Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.....Never did.....Never will....sigh....
Written by- Treina and Annyong
Names-
Mujaki - Shino's Dad Kaiwa- Shino's Mother Nidashi- Old Man (who brought Naurto the chair...)
A/N - Yeah, the names are kinda ehh....donno....lol....but I couldn't leave these three characters nameless....so I took around two hours searching and still couldn't find the perfect names, but these will do, although I detest Shino's dad's name....but I couldn't find anything better (sigh). Also, thank you so much, especially all those at Naruto Community for all the input I received on this fic! I love kids, and I love Naruto so I decided to put the two together. Im happy it turned out so well.
Oh yeah....and in case you didnt know, Kitsune means fox in Japanese....
Aishiteru Naruto
Chapter 2- The Secret Place
Naruto - Age: three
Uzumaki Naruto once again found himself standing in the council room where all the village elders sat and held whatever business that old people had to deal with. But Naruto was at no age to understand those things, nor did he want to understand them, he was happy with the simple pleasures of life.
Right now he was scared to death, the woman who locked him in that room was yelling at the council and the council was on the verge of yelling at her in return for the state in which she brought Naruto back in. He was dirty with food from head to toe, he wore a diaper that hadn't been changed since the morning before, besides the fact that he was potty trained and last, there was a huge black and blue mark on the side of his face.
When the council asked her about this, she continued to rant about his non-stop screaming and the damage that he did to her son. Soon they found it useless arguing with the woman and dismissed her, telling her that she could keep the money for her troubles. She left happy and they were satisfied for the moment, they would pursue this at the Hokage's return. Besides, they wanted to know his opinion on the matter anyway, he was the caretaker for the child.
Soon the same kind old man once again brought Naruto a small chair to sit on at the end of the room.
The man smiled gently, "you have no where to go?"
Naruto shook his head, trying to fight back tears.
"Hokage-sama will return tomorrow evening," he said reassuringly.
After that, the council had a long discussion once again about what they were going to do with the boy until they were approached by an old man, he was head of the cleaning department in charge of cleaning the main, 'important' buildings.
"Can you not find someone to take the little one in?" He asked, fully aware of what was going on.
"Well...yeah," one council member said.
Then they engaged in more conversation that was so boring for Naruto that he dozed in his chair, somewhat happy and content that he was out of that house, and that room, the voices of the old men became tranfixating, causing Naruto to fall into a deeper sleep. Although his dreams were not happy, they consisted of the same pitch dark room where the door would not open and no matter how much he screamed no one would come until he would turn around. There, on his bed he saw a huge kitsune turning his head until the fox was looking dead pan into the face of the frightened little boy.
Naruto jolted from his sleep crying, sweaty, still covered in food and wished for nothing more at that moment that the Third was back.
The council was pleased he slept, instead of getting into things and forcing them to find him something to do. Opening his eyes blearily, he glanced around the room, taking in what was different and what was the same. The same old man who brought him the chair was standing silently next to him.
When Naruto looked up, he noticed that the man was smiling at him. Naruto blushed and looked back down, not used to getting such a real, compassionate smile.
"Would you like to come with me to my house?" The old man asked.
Naruto shook his head, not wanting to go anywhere unless it was with the third, he didn't want everything to happen all over, he didn't want to be locked in a room.
"Really? Why not?" He asked, smile not fading.
Naruto stayed silent, not wanting to say anything. Don't get me wrong, he could talk a little, he just didn't like to. Besides no one ever wanted to hear the little demon child utter words anyway, you see, Kyuubi could never talk when he was.....alive I guess you could say. Some people in the village actually thought that if they were to ever touch the boy, or talk to the boy you would be cursed, god only knows what would happen if he talked to you.
When the Third heard this and other rumors going around about Naruto, he decided to make a rule, a very strict rule. It was even written down and placed in the main hallway of the Hokage tower.
It reads, "To mention the name of the Kitsune to Naruto or anyone else in correspondence to the boy will he punished by banishment, or death. -Signed and Chartered, Sarutobi, The Third Hokage."
After a few minutes of silence the old man put out his hand, "come," he said in a light voice.
Naruto stared at the mans hand. Half of him was terrified, but the other half wanted nothing more then to take that old mans hand and follow him wherever he might go. Weirdly enough, Naruto wanted to trust this man, he somehow knew that this man would protect him, but he had been wrong before about these things. Naruto shook his head no, tears began to weld up in his eyes.
For some reason the old man felt bad for this child, he certainly didn't mean to frighten him and make him cry. But this man was not about to let some woman like the last one take him in till the Third got back, so he would have to take him. That was no problem for him, all his children were grown, most died in the Kyuubi incident, he was alone.
One could never tell, but he was bubbling inside, he liked this boy. If it were not for this young child the rest of his family would probably have fell victim to the Kistune. One thing was for sure, he would be indebted to Naruto forever.
"Come, I have things I want to show you," the old man tried again, hand still extended.
