A/N: I present my first ever attempt at writing. It is not canon compliant and will be AU since I will be manipulating the timeline as i wish. English is not my first language. Constructive criticism is welcomed but don't be rude. I am writing for fun and hope you enjoy as well.
I don't own Naruto and never will.
"Emphasis"
'Characters thinking'
a simple narration
"Characters speaking"
If you have any confusion, feel free to ask.
Let's start, shall we?
CHAPTER 25: Warning
It was Shisui.
It was an Uchiha.
That means it was a sharingan.
Naruto instinctively relaxed. (because looking at that red color always reminded her of home. First with Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha police and then with Sas- her soul brother, her sensei-Kakashi and later Obito as well she thinks.)
Because RED, red is the only color she remembers. She thrives in it. She knows it better than anyone. Red like the blood splashing the battlefield, painting her hands as she held her comrades in her arms, waiting and watching as their life fades away. Red like the eyes of her soul brother as they stared at Naruto, with so much guilt and remorse -
A piercing pain in her head makes her rapidly blink her eyes and Shisui is still shouting at her. There is a nagging feeling, like she can't remember something. Something important. Something related to the her soul brother.
(She does not remember Sasuke's final moments, the memories are suppressed by her subconscious mind, where she can't even begin to think about Sasuke. But Naruto knows, she somehow knows that the day when she is able to form Sasuke's name consciously in her mind, it will be heart-wrenching, and unbearable all over again; so she doesn't try.)
...
Shisui doesn't know what happened, one moment he was feeling playful when his question got answered. (He had wanted to ask if Orochimaru-sama was home or not. But he knew that there was a high probability that Hina-chan would have answered with a "none of your business" and looked at him with an impressive glare (for a kid). So he took a risk of saying he can show her the way to the academy if Orochimaru-sama was not at home. And just as he expected she had snapped at him, telling him "she does not need his pity" indirectly confirming that Orochimaru-sama was not at home.)
Shisui swears that he had no malicious intention and was just feeling giddy when he grasped a bit of his friend's personality. So why? why did an academy student who may not even know how to stick a leaf to her forehead had the courage to jump down the Hokage Monument. He had felt dread the moment Hina-chan took her hands off his collar (because that means she did not want to interact with him any longer) but ignoring such feeling he kept up playing a mischievous friend. (was he wrong in wanting Hina-chan to be his friend? Was he at fault? Is Hina-chan beyond helping? Can he help right now? Please please please just let me make it on time, No I have to make it on time. What if i am not on time? What if she gets hurt? What if-)
Shisui jumped as soon as he saw her take a step towards the edge and fall. If he was faster he could have stopped her at the edge only. If he was faster she wouldn't have to fall. If he was faster- No, no, he has to, he has to stop her, he has to save her. (otherwise he won't be able to look at his Fugaku-oji-san, he won't be able to look at Obito-ni-san...He won't be able to look at himself knowing he could have saved a child from falling but did not. He could not)
And suddenly he can see in the dark of the night. He was able to see Hina-chan changing her posture to soften her fall. (must be Orochimaru-sama's training)
And he knows...he just knows that he unlocked his Sharingan.
Circulating chakra all over his body to strengthen his muscles to catch Hina-chan just as he was taught by Fugaku Oji-san and releasing it through both of his legs so that he can stick on the wall of the monument, he gets a hold of his crazy friend. Since Shisui was falling head first he was able to reach Hina-chan before they both hit the ground and allowing his body to walk down the monument with the momentum of the fall. They finally came to a stop after a few seconds.
Shisui catches the micro expression of his friend and is distantly aware that his sharingan must be recording all of it amidst the panic attack he is on the verge of having.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" He shouts.
His breathing is labored and his eyes are blown wide in panic, 2 tomoe spinning too fast, Naruto notes.
Before Naruto can open her mouth to defend herself, Shisui takes her face into his hands causing Naruto to flinch.
