12

Like a magnet, Naruto's eyes were immediately drawn to me.

Like the hyperactive 5 year old that he was, he rushed straight at me, nearly tripping over in the process.

"Cool!"

Far too quickly, Naruto moves far too close, clutching the chair that Shikaku and I were on. His face is right next to my own, staring at my form with the gigantic bright blue eyes, with a grin that was far wider than it had any right be, and obnoxiously bright blonde hair sticking up in gravity defying spikes.

A wall of Happiness crashes into me like a physical force.

The underlying wave of Hatred and Malevolence pulsed through me.

A bonfire of unrestrained Chakra nearly burned.

None of that mattered, compared to the delicious Darkness that ever so slowly bled into the world around him.

I shuddered.

It was all I could do to not devour his Heart then and there.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto blinked, turning toward Hiruzen. "Hey gramps!"

Seeing an opportunity, I jumped out of the chair, away from Naruto. I hit the ground and pushed away from the world in the same moment, becoming a shadow and skittering underneath a bookcase on the side of the room.

Naruto turned back, looking for me.

"Hey, where'd it go?!"

Hiruzen chuckled. "I think you scared it off, Naruto-kun."

Naruto pouted, utterly cute on his face. "It shoulda stayed, I'm not that scary."

Kid, if you knew how close I came to just ripping out your Heart and devouring it in front of you-

No. No, don't think of that. In that way lies bad things.

"Indeed." Hiruzen nodded. "So, is this just a visit, or is there something you wanted?"

Naruto grinned. "Yup! I-" Naruto paused.

His wide grin gave way to a confused look, which was absolutely adorable on him. Shame that if I got close I'd probably end up ripping out hi-

God damn it.

"Eh heh, sorry, I forgot."

Hiruzen laughed.

"Hey gramps, what were you doing?"

"I was just talking to Shikaku-kun here."

Naruto turned around, finally appearing to notice Shikaku, who looked on in lazy amusement.

"You look like Shikamaru."

Shikaku quirked his eyebrow. "Shikamaru is my son."

"Oh. See ya later gramps."

And with that, he left as quickly as he came.

I waited a full ten seconds before coming out from underneath the bookcase. Not just to make sure that he didn't come back, but to ensure that I wouldn't have the temptation to rip out someones Heart.

Shikaku threw a glance at me. "Too much for you?"

Oh, you had no idea.

Being unable to express that, I simply nodded.

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Shikaku-kun, as this creature seems to be comfortable around you, I am assigning you and yours to take care of it."

I, and Shikaku, for that matter, looked at Hiruzen in surprise.

Shikaku spoke, a note of concern in his voice. "Are you sure that is wise, Hokage-same? My duties as Jonin Commander..."

Hiruzen nodded. "If it becomes necessary, you may leave it with your clan. Simply put, its apparent nature and abilities don't leave much other of a choice, outside of your own clan. Though I suspect that you already realize that."

Shikaku bowed. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Great.

Caretakers.