A couple of seconds went by and Naruto slowly took hold of the old man's hand. He was curious to see what the old man wanted to show him, although he still wasn't sure about this old man, he kinda looked creepy. But at least he was harmless, or appeared to be.
Soon enough they were walking down the street hand in hand staying silent but smiling at each other. Naruto couldn't get enough of this old mans smile and stared at him relentlessly, until he tripped on a rock and down he went. It was as if he were going in slow motion, but couldn't do anything to stop himself. In under one second flat he was on his hands and knees all scraped up.
"..........AHHHHHHHH-" Naruto screamed.
The kind old man swooped up Naruto in his arms and placed him on his shoulders.
"We will be there in a minute," he said while Naruto dried his eyes and tried hard not to think of the pain.
Instead he concentrated as best he could on not falling off the old man's shoulders, even though he had a good grip on the young boy.
Shino - Age: Four
Shino sat in front of his front window waiting patiently. His father went on a very important mission to escort the Hokage. Little Shino hardly ever left the front window when his father would leave, except when his mother would drag him away to feed him and put him to bed, and even then he would cry and pitch a fit, actually it was the only time that Shino would ever act like that, he was very intellectual, especially for his age. His parents were proud of him, the only other child near his age in the village that could even compare to Shino's IQ was Nara Shikamaru.
"Shino, your father should be home early today!" Kaiwa said with a smile, holding a small message that was sent from the Hokage Tower.
Shino said nothing, but still eagerly awaited his father, the news exited him and he tried to not even blink. Kaiwa smiled and walked back in the kitchen so she could begin to prepare dinner.
Just as Shino's mother walked out of the room, Shino spotted a little kid that he never saw before riding on a old mans shoulders. He figured the man was to old to be the blond kids dad, so he must be the grandpa. Shino watched them pass by until they were out of sight and then went back to watching for his father, trying to ignore the smell of food and his rumbling tummy.
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Shino's father, the Hokage and a squad of four more ANBU just walked in through the Konoha gates. The Third was happy to be back in his village and Mujaki couldn't wait to get home to see his wife and little Shino. The rest of them were happy they came back alive and had their reasons to be joyful on returning to the village that was their own.
They all departed and the Third was back in the council room within five minutes of returning to the village. He quickly gave news that the alliance in mist was complete and then handed in a mission report.
"Were you able to find someone to take Naruto?" He asked, already dealing with the next priority on his list.
"We didn't know that you would be returning so early, Nidashi just took him around fifteen minutes ago."
"Naruto was here the whole time?" The Third asked, a bit irritated that no one would take him sooner.
"No, there was a woman who took him....but there was an incident and she returned him this morning. We will contact Nidashi and have him bring Naruto back."
"No need, I will go and get him. Is there anything else I am needed for?"
The council shook their heads and the Hokage left the council room, irritated that he knew very little on what's been going on with Naruto. But was relived to hear that Nidashi decided to take him in, and he might be able to get a little bit of information on the 'incident' from him.
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Two blocks away from Shino's house, Naruto wondered why he did not wave to the little boy. Maybe it was because he looked weird, but he was learning quickly that normal people were mean and hateful. But he couldn't really base this on anything because he never knew a lot of weird people. Most were normal in his eyes, but that kid...that kid was weird. You could hardly see his face because of the clothes he wore, and the sunglasses? Naruto never before laid eyes on a child around his age that wore sunglasses.
Nidashi and Naruto were finally at their destination. It was a small little house, cozy and quiet, nothing really nearby so their were never a lot of people around. Old man Nidashi bathed and fed Naruto, then wrapped up his scrapes from his little fall on the way there.
The old man looked at the clock, "ah, its only seven! We still have time," he said with a smile.
Naruto was exited, he wondered what the old man possibly wanted to show him.
"But first things first," Nidashi said to himself after locking his door, that gentle smile still not fading.
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The Hokage was irritated at the delay that he ran into, but was not upset about it. This was his village and these were his people, he would do anything for them. He was confident in Nidashi, him being an old friend, at least he was someone that the Hokage could trust. But was still worried about this 'incident' that occurred while he was away.
As he was passing the one of the many Aburame houses, Mujaki, Kaiwa and little Shino were standing on their porch.
"Where are you going so hastily?" Shino's father yelled aloud, little Shino clinging to his leg.
"Huh? Oh, I am on my way to retrieve Naruto," The Third explained.
"Who?" Mujaki asked, a questioning look on his face, and then it hit him.
"Oh that boy....would you like me accompany you Hokage-sama?" He asked, despite Shino's protests in the background.
Mujaki bent down to Shino's level, "would you like to accompany me on this mission Shino?"
Shino's eyes lit up with excitement, although Mujaki was the only one who could tell.
"Yes!" Shino proclaimed, punching a fist in the air and marching over to stand next to the Hokage.
"Do not fear, I will potect you!" He said confidently to the Hokage.
