Wake Up

Konohagakure, October

Uzumaki Naruto was having a bad day. Or at least, one worse than most. The five, almost six, year old had just returned to the orphanage from his weekly medical check-up at Konoha's hospital. Most of what was said each week went over his head. But by the looks of concern and hushed whispers when they noticed him listening, it wasn't good news this week. Every week he would talk to a kind spoken man with long blond hair, almost like Rins', whose name was Inoichi, about the headaches he would sometimes get. He told the man about how he had the nightmare that he couldn't breathe, no matter how much he tried, and the whole world would fade to black, again. It was a recurring dream that he had when his mind would get fuzzy. Why does this keep happening to me? Why doesn't it happen to Rin. Why do I have trouble with people understanding me? It's not fair, He was forcefully driven out of his thoughts when he didn't notice his escort had stopped and walked straight into her, bounced off her, and promptly fell on his behind.

"Pay attention, we're here", the lady snapped. She didn't like having to escort the brat from the orphanage to its little "mind healing" appointments. More like showing the demon how to be human. The other one at least knew how to act like a human, even if it was hyperactive to the nth degree. The brat's appointments would give the caretakers at the orphanage a reprieve from its crazy yammering nonsense, and odd behavior. And she sadly drew the short stick on who would escort the little beast.

"Bitch", he muttered using a word that only he seemed to understand.

"What was that?", the lady asked, with a faux sweet tone of voice. Knowing it was using a word it loved to use around her.

"Nothing", he replied quietly, not wanting another lesson on what happens when he speaks "crazy talk".

"Good, now go on inside", She said sweetly, gesturing towards the orphanage in front of them. Naruto wasted no time in getting away from the witch lady and to go find his sister. They had lunch with jiji today and he couldn't wait for it.

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Where is he? He should have been back an hour ago. We're going to be late.

Uzumaki Rin thought to herself. Her irritation causing her to pace back in forth in the small room shared by her and her brother Naruto.

If he's not back, jiji's going to have to wait. Rin didn't want the old man to have to wait on the two of them. She didn't know if Naruto noticed, but she did, the Hokage seemed more exhausted, less energetic when he would take them on their trip to the ramen stand. She may not be able to hold still for very long, or avoid being loud and being an absolute terror to the caretakers at the orphanage , but she was still veryperceptive. Something had happened within the last few months. Something that seemed to prematurely age the old man almost overnight.

What happened, jiji ?" she thought to herself. Worried about the man she saw as her grandfather. She was drawn out of her contemplating when she felt ,more than heard, an all too familiar presence making it's way up the stairs to her room. He's back, she didn't have to wait more than a few seconds before a yellow and red blur engulfed her into a hug.

"I'm back." Her brother nearly shouted in her ear, lifting her off her feet and twirling her around.

"Put me down, 'ruto," she giggled, trying to pry herself from his grip. "We're going to be late. We don't want to keep jiji waiting."

At the mention of the man's name, Naruto set her down, grin still not leaving his face. "Ok. Let me change my shirt first ." At the mention of the article of clothing, Rin noticed there was a noticeable stain on the front.

"What happened?" she asked. That was odd, Naruto normally was careful about spilling things.

"Eh," He started, putting his hand behind his neck embarrassedly, " I sort of wasn't careful when I was talking to Inoichi, and I, kind of, knocked over my juice." he finished, flushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Okay, I'll be downstairs waiting for jiji. Be quick." she said. As she made her way out of the room, she looked back by the corner of the doorway in the hallway and saw her brother looking for where his other shirt was. Why doesn't he remember where he put his shirt? she thought, as she made her way downstairs. It's one of those days, she realized.

It had been better now than what it was last year. Her brother, on most days, was normally the one playing the role of elder sibling. He would console her when the villagers were particularly mean, and when the children in the orphanage would distance themselves away them, with a look of fear or hatred on their days, he would look back, not breaking eye contact until the children did. He also would fix any adult that was rude to her with a look of unmatched hatred, whether it be the caretakers, or villagers they saw when at the park. He was her light. Her protector.

But today seemed to be one of those days where he would get confused easily, overlook things, and would act much different than what he normally did. He would start speaking words that others didn't understand, but she did. She understood the most when he would start speaking strangely. "Twinspeak", Jiji would call it. Another language that twins use. But those weren't words that she helped Naruto come up with. He already knew them, he just tought her what the words meant. She never did tell the Hokage thatdetail. Those days were also when she had to be what Naruto normally was to her.

