The Forgotten Boy (discontinued)

Chapter 4 - Discovery

( Third persons pov )
The wind was blowing on the leafs on the trees surrounding the village hidden in them. Two boys could be found laying on top of an abandoned building, watching the clouds float by above them.
"Hey Shikamaru, that one looks like a dog. Don't ya think so?" Asked the small blond haired whiskered boy as he was pointing to a cloud.
"Kinda, think it looks more like a cat though..." The other boy answered. They had be sitting and watching the clouds for a few hours now, it was nearly four o'clock. The boys had been laying up there for nearly eight hours in total, they were bound to be hungry.
"Do you want to go and get some food? The academe should be finished by now so no one will question us walking around the village" asked the brunette. The other boy sat up and thought for a minute, 'I haven't eaten a lot this week, I've only had that ramen and bread that I stole out of the academe yesterday...' He thought.
The other boy sat up and stared at the blond, the blond had been in his on little world for a few minutes. The brunette sighed, "Well?" He asked. The blond snapped out of his inner debate, and looked to his companion. He placed his hand on the back of his neck rubbing it, and said in a low voice "Well I don't have any money... But you can go on without me, I'll just stay here and watch the clouds some more"
The brunette just sighed and stood up, "You're so troublesome, you know that?" He said as he pulled the other boy to his feet. "I offered, so I'll pay. Or we could go to my house, no one should be home. Ma's gone out with her friends, she shouldn't be back until after six o'clock. Plus my dad is always working late anyway..." Said Shikamaru. The blond just stared at the other boy, then he smiled. "Sure, let's go to your place. I don't really fancy going anywhere right now anyway," Naruto said.
The brunette lead the way, walking threw the back alleyways. He saw the confused yet relieved look on the blonds face, "The villagers are too noisy, it's too troublesome" he said. The blond nodded his head, he was glad that his companion had chosen the back way, he didn't want to face the villagers after such a somewhat peaceful day.
They arrived at Shikamaru's house, it was an averaged sized house in the Nara estate. But it was in front of a massive forest, the one the blond usually hides in if the 'Fox hunt' is on. "I didn't know that this was your house, Shikamaru. I use that forest for training..." He said. Shikamaru just nodded, showing that he heard what the other boy had said.
"Let's go inside, I think my mom left me some dango and rice." As they made their way to the front door, Naruto noticed some shoes left outside. "Hey Shika, I thought you said your dad was working? Why are his shoes here?" The blond asked. The brunette was confused, he dad always worked late. He was the Hokage's secretary after all, he was a busy man. "I don't know, he is supposed to be working. He is supposed to be with that joke of a Kage..." He said whilst shrugging it off, whilst the blond held a small grin at the other boys comment. "Come on lets go, you need some proper food, you can't always eat out of the trash" the brunette said.
They walked inside and made their way to the kitchen, Shikamaru opened the fridge to get the food out. Meanwhile, Naruto just sat down at the table and watched his friend. 'Friend..? Yeah, we are friends.' He thought to himself, Shikamaru was his first friend. "Here we go, some rice and some dango for after" Shikamaru said as he sat the food down in front of Naruto.
They boys sat down and ate their food quietly and peacefully. As they finished, they cleaned their dishes so that Shikamei, Shikamaru's mother, didn't have to.
"What are you boys doing?" Asked a voice that came from the door. The boys turned around and found themselves with Shikamaru's dad, Shikaku. "Oh, hey dad. This is Naruto, he's in my class. We just came back for some food, it's been a long and troublesome day" the younger brunette said. "Is that so? Well a little birdie told me that you were skipping class, again..." Said Shikaku as he stared at his son. Beside his son, the other boy was trying and failing to stop shaking; his face looked calm, but in his eyes you could see that he was absolutely terrified. 'His parents probably don't like him skipping class either...' Thought the genius whilst sweat dropping. "I-I can explain..." Started Shikamaru. The older man rubbed his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's fine Shika, just make sure it doesn't happen again. Now why don't you boys go up to your room and play some shogi?" Suggested the man. The boys nodded their heads and made their way up to Shikamaru's bedroom.
( Shikaku's pov )    
That blond boy, is that the one that Minato was talking about? His description is very similar to the boy, he is small after all...
Naruto was his name, right? Weird, to name your own son fishcake... But that name does weirdly suit him though.
Now that I think about it, who made that joke about naming their godson fishcake? Just who was it? Ah yeah, it was Jiraya! That old pervert, he is the godfather to Minato's twins... Wait, Naruto kinda looks like a mini Minato... Is Naruto Minato's son?! If so, why is he so small? He is supposed to be nine years old! And Why didn't Minato and Kushina recognize their own son?! How stupid could they be?!
"Shikamaru come down here please! I need to talk to you about something!" I shouted up to Shika's room. Surely my son can help his old man out...
