto since Tsunade said she could and what Tsunade said went!
A bright smile spread across Hisoka's face as she clapped happily to show her excitement. Tsunade smiled softly before eyeing the broken desk carefully. "I know I don't have to say this but if someone asks, I didn't do it." Tsunade told the girl. "Got it?"
Nodding, Hisoka bounced in place as she waited for Naruto to arrive so they could go to the one place she wanted to be at most. Home.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
An A-ranked mission? He could hardly believe his luck! He was only a Chuunin and was being issued a mission of this rank? Maybe Granny Tsunade was realizing his strength finally.
Naruto was thrilled as he rushed towards Tsunade's office, freezing when he saw the familiar little girl sitting near a corner. Her entire face lit up as she got to her feet and ran to him, jumping into his arms. "Hisoka!" Naruto exclaimed as he hugged the girl. "What are you doing here?"
"Her last 'caregivers' decided she was too much trouble." Tsunade informed the blonde. "So she's been waiting here for you to get your lazy butt here so she can go home with you."
Hold on a minute. Hisoka would be going home with him? Naruto stared at Tsunade as if trying to decide if she were playing some kind of cruel joke before jumping around with Hisoka in his arms. "But what about the mission?" Naruto questioned as realization suddenly hit him.
"You're holding your mission." Tsunade told him. "You are to take care of Hisoka for as long as needed. Every month you will be given an allowance to use on Hisoka's overall care and every week you will turn in reports that will contain any and all observations you've made."
"So I'm going to be taking care of Hisoka? What happened to me being unable to cause kids is expensive?" Naruto questioned. "I mean that's the main reason you didn't want me to take her in the first place."
"It's come to my attention that those that had been trusted to care for her have not been doing what they were being paid to do." Tsunade informed him. "Now do you think you can handle this or am I going to be forced to find somebody else?"
"I can do it. Believe it!" Naruto grinned brightly. "Come on, Hi-Hi, let's go home."
Home. She liked that word and as Naruto bent over to pick up her bag, she knew that it would be the one place where she never had to be afraid.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
He didn't know what compelled him to come back to this particular hideout. All Sasuke knew for certain was that something was telling him to check on the corpse of the little girl that had reminded him so much of the people he had left behind in Konoha. He personally hated her with a passion but some part of him wanted her to be his forever.
Sasuke frowned in irritation when he saw the door was hanging wide open and even before he stepped into the room he knew that the girl was gone. How had she escaped? When he had last seen her, the little brat was almost too weak to sit up on her own and was well on her way to becoming a corpse. How had she gotten enough strength to escape?
His dark eyes flickered to a wrapper lying on the ground and silently picked it up. His face showed even more anger when he recognized the brand and knew there was only one person that would eat such a disgusting flavor.
Crunching the wrapper in his tight fist, Sasuke turned and stormed out of the room determined to steal back what was rightfully his.
lostmoonchild: Beginning of the chapter I was pretty much "Noo! Naruto has to take care of her!" then my muse set things straight so I was like "Noo! Stop tormenting Hisoka!" so now I'm satisfied. Anyway, I'm gonna finish updating so it's bedtime for lostmoonchild so oyasumi and remember to leave a review please!