The Second Seal
By Rorac the Dragon Knight
Disclaimer: I don't own naruto now and will most likely never will….fuck
"speaking"
'thinking'
"Jutsu or demon speaking"
If a stranger were to look at a Nara and tell you what they saw you would get and answer along these lines: a lazy slacker that spends to much time laying around and not enough doing something productive. A ninja from another village would probably tell you they are sneaky bastards that really piss them off. Any one under there command would call them the laziest yet most reliable team leader they had ever had. A jounin with one on there team would call them hard to motivate, but a force to be reckoned with once they get going. The council would tell you they are some of the most frustrating irreverent people they had ever had to deal with. The Hokage would call them superb strategists and stanch allies. There friends would say they are the best people to go to if you want an honest, thought out answer to a question or some one to relax and chill with.
All of these answers are are...descriptive and accurate. Being a clan of shadow users all of which have above average to genius IQ, an unerring loyalty to there friends family and village, and a devious tactical mind you would think that they Nara would be more feared and respected. If it weren't for them all being lazy as a sloth and highly apathetic than they would.
A slight, but at the same time pleasant, deviation from the norm came in the form of one Suki Nara. While not all that energetic or out going she was different from most Nara in the fact that she could often be found walking around the village, slowly of course, and she lacked the apathy that seemed to describe the Nara as a whole. Another thing that made her different from the other Nara was the fact that she liked to watch the stars at night instead of the clouds during the day.
Her love of the stars and going for long walks had lead to her encounter with Inoichi and Yuhari as they were coming home with Naruto. After saying her goodbyes she began to wander back toward her home with a number of thoughts running through her head.
'It's nice to see that poor boy finally being taken into a good home. God knows he deserves it.'
Knowing exactly what it was that the boy carried within him didn't bother her in the least. She knew that the boy could never be the fox no matter what the idiots in the village thought.
'I mean really how stupid can you get. Is it really that hard to notice that he's nothing like the fox. Can't they see the difference? Or do they just not care?
It frustrated her to no end that the people in the village either couldn't or wouldn't see the boy for what he really was. Every time that she heard people call him a demon or fox and talk about how they wanted him to disappear or how it was wrong for him to live when 'he' had killed their loved ones made her want to run over and beat the ever loving shit out of them.
'It's not like they're alone in that. Everyone lost some one that night. Hell, I lost my best friend, but do you see me trying to go kill a three year old? Fuck no!'
While it frustrated her to no end how dumb people could be, she was glad that there were people that could see passed the pain and not use the boy like a scapegoat for their pain. The most prominent among them being the Hokage, the Nara, the Yamanaka, and the Akimichi.
'For once I'm glad that brother is the clan head. If some one else had been there instead of him who knows what they would have decided.'
Being the sister to the Nara clan head, Shikaku, she was able hear things that were going on in the village before just about anyone else. Though it was frustrating that her older brother had to be the one to tell her all the time. He still liked to hold information over her head even though they were no longer children
'I swear, brother can be so... so..' she frowned in distaste at her next thought, 'troublesome when he has information he knows I would want.'
She couldn't help but smile at the fact that, for once, she knew something before he did, and how much fun it would be to watch him squirm trying to figure out what it was. This lead her to a thought that confused her. She knew that Yuhari and Inoichi had always supported Naruto but seemed content to do it from afar. So why would they, seemingly, out of the blue decided to take him into there home.
'There has got to be a good reason for this. Those two wouldn't do this unless they had a damn good reason, but what is it?'
She thought on it for a moment before shrugging and deciding she would just ask them herself.
'After all, this just gives me another reason to stop by brother's place tomorrow. Knowing Inoichi, he'll go and let Shikaku and Chozu know what's up in that order.
Her plans for the next day set Suki made her way back home and to bed excited for what the day would bring.
Ino was excited. Why you ask. It was because her daddy was taking her and Naruto over to Shikamaru's house. Normally she wouldn't as glad to spend time at the lazy Nara's house. It's not that she didn't like Skikamaru, it was just the fact that he ticked her off way to much.
'Why doesn't Shikamaru ever want to get off his lazy butt and do what I want him to do? Is it that hard to do the things I like when they're more fun than anything he wants to do.'
