Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Blue Skies

Death and Rebirth

by Phantom_Swordsman

Of setting the stage and pasts revealed

Category: Naruto - Rating: NC-17 - Genres: Drama, Romance - Characters: Anko, Naruto, Sandaime, Tsunade, Other - Warnings: [?] - Published: 2006-07-12 - Updated: 2006-07-12 - 2470 words

?Blocked
Yo. Please read and review!

My thanks to-

(Ficwad)
KnightStriker
SmacksKiller
unluckydesertrider
inforno
Blue Skies
Death and Rebirth

The first thought Naruto had when he came in contact with another hand was 'Hmm. Warm.'

Soon, however, he broke out of his thoughts and jerked his hand away, understanding that someone else was in his 'humble abode'.

"Who's there?!" A feminine voice softly called out. Not exactly the trusting type, especially since being ganged up on not too long ago, Naruto remained silent to the inquiry. Surprisingly, the next sound he heard was footsteps, and they were coming closer.

%%%%%

Shizune looked very much like an average traveler, but there was one twist. She was the assistant of her late uncle's girlfriend, the Legendary Sannin Tsunade, otherwise known as the Legendary Sucker. Innuendo aside, the Jounin level ninja was a stark contrast to her friend and mentor.

Whereas Tsunade was known for her rational thinking, or lack thereof, Shizune was the one to worry about her sensei's...habits. Which was why venturing into a dark, stingy alley was clearly out of character, as she herself thought so.

'What am I doing?' She thought to herself. 'It all started out with me going grocery shopping and now I trying to solve the mystery of the unknown hand.' Her ears than picked up the sound of rustling clothing, moving away from her slowly, tiredly.

"Hello?" She spoke out to the darkness again, her posture tensing as a sign of her anxiety. Shizune took another step forward as her question was once again ignored. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, I promise."

Silence hung in the air of the begrimed alley.

"You promise?" Shizune was surprised for a moment at getting an answer from the owner of the mysterious hand. All she could tell was the owner was young and male. Even the location was unclear to her, as the voice seemed to bounce all over the walls of the two building that made the alley.

"I promise," she replied to the voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you need help?"

"I don't know." The monosyllabic answers somewhat irritated the ninja, being so used to the often boisterous bragging of Tsunade at a gambling spot before she went into the red.

"Can I help you? I'm trained in medic jutsus." There was a lengthy pause, most likely the voice was mulling over her offer.

"Okay, I think your standing right next to me, all you have to do is look down." That answer certainly surprised the kunoichi, as she didn't even feel the presence of anyone relatively near her person.

Looking down, she indeed saw the prone form of a male teenager with numerous medical bandages wrapping the body.

"What happened to you?"

"Don't worry about it, the wounds should have healed days ago, I just haven't taken them off yet."

'He talking more,' Shizune thought. 'That's good.' A silent patient was always more worrisome than a loud, expressive one. Mental trauma was something that showed differently from person to person, but someone who talked little or not at all could be seen as early signs of excessive shock, commonly from rape, witness to murder, or torture.

The medic-nin then proceeded to carefully unwrap the bandages that littered the boy's body. On most, if not all of them, there was a liberal amount of body, but surprisingly no scars that she could see. One after another they fell, discarded to become apart of the trash on the ground.

The teen's body was horrific not in the fact that it held numerous scars or bruises, but because of mild to severe malnutrition.

"Have you eaten in the past month!?" Shizune exclaimed.

"I would think that is a slight exaggeration," Naruto said with a smirk playing on his tanned face, a stark contrast to the slightly pale skin hugging his ribs.

"How old are you, anyway?" Shizune asked as she continued clearing the bandages, his upper torso now bare of the bloodied strips and squares.

"Just turned sixteen. You?"

"A gentleman never asks."

"I'm too young to be called a man."

"Hmph. Well, I'm 21 thank you very much."

"Your young, I thought so. A pretty voice like yours must go with a young body."

"What do you mean? I'm right here," she said looking at the head of the male she was helping. When Naruto's head turned, however, his eyes drifted a few inches to the right.

Giving off a sigh, Naruto said, "I'm blind."

Shizune was stunned; she certainly hadn't seen this coming. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

"Hmm. S'okay, not many people do." Cue the rumbling stomach. Giving a cough, he said "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while."

"Do you want to come with me? I just bought groceries when I found you."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother. Although if you can spare some, I'll eat here."

Shizune's face went stern, "Well, as a medic-nin, I can't in good conscience leave you here to fend for yourself. You're coming with me."

