The Whirlpool's Masks: Part 2
Konohagakure no sato – Hospital
Naruto flailed weakly against the restraints his apparent warden had put on him to prevent his escape.
"Hey, Mr. funny eyes why can't you let me go I am fine!" Protested Naruto with a pout.
"Can it brat, as I told you my task is to make sure you are taken care of properly and until the doctor says so you are staying here. Also stop it with the Mr. funny eyes crap, my name is Hyuga Kenji." Said the guard.
Hyuga Kenji was a half Hyuga from the branch family, contrary to most other members of his clan he had a more relaxed attitude and could actually have a good time with other people. While he disliked the damned seal from his forehead as it was something that could not be liked by the wearer, he did not really mind most of the main house and actually liked some of them. That same trend extended to a now majority in the branch family and he could say it was all thanks to Hiashi.
It had been no secret the dislike by the late matriarch of the caged bird seal and with time had also extended somewhat to her husband, her death had been a hard hit to many specially in the branch family that saw her as a ray of hope.
Things however changed shortly after when the autopsy revealed poison in her system. That fact brought Hiashi in a rage that focused exclusively on the perpetrators, he later discovered that it had been done by a group of hardliner conservatives among the elders of the clan and acted decisively, demonstrating why he was the head of the clan killing them all.
After that incident Hiashi took a more aggressive stance against the discrimination of the branch family, while the seal was kept, there was now an outline on what was acceptable to ask of them. This simple change greatly improved his image among the branch.
Kenji had been one of the glorified slaves of one of the elders that had died due to his tainted blood, even if his mother used to be a main house member.
Looking at his temporary charge Kenji could not help but chuckle at the boy, he already had some respect for the boy after Hiashi-sama had told him the reason for the assignment but that respect transformed into into amusement at the sarcastic remarks the boy kept giving the doctor.
From the cheeky sarcasm Kenji had quickly deduced the boy was aware of his charge and did not seem to mind, he had already confirmed with his byakugan that the boy's injuries had been healed but as his orders had been to keep the boy there until further notice he had been forced to tie the boy to the mattress so he would not escape, not that he could really blame the boy as he himself was not the biggest fan of the hospital.
As they kept playfully arguing as a way to pass time Tenzou entered the room and could not help but raise an eyebrow at the unusual sight.
Tenzou was a tall man despite his age, he had fish eyes as the only notable feature of his face. He had been already briefed by the Hokage of his new long term assignment in between missions, Uchiha Shisui would later help him but was at the moment on a particularly long infiltration mission to gain intel for the disbanding of a human trafficking network and would take a couple of months before he could return and so had the task to quickly prepare a four year old child so that he could take care of himself in case he was required for a mission.
He was not that worried as he was made aware that the Hyuga clan would send someone to help with the food and housework when he was not available.
Tenzou did not really have much time to prepare for his new role and could only gather some intel that actually worried him a little, even when he had been raised for the most part in Root he at least had food and clothing as a bare minimum.
The boy barely had a change of clothes and had been malnourished in the orphanage, only given scraps and spoiled food to eat, nothing a growing child would need and it was no wonder he was small even for his age, though had to at least thank the demon for keeping the child functional.
After learning that the last thing he expected when entering his hospital room was the cheeky smirk he wielded while playfully arguing with his Hyuga guard.
"Hyuga Kenji I suppose, I have been assigned the name of Yamato." Said the ANBU in jonin clothes earning a nod from the man.
"Hokage-sama has assigned me the task of taking over." Continued giving the Hyuga a scroll with the Kage's signature inside.
"Well seems you are free brat, from now on you are his problem though I would not worry he seems better than the crappy matron you talked about." Said Kenji as a way to reassure the youngster.
Yet, much to the two adults intrigue Naruto was just looking at the new arrival with intrigue rather than the expected wariness.
When Naruto had waken up and realized where he was he had instantly tried to get away, only stopped by the speed of the trained Kenji that had been surprised by the nimbleness of the child. After that, the boy had tried a couple more times until the Hyuga was fed up and tied him to the bed.
He had thought that it had been an instinctive reaction to the situation from the boy who had learned that he was not appreciated, yet here it was the same child without a glint of fear in his factions.
"If you say you are taking over does that mean that I can get out of this here already Mr. Fish-eyes?" Was the boy's first words to the newly arrived shinobi.
"Yes Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama has tasked me to take care of you for thee foreseeable future and so you will not be required to go back to the orphanage." Answered Yamato in a reassuring way already realizing that the boy was more perceptive and smart than those of the same age.