Jiji asked me to tell him if I noticed when Naruto would have these days. I'll tell him at lunch, when Naruto can't hear. She hated keeping this secret from her brother. It felt almost like she was betraying him. But she knew the Hokage meant well. He cared very deeply for the two of them, and only wanted the best for them.

Making her way downstairs, she went to the door to go sit on the steps until the Hokage arrived. She looked out to the street, watching the normal hustle and bustle of a shinobi village. She tried to ignore some of the looks she recieved from some of the passerbys. She didn't get those looks when she was with the Hokage, and she could shake them off when Naruto was with her, giving her support.

Hurry up, She thought, before she heard her brother come down the stairs. Walking out to the steps, he sat down next to her, wearing a clean red shirt.

"Jiji here yet?", he asked, looking across the street to the village outside.

"Not yet," Rin replied, "He should be here in a few minutes, it's almost noon."

After a minute of silence, Rin decided to broach a subject she knew her brother wouldn't want to talk about.

"How was your appointment?", she asked, wanting to know what the kind blond man had said to Naruto about his problem.

She noticed him tense slightly before responding. "It was all good. It's getting better," he said, the slight tightness in his tone acting like a flare to one who knew him as well as she did.

"Brother", she quietly requested , switching to the language he seemed to invent, " please don't lie to me. I don't like it when you keep secrets from me." She tried to ignore the guilt at the hypocrisy she was showing.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't like worrying her about problems that were his. It didn't seem right. "Okay", he exhaled, speaking in the language he had known for as long as he could remember. "I had the dream again, the one where I can't breath. Inoichi said that it wasn't a huge problem. A "bump in the road" is what he said. He said it won't change anything, it will be fixed in a year."

At the look his sister gave him, Naruto put his hands up in placating manner, "That's all he said", switching back the language normally spoken, "It won't change a thing, I'm getting better.", He finished, offering his hand to his sister to take.

Rin looked at the hand for a moment, before grasping ahold of it, a relaxed smile upon her face, "Okay," she said quietly, " Remember I'll always be here for you, 'kay?

Naruto smiled back, leaning into her shoulder. "Me too". He said simply, before looking back towards the village, waiting for the man he saw as his grandfather to arrive.

///////////////

The last few years had been rough for Sarutobi Hiruzen. Taking up the burden of Hokage again at his age was difficult enough. And the job did not fail to deliver. The Kyuubi attack and its aftermath. The concessions he needed to make to the civilian merchants and businessmen to get an influx of funding to clear away debris and get repairs done quickly. The Hyuga incident with Kumo less than two years ago. The further disenfranchisement of the Uchiha clan with the rest of the village. But the worst was the one that he did have power over. One that he could of stopped, but didn't have the strength to do it. Orochimaru, he thought, the very name driving a spike of shame through his heart. After everything I saw that he had done. The experiments, the innocent lives, his apprentice. I still couldn't help but see the precocious orphan I tried to help when he lost what no child should. I encouraged his curiosity. I stoked the flames that overwhelmed his sense of going too far. I let him flee. I couldn't kill the person I saw weep at his parents death, his whole world ending around him.

"At least something is better", he muttered to himself as he made his way to the orphanage. His thoughts shifting to a less depressing subject, the Uzumaki twins that he saw as his surrogate grandchildren.

They'll be starting in the Academy next year, he mused. Time does seem to fly.

He got to the end of the street, spotting the orphanage at the corner. On the steps, he could see the two he had come to collect. As he approached, he saw Rin perk up and whisper into her brothers ear, probably that she had spotted him, given that her brother sat up, looked around, and saw him a scant moment later.

"Jiji !", they both shouted at same time, as he closed the gap between them.

He stifled a chuckle as they rushed to engulf him into a hug. "I heard some strange rumour that two children were hungry for some ramen. Do you know who that could be?", he asked, trying to maintain a facade of seriousness and failing miserably.

"Us, jiji." they answered, again at the same time.

"Oh really?" He feigned ignorance, "That must mean, hmmm", he continued, putting a hand to his goatee, stroking it thoughtfully, " that must mean you're the ones I came for." he finished, unable to hide his grin.

"Jiji." the twins whined, not wanting to be teased any further.

"Alright, alright. Let an old man have his jokes. Now, are you ready?", he asked, as they let go of his waist to look up at him.

"Yes," they both, again, copied each other precisely. In both body language, and the giggling they let loose.

In that moment, Hiruzen saw so much of their parents seem to shine through them. He saw so much of Kushina in her daughter, her eyes the most. And he may as well be looking into the past when looking at the boy, who aside from his hair, looked the spitting image of his father. Down to the very grin he had on his face.