Taken aback, Naruto was dragged to his feet and leaning on his savior.

%%%%%

A half-hour and one bath later, the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki found himself seated comfortably on a couch in some sort of hotel room or apartment. Soft aromas filled the air, giving it a definite homely, if feminine, feel.

"Do you live here alone, ma'am?" The teen asked out to the air.

"No, I'm actually living with my sensei," she paused in thought. "Oh! Where are my manners? I didn't introduce myself, did I? Well, my name is Shizune."

'What should I do?' Naruto thought. 'Should I give her my real name, or not.'

"Naruto is not that common of a name," Kyuubi said through their mind link they had found not too long ago. "If you truly want to remain hidden from Konoha, you'll have to lie, or something."

'Alright,' he replied. "Shizune-san, I do not have a name."

Shizune was currently bustling about in the apartment's kitchen, preparing lunch for three was slightly shocked at the admission.

"You don't have a name?"

"Hai, Shizune-san," Naruto replied, the lie easily rolling off his lips.

"I... Would you like one?"

"That... would be nice," he replied, his smile sounding in his words. "So, what should be my name?"

"Hmm... Well, I could name you Kin, because of your hair."

"My hair?"

"Yes, it's a golden blond color."

"I don't want to be named because of my hair! Although," he said, a suave smirk forming "You could call me Sekushi."

A blush spread over Shizune's cheeks. "Really?" She replied, caught off guard at his teasing.

"I've been told that I am," Naruto said, stating the truth. His Kyu-chan had said so, after all. "But no, I don't think 'Sexy' is a good name. That is, unless you have an objection, Shizune-chan? Perhaps that name would indeed suit you better than myself, ne?"

Shizune turned bright red trying to continue on with her cooking. "W-well, I think we are getting off-track, we still need a name for you."

"Hmm, well how about Naruto?"

"Huh?" Shizune said, her blush forgotten at the incredulity of his proposed name.

"Well, you see I really love ramen, so..." He said with bated breath. 'Crap, what was I thinking? Will this be too much of a stretch or not' he thought.

"I hope you know what your doing, Naru-kun," Kyuubi said to her container.

'Sigh, it's not exactly like I have a wealth of names in my head, and I don't see you helping out either Kyuu-chan.' Naruto shot back. Kyuubi remained silent.

"Well, okay, if that's what you want." She said with a smile.

"So, Sekushi-chan, when will your sensei arrive?" He said, redoubling his teasing efforts.

A blushing Shizune replied with a half sentence before the door was burst open.

"Hey Shizune! I'm back!" Tsunade yelled out. Naruto turned in his seat to face the sudden intrusion.

"Oh, hello Tsunade, welcome back. We also have a guest. Tsunade, please meet Naruto. Naruto, say hello to Tsunade," the medic-nin called from the kitchen.

Naruto nearly had a heart attack. 'Tsunade!!! Of the Densetsu no Sannin?! Oh shit, I'm sooo screwed!' He thought. What if the old man had already contacted his old student to look out for a blind young man, and to return him immediately to Konoha?

Heart thumping wildly in his chest, he said, "Hello, I am Naruto, pleasure to meet you, Tsunade-san."

Tsunade blinked, "Where did you find such a young man with manners, Shizune?"

"I actually found him on the streets on my way back after grocery shopping. He was half-starved, and he's blind, so I couldn't just leave him, Tsunade!"

"Your blind, hmm" mused Tsunade. "I had a feeling something was off since you seem to have a rather stiff neck there, especially when I came through the door."

"H-hai, Tsunade-san," Naruto nervously replied.

"Hmm? There's no need to be so formal and nervous amongst friends, Naruto-kun." Tsunade said, a minute amount of suspicion entering her mind. 'Could he be an assassin,' she thought. 'It seems to coincidental that he was around when we just started to settle down here.'

"Okay," Naruto said, trying to calm himself down before he drew even more suspicion from the powerful kunoichi.

"Okay min'na-san! Dinner is ready. Tsunade, could you please help Naruto to the table?" Shizune's voice called from the kitchen.

Tsunade just grumbled slightly, before walking over Naruto and taking his arm and hefting him up. Naruto instinctively grabbed hold of her arm as he started walking.

"Gomen," he said sotto voce. Tsunade looked at him in surprise.

"Nani?"

"You are suspicious of me. I'm am sorry for being such a trouble and shall leave after dinner."

Tsunade continued to look at him contemplating his words in silence.

