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Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 3: Hunger
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Uzumaki Naruto groaned from his position on the ground, his stomach mimicking his groan with a monstrous growl. It was anxious for food seeing how he had not had food for two days.
He had run out at home and all the stores he walked into always chased him out before he got the chance to try and buy anything with the little allowance the Hokage was allowed to give him. Being the Hokage, Sarutobi couldn’t just hand out big stacks of money without causing concern. And his favourite ramen store did require money in order for him to receive his precious ramen. He was above it to steal from that store.
Naruto would’ve been very concerned for himself if he was not certain that he could go longer without any food at all and not die.
It did however leave him feeling completely drained, sick, and feeling utterly weak. So when a group of drunken villagers had found the need to smack him around a bit before leaving him in the middle of the forest, he didn’t feel the need to move from his fallen state on the ground.
He had managed to roll his battered body into some shelter, hiding under some healthy shrubs that populated the area.
His wounds would heal…they always did. They probably already were. They were nothing serious, just a split lip, sprained wrist, a bruised cheek, and a few more bruises and scratches on his legs and arms.
He’s had far worse.
His fingers twitched when he heard a twig in the distance snap, his ears perking up at the sound. His eyelids fluttered open, Naruto just seeing the underside of the shrub he was lying under at first before he turned his head to stare out at the opening beside him.
Voices in the distance floated to his ears, the voices floating ever closer, assuming the people were walking in his direction. Were they more villagers looking for him? He hoped not? He was hidden but he was sure if their goal was to find him, they could achieve it if they really tried.
‘Maybe if I played dead they’ll leave me alone.’
With that thought in mind, Naruto made his head flop to the side and let his limbs go limp as he flopped himself haphazardly, not realizing one arm jutted out awkwardly from beneath the protection of the large shrub.
The bushes nearby rustled before footsteps suggested the approaching people were now close by.
“I thought all those places were good! Stop being picky and pick one!” A female complained. She sounded no older then Naruto himself…if he ever had to guess.
“You can’t just ‘pick one’.” A male responded with a scoff. “The point of a hideout is that it’s supposed to be hidden.”
“Gah!” The female cried in frustration, their voices now considerably close. They were probably in the clearing beside Naruto.
“Besides, this was your idea.” The male pointed out with a clear ‘it’s your fault so stop complaining’ tone in his words.
Naruto’s brow furrowed unconsciously as he listened to the two talk. They sounded eerily familiar. Had he met them somewhere before?
“Here, how about here?” The female asked, probably pointing to a place randomly in the area.
“Nope.”
“Ngh! Sasuke!” She whined, the ground rumbling, making it evident that she had stomped her foot.
‘Wait…Sasuke? There’s a kid in my class named Sasuke.’
The two continued to argue, Naruto listening as the two moved about the area, the female who is still nameless, pointing out random places to only have them shot down by the Uchiha.
She then tripped over Naruto’s arm.
Naruto grunted and the female squeaked in surprise, scrambling off his arm as fast as humanly possible.
“Whose there?” Sasuke called out, Naruto deciding that he should resume his role as a dead corpse. Something prodded his arm before a hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him out from underneath the shrub, twigs and leaves stuck in his hair.
“Is he dead?” The female whispered, her voice small and far away.
“Kyoko, don’t be stupid.” Sasuke sighed, unknowingly identifying the female voice for Naruto. Naruto resisted the urge to open one eye and look at the two, but his lack of energy kept him playing his role.
Maybe they would leave him alone to die of starvation.
“I’m not stupid!” She argued indignantly, Naruto practically picturing her bristling at Sasuke’s remark.
“Besides, he could be dead.” She sniffed sassily, creeping closer to the two.
“No. Look at his chest.” Sasuke pointed out before Naruto felt a sharp tap on the center of his chest, the blond male resisting the urge to groan at the brief pain.
“So?”
“It’s going up and down. It means he’s breathing.” Sasuke clarified with a ‘no duh’ tone in his voice. Naruto barely opened his eyes, just looking up from beneath his eyelashes so he could glimpse at the two kids examining him.
Sasuke was crouched on his haunches next to the Uzumaki’s head while Kyoko was standing at the Uchiha’s shoulders. Naruto closed his eyes again, feeling too weak to move, protest, or even speak for that matter.
He just wanted food.
“Hey…he looks familiar…is he in our class?” Kyoko frowned as she surveyed the body closer. Sasuke just shrugged, not interested.
Kyoko snapped her fingers and pointed at the body in recognition.
“It’s Naruto! Someone’s killed Naruto!” She exclaimed.
“I already told you he’s not dead!” Sasuke snapped, swatting away her hand.
That was when he smelt it.
The girl was holding food in her one hand! Before he could even think about it his stomach let out a growl that echoed throughout the trees and when it was over, silence filled the area.
“What…the…” Kyoko started slowly, dumbfounded at the sound that had silenced her and Sasuke’s argument.
“He’s hungry stupid.” Sasuke sighed. Without paying it any thought, Sasuke stole the half eaten chocolate bar from Kyoko’s hand, an angry ‘hey!’ rising out of her as he unwrapped the rest of the bar and shoved it into Naruto’s mouth.