"Do you know what could have happened if i had not caught you in time? I know that you are getting trained by Orochimaru-sama but i don't think you have mastered tree walking yet. And even if you had, it is no excuse to jump from the Hokage Monument with your body parallel to the ground. Even if you are confident in your abilities it never hurts to take precautions and it never-
Noticing something unusual, Shisui startles and stops his tirade, bringing Naruto's face closer to his-
"What is happening to your eye?" He asks.
Naruto does not know what he is talking about but now that Shisui has pointed it out, she can surely feel a sting in her eye.
Not tolerating the invasion of her personal space any longer but nonetheless thankful for the save, Naruto gently takes Shisui's hands away from her face and holds between both her own. With all the sincerity that she could muster with her shattered heart (looking into the eyes of her sensei, soul brother, and his family) Naruto replies -
"Thank you" giving a wobbly smile at best or a grimace at worst.
"Hn. Your welcome-" he says absentmindedly noticing her attempt to smile but not giving it a thought right now because he can Hina-chan's eye getting red rapidly as if about to bleed (he remembers a similar scene where he first met her) so he question instead -
"-but why is your eye about to bleed-" his eyes widen with a look of confusion and slight betrayal when a blow to his neck is delivered suddenly while he was concerned and distracted with the echo of the last thought of "why?" and he goes limp.
Naruto deftly catches Shisui and holds him there scrutinizing his face. She is readily becoming aware of the sting in her eye and puts her other hand that is not holding Shisui over her hurting eye.
Naruto might have an inkling of what is causing her eye to sting but discards the thought as simply being impossible. (she does not remember that she is the only ninja that has the capability of making the impossible, possible)
"haaah," Naruto sighs and mumbles "I am so tired Kurama" she knows he will not reply but she doesn't have anyone else to talk to right now even though she herself knocked out a potential listener. "its not like he knows my situation" she grumbles imagining Kurama would have sarcastically replied something against her action of knocking Shisui out.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling once, Naruto decides not to let Shisui lay here when Danzo is roaming free. With no other choice she picks Shisui on her back grunting at the added weight without any help from her chakra and looks at him silently for a few moments.
"...Shisui Uchiha," her whisper drowned out by the rustling of leaves, and then continues, "I need you to stay away from me. I am not strong enough to protect anyone right now and I really don't have time to indulge in other activities besides training and keeping Orochimaru..." (in line), she says but doesn't complete her sentence (he will not wander this time if she has any say in it, or she will kill him herself) Her eyes darken for a moment at the thought but she continues vaguely feeling guilty-
"I am sorry." She whispers as tears of blood flow down from her eye, shifting Shisui to her back and huffing at her weak body, she quickly wipes the blood with her sleeve and makes an eye-patch of sort with her unstained part of the shirt. The pain nothing compared compared to the void in her heart.
Feeling Shisui's head at her right shoulder, she turns to look at the unconscious boy and her eyes soften for a moment without her knowledge. Making up her mind to get him to the Uchiha compound, she knows she is voluntarily ignoring Orochimaru's warning (for keeping distance from the Uchiha has never been possible for her for long) but she can't just leave a child in the open like that. So, looking up at the sky, she sighs and starts heading towards the Uchiha compound.
...
Naruto had taken to walking around the village in her sleepless nights (when she had enough of her recurring nightmares) but not once had she set foot in the Uchiha compound at night. Upon reaching the gates, she realises there are two guards at the main entrance already looking in her direction with a tense posture. It was thanks to the socially stunted people surrounding her all the time in the past (future?) that Naruto was able to read their tenseness.
Taking a deep breath and doing her best to ignore the Uchiwa fan (her best is not enough, the gaping void inside her keeps getting bigger) she dons her childhood mask and chirps in a way a real child would have done so-
"Uchiha-san, Uchiha-san I want to drop my friend home, can I come inside? Since he is indisposed at the moment. I promise I will return promptly upon leaving him with his mom and dad." She forces as much vigor as she can in her voice.
They look at her with suspicion clearly shining in their eyes but her childhood mask is perfect and working, making them lower their guards a bit. She waits patiently as they take their time to scrutinize her when -
"I am afraid he doesn't have parents anymore child, though you can give him to me since I am his legal guardian"
All three Shinobi whirl around at the sudden voice, with Naruto throwing a kunai reflexively with one hand and almost losing her balance and dropping the Uchiha on her back when a hand lands on her left shoulder helping her correct her center of gravity. Heart in her throat with both hands now holding her cargo protectively, she takes a step back forcing that other hand away from her person. (it never occurred to her that her first instinct is always to protect someone, that the person she is protecting was the one she never wanted to get involved with in the first place)
"Captain!" Both the Uchiha guards stand straight and salute the enemy...?
The haze lifts.
"Hitoshi, Hiro and...Orochimaru-dono's apprentice" Fugaku inclines his head to the three people he must have startled with his Chakra concealed hand raised in the direction of her shoulder while the other is holding her kunai between 2 fingers.
'Damn it! My mind automatically registered his presence as an ally and did not alert me to his position since i cannot use chakra for now...ughhh'
Suddenly recalling Orochimaru's warning and getting a first hand look for real, she doesn't want to interact with anyone tonight. (i shall leave before anything else happens) Therefore, the best course of action would be to -
"Here" Naruto turns her back to Fugaku offering Shisui to him as he just stated that he is Shisui's guardian.
"Hn" As Fugaku takes Shisui from her back to his arms she immediately turns around not letting her back face anyone. After all war ingrained such instincts in her.
"Then, I will take your leave, Uchiha-sama" Naruto stated before anyone has a chance to say anything anymore.
"Before you go, I have one question child" Without waiting for her answer Fugaku continued-
"Who put him in this condition?" His voice turned cold at the end and Naruto swallowed remembering the same voice inquiring about bruises that were formed on her person from the people who were supposed to be guarding her. Naruto makes a face as that particular memory reaurfaces, not because she is bitter about her treatment but because she had actually forgotten, (or more like she never knew) that there were still people looking after her from afar.
Naruto knows he will not harm her but she still does not know how he would react if she were to tell him the truth, when he does not know her as Minato Namikaze's and Kushina Uzumaki's child. But still she responds quickly -
"Oh, that, we were training and I pretended to be hurt and hit him when he was distracted. He should have been more aware. We are ninjas not Samurai" She huffs and grumbles the last part, crossing her arms in a defensive manner. (there. As close as she can get to confessing the truth) What Naruto does not realise is that the certainty with which she had just admitted that they were ninjas and not "training to be ninjas" made Fugaku raise his eyebrow.
"hn." Fugaku stares hard and Naruto feels as if she has been transported back to her 5 year old body where she tries to come up with excuses for the pranks she did when the Uchiha police force caught and pushed her infront of their Captain, Fugaku. But she is in her 5 year old body, is she not?
"Which year are you in child?" Fugaku interrogates after seemingly finding the thing he was searching for and relaxes his tone a bit. Fugaku's tone is not at all condescending like Orochimaru so she does not bristle at being called a child,
"I have not yet started going to the academy."
Naruto does not like his expression one bit when he hears her answer and she thinks may be she should start listening to Orochimaru a bit more, so before he can interrogate her more she says -
"Sorry Uchiha-sama, i really need to go now because Orochimaru-sensei has me on a very strict schedule and if i don't follow it he can be very cruel, ya know"
Naruto bows a bit and runs as if Kakashi's hounds are on her heels completely missing hearing her speech impediment and the look Fugaku threw at her.
TBC
This was with me for so long that i had completely forgotten about any update.
for now i cant promise when i will update the next chapter because i am finding it already difficult coping with the things that are already going on in my life. But rest assured i will update it as soon as possible.
Take care of yourself and your precious ones! After all life is too short to hold onto hate.
Ja ne!
Signing out
Yuki Race