Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Finding a Scared Kit
Rin Nohara has lived a long, rough life for an 18 year old. From joining the military of her village at the age of 9. To help in the village's war efforts, to watching her own teammate and friend die from falling rocks on a mission to destroy a bridge. Even to almost losing her own life to her other teammate under her own volition, wishing to save her village from being destroyed by the tailed beast trapped within her.
Rin’s time as a ninja was harsh and traumatic, as the life of all ninja’s are. But if there was one thing Rin was good at it was having the ability to keep moving on with a smile and seeing the good in things. Some might say she is naive for keeping up a smile even through everything she has been through, and she knows that.
Even with those around her that chastise her for having a good outlook on this bleak and cruel world, she moves forward. Not for herself but for those she cares about knowing if she doesn’t many things could go wrong for them.
This was what she had to do most of the time during the war, and later after the Kyuubi attack which took away her sensei Minato, along with his family including his unborn child, and now she was doing the same for her friend Kurenai Yuhi who was talking to her about her daily problems.
“Sometimes I wish these missions would be a little more challenging, you know? I mean look at all we’ve done in such little time and tell me we don’t deserve more.” Kurenai said while snacking on some dango she had bought.
“Yeah I agree.” Rin said, not really paying attention, instead noticing a large group of people heading out of an alleyway down the street.
“That's weird.”
“What is.” Kurenai asked, looking at her friend.
“Why would all those people be leaving that alley? Isn’t the festival over there?” Rin asked while pointing to an alley further down the street.
“Yeah but maybe they're just exiting down that way, I mean that street leads to it too.”
“I know but there are a few too many coming out of it, wouldn’t you say?”
Kurenai looked to the ally, scrutinizing it further as she now understood what her friend was saying.
“Hmm, you're right. Why, though?” Kurenai asked, looking to Rin.
“Let's find out.” Rin said as Kurenai nodded. Both women walked to the alley, noticing all the civilians had gone their separate ways. As they made their way deeper into the alley they heard a commotion in an alley that branched from the main one, this peaking both women's interest.
Rin unconsciously pulled out a kunai while Kurenai started weaving through hand signs, ready to stop the fight before it escalated any further. What they didn’t expect was that the “fight” was more of a beating.
As they rounded a corner they saw three men kicking at a small orange bundle on the ground. Looking a little closer, Rin noticed blond spiky hair and when one of the men grabbed the bundle she saw eyes as blue as the day’s sky, staring in fear at the man who was holding their owner by the collar.
Kurenai had rounded the corner to see the man throw the small child to the ground which had a snap on impact as a scream of pain was heard through the alley. Both women flinched at the sound as memories of the war came to their minds, but the men did the opposite, they laughed. They enjoyed this child's suffering, but why?
“Look at it, the demon’s crying. You didn’t do that when you killed my wife though. Didn’t you!” one man said, slurring his words thanks to the alcohol in his system.
The other men laughed at his comment as the man brought out a knife from his pocket and put it to the child’s chest, inches from their heart.
“I could kill you right now and no one would care. But that would be a mercy now wouldn’t it? No, instead we’ll let you sit there and rot away. We’ll come see you tomorrow and have some more fun. How about that? We’ll play another game like this one.”
At that the men left as they went into the crowd outside the alley. Rin and Kurenai were too shocked from what they saw to move. They both knew the people of Konoha and that they didn’t do something like this to most, let alone to what looks like a child no older than three. But that's what they saw. They didn’t move for a few seconds as the entire situation processed into their minds, that is until a cry snapped them out of their stupor.
Both women looked at the orange bundle as they heard it cry for help. This was all Rin needed as her medic instincts came rushing forward. Running to the bundle she noticed it was a blanket. It was covered in dirt and what she hoped was just water, and held an unhealthy looking three year old boy who had cuts and bruises all across his body.
His clothing was torn and ragged, an arm bent at a 90 degree angle in the opposite direction of what it should be bent in. Rin picked up the boy as carefully as she could but all this did was make the boy scream louder and squirm out of her grip with much veracity, most likely only making his injuries worse.
