#ItachiNaru

[rayshippouuchiha]

Consider this: Naruto remembering how bad his time at the orphanage was, so he makes his own orphanage where he takes care of a bunch of kids and he just one big mother hen?

First things first for this shiny new AU we take the vast majority of canon and we just … shove it over there and put a tarp over it.  It’s my playground now.

And it’s not, exactly, what you asked about but my mind took a sharp left turn so uhhhhhhhh…. here?

So Sarutobi is old right? He’s old and he’s tired and Minato, his precious successor and tragic predecessor, has left him with a shattered village out for blood and a babe weighted down by burden far heavier than one small child should ever be forced to carry.

Sarutobi, with his age catching up to him and his beloved Biwako gone now too … well in the end he only has the strength to handle one of those things.

He tries at first of course.  Places Naruto with minders and nurses.  It ends … poorly.  For the babe and the one’s assigned to watch him.

But Sarutobi still tries.  For four years he tries.

Until the time comes when he’s left staring down at Naruto on a hospital bed, too thin and too wild, with two dead matrons left in his ANBU’s wake.

In that moment Sarutobi knows he’s just … stretched too thin to keep doing this.

And the needs of the many have always took precedence over the needs of the few, or the one.

So when Danzo comes to call, hands out stretched and whispers of strength and protection, promises of training and loyalty on his lips ….

Sarutobi weeps that night, closed in the privacy of his office.

He weeps but he doesn’t call for the child back.

Still a part of him knows that he will carry the shame of choosing the village over Minato’s son for the rest of his life.

And he will.

By the Sage he will.

~~~

Danzo sends him updates of course, glowing records of Naruto’s growth, his strength, his wit, his raw sort of power and the sheer ocean of chakra the boy contains.

There’d not been such promise seen at such an age since Kakashi himself and then Itachi after him.

For three years Sarutobi is able to place the matter mostly from his mind.  Even when Kakashi asks more and more often after the boy.  Even when Mikoto comes calling month after month for her godson.

And then … then it all goes wrong.  Or, perhaps, it goes right.  Either way everything changes.

There’s whispers of a uprising, of Uchiha discontent. Danzo advocates for force before Sarutobi gets through to him and the war hawk retreats to his perch to let diplomacy handle the issue.

Or so Sarutobi thinks right up until the night Uchiha Itachi comes to him, tears streaming down his face and a black banded scroll in hand, and begs for his family’s lives.

Sarutobi stares down at this boy, this child of 13 if that, on his knees begging not to have to murder his own family and knows that Danzo has been allowed to go too far.

So Sarutobi goes to Danzo, to the heart of Root that he has so long overlooked.

Only what he discovers … what he walks in on …

Carnage.  Blood and bodies and death all around.  Danzo, body shredded, laying discarded like a doll to the side.

And there, in the center, is a boy.

Small and lean with muscle, thick golden hair long and shaggy, Minato’s son stares up at him from where he kneels in the middle of so much destruction.

In one hand he clutches a bloodied, black banded headband, the claws of his other hand are caked in blood.

“Konoha is our home,” Naruto whispers, eyes a burning blue and pupils slit like a fox. The words sound like a vow.  “The Tree must be protected.  The rot burned away.  We could not allow him to cut away an entire bough that could still be saved.”

‘Oh,’ Sarutobi thinks somewhat helplessly as he stares down at the prince of two villages that he left to be tainted like this, ‘oh may the gods see me damned.’

This is how Root ends.  At the hands of what was meant to be its greatest weapon.

Because what Sarutobi and Danzo both did not know was this:

The Uzumaki blood breeds ever true and mixed with a child nurtured for 10 months in an Uzumaki mother’s womb saturated with Biju chakra?

That child was never going to be mindless.

~~~

Sarutobi cleans up the mess as best he can. Makes peace with the Uchiha at long last.  Enfolds the remaining Root members into ANBU or various other secure sections for deprogramming.

But Naruto …

Sarutobi owes him, owes Minato and Kushina both, a debt for what he’s allowed to happen, for what Naruto has prevented from coming to pass.