"Let's go now," he said happily, walking towards Ichiraku's with the children in tow. Minato, Kushina. You would be so proud of your children. And the love they have for one another.

//////////////////

"One of 'those days' again, you say?" Hiruzen asked, his expression giving nothing away.

They had finished eating at Ichiraku's and were back at the front of the orphanage. Naruto had said his goodbye and entered the orphanage to use the restroom, leaving the Hokage and Rin alone for a minute.

"Yes," she said quietly, "He tried to hide it. But he can't hide it from me."

He noticed she wanted to say something else, but looked like she decided not to.

"I can tell you have a question", he said softly, knowing it must be something that was bothering her greatly. "Don't feel scared, I'll answer as best I can."

Rin looked up to him, he could see tears already forming in her eyes. "When will he get better?", she asked, more like begged, him, her voice cracking with emotion, "He's supposed to b-be my big b-brother. He p-protects me, and I protect him. Why does he act like he d-doesn't know m-me sometimes? When will he stop acting s-so_"

"Different." Hiruzen finished, seeing how much it was hurting her to speak about it.

She simply nodded with a sniffle and a hiccup.

"He will be fine by the time you two enroll into the Academy", Hiruzen explained, pulling her into a hug. "His chakra was imbalanced when you two were born. But it's getting much better. Don't worry Rin, he will never forget you. Don't ever let anyone, even yourself, convince you he will abandon you." He finished softly, stroking her hair gently.

After a minute of them standing there, Rin felt calmed down enough to let go of him.

"Thank you, jiji," She whispered quietly.

"Never think you can't talk to me about your worries, Rin. My door is always open." He told her. He always did love their visits to his office. Even when it distracted him from his work, it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Rin gave a small smile and a nod before turning to enter the orphanage.

"And Rin," Hiruzen called, Rin's stride being slightly halted," there's no need for you to keep secrets from your brother."

With that, Rin opened the door to the orphanage, her posture noticeably more relaxed, and entered. Before the door even closed completely, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime of Konoha, disappeared in a shunshin, a small swirl of leaves left in his wake.

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The following week marked a very special day for the twins. It was their sixth birthday. The Hokage had arrived at the orphanage early in the day and had given them a collection of gifts. The gifts included a set of blunted kunai, so they would be familiar with the feel of them by the time they were enrolled into the Academy, coupons for a few free orders of ramen from Ichiraku's, a toad wallet for Naruto. Hiruzen hated taking credit for that one. A book on wildlife in the Land of Fire for Rin, she loved animals. And finally, a copy of "The tale of the utterly gutsy Shinobi", by Jiraiya the Sannin. Hiruzen barely held back a grimace when the two thanked him for the amazing book. I wish you could have delivered it to them yourself, Jiraiya. He moved his thoughts from that for now. Today was about the twins. After they finished trying out their presents for a bit, Hiruzen told them he planned on treating them to Ichiraku's and a trip to the dango shop later. They jumped in excitement at the thought of not just Ramen, but dango as well, on their birthday. So caught up in their excitement, they didn't see the small flash of sadness appear on Hiruzen's weathered face. I need to have it all done before the festival begins. Before the preparations even. He put on a happy face, and continued giving a bit of a family feel to a special day for two special children.

////////////////

Naruto woke up the next day, refreshed and feeling lighter than he had in a long time. After jiji had dropped him and Rin off back to orphanage, the two had spent the rest of the day reading the book by Jiraiya, and acting out some of the scenes, to which they broke down into giggles everytime they tried, and failed, to do different voices. They got several angry looks from the matrons from the racket they caused, but screw them. Why should they care what those witches thought.

Stretching his arms and releasing a jaw cracking yawn, he slowly maneuvered his way out of bed, mindful of his sister still asleep right beside him. Ever since they were babies, they shared a bed. The close proximity brought a warmth to him he couldn't put into words. He always thought of a bright, warm fire. It wasn't something he could put into words. It almost felt spiritual how right it felt.

Once he was out of bed, Rin only shifting slightly in her sleep, he headed over to the small closet they shared. The room they had was a little bigger than the other rooms, but it was more isolated than all the others.

Reaching into the closet, he grabbed one of the books jiji had given them. The book written by Jiraiya was the one he grabbed. He walked back to the center of the room, sat on the floor, and began reading. This was how Rin found him an hour later when she woke up.

" 'Ruto", she said blearily, sitting up, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes," what are you doing?" she asked, before yawning.

"Morning sleepyhead", he said cheekily, before answering her question. "Reading", he said simply, " This book by Jiraiya is really good. Did you know the hero, Naruto, hehe, is such a good guy? Even when he was in a tough spot, he sti-"

" Stop, Stop. I don't want to here what happens next." Rin responded, hands up and all drowsiness seeming to vanish from her. "I want to read it myself."

