Trapped and Chained

Naruto’s never seen a cat demon before. He’s heard of them. They appear as normal cats usually but when they feel threatened or angered they turn giant with many sharp teeth that can devour a human being in seconds. Most of the time they can’t be told apart from the usual cat but a big difference between them and an actual cat is that they have chakra. As a ninja he can sense that and recognize the gray cat he sees as a cat demon.

He’s behind bushes so as to not alarm the cat demon. He sensed chakra nearby and his curiosity brought him here. The supposed cat has gray fur and yellow eyes. Naruto wants to pet it but that might end up with him getting his hand chomped on.

That’s when more chakra is spotted nearby. There are many people close by. Several hidden cloud ninja jump into view ready to capture the cat demon. The cat demon hisses and turns into its demon form. The ninja are holding out kunais and Naruto looks upon the scene with horror. Do they plan to kill the poor thing?

Cat demons are provoked easily but they’re reasonable; if you are to run away when they feel threatened they will not chase you. You’d have to anger them or attack them for them not to leave you alone.

Naruto isn’t sure if he should get involved. He doesn’t approve of what these hidden cloud ninja are doing but the cat demon seems to have it handled. That’s what it looked like till a couple of ninja managed to catch the cat demon in a trap where he had rope keeping him still. A ninja walks up with a knife ready to kill the demon.

Naruto jumps in front of the cat demon in a protective stance. The hidden cloud ninja were not expecting him. He’s gotten a lot better with hiding his chakra. It can be quite difficult with the nine tails sealed inside of him. There aren't any sensory type ninjas on this team so Naruto was not discovered earlier.

Kichirou’s training has made him much stronger so he’s able to hold his own against all these ninja. He has no other choice but to go as far as to end all their lives. Scaring them with a beat down wouldn’t work with ninja like other people. Their mission is the most important: they would’ve come back.

When he looks back at the cat demon he sees that the demon has not reverted back to a small normal cat. He must still feel threatened by Naruto.

“Don’t worry. I was only protecting you. I do not wish to kill you,” Naruto speaks in his most soft and non threatening voice.

Cat demons can understand human speak. They are not like normal cats but they do not have the ability to speak it. They don’t have the vocal cords for it. The cat demon looks at the knife Naruto holds in his hand and looks back at him with a doubt. Naruto carefully cuts the ropes on the demon trying not to get caught in the cat demon’s bite.

After that Naruto tosses his knife to the side and holds his hands up to show that he means no harm. The cat demon finally reverts to its usual form of a small cat. The cat walks up to Naruto and rubs his head against his shins. It seems he’s thanking Naruto for saving him earlier.

“You're welcome,” Naruto says.

Naruto gives into his urge and pets the cat demon. It really does seem like a real cat. Instead of the demon biting his hand off he begins to purr. Naruto stays there a while simply petting this supposed cat. After spending a long time petting this cat demon he has to pull his hand away and go home.

When walking home though, the cat follows him. Naruto didn’t think the cat would follow him all the way back to the hideout but he did. At this point he has made the decision that he wants to keep this cat demon. He’s already named it. The cat demon is now named Smokey.

“How do you like that name, Smokey?” Naruto questions.

Smokey purrs in response.

“I agree.”

Naruto doesn’t think Orochimaru will have an issue with it. His subordinates are constantly bringing home odd things and since cat demons are powerful he will be an advantage. Not that Naruto cares about that. He just thinks Smokey is adorable and wants him to have a loving home.

Sasuke is the first person Naruto comes across. He looks at Smokey then back at Naruto. Smokey then snuggles against Naruto’s legs and purrs. Sasuke points at Smokey before asking,

“Why and how?”

“Because he’s cute and I may or may not have killed some hidden cloud ninja who were trying to kill him,” Naruto explains.

“I can’t believe you actually got a cat demon to trust you.”

“Neither can I but I have named him Smokey and we’re keeping him.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? He may attack one of Orochimaru’s other subordinates if they upset him.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

“Alright. He’s your problem not mine.”

