Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Uchiha ❯ My Saviour ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

-My saviour

 

For the first time in two years, Itachi sensed the presence of another shinobi in his hiding place. The hiding place where he came when he wanted to be alone, where he had always come since he could remember, his place, no one else's. Yet there was someone here. He crept forward warily, cautious incase this was anyone dangerous, anyone who would wish him harm.

 

Confident that he could face whoever was on the other side of the wall; be it friend or foe, he stepped forwards and around the cold stone. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. Behind the shield of a silencing jutsu, he could see two leaf-nin, their backs to him holding a child against the wall. A child not very far in age from his own brother. Despite all they had been told at the academy about shinobi life, he would never be ready to see this.

 

One of them with sholder length black hair let go of the boy's neck and let him fall to the floor before kicking him in the gut. The child's hair was matted with blood and Itachi could see bruises already forming on the child's bare arms. He knew at that moment that it he did not rescue this child now, those empty blue orbs would haunt him for years. As dull blue met guarded black Itachi's feet came unstuck.

 

He forced his way through the silencing jutsu not breaking it, but bending it to allow him enterance. Now inside he could hear the abuse inflicted upon the unfortunate child. "Monster", they called him. "Freak, murderer," they spat at him, kicking him until he wlid across the ground on a pool of his own blood.

 

"Why do you hit him?" His voice startled the two shinobi out of their abuse and they turned on him instead. Itachi stood on guard, caressing the kunai concealed in his sleave, unseen. He stood calmly as the men approached him. One he recognised; a sensei from the academy, one of the nicest he knew. His companion, however, he had never seen before. She was half hidden in the shadows so he could not make out her face, but he recognised the ANBU uniform clinging to her frame.

 

"Because he deserves it." Came the responce, her voice chilling the air and her words. "He's a monster, a murderer and would kill us all. He killed the Yondaime."

 

Itachi found himself staring into the half closed eyes of the bloodied child. The blue orbs were so trusting, so open, seemingly impossible or murder. Before he knew what he was doing, he pushed his way past the two shinobi and walked towards the blonde sitting fearfully on the floor. As he bent down, the boy curled in on himself, protecting his head from the blows he felt sure would come. He reaced out and took hold of the young boy's arm, pulling it away from his head.

 

There were no tears running down the whiskered cheeks, but blood ran un abundance down his face and into his eyes. As he watched, however, the cuts began to heal before his eyes, the flesh fusing together. He brushed a trail of blood of his forhead before it could run into his eye and dropped his hand back to his side, his eyes fixed firmly on the floor. Itachi grasped the small child's hand in his own and lifted him to his feet, watching him scramble to comply to Itachi's silent order.

 

"Where 'r' you takin' him?" The ANBU stepped into Itachi's line of sight and made to stop him,his hand going for the blade attached to his back. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the intimidating presence of the ninja infront of im, pushing the small boy behind him.

 

"I'm taking him somewhere you won't be able to reach him." He growled back, gritting his teeth from the intensity of the murderous chakara the shinobi were emitting. He wasn't going to give into them. Only, what could he do? An eight year old shielding a three year old from two fully grown ninja; a chuunin and an ANBU. In a sudden fit of panic his eyes bled red in the famous Sharingan known to his clan.

 

The female shinobi stifled a gasp behind her mask and took a step backwards. She definetly hadn't been expecting that; such an advanced bloodline from such a young boy. She could feel the chuunin teacher beside her tense slightly at the imminent attack only to relax back into a natural fighting stance when the young Uchiha made no move to harm them, but simply shoved past.

 

"Itachi-kun, wait."

 

Itachi stopped at the edge of the silencing barried, the child's hand still held firmly in his larger one.

 

The chuunin teacher couldn't tell if he was listening or not but he continued anyway. "Do you know who he is, Itachi?" He saw Itachi make no indication of knowing the child, but then what would an Academy student know? They were not privvy to the goings on o the Village after all.

 

"Itachi," he stepped forward. "This is the creature who killed you uncle and aunt. Your cousins fell at his feet, he stole our own leader's life, do you not think he deserves to die?" Silence greeted his question for a minute before Itachi turned slowly, his eyes boring straight into the chuunin's.

 

"I am not naive enough to think that in becoiming a shinobi I will be able to prevent death. After all, what more is a shinobi other than a tool to kill people? I simply have no desire to see a defenceless three year old die at the hands of two such as yourselves who should be helping him. At least as a shinobi I will fight people who know what i am doing, who can defend themselves against me. Tell me, does this child know what you are doing? Does he know why you are attacking him?"

 

The chuunin sensei dropped his head in shame. He hadn't ever thought of this child as that; a child, only ever as the monster sealed inside him.

 

Itachi turned back to the boy at his side and pushed him out of the jutsu before following out into the silent alley, not once glancing back. "What's your name?" He felt the boy cling tightly as he made to walk on.

 

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

 

The boy spoke so quietly he almost couldn't make out what he'd said. Naruto. He smiled to himself at the thought of a child named after a part of ramen. He wondered momentarily what Sasuke would make of him. What as he going to do with him? Surely the boy had a home somewhere?