And yet …

What to do with the boy?

~~~

In the end Sarutobi does what he, perhaps, should have done the first time around.

He gives the boy a new headband, an apartment and a stipend from his parent’s accounts, assigns him a watcher, and steps back and away.

~~~

The reports read that Naruto lives like a machine in so many ways.  Too regulated and strict for a child his age.

He takes mission after mission, clearing out entire swaths of D ranks per day since he’s not yet allowed out of the village.

His spare time is spent in relentless training.  There are no friends, no one he speaks to.

Sarutobi isn’t sure if he’ll ever be able to salvage what’s been broken here.

He’s not even sure if he has the right to try.

But Naruto is, if nothing else, loyal to the village and has shown no more outwards signs of violence.

So perhaps a hands off approach is for the best.

~~~

Then, a little over a year later, Naruto’s schedule abruptly changes.

The alert from Cat comes three weeks after that.

Sarutobi stares down at his kneeling ANBU and feels completely at a loss.

~~~

“No one wants him,” Naruto says softly.  Because that’s how he always speaks, always does everything.  Softly.  Right up until the moment that softness becomes viciousness.  “The matron didn’t want another mouth to feed.”

“Naruto, my boy, you can’t keep him.” Sarutobi tries to explain.

“Why?” Naruto asks, arms gentle around the baby boy with his light green hair.  Cradling him like something precious.  “I got the books and the supplies.  I can care for him.”

Sarutobi glances around the small apartment, takes in the stacks of parenting books and the rigidly organized crates of supplies.

The boy does look prepared and yet he’s only …

Sarutobi cuts the thought off before it can form because it’s not true is it?

Naruto’s not a child.  Never has been.  Sarutobi’s own foolishness had seen to that.

And Naruto is, Sarutobi think, so obviously, achingly, lonely.

“No one wanted me but that man,” Naruto whispers then, something wounded in his voice that Sarutobi has never heard before.  “I won’t let that happen to him.”

Sarutobi’s eyes clench closed for a split second.

And his decision is made.

~~~

The child, a boy that Naruto names Masahiro, is the first.

Only the first in what becomes a line of many.

~~~

It becomes a modern sort of legend in the village quickly enough, the unwanted children who disappear.

The orphanages are no longer the only option.

Children turned away to sleep on doorsteps and in alleys don’t stay there for long.

The blossoms from the Lotus District will occasionally leave their unwanted buds and shoots in baskets by the roadside shrines.

They’re never there by morning.

Leaves stolen by the wind.

~~~

Sarutobi knows the truth though.

And the kindest thing he can do is make it all easier for Naruto.

Shifted funds here, an opened account there, property titles signed over and delivered on a warm evening.

It’s not much but Sarutobi does what he can to help Naruto and the little family he’s growing thrive.

~~~

Time passes.

The children Naruto takes, children of various ages but all of them to a one unwanted, blossom like flowers in the sun under the boy’s care.

Even the ones Naruto takes in that are older than him look to him for care and guidance.

Some eventually enter the Academy, more leaves for the great tree, and they are all, to a one, strong and fierce and already so well trained and loyal.

They love the village.  They speak of Naruto only in whispers and never by name.

Time passes.

