Chapter 2
It was a hectic few days as the Uchiha began discreetly gathering supplies for their move. It was decided the mountains to the south would make an excellent safe haven for the group. There were no major villages in that area and the land was not highly sought after by any of the neighboring villages. The main reason being that it was no good for farming or raising cattle.
The horses posed the biggest risk for gathering. Most other supplies could be explained away as being overly prepared for any future missions and after Itachi finally told his mother and father about the plans that Danzo had for the clan, they began moving faster. Shisui’s job was to gather horses and wagons. They would come in handy during the long travel.
He was also part of a group that would be setting up a genjutsu around the compound when the time came. If done correctly, nobody would know the Uchiha left until they were too far to chase after. Since they were a founding clan and not taken in by sanctuary laws, they could come and go as they pleased. That did not mean that any of them thought they would be leaving peacefully.
They were moved to the very edge of the village after the Kyuubi attacked so another reason they decided on south was so they could move as far as possible from their once home. Shisui was so caught up in gathering supplies for his family and sealing as many of his own belongings away that he failed to notice the trap that was laid for him.
He was assigned guard duty on the North side of the village. He didn’t recognize any of the names that were assigned to go with him but that was normal for ANBU. It was easier to leave a man behind to finish the mission if you didn’t know him personally. Against his mission parameters, he reported his whereabouts to his family before heading out to the mission location.
The path he took led him through the middle of the red light district with instructions to meet the rest of his team at the edge of the forest surrounding the village. He wasn’t expecting the sight that greeted him. He stopped in the middle of the street and blinked. Then he double checked. He knew from looking at the map that there was a run down park in this part of time but what he wasn’t expecting was a kid to be sitting on the one not broken swing.
The child looked vaguely familiar with his blond hair and blue eyes but Shisui didn’t have time to think about that now. Blossoming on the child's right cheek was the nastiest bruise Shisui had ever seen on a child. He ran up to the boy and noticed him flinch away.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Even if it was against protocol, Shisui took off his mask to soothe the child. “What’s up little man.” He tried to speak gently as he reached out to check on the child.
Said child glared at Shisui’s hand and smacked it away. “What do you want? Are you gonna hit me too?” He sounded almost feral in his accusations.
More upset by what the child said than about the smack, Shisui continued “I would never hurt a child. Especially not one all alone in the dark.” He tried to make himself sound sincere and forced down his Uchiha temper. Where was this child’s parents?
It took a few moments before the boy decided to believe this strange adult. “Okay. Wanna play?” His smile lit up his entire face and Shisui had to pause and check his time.
Deciding, he said “I can only play for a little while but then I have to work but after I’m done we can play for longer before I take you home.”
At the mention of home, the boy looked at the ground. “Not much for me there.” he muttered.
Shisui decided now was as good a time as any for asking questions “What about your parents? What’s your name?”
The boy answered “My name’s Naruto and I don’t think I have any parents. The only ones waiting for me at home are the ones that want me dead. I don’t want to go back there.”
Troubled and concerned, Shisui tried to understand “Well lets just play for a while and I’ll take you home later, then I’ll sort everything out. I don’t look it but I’m pretty strong. So I’ll protect you.”
That perked the young boy right up and Shisui started pushing him on the swingset. They chatted about things Naruto liked and didn’t like. Apparently he loved Ramen but didn’t have money to buy meat very often. He lived by himself and had no family. The seeds of an idea took root in Shisui but he dared not mention it until he spoke to the clan head.
He shared his own story with the child as well. How both of his parents were killed when he was young and the clan head helped take care of him. “We’re all just kinda one big family.” he explained “We all take care of each other if something happens.”
Naruto looked like he could burst with tears as Shisui explained “Can I have that too?” Shisui didn’t want to let him down or get his hopes up with the small plan he had so he only said.
“One day, I’m sure you will.” Looking at the time he continued “But for now, I have to go. I’ll see you in a little bit to help you get home if you want to wait on me.” Naruto eagerly nodded. The route he was given would only take about an hour so he’s sure the child would be fine. There was no telling how long he was there before anyway.
Smiling and waving, the two went their separate ways. To break the silence, Shisui thought about how close in age Naruto was to Sasuke. There weren't many young Uchiha left. Sure there were many toddlers and teens but Sasuke was the only boy in his age group. Either unable to keep up or too far advanced. Naruto didn’t seem like the type that anyone would miss and a family as large as the Uchiha could always add one more to their mix.
So caught up in his thoughts, he almost missed the shuriken racing towards him. His teleportation jutsu was the only thing that saved his life as he watched several more fly at him. Dodging, he activates his sharingan and begins tracking the blade's direction. What he saw made his blood run cold. He was surrounded by other ninjas and by the looks of them, they were very skilled.
Why they attacked him was unclear but he could tell they meant blood. After a few more rallies of attacks, Shisui was on the defensive. He could feel blood dripping down his shoulder and was certain that he was about to die. Getting ready for one last jutsu, no one expected the loud yell that came from the bushes near the clearing. Shisui wanted to cry when he saw Naruto jump out at him from the bushes crying.
Not a moment after that, all hell broke loose in that field. Shisui recognized ANBU soldiers pouring out from around the trees. He wasn’t sure how many were clones or how many were real but he didn’t stay to find out. He looked down at the boy in his arms and made a hasty decision. He focused the chakra he had left and teleported the two of them as close as possible to the Uchiha district.
He limped to his home with Naruto in tow and sat the crying boy on the couch. “What’s going on? What happened?” Shisui was checking Naruto for wounds before he sighed and began treating his own.
“Your guess is as good as mine, kid. It looked like they were trying to kill me though. Since I basically kidnapped you anyway, I was going to talk to the boss but it looks like you get to make the choice.”
Naruto didn’t understand a thing this nice boy was saying but he seemed like he had a plan so he waited for Shisui to finish his thoughts. It took a few minutes of babbling before he got to the point.
“Look Naruto, me and my family are going to be leaving soon. Do you want to come with us and become part of our family?”
“Yes!” Naruto screamed before Shisui was even finished asking.
“Alright, alright….but” He waited for the child to calm down. “There are a few rules. You have to stay in my house until we leave. It won’t be long but that means no school or going outside this house. Is that something you can do?”
Naruto looked conflicted before he nodded his head. “Don’t worry. We’re leaving sooner rather than later after tonight. It could be dangerous and you’ll never see anyone in this village again. Are you still willing to do this?”
Naruto asked timidly “What if I can’t?”
Shisui’s heart broke at seeing the expression. “Then that’s no problem. I would ask that you keep it a secret about me and my family leaving and you would just go home.” He wouldn’t tell Naruto about the genjutsu he would cast so the child forgot all about him but there was no need. After thinking a few more minutes, Naruto nodded his head again.
“Since you're going to be part of the family now. I’m going to take care of you okay. Right now I need to go talk to the people that are taking care of me. I’m going to help get you ready for bed before I leave. I’ll be back though, I swear.”
He didn’t want to think about how that small promise put such joy in Naruto’s eyes. He helped the boy prepare for bed and made a mental list of the extra supplies they would need. After tucking him in making sure he was asleep. Shisui set off towards Fugaku house. The clan head would not be happy with him.