5 Chapter II - The Present (Part 1 - Apologies)
"What you can't say owns you. What you hide controls you."
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Naruto Uzumaki was known as a loud and annoying brat, a demon for all of the citizens of Konoha.
Well, in reality, he isn't quite that.
Really, the shinobi should have found out the moment he managed to escape the ANBU. At least one of his teachers on the academy should have seen the small words (way above what a 'clanless orphan' should know) that sometimes slipped when he talked.
But nobody noticed or cared enough to point him out on his act.
So Naruto, a genius at strategy and an unpredictable ninja, slipped away from Konoha's fingers using the 'idiot blonde' disguise.
And even so, it was Naruto who truly paid the price.
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Naruto awoke abruptly, screaming and thrashing on his bed.
This event wasn't something new on Naruto's life.
Dreaming about being hunted by people you see and live with every day, and then feeling as they brutally beat you to death wasn't exactly anyone's thought of a peaceful dream.
Naruto looked around his room wildly, trying to calm himself down and failing. He could still smell the blood.
His blood.
He cradled his head on his shaky hands as he uttered the same words over and over.
"You are fine, you are fine..."
Naruto wasn't, not really.
He was alone, truly alone.
The blonde shivered, and his breath quickened. He was hyperventilating, black spots forming on his vision.
Nature wrapped around the boy and put him to sleep once more. It was better this way, Nature mourned.
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Kurama always wavered on these nights, wanting to speak and beg Naruto to stop. But in the end, he never could confront the boy.
Even after feeling the fear and agony, he always stays quiet and then goes back to sleep bitterly.
This little parade had been Naruto's choice, so he'll let him pay the consequences.
(Tears slipped from Kurama's eyes as he hoped he made the right choice. He hoped the boy could see how he had strayed from who he was).
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Naruto couldn't make an illusion clone.
The teachers knew.
His class knew.
Even Hokage-Jiji knew.
He resigned himself to fail the shinobi course.
He really didn't care about it. But he probably would die of starvation in the streets, counting the council didn't make a move.
Naruto shuddered.
He didn't want to end like Root shinobi, never to see daylight again.
So when Mizuki came, Naruto knew this was a farse. Knew he could have said no, and Mizuki, as a chunnin, would get caught by the ANBU, that this display didn't assure Naruto a field promotion in the slightest.
But he didn't say a word.
And so, Naruto learned about Shadow clones.
Mizuki told him (even if he already knew) about Kurama.
Reassured himself Iruka was a precious person.
He became a genin.
And also, Naruto realized he became selfish and stupid.
Like, really stupid.
Naruto was overwhelmed.
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The last time Naruto stood in front of this cage, he had screamed at Kurama.
He never apologized.
That event had happened almost one year ago.
Naruto didn't flinch at Kurama's cutting words. He understood he deserved this.
"What are you doing here, human?" Kurama demanded to know.
Naruto wanted to cry.
Everyone wants and needs. That doesn't make people selfish unless they act upon their desires without thought.
Naruto had at least some decency.
"Kyuubi-sama, I came here to offer an apology," Naruto hadn't referred to Kurama as sama in a long time. His state with him was even worse than when they met.
Kurama snarled and started shouting at him.
Naruto listened as he bowed, tears filling his eyes.
He deserved this.
He had failed not just Kurama, but also himself.
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"I don't want to see your face anymore, get out!" Kurama snarled at the boy.
"Sorry, Kyuubi-sama," Naruto responded, still bowing. He didn't get to say anything else as Kurama threw him out, pushing as much chakra as he could through the seal.
Kurama then rubbed his eyes with his paws and screamed in frustration.
Naruto had made a big mistake, but Kurama had been too out of line.
Kurama had also made promises he didn't keep.
Friends or not, Naruto had worked with him for hours each day. Sometimes they just sat and meditated, but even then the boy knew how this would help Kurama's temper.
Naruto gave to Kurama even more than what Kurama gave to him.
Kurama had made mistakes that compared to this.
Naruto always came the next day and even if Kurama wanted to rip his head off, he waited hours for the beast to regain his common sense and then they always talked.
Of course, the blonde did have some problems with his anger. But they didn't even start to compare to the things he'd said to Naruto.
Kurama made the boy cry multiple times.
Naruto always came back.
The blonde made one mistake that didn't even hurt Kurama (not directly at least. Seeing one of the few you consider family rip himself apart's not pretty). And Kurama had called him human, this for everyone else wasn't an offence, but they both knew what it meant for them. He had put the boy with the same people that beat him every year.
Naruto didn't fight back.
Kurama wasn't supposed to feel guilty. The boy deserved this.
(A part of him remembered nightmares and haunted blue eyes. Agonized screams of pain and bruised skin).
Kurama shut his eyes fiercely.
Guilt slithered inside Kurama slowly. Kurama had promised to keep Naruto going. He had told the boy he'd stay with him until the end.
He instead had ignored the blonde at the slightest hint of trouble, Kurama had been a real coward while Naruto faced the consequences of the idea Kurama created.
And Naruto still believed everything about this farce was his fault. Naruto felt guilty like Kurama hadn't been the real monster that suggested this idea.
A sob escaped Kurama's throat.
