Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Make-shift Family ❯ Secrets & Promises ( Chapter 2 )

Their Sercets
Summery: One day after training, Naruto remembers everything that Youko and WS, his now self-adopted family, have told him. The pains they have, the secrets they share, the promise they make, and the Tymeless, the thing that got these three together.
AN: I noticed that this has been seen at least sixty times .... I know you're out there ... Tell me what you think! Review, Minna-san!!!
~memories~
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Naruto cursed under his breath, panting as he sat on the ground. Sasuke had beat him again. But he was so close to winning this time!! He could feel it! He just needed to train harder!

"Okay," Kakashii sighed, closing Come Come Paradise. "I think that's enough training for one day. You may go home now."

"WHAT!?" Naruto yelled. "I was jsut getting warmed up!!!" He looked at Sasuke, noticing a smerk. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?"

"What else? A baka!" Sasuke's smerk grew with content when Naruto gave him a death glare simular to Sasuke's.

"Why you --"

"I said, enough," Kakashii's voice having a hint of annoyance in it. "Naruto, I understand you want to get stronger. I believe we all do. But one must know when it is time to train, and when it is time to rest. Both are equally important."

Naruto pouted. He hated it when Kakashii had a point to which he couldn't argue. He was tired, yes, but he wanted to continue training. To become stronger. To become hokage.

He watched as Sakura and Kakashii left the training grounds, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone. The blonde muttered to himself, in small words that Sasuke couldn't understand. It sounded like a different language.

"What are you muttering about, dunce?" Sasuke asked, sounding uncaring, naturally. But that was how he wanted to sound. He knew that if Naruto thought he actually wanted to know, he'd rub it in his face in some way, shape or form.

"Why do you want to know, basatrd?" Naruto snapped. When he didn't get an answer, he continued to mutter. Sasuke tilted his head slightly. There was a piece of paper sticking out of the tan boy's pocket. It was paper, right? Why was it gold? And why did it glow blue?

"What is that in your pocket?"

Naruto looked immediately at the paper and shoved it deeper in his pocket. "Like I'd tell you." This caused Sasuke to raise an eyebrow, curious as to what could be so secret.

He sighed, put his pale hands in his pockets and shook his head. "It's probably some idiotic thing only you would understand anyway."

"It is not idiotic, asswipe!" Sasuke couldn't help but smerk, which made the already fuming blonde even more pissed.

"If it isn't then what's with the secrets? Afraid someone might take you stupid paper and throw it in a fire?" Sasuke thought about this for a minute. "You better not say yes, dobe."

"I won't! Asshole, mind your own buisiness!" He stompped away a few feet before actually running off into the woods.

The raven haired boy stood there, a look of surprise on his usually emotionless face. What was so important that Naruto had to keep it a secret from him? Not that he cared. It wasn't his concern anyway, so why bother with it? But there was that glow .... What if it was some kind of jistu? Was it some kind of scroll? Why would he have it? What's so important about a gold-glowing-blue piece of paper anyway? ...

He soon found himself asking why he was following Naruto. No, it wasn't the piece of paper he had. It was his sudden change in attitude. Ever sence late last year, he had been acting odd. He'd always read a piece of gold colored paper at lunch time, always trained right after school, always muttered something about a promise, and sometimes wrote a letter to who-knows-who. It seemed to happen overnight; he was sad and depressed one day and seemed to be bouncing off the walls the next.

Not that that wasn't normal. It just took longer than his usual mood swings.

Sasuke stopped, seeing Naruto in the mmiddle of an opening in the forest. He sat there, looking at the piece of paper and laughing. The glow had stopped, the sun, instead, lighting up everything in the area. Sasuke ducked in the bushes so Naruto woulddn't see him. Were those voices he was hearing?

"Anyway, puppy said he'd find a way for us to write to you more often, and maybe even talk to one another from our homes!" The voice was female, energetic, and seemed to be in rythem with some sort of song in her head. Her voice had a beat to it, which confused Sasuke, along with other things.