“Help me!” Rin pleaded to Kurenai, both women now trying to restrain the boy. This incidentally only made the boy squirm and scream more. Both women used all their strength to put the boy down before Rin was able to use medical jutsu to put the boy to sleep, knowing that as long as he was awake he would only hurt himself more.
Rin immediately got to work on his arm, resetting it as best she could before picking him up and running to the hospital, Kurenai right behind her.
Konoha Hospital: later that night
Rin was thinking to herself of all that transpired that night and of the information she had received regarding the child, whose hospital bed she was currently sitting next to.
Flashback
Rin had just brought the little boy to the hospital, Kurenai behind her, as a nurse came and gave a face of shock and horror at the boy in Rin's hands as she immediately got a team to take the child to get checked up while Rin was asked about what happened. Rin explained what she and Kurenai saw as they were both led to a waiting room, both very concerned for the boy.
They waited for almost 2 hours until a doctor came in, his expression one of relief.
“Are you the one who brought that boy in?” The man asked as he walked up to the two of them.
“Yes, we are. Is he ok?” Rin asked, very worried for what had happened to the boy.
“Yes, luckily he is. Many of his injuries were not life threatening, though his arm was definitely a concern, even with you helping to reset it.”
Rin let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding in, relief finally giving her life where worry was drowning her. She looked to the doctor as she asked one thing. “Could I be allowed to see him?”
The doctor's expression didn't give her hope as he shook his head. “I'm afraid only the Hokage can see him at this time.”
Rin was shocked at this news, not even knowing the Hokage had entered the building, but she then became concerned as this wasn’t something normal for him to do.
“What about his parents?” Rin asked the doctor, who was about to say something until he was interrupted.
“He has no parents.” an old man with white and red robes appeared from the door with a sad look upon his face.
“Lord Hokage!” both women said in surprise before bowing to their leader. After standing straight again Rin had a confused look as she stared into the old man's eyes. “What do you mean he doesn’t have any?”
Hiruzen looked at her for a long moment before sighing. “Doctor, please lead us to his room. Kurenai you may leave, this is something for me and Rin to discuss.”
Both women were a little surprised, and even a little suspicious, about this but neither argued with him on this.
“We'll talk about this later.” Rin whispered to her friend who nodded before taking her leave.
Rin followed the Hokage to a small room with a bed close to the door, the young boy lying unconscious but in a stable condition in Rin's eyes. There was a bed near the window that would normally be used by the child's parents that stayed with them during the night, though no one was there.
Hiruzen had Rin sit in the unused bed as he rubbed the boy's head, before going through some hand signs as privacy seals were erected around the room as he shut the curtains from any curious eyes.
Hiruzen sighed before he spoke. “Rin, do you remember what Minato wanted to call his child?”
Rin was shocked and confused at this question as it seemed to have nothing to do with the scenario they were currently in, but obliged to her leader's question.
“Naruto I believe sir, but what does that have to do with this?”
Hiruzen nodded before looking to the boy and then to Rin who looked to the boy again, now noticing his features and seeing a scary resemblance to her late sensei. His hair was almost the same as his, the eyes as well had the same color as Minato’s. If it wasn't for the whisker marks he would be a miniature replica of him.
Her eyes widened as the information going through her brain took to an idea that she hoped wasn’t true, after all, he should have been dead.
“Is he?”
“Yes, he is. This is Naruto Uzumaki.”
“But how? You said it yourself to me and Kakashi that he died with his parents.” Rin said shocked at the information she was receiving, her master's child wasn’t dead, but how?
“I did, and I’m sorry for that but I thought it was the only way to keep all three of you safe. If any of Minato’s enemies had found out about either of you caring for the child, which I knew one of you would have done if you learned of him, both of you would have have a target on your back from many knowing of you and Kakashi's relationship with Minato and someone smart enough could have put the pieces together.”
Rin had tears forming in her eyes, both from anger at the knowledge that her master's child was kept away from her, but also happiness of knowing he was ok.
“What's going to happen to him?” she asked while looking at Naruto.
“Well, I’ll have my ANBU watch him until he awakens where I’ll see if he's ok, and then have him stay here until he is let out, where I'll send him back to the orphanage.”