Naruto simply responded with a sheepish grin, realizing that she wouldn't appreciate having any of the book's details spilled.

"Why are you reading that anyway", Rin asked, "I thought we were going to read it together." A look of confusion marring her face.

"Well," Naruto started, putting a hand on the back if his neck, " I couldn't get back to sleep and I didn't want to wake you up. Breakfast isn't starting for another 15 minutes", he said as he looked at the clock beside the bed, " and I didn't have anything else to do."

"What about reading my book?"

Naruto responded to this very maturely by making retching sounds and fake spasming.

"What's wrong with my book?" she demanded, leaping from the bed and fixing her brother with a glare. "It has pictures of Birds, wolves, rabbits, and all the other animals hear, with little cards with facts about them."

"Oh there's nothing wrong with your book," he said, a devilish smirk appearing on his face that she did notlike. "If you're a girl."

Rin put her hands on her hips and had a glare that could bore through stone if it could, aimed straight at her brother who still had that annoying smirk on his face.

He did not just say that.

"Do you want to take that back?" she asked, oh so sweetly.

"Nope." he said, popping the p, before blowing a loud raspberry at her.

With a growl borderline animal, she leaped forward and tackled her brother to the ground, trying to pin him.

"Take it back. Take it back. Take it back." she shouted, golden blonde hair going askew.

The only thing she got out of him was a mixture of snickers and giggles, which only succeded in provoking her ire even further.

"Grrr", she growled, trying to hold him down, "hold still."

"Never." he shouted, pushing her slightly off him to get room to maneuver.

The next 10 minutes involved the two siblings attempting to wrestle the other into submission, until it eventually degenerated into a tickle fight, and neither side won.

After they had calmed down, they headed down to the dining area for breakfast. Both would have preferred Ichiraku's with jiji. But they knew the Hokage was busy and couldn't take them every single day. The man did what he could, and it was much more than most of the other adults did.

Entering the dining area hand in hand, the twins each grabbed a plate and entered the line awaiting breakfast for today. Seeing what was his soon to be sustenance for the morning, Naruto snorted.

Rice. Always rice. Every single day. Doesn't matter if there is cow, pig, fish, or any other kind of meat or vegetables with it. Always. Rice. He never did like rice that much. Don't get him wrong, food was food. But no matter how much he and his sister got, they could always eat more. Not that the orphanage workers even gave them the same amount of food as the other children. It wasn't a great deal less, but it was still less. Even when they devoured several bowls of ramen, they could still always eat more.

A scoop of rice hit his plate with a wet plop, causing a few bits to fall off the plate. A slice of dry fish to its left, a serving of soggy vegetables to its right made up his breakfast. Giving a snort at the sight of his bountiful harvest, he sat in their own corner, away from the stares and glares of the other children.

After they ate their food, and the rest of the children left to do their own little things, Naruto and Rin decided to head to the park. It was relaxing, even if they received more glares because the Hokage wasn't with them, and with the Kyuubi festival happening just a day before causing the glares to be more intense, with the extra add on of muttering just loud enough for the two to hear. Devil spawn and Demon twins being the most common. No idea why their presence would cause such emotions and insults.

But still, they made sure they had their time of relaxation, Rin with her book, comparing the pictures of the birds with their real life counterparts. And Naruto looking at the shear joy on his sister's face, along with giving glances towards some of the other children and parents at the park.

Some of the parents returned looks of contempt. Others had neutral expressions. But the few that showed something more than neutral, bordering on friendly, almost all had something else in common.

They looked familiar.

The first time he had seen them at the park, they looked familiar. The days where many of them would be there, along with children who looked like their own and were familiar in their own way, happen to coincide on some occasions when his mind would fog over. Names, faces, voices, they would seem to float into the forefront of his mind, only to vanish not long after. It was irritating. He felt like a part of him that he couldn't connect to was being teased in front of him, only to be snatched away.

On bad days, he would catch himself not recognizing Rin's face. Rin. His own sister. The moment she even said one word though, normally his name, it would snap him out of it. Her voice wasn't forgettable. It was her voice. No one elses. It grounded him when his thoughts floated.

Eventually it got late in the day, the parents calling for their children to come to them, for it was time to leave. No one called his name or Rin's name. After a short while since the last of the children left, the two Jinchuriki of Konoha packed up the little things they brought with them, preparing to return to the orphanage. Giving a final look at a swing that seemed to look so familiar with the backdrop behind it, Naruto shrugged it off and continued on with his sister, back to the closest thing to a home they had.