Sarutobi hates himself more for reasons he can barely understand.

~~~

Itachi, like so many of the jounin and off duty shinobi in the village, goes to Sasuke’s graduation.

It is, after all, a year supposedly filled with Clan Heirs so it’s a bit more of a production than normal.

Amongst the crowd his precious little brother is pouting but proud all at the same time with his headband firmly in place.

What he’s not expecting is the sight of another graduate standing with a fresh headband in place.  The boy’s six or so at best and his green hair is bright in the sun.

“That’s Masahiro,” Sasuke grouses from Itachi’s elbow after the students have been allowed to mingle with the crowd.

Itachi blinks just a bit in shock.  His duties keep him far from the Academy besides walking Sasuke home every so often.  Somehow he hadn’t realized the Masahiro Sasuke always complained about, this year’s rookie of the year, was so young.

And then Masahiro, face calm and even, abruptly squeals, expression breaking out into such unbridled delight that all of the gathered shinobi and civilians take note.

“Papa,” Masahiro shouts, practically vibrating with delight.  “You came!!”

And then the boy’s moving with almost breathtaking speed.

Itachi’s not the only shinobi to turn to see who might be the father of this boy.

Only Itachi’s shocked by what he sees and almost certain he’s misheard.

Because Masahiro, is wrapped around another child.

The boy’s pretty in a delicate but rough sort of way that makes his age hard to pin down but he is obviously young.  Sasuke’s age at most but obviously well trained with his hair long and jagged where it’s pulled back from his face, kimono blue and flowing and headband wrapped around his waist like a belt.

Itachi, for all his familiarity with the shinobi corps overall, is sure he’s never seen him before.

“Papa,” Masahiro’s voice is loud and vibrant.  “You came, you came!”

“I promised,” the blond says softly, voice husky and surprisingly deep.

Around them the crowd murmurs.

And then others begin to move forward much to Itachi, and many of the other jonin’s shock.

“Big Brother,” a genin graduate from the year before calls out as he moves closer.  Itachi’s sure the genin is older than the blond and yet ..

And then there’s another and another, a genin here, a chunin there, all of them rustling Masahiro’s hair and turning towards the blond like flowers to the sun.

Itachi watches, confused and curious all at the same time.

And then, the blond looks up, and for a split second all Itachi can see is blue.

~~~

Later, once the crowds have dispersed, the shinobi more than likely headed toward the Tower to question Sarutobi, Itachi finds himself walking home Sasuke.

And there, on the street ahead of them, stand Masahiro and his Papa.

For a long moment all Itachi can do is stare.

And then the boy, head tilted to the side and Masahiro clinging to his kimono sleeve, steps closer.

“I remember you,” the boy says softly, golden hair gleaming in the sunlight as he brings a clawed hand up towards Itachi’s face.

“I don’t know you,” Itachi replies honestly, aware of the way Sasuke has gone still and silent beside him.

“Hmm, no one did then but you helped me once, on a mission.” The boy says.  “You were kind.  And no one was ever kind to me.  And then he told you to kill them all, the Uchiha Clan.”

Itachi’s breath catches, his heart skips a beat.  Danzo.  This boy knows about Danzo.  At his side Sasuke sucks in a sharp, ragged, breath.

“You said you loved your village and your family and then you cried,” the boy sounds almost awed by the memory as he presses his fingertips to Itachi’s cheeks.  “I’d never seen anyone else cry before.  I couldn’t let him take your family from you.”

The boy’s eyes flick in Sasuke’s direction then.

“I’m glad I killed him,” the blond whispers and then he smiles.

And in that moment Itachi falls completely in love.

[jivecinema]

Uchihas..the Pretty Ones..

[val-sapphire09]

I love this so much 😭😭

Consider this: Naruto remembering how bad his time at the orphanage was, so he makes his own orphanage where he takes care of a bunch of kids and he just one big mother hen?

First things first for this shiny new AU we take the vast majority of canon and we just … shove it over there and put a tarp over it.  It’s my playground now.

And it’s not, exactly, what you asked about but my mind took a sharp left turn so uhhhhhhhh…. here?

So Sarutobi is old right? He’s old and he’s tired and Minato, his precious successor and tragic predecessor, has left him with a shattered village out for blood and a babe weighted down by burden far heavier than one small child should ever be forced to carry.

Sarutobi, with his age catching up to him and his beloved Biwako gone now too … well in the end he only has the strength to handle one of those things.

He tries at first of course.  Places Naruto with minders and nurses.  It ends … poorly.  For the babe and the one’s assigned to watch him.

But Sarutobi still tries.  For four years he tries.

Until the time comes when he’s left staring down at Naruto on a hospital bed, too thin and too wild, with two dead matrons left in his ANBU’s wake.

In that moment Sarutobi knows he’s just … stretched too thin to keep doing this.

And the needs of the many have always took precedence over the needs of the few, or the one.

So when Danzo comes to call, hands out stretched and whispers of strength and protection, promises of training and loyalty on his lips ….

Sarutobi weeps that night, closed in the privacy of his office.

He weeps but he doesn’t call for the child back.

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