The difference she made

Sachiriku Seikou wasn’t anyone special, she didn’t stand out in anything as being exceptional or hopeless. At the Ninja Academy she was in the top five of her class, simply by being equally skilled in everything they tested, even though she was never in the top 3 of anything, she was never outside of the top 10. She passed the genin exam with no problems and had just finished taking the second test today with her team, which they passed. So far she liked her instructor Shiranui Genma, he seemed fair and well rounded, hopefully under his tutelage she could become a Chunin in a couple of years.
She wore plain clothes, a simple black T-shirt and loose black pants with black ninja sandals. Her hair was a dark brown bordering on black and was held upwards with tape before being allowed free resulting in a flayed look, she also had one large bang of hair covering her left eye (think similar to Deidara’s only wilder). Her eyes were light brown and her heart shaped face was clear of blemishes. All in all she was considered one of the top 3 most attractive girls in her year, and she hated it. Everywhere she went, kids her age would stop and ask her out, she even got the odd stalker here and there.
Regardless of that she was currently heading out to celebrate her graduation and after thinking about her route, decided to head down an alleyway that would act as a shortcut to her destination. Upon entering the alley the first thing that assaulted her was the stench of blood, LOTS of blood. She quickly ran towards the smell fearing that someone had been assaulted, to think just how right she was.
-
He lay there bleeding out of the hundreds of stab wounds that were riddled across his 9year old body. He had already made a mental note of each injury he sustained, 3 broken ribs, one of which punctured one of his lungs, his left arm was snapped in 5 different places, his skull had been fractured and he also counted 117 stab wounds littering his blooded and bruised form. Now you may be wondering how he knows all this, and the answer is simple, he remembered the doctor’s reports on his condition and the feelings associated with each injury that’s how often he was in this situation.
He hated how every now and then he would get a mob of civilians attacking him, occasionally the odd ninja would join in the hunt, just like today. If it was just civilians then he could easily escape them, but if there was a chunin or kami forbid, a jonin among them, he was screwed. They would immobilise his legs so he couldn’t run, then get their fill of sadistic pleasure and then leave to let the civilians have their fun.
Through his blurred vision he saw someone walk up to him, slow and unsure and his last thoughts before losing conscience were “I wonder how they’ll kill me.”
-
Seikou walked up to the mutilated figure laying before her, she didn’t know what to do, would carrying him to the hospital do more harm than good? Would he survive? She had so many questions and insecurities darting through her head when she walked up to him, but her mind cleared as soon as she noticed his eyes start to close.
“Hey! Don’t fall asleep! Please don’t fall asleep!” she tried to get a response but nothing worked, so in a panic she lifted his still beaten form and ran towards the hospital as fast as her legs could carry her.
“SOMEONE HELP!!!” She screamed as she entered the Hospital, only for many of the staff, to take one glance at the boy in her arms and then completely ignore them. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!!!” she shouted out nearly breaking down crying when a young man walked through the hospital doors, he had short black hair and bright blue eyes, he was wearing a typical doctors coat and black pants. He took one look at the pair before saying,
“I was wondering when he’d be back, (sigh) alright miss, if you could just hand him to me I’ll take him to intensive care okay,” he stated taking the young blonde from her arms and heading straight for the operating theatre. “Mitsuki-san would you please inform the Hokage that Naruto has been found,” were his final words before entering the room.
-
The Hokage was a busy man, the konoha council (well the civilians at least) were constantly giving him paperwork, even if it was completely unnecessary (and consisted of plea’s for Naruto’s execution). He could never get any time for anything except to visit Naruto in the hospital after his beatings.
“Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto has just been brought to the hospital,” was the report he received from his secretary, before you could blink the aged man was gone in a puff of smoke and swirl of leaves.
-
When the Hokage arrived at the hospital he immediately noticed the newly promoted genin sitting near the emergency ward, looking almost shell shocked. So he did what comes naturally to him, he went to comfort her.
“Hello there, Seikou wasn’t it?” he asked in a kind voice.
“H-hokage-sama, I’m sorry I didn’t realise you were there,” she started in a panic only for a small wave of his hand to immediately calm her down.
“It’s alright, you were busy with something else, so why are you here?” he asked in a grandfatherly tone that caused her to feel safe.
“It was horrible, I-I was walking home and then I smelled it, I smelled blood. I followed the smell and f-found a boy, he was bleeding everywhere, I-I didn’t know what to do, I-I…” she trailed off at that.