"I'm glade to hear that you graduated! I bet you've grown up alot sence we saw you last year! Remember the promises you're supposed to keep? You're keepin' them right?"

Naruto nodded. How could he forget them? The promise to be the best, and the promise to keep them a secret untill they came. Them, his make shift family.

~ "We're what you could call 'demons'!" Youko said all too happily. Naruto almost jumpped out of his skin he was so shocked. "The world we come from, Catalyst, is full of them! Dogs and foxes like puppy and I and pretty commen!"

"Y-you're a fox!?" Naruto yelped from up a tree.

"Maybe we should let up a little?" WS whispered nervously. "Demons aren't the most excepted creatures in exsistance, you know." He looked around for anyone who was listening.

Before WS could continue his worrying, Youko cut him off. "He asked to know everything about us! I think we should be honest about it!" She looked Naruto in the eye and continued. "Foxes and dogs are just a few of the demons you'll see there! There are wolves, cats, birds of all types, and giant human like creatures!" She tried demonstraiting their size by spreading out her arms. It didn't quite work, so she moved on.

"There are unicorns and elfs; giants and hobbits; traviling souls and restless spirits! They roam the lands everyday, hunting, feeding, working just like human would!" She paused. "Now that I think about it, there aren't many humans in our world."

"Then how did you know I was human? I could've been an elf!"

"Or a hobbit," Youko added.

"What the hell's a hobbit?" When Youko didn't answer, Naruto glaired, finally jumpping down from his tree. "Okay! so you're a pair of demons: one fox one dog. What else is there? Do you guys have jobs there? Why aren't there many humans? How'd you guys get here?"

"Slow down, Sir Naruto," WS plead. "We will answer all of your questions soon." He crossed his arms over his bare chest. "To start off with, yes, we had occupations." He paused. "As unofficial as they were, we had paying jobs, and were well known for doing our jobs."

Naruto's eyes widened with curiosity. Being the person WS was, he couldn't help but feed the young boys curiosity.

"I was a teacher and a traviling cook." Naruto's face dropped. "Now don't look at me like that! My job is very important! Because things like reading and writing aren't very commen amongst our people." Naruto raised a brow. WS looked to the side. "I'm a traviling cook, because teaching only pays alot when alot of people want to learn. No one has any interest in learning, so taking up another job became a nessesity."

Naruto and Youko both gave somewhat disappointed looks. All WS could do in responce was shrug. What else could he say? He had told the truth?

"I, on the other hand," Youko bousted, "am a greath theif! The greatest in our time yet! If I showed my face without a mask, people would be casing me with pitch forks and torches!" Naruto staired in amazment. "I stole a golden boomer rang from the richest king in the country at the time!! He was called, 'King Toiez'! He was ---"

"Wait, why King Toiez?" Naruto interupted.

"I was getting to that!" Youko pouted rather childishly. After getting over her her little fit, she continued. "He was called King Toiez because all of his treasure was melted down and reformed to look like toys!" She rolled her eyes from side to side, straining her mind to remember the events that took place.

"So you got it?" Naruto, again, interupted.

Youko sighed, once again pouting. "Yeah, I stole it." she rubbed the back of my head. "Those things really do work, ya' know. Hurt like a bitch when you don't catch 'em, too."

Naruto nodded, as if in understanding. After a moment, Youko perked up again.

"You should as puppy what he gets to play with!! It's awesome!! It's how we got here in the first place!!"

Naruto tilted his head at the other confused blode next to him. WS looked towards Youko, seeking an explaination.

"You know," she hinted, "the giant hour glass thing! You know, the thing!!!"

"We shouldn't even be mentioning the thing, Lady Youko." It was too late. Naruto was already just inches away from his face, his eyes daring him not to tell him what he was hiding. "Okay, okay," he sighed, backing away. "I'll tell you. But you must promise, after this, that you won't tell a living soul untill I approve of it." Naruto nodded, a large smile causing his face to glow. WS thought for a minute before adding, "And you mustn't tell anyone about us. Ever."