After that, Yamato made quick work of the paperwork to free Naruto from the hospital having realized the mutual dislike between the doctors and the boy.
"It seems the old man has finally seen reason, eh kit?" Said Kurama, the nine tailed demon fox as he was commonly known.
It had already been a year since the two had met, Naruto had once again been admitted to the hospital due to food poisoning as, while he could come back from most things, he was hopeless against illness as his regeneration factor was usually occupied tending to the malnutrition caused by his treatment in the orphanage, this meant that when he was injured to a certain degree his immune system would quickly deteriorate as the efforts were diverted towards the more threatening damages to his body and so, he would end up heavily sick for a day or two to get things back in order.
The plus side was that when he was admitted to the hospital they were forced to give the boy real food due to the ANBU guard that pretty much threatened them into obedience during his stay which helped keep him going.
Despite that, Naruto actually hated the place as, while receiving better treatment than in that hellhole named orphanage, his innate ability to vaguely sense other people's emotions and intentions around him made the hospital into pretty much a torture chamber for him as he could not block all the negative emotions that flooded into his mind from the patients suffering around the place, in contrast, the children in the orphanage were rather happy due to their innocence and carried not that much negative emotions.
It had also been due to the orphanage's matron realizing his dislike for the medical center that he was sent there as soon as they got the tiniest excuse to do so.
Naruto had fallen into a drug induced sleep so as to keep him from escaping the place which caused problems to the doctors in charge.
He awoke in a sewer like space, that, while not being the most cozy, gave the boy a great sense of calmness due to the lack of presences.
A/N: Naruto has the eye of Kagura kekkei genkai but has not yet awakened his chakra in this flashback and so, his sensory skills are very limited as a result.
As he tried to understand the situation he had suddenly found himself in he suddenly sensed a presence further along the tunnel, from what he sensed, that presence had been having complex feelings all along but did not sense the malice directed towards himself that most people seemed to hold, it was for that matter that he decided to look for the presence to better understand his situation.
Naruto was an intelligent child since birth, despite the neglect from the caretakers he had learned the same stuff the other children did by observing them. At first it had been for an instinctive desire for acceptance and a modicum of love and care yet, as his mind had developed and he started to think this motivation had evolved into a struggle for survival and self protection. He had gotten the care and love he had desired from the old man that regularly came to visit and for some reason did not dislike him as did the other people, that had been enough for him and so, dedicated all his efforts into his own survival.
He had learned to read and write a little as the old man had taught and later praised him when he got better results between the visits. He used smuggle a book or two into his personal room as the caretakers did not want him near the other children and used the moon's light that seeped through the window to practice his reading.
At last, Naruto finally arrived near the origin of the presence that had been getting larger in size with every step he took. The place was large yet was divided at some point by a large cage door with a paper at the center keeping the two sides closed while some pipes seemed to go around it disappearing into the darkness that crept at the other side of the gate.
"Hmm… Seems my warden graced me with his presence earlier than expected." Said a voice from within the darkness as a pair of glowing giant red slitted eyes opened from the other side of the door.
"And so, what is it that brings you before me, young human." Continued the majestic voice.
A/N: Kurama is going to talk in this tone as he is a prideful creature, contrary to the original, and to work better with my thoughts of how chakra works, Naruto has the Yin side of Kurama, the Senju and in consequence the Uzumaki blood has high concentrations of physical energy or Yang energy, by giving Naruto the Yin part, it partially balances the two forces making chakra control easier and genjutsu possible. This also means that he does not have that powerful regeneration ability that made him survive Sasuke's chidory to the heart in the original, do not get me wrong, Naruto has high natural recovery due to his innate Yang energy like Hashirama but he is just not immortal.
Naruto, contrary to most in his position and being only three years old, was not afraid. He had lived all his life in a struggle for survival and so knew not what fear was as he had discarded such feeling as being always afraid did not help him. He was constantly around people that made everything in their power to make him feel fear for sadistic pleasure, while he had abandoned the feeling, he had quickly learned to act as if he was as otherwise those people would take heavier measures to make him miserable.
With that, Naruto just tilted his head in confusion at the strange way of speaking of the creature before opening his mouth.
"Where is this place?" Asked the curious child looking around and intriguing the creature for the unexpected lack of fear from the young boy.
"This place could be called your mind, a representation of the seal etched onto your body that restrains me." The creature informed deciding to take a wait and see approach with his new jail.