////////////////

"What's wrong, Rin? You can tell me."

Naruto had noticed that Rin was very quiet on their way back from the park. Her demeanor continued even when they had reached the orphanage and were in their room. Something wasn't right. She wouldn't be this quiet for that long unless she was worried about something, hiding something, or both.

Rin just looked at him silently, a look of apprehension, and was that fear to?, he couldn't tell.

"Do you love me?", she asked, her voice seemingly smaller than what one would expect from the headstrong girl.

"Yes, of course I do, Rin", he replied, as if it were something as obvious as the sky being blue. "Why are you asking?"

"Would you still love me if I kept a secret from you?" she asked, her voice still too small to fit her.

"Why are you asking this?" he asked her, a streak of worry underlining his voice. "You're scaring me. This isn't funny"

"I", she started, but she stopped herself for a moment. She was scared of how he would react.

"Please", he begged, wanting to know what worried his sister.

"I told jiji about your dream." she said, almost at a rapid pace, trying to say it as quick as possible.

One of the things Naruto had always hated was feeling like a burden. He hated the fog that would obscure his mind, forcing his sister to do what he as her brother should be doing. Another thing he hated, being pitied. He saw the looks from the nurses at the hospital. If it wasn't the usual hate like the villagers, it was pity. "The poor child, getting lost in his mind. Such a shame." was the common words he heard. He couldn't fathom how they thought he couldn't hear them, it was so obvious. They may as well be talking right next to him. Hell, he could smell what perfume they had on. If they were close enough for that, than they're too close. Even Inoichi, on his first few visits with him, had faint looks of pity shine through when his mind would drift and he would say something in the language no one could understand aside from Rin. Come to think of it, is that why jiji took him and Rin to get ramen? Did he do it out pity? For him?

His breath quickened at the thoughts running riot in his head. He slowly backed away from his sister, looking at her differently than before.

"Naru-", she started, reaching out for him, before being interrupted by a frantic Naruto.

"No. No.", He flailed his hands out to keep her from touching him.

"You lied to me. You said no secrets. You said no secrets." He finished the last part in a whisper, almost as if it was to himself.

"Naruto, please", she begged, "I'm sor-"

"NO", he shouted, jumping away from her.

"YOU LIED TO ME!", He snarled, "WHY!"

"Jiji asked me to let him know when your mind would fog", she cried, tears running down her face. The venomous look she was receiving from her brother was something she'd only seen when one of the caretakers or a villager said something disparaging about her specifically. Never when it was both of them. She had never been on the receiving end of his fury, it had always been on her behalf.

Naruto was in freefall. His thoughts were sluggish. His thinking was focused all on one thing, and it was right in front of him.

She lied, he thought. She told jiji about my mind. He PITIES me. The villagers hate me. Jiji pities me, like a stray cat needing milk. A pet. And Rin. Rin. His baby sister. His light in the darkness. His one bright spot. She lied to him. Betrayed his trust... Abandoned him.

A massive tail. A shout of warning. Lights winking out of existence. Darkness.

I can't breathe. I can't see her. Her light is gone. She's gone.

If Naruto had not assumed what Rin was trying to say. If his own fear of being alone wasn't being fed by what he percieved as validation of his own nightmare, he could have been reasoned with. He could have been able to see that the Hokage was Inoichi's boss. Inoichi answered to him. The Hokage would know about his problems with his mind. The dream. He was probably only asking Rin because she could understand how much it hurt her brother to know he could become trapped, with no escape, save for waiting till it went away. But he was past the point of reason.

Rin saw her brothers face slack as he backed away from her. The slight tilt of his head, that familiar tilt that she feared, was more noticeable than ever. Like a spooked deer, he turned to run. Before she could even call his name, to try and bring him back, he spoke. He spoke a single sentence that brought her emotions to an uncontrollable level.

"I don't know you." Barely more than a whisper. His eyes were looking straight into hers. But he seemed to be staring a thousand miles passed. As if she wasn't even there. They almost seemed to flash to a shade of violet not dissimilar to her own.

All the blood drained from her face, leaving her pale, cold, and an icy dagger seemed to find its way into her soul.

"He will never forget you. Don't ever let anyone, even yourself, convince you he will ever abandon you." Those words rung through her head as she saw her brother tense like a cornered animal. She could barely think. She tried to find words to say, to pull him back from his mind. But she couldn't. She couldn't find any. She tried to reach for him, to hopefully stop him.

