What is Worth Protecting? -Naruto

10# Goodbye, for now...

The next day, Kakashi was fairly concerned with the blond... once more he vanished from team 7, just like the day before... He heard from his two genin that he was defiantly angry towards them... especially him. They were now in front of the Hokage to explain their situation. "We don't know where he goes." Kakashi said all his words of concern to the Hokage making him nod in understanding, "You should know better Kakashi, he is not one with trust... Only a small group of people in this village has gained the boy's trust." The man frowned beneath his mask but nodded nevertheless. "Hokage-sama, why is he so hard on trust?" Sakura asked curiously making the old kage sigh in sadness.

"You grew up with him, what do you know about him." She opened her mouth only for her mind to go completely blank. "Well... let me tell you, Naruto was a orphan as soon as he was born. When the Kyuubi attacked." She frowned slightly but when he continued she kept her mouth shut, "His whiskers were a product of the chakra of the bijuu so close to his mother when she was pregnant, so everyone uses him as a scapegoat... shunning him, throwing him out of stores... among extreme other things.." Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek as he heard the story, he did notice him wondering when he and his brother walked together around the nearby parks...

"I hoped that the academy would make him open up, but the children's parents of those who were afraid told them to stay away from him, or some form of saying it." Hiruzen said as Kakashi looked down, he already knew about Naruto's past, but hearing it always gave him a feeling of anger, he was a Anbu guard to protect the young blond, but they always somehow managed to get to him before he could. "Naruto has what you might call, a mask. Not a visible one of course, but he hides everything behind a facade of happiness and laughs, it's a band-aid so to speak, but sometimes deep wounds don't heal and they come rushing back out."

Sakura felt her nails dig into her palm, so that was why he snapped. "I can find him, but I might already know where he is." He held up a crystal ball before he channeled a small amount of chakra into it. That was when it glowed and Hiruzen was the only one to see Naruto was doing a handstand and doing push ups with a familiar red head. "My suspicions were correct, let him be for today, I will get him to train with you tomorrow... Besides, this is Ryouichi's last day here for a while."  He thought afterwards as Kakashi nodded and waved the two to follow. Hiruzen looked back down at the ball and saw the blond loose his balance and fall over, knocking the red head down with him before they started to laugh, Hiruzen smiled at it and grabbed the ball and slide it back into his drawer. "A friend indeed.." 

...

The laughter that Naruto let out made Ryou also laugh as they laid on the floor, holding their sides before the laughter died down to a small chuckle.. Naruto held up his hand towards Ryou who smiled slightly and did the same with him and grabbed his hand. "You promised.. right?" Naruto asked with a small whisper, looking up at the ceiling, feeling the hand squeeze his in reassurance, "Yeah..." He muttered back, the week he spent here was the best week he could ever have asked for... Ryou felt Naruto moved ever so slightly before he saw him go in front of his view from where he was staring at the ceiling.

"How are we going to do this... " Naruto asked in a slight whisper making Ryou turn over and onto his stomach and looked towards the blond. "Do what?" Naruto's eyes went down slightly as he looked directly at the ring.. "I... can't leave... and you're the Damiyo... How are we going to do this?" he made sure to emphasize the word we making Ryou frown. "Why can't you leave?" Looking towards the red head Naruto sighed as he sat up and fell down onto his chest making Ryou smile ever so slightly... but then the thing that Naruto said made him frown. "As a jinchuuriki... i'm not allowed, because all i am is a weapon that needs to be kept in check.."

Ryouichi felt the hair of the boy in a small silence before he whispered. "You do realize that i'm the Damiyo.. I make the rules." Ryou whispered ever so slightly in his ear making him tense and give a dry chuckle. "Well... that is true, but its more so for a unspoken law as well... if i leave, Konoha is at risk." The young Damiyo nodded, it was a rule for most jinchuuriki to stay inside the village, since quite a few jinchuuriki have a special power to wield, and that power is a way to turn a war. "We will get to this when we do marry, okay?" He gave a small whisper before a small grin escaped him as he jumped up, hauling the boy up into his arms as he did making him go bright red.