Legend of the Ghoul (under reconstruction)

Guardianship

Oh my gosh I didn't realize how long it had been since I had last updated this story, but oh. my. GOOSH it's been such a long time and I feel like a horrible author. So here, Update for all of my loyal readers who deal with the horrendous amount of time it took to update!! (/*^;.;^*)/

"Wish I had some idea of where I was." I mumbled to myself as I walked over another tree root. The trees here were truly huge, and bigger than I was in my full Kakuja form. I flicked my red tail, twirling the tip of it around to keep the flame going. One of the first things I had learned while in this place was to control this new power.

"ALL OF THE TREES LOOK THE SAME!!" I yelled at the canopy, a gust of wind blowing by me followed by the sound of someone laughing. My tails flicked at that as the normal four lunged at the sound, there was a surprised scream as the person was drawn towards me. I looked down at the child as he tried to escape my tails, he froze as soon as he saw me. Blue eyes widening as the tails holding him slackened their grip before moving to join the others. 'Just a child,' my mind accessed 'he's not a threat'.

The tails swayed as his bright ocean blue eyes following them. I smiled at his expression that almost mirrored Hinamis' the first time she had seen them.

"What is your name little one?" I asked softly as he looked back up at me.

"The names Uzumaki Naruto! Im going to be Hokage one day! Believe It!" My smile widened as I kneeled down so I was at his height, weight balanced on the pads of my feet.

"Mines Minokawa Kichi, can you tell me where I am? I seem to have gotten lost." Naruto nodded happily as he grabbed my hand, the short sleeves of his shirt lifting enough to catch what looked like rapidly healing bruises. I stopped him then, digging my heels into the dirt as I carefully examined the bruises. Most of them were almost gone but the rest of them were still dark and ugly looking.

"Who did this to you?" I growled as I carefully traced them, the boy flinching as I did so. There was a faint different smell to him, like something was hidden away that I ignored choosing to focus on the boy. He sniffed softly reminding me even more of Hinami as I pulled him closer, tails moving to hug him comfortingly.

"They think I'm a monster." He sniffled out as my grip tightened as memories of heavy rain, the death of a friend and blood washed over me as I hummed softly to the boy I was holding. He finally started crying, tears staining my coat as my tails moved comfortingly around him. I picked Naruto up softly as I followed his scent, carefully ducking under branches and stepping over roots and twigs. The scent ended at a large wall, the crying of the child having quieted down as he fell asleep.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I yelled up as the smell of something delicious filled my nose causing my stomach to rumble softly. Naruto made a soft sound as I softly moved him so he was more comfortable, there was the soft sound of people approaching as two men suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke. My eyes widened as my tails ruffled into a more defensive position, they looked at the small boy in my arms, eyes narrowing in anger before parting to let me through. My eyes narrowed at them, tails twitching as I passed the walls and into the village.

The people parted as I walked through them, their eyes shifting between my face, the boy in my arms, and the tails that flickered behind me. A tail flicked defensively as someone went up to tackle me to the ground, a small stream of water knocking the man over in surprise. I continued following the boys scent to a small apartment building that looked close to being torn down.

Naruto nuzzled into my neck as I walked into the open door of his apartment. The room was a mess, with empty ramen cans and dirty clothes filling the room with the smells of sweat and something rotting underneath them. A heartbeat later I weaved through the garbage of the room to the boys bedroom where I tucked him in, making sure he was comfortable as he nuzzled into the hand that had gone down to brush a stray strand of hand away.

"Sleep well little one." I murmured as he sighed softly, slowly standing up and heading toward the presence in his living room. Golden eyes scanned over the area quickly before focusing on an older male wearing white clothes with a strange white hat with the kanji for fire written on it in red.

My tails quivered slightly as they sensed his power, a small flicker of a flame lighting up the darkening room as the tail itself caught fire.

"Hello, is there a reason why you are in Narutos home?" I questioned causing the mans eyebrow to raise slightly in confusion. A low growl filled the air as I allowed my eyes to flash red and black in warning, a slight shiver of excitement running through me as his eyes widened slightly.

"I am the third Hokage, some Anbu noticed your sudden appearence with Naruto in the village and I came to ask what is your agenda with him." The man asked as my form tensed in anger, tails flickering angrily as they cut the air around them with deadly speed.

"My name is Minokawa Kichi, and I don't have an agenda with Naruto unless you count taking care of him and making sure he doesn't get abused anymore." The growl in my voice was heavy as the old mans eyes saddened visibly at my words as he looked down, pulling his weird hat down to cover his eyes.

"I have a proposition for you Ms. Minokawa. I would like to hire you as young Naruto's caretaker. You'll be paid to take care of him and yourself while also gaining citizenship in the village. Otherwise we will have to ask you to leave." The blue tail flicked slightly as I thought this through. If I was paid and got citizenship... but what was in it for the old man. My eyes flicker to him again as he seemed to realize what I was thinking.

"Of course I am asking you to do this so that Naruto can be taken care of."

"Fine... but just so you know, if any of those villagers try to harm Naruto under my watch they will be injured." I commented as the man nodded before vanishing from sight. My nose flared as I tried to pick up his scent before shrugging and beginning to clean up the apartment.