"From now on, this will be your new home." To Naruto's disappointment, the one who led her to the orphanage had been the bird-masked ANBU. In all honesty, Naruto's impression of this ANBU was the lowest. However, he tried not to let his true feelings show.
"Thank, bird-san! Bye bye!" Adopting an idiotically happy grin, Naruto cheerily waved goodbye to the bird-masked ANBU even as he secretly wished that they would never cross paths again. As the ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves, Naruto braced himself as he opened the doors of what would be his new residence.
Despite it being late in the night, the adults were wide awake and running about as they tried to settle the children down. Undoubtedly, the earlier chakra surge had frightened the children which resulted in the current mayhem.
"Erm…" Naruto was not sure of what to do as he awkwardly stood at the entrance, watching everyone busying around. While Naruto could just walk up and take whatever available room, Minato had insisted on Naruto observing a polite attitude. Thus, Naruto could only stand at the doorway helplessly while waiting for someone to notice him.
Finally, someone did, as a lady who looked to be somewhere in her early 20s approached him.
"Hey there!" The girl, who definitely was someone experienced in handling little kids, gently greeted. "My name is Satoshi, what's your name little boy?"
Still adopting the same idiotic grin, Naruto cheerily replied. "Hey! I'm Naruto! I'm new to the village and Hokage-sama arranged for me to live here since I'm an orphan!"
Hearing Naruto's surprisingly articulate speech for a kid who appeared barely five, Satoshi was surprised, which in turn caused Naruto to raise his eyebrows. No one had seemed to find the way he spoke weird earlier so Naruto naturally assumed that he had been perfectly playing the role of a child. Apparently Naruto was the only who thought so.
Snapping herself back together, Satoshi replaced her expression with a smile. "What a smart boy you are. Follow me, Naruto-kun. I'll take you to your new room!" Satoshi seemed to be in a hurry as she hastily moved to lead Naruto to his new room. The orphanage did not seem too big from the outside, however upon entering his new room, Naruto found that his room was rather comfortable and spacious.
The room was simply furnished- with only a desk and bed. However, Naruto was a low-maintenance kind of person so the bare necessities was all that he needed. Before Naruto could thank Satoshi for leading him to his room, she had disappeared off to who knows where.
Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto closed the door and settled himself on his bed. Now that he was alone to himself, Naruto could finally relax for the first time in what seemed like forever. Adjusting himself into a comfortable position, Naruto receded into his mindscape. As Naruto's mental apparition appeared in his mindscape, the familiar blonde locks framed Naruto's face. (A/N: I'll refer to Naruto as a boy, other than when it's inside her mindscape then I'll refer to Naruto as a girl)
It was only to be expected that Naruto was still more comfortable in her female form. With a sincere smile gracing her lips, Naruto eagerly navigated her mindscape as she advanced towards one of the nicer rooms that Minato had settled himself in . The room was dark and had a slightly musty smell, but it was definitely infinitely times better than staying in the other sewer-like rooms. After all, you can only take what you get.
"Papa, I've settled down in the orphanage." Almost like she was giving a report, Naruto informed Minato despite already knowing that he was fully aware of the ongoing situation outside.
"Mmm, good job out there Naru-chan! You did well." Minato sincerely praised, as he affectionately tousled her hair.
Naru-chan?
Naruto slightly raised her eyebrows at the newly coined nickname bestowed upon her. Earlier when Minato had called her that, Naruto had not had the spare mental capacity to notice the nickname. But now that she was within the safety of the confines of her mindscape, Naruto realised that she quite enjoyed having Minato call her 'Naru-chan'.
"So how are you feeling, Papa? Does Kurama-sama's chakra cause you any discomfort or pain?" Slightly embarrassed, Naruto instinctively shifted the conversation to Minato's condition, which was also something that had been worrying her since earlier.
An amused smile traced Minato's lips for the briefest moments, which was quickly replaced by a megawatt grin as Minato rubbed Naruto's head lovingly, overjoyed at his daughter's concern.
"Well, it still doesn't feel like it's my own chakra but there isn't any more pain from earlier so I would say everything is good." Minato assured her. Suddenly thinking of something, Minato opened his arms as a cheeky grin hung on his lips. Naruto, being the intelligent child she is, understood Minato's intentions as her head dipped in slight embarrassment. Not wasting another second, Naruto dove into Minato's embrace as strong arms enveloped gently around her.
Snuggled comfortably against her father, it was the first time Naruto truly felt at home. The safety and security she felt while within Minato's arms at that moment made the six years worth of suffering completely worth it. In fact, Naruto felt as if she was a caged bird that had finally reached home.
That night, both of them were too excited for sleep as Minato told Naruto all kinds of stories- about his childhood, about Kushina, his genin team, and his sensei. The whole time, Naruto simply stared at Minato with stars in her eyes, as a part of her was still unable to believe that Minato was actually there, right by her side.
If only this moment could last forever.