"Shizune is no second-rank ninja," she said after a brief moment of silence. Both of them had stopped walking to the kitchen with Naruto's impromptu outburst.

Naruto looked confused, not sure what she was saying. "Pardon?"

"Shizune is no second-rank ninja," Tsunade repeated.

"I don't understand."

"Sigh. If she trusts you that's should be good enough for me. If it isn't, it shows how little faith I have in her as my student and friend. And besides, I don't think she'll be pleased if I chased you out."

"I see," Naruto paused. "And thank you for letting me stay."

'I wonder how long I can stay here?' He thought. 'Shizune-san is very nice unlike the people back in that village, and Tsunade-hime, even though she was suspicious, is kind as well. Kyuu-chan, what do you think?'

"They seem okay enough," the demon vixen replied as Naruto sat down at the apartment's small dining table.

'I like it here,' he said to his bijuu slowly, organizing his thoughts.

"Are you sure? This could prove troublesome with that Tsunade around." Kyuubi said.

'Hai, it... it feels like a home, even if I haven't been here long. But, both of them have treated me better than anyone back in the village save for Jii-chan.'

Kyuubi felt herself softening at Naruto's words. "Okay, we can stay here for awhile, just be careful, okay Naru-kun. I don't want you to get hurt."

'I promise, Kyuu-chan, I promise.'

%%%%%
Hokage's Office, Konohagakure
Several days prior

The Sandaime Hokage had never felt so old in his life since Orochimaru's defection as he stared down at the sloppily written letter in his age withered hands.

Dear Jii-chan,

I guess by now you know I'm been long. Gomen nasai, Jii-chan, but I can't stay in this village anymore. This may well be my final goodbye, as I may never smell you again in this life, neh? Sayonara, and tell those geezers on the Council the same for me, will ya? Included with this letter is a my way of helping you out by legally not sending any hunter-nins after me, although you may have already been familiar with Shodaime's law.

Goodbye, Jii-chan
Uzumaki Naruto

It had been a whole 24 hours since he had found Naruto's messily written letter. And it had been 18 hours since he successfully used Naruto's interpretation of Shodaime's law to forcefully make them back down.

Of course, just because the Council couldn't legally have ninjas hunt down Naruto didn't mean the Hokage couldn't.

'I owe it to the Yondaime,' Sarutobi thought. 'To at least talk to him into returning to Konoha and claim his father's name. I hope that will change the villagers' opinion of him.'


The Sandaime was cut from his musings as his awaited guest arrived.

"Anko, I'm glad you've arrived," the Kage said.

"Hokage-sama," the Tokubetsu Jounin said.

"I've called you here to do a mission for me, one that will be labeled as an S-Class mission, not for the danger, but rather the secrecy needed. Your mission is the retrieval of Uzumaki-Kayaku Naruto."

"Kayaku? As is...the Fourth?!" Mitarashi exclaimed in surprise.

Sarutobi gave her a shrewd look. "What I'm about to tell you is an S-Class secret, understood?" Anko nodded.

"The identity of Yondaime's child was an S-Class secret the day Naruto was born to Uzumaki Aiko on the day of Kyuubi's fateful and final attack. Aiko herself was a virtual unknown who had met Kayaku Arashi years prior and had fallen in love. Naruto was given his mother's maiden name to protect him from the numerous enemies of Konoha no Kiiroi Senko, his father.

Twenty-four hours ago, Naruto snuck out of the village several hours after being ambushed by an unknown number of people. Your mission is to find and retrieve Naruto, unharmed. Any questions?"

"Why me?" She asked after a short deliberation.

"Out of all the Jounins, you are one of the few who hold no resentment against Naruto for what he holds. You can also keep a secret, and above all else, you know what is it like to be ostracized for something you have no control over."

'Orochimaru' she venomously thought. "Is that all, Hokage-sama?"

"I only have a few things left to say. One, do not provoke him, Naruto is more powerful than one might think. Also, you can tell him about his father. In fact, I believe you should when you meet him. And if all else fails, at least try to get him to visit sometime in the future."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Dismissed, and good luck."

~~End~~

I know this is shorter than my last, but this was a filler to help the plot along and introduce some new characters.

AN-

Kayaku Arashi- In the anime episodes, the name before Naruto's on the Summoning scroll can be translated as 'Arashi' 'Kaseiyo' or 'Kayaku'. I just chose the first and last.

Konoha no Kiiroi Senko- Translates as "The Leaf's Yellow Flash". Note that this will most likely be seen later.
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