from Academy to Anbu by theriku260

chapter 11

Yakumo's place, five days into Naruto's shift…

Naruto and Angel padded along the forest floor surrounding the Kurama hideout, moon a ghostly orb above. Every trap was set and un activated, and his clones reported no disturbances.

So why was all his hair up straight? Angel was tense as well below him. Nicking his thumb with a kunai he runs through some hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu" he whispers. Akira appears, serious when she takes in her summoner's posture.

'Do you sense that?' Naruto signed. He'd taught Akira and Hisoka how to read his signs- well, sort of. They were still learning but picked it up faster than him. Akira closed her eyes in concentration and nodded. 'Weird I know. That aura…'

An Id. It's active under the full moon. Kurama muttered, his first contact in days.

An Id? Naruto asked.

Figure it out- but hint: it's not a danger to you. Yet. Just go back to your pointless 'guarding'. Naruto scowled but relaxed; even if Kurama was being an ass he wouldn't lead Naruto into trouble. Turning to an intense looking Akira the blonde shook his head.

'False alarm, sorry. You can go back, I'll summon you for sushi after my rotation in two days' he promised. Akira grinned as she shakily translated it and headed back home. He looks at Angel. 'We're done here, the shadow clones will wake us if needed.' The tired duo heads inside to their temporary lodgings in the room above Yakumo's, a hatch poised to open for quick entrance through the floor.

Naruto lay on his futon, still in complete uniform, pondering his charge. Yakumo Kurama, just turned thirteen fifteen days ago, parents dead in a house fire and her genjutsu sealed away. Her eyes are so empty- why? It bugged him to see someone his age be so depressed and yet so angry with everything.

"Kukuku" Naruto bolts upright with a kunai in hand. A mavelolent chakra pulses below him and in an instant he's in Yakumo's room with the medics.

"Please, stop! Mother, Father. Don't hate me" she whimpers, though it becomes clear she's asleep. Dante administers another drug before turning to Naruto.

"Sorry, Mouse: sometimes Yakumo-chan's chakra seal activates, especially on a full moon. Nothing to worry about." Naruto tilts his head.

"Is it an Id, Dante?" The medics stiffen and turn cold.

"It would be best if you drop it. There should be no more disturbances, go back to sleep" Naruto wants to argue but technically Dante was in charge so he shunshins back through the open hatch.

"Hey, what was that? It was scary, scarier than when you use Kurama's chakra" Angel whispered while ducked under a table. He'd ordered her to stay back before he'd left.

"Something dark, something no one wants to talk about, it seems. It's probably the reason Yakumo is up here. Anyways, let's get to sleep; tomorrow I have to compress the chakra in my fingers." For the last five days Naruto would leave clones along with his captain's henged wood clones before going into the woods nearby and setting up a chakra barrier for three hours, practicing narrowing down where Kurama's chakra filtered through. So far he was succeeding but the strain left burns if maintained longer than a few minutes- Naruto suspected Kurama wasn't as free with his chakra as before but didn't dare ask.

Next day…

Naruto watched as Yakumo sat on a swing outside in her bath robe, apathic loathing set in stone on her pasty face. He technically was supposed to be an unseen shadow but Yakumo reminded him of himself when he was younger- she just didn't hide it like he did.

"Why are you so angry?" he asked from a branch. The girl scowled up at him.

"Why not? I've been locked away and my parents died- what's there to be happy about?"
"Well…you're alive, aren't you?" He questioned with a shrug. Really, he didn't like those who refused to move on- at least she had parents at one point.