The writer can't help but point out that even in the early stages of life Ino was a bossy little girl. Being more assertive and energetic than the Nara or Akamichi the Yamanakas were the ones that more often than not held the leadership position in the team. This simply translated into Ino being bossy and opinionated. It also made her think that she had to get the other two to do what she wanted and act how she thought they should because she was 'always right.' It also didn't help that he would call her troublesome and tell her to stop annoying him so that he could watch the clouds or finish his game of shogi or any of the other "boring" things that he liked to do.
'At least Naruto listens to me when I want to do something. Even when he doesn't want to he plays anyway.'
It was true. That morning after she finished showing him her garden she took him up to her room and had him play dolls with her. It was painfully obvious that he was bored and wanted to do something else.
'He was so nice too. He asked and said please when he wanted to do something else, and he's not boring like Shikamaru'
Truly Ino thought that Naruto was greatest when it came to any one their age. One he was nice, two he wasn't boring, three he listened to her, this won him big points in her book, and four he was so exited about every thing and this made her exited just being around him. It was like he had an energy around him that went into everything he did.
'This is gonna be so much fun. I bet Naruto can get Shikamaru off his lazy butt.'
Naruto in contrast was not as excited. In fact he was as nervous as a little kid can get.
'I hope that they're nice like Ino and her mom and dad.'
Having not known many people that were willing to be nice to him it's understandable that he was nervous in meeting new people. Even as he was walking down the street he could feel the cold glares from the people around him. The only thing protecting him from worse was the company he was keeping.
Yuhari noticed the looks he was getting and decided it would be best to hurry. She gave Inoichi a look that he instantly understood. Picking up both kids, he put them on his shoulders and took off at speeds that made them squeal in amazement. Yuhari smiled and thanked all the gods above that she had such a wonderful loving husband. Having finished her short prayer she took off to catch up to the hyper blondes she loved so much.
When they arrived at the Nara home Inoichi let the children on his shoulders down. Ino turned around and started to scold him for surprising her, but couldn't stop smiling, making it clear that she enjoyed it.
Naruto was just as vocal but not for the same reason.
"That was so COOL. You pick us up and you were like ZOOM and then you jump really high an' it was like WOOSH and I was like WOW and, and, and CAN WE DO IT AGAIN?!?!?!?"
Inoichi laughed glad that the boy had had such a good time. Yuhari who had arrived shortly after just smiled, enjoying the picture of the family that she saw in front of her.
Hearing a chuckle they turned around to see Shikaku sitting in front of the door watching them.
"Well, you always had a way with the kids Inoichi, even if it was kind of troublesome."
Inoichi smiled, "Nice to see you think so highly of me you lazy bum."
The two shared a laugh enjoying the others company. Understanding each easily after years of working as teammates and being friends.
Deciding that now was the time Shikaku decided to speak up about the new face he saw.
"So who's the new blond kid with you?"
Feeling slightly nervous Yuhari decided to speak up, "This is Naruto. Inoichi and I have been watching him for a while and decided to take him into our family. He seems to fit right in, don't you think?"
Outwardly Shikaku only showed slight surprise, inwardly though he was cursing his sister for not telling him this. Truthfully he had nothing against the boy for what he held thinking being killed by a giant fox was extremely troublesome compared to taking care of a small child that held the beat at bay.
Especially when you took into accout the face that he was a nice and cheerful kid despite being, well, loud. Thinking about it though he couldn't help but curse his sister knowing she would play whole 'I knew it before you did' game as long as she could.
'She's sooooo, annoying and troublesome, but she my sister so... whatever.'
Shikaku smiled, "Well, he seems like a good kid. A little loud, but whatever. Lets head inside my sisters here to visit, and you know how she likes kids."
The elder Yamanakas smiled, relieved that Inoichi had no problem with Naruto. Ino and Naruto, though, raced in ready to have a good time unaware of the tension that had come and gone.
Inoichi sighed, relieved by Shikaku's acceptance of his new son. Glad that the trust he had in his friend wasn't misplaced.
'I should never had doubted him, but it makes me feel better to hear him say it. Things seem to be looking up.'
With that thought Inoichi entered after his wife and TWO children. Finally realizing that the thought of Naruto being his made him happy he smiled looking forward to what the future held.
An: new chapter read and review. new ones will come when i have time. advice welcome flamers cursed and then ignored. later