Naruto, A Shattered Mind

Chapter 2: Inside his mind

As soon as they crossed the border from red to green, Naruto fell silent. The Hokage looked down to see tears running down his face silently. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Naruto shook his head and hid his face in the Hokage's robes. As they walked, Naruto turned around in the Hokage's arms and gleefully watched the scenery of the forest glide by. When they entered the town, Naruto leaned out of the Hokage's arms, looking around like it was the first time he had ever seen Konoha. Between giggles and pointing, Naruto seemed quite calm and almost like a normal child, except for the fact that he was covered in blood and rubbing blood all over the Hokage's robes. The few villagers that were still outside couldn't help but stare at the odd congregation that walked by. Most didn't recognise Naruto and the Hokage was grateful for that. The boy didn't need any more negative attention than he already got. He knew that after this incident, everything needed to change. Naruto was no longer stable, or maybe even no longer sane, and so it was up to the Hokage to find an appropriate solution for this all. But before all that, they needed to find out what had happened, who was involved and what had triggered it all.

Dog walked up to the Hokage, smiling behind her mask at Naruto. Naruto seamlessly picked up on her and gave her a big smile in return. "I like you. I won't hurt you either." Dog's smile faltered a little, but she recovered quickly. "Thank you." She said, earning an even wider smile from Naruto. The smile snapped away, replaced by glaring eyes staring right past her. Dog looked behind her to see that Cat had stepped closer as well, but Naruto reacted to him in the same way the chakra had done. It seemed Cat and Naruto weren't going to get along at all. "Cats should be drowned." He stated coldly, staring directly at Cat. Cat gulped and stepped back into line. He didn't attempt again to get closer to the boy, but still he felt a little jealous at the fact that Dog was able to so easily interact with the boy. Ever since the barrier, he had the feeling he needed to do anything in his power to get into Naruto's good grace, though he didn't really understand why he wanted it so badly. Maybe it was an aftereffect of the mesmerizing properties of the barrier. It had captivated them all and seemed to have had the most effect on Dog and him.

They reached the tower without any incident. Dog and Naruto had a small conversation about trivial stuff, but it kept Naruto calm, so the Hokage was glad he had taken a liking to her. The Hokage himself had added to the conversation as well, being rewarded with a big smile and a bright blue eye. The Hokage only hoped that they would be able to keep the blue eye bright and the red one dull. It seemed the more hateful side was linked to the red eye. Yamanaka-san had his work cut out for him with this case.

"Naruto, why don't we get cleaned up before we see Yamanaka-san?" Naruto yawned in response and nodded into the Hokage's shoulder. As soon as they entered the tower, they went to the closest bathroom. The Hokage told Dog to wait outside and Cat to get Yamanaka-san ready, dismissing the rest. He placed Naruto down and undressed to his underwear, Naruto followed his example. When the water was nice and warm, the Hokage worked shampoo into the blond hair, watching the foam turn pink. The hair needed three washes before the water ran clean, but fortunately, Naruto seemed to enjoy the attention and sat still during it all. When Naruto's hair was clean, the Hokage told Naruto to wash the rest of himself while he went to get some towels. Again Naruto obediently did what he was told, surprising the Hokage. "I never really got the chance to bathe with warm water before. It's nice." Naruto said in a sad voice. The colour seemed to be dimmed in both eyes. He had stopped moving and stared at his reflection in the bucket of water in front of him.

"Don't you have hot water at home?" The Hokage asked. The apartment he had arranged for Naruto should have had all modern facilities. Naruto looked up with sad eyes. "Only if I boiled it. I never took the trouble of heating water just for washing. That would have been too expensive." The Hokage saw a shiver run down Naruto's spine and thought better than to push onwards. Instead, he dressed in a clean set of clothing and walked up to Naruto. He covered Naruto in a big fluffy towel that folded around his shoulders almost three times. Naruto snuggled into the towels, sighing and closing his eyes. "I'll make sure you get a better place to live. From now on, you will be under my guardianship." The Hokage told Naruto. A weak smile made its way to Naruto's face as the boy drifted to sleep a little.