Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a casual evening.
Iruka had managed to fit a laundry run between two study sessions. He knew he was going to be there for a while so he even thought of bringing a book on ancient seals to get ahead in class. It was a great plan, until he arrived at the old laundromat and realized his book was still waiting on the kitchen counter.
Instead he spent his time watching as his clothes tumbled in the machines, the lousy talk of middle aged omegas filtered over the ambient noise of whirring machines. He knew the laundromat was going to be busy at this hour. He had neglected his laundry for a few weeks, and the Konoha civilians tended to worry when they didn't get to see a nin for a while. So Iruka thought he might as well show his face to all the most regulars at once. They always doted on him, asking him how his studies were going, if he was with anyone yet. All the attention was annoying, but cute.
It was past midnight when Iruka finally pushed the door of the laundromat open, two heavy bags of freshly washed clothes in each hand. He didn't get to learn more about next semester's course, but at least he was caught up on all the latest gossip.
Iruka breathed in the nipping air of the early spring night, wishing to be home already. He lived less than ten minutes away from here, in an old part of town that got barely touched by the nine tails attacks. When all the funds went to help build everything back up, this area was mostly left to its fate. Half of the street lights were turned on, hardly showing the silhouette of cracked buildings and yellowing paint. Most people had moved to the newer part of the village. The rent here was perfect for his tight budget. He grew to love that place, it was especially easy to do so when it came with a quiet neighborhood.
Iruka shivered, feeling that pre-heat itch, the one that made him unsettled in his own skin. He ignored it, the same way he ignored that nervous energy he felt from his lack of sleep. Another symptom that his heat was soon. They will all fade once it's here, will be gone once it's done.
Pre-heat hormones had been pumping in his system for the past few days already, making him twice as productive as usual. His flat was sparkling clean, all his assignments turned on early.
Iruka had found a system a few years ago to work with his cycle in the best way possible. Which boiled down to simply doing everything humanly possible before mother nature caught up to him. Then the Omega would spend the two weeks post heat mellowing in his low mood, tearing through his stash of snacks and doing some easy tasks from the comfort of his nest. He still needed to show up to class, but the teacher always went easy on him since he's a good student the rest of the time.
It's a simple yet solid system. Tonight Iruka will get home, read a bit of his forgotten book and go to bed. Tomorrow morning he will fold his laundry and if he's lucky, he’ll get the rest of the day to study further more with a clear head. He had already called in sick to the school for the day after. Anko had stored a few extra snacks and he knew that with a single word from him, she would come and snuggle with him for the worst of it.
Everything was going to schedule, up until Iruka decided to try a new route home. He knew this part of town like the back of his hand, but hadn't been down this street as it has been in construction for a while, and he wondered what it looked like now. In theory it would not buy that much time to go through there, but he was still curious. It was more proof that Konoha was finally healing from the nine tails attack.
At this hour, Omegas were usually home already, or at least in company of trusted friends.
It's not like this village was the worst place to live in where others thought they could take advantage of you. But it surely wasn't the best either. Iruka had been warned time and time again. He is a good nin, but he's not a fool. That is why he keeps a fast pace through the dimly lit street. He still takes time to muse over the new road they built to cover the long gashes left behind by the monster's claws, all the while keeping an ear out for trouble.
Then he hears something that makes him stop dead in his tracks.
A muffled sound, barely anything to identify. Iruka stood still, for a while there was just the deaf sound of his heartbeat in his ears. But then he heard it again, and this time he was sure of what he was hearing. He was no longer shivering from that annoying itch but from a cold sweat. Without thinking, he was already humming the air. Closing his eyes to focus on the scent he was searching.
He found it quick, his stomach curled.
‘It's none of my business’ is his first thought, the voice of reason arguing in his brain. Iruka already has his eyes set on a window situated on the first floor of an unlit house. There is only one person in the building if the chakra he senses is anything to go by.