The next few days Smokey gets used to his new home. Naruto made sure to get lots of cat toys and food and treats from a store. He knows cat demons can eat a variety of things but he knows they like normal cat food most of the time. They often will bother people who aren’t ninjas like normal cats to get cat food.

Naruto has introduced Smokey to Orochimaru and Kabuto and they are indifferent about him staying with them. He also introduced Smokey to Rio and they got along well. Rio is a cat person so he liked Smokey right away and despite not being a rogue ninja he did recognize that it was a cat demon. That didn’t put him off because Smokey was in his normal form when they met so he wasn’t threatened by Rio.

After a while of Smokey getting used to his new home Naruto feels he can leave the cat demon on his own for the first time. He leaves the hideout to look for something fun to do close by.

Sasuke has been sent out on a mission for Orochimaru. Naruto’s bitter about it. They usually go on missions together. And on the rare occasions that they go on solo missions, they both have missions. Yet this time there doesn’t seem there’s anything for Naruto to do. Does Orochimaru not think he is capable of what Sasuke can do?

He comes across a large red and white striped tent. A circus. It looks to be closed at the moment. He sees a sign that has the words Open at 2:00 pm. It’s noon currently, so it won’t open for another two hours.

Letting his curiosity get the best of him he slips into the tent as stealthily as he can. There’s many workers inside. No one notices that he’s now in the tent. There’s a lot going on. They’re getting ready for their show that only starts in a couple of hours.

The familiar sound of metal chains make Naruto tense. He looks towards the source of the noise. There’s a lion lying down. He’s chained up and his eyes are dull. Naruto sees wounds on the lion and almost throws up at the sight. The scene is so familiar to him that he begins to shake and struggle to breath.

He has to pull himself together! He has to save that lion. The workers aren’t doing anything. This is normal for them. They don’t care. Naruto grits his teeth in anger. Without further thinking he jumps out and lets the lion out from his chains.

Several workers run towards him to get him to stop. They don’t succeed, instead they end up with a stab wound through their heart and instant death. The smarter workers run away from the situation. This is their own fault. To do such a thing, they were damned from the beginning.

There’s a glint of life in the lion’s eyes now that he’s out of his chains. Naruto half expects the lion to attack him as he looks rather hungry. The lion doesn’t. Instead he goes for the worker behind Naruto.

Naruto takes that time to leave. Once he’s far enough away from the circus he sits himself down against a tree. He begins to shake as he remembers seeing those chains. He can’t breathe. And all he can see is him back in that place stuck with chains.

He’s not there anymore so why can’t he escape that place? He feels as if he never left. It feels as if he is still being tortured as if he hasn’t slept in days.

A concerned meow broke him out of his thoughts. Smokey is there with Rio who has a worried look on his face. Naruto looks down, embarrassed to be caught panicking like this. Rio sits down next to him and Smokey takes a seat in Naruto’s lap.

“What happened?” Rio queries.

Naruto pets Smokey to help get the courage to answer this question. “Have you ever wondered how I got my scars?”

“I mean, yes, but if you’re not comfortable sharing that with me you don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Have you heard of a jinchuriki before?”

“There people who have tailed beasts sealed inside of them?”

“Yes, well I’m one of them.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. But what does that have to do with you getting your scars?”

“I’m getting to that. I’m the nine tailed jinchuriki and many people didn’t like the nine tailed beast as it killed many people from my village. Lots of people lost their families because of it. Because of this people didn’t like me very much.”

Rio has an expression of grim understanding after hearing this.

“One man decided to take it upon himself to punish me for the nine tails killing his family. He tortured me in many different ways and that’s where I got so many scars. That’s also why I left my village and became a rogue ninja.” Naruto explains.

Rio pulls Naruto in a hug. Naruto embraces him back and begins to cry. He doesn’t remember ever being hugged like this growing up. When Rio notices he’s crying he quickly pulls away in a panic.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve asked to hug you,” Rio apologizes.

Naruto shakes his head. “No. No. You’re fine. Thank you. I needed that.”