“Did this boy have blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks?” the hokage asked the young girl.
“I-I think so, I couldn’t really tell because of the blood,” she claimed while trying not to burst into tears at her first experience of human cruelty and bloodshed.
Just at that moment the doctor who took the boy into the theatre walked out with a grim expression on his face. “I still can’t understand how anyone could be so cruel to a child, this is the third time this month,” he muttered under his breath before realising that the Hokage was present, “Oh Hokage-sama, forgive me for my rudeness, I didn’t notice you there.”
“It’s quite alright Keigo-san, may I ask how Naruto-kun is doing?” the old man asked politely.
“His condition was critical, he had sustained 3 broken ribs, one which was puncturing his lung, his left arm has been snapped in 5 different places, his skull has been fractured and I also counted 117 stab wounds,” was the report given by the doctor, “any normal person would be on life support for at least a week from these injuries but taking into consideration his phenomenal healing rate, he’ll probably be ready to leave in approximately four days.”
“W-what do you mean his healing rate?” Seikou asked deciding to make herself known.
“Oh Naruto-kun has always healed at an alarming rate, we have tested him to see if it was a kekkei genkai of some sort but all the tests came back negative, meaning we can only guess that he heal due to an extremely fast metabolism,” stated the doctor not giving away anything concerning the beast the boy contained.
“I see, do you know when he’ll wake up?” the genin asked wanting to make sure the boy she found would be okay.
“He should wake up sometime tomorrow, if you want to visit him then feel free, he’ll appreciate meeting the person who saved his life,” Keigo informed her.
“Thank you, I think I’ll come back tomorrow after training and getting my first mission,” she said.
“Good well then I will be expecting to see you tomorrow but for now I think you should go home and get some rest, doctors orders,” the young man said with a smile.
“Yes, goodbye Keigo-san, Hokage-sama,” and with that she left to get some sleep.
-
The next day Shiranui Genma realised that his student seemed awfully distant, even if it didn’t cause any problems within the team dynamic or effect her skills too much, as her instructor he felt obligated to help her, so when the team finished for the day he decided to see what was wrong.
“Seikou, could I speak with you for a moment.”
“Y-yes sensei?” came her slightly nervous reply.
“(sigh) I noticed that today you seemed rather… distant, as if you had something on your mind, would you like to talk about it?” he asked in a rather fatherly tone.
“(sigh) Yesterday, on my way home, I found a boy in an alley, he… he was nearly dead, his blood was everywhere and… and I… had to take him to the hospital, there was only one doctor who even cared, the rest just ignored him I… I’m just worried about him, that all,” came her shaky reply, she still couldn’t believe that anyone could be that brutal to a child and it quite simply terrified her.
“I see, let me guess, blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks huh?” Genma stated as if it was common knowledge.
“Wait how did you know!” Seikou almost shouted out.
“It happens far too often, don’t ask me why but the villagers seem to hate him for no real reason and often attack him like that,” Genma said even if he knew it was a lie.
“So they treat him like shit for no reason,” Seikou said with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Yeah, worst part is, that they stop their children form interacting with him, so he quite simply doesn’t have any friends his age, so he is socially underdeveloped and there are many academy teachers who are trying to sabotage his progress, meaning he isn’t getting strong enough to protect himself,” Genma told her with sorrow clear in his voice.
“Thank you for listening to me sensei but I’ve gotta go and make sure he’s alright, see ya tomorrow,” she said while getting up.
“Yeah I’ll see you tomorrow… and don’t be late,” he shouted after her as she left the clearing.
-
Naruto slowly opened his eyes fearing what he would see when he regained consciousness, he was certain he would be in hell, imagine his surprise when he saw a nothing but white and a single beautiful girl, just a little older than him.
“Huh? What the hell? I thought I was supposed to be a demon, what the hell am I doing in heaven? Um excuse me angel-san, could you please tell me why I’m here?” the young blonde asked the ‘angel’.
“Uhh this is the hospital, not heaven and I’m a ninja, not an angel,” Seikou told the boy, unsure if he was being serious or trying to chat her up.
“Uh… oh sorry, I just thought I was dead for sure this time,” Naruto stated to the genin.
“Umm it’s okay, anyway my names Sachiriku Seikou, what’s yours?”
“Uzumaki Naruto, nice ta meet cha Seikou-chan,” he shouted happily.
“Nice to meet you too,” she responded with a smile.
“You two seem to be getting along well,” came a voice from the doorway, which both instantly recognised.