I heard foot steps coming down the stairs slowly, he really is a lazy child, huh. "You called for me dad?" He asked me whilst looking bored. "Yeah, sorry to interrupt your shogi game. But I needed to talk to you about someone, about Naruto" I said. Shikamaru stood up straighter and looked at me dead in the eye, he seemed very serious and concerned. Which was very unusual for Shika, he was usually always laid back and thought that everything was troublesome...
"I wanted to talk to you about him too" he said. "Dad, you know how the Hokage had twins that are the same age as me? Well Naruto is the eldest twin" confirmed Shikamaru. "I see, so it is him..." I said out loud. "Wait, you know Naruto?" Asked Shikamaru. "Well, I know of him... Kushina had the twins the same year that you were born, these were Hokage's children, no one in the village could not know... But about a year after the twins were born, Minato stopped mentioning Naruto and only talked about Menma. As the years passed I forgot he had two children, as he never mentioned Naruto in eight years..." I said. Shikamaru didn't look too surprised by this news. "I'm not surprised... Naruto, he has a room at the Namikaze-Uzumaki's but he hardly lives there, he gets locked outside... He's been practically living on the streets since he was three years old, he eats out of the trash or eats the teachers food from the kitchen..." He said with a sad look on his face.
How could Minato and Kushina forget about their eldest son? The heir to both of their clans and the nine-tailed fox Jinchuriki... Oh no, he was living on the streets.. Have the villagers done anything to him? "But that's not all dad, Minato and Kushina let Menma use Naruto as a punching bag. I'm not surprised of they use him as a punching bag too!" He said. How? How could they treat a child like this, and their child no less? He, he must hate this damned village. I used to love this village that my comrades died to protect, but it has turned into a corrupted mess of lies and hatred.
"Shikamaru, I want you to go up stairs and send Naruto down. Don't worry, I'm just going to tell him that he can stay here with us. But I'll have to talk to your mother about him staying here full time, I'm sure she'll say it's okay. But you know how she is, she has to be asked first..." I said. Shika nodded his head and went up stairs with a small smile on his face, a few minutes later Naruto appeared with a very scared look on his face. .
"Don't worry Naruto-san you aren't in trouble, so please calm down. Shikamaru has told me about of some of the treatment that you get, like how you have been living on the streets and Menma uses you as a punching bag?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment before nodding his head slightly. I sighed, "Could you please tell me anything else that has happened to you, Naruto?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment before telling me.
"Well, they stopped caring about me after I turned three years old. They only talk to me if Menma wants to train, or just to beat me up. They also like to take their anger out on me, but I'm not supposed to talk about that or I'll get into big trouble. And the villagers... They like to hunt me down, like I'm a fox. They call it the fox hunt, and I am the fox... No rules apply, they get to do whatever they please; since I am a Jinchuriki my wounds heal fast so their is no proof of the 'lessons' as they like to call them... But please don't tell anyone, especially Shikamaru! I'll get into more trouble, and Shikamaru will hate me like everyone else!" The boy said to me. His voice was cracking, not only was he upset and panicking, his voice hadn't been used in a very long time.
To say that I was shocked was an understatement, my friends and coworkers have beaten and starve this poor boy... He looked terrified, as if I was going to punish him for telling me. He also knew of the fox, I'm guessing the fox had made his presence know. I wouldn't be surprised if the fox is nicer than Minato and Kushina, along with most of the village.
"Naruto, Shikamaru wont hate you for being a Jinchuriki, that isn't your fault. The people at fault are Minato and Kushina, they should have looked after you and cared for you that's what parents do. Even if you are a Jinchuriki Naruto, you still deserve love; no mater what. Also those no good filthy villagers, they can't even tell the difference between a kunai and a scroll. And to think that their kids are going to be able to be Shinobi one day..." I said.
"I asked you down here to ask you if you would like to stay with us, here in the Nara estate. I'll have to ask my wife if you can stay here until you and Shika graduate, but you can at least stay for this week. Only if you want to though." I said.
His face seemed to light up as he processed the new information, he stood up and hugged me. "Thank you, Shikaku-san. Thank you so much!" He said whilst crying. "No problem, Naruto. Now why don't you go up to Shikamaru's room and continue to play shogi with him. I'll speak to Shikamei when she comes in, I'm sure she'll let you stay" i said. He smiled and nodded, then he headed up stairs.
'Minato, Kushina. How could you do this to him? How could you beat him? How could you let him starve?! Have you even seen the size of him? He is the same size as Shikamaru when he was four! You have lost all of my respect, and I'm sure Shikamei will agree with me' I thought to myself. 'I'll speak to Shikamei when she gets home in about a hour, she'll let Naruto stay. She'll show him how a mother is supposed to treat a child, and I'll train the boys. Naruto needs to defend himself, the villagers will not be able to harm him after he has been trained. And Shikamaru can help him, help him with everything.' I thought as I went to sit outside in the hot sun. 'How could Minato not recognize Naruto if he beats him...?'

( End of chapter )