lostmoonchild: Thanks for the reviews! More questions will be raised than laid to rest although the next chapter lays to rest a question or two. So here's this week's chapter and I hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so don't sue.
Chapter Eleven
He had thought it would be safe to assume that he'd be able to sleep all night but as Naruto darted towards the Hokage Tower, he knew different. Somebody had broken into the apartment and had taken Hisoka only to have Neji rescue her. Was he really going to have to place traps around the windows and door just to prevent anybody from taking her? Why in the hell did he have to be such a heavy sleeper?
Naruto darted into Tsunade's office, his blue eyes wide as his chest rose and fell. He could see Hisoka wide awake and carefully examining Neji's eyes with the same fascination that she had held for Hinata. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he carefully checked the girl over for any injuries. "Who did it? I'm going to shove my foot-"
"Naruto."
The blonde looked at Tsunade and saw the seriousness in her eyes. "What? I'm glad that Hisoka's safe but I'm still going to shove-"
"It was the Uchiha." Neji said with a small frown. "He placed a jutsu over Hisoka to ensure that she wouldn't awaken and thought that he'd be able to escape Konoha with her without anybody noticing. Unfortunately for him I did notice and I was able to retrieve Hisoka."
Fear showed in the girl's eyes as she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, her fingers tangling themselves in his blonde hair. "So what? Is he caught or what happened?" Naruto asked as he put an arm around Hisoka as if trying to protect her.
"He escaped." Neji replied.
"We already have hunter-nin going after him as we speak but we need to determine what the best way to protect Hisoka is." Tsunade told him. "Uchiha already knows full well that she's in Konoha. She needs to be moved."
"You're kicking her out just because the bastard decided to make a kidnapping attempt? That's bullshit!" Naruto shouted.
"Shut up and listen for one minute!" Tsunade shouted at the blonde, her eyes showing irritation. "I didn't say we're kicking her out. I said that Uchiha knows she's in Konoha. If we move her to another location for a week or so then that'll give us time to determine a plan of action."
Where would they move her? Hisoka looked at Naruto and saw that he didn't look overly pleased at the idea and that he was wondering the same thing. "Where exactly were you thinking of hiding her?" Naruto asked carefully.
"Suna. I've already sent the request to Lord Kazekage-"
"So she's going to be there by herself? I don't think so."
"Good, because I don't think so either. You're due for a vacation anyway so it'd be good for you to get out of Konoha for a couple of weeks."
If he didn't know better, Naruto would have sworn that Tsunade just wanted him out of her hair due to the knowledge he'd be constantly worrying about the little girl. "Nothing hurts, does it?" Naruto asked Hisoka, watching as she shook her head. "You're okay?" She nodded and grinned at him. He knew from the look in her eyes that she was okay physically but emotionally she was terrified. Why did Sasuke hate her so much? Had she done something wrong to make him hate her enough that he didn't want her to be with Naruto?
The blonde inwardly sighed as he watched the questions cross through the girl's eyes, wondering how he could give her the answers that he didn't have. "While we're waiting for Lord Kazekage's response," Tsunade said patiently, "I want to have Hisoka's chakra system examined carefully. Naruto, you'll need to help and that's not a request."
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Seeing both Neji and Hinata with their activated Byakugan brought back memories of the Chuunin Exams though he was grateful neither one was fighting. He just wished that there was no reason for them to even think about looking at Hisoka's chakra system. "When they get a good glimpse of her chakra," Tsunade told the blonde, "direct your chakra towards her."
If her suspicions were right, it would be the Kyuubi's chakra that would go to the girl instead of Naruto's own chakra. When that happened, the demon's chakra would settle itself along the edges of her chakra system and in the points giving her the means to use the Bijuu's chakra as her own. Of course if her suspicions were right then she'd be forced to alert the council as well as the other Kages. When that happened, the fate of an innocent child would rest with them all.
"We see her chakra system."
"Naruto."
Hisoka stared at the four adults, her eyes wide as she felt a comforting sensation moving through her. There was confusion on Naruto's face as if he was feeling something completely different but when she looked at Hinata and Neji, she could see the confusion on their faces. What was wrong? Why did they look so confused? "Its charka's moving through her body." Neji reported, managing to regain his composure.
"L-Looks like it's settling along her chakra points."
Damn it. She was hoping that the girl wasn't what she thought. "Okay, you all can stop." Tsunade said with a sigh. "Naruto, I'll need to do a few more tests until Lord Kazekage's reply comes. I want you and Hisoka to meet me at the hospital tomorrow afternoon."
Hisoka sat down on the floor and gave Naruto a questioning look. She didn't feel bad anymore so why did they look so worried? "C'mon, Hisoka-chan. Let's go home." Naruto scooped the little girl up into his arms, holding her close to his chest.
