As Uzumaki Naruto has just returned from a mission, he is targeted by a mysterious organization with unknown motives. Despite the endeavour of Hatake Kakashi, Naruto is abducted without leaving the slightest trace. After a month of absence, he reapp...
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The Seraph Project - Trust
After explaining the whole situation to Lady Tsunade, the room fell into an oppressive silence. In one of the offices with limited access and sheltered from curious ears, Godaime, Shizune, Shikamaru, Tenzô and the ninjas who attended the scene are here. Of course, there's also Naruto, clinging tightly to me and unsurprisingly everyone is on the edge and keeping their distance. I occupy one of the chairs, my pupil similarly who has stuck to me, letting his head rest on my shoulder. Since the incident, he has taken my hand and since then he refuses to let go, thus putting me in an awkward situation, not to mention that he scratched my fingers in the process. With the fury of earlier, he is completely drained; his tired little eyes struggle to stay open and gaze at the void in front of him. The presence of others does not seem to bother him so much he's exhausted, similarly with the neon light he used to destroy before. Moreover, once his tears stopped, I had to help him walk by putting his arm over my shoulder while I was holding him by the waist; he just followed me like an automaton without any will.
Whether physically, mentally, or emotionally, Naruto is exhausted in every way possible.
The incessant shocks of static electricity persist when I touch him and vice versa too. I don't know what causes this rather unpleasant phenomenon that makes me jump in spite of myself. This is tolerable, but it's starting to frustrate me although it seems to be out of his control.
I assimilate the information, notably those shared by Shikamaru since he witnessed the whole scene. The one of the elemental nature change of Naruto who went from fire to lightning, which thus allowed him to escape by short-circuiting the electrical networks, occupy my entire mind.
Shizune is the first to break that silence:
"What do we do with him now?" she says looking at Naruto, urging the others to do the same.
Another silent.
"Either way, we can't put him back in a cage," Shikamaru replies, crossing his arms.
"He's calm for now, but we don't know how he'll react once he's in better shape," Shizune warns. "He's a ticking time bomb."
"We all agree on that, Shizune," Lady Tsunade confirms, frowning. "Nevertheless, we must also take into account the psyche of Naruto. If he was sequestered, in a cage most likely, putting him back in a similar condition will only make the situation worse and widen the gap between him and us."
"We reproduced patterns similar to his traumas. No wonder he refuses to trust us," the teen with the ebony irises adds.
It's logic. Acting in our own interest, we totally dismissed that of the blond. Of course, his feral temper didn't help either, not to forget that he was seriously injured...
"Any ideas?" I ask.
"Since Kakashi is the only one he trusts, that's the only thing I can see," Godaime shares before looking up at me. "You will take this home."
"W-What..?"
I almost choke on my own saliva and my dark eye open wide. I can barely believe what she just said. Likewise, my heart races and Naruto notices as he painfully turns his head to look at me.
"... You want me to take him ... home..?"
"If you have a better idea, please share," she replies dryly. "We can't keep him here either. This would compromise the security of Konoha's only hospital centre. And I doubt he wants to do without you now."
Exasperatedly, I look back at Naruto who rests his head on my shoulder again. I was already finding it terribly difficult to devote time to him. Lugging him around for days on end and having him sleep at my house, I don't enjoy this at all. I almost regret having pushed him to trust me... With his attachment disorder, he won't let go of me for even a second. My free time that I particularly like in solitude will be a privilege to which I will no longer be entitled...
"I'm listening," she says, forcing me out of my dreams, impatient.
"I... Understood," I sigh, dejected.
"One less problem on our hands," she announces with a satisfied smile. "Wait until nighttime to take him with you. In the immediate future, this whole thing must remain in the greatest of secrets. If the information of him being a chakra devourer were to be known, it could set things on fire. I am not the only one to know about their existence. And knowing this old fox Danzō, he would be well able to cause a disaster if he came to know about Naruto."
We nod. Needless to say, with a potential threat like Naruto, this could well spell disaster or worse, a future putsch against Lady Tsunade. Very few know the sinister ambitions of this old man and fortunately, I know what he's plotting in the darkness. If it's not the decision to eliminate Naruto on the spot that is chosen, making him a weapon will be; given that he already sees the teenager in this way with the demon fox inside him, he will only become more so. All in all, I have to be careful since I have just been given custody of him. The black tail is the element likely to betray him, although—as I had found in my research—the physical traits of the devourers are not specified. In any case, it does not go unnoticed at all and will arouse unwanted curiosity...
"I'll tell a handful of ninjas I can trust about Naruto," Fifth Hokage continues. "Try to keep him under control, Kakashi."
I nod silently before she turns her attention to the youngster.
"I would like you to stay on the case, Shikamaru. You have to find a way to get information out of Naruto. This organization came to an end once, they may well succeed again. We don't need an army of chakra leeches to cause yet another Great War."
"You can count on me," he sighs before fuming, letting out a long, painful complaint.
Knowing him, how to deal with Naruto is in question. The blond is imprisoned into a disabling silence; responding with simple gestures like nodding is impossible for him. We have our work cut out. We must lower the barriers that the sapphire-eyed boy imposes on the world.
"Now leave! But above all, be careful!"
While the others leave the room, I am obliged to stay. I have to wait until sleep rocks all of Konohagakure before I take Naruto home... I haven't started yet as the anxieties turn my stomach upside down.