In a blink of an eye, night had turned to morning. As Naruto left her mindscape, she found it slightly amiss that no one had come to get her. After all, the sun had risen a good few hours ago. Even though Naruto was not feeling particularly hungry, she figured she should at least try to get some food into her system whilst finding an opportunity to scout out the situation in the orphanage.
Having decided, Naruto headed for the canteen. Despite not knowing the layout of the orphanage, Naruto had been able to pick up the sounds of cutlery against ceramic amidst the mayhem during the previous night, which had probably been caused by a carer's attempt to calm down the children through food. Anyhow, that had been more than enough for her to vaguely determine the direction of the canteen.
As soon as Naruto set foot within the canteen, the chattering stilled. Bemused but not allowing it to show, Naruto plastered a wide grin on her face as she walked towards the food collection area. Recognising the person serving breakfast to be Satoshi, Naruto was about to greet her when he paused in surprise.
Cold. That was what Naruto thought when he saw Satoshi's placid expression. Naruto was startled, his brain working a mile an hour as he wondered what could have happened in the span of a night to warrant such a change in treatment. And it also did not help that Minato had suddenly gone silent in her head. Having only himself to rely on, Naruto pretended not to notice all the unexplained changes as he resumed his cheerful greetings. "Morning, Satoshi-san! May I have some food please?"
Naruto had flashed Satoshi the most sincere smile that he could muster, hoping against hope that his politeness would earn him some brownie points from the unusually stoic carer. However, Satoshi's expression only grew colder as she rather violently threw a slice of plain bread at Naruto. "Demon, how dare you act friendly with me. Take your food and beat it!"
Naruto's smile wavered as he instinctively caught the slice of bread. Whilst he was still lost in his confusion, snippets of conversation unwittingly drifted into his ears.
"So that's the demon that caused the disturbance last night."
"Did you know that 6 years ago, that kid killed many villagers?"
"Wow, what a monster! Scary!"
Naruto could hear the carers and the children gossiping about him, all of them acting as if he was not currently standing right in the middle of the room and was not perfectly able to hear the less than pleasant rumours being discussed. The carers blatant antagonism and the children's' morbid curiosity were also not helping Naruto's mental state, as they only served to rub salt into Naruto's already aching wounds.
What's happening? Do they know about Orochimaru? But Sandaime Ojii-sama said that he'll delay the release of the information. So, why…
That liar.
Having heard enough, Naruto practically fled from the room with his single slice of bread. Once back in the safe confines of his room, Naruto wedged a chair underneath the door knob. Only when Naruto was certain that no one would be able to enter his room did he dare to relax on his bed. Not wasting another second, Naruto quickly settled himself into a comfortable position before he slipped into his mindscape.
Once again entering the familiar corridors, Naruto did not bother greeting Minato as she dashed straight into his arms. Her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, as Naruto buried her face into Minato's chest. Unable to do much to comfort her, Minato could only rubbed soothing circles on Naruto's back as he waited for her to reign in her emotions.
When Naruto had finally calmed down somewhat, she mumbled into Minato's flak jacket. "Why? Why did they say I killed people, Papa? I've never killed anyone. And I'm not a demon, nor am I a monster."
Naruto's voice died towards the end as her grief overcame her. Minato's expression was grim as he pulled her back to get a clear view of her face. Only after ensuring that Naruto was looking into his eyes, Minato enunciated each syllable slowly and clearly. "You are not a monster. Neither are you a demon. No matter what anyone says, you're my daughter and both your mother and I are so incredibly proud of you. And we both love you the most in the world, never forget that!"
Minato continued to stare into Naruto's eyes until he was certain that she had gotten his message. Though the tension never quite left his eyes, Minato managed to relax somewhat as he enveloped Naruto in a tight hug. Now more than ever, the figure in Minato's arms seemed so small and weak, and it tore at Minato's heart to see Naruto suffering like this.
A grim determination blazed within MInato's eyes, as an idea suddenly occurred to him.
"Naruto, do you want to learn about seals?"
Naruto was a little taken aback at the sudden and unexpected question. Quickly squirming out of Minato's embrace, Naruto took a good long look at his expression. Upon seeing the seriousness in his eyes, a foxy grin emerged on Naruto's face.
"After all the stories you told me about mama and you being seal masters? Of course!" If it was possible, the grin on Naruto's face had somehow managed to grow wider to the point that it looked almost painful. Yet, her eagerness was undeniable.
Despite the excitement that Naruto was practically radiating, Minato could not quite bring himself to smile. With his face stuck somewhere being a grin and a grimace, Minato seated Naruto down. Naruto watched Minato curiously as the latter was uncharacteristically serious whilst he launched into a detailed explanation of the basics of sealing theory.
Naruto was so focused on Minato's teachings that she failed to notice the slight darkening of Minato's eyes to a shade of ocean blue, as he engraved a silent oath upon his heart.
I know I don't have much time left with you. So at least, before I disappear, I'll teach you how to protect yourself.
A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews, favourites and follows! It makes me happy knowing that there are people that appreciate my stories and hope y'all like this chapter too! :)