“OJI-SAN!” shouted the hyperactive blonde who was about to jump out of the bed when the hokage made his next sentence.
“Easy Naruto-kun, if you try moving too much you’ll have to stay in here longer, which means you won’t be able to get any ramen,” now there are very few things that can calm Naruto down and the threat of no ramen was one of them.
“So how are you feeling Naruto-kun?” the kind old man asked him.
“Like I’ve been sat on by an Akimichi,” stated the blonde with a grin.
“Naruto don’t make fun of the Akimichi’s weight, it isn’t nice,” the hokage said with a frown.
“I know, there jutsu revolve around converting their excess fat into chakra to increase their size, I know all about that, but it doesn’t stop them from being heavy,” the blonde explained quite clearly.
“I guess I have to concede that point to you huh Naruto-kun,” the old man stated to the young blonde.
“Yep!”
“Anyway, Naruto this is Seikou, she was the one who found you and brought you here last night, Keigo told me that if she hadn’t you would be dead right now,” the hokage informed him.
“I thought I was, but still, thank you for saving me Seikou-chan,” Naruto said quietly.
“It’s okay, I was worried ya know, it was the first time a person’s life was in my hands,” she claimed with a sad smile.
“I’m sorry, I just wish I knew why they beat me like that, do you know oji-san?” Naruto asked with a look of sheer desperation etched into his eyes.
“I’m sorry Naruto but I don’t know why they treat you like that,” the Hokage stated in a sad tone, what Seikou missed and Naruto picked up on though was the slight twitching of his left eyebrow as he made that statement.
“Hey Naruto-kun, my sensei said that you were having problems in the academy, that you didn’t have any friends, if you want I’ll be your friend,” the young girl said softly.
“Why would you want to be my friend?” Naruto asked genuinely curious to what she could possibly want.
“You seem like a good person, and I think we both need a friend,” she claimed with a small smile.
“Huh? Don’t you have any friends?” the blonde asked her.
“Not any real ones, you see I’m considered popular because of my looks and grades in the academy, so most of the people who wanted to be my friend did it to get noticed, not because they liked me,” was her sad reply.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know, but if you want to be my friend then I’ll be more than happy to be yours,” the young blonde said starting off sad but becoming happy halfway through the sentence.
“Well then I need to get back to my paperwork, so I’ll just leave you two to get to know each other better, I’ll be sure to visit you tomorrow Naruto-kun,” and with that the hokage left.
As soon as he was outside of earshot Naruto decided to speak, “Seikou-chan, did you know that everyone has a tell, a little thing they ALWAYS do when they lie?”
“No I didn’t,” she told him quite truthfully.
“Oji-san’s tell is that when he lies, his left eyebrow twitches slightly, just like it did when he told me he didn’t know why they beat me,” Naruto said seriously, to which Seikou’s eyes widened, processing the fact and realising that the Hokage was in fact lying to an academy students face and more importantly, that a mere academy student could tell that the hokage, the best ninja in the village, was lying.
“Wait, if you knew he was lying then why didn’t you call him out on it?” she asked genuinely confused about his actions.
“Because I trust him, if he is keeping secrets from me then it must mean that I’m not ready to know them, but I know that when I am ready, he will tell me but not before then,” the blonde said without a trace of doubt in his voice.
“I don’t believe it, he’s only about nine years old and already so mature, just how bad must he have it to already think like this,” where the thoughts going through her mind at the time, “I see, you really do trust him don’t you.”
“Yeah, he’s always there for me when he has time, he even makes time for me for things like my birthday when I don’t have anyone else, he’s helped me more than anyone, it would be wrong for me not to trust him,” he stated with total conviction.
“Wow, I’ve never thought of him like that, you know I just saw him as the strongest ninja in the village, I never knew he was such a kind person as well,” she claimed slightly embarrassed at her own preconception, “but then again, he did comfort me last night when I needed it, even if I was breaking the shinobi code.”
“I don’t mean to sound rude or anything but I’m a little tired right now so would you be alright just, you know, letting me get some sleep?” Naruto asked her nervously.
“Oh sorry, guess I forgot you just woke up after nearly being killed, I’ll see you later and if you want, I could help you with anything you’re having trouble with in the academy, okay?” she said smiling at him.
“Thank you Seikou-chan, that would be awesome, so see ya tomorrow,” he said with a foxy grin etched onto his face.
“Yeah see ya tomorrow Naruto-kun, bye,” was the last thing she said before leaving him to get some rest.