‘You should be home already’ his inner voice is pleading. But the window is already open. He doesn’t really know how he managed to get inside next, but he was in the dark living room of an unfamiliar flat now. The sound was no longer muffled. His two bags of laundry dropped and forgotten on the dusty floor with a loud thunk. Iruka had not been discreet on purpose, waiting to see if he was mistaken and if someone else would turn on a switch and start yelling. But there's no one, except for a muffled cry deeper down the house.
‘Here’s the part where you should call someone else to deal with this’ that pesky voice of reason in his brain growing distant with each step he takes further into the house. Iruka can smell the curdled milk, the food left to rot on a table, an overall feeling of misery. He hates it, hates the picture he is starting to piece together. But that’s not what he focuses on, further down the den there is that scent, calling to him like a distress flare in the pitch black night.
‘You're not supposed to be here.’ Yet Iruka pushes on the bedroom door gently.
And there he is, crumpled in a ball in the corner of the room, a little kid. But this isn't what makes his blood boil. It's everything that went along with it. The lack of guardians presence for one, the abnormal number of take out boxes he accidentally shot on his way here, the scratch in the small voice- The cub has been crying for hours on end, and nobody even came to check. The small boy lifts his eyes so that they are staring at one another and he doesn't look scared. There's a stranger in his room and he looks more relieved than anything. Blue eyes full of tears look at Iruka pleading, small outstretched hands reaching to be held.
Iruka didn't care anymore, he murders the voice of reason that is now shouting frantically in the back of his mind. He can bring it back to life later.
The omega blinks and there is a warm bundle in his arms. He may have murmured a few reassuring words, waiting for the small pained cries to calm down a little. Everything started to get blurry, so he's not really sure.
He blinks again and he's outside. The cub secured tightly around his waist. The voice of reason thankful in its dying breath that he didn't forget his laundry in the process.
He blinks once more and he's home. He doesn't think anymore than he just does things. Like taking all his bedding and dumping it on the kitchen floor. All the while keeping his hold on the found cub.
He feels the voice of reason roll in its grave as he throws all the clean laundry on top of the bedding. Iruka grabs a few water bottles from the fridge, and stocks snacks at the edge of the hastily put together nest.
He doesn't remember strengthening the wards of his flat, just knows that he did it at some point.
That doesn't stop him from strengthening his hold around the now sleeping cub. Kunai in hand, sight deadset on the living room window. Guarding him from whoever let this happen, whoever allowed the kid to cry for so long without any answer.
There is no more voice of reason to ask him what the hell he thinks he is doing. Just a heart warm with content, cherishing every deep breath coming from the sleeping child nestled in his arms.
Hound hates his job.
Being an Anbu is overall not that bad. It's hard, both mentally and physically but it's manageable.
Recently, though, Hound has started to hate it. And it's all due to his latest assignment.
Surveillance is never thrilling. It has the perk of being low pressure though. Watching an old clan head suspected of embezzling Konoha's money doesn't require his full brainpower. He could read a book while eavesdropping on a compromising conversation.
However, for this particular assignment, he could not afford to be distracted. It didn't make it less boring, and it was not even the good kind of bored.
No, not "How mundane is this dude that they have me spying on" kind of boring.
More like "It's a horror show playing on loop that slowly makes me lose faith in humanity" kind of boring.
Strangely the whole thing sounds like some freakish nightmare the mind of his 15 years old self could have lovingly crafted back in his darkest hours. You know, the kind that sounds so horrifying you think there’s no way it can become real.
Hound should have known better, everytime he think this is the worst, the universe somehow find a way to throw the most fucked up brick at him.
So no, not fun, not at all.
To add insult to injury, the reason to assign him to this particular surveillance case might be the worst. To say his affiliation with the kid's parents makes him the perfect candidate.. It would have been sloppy at best, but since this was the worst case it was just diabolical.
And there is the fact that everyone knows. Everyone knows that nobody is taking care of that boy. Hound couldn’t intervene, has been strictly forbidden to. He had to resign himself to the role of an observer. As sick as it made him feel, it was his duty and he intended to fulfill it to the best of his abilities. So he paid close attention, no matter how much it hurts to watch. The voice of an idealistic fifteen years old and his last thin string of morals both forbade him to evade this one. So Hound bit his tongue. He bottled down his frustration as tightly as he did any other emotions, only letting a sliver leak through as he wrote everything he saw. Pages after pages of the same statements, the same observations over and over.