Naruto and Youko staired at the pup in complete shock. "WHAT!?!?! WHY!?!?"

"If they know we even exist, they'll be expecting to see us," WS scolded. "And if we don't show, they'll think Naruto is crazy." They reffering to the villagers Naruto had told them so much about. WS' face showed worry. "I wouldn't want to see you go through that kind of thing, Sir Naruto..."

Naruto couldn't help but change the subject, which he knew might not be the best thing to do, considering what the subject is.

"What did you mean when you said that you guys needed a new brother?"

WS was obviously shocked by the answer, while Youko looked a bit uneasy. She looked at the young boys infront of her: both seemed to glow in ways that would make them seem like suns. Both were orphans, naruto conferming this the other day, and them both having hard lives.

But if life weren't hard, there'd be no chaos, and no chaos means no order ... no light to the darknes, and no kindness to balance out one's crule life. There would be gray. Nothing ness.

She looked at WS. He nodded. She smiled brightly, hoping to ease his pain she knew he felt.

The brown eyed boy sighed. "It was about two years ago, our time," he started .... "We were all in a group: Youko, Kage, Ishi, Aratay, Kuroi, Tsuki and myself. Originally, it had been a treasure hunt, which was supposed to make us rich and powerful When we had found said treasure, it was more than we expected. And more powerful than we could comprehend at the time." White Spirit paused, a dark hallow look in his eyes. He continued in a monotoneish voice. "It was a thing called the Tymeless, created to make time flow in the universe. There were several people after it for its power, including my brother Moribund. Before I met him, I didn't know mucch about myself, being an orphan most of my life. I didn't know my real name, who my parents were, or the power that I held .... He told me everything ... and that he would kill me to obtain that power." Again, the boy stopped, reluctant to go on.

Naruto didn't need to hear the rest. He could easily guess what had happened, and WS didn't seem too proud of what he did. He heard WS clear his throat.

"I had won the fight only because of my ... illness." Seeing Naruto's confused face, he explained. "I have, what you could call, a genetic multiple personality disorder. I have a different personality within my body, which has been on my mother's side of the family for generations. Supposedly, the other personality we have is supposed to have everything we do and don't. If you were smart, yet overaggressive to the one's you loved, you're other half you be smart and overly protective and caring. Anyway," he waved his hand, dismissing the subject and moving back to the pervious one. "Once I had gained the title of Guardian of Tyme, one who protects the Tymeless, I was able to learn how to use it's power. Unfortunetly, some of my familiars like to mess with things they don't completely understand, thus us going from one world to another." He glaired at Youko as he added the last part.

"So what dose the Tymeless do? How'd it get you here?"

WS staired at Naruto in amazement. For one who didn't seem to like learning, he sure did have alot of questions.

"Well, I don't know how it got us here, but the Tymeless controles time through out the universe"

Naruto had a hard time believing any of this.. But ... It made sence. When he met them, he mentioned chakra and the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but they reacted in ways that were ... questionable. Youko asked 'What's wronge with being powerful and using your power?' while WS asked, 'Is chakra a type of science?' He had to explain things to them that seemed so natural to him, vice versa for the other two.

After a long moment of silence, WS finally spoke.

"Naruto, I want you to keep your promise." He was looking down at the ground, which seemed to shake under his gaze. "You promised not to tell anyone about the Tymeless or about us."

Youko sobbed overdramatically, yet again, while sufficating the poor fox boy. He pulled away just long enough to say, "Don't worry! I always keep my promises -MMMPH!!" He desperatly pushed against Youko as she hugged him into her large bussoms, causing the boy to blush a newly discovered shade of red.

"If he's going to be our brother, is it wise that you should me molesting him like that?"

Youko's eyes widened, she quickly pushing the young would-be ninja away. "I AM NOT MOLESTING HIM, I'M SHOWING HIM HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT HIM!!!"

WS smerked almsot devilishly. "Are you sure you don't care about him a bit too much?" This resulted in him being chased by Youko and Naruto up a tall tree. But because Youko was afraid of heights and Naruto was still tired from chasing the pup, they never actually caught him.

They were all around the tree, looking at the sky and telling each other stories of would-be's and could-be's. As the sun set, WS reminded Naruto that he had to go home. Of course, he refused to at first, but he was quickly reminded of Youko's tendency to slap people in her sleep. Naruto had discovered this when he was taking a nap after sparing with Youko. He swore that his nose didn't stop bleeding until he ate dinner later that night.

He turned to the two before he left. "I want you to make a promise to me. Both of you," he added, seeing Youko snickering at WS. "I want you to promise me that you'll come back when you leave."

The two blinked, looked at each other, and turned back to the fox boy to blink at him again. Naruto took in a deep breath, making his chest look larger and, hopefully, make them think he would beat them if they didn't. They realized this, smiled and nodded.

"Alright! I promise to keep you guys and the Tymeless a secret, AND become the best shinobi!"

"And we'll come back to check up on you!" Youko said winking. "You have my Youko Word!"

"And You have my word as future hokage!" Naruto smiled brightly.

The two foxes looked up at the blonde boy still stuck in the tree. He smiled. "You have my word as the Guardian of Tyme."

Naruto smiled and ran home, waving to them as he did so.~~

Naruto looked at the moving gold and black picture of Youko as she explained all that had happened in the past year. Apparently Kage, a wolf demon friend of Youko's who was also a treasure hunter, had found the largest fortune in the history of Catalyst. They are now buying real cloths, especially for White Spirit, who is also getting a hair cut, a giant castle in which they could all live, and some good booze and hot food. Naruto laughed, having a hard time seeing the young dog demon with his hair cut.

"Oh! Pup said that we might be able to see you as soon as he finishes his research about the traviling thing," the Youko sketch added, looking almost thoughtfull. "In the mean time, we'll be sending you updates and lil' gifts every now and again! Hope you like what I gave you this time!!!" She winked, and slowly fadded away.

Sasuke blinked, unbelieveing of what he had just seen, now being in a tree above Naruto's head. He just saw a sketch of some girl talking, laughing, winking and calling his rival ... her little brother. Kage? White Spirit? Who or what were they?? And why would Naruto hide them from everyone else?

Naruto sighed. He had senced Sasuke spying on him for some time. He wasn't worried though. He knew exactly what to do.

"EWWW!! You sick freak, stop spying on me!!!! What are you, in love with me!?" the blonde yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the raven in the tree. Startled, Sasuke lost balance and fell out of the tree. Of course, him being an Uchiha, he was able to make his landing a lot less embarassing.

"You wouldn't be lucky enough for me to consider someone I'd like," he glaired at the sunshine haired boy. "And as for me spying on you, I was making sure you weren't doing anything idiotic ..." he smerked. "Like talking to paper. You could kill what little braincells you have left."

Not feeling like coming up with an insult, Naruto gave the raven the birdie and leaped away back to the village.

Sasuke stayed where he was, thinking about what he saw. He couldn't shake it. He currently had this massive case of curiosity, which, reguardless of him being human, would be the death of him.

"I just hope these people won't be the death of Naruto," he murmmered, before following his fellow ninja back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
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AN: Like I said, I know you're out there!!! Please review! Flames will be read, then used to cook crappy junk food with. Constructive critisisum will be locked up under my bed, where no one but me will read it .... *twitches eyes* MINE!! Myyyyy preciousssssss......
Naruto: .... She scares me ....
TBR: Oh yeah. I'm only gonna say this once .... so read carefully ....
I
Do
Not
Own
Naruto ....... I might get a copyright for EOT (Echoes of tyme) though.