Tsunade watched as the girl wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and rested her head on his shoulders. How was this even possible? They had all died years ago during the Third Great Shinobi War so how could this child even exist? Everything connected to that family other than the Bijuu had been destroyed so how was it even possible. "Hisoka-chan, I need to ask you a very important question." Tsunade told the girl. "Do you remember your parents?"
A frown appeared on the girl's face as she slowly shook her head. "You've always been with Orochimaru then?" Tsunade pressed.
Again Hisoka shook her head. "Tornados in the water." Hisoka signed slowly. "I remember those."
"Tornados in the water?" Tsunade repeated. Was it possible she was talking about whirlpools? The only place she could immediately think of that had whirlpools had been destroyed.
"Whirlpools." Neji told the girl. "That's what they're called."
Hisoka frowned slightly as she tried to remember, trying to determine if she had ever seen the sign. No, she didn't think she had ever seen the sign for whirlpools so she'd have to look as soon as she could. "Who took care of you?" Tsunade asked.
Small shoulders moved up and down as Hisoka shook her head. No one had been with her so she didn't know if anybody had been there. She had been on her own for a little while before…
A chill went through the girl's body at the memory. They had been the first people she had ever seen before and they had taken her away from the others. Then they started hurting her and whenever Sasuke looked at her, it was always with hate. It was as if he knew something that she didn't know and now they were looking nervously at her. "Can we go home now?" Hisoka asked Naruto. "I want to go home."
"Can this wait until tomorrow, Granny Tsunade?" Naruto questioned. "It's late and I'm sure Hisoka-chan's tired."
Tsunade nodded slightly at the teenager, seeing the determination in his blue eyes. Something told her that Hisoka wasn't even aware of what was going on or even that she was different. Absorbing Kyuubi's chakra was nothing more than a subconscious reaction on her part so perhaps there wouldn't be any harm. She'd just need to make sure that the two were carefully watched still. "Goodnight." Tsunade told them.
Hisoka waved slightly to them before closing her eyes as she tightened her legs around Naruto's waist. "Back." Naruto told her.
As soon as the girl scrambled onto his back, the blonde grinned at them before leaving the room and darting from rooftop to rooftop heading towards the safety of their apartment.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
There were others in the strange tubes, their arms folded across their chests and their legs carefully tucked up and beneath their arms. Most of them were floating in the liquid, their skin tightly drawn over their skeletons while one of them lay on the ground with empty eyes staring ahead.
Hisoka was silent as she looked back at her tube, seeing the liquid was spreading across the floor. The air was cold but her eyes never left the others, something telling her that they were all failures. She was an unwanted success and nobody could make her go away. Everything that they had all been put in those tubes to do were now up to her to finish.
Shivering slightly, the girl grabbed onto a table and pulled herself up, her legs shaking as they were used for the first time. She didn't want to fall down and as she at the pictures that were etched onto the tubes; she felt a pang of sadness when she realized that her tube had no pictures.
Why was she there? What was she? Was there anybody around here? Taking a shaky step, Hisoka collapsed to the ground with small pants leaving her lips. No one was going to come for her. Something was calling her, pleading for her to hurry towards them. She was wanted and even desired. Something somewhere wanted her and she would find who or what it was.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Kyuubi raised his head, as he felt a little more of his chakra being taken. It was becoming an almost constant thing now that his host had a kit around. He wondered for a moment if he should warn his host what exactly the kit was, deciding ultimately that his idiot host would find out in good time. He didn't even think that the kit understood what was going on or even why his chakra was entering her body.
It was almost amusing to watch the humans realize that the kit needed demonic chakra in order to even hope to function properly. It had taken them long enough to put the kit with his host after she had first been brought into the village. He had almost been afraid that the kit would die in her sleep from the deficiency.
He had seen from his blonde host's eyes that the old woman had known almost immediately what the girl was but was still trying to deny everything. She realized, Kyuubi knew, that she was holding the girl's life in her hands. If the girl, the last wall of protection the Bijuu had, died then he and the others would be screwed. By no means was the kit to die or he'd personally make sure that all hell broke loose.
Deciding to just sit back and wait to see if anybody would tell Naruto, Kyuubi rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes. The girl would bring no harm to his idiot host and he found himself hoping that the foolish creatures known as humans would realize that neither he nor Naruto would allow any harm to befall what was rightfully theirs. Even the Uchiha would pay for attempting to steal the kit regardless of his intentions.
With images of making the Uchiha suffer horribly playing in his mind, Kyuubi allowed himself to start dozing into a peaceful sleep.
lostmoonchild: Now my gut says that there's going to be hell to pay sooner or later but my muse is keeping quiet about it to me. Hopefully we'll find out what's going on cause at the moment I don't have any idea until the story's written down. Next Friday's my day off (yay) so you'll get to find out what exactly Tsunade knows. Read and review, ja ne!