What a waste of ink it turned out to be.
Nobody read them. His superiors, who piled up his reports -the only ones he ever took the time to write correctly in a long while- in a box that might as well be labeled trash. The pile will soon be as big as Hound himself, and still nobody cared, nobody paid attention to the ringing bell the Anbu desperately tried to ring, including Konoha’s council. He had been trying to warn them for months, strangely they always seemed to lose his claim. And people keep asking him why he never bothers with filling out papers, honestly...
The more he thinks about how the system itself seems to be rigged against that poor kid, the more he is propelled to do something stupid.
Nobody cares, and it obviously includes his colleagues. Shinobis operating in the light for everyone to see as much as those wearing masks similar to Hound and assigned to the same rooster as him. Them, he knows, they don't bother with reports. They barely show up to their assigned shifts.
‘Barely’ being a key word here. Considering that tonight, when Hound shows up to take his colleague's place he finds it deserted.
Surveillance hours suck, alright? Nobody is thrilled to spend hours on a stakeout. Especially in cases where nothing new ever happens. But that is part of the job, you can't always be sent on high stakes out of the country missions. Hound thought some Anbu might at least be content with the idea to stay in the village for a while, no matter the personal opinions some of them may have.
He is proven wrong tonight.
Hound likes to arrive ten to twenty minutes early. As a person who is chronically late in his day to day, for this one he likes to make sure he’s always there on time. The Anbu always gets stuck with the night shift anyway, and he doesn't have anything else to do while he waits to clock in. So sue him if this time he's even thirty minutes early.
Hound expected to find an Anbu operative dozing off and annoyed, mumbling about ‘that damn mutt crying all fucking day’.
Instead he was left with a note saying ‘Had to leave early, everything’s good’ that left him puzzled for a few minutes.
First because he would love to see that moron try to justify his leave in front of their superior. The bitter part of him already knowing there won't be any true consequences, but still. A man can dream.
Secondly, because Hound had been expecting his coworkers to pull something like this on him one day. However, the little note was unexpected.
‘Everything good’ mind you, this was coming from a man who watched a 5 year old cry alone the entire day. As well as everyday before that. Now Hound knows that he is not the most mentally sound nin of the village, yet it sounds like this Anbu is overdue for a psych evaluation.
The fact that the note doesn't say when he left might be the cherry on top though. It's not just careless, it's the kind of gross misconduct they teach you to avoid before you're even promoted to chunin.
The Hound is so angry that he is suddenly very very tired. Then just as quickly, adrenaline is injected into his veins. He needs to focus and act fast because shit he doesn't know when the clown left. Hound likes to think that he is not that unlucky in life, despite everything. So before he crumples the note in his fist and jumps to the window to check that everything was- he refused to say ‘good’ everything that happened behind this window cannot be that, ‘depressingly regular’ maybe, but never ‘good’- he thought it was the end of shitty things to happen tonight.
But because the universe seems to care for him so deeply it's not.
His stomach drops to the sight of the empty apartment. He checks once, twice, a third time with the other eye even.
There's no one inside.
Gone.
The Anbu doesn't waste any time summoning his pack of nin dogs. They search the place in a matter of seconds before they dart off into the night. He thinks about the chance he has to put in trouble the absentee Anbu. Or maybe they could find a way to pin this on him, who knows.
It doesn't matter who will be to blame in the eyes of the Administration anyway. He has much more important things to do. The scent is an easy thing to track, too easy for Pakku it seems. He tries to tell Hound something before they reaches their destination, but he was too busy listening to the blood rushing in his ears along with the distant chant of fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck that echoes in his mind. Whatever the pug had to say could wait until they had a visual confirmation that the kid was breathing and alive- please Sage let him be alive.
Maybe he should have listened. He could not have avoided what happened next, but he would have been prepared at the very least.
Oh, well.
If Hound manages to get out of here in a single piece, maybe his subsequent report will be worth the read for once