With a speed that seemed to defy human convention on how fast a six year old ought to be, he bolted from the room, down the stairs and through the door, breaking it off its hinges. Rin couldn't reach him. Couldn't see where he went. And she collapsed to the floor , alone, unable to stand, trapped in her own living nightmare.

The caretakers didn't pay mind to the anguished wails they heard in the night.

//////////////////

Arriving at the park in a blur of red and gold, Naruto fell to the grounded, vomiting what was still left of his supper from earlier in the evening. Night had fallen and only a few villagers were even milling about. A few saw him blur by, probably not even recognizing him.

Wiping the foul mess from his mouth, he still remained on his hands and knees, trying to pull his thoughts together. He had felt something crack. A wave of memories had hit him that seemed sofamiliar. He felt a phantom pain through his body. Almost like liquid iron working its way through. A few little lines of words he hadn't known, hadn't invented, also began floating to the forefront of his rapidly clearing mind. Carpe Diem. Ils ne passerant pa. Storge. Agape. They were words he never heard, but he still knew what they meant in his very bones.

After trying for an unknown amount of time, he managed to calm himself enough to think a little clearer. The fog was still there, but his mind felt more, whole. More than it had in years. Trying to push through it, he was able to decipher and break down what had caused him to flee.

She was telling me she told jiji about my dream. A stab of pain went through his head. Why would she do that? Did she not trust me to tell him eventually? Why? An errant thought crossed his mind. A thought that now, only after he was away from the situation, made its way to the front of his thoughts.

Jiji is the Hokage. He's the boss of the whole village. That means he's Inoichi's boss. You're supposed to tell your boss what is going on. Jiji already KNEW, before Rin told him. Why would he ask her for details? It doesn't make sense. I saw the writing on Inoichi's little notepad when he grabbed a glass juice for me, and when I "spilled" it, he grabbed several napkins from another room. It HAD to be to the Hokage. As Naruto worked through the thought that had taken possession over him, frightened by what it meant.

Rin told him because he cares for me. He doesn't trust Inoichi's word as much as mine. He wants to know I'm safe. Rin. He stopped when he thought of his sister.

I've seen the look in her eyes before. The fear when I couldn't recognize her face. The relief when I knew her voice. She's scared I won't remember her. He realized.

And I said "I don't know you." Naruto, you idiot. You really did it this time, moron.

He realized he needed to get back, now! Tell Rin how sorry he was. That he wouldn't leave her, he loved her.

Trying to stand up, he staggered before falling back down.

My legs hurt. My whole body aches. He couldn't understand why. His whole body, and his legs especially, felt like something had burned it's way through his muscles. He could feel them getting a little better, but he didn't know when he'd be able to walk steadily to the point he could get back to the orphanage.

Please don't come looking for me

, prayed.

Jiji had said for them not to be out in the village at nightfall. "Bad people come out at night", he said. But Naruto thought there was more to it, not simply because of nighttime. Was it dangerous at night for everyone? Or just them?

He continued to lay on the ground at the park, letting the ache in is limbs slowly fade away. He didn't know how long he was there. It could have been a few minutes. It could of been an hour. He just sat there stewing in his thoughts, wondering what he was going to say to apologise to Rin.

Hearing a slight rustling of leaves, he turned and saw someone he wasn't expecting, the caretaker who had escorted him to his appointment two weeks ago. The bitch.

"Oh thank goodness I found you", she exclaimed, a look of relief on her face. "Nobody knew where you went and we've been looking for you."

That was odd. Normally she was never this polite. What was going on.

"Why are you here?", he asked, suspicion lacing his tone. Was this the same woman who was terrible to him and his sister?

At the suspicion coming from the boy, she seemed to shift into a more aggravated stance.

"Your sister is in the hospital," she said simply, no politeness in her tone.

Naruto's brows shot upwards, a look of shock on his face.

"What?! What happened", he asked frantically.

"She was screaming and wouldn't calm down. They had to take her to the hospital to be sedated," the woman answered, giving a slight glare towards the boy.

It's my fault.

Naruto thought. I wasn't there to calm her down. I did this.

"Take me to her," He begged her, "please."

The woman looked at him for a moment before answering, "You will stay close to me and not move any slower. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded his understanding, before forcing himself to his feet to follow her to the hospital.

Had he been thinking more about her off character introduction, instead of his guilt over his sister, he might have suspected something. He might also have noticed her slightly different posture. And he might have noticed her gate was different when he tried to keep pace with her longer strides if he wasn't thinking of the ache in his legs. But he noticed nothing. Tunnel visioned as he was to help his sister.

