Neglected and Protected

6| I don't fear ghosts !

When Naruto opened his eyes again, the sun stood already high in the sky. Groggily he rubbed his face and sat up, the blanket falling down to the floor.

"About time you woke up.", a rather annoyed voice said. "You won't get strong from just sleeping." Naruto couldn't help but frown, Madara just had his ways to get under his skin. But deep down he was relieved that no one said anything to the events of the other day. He didn't know if he could handle anything related to his mother, or family in general, right now.

Standing up he stretched a bit. He was still a bit sore, but the residents in his seal assured him that it would go away with the time being. With a last deep breath, the blond forced himself to smile and walked out of the door, down to the kitchen.

The compound was eerie silent. A few days ago he might have felt lonely, but now he realised that he would never have to be alone again. It finally came to him, how the three ninjas keeping him company would affect his life. Slowly but surely the neglect would slip from his heart. And even though he knew Madara, Tobirama and Hashirama mostly out of books he had stolen from his father's library, he was determined to form a bond with them, that would rival one of a true family.

Inside Naruto's seal said ninjas smiled, or smirked in case of a certain Madara Uchiha. They sat in the ankle-deep water with their backs leaning on something that resembled metall poles. And behind those bars two animalic bloodred eyes glowed in the dark. And if one would look closely, you could see the amused glint in those malicious eyes.

Naruto, oblivious to what was going on inside his seal, grabbed one of the riceballs, that were left over from the dinner last night. With the food in his hand, he slipped his shoes on, took the spare keys and left the house. On his way out he noticed the missing shoes of his family in front of the door. Paying this detail no mind, he continued his way.

Blinded by the sun, Naruto shielded his eyes with his left hand while looking around. Villagers and ninjas alike hurried busy from one store to another store: The streets were busy. The village was full of liveliness.

"Does the old training field behind the hospital still exist ?", asked Tobirama out of the blue. Naruto stopped mid-walk. "You mean the haunted field ?" Subconsciously he realised, that it was rude to answer a question with a question, especially if he was talking to an adult. "Haunted ?", Madara chuckled. "Unlikely." A frown spread on Naruto's face. He was not interested in going to the field to test the rumours. "Why's it even called haunted ?", asked Hashirama, seemingly the only one who could still think rationally. "I actually don't know... But as far as I can imagine someone probably heard weird sounds or something." Truthfully he would do everything, but go to this field. He was not a fan of ghosts or similar. And he certainly didn't want the three legendary ninjas to find out.

"Let's just go to the regular fields.", Naruto suggested, trying to shift the attention away from the haunted place and his fear. While shoving the riceball he still held in his hand into his mouth, the young boy tried to start walking down the street without bumping into passerbys. "No, we can't. We need a place where not every single explosion attracts the whole Anbu corps.", Tobirama retorted like he was talking to a child.

Ultimalty, Naruto gave up on his side of the argument. No one could win against the combined forces of Madara and the Senju brothers. A little irritated he sighed and turned on his heel. With fast steps he weaved his way through the crowd. But his fluid way stopped when he, face-first, walked into a broad man. "Brat, watch where you go !", the guy rather loudly exclaimed. Bowing profusely Naruto mumbled an apology and slipped right past him into the safety of the mass of people, silently thanking the gods that the man didn't physically hurt him.

Naruto felt like a ninja. His task: getting to the abandoned field without getting noticed. Stepping into the shadows just to walk unnoticed behind a person. The inhabitants of his seal were amused at their container. Madara found it pathetic in what little gestures the boy could find pleasure in. On the other hand Hashirama felt like a proud dad even though he knew the boy for less than a few days. His brother just mused about the wonders of one little boy.

It took Naruto not even 5 minutes to get to the field. As he got closer, the streets slowly became void of any living beings except for a few crows that sat on the rooftops staring down at him with their endless black eyes. Naruto couldn't suppress a shudder. Goosebumps spreading up his arm. In his head he cursed the ninjas that made him go to the field. He was now 100% sure there were ghosts and they possessed the crows to stalk him.

He could hear Madara snort. But he payed him no mind. Instead his full attention was on the gate. The fence was higher than the one around the Forest of Death. In it were holes, spots were the wire seemed to have been ripped out and tossed to the ground. But with one look at the holes Naruto could tell that he couldn't get through them. The wires' ends were as sharp as ninja kunais and were bent so that every intruder would be impaled before he could set foot on the other side. The gate hung low on it's henges, it looked like it could fall any time and bury the one who dared to enter under it's weight.

Carefully Naruto took a step towards it and just in the same moment a strong wind blow hit the gate and caused it to fall down with a deafening thud. There was no way in hell he was going to train here. There had to be ghosts haunting this field.