 

"Naruto-kun, wher do you live?"

 

Naruto shrank back into himself. "I don't want to go back there." He glanced up at the tall figure next to him and panicked. Was he going to take him back there? He tried to pull away but older boy had a tight grip on his hand.

 

Itachi held on tighter to the boy's hand as he began to pull away. "You're not going back there, Naruto-kun. Not if you don't want to." He gave Naruto a small smile as he settled down again. What was he going to do with a child he had promised wasn't going back to wherever it was he didn't want to go.

 

"Where are you taking me?"

 

Itachi looked down at the boy who had just voiced his worry. There was only one thing he could do; take him home. To his home. Hopefully his mother would know what to do.

 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~

 

"Itachi-chan! Where have you been?" His mother's voice rang out through the large house as he stepped through the door. Usually a plesant and quiet woman, she could be fiercely protective and very scary when concerning her sons.

 

"Achi!" Sasuke ran across the boarded kitchen on his small feet to throw his arms around his brother's thich, head resting on his older brother's hip. "Achi, who's that?"

 

Itachi turned to see Naruto standing in the doorway, peeping around the paper screen, trying to stay out of sight.

 

"Naruto-kun," he called softly to the cowering boy. "Come here."

 

As soon as she saw him, his mother instantly forced him down onto a chair and fetched a warm cloth.

 

"How did he get in this state?" She snapped at her son whilst cleaning up the blonde boy. He as caked in dried blood, mud and cobwebs. Even as he wached a small spider crawled out of his hair and across the kitchen floor. With a sudden shriek, Sasuke left the room, leaving Itachi standing with a spider at his feet. She sighed. How an Uchiha was afraid of something so small and harmless as a common house spider she had no idea, but she was desperatley hoping that he whould grow out of it.

 

Itachi watched the arachnid make it's way across the floor the opposite way from which his brother had gone. He lookedup at Naruto who was sitting perfectly still, if a little tense, as his mother scrubbed blood off his face. He could just see whisker marks on the boy's face and wondered momentarily how they came to be there and why he had them. However, his line of thought was interupted by his mother.

 

"Go and find him something to wear. He's about the same size Sasuke was last year. I'm going to give him a bath and wash his clothes; they're filthy."

 

Itachi nodded and left the room in pursuit of Sasuke's old clothes. He knew where all the stuff they grew out of went; into the cupboard and drawers in the spare room.

 

By the time he had found Naruto something to wear, the boy was sitting on the edge of the bath wrapped in a towel as his hair was blown dry by Itachi's mother. Itachi handed over the clothes silently and then left Naruto to get dressed.

 

"Where did you find him?" She asked as soon as they were back in the kitchen.

 

"In an alleyway, being beaten up by a Chuunin sensei and an ANBU member." He replied as they sat down for a cup of tea.

 

"What are you going to do with him? Where does he live?"

 

Itachi picked up his tea and took a sip before replying. "He said he didn't want top go back to wherever he came from and I promiced him he wouldn't have to, so he's not going back. He can stay here." He said as if the matter had already been discussed at great length and was now finally closed.

 

"You can't just go taking in someone off the streets! He must have a family some-"

 

"Have you ever heard of the Uzumaki clan?" He cut in before she could finish.

 

She opened her mouth to reply, but the words died in her throat. Uzumaki. She'd only heard of one person of that name; Uzumaki Naruto, a three-year old orphan, and the Kyuubi no Kitsune. "Are you telling me that's the Kyuubi child?"

 

Itachi's eyes shot up to meet hers. "I thought the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime." He said softly, the question evident in his voice.

 

His mother sighed. "I'm not supposed to tell you about this but I have no doubt that you will find out anyway. The Kyuubi was not killed, but sealed inside a new born baby. That baby was named Uzumaki Naruto by the Yondaime before he died."

 

Itachi seemed to ponder this for a second. "So what I have brought home is a child with a powerful demon sealed inside him." He looked at his mother for conformation. "If we could free the demon enough to let it's chakra and knowlege into Naruto he could become a very strong shinobi."

 

"And when are you proposing to do this 'training'? You still have 4 years left at the Academy, and then you will be away on missions a lot of the time. Without a proper backing, I doubt he will get into the Academ-"

 

"Then we'll adopt him." Itachi said quite forcefully, effectivley silenceing his mother. "It would be good for Sasuke to have someone is own age to play with."

 

She sighed knowing that she could not win. She hated the fact that her son was growing up so fast and that he would surpas her, if indeed, he hadn't already. 'The genius of the Uchiha clan' they called him, and they were right, he was a genius.

 

"Come in Naruto," Itachi called, jerking his mother out of her thoughts. The paper door slid back and the now clean and clothed blonde walked into the room, dressed in a pair of white shorts and a black wide-collared shirt with the Uchiha logo on the back.

 

"Well, I suppose we'd better get hold of some papers then." She said, sighing at the thought of the work. "Welcome to the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Naruto."