///////////////

I can't believe it worked

, The disguised Shinobi thought. He had henged into the form of one of the caretakers at the orphanage to get the brat to drop his guard. He had copied the voice and the tone to sell it further, but that's where he almost screwed up. The boy looked at him like he had grown a second head before adopting a look of guarded caution.

He was fortunate to have thought quickly on his feet and shifted the tone to a more rude one. She evidently hates the kid, and he assumes bitchiness from her.After selling some BS about his sister, You could have heard the crying from over a block away, being in the hospital, the boy dropped all caution to only be replaced by a look of fear, and was that guilt? Oh, even better.

Setting the pace, the Shinobi quickly outpaced the boy, forcing him to grimace from keeping up with the larger man's stride.

They were within a hundred yards of the hospital entrance when the Shinobi veered to the right, Into an alley alongside the entrance.

"Wha-", the boy started, confused by the change of entrance. Before realizing something was very wrong.

Turning to look at him, the boys face twisted into a look of hatred at the realization of deceit.

"WHERE IS SHE?," he growled, pulling a kunai from the pouch on his thigh.

Noticing that the kunai was a blunted one for training, the mysterious Shinobi chuckled at the boys audacity.

"Nothing personal, kid. Just business." With that that, the boys chakra spiked, his eyes flickering from blue to violet, and he charged him, murder in his eyes.

Too easy. He thought, as the boy overextended his stab, giving the man the perfect opportunity to drive a knee into the boys sternum. The boy nearly folded over his leg from the impact. He hit the ground, hard, coughing and trying to get air back into his lungs.

Orders are orders. Get the kid worked up and sic him on the hospital, making old man Hokage look like he's slippin.

"Like I said kid, nothing personal." Making hand signs, he cast his choice of Genjutsu. Demonic Illusion: Hell viewing technique.

The moment the Genjutsu took affect, the boy clutched his head and started screaming uncontrollably, gibbering words that were untranslatable from what he was trying to say.

Now, just wait till he breaks. He thought, hoping it was quick. The screaming will attract unwanted attention.

Almost as if fate was listening, he spotted an ANBU closing in, rapidly.

Shit, I can't fight that bastard. Not a chance. As he was prepping to cut his losses and flee, a spike of visible chakra blasted out of the boy, distracting him and the ANBU for a second. Both thought that was the end of it as the ANBU got closer. They were very wrong.

A scream of pain. A blast of purple chakra. A shockwave that knocked both to their backs, ears ringing. The ANBU looked like he got it worse. He was clutching at his eyes and was struggling to get up, like a drunk staggering home.

The ANBU or the kid? Thinking quick, the man pulled a kunai and flung it at the kid, his aim true, knowing the ANBU may be able to prevent a fatal strike to himself. He saw it in slow motion. The kunai flying, it making contact, the soft thunk of it striking flesh, the boy falling to his back, kunai lodged in his chest.

He turned to stagger away, but was struck by something that speared a hole through his shoulder and out his back. The boy had a spike of what looked to be chakra coming from him that was a golden colour.

What is this. The man thought. Not recognizing what the hell it was. As fast as it appeared, it disappeared, leaving a boy in the middle of a dark alley, choking on his own blood.

Gritting his teeth, the man fled as fast as his injured state would allow, before the ANBU could recover. I better get paid extra for this.

//////////////////

I hate night shifts. Uchiha Itachi decided. Having recently become an ANBU, he still needed to go through some of the lesser missions that all other rookies had to do before being "one of the group". One of those missions was playing watch over the Uzumaki twins. Daytime wasn't so difficult. It mostly involved watching them play at the park or venture very lightly into the forest surrounding the village. Not too bad. It was refreshing to see two children be happy in spite of all the hatred they received from the village. In the boy, he saw a bit of himself. That protectiveness and fierce love that he had for his sister was something that touched at Itachi's heartstrings. Almost how I love Sasuke. He thought, his thoughts shifting to his little brother who was about the same age as the twins, come to think of it.

He resigned himself to a long night, knowing he could have avoided it, but had decided not. Inu had been injured on a prior mission. And while he was "medically fit" to do the job, he still was moving a little gingerly with a barely perceptive limp. Cracked ribs and a dislocated ankle take time to heal, even with chakra.He mused. He had to offer to take up Inu's shift to watch the twin jinchuriki. Inu wouldn't have up and asked. He would have dealt with it.

That offer of kindness seemed to have been either a good choice or a bad one, as he could hear shouting from the room, even when he was on the adjacent buildings roof.

This isn't good. he thought as he felt a slight spike of chakra, before seeing the boy fleeing the orphanage like a wild bijuu was on his heels.