Rio gives him a sad smile. “I’m sorry that happened to you but why are you here and why were you shaking earlier. Did someone come after you?”

“Nothing like that. I came across this circus and happened to find a lion chained up and wounded and it just reminded me what it was like to be back in that situation. I got him out and he’s free now but I can’t get those chains out of mind.”

“How about we get some ramen to forget about that whole thing?”

Naruto smiles. “Sounds like a good idea.”

The ramen made Naruto feel infinitely better. Although, he wishes Sasuke was here as well. The other boy always manages to make him feel better. However, Rio does a pretty good job too. Also, when he and Rio get ramen, Rio pays for both of them where Sasuke does not.

Sasuke comes back later that night after succeeding in his mission. Naruto tells him what happened and Sasuke tells him that he hopes those workers were eaten by the lion. Naruto laughs at the thought.

Sasuke frowns. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find out that Kichirou was hurting you.”

Naruto waved him off. “At least you actually managed to find out. Literally no one else can say the same.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize to me about that. It wasn’t your fault.”

They leave the conversation at that. Naruto means what he says. He did wish back then that someone would find out and save him but he can’t place blame on anyone for not realizing it. He’s grateful Sasuke gave him a way out of that place and he doesn’t understand why the boy believes Naruto doesn’t think that’s enough.

Rio often goes on missions with Sasuke and Naruto. Orochimaru is aware of Rio and thinks he’s useful for Naruto’s training. Thus, Rio sometimes will join Naruto and Sasuke on missions. Not always, only sometimes when some extra help is needed. After one of these missions Rio decides to treat Naruto and Sasuke for something to eat.

“Where are we going?” Sasuke interrogates Rio.

“You’ll see,” Rio answers.

“Are we going to get ramen?” Naruto queries.

“Not this time,” Rio replies.

Naruto pouts at this but he still feels happy at getting free food from some place. The place Rio was talking about ends up being a lively looking tavern. They enter the tavern and being in Rio’s hometown many criminals are bound to be inside.

Yet the place feels warm. It doesn’t scare Naruto to be here despite all the dangerous people. All the people here are enjoying meals and drinks. Most people would be on edge to be here but these criminals don’t have that hateful look towards Naruto. All of them look genuinely happy.

A beautiful middle aged lady walks up to them. She’s aged but she still has the glow of someone in their younger years. Her brown hair with gray streaks in them is tied back in a bun. She has kind gray eyes.

“Naruto, Sasuke, this is Yumiko. And Yumiko, this is Naruto and Sasuke,” Rio introduces.

“Nice to meet you, Naruto and Sasuke. Welcome to my tavern,” Yumiko says to them.

Naruto looks to Rio. “Are we going to eat food?”

Yumiko chuckles. “Hungry are we? I’ll prepare you all some food.”

“Thank you,” Rio responds.

The three of them take a seat at one of the tavern tables. Naruto’s excited for the food. Everything on this place’s menu looks delicious.

Their meal ends up to be a flavorful steak. Yumiko asks for what drinks they want. Naruto and Sasuke being underaged can’t order any alcohol from the place which was mostly what the place had ended up ordering water from. Rio got himself on a cocktail.

“How irresponsible, Rio-sensei. Drinking while you’re watching kids,” Naruto teases.

“This isn’t nearly enough to get me drunk. I think I’ll be fine,” Rio reassures him. “Besides you guys go on missions by yourself all the time, you’d be fine.”

“If you got drunk we’d leave you here,” Sasuke says.

“Glad to know you care so much about me, Sasuke,” Rio deadpans.

Sasuke drinks his water in lieu of a response. The steak is absolutely amazing. And there’s laughter all around in this tavern. The place made Naruto feel calm and relaxed, just what he needed after a tough mission.

Even Sasuke was enjoying himself. Naruto smiled to himself. He has something good right now. Everyone here has done bad things and they wouldn’t think less of Naruto if they knew he was a jinchuriki. He isn’t a demon here. He’s merely Naruto Uzumaki.