“May I ask to watch him as well then. At least until he leaves the hospital. I don't want him to be alone right now.” She looked to the old man, blinking away her tears as resolve came to her, something protective taking over.
He didn't show it, but Hiruzen was happy to see her resolve take hold, a small piece of him even felt guilty now for the decisions he made so long ago. “I’ll allow that, honestly I think it's the least I can do for not telling you about him.”
Rin stood and bowed to the old man. “Thank you sir.”
Hiruzen smiled at the young woman, “Of course.”
Rin's thoughts were interrupted by a small sound beside her as she looked to the hospital bed next to her. Naruto yawned, beginning to wake up.
The little boy rubbed his eyes of their sleepiness. His face scrunched up in confusion at the scratchy bandages, looking at them and wondering where they had come from. He looked around the strange room, curious as to how he had gotten here. Rin watched him look around as he seemed to be looking for something. His searching however stopped as he laid eyes on Rin who smiled at him.
Naruto however did not smile.
Naruto, seeing an unfamiliar face, began to panic as he remembered the last time he saw someone he didn’t know. How they attacked him for reasons he didn’t understand. Naruto began to cry as he looked around the room for the one person he wanted to see now more than ever.
“Jiji, jiji?” Naruto cried as he started to crawl away from the unfamiliar woman.
“Nonono, it's ok! I won't hurt you.” Rin tried to counsel the little boy, moving a little too quickly as she tried to get closer. Naruto began to scream in fear as he fell off the bed and ran to the corner of the room, curling into a ball while crying even more, scared of what was happening.
Rin tried to get close but all Naruto would do is scream and swipe at her hands as he tried his best to keep her away. Rin was beginning to panic. She had never dealt with something like this before and it was showing.
She began to look around the room for something she could use to calm him down. Looking to the bed, she noticed the blanket he had when he was attacked and grabbed it, showing it to the terrified boy.
“It’s ok, look isn’t this yours, don’t you want it?”
Naruto with tears running down his face noticed his blanky, the one thing he had left in this world that was his, and looked to the woman who seemed to be trying to give it to him. Why did she have it? Was she going to rip it apart and then attack him? Naruto began to cry even harder as the woman held his Blanky and cried for his jiji even more.
“Naruto, it's ok my boy, what's wrong?" Hiruzen said after appearing in a swarm of leaves and seeing the boy he considered a sort of grandson crying for him.
Naruto immediately ran and jumped into his arms as he cried for the one man he trusted more than anyone else to save him from the evil woman who attacked him. Hiruzen looked to Rin who had gotten up, looking very worried about this whole situation.
“Rin, can you tell me what happened?” He asked, calmly and with no anger or malice as he patted the boys back, bouncing him slightly in his arms as his crying lessened.
Rin looked very distressed, showing Hiruzen the young woman in front of him that she truly was. The young girl who wasn't ready for this kind of thing and the terror that comes with it. He attempted to move closer to her, hoping to at least give her some comfort, but Naruto became very vocal about his dislike for that. So he instead kept his smile and kind voice so she knew he wasn't upset with her.
“It's ok, you can tell me.”
Rin looked into his kind, if also tired, eyes. Blinking back some panicked tears, she composed herself enough to speak.
“Naruto panicked when he woke up. I think he was scared of being in a different place and when he looked at me and didn't recognize me…well I think you can figure out what happened next.
Hiruzen gave a sigh of relief as he rubbed the boys back and shushed him to calm him down. He sat on the bed and held the boy close, giving him comfort.
“It's ok my boy, she wasn’t going to hurt you. I asked her to watch you for me. She never would have hurt you.”
Naruto looked at the old man with his eyes red and puffy from the tears running down his cheek. “Pomise.” he said sniffling a little as he did so.
“Promise.” Hiruzen said while smiling to the boy. “Naruto, this is Rin Nohara. She’s been wanting to see you for a while now and would like to talk to you.”
Rin smiled at the boy as he watched her carefully, using Hiruzen as a shield. Sitting on the bench next to the bed, Rin decided to try starting a conversation.
“Hello Naruto, it's nice to meet you.”