I'd best follow him. Channeling chakra to his legs, he ran to the edge of the roof, leaping across the street to the other side, hopping from rooftop to rooftop trying to locate where the boy was headed.

The boy eventually stopped at the park, collapsing from exhaustion, by the looks of it.

Did he mean to channel that much chakra into his legs? Chakra enhancement wasn't something to take lightly. If you don't do it often, giving your muscles the opportunity to strengthen themselves to the chakras potential effects, you could damage something.

Looks like he didn't. That's more chakra than many chunins channel. He saw the boy lay on the ground, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. He sat there for maybe 10 minutes, before Itachi spotted something a hundred yards or so out from the parks boundary.

It looked like one of the caretakers from the orphanage. He was ready to intervene when the look of suspicion appeared on the strawberry-blonds face, but stayed his hand when the woman said something that caused the boys face to do a complete shift to one of alarm. The boy and woman left, with Itachi playing invisible watcher to the two. He followed them and deduced that based on the route they were taking, they were headed to the hospital.

Why. There was no reason to go. The boy looked much better in how he walked from what was even just a few minutes ago. That would have taken a couple days for anyone else. He thought. Is that because of his tenant? Or a bloodline ability?

His mind switched to its combat form when he saw the woman lead the boy down an alley right beside the hospital and drop a henge. Sharingan active, he dove off the roof and landed with a slight crouch, bolting forward with his blade drawn from his sheath. The unknown assailant saw him, and by the man's look, he knew he was outclassed. 50 yards. 35. 20. Before he could get any closer, there was a colossal blast of potent chakra that felt like a flash bang had gone off in his head from his eyes picking up the chakra. Stumbling from the temporary vision impairment, Itachi tried to advance further only for a second even more intense blast knock him to the ground, ears ringing.

I can't see. He shouted in his mind. His whole vision having gone white from being so close to the Jinchuriki. Ears still ringing, he deactivated his Sharingan to hopefully see better. It was still bad, but he could see their silhouettes now. Trying to get back to his feet, he saw the mysterious man pull a kunai, ready to throw. Itachi put up a hand, ready to block it. Better a hole in my hand than my chest. But it never came. He threw it at the boy. Watching the boy collapse backwards was one of the worst things he could envision. He had failed. Before he could even hope to be able to mount a pursuit, the assailant had already vanished into the night.

Rushing to the boy's fallen form, he checked where the wound was located. It was bad. The kunai had gone through his left lung and he was struggling to draw breath. Itachi's vision was still blurred but he could see enough of the boys face to know what his thoughts were.

Terror. His eyes were full of horror at the realization of how he was dying. His choking, rasping breathing was getting worse by the moment. The boy grabbed at Itachi's face weakly, not recognizing his masked guardian.

"It's okay, I'm here. Your safe," he whispered to him, not unlike how he would console Sasuke when he had nightmares when he was younger.

The boy eventually calmed his grabbing at Itachi's face, but then started trying to grab at the kunai in his chest.

Itachi grabbed his hand, stopping him. "No, don't. You'll make it worse." he said. "I need to get you to the hospital."

Despite the boy trying to rasp out a protest, Itachi hoisted him up, carrying him out of the alley.

"Not yet", the boy rasped, barely meeting the definition of a whisper, "not yet. Not. Ready."

Itachi looked him straight in eyes, seeing something flash within them. He could only describe it as more, behind those blue orbs. More than what he would have thought a six year old could be in possession of.

By the time Itachi had staggered into the hospital, Naruto's eyes had rolled up into his head, his body going slack.

"MEDIC!," Itachi shouted, grabbing multiple peoples attention at the sight of a uniformed ANBU holding a child covered in blood. "Six year old with a kunai wound to the chest. I need help, now."

Multiple medics rushed to him, grabbing the boy from his arms and taking him in to the medi-nins to try and save him.

Itachi watched as they carried him away, a feeling of numbness hitting him. Collapsing into a chair, he reached into his pocket to radio in what happened. Flicking it on, he only heard a faint crackle be emitted from it. Broken. From the chakra blast. Dragging himself to his feet, trying to ignore the pounding in his eyes and slight ringing in his ears, he exited the hospital and Shunshined to the Hokage tower. To deliver the dark news of what had befallen one of Konohas' children.

I could have continued the chapter but I felt that it was long enough. The next will be where I planned to have the next part. This chapter was very difficult for me. Alot of interaction and far more emotion than I expected. I initially planned to have Kakashi instead of Itachi as the intervening ANBU. I hope I picked the correct route I'm wanting to take with this fic.

Thank you for reading and I'll catch you later. Raging