When they finish their meal, Yumiko waves them goodbye. Naruto enthusiastically waves back at her so enthusiastically he forgets to open the door to leave so he runs straight into it. Sasuke lets out a small laugh of amusement and a few other people who were watching him laugh too. Naruto blushes in embarrassment and opens the door before walking out this time.

The next time Naruto goes on a mission with Rio, Sasuke doesn’t come along. This mission is to steal some intel in the hidden rain village. He and Rio were doing well and were about to steal some papers from the hidden rain’s storage place when they heard a noise. Alarmed, the two of them quickly find places to hide.

A young woman walks into the room. She has lovely long hair that is as white as snow. And her eyes were a light blue. She wears a black and white kimono. That kimono holds a black flute. She walks deeper into the room and her eyes find both of their hiding places.

“Come out. I know you’re there,” She orders.

Naruto and Rio do as she says. She’s taken aback seeing Naruto’s marked leaf ninja headband. Most likely she was expecting Hidden rain ninja.

“A rogue leaf ninja?” She asks mostly to herself.

“Yes,” Naruto answers. “Are you a hidden rain ninja?”

“I am not”

Rio furrows his brows. “Then what are you doing here?”

“Why would I tell you?”

Naruto snorts. “She has a point, Rio-sensei.”

The woman takes out her flute and before putting it to her mouth Rio steals it away from her. She glares at him.

“Give that back,” She demands.

“No. You were going to use it to put us under a jutsu,” Rio replies.

The woman looks at him with an unimpressed look. Her message was clear. That using a jutsu on them was clearly her intention. Without as much as a warning or a twitch she attempts to snatch her flute back to no avail.

Naruto stands to the side as they fight. Somehow, even while fighting the woman keeps up her elegance. There are no clumsy steps or stumbles; she stays completely graceful the entire time. Naruto is rooting for Rio but it’s hard not to be amazed at how purely graceful this lady manages to be while in a fight.

“Wait! Stop!” Naruto shouts.

His shouts attract their attention.

“We’re here for the same thing. It’s not as if we need to bring the same papers back, only the information. Meaning we can both look at the information with no reason to fight.”

“Knowing more information than your opponent is always an advantage,” The lady argues.

“But we aren’t your opponent. We have no grudge against you or any reason to fight each other,” Naruto refutes.

The woman contemplates his words. “Fine I won’t fight you as long as I get my flute back.”

“How do I know we can trust your words?” Rio asks.

“How do I know I can trust either of yours?”

Rio hands back her flute. They look through the hidden rain information. There’s lots of useful information here and Orochimaru will be pleased with him and Rio for getting it. The woman looks through different papers than him but is satisfied with what she says.

Curious, Naruto goes up to the woman. “Hey, lady, what’s your name?”

A confused expression appears on her face. “You don’t know who I am?”

“I do,” Rio replies. “Mayaka Suzuki. A dangerous rogue ninja from the hidden rain. A Member of the Suzuki clan that uses musical instruments to deliver jutsus. She’s known for carrying a black flute.”

“You’ve seen my wanted posters,” Mayaka states.

“Yeah. Don’t worry I won’t turn you in. I have my own wanted poster,” Rio replies.

“I wasn’t worried. I don’t think you’re capable of turning me in.”

Rio chuckles. Naruto realized earlier on that Rio isn’t the competitive type nor does he get insulted easily. Honestly, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Rio mad. Naruto doesn’t know how he does it. Being a competitive person Naruto would’ve jumped straight into battle at that. Before leaving, Rio brings something up.

“Hey, Mayaka, do you think you could help me with something?” Rio questions.

“Why would I help you?” Mayaka asks.

“...From the goodness of your heart?”

Mayaka gives him a blank stare. “No.”

“Hear me out. I want you to help me train Naruto.”

“What?!”

“Who?”

“Oh, right, the rogue ninja.”

“Don’t ignore me!” Naruto yells.

