From Time to Time

Chapter 11: Team 7

This chapter is up way, way later than usual (normally I like to update in the mornings) but I was feeling crappy last night and ended up falling asleep half way through the chapter so I only woke up a couple hours ago. Then on top of that my internet was crap and nothing wanted to post for a while.

Guys this chapter was really hard for me to write and it's disgustingly short--the shortest chapter of this story I've written by far. So, in light of this mess, there's a really important note in the end notes about the future of this story so please read it! It's going to be on both of my stories and I'd really like to know your thoughts on the matter. It was a really hard decision to make--not that it's completely set in stone yet--and I wanted to address it for a few weeks now.

Anyway...

Onto the chapter!

~~~~

Chapter Eleven: Team 7

~~~~

It was a lot for him to process, Naruto having a family after yearning for one for so long. It seemed almost too good to be true, like it was all some amazing dream and in the morning he'd wake up and have it all torn away from him. Naruto didn't sleep at all that first night.

His cousin was cool, way cooler than he'd thought from Konohamaru and company's description. He was also super strong. He'd taken down S-rank missing nin without sustaining any major injuries and they traveled in pairs. He was the kind of shinobi Naruto always wanted to be but Naruto knew there was more to him than just his strength and top notch pranking skills. He was sad in the same way Naruto had been--and in some ways he still was. Kaeru-nii told him about his village, how it fell and how he'd lost everything. He told him about his past as an orphan and how the only real family he'd known were his friends. It was all very similar to himself and the blond couldn't help but be grateful for the redhead. He'd lost everything, but was still standing. Naruto never really had much to begin with but Iruka-sensei, Jiji and Konohamaru (with his friends) had become Naruto's family--his team was slowly worming their way into his heart too, even Sasuke. He couldn't help but want his cousin to find something like that here too. Having blood relatives, from a clan no less, was great but Naruto wasn't dumb enough to believe that he and Ero Sennin would be enough.

The white haired man was a whole other topic. He was much like Naruto; loud and boisterous and he was strong. One of the three legendary ninja and the only one still truly loyal to Konoha. He was also apparently his godfather. At first he'd been grossed out by the idea of his parents choosing him for something that was so important (it wasn't something he understood well, but it was explained to him once so he kind of got it). Apparently his name came from the first book the man ever wrote, his parents wanted him to become a shinobi like that Naruto.

It was probably the only book Naruto would ever read willingly--if only for his family's sake.

His family.

Knowing who his family was, having family alive. It was new and completely awesome. His father was the Yondaime. His hero. He'd looked up to his father his whole life and he never even knew it. His mother was another amazing shinobi. His parents died to protect him, because they loved him, they thought he was worth it. He'd spent so much of his life wondering if he'd been given up or if his parents hated him as much as the village and although it hurt to know his father had sealed the beast within him, knowing they loved him was worth it. Kaeru-nii said that his father trusted him with the fox's power, said that he'd trusted Naruto to protect the village. The way he spoke... Naruto thought it seemed like he understood. It was strange, but then he remembered what the redhead had told him. That there were others like him.