The Third looked down at Shino and couldn't help but smile. Sarutobi lead the way as Shino and his father followed, Shino gleaming with joy, for he was on his very first mission and it was to protect the Hokage. No other four year old boy could be happier, except for maybe Naruto. You see, while Shino, his father and the Hokage were on their way to Nidashi's house to pick up Naruto. Naruto was out having the time of his life.
First Nidashi bought Naruto some new clothes, which Naruto picked out himself...demandingly. Then Nidashi took Naruto to the ice cream stand and bought two large chocolate cones, they then proceeded to sit on a bench in the park and watch the stars in silence. Time passed, and both their cones were gone. Nidashi took out his hankerchief and wiped the chocolate off of Naruto's face.
"I want to show you something," the old man said with that soft smile, stuffing the dirty cloth back into his robe.
Naruto nodded, took the old mans hand and followed him to wherever the man might lead him.
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After about an hour of waiting to see if Nidashi and Naruto were going to come back the Third decided that it would be a good idea to just come and get him in the morning.
"I was not aware that Naruto was staying with you Hokage-sama," Mujaki mentioned on their walk back to Shino's house where they would depart.
"Yes, although I try not to make it public, a lot of people in this village hate Naruto as if he were the Kitsune himself," the third said with sadness in his eyes.
"Well, we have plenty of room here at my house, I will have to talk to Kaiwa, but im sure the boy could stay here. Shino here doesn't have many kids to play with anyway," he suggested.
Sarutobi thought this was a good idea and informed Mujaki that he would speak to the council about it.
"Talk to your wife tonight, we will meet tomorrow morning after I pick up Naruto," he said in a tired voice and raised his hand to bid farewell, his bed was calling to him, and he was happily accepting the call. He was not worried about Naruto, he was safe in Nidashi's hands.
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They had been walking through the forest for around fifteen minutes, but to Naruto it felt like forever.
"Were almost there," Nidashi informed the anxious little boy.
Naruto nodded and narrowed his eyes, getting ready to see what he had been waiting for all day.
Getting nearer he could hear the gentle sound of running water. They went into some bushes where Naruto couldn't see anything and found it difficult to keep from getting scraped. But soon they cleared the shrubs and were out in the moonlight. Here Naruto laid eyes on what the Nidashi wanted to show him. It was beautiful, more beautiful then anything Naruto had ever laid eyes on.
Steam rose high above from the small pond in the middle of this forest, a small waterfall, small enough for a man to climb poured into the pond. Tall green trees and shrubs surrounded them making the place completely unseen, for the most part untouched. Tons of white flowers bloomed on the grass near the pond making the place smell as sweet as looked. Naruto decided that this was a magical forest and remained as quiet as he could so maybe the faeries would come out. He had seen this on a movie that the Third showed him before he left on his mission.
But soon the old man broke the silence.
"This is a secret place. Only a few who are alive now are aware of this place and its location," Nidashi explained to the awe struck three year old.
They both stood for a while gazing at its beauty, "I have not dared to come here after my wife passed away," he finally said.
"But the moment I laid eyes on you I knew that I had to show you this place," he said with sadness in his voice, that graceful smile fading.
Naruto looked up at the old man, and even with the sight that lay before him, he couldn't help but feel a great sadness for this man...and he didn't know why. As Nidashi's eyes were still fixed on that place that him and his wife shared so long ago and tear ran down his old wrinkled face. Naruto frowned, why would he be sad? Was it something that he did? Naruto grabbed a hold of Nidashi's leg and hugged it tightly.
Nidashi looked down at the blond, smile once again returning, he placed a hand on the boys head.
"Come, there is more to this place then you know," he said, taking hold of Naruto's hand.
They neared the pond and Nidashi undressed himself and Naruto then got into the pond.
"This is a natural hot spring," Nidashi explained to the confused looking Naruto.
Naruto's eyes beamed, he loved the hot springs! He jumped into the pond and Nidashi sat him on a small rock that was under the water so the boy wouldn't drown.
There, Naruto splashed and kicked around while Nidashi conjured up old memories. But time passed quickly and he noticed how pruned Naruto's hands and feet were and decided it was time to go home and get to sleep. He wrapped Naruto in a cloth and dried him as best he could before re-dressing the tired three year old. Nidashi picked Naruto up in his arms and began to walk out of the forest, "promise me you will never forget that place Naruto," Nidashi said in a soft voice.
Naruto smiled and nodded his head to the old man before resting his head and falling asleep on Nidashi's shoulder.
"How can you understand so much without knowing anything?" He whispered,
"Thank you for letting me show you Naruto."
Naruto nodded and Nidashi stopped in his tracks, startled at the sleeping Naruto's reactions, but smiled once again and continued to walk.
'You are a strange one Naruto, but something very special,' he thought to himself as the Hokage monument came into view.
'Just like the fourth...' The man who Nidashi would thank for all eternity, and this boy.
To Be Continued....
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