They both stare at him. Naruto isn’t against the idea of the woman training him but why would she spend her time training him? If anyone is going to convince her it should be the one to do it.

“Mayaka. I want you to train me as well,” Naruto begins.

“How would this benefit me?” Mayaka inquires.

“You work alone, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Then you don’t have anyone to help with your goals. With me as your subordinate I can help you with your missions. I may need more training but I’m capable of helping you,” Naruto offers.

“Like I would send you on missions?” Mayaka queries.

“Yes. Exactly like that.”

“Hmm. Alright. I’ll train you.”

Naruto smiled brightly. He convinced her. Rio nudged him and gave him a smile of approval. Then he reminds Naruto,

“Remember Naruto, this does not mean you will stop training with me.”

“I thought you were getting tired of me for a moment,” Naruto responds.

Rio ruffles his hair. “No, but it’s better to not only learn from one person. However, this does mean our training will not be as often.”

Training with two people and taking missions from both Orochimaru and Mayaka is going to be a lot. It’ll make him stronger though.

When Naruto got back to the hideout he immediately explained everything that happened to Sasuke. The black haired boy listens, used to being told basically everything as Naruto enjoys talking. Though, it is interesting to Sasuke to hear that Naruto has another sensei now.

“Are you sure you can trust her?” Sasuke asks.

“Do you trust Orochimaru?” Naruto inquires.

“Point taken.”

The next day, training with Mayaka begins. She takes him to a lake. Above this lake there is a tightrope above it. Naruto feels a sense of dread. Why does he feel like he’s going to have to walk that tightrope?

He’s correct because not even a few seconds later he’s told to get onto the tree branch that holds the start of the tightrope. The trees were purposefully placed there so if Naruto falls off the rope he’ll fall into the water instead of his death. It’s not high enough for the impact of a fall to kill him but high enough for him to be terrified.

It’s around thirty feet above the water. Mayaka encourages Naruto to walk the rope but he is hesitant. What makes her think he can do this? Why does he want him to do this?

“C’mon, Naruto, there’s water underneath you, if you fall you’ll be fine,” Mayaka reassures.

Naruto takes a step forward onto the tightrope before falling right off. He splashes hardly into the water. The experience was terrifying. He brings his head up from underwater and coughs up a bit of water.

“What is the point of doing this? Traumatizing me?” Naruto questions.

“No. As someone who is to do missions for me you need to work on your balance. It’s helpful to have good balance when you’re in a battle.”

Damn it, she had a point. This training also explains how she never stumbled once in her fight with Rio. Naruto wishes she didn’t have a good reason for this training because he doesn’t know if he’s ever going to be able to make it to the other end of this rope.

Naruto gets back onto the tree where the starting point is. Here’s the thing, he’s not afraid of heights but he doesn’t feel very reassured in being okay when his only support is a thin rope.

“Take deep breaths and relax,” Mayaka instructs.

“How am I supposed to relax when I’m supposed to walk a mile along a tightrope that is 30 feet high?!”

“Well you’re not going to do it if you can’t calm down!”

“I don’t think that would help!”

Mayaka sighs heavily. Naruto scowls. What’s she have to be annoyed about? Naruto’s the one who’s supposed to walk this impossible walk.

“Is this how you trained, Mayaka-sensei?” Naruto asks.

“Yes. It took me a while but eventually I got the hang of it. Just take deep breaths and all you have to do is do better than last time. You don’t have to succeed right away.”

Naruto takes a deep breath and takes a couple of steps forwards. He makes the mistake of looking down and that causes him to lose his balance and to fall again. When he gets out of the water Mayaka tells him,

“Never look down. Focus on your goal and that is to make it to the end point.”

“Okay,” Naruto responds.

“Also, take off your jacket. It’s soaked so now it’s only weighing you down which will only make it harder to walk the tightrope.”

Naruto panics. His jacket is covering his scars. His hands are out but there’s only a couple of scars that can be treated as merely battle scars but the rest are too much to be marked off as such. Mayaka is insistent so he takes off his jacket and looks off to the lake instead of her face.

