Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Suffer the Children ❯ Ni ( Chapter 2 )

Suffer the Children

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own the FOM either; they own themselves except for Fuzen who owns my brain…

 

Notes: I know I got the title somewhere, but I don't remember where. This story will have nothing to do with that book/movie/whatever.

 

Suffer-the-children

 

Fuzen's eyes fluttered and she squinted against a sudden, bright light. She could hear muffled, unclear voices to the side and two of them sounded familiar. She couldn't remember why her head hurt so much though. That was bad. She tried to open her eyes again and groaned. An excited voice piped up that she remembered to be Otonashi's. Otonashi! She bolted upright, looking around herself frantically. Warm, strong hands pressed her back to the couch and Fuzen looked up into brown-hazel eyes and panicked. She started to scream and struggle, but the woman she couldn't recognize picked her up and hugged her tightly, holding Fuzen's limbs down. She started to calm down when she realized she knew the woman's scent. Soon she remembered - this was the nice lady, Anko - and simply clung to her, sobbing. She was so tired and she hurt everywhere.

 

Once Anko had calmed the hysterical girl she beckoned Mukiryoku and Otonashi to sit beside her. They did, and she draped the arm that wasn't curled around Fuzen over their shoulders and drew them closer. She started to talk softly, telling them about Konoha. They listened with intent rapture, unused to being told stories and held so gently. To them Konoha sounded like paradise, even when Anko told them of the not-so-pleasant parts and pasts of the place. They hung onto her every word, and Anko was amused. And so she also told them about herself - what she had been through and the hands of her sensei, how most of Konoha made her out to be an insane traitor just waiting to betray them all. How she herself wasn't too sure of her sanity anymore. When she thought they'd heard enough she stopped. It was already time for dinner.

 

“Alright squirts, I'm going to make dinner. Is there anything you especially like?” Anko questioned them. All three heads shook negative, eyes wide. Anko sighed. Of course they wouldn't. They were beggars and street rats. Then she smiled. Maybe she could get them to like her favorite foods. She went into the tiny kitchenette and seated the kids at the table while she worked. She made them monjayaki - which she had basically been living off of when she didn't go out to eat - with pork and mushrooms.

 

The kids ate the food slowly, not being used to sitting around a table eating off of plates - even if they were lightweight, easy-to-clean, camping-style aluminum - with chopsticks. When they had finished, Anko collected the dishes and pulled her favorite treat out of the tiny refrigerator. She gave them each one skewer of dango and watched, entertained, as they devoured the sweet treat. She them herded them back into the living space and asked if they knew how to take a bath by themselves. They replied a shaky affirmative, and Anko laughed and said she would help. They had a thoroughly amusing bath-time in which Anko got completely soaked but got her charges clean. Anko found that Fuzen had a strange scar on her forehead that she usually kept covered with a strip of dirty cloth, but found no other ailments other then slight emaciation. She then found some of her sleeping-shirts and dressed the kids in them; cinching the waists with some twine she had.

 

“Okay kids, I'm asking you to stay here for the night. I'm going to make sure nobody gets at you like that again. Do you want to?” The kids exchanged wordy looks with each other before looking back up at Anko.

 

“We'll stay with you, Mitarashi-san.” Otonashi, who it looked like was the official spokesman of the group, replied. Anko smiled. These kids really were warming up to her - maybe they would take her proposal well in the morning.

 

“Come on then, bedroom's this way.” She led them all to her small bedroom and got them all situated and tucked in on the futon. “Oyasumi nasai, kids.” She got an answering sleepy chorus before she switched off the light and went to sleep on the couch.

 

She was abruptly awoken the next morning when someone took a flying leap and landed one her stomach. She yelled in sleepy surprise, catching the small body by the collar of its shirt and sat up. Fuzen's seemingly innocent face looked up at her, barely disguising the mischievous smirk. Anko released the girl and stood, stretching with a series of pops that had all three of the kids wincing. She grinned down at them.

 

“Who wants breakfast, brats?” There was an instant show of all hands and, laughing at the silliness of children in the morning, she walked over to the kitchen to see what she had to feed the kids. Her supplies were low; reminding her that she was leaving that day. She had already requested an extension and received it, but she had used it all up. The job was finished and she had no more reason to stay here other then the kids. She soon had them fed and sat then them all down on the couch facing her.

 

The moment of truth.

 

“You all know I'm a ninja from another village. I was sent here for a mission and now that mission has been completed. I leave today.” Anko told them. Their faces fell, expressions displaying abject misery. Anko winced. “But I was thinking, what if you three were to come with me?” She felt exceedingly awkward explaining this to them, but it paid off when they looked up at her with hope sparkling in their eyes. “What I'm trying to say is- well, do you want me to be your mother?” The three were rendered speechless, but after several moments of open gaping, they ran at Anko and tackled her to the floor, cheering. Anko smiled.