Naruto had been wrong. The truth was they were both guilty. How could he have expected a small child to make it all alone?! To survive unscathed years of abuse and lies?!
Kurama was angry, but now at himself.
He'll wait for Naruto to come back and then they'll talk like they always do. And Kurama will shake the boy until he understands they both are guilty.
He hoped this didn't rip them apart.
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It would be a few months until Kurama and Naruto finally talked about this fight.
Naruto never told Kurama about waking up to his body full of very high chakra burns.
(This was the first and only time Kurama's chakra hurt Naruto directly. In the next years, Kurama always thought his chakra to be hesitant around him because of their relationship.)
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Naruto hissed in pain, clutching his arm frantically as Nature healed the last of his chakra burns. He wiped the tears off his face and took a deep breath.
The ache on his chest didn't diminish.
Naruto ignored the mess in his head for a bit. Blonde hair shined under the sun as lifeless blue eyes looked at the sun. Naruto's eyes were puffy and reddened by the crying.
Naruto felt one las time the sick peace he'd maintained for himself. The ghostly weight that settled on his shoulders as he pretended everything was perfect.
Finally, a frail grin settled on his face as he scrunched his eyes shut.
The boy slowly turned his back on the window and entered his apartment further. His knees gave up below him, and he fell to the floor in the middle of his room.
Naruto controlled the impulse to start sobbing again and just breathed until he could think orderly again.
Until all those parts he tried to bury deep inside of him came afloat again.
He waited for all he became on these years and hid to resurface once more.
Even then he didn't stop being the idiot dead-last. Never tried to rid or bury that persona as he did with who he was before.
They were too intertwined for that. Naruto Uzumaki will have to learn to be himself again.
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When the Hokage saw Naruto appear on his office, he expected to be signing a shinobi ID, probably having to tell the boy to redo his photo and stop playing around.
All those ideas went out the window once he saw the tears falling from those blue eyes.
The Hokage knew Naruto was hiding some things. Saw Naruto's behaviour change on the first year of the academy and soon after seeing the fear in Naruto's eyes, he decided not to ask.
It was absolutely selfish of him. But he didn't want more pains and burdens to carry.
The Hokage stood up as he saw Naruto bow and say "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama." Sarutobi's breath hitched as he heard the honorific.
He let the ANBU stay as he felt their distress. They could try to hide it, but they cared for the boy, they spend years seeing him grow. Hiruzen knew about the beatings, but he didn't ask.
That was probably one of his first mistakes.
Naruto looked at him, eyes full of agony.
Hiruzen didn't wait for more "Tell me everything."
Nothing could have prepared him for what came next.
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Hiruzen expected abuse and trauma.
He expected hatred and sadness.
What he didn't expect were the fear and its consequences, not even the reasons.
The civilian council was going down. Danzo was dead for treason without a doubt.
(Hiruzen hugged the boy to his chest more tightly. Eyes burning with fire and determination that he lost so long ago.)
He called the ANBU, all of them. An ANBU reunion hadn't happened since the Uchiha Massacre, and what Hiruzen will ask of them has never been done.
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The ANBU guard of the Hokage was now on sight inside the office. Having sent the message of an urgent meeting to all the ANBU inside the village. The Hokage called the ones outside.
Shinobi all around got the message as they looked at each other.
Konoha was on lockdown until further notice, all the ANBU should report to the Hokage office immediately.
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Inoichi was having a tedious day at the TI department, filling out stacks of paperwork and signing off reports for the Hokage.
Suddenly, one of the ANBU guarding the department came through the blonde man's window, maintaining only one sign on his hand.
Urgent.
Inoichi didn't wait for more and went out of the window and sped through the roofs. He watched as various ninja stood on high alert and found even more visible ANBU than usual. All shinobi were tense, and he was sure the village was on lockdown.
Something was about to blow up.
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Naruto woke up to voices, while also sensing tense chakra all around him.
Still keeping his eyes closed, he tried to find the origin of this chakra but shivered as he felt it throughout Konoha, mostly on the individuals who had the most chakra, shinobi then.
What the hell was happening?
"Naruto?" A voice, the Hokage, Naruto realized, called out to him.
The boy slowly opened his eyes and blinked when the sun hit him in the face. "Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked sleepily. Naruto couldn't see it, but the Hokage looked strained and remorseful at the title Naruto used.
Inoichi understood at that moment that something was wrong. Very wrong.
Naruto Uzumaki, considered the Hokage's second grandson far before he was born, called him sama.
For being considered dead-last of the Academy, Naruto always put boundaries with the people he met.
He could make thoughtless and disrespectful comments with people he knew, but never with the people he just met. To others, Naruto looked like a disrespectful orphan, but Inoichi had been on the TI department for years. He knew the truth about Naruto's supposed disrespectfulness, but not why.
For Naruto to call the Hokage with sama, something grave must have happened.
"Naruto, could you please allow Inoichi to enter your mind to verify what you told me?" The Hokage asked the boy, who just looked at him shockingly.
"B-but what about the Kyuubi...?" Naruto looked worried.
"It can't hurt me through the seal. And ideally, I shouldn't appear where it is." Inoichi said.
Naruto took a deep breath and steeled himself for what was about to happen.
The charade was over.
There was no going back, no more hiding.
"Alright."