He hears her gasp in horror. “Who did this to you? Was it that Rio guy? Because if it was, you have to beat his ass.”

“No. Rio-sensei would never,” Naruto says back.

“Then who?”

“Someone from my village.”

“That explains why you’re a rogue ninja.”

“Yep.”

“Have you killed them?”

“Who?”

“The person who did this to you?”

“No. It would cause too much uproar in my village.”

“So?”

“There are people who I care about that stay there. Me killing a leaf ninja would cause a lot of trouble and I don’t want to cause them any harm because of it.”

“A fellow leaf ninja did this? You’re better than me, I would’ve ended them on the spot.”

“To be fair, I wasn’t a ninja when he started giving me the scars.”

Mayaka became more horrified at this. “Naruto.”

“Yes?”

“How old were you when this happened and how long did it go on?”

“Um, I was six and it lasted seven years.”

Mayaka looks as if she could throw up. The white haired woman put her hand on his shoulder.

“I can kill him for you.”

“No. No, I won’t ask you for that.”

“Look, it’s not difficult for me to kill a man that tortured a defenseless child.”

“I just want to forget about that whole thing. Leave it behind me.”

“What’s his name?”

“I feel like you’re not leaving it behind.”

Naruto does not tell Mayaka his name as he gets the feeling she would disregard his words. Kichirou is a useful ninja. A jonin. He doesn’t want to hurt the leaf village. Kakashi, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Choji are leaf ninja and he still cares for them so he would rather leave it behind then indirectly hurt them.

Mayaka ends their training and Naruto goes back to the hideout. He wishes it could’ve been on his own terms whether or not to show her his scars but she seemed more concerned than disgusted. Naruto’s scars are not something he likes to show as people will be horrified or disgusted. He knows they mean no harm, Naruto’s young yet he’s covered everywhere in scars it would make him feel horror too.

But it’s not as if he wants pity nor does he want to be noticed for that. He wants to be amazing and that’s why he’s noticed not because scars litter everywhere on his body.

That’s why it’s nice to be around Sasuke. The boy is used to his scars and his stare doesn’t linger on them for too long. Naruto doesn’t want to be pitied. It’s the last thing he wants. Because he wants to be seen as someone strong and capable.

Naruto goes to Sasuke’s room to bother the other. He complains to the Uchiha about the horrible training Mayaka is making him do. Sasuke used to this merely nodding here and there. Sasuke will give him a reply occasionally. Naruto always does most of the speaking in their friendship and Sasuke likes it that way.

It never bothers Naruto when Sasuke doesn’t really contribute much to the conversation. It’s nice to be given plenty of time to speak about everything.

However, that doesn’t mean Sasuke doesn’t ever speak. Often when talking about revenge, he’ll get passionate and talk a lot at once. Naruto always shares details about his training and this has caused Sasuke to do the same. He doesn’t explain everything, he merely tells Naruto what he worked on that day. Whether it be improving his lightning chakra or fighting with his sword it’s interesting to hear about.

Rio’s training is teaching Naruto to fight with knives. First the crimson haired man tells him to practice throwing knives. The blond spends a couple hours trying to hit the target that’s been set up for him. He spends so much time practicing only for merely one knife to make it to the target’s edge which happened in the middle of training that he’s convinced was a fluke now.

“Don’t get too frustrated about it, Naruto. You just need practice. I almost stabbed somebody by accident when I first learned to throw knives,” Rio tells him.

“What?”

“Yep, I was trying to hit the target. Someone walked into the room where I was throwing knives and I narrowly missed their head.”

“Was the target close to the door?”

Rio gives him a sheepish smile. “Not even close.”

Naruto lets out a laugh at this. Hearing this makes him feel better about being so terrible at throwing knives currently.

After this training Naruto is sent on a mission by Orochimaru. He may have a lot on his plate at the moment but he can feel himself slowly becoming stronger each day. If he tries harder each time he trains with Rio or Mayaka, he’s sure he’ll become a formidable opponent.