 

Suffer-the-children

 

The trip back to Konoha was uneventful and Anko spent most of her time filling them in on the joys and dangers of her home city, including her status as one of the village pariahs. They kept pace rather well for tiny kids, and when they were tired she carried them. They were a bit slower then she would have liked, but they still made Konoha within the deadline. The gate-guards gave her odd looks, but she supposed she warranted them, having a gaggle of five-year-olds tailing after her like ducklings. She got them to the Hokage's tower very quickly. The old man's eyebrows shot up when she and her duckies were finally admitted to his office.

 

“I believe this would be your explanation for the mission extension, then. Report, please.” Anko handed Sandaime her report and he looked through it carefully. “Everything seems to be in order; except for the fact you appear to not have included anything about these three charming youngsters.” Anko shifted nervously.

 

“Um, I found them in the streets - they're orphans. If my Hokage allows it, I would rather like to adopt them.” Sandaime's pipe nearly fell from his mouth. Anko saw his rather evident shock and hurried to explain. “I know I'm just nineteen and I'm not well-liked in the village, but I would do anything for them. I- I- just let me keep them…” she shut her mouth and bowed her head, feeling a warm blush spread over her cheeks. Sandaime smiled. This was the girl he had known as a genin shining through the toughened chuunin exterior. Awkward and willing to please… much like her remaining teammate. He had always regretted giving those children to Orochimaru as a genin team. He shifted some paperwork about on his desk before looking through one of his desk drawers for the proper forms.

 

“Anko-chan, you will need to fill these forms out - one for each child - and they will be sent to the council to be ratified. Upon ratification you will have an observation period for one week to make sure they are being cared for properly. I will set up some appointments at the hospital right now for the medical portion.” He placed the forms in her hands with a pen, and she looked up at him hopefully before suddenly frowning.

 

“Hokage-sama, hasn't the council been denying Iruka-kun's adoption suit for the Naruto boy though? What makes you think that they will ratify mine?” She asked darkly. The Hokage looked pained.

 

“That is a different matter, Anko-chan. You know there are special circumstances regarding Naruto's case. An old man can't do everything by himself. But I will push them on this one. Your case won't be as bad as his.” Anko's eyes darkened, but she nodded and stepped outside to fill out the forms. Sandaime sighed to himself. “I wish I could help Iruka-kun's suit as much as you do, Anko-chan. It's just getting harder and harder to get those fools to listen….” He murmured to the empty air.

 

Anko sat in one of the chairs outside Sandaime's office and hauled her two little girls onto her lap. Mukiryoku perched himself on one of the armrests of her chair and all four of them regarded the paperwork. There was a medical portion they would have to go to the hospital to get completed, but otherwise it was straightforward enough. Name, age, birthday, and other mundane information. She started with Fuzen.

 

“First off, do you all want your names? Or would you all rather have different ones?” All three shook their heads vigorously. “Okay, Fuzen. Do you have a family name that you know of?” Fuzen shook her head, somewhat subdued. “Right. We'll put down Nanashi for you. Do any of you have family names?” Mukiryoku and Otonashi shook their heads negative. “Right, Nanashi for all three of you then.” Anko filled out the forms quietly and quickly, consulting with the children occasionally. Soon she had them completed. She went back into the Hokage's office and dropped off the papers, receiving in return a slip of paper to give to the nurse for their appointment.

 

They got through their routine medical checkups excellently, except for an incident with the girls in which they found out they were frightened of needles. Anko was given a strict diet to enforce to get the children out of the dangerously unhealthy state they were in, along with some vitamins they were supposed to take. Then they were shuttled back to the Hokage's office to turn in their remaining paperwork and to pick up their observer. The observer turned out to be a chuunin a little older then Anko, with short brown hair and a friendly disposition that introduced himself as Namiashi Raido. Anko was gratified to see that the man was seemingly unaffected by her notorious status as an apparent menace. The Hokage always selected his men well for their missions and had rarely put the wrong person on a mission.

 

She received a promise that the Hokage would bring their petition up to the council along with Iruka's - which got discussed every meeting - and that the next council meeting was in just a week. By then it was very late, so when Anko got the kids home she simply pulled out the futon in the spare bedroom, fed them dinner and put them to sleep (as they were practically dropping where they stood.) Then she had a short discussion with Raido about his arrangements, and also the fact that Anko was going to find a bigger apartment very soon. Then she stumbled off to bed while Raido left for his own apartment. She was nearly asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and her last fuzzy thought was a hopeful one.

 

`This is working out… see, Orochimaru-sensei? I'll prove you wrong. I can raise a family… I really think I love those kids.'

 

Suffer-the-children

 

The second chapter is finally finished! Yatta! Hope all of you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry if it's moving slowly - the pace is going to pick up. Big thanks to CrypticElf for proofreading everything and correcting all of my lovely grammatical errors. Also thanks to everyone who's reviewed, CrypticElf (hey, you get two credits!), arakune88, tigra18, sagesister, to cool for school? (honey, your grammar is terrible, it's `too' not `to'), Hybrid thing, and Time and Fate.

 

Since everyone seems to want to know about Zabuza and Haku - no, they are not showing up again. I put that in there a) because it helped me wrap up the end of Chapter 1 nicely, and b) because my lovely beta, CrypticElf, is an avid lover of Zabuza and Haku. So that was merely a cameo, don't expect more.