Saviour || A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter Thirteen : A Friend In Need is a Friend Indeed

Naruto skipped alongside Tsunade to the park. The older blonde was content to watch the cheer filled girl hop along, chatting away about her training with her new sensei had gone. It had slightly surprised Tsunade that she had beat the Uchiha prodigy at genjutsu by what had seemed like a simple trick - but she was slightly upset about her little sister having a Sharingan. She had known her great-uncle's student Kagami, and according to him, it took a lot of pain, and the loss of something very dear to the person to activate the doujutsu for the first time. 

"Hey, Naru!" Sasuke shouted, delighted, as he came racing up to meet his new best friend.

"Sasuke!"Naruto let go of Tsunade's hand as he reached, making her older sister pout.

"Be careful, okay?" Tsunade said, bending down to give her a hug before she left the park.

"Sasuke!" The two kids turned to a very familiar voice. "I'll be here to get you at six, okay?"

"Okay!" Naruto was slightly surprised that Itachi was there, and looked at Sasuke curiously.

"Are you two family?" she asked, seeing as the two of them did look quite a bit alike.

"Yeah. He's my big brother." Sasuke grinned. "Do you want to play hide and seek today?"

"Okay!" She liked the game, and Tobirama had said it was good training for missions later.

They met up with the others - though Choji came a bit late - and started the game. Naruto dove into a cluster of bushes, making sure she didn't make a sound, and waited for Ino to find her. Ino's squeals of victory were coming close, then moving away, and Naruto got bored. She knew that the platinum blonde wasn't going to find her anytime soon. Just then, she looked down, and saw a light tan complexioned hand rising from the ground, reaching towards her.

Reaching into her back pocket, she immediately pulled out a kunai and stabbed the hand, pinning it into the ground. With a roar of pain, a masked ANBU rose out of the ground, spilling dirt all around him, as he stood up and glared down at the defiant little girl.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted, when he saw the ANBU. "What are you trying to do to Naru?"

"It's dangerous for you kids to be playing with her," the masked shinobi said bluntly, as he tried to pick up his target by the ruff of her white collar. Quick as lightning, Naruto backed away.

"She's not  dangerous, she's our friend!" Lee exclaimed, as he walked over to them. 

"Troublesome... what are you trying to do saying something like that?" Shikamaru demanded.

"I'm going to get my brother," Sasuke muttered to Sakura, so that the ANBU wouldn't hear him. He ran away without being noticed, since the young Nara had gained the man's attention.

"That is no way for a kid to be speaking to an ANBU." The man turned back to Naruto. "Come with me, you little brat, without making things more difficult for yourself than it already is."

"No way!" Ino pushed her way in front of Naruto, holding out her hands to the sides almost protectively. "I'm Yamanaka Inoichi's daughter, Ino, and my dad won't be happy if you hurt my friends! I'll get him to use the Mind Destruction Jutsu on you, if you don't go away NOW!"

"Come with me, Naru!" Sakura shouted, taking the blonde's hand, and racing to the woods.

"Stop right there!" the ANBU roared, taking off after the blonde and the terrified pinkette.

"Oh no you don't!" Kiba grinned. "I've been watching Mom and Nee-san train. Akamaru, let's do this. We're going to be the leaders of the Inuzuka someday, after all! Fang over Fang!"

Kiba and his little pet rammed into the unsuspecting ANBU like two whirlwind hurricanes, knocking him to the ground. Naruto made the best of the situation, and pulled Sakura along with her up into a tree. The ANBU stood up, swearing under his breath, but this time, it was a well-aimed Gentle Fist that knocked him down, forming a small crater in the ground.

"HOLD IT!" A few powerful voices combined had all of them turning around, stupefied.

Leading the way was very  sweaty Sasuke; following him were his elder brother, Itachi, the First Hokage Hashirama, the Second Hokage Tobirama, Jiraiya and Tsunade, all of who were furious.

"Itachi, get this good for nothing over to Ibiki," Tobirama growled, jerking his head in the direction of the now petrified ANBU. "I'll ask him for some answers tomorrow."

"You kids are really strong," Hashirama said proudly; he had caught sight of Neji's Gentle Fist.

"Thank you, Shodaime-sama," Neji smiled. "Though it was Kiba who attacked first."

"Ino distracted him too, while Sakura and Naru ran away," Hinata spoke up shyly.

"Huh? Where are they now then?" Shikamaru looked around for the two missing girls at once.

"SAKURA!" Ino shouted, racing towards the woods. "NARU! Where are you two! It's safe now!"

"Right here!" A little further into the woods, Naruto and Sakura jumped down from the tree.

"Nice hiding," Tobirama grinned. "That's the second ANBU you've defeated today, Naru."

"Who was the first?" Sasuke asked, puzzled. All the others turned questioningly to the Nidaime.

"Your brother. I got him to train her so that she can master the Sharingan," Tobirama said.

"Can I join?" Sasuke asked immediately, and something lit up in Naruto's eyes at his words.

"Can he, Nii-chan?" she asked, looking up hopefully at the man who never refused her requests.

"I don't mind, you'll have to talk to Itachi about that," Tobirama said. "All of you are going to be really strong, I'm already proud of your teamwork. Nothing but that would have saved you."

"It's too much of a drag to work alone," Shikamaru muttered, and the others rolled their eyes.

"You're the very epitome of the Nara laziness," Jiraiya laughed. "Hopefully you'll be the epitome of their fast wit as well. Goodness knows how your father manages to think how he does."

"Let's go home. We'll drop you all off at your places too." Hashirama smiled, as he turned to the setting sun. Making friends had been the right choice for his new niece after all.