It had been three years since it had been sealed into the boy on the day of his birth by the effort and sacrifice of both his parents who had died impaled by its claw. It had had enough time to reflect on his situation, understanding that it's young warden bore no guilt for its circumstances and was rather another victim.
Since the boy's arrival into the mindscape, the creature had been able to see through his memories, all the pain, hate and suffering without even knowing why made him remember its parent, the task to look after mankind to prevent suffering and how its human half siblings war had made all nine of them turn their back on that wish.
Hearing the creature's answer had made Naruto wonder trying to make his underdeveloped brain understand its words yet failing to do so Naruto decided to inquire about the creature.
"Why would you be restrained, and what does it have to do with me?"
"For my power humans fear me, for my attack on your village when I was freed your father imprisoned me inside you so I could do no harm paying with his and your mother's lives to do so."
"You killed my parents? Why?" Questioned the boy, not angry after feeling some guilt in the creature's voice.
"Before it all happened I was sealed inside your mother as my second prison, during your birth a masked man with a sharingan claiming himself as Uchiha Madara interfered and freed me before using his cursed eye to dominate my will and attack your home. I know not of his intentions but when I fully came to myself I was restrained by your mother's chains while your father was making the seal. As a last ditch effort to be free I used one of my claws to try take your life yet, they used their own bodies to stop me reaching you resulting in my sealing and their death."
"So it was an accident, then it is not your fault!" Exclaimed Naruto trying to better the mood of the increasingly sorrowful creature who had a rising guilt for its sins against the innocent child.
"The bad one is the evil masked man not you, by the way, what's your name? Want to be friends?" Said the boy trying to change the subject making the creature let out a light amused chuckle.
"I am the great Kyubi no Kitsune, the nine tailed fox and eldest of the nine bijuu, my name is Kurama." The now named Kurama said deciding to extend an olive branch and starting to plot how to get his vengeance against the fake Madara.
Kurama was not stupid, he had known Madara in his life, he was a prideful man even more than himself. The real Madara would not have hidden his face under a mask neither would he have lost the battle against Namikaze Minato losing control over him. That man, while powerful by his own right, was not Uchiha Madara, he was an impostor who had dared to mock him by using his eye the same way Madara once used to make him fight against Hashirama resulting in his first sealing.
Kurama hated both men, one for manipulating him and the other for sealing him and later doing the same with his siblings before presenting them as gifts. Just the thought made his blood boil in rage.
The two had then continued their conversation becoming well acquainted with each other. It was later, by suggestion of Kurama that Naruto learned the theory for survival in the wilds as with their meeting Naruto's chakra had awakened without anyone but them two realizing.
This awakening greatly expanded Naruto's sensory skills and when they were thrown out of the orphanage he made haste to the woods without being detected to train and survive on their own while Kurama taught him how to use chakra.
After a couple of weeks he sensed the extreme anxiety from a little girl who had been taken and the stress and happiness from the successful captor. Naruto intercepted them, not wanting to let the sinister man succeed and Kurama had to partially take over to help him.
Kurama also helped hoping that the incident would make the Hokage have a warning about Naruto's care. While their time in the wilds had been very beneficial for Naruto's mental health it had not helped much with his malnutrition and Kurama could only do so much.
Back to the present Naruto kept chatting with Kurama inside his mind while following his new caretaker.
Naruto had liked the man, he did not hate his guts and had quickly realized Naruto was not dumb and ignorant as everyone seemed to think.
For Yamato's part as they waled through the village to their new accommodations he saw how unrestrained were the glares from the civilians to the boy, finally fully understanding the reason the boy had for his life in the woods as the incident's investigation had revealed.
With the amount of hate he received it was not an option to live in the light and the boy had chosen the darkness of the forest as a better alternative, moving at night to search through the trash for food and in the wild for edible plants the boy had somehow survived.
Yamato also theorized that the boy was aware of his charge from what the Hyuga had told him during the boy's final check, matter that he would have to bring to the Hokage when everything was set.
AND DONE!
In this chapter I have decided to make the backstory for Naruto's character and his relation with Kurama.
The latter will usually talk in that ostentatious and proud way though will be more familiar with Naruto as the situation demands.
One must note that Naruto was a three year old when he met Kurama and would not have understood much of what he explained. That translates in his seemingly careless disregard for the fact that Kurama had killed his parents as he hardly understood what death or parents meant as a young homeless child.