Naruto tensed as the food was shoved in his mouth, not prepared for the action.
His taste buds kicked in slowly and his hand rose, feebly knocking away the other hand as he grabbed the end of whatever he was eating and chewed. He swallowed and he almost cried tears of joy as the chocolate slid down his throat.
It tasted delicious!
His eyes shot open as his energy returned and he sat bolt right up, shoving the rest of the chocolate bar into his mouth so his cheeks puffed up, Kyoko squeaking in surprise at his sudden action. Naruto savoured the food, though it was hard to tell with the speed he was devouring it.
That was until he started choking.
His shoulders shook as he began coughing, hacking as a chunk of the chocolate lodged itself in his throat. A small fist slowly began pounding on his back, though if you ask any person with medical training they can tell you that it’s not helpful to do so.
“Thanks.” Naruto wheezed as he stopped coughing, looking up at Sasuke who still had a fist raised in the air. Naruto blinked as he took in the faces of the two in the clearing, now that he could properly see.
They really were Sasuke and Kyoko, two kids from class. Sasuke looked expressionless and Kyoko looked concerned.
“Hn.” Sasuke nodded as he retracted his fist, standing up, Kyoko replacing Sasuke’s place by Naruto’s head.
“Wow, you must’ve been hungry.” Kyoko observed as she sat on her butt, watching Naruto as he swallowed the last of the chocolate bar.
“Um…well yeah…” Naruto replied hesitantly now that he was actually talking to them. They weren’t starring at him with those hated looks that those villagers always gave him. They weren’t pushing him over or calling him names, they were just…talking to him.
They never did that. In class they never really acknowledged him unless he got in trouble with the teacher.
Even when Sasuke had hit him, it was to get him to stop choking. These kids were being nice to him and he…didn’t know how to respond.
“Are you still hungry? My house isn’t far from here.” Kyoko continued pointing in the direction her house was. Naruto starred as Kyoko hoped up to her feet, Sasuke scowling.
“I thought you wanted to find a hide out.” Sasuke reminded.
“Well you took away my snack so I’m still hungry.” Kyoko complained, glaring at the Uchiha. Naruto just starred at her hand a look of befuddlement on his features. Kyoko flicked her wrist impatiently and Naruto hesitantly grasped her hand, Kyoko yanking him to his feet.
“Besides, Naruto’s hungry too.” She continued, turning back to face the Uchiha while absently picking the twigs and leaves out of Naruto’s hair. Sasuke continued to scowl at her and she switched tactics.
“Fine, you can go find a hide out but we’re going to get some food.” She sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. “Come on Naruto, let’s go.” She commanded as she turned on her heel and marched in the direction of her house.
Sasuke sighed grudgingly in defeat as he saw that she wouldn’t let this go. Without a word he followed after the two blond children.
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“This is your house?” Naruto yelped as he came in front of the Namikaze estate, Kyoko already at the door of the building with Sasuke grudgingly trailing behind her. The house was huge and elegant, a stone pathway leading to the double doors that had an intricate design carved into the wood.
Kyoko paused, looking back at the awed Uzumaki.
“Yup!” She grinned.
“Don’t just stand there with your mouth open, you look like a moron.” Sasuke called over to him, Naruto swiftly coming out of his reverie to glare at the raven haired boy.
Naruto quickly followed the two into the house, Kyoko closing the door behind him as they all stepped out of their shoes and left them by the door.
“Hello? Hari-san?” Kyoko called out into the house as they walked through the halls, both boys looking about, onyx eyes in mild interest, blue eyes in barely concealed delight.
A picture of the Yondaime and his wife was placed proudly on the wall, surrounded by other pictures of the two mentioned people. Even though they were dead, they still lived on in the house.
A tapestry with the Konoha symbol hung on one wall, another one with the Namikaze clan symbol hanging next to it.
Sasuke himself had only been to Kyoko’s house three times in the three weeks they recently started playing together, so he was still unfamiliar to everything.
“Hmm, he must’ve gone out.” Kyoko frowned, a hand on her hip before shrugging. “Oh well! The kitchen’s this way!” She declared, turning sharply to the right, practically prancing through two more halls, and finally into the kitchen.
It was like a normal kitchen albeit, it was larger in concerns of space. Kyoko headed straight towards the fridge, pulling it open with a mighty swing. After a long discussion over what the other wanted and what exactly everything was in the fridge and whether everything was edible or not, they closed the fridge again with armfuls of food.
Without being able to wait, and having not been raised with manners, Naruto sat himself down on the kitchen floor instead of walking into the dining room to eat at the table, and began munching away.
Kyoko and Sasuke blinked, starring at him before Kyoko smiled. She apparently liked this new idea of sitting wherever you wanted, and sat down where she stood, eating away at her own armful of food that she graciously set on the floor in front of her.
“You guys shouldn’t be eating on the floor.” Sasuke murmured, ever grumpily. Kyoko only showed she heard him by patting the floor next to her, motioning for him to sit down as well. She reached for a packet of pudding, reaching for one of the few spoons they had actually thought about grabbing.
Sasuke however, scoffed, making her look up at him with a scowl, spoon halfway to her mouth, while Naruto continued to eat, now no longer on the brink of starving and just eating for the hell of it.
“Sasuke, just sit an—“ She started, flicking her wrist impatiently at him, her pudding covered spoon accidentally releasing a huge glob of pudding in his direction. The glob landed on Sasuke’s white shorts and Kyoko’s eyes widened, Sasuke’s following a millisecond later before narrowing into slits.
“Oh no! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to AAAHHH!” Kyoko gasped in shock as her pudding suddenly disappeared from her hand and ended up on her head, the pudding running down her face as Sasuke smirked triumphantly.
Naruto watched now in amusement as Kyoko’s face turned red in anger.
“SASUKE!” She yelled as she grabbed the closest food next to her and hurled it at him. He danced out of the way, the two continuing their food fight around the room until Sasuke lost his footing by stepping on a misplaced pastry.
In order to regain his footing, Sasuke crashed his hands on Naruto’s head, the force smashing the Uzumaki’s face into the piece of cake he had been inches away from devouring. Everyone tensed before Naruto slowly raised his icing covered face.
Taking what remained of the cake in his hand, he whipped around and shoved it in Sasuke’s face, the Uchiha caught off guard and stumbling backwards. The food was then no longer eaten as it became weapons, the fight turning into an all out brawl.
Pastries flew through the air, pudding splashing on pants and shirts, juice boxes squirting in faces and over heads. When the juice was gone, the empty boxes were thrown as weapons. The food was then forgotten as the three tussled and fought, tugging and fishooking. They were much like a group of lion cubs.
“Ow, that one hurt!”
“Watch it!”
“You ripped my shirt!”
“Gah!”
“Oof!”
“Meanies!”
“You stepped on me!”
It was then that laughter bubbled up, breaking through the fighting, the three pausing in mid brawl.
It was Naruto who started it but soon the other two were laughing as well, falling down onto the ground from exhaustion. The three were caked in food from their battle, the remnants of the meals in their hair and splashed across their clothes. When the laughter stopped, they were all smiling playfully, Naruto’s grin the biggest out of the three.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had had this much fun. Kids had never let him play with them before. He had always been alone, watching the others laugh and play like he was doing just now. For now, while he was with these two, he could forget about all those angry villagers who sneered down at him, grimacing if someone mentioned his name.
Kyoko was the first to stand up, her hair looking lopsided since one pigtail got pulled out of its elastic in their fight.
“What do we do now?” She asked as she took a step before slipping on a piece of food, causing the two boys to laugh. She joined them for a second before standing once again.
“I think we need to get cleaned up right now.” Sasuke commented, rising to his feet as well. “There should be a stream not far from here.” He continued, his 8-year-old mind not considering the fact that there was a bathroom in the house.
Sasuke’s black shirt had big stains of white, yellow and brown splattered across it, his white shorts looking no better. Naruto’s white t-shirt and blue shorts looked unrecognizable and were slipping off his frame. Kyoko’s teal tank top was ripped slightly at the bottom, minus the food splattering it, and her black pants had one pant leg farther then the other, her pants lopsided at the waist due to the pulling.
Naruto suddenly felt unsure whether he was invited along or not. The feeling of loneliness clawed away at the edges of him as he slowly stood up, his smile dwindling slightly. As if somehow sensing his silent need for confirmation, Kyoko turned to him.
“You’re coming right?” She asked, raking a hand through her food caked hair. She made a face as her hand came back sticky from the pudding and juice someone had so graciously bestowed on her head.
Naruto didn’t even think.
“Of course!”
~*~
A bag of groceries fell to the ground as a lone green eye starred in terror at the scene in front of him. Hari gaped at the disaster of a kitchen, the splashes of color a whirlwind of food that had at one point, been edible.
His mouth opened and closed several times as he slowly stepped into the kitchen, the bag of groceries forgotten on the floor. Food was smeared into the ground in chunks, mirrored on the cupboards and the fridge.
His eye swivelled to survey the ground and focused on a pudding cup that made his teeth clench together.
“Kyoko.” He growled softly to himself as he picked up the empty, smashed plastic container. Kyoko was the only one who knew where he kept this pudding in the house. His temper exploded, demanding him to run around the whole village to find her.
Oh, she was going to pay! She was going to clean every inch of this kitchen!
His shoulders shook in suppressed rage as a vein in his forehead pulsed rhythmically. Crushing the already smashed pudding cup in his hand, he inwardly tried to calm himself, remembering that he had some groceries he had to put away.
Inhaling and exhaling several times, he finally reigned in his temper. Turning, he picked the bag of groceries off the floor and walked towards the fridge. Opening it, his mouth fell slack once again.
All the foods were pushed around or tipped over, and several things were missing, most likely the smears on the floor. It looked like he had just fed an army!
His temper flared as his grip tightened on the groceries in his hands.
The whole house shook as his voice echoed through the air.
“KYOKO!”
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto