The Neglected Anbu Prodigy (Book 1 Completed)

Chapter 4

Bright light cascaded from the window and onto my eyes making me cover them with my arm as I adjusted to the sunlight.  The door opened in a slightly rushed manner and when I peeked over, I seen someone I did not recognize. The teen had short, curly, black hair and dark onyx eyes. He was rather slim, but still had some muscles, just not enough to be disgusting. He started to walk slowly to me and my heart rate picked up. Who was he? Will he hurt me like everyone else?

With that thought, I rolled off of the bed and crawled under it to hide. The teen's feet were just barely visible to me as they came to a stop next to the bed before his pale face peered at me. I growled softly in a warning manner.

"It's okay..." The teen cooed at me. "I just wanted to check on you. My name is Shisui Uchiha. I am Itachi's cousin. It's nice to meet you." The teen, now named Shisui, explained in a soft tone. "Can you come out so we can talk?" I shook my head no and Shisui sighed before getting up and leaving the room. After a minute I seen his feet return with another pair following behind and soon enough, two faces were looking at me under the bed. The other face I recognized as Itachi.

"Naru? Can you please come out from under there? He's not going to hurt you." Itachi said. Instead my eyes flicked over to Shisui. "Shisui, he doesn't seem to like you very much. Can you go to the other side of the room?" Shisui nodded and went over to stand by the door. As soon as he moved away I scooted closer to Itachi, keeping an eye on Shisui across the room, as Shisui frowned at me slightly. "How was your sleep?" Itachi asked, sitting on the floor next to me.

"Good." I whisper quietly. "Best sleep I ever had without getting beaten."

Itachi frowned slightly at the last thing before asking another question. "Do you want some breakfast?"

I looked at the ground. "I am never allowed to have any food..." I mutter quietly. Ever since I learned how to talk, I was always quiet because if I wasn't, the beatings would be much worse.

"Well here you are allowed to have as much food as you want. It's not healthy to be malnourished. Come on. Everyone is already at the table, waiting on you." He went to help me up but the large gash on my leg was not healed so I fell forward. Shisui moved in a blink and caught me before I fell and held me bridal style and carried me to the dining room. Itachi was right. On the table were six untouched plates of food and three of the chairs were empty. When I seen that I started to cry.

"Oh! What's wrong honey?" Mikoto asked in a worried tone.

"N-n-nothing i-is w-wrong..." I said between sobs as I tried to stifle them. I was just so happy that they actually remember that I was here.

"Bull. No one bursts out crying for no apparent reason. What is wrong?" Fugaku said with a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"I-it's j-just I n-never had a m-meal or h-homemade m-meal as a f-family! Th-they would always l-lock me in m-my room!" I sniffled as I spoke.

Sasuke walked over to me and handed me a cinnamon roll. "Please don't cry." He said, before he hugged me.

I tensed up in Shisui's arms. "Please don't hurt me." My voice quivered. I didn't understand what he is doing. Is it some kind of torture device or method?

"He is not going to hurt you. What he is doing is called a hug. Have you never had a hug before?" Mikoto frowned at me in confusion.

"What is a...hug?" I asked, now equally confused as Shisui put me on an empty chair before sitting at his own spot.

"A hug is a display of affection. Have you ever had any affection shown to you?" Shisui asked as he put some food in his mouth.

I picked at my food as I considered his question. "Does apologizing for something someone had no control over count? Or someone comforting me when I almost drowned in water? Or someone offering to take me into their family and has so far kept their promise?"

Fugaku nodded. "Yes. In a way, those could be considered as affectionate."

I made an 'O' with my mouth before eating a strip of bacon and pushing the plate of food away. "Do you not like it?" Mikoto asked.

"No. I do, it's just I am full now." I whisper.

"He did say that he wasn't allowed to have a whole lot of food. Naruto, how much so you eat?" Itachi asked turning his attention to me intently.

I thought about it. "Maybe a small slightly rotten apple every two weeks or so... Give it take a week." I said. Their faces tightened in anger.

Shisui nodded. "That would do it. He can't eat a whole lot of food at once because his stomach shrunk to the size of a pebble."

"He is going to need to eat a little bit more each day until he can gain a healthy weight for a four year old boy who is still growing. This is not good for him." Fugaku said.

My head moved to look at each of them as they turned to look at me. "Is this what a family feels like?" My voice small in the silence that ensued. After my question, Shisui and Mikoto started to cry.