a village with(out) me ━ naruto fanfic

6.

Chapter Six: 

"Was attacking your sensei the best course of action you could have taken?" Kuro asks, walking beside his summoner. It's still early in the day and the heat of Konoha is yet to get unpleasant. 

Naruto scoffs, but otherwise keeps quiet. They walk through the village, ignoring glares and hushed whispers of, "look, there's that monster," and, "quiet, you know we're not allowed to talk about that." 

Kuro bares his teeth at them, enjoying the way civilians and ninja alike scurry into opposite directions. 

Eventually, they come upon the Hokage building, but walk right past it and further away. Naruto leads Kuro up a set of dozen stairs leading up to the Hokage monument, the greenery is pleasant up there and Kuro can faintly hear the buzz of insects all around them. There's even the scent of cherry blossoms in the air, nice and sweet, but mild. They must be somewhere close, then. 

Naruto takes a seat, his legs hanging off the edge of the monument and Kuro lowers himself just slightly beside and behind him. A gentle breeze ruffles his dark fur and Kuro lowers his large head onto his front paws. 

"Master Naruto," he starts, "what are we doing up here?" 

"Thinking," Naruto says, staring down at the village, watching as civilians and shinobi alike go about their day. They look like insects from Naruto's perch ━ easy to squish with the underside of his sandal. "Planning." 

Kuro blinks. "Planning?" 

"Mhhm," the boy nods, leaning back onto his hands and turning his gaze towards the blue sky. "There are certain things I have to do in order to become Hokage," he says, swinging his feet, lips curling into a smile, "like eliminating any and all potential candidates." 

"Are there many?" Kuro asks, because his summoner is still just a child, but he's swinging his feet and smiling at the thought of committing murder and isn't that just interesting?  

"Nah,'' Naruto shakes his head and then lays onto his back, turning to look at Kuro with something down right malicious shining in his deep, blue eyes. His smile turns softer, kinder as he leans in closer to the black wolf and murmurs, "just the current hokage and his ever so loyal council." 

"But, first things first," Naruto says, reaching his hand out to pet Kuro, "I have to get back to the others and fix my mistake. I let my mask slip and I can't have anyone seeing underneath it, now can I?"

Kuro makes a low rumbling sound deep from within his chest when Naruto finally smoothes his hand down the back of his head and around his neck, petting him gently. His black tail thumps against the ground and Naruto raises an eyebrow, amused. 

Something slips out from the sleeve of his orange jacket, sharp and dangerous; it glints in the sunlight and suddenly they're no longer on the Hokage monument. They're surrounded by lines of thick trees and the damp earth. Kuro blinks, staring at his summoner in question. They're still in the same exact positions, Naruto on his back petting the black wolf. 

Naruto smiles. "Something wrong?'' He asks, moving his hand to scratch behind one of Kuro's ears. 

"No,'' the black wolf answers. So, he muses internally, this child can teleport at will? He's going to become quite the menace to society… "I'm not going to ask any questions. You've been kind enough to let me see the real you. That's all I can ask for." 

Kuro gets a rewarding pet to the side of his jaw accompanied by Naruto's nice smile ━ he isn't sure if its real or fake ━ and even if he tries, he can't quite stop his tail from wagging in excitement.