Naruto fanfic pt.2
"Things have changed Saru." Tobirama said casting an icy glare at the crowd as he he still held a squirming Naruto to himself "and not for the better". Hiruzen's eyebrow quirked but he made no other move out of his stance, his eyes shifted to Naruto and soaked in his battered appearance. The bruises fading on his skin and cuts stitching themselves back together as he wiggled in the imposters grip. Hold on Naru-chan, he thought to himself as his grip tightened on his staff. "Cease your movement young Uzumaki, you'll only aggravate your wounds" the man said and he pulled a kunai out of his opposite shoulder with a grunt. Hiruzen and Inu both tensed at the sight of the weapon. "As for proof of who I am" the man threw the kunai at Hiruzen's feet before suddenly appearing in front of him using the Hiraishin. "I hope that will suffice " he said as he loomed over the elderly Hokage. Naruto was between them and gently batting at his Jiji's staff that was barely out of reach.
"Why don't you give Naruto to Inu and we can talk in my office?" Tobirama's eyes narrowed before he allowed the masked man to take the wriggling 5 year old. "Inu clean Naruto's wounds, give him a bath and take him back to the orphanage." Hiruzen ordered and Tobirama had to grit his teeth to keep from snatching the child back. An orphan, these people were trying to kill an orphan. His chakra flared and the sandaime glanced at him and promised to explain more once they got to the office.
Naruto made an attempt to open his mouth to tell the Hokage that he had been kicked out of the orphanage but the words died on his tongue as he watched the two of them head to Jiji's office. Inu pinched the back of Naruto's neck making the boy slip into unconsciousness as he set off for the medical wing of ANBU headquarters to treat Naruto's wounds and clean him up.
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Despite the amount of blood covering the child he had no visible wounds or scars. Inu let out a sigh as he took off his mask, ran a hand through his silver hair and mumbled to himself "what did they do to you Naru-chan?" Kakashi stayed quiet as he cleaned Naruto up in one of the curtain divided section of the medical wing. The door swung open as he heard two of his fellow ANBU come in laughing about the fox hunt that had occurred. Mirth danced doubtlessly on the lips of one of them as he explained how the demon had stumbled after a thrown glass bottle had hit him in the back of the head. He described the blood cascading down its head and how disappointed he was that it didn't kill the thing. Kakashi froze as his fingers closed upon a rather large chunk of glass that he had untangled from the boys hair. He silently got up from his spot and added two more to his body count before returning to Naruto . He washed more blood off of his hands before applying a medicinal shampoo to his hands to run through the blondes locks.
After rinsing out the suds he dried the boy off before scrounging up a different outfit to put him in. Putting his mask back on he wondered to himself how long he could keep Naruto for before he absolutely had to return him to the orphanage. Sighing to himself he stood walked as slowly as possible to the hell hole his otouto was condemned to.
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Across town Tobirama glared at his student as the Sandaime Hokage explained the state of affairs in the village from his death up until present. "And what of the boy Hiruzen? Why was a toddler being chased through the streets by a mob and why did the police force turn a blind eye to it? Why did to e ANBU for that matter? " Hiruzen bowed his head low and was silent for a couple seconds causing what was left of the Nidaime's composure to crumble as he snarled "my brother founded this village to protect children and give them a refuge. Not so that the villagers can spit on his legacy and kill them in these streets."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked as old as he felt, withered and wrung-out as he clasped his hands in front of his face. "The village hates Naruto for a burden he was given by the Yondaime. To save the village from the rampaging Kyuubi he sealed the beast into his own son, but the village is not privy to Naruto's heritage. Within minutes of removing the corpses off of the fields it had already spread that there was now a jinchuriki in Konoha." Hiruzen paused to drag off of their pipe he pulled from his sleeve and lit with a small flame from his fingertip. " I tried to hush all of it down to keep our external enemies from knowing about the circumstances and his lineage, lest he be sought after, but I didn't foresee the amount of internal strife it caused. The citizens fear him for what he holds and have called for his execution many times. I outright banned the ability to discuss his circumstances and yet they find a way around it. " Tobirama's jaw clenched in anger as killing intent (KI) writhed around him unbidden.
"Tonight is the fifth anniversary of the Kyuubi attack and the citizens took the opportunity of a lapse in patrols to attack Naruto- kun. Most of he police force were focused at the festival itself and the rest probably turned a blind eye to the event to prevent a backlash on themselves. There is turmoil with the Uchiha clan right now and attempting to help Naruto would lead to further ostracization for their own clan. " A dark look crossed Sarutobi's face "as for the ANBU who refused to do anything they are being dealt with." Tobirama nodded as he glanced at where he knew the Hokage monument to be a small chakra point sitting on the ridge of a part of it.
He sighed before looking at Hiruzen " we will have to continue this another time, it seems the young Uzumaki has escaped and is sitting on part of the monument." He started to walk from the office when he hears Hiruzen call him back.
"Be careful around him sensei, he has a cheerful disposition but I'm certain with the recent events that that mask will start to crack." Tobirama glared at his student before shunshining to where he felt Naruto's chakra signature. He stood quietly on the fourth head of the monument as he looked down at the sleeping boy. He took a step closer to him only to see the blondes eyes flash open as he scampered back from him as his eyes took the time to focus.
"Oh, you're the man from before." Naruto said as he dropped his guard a little bit. He padded over to look up at him, bracing himself for whatever the man was going to do now that Jiji and Inu-nii weren't there to protect him. He regarded him warily as he thought about how the man had helped him in the temple but he had had other people pretend to be nice or help him only to hurt him worse later. "I'm ready, so you can stop pretending."
Tobirama's finger twitched on his crossed arms and his eyebrow quirked up even as his lips pulled down into a frown. "What, pray tell, am I supposedly pretending to do?"
Naruto glared at him "to be nice. No one besides Jiji, Inu-nii and the Ichiraku's are nice to me. So go ahead and hit me, cut me or whatever you're planning." Tobirama felt a deep-seated anger coil in his stomach at the thought that a child would have had to have gone through to steal himself for abuse that would come his way. He uncrossed his arms and sat on the stone head, swiftly pulling the blonde kid into his lap. He wrapped the kid in the cloak he had taken from the Hokage's office and rested his head on top of Naruto's own.
"As long as I'm here no one will harm you again; I promise." Naruto had frozen as his mind and body tried to catch up to him being turned about like a sack of potatoes and that someone was holding him and it didn't hurt. One of the first instances of contact he had that didn't hurt him.
"Is this a hug?" He quietly asked, more to himself, than the man who had wrapped him up. The breathe caught in Tobirama's throat as a pained sound almost made it past his clenched teeth. He muttered in approval before Naruto responded "are they always this warm?" Tears pricked it his eyes as he stoically looked across the rambunctious festival in the distance of Konoha.
"They are supposed to be." Naruto nodded and quietly watched the festival as well. Tobirama glanced down at the kid before asking "why aren't you back at the orphanage?" Naruto stiffened and explained that he had been kicked out some months ago but that he couldn't tell Jiji about it because the office people wouldn't let him in. First it was because he didn't have shoes, so he rummaged for shoes. Then it was because he smelled so he went and bathed in the river and it kept going on and on until they just kicked him out and barred him from the building.
Tobirama trembled in fury as he clutched Naruto tighter to his chest. Naruto heard a deep rumbling from the man's chest, like the angry cats made when he got to close and he looked at him in shock. A dark look was across his face and Naruto quickly tried to dislodge himself while uttering countless apologies. His earlier bravado gone as fear chilled his bones at the feeling emanating from the white haired man.
His grip on Naruto tightened as he he reigned in his fury and apologized quickly to the frightened child. "Naruto, I'm not angry at you. How you are being treated, it isn't right. It goes against everything I stand for and what this village was founded on. " silence filled the air after that and while Naruto calmed down he tried to think of a way to fill the silence.
"Oh! Wanna see something cool?!?" He exclaimed as he leapt up and turned to face the Nidaime. The jacket slipped from around him and Naruto unconsciously held his hands in the snake seal as his eyes were screwed tight in concentration. Tobirama started to ask what he was doing but he was quickly shushed by the five year old. " I have to concentrate or it won't turn out right." His eyes tightened as copious amounts of chakra rolled off him and a small plant sprouted into life a foot away from him. His breathe grew ragged as soon a small flowering bush was flourishing in between the two of them. He gasped and dropped his hands away looking up at the Nidaime .
Tobirama was dumbfounded and if possible even more furious as he stared in shock at the small bush that the boy in front of him had grown. Naruto was chattering on about the flowers and what they were called but the more he glanced between the two all he could think about was his late brother and the resemblance the child had to him personality wise. How little mannerisms the kid did or small facial features reminded him of his deceased family.
He made a plan that needed to be enacted first thing in the morning but for now; he glanced at the small child that was still happily babbling about the plant. "Naruto" Tobirama said while standing up. The interrupted child glanced up at Tobirama as he rose to his full height before offering Naruto his hand. "Let's go home."
Naruto looked at before looking back at the the man's face. "I already told you old man, I don't have a home." A glower took over Tobirama's face as he adjusted his potties before picking Naruto up off the ground. The struggling child squirmed in his grasp as Tobirama just looked at him.
"I didn't say I was going to take you back there. I was offering you to come stay with me. We really need to work on your manners first. You need to talk to your elders with more respect." He prattled on as Naruto stared at him with wide eyes.
"I can?" He whispered. Tobirama glanced down at him before nodding and using the Hiraishin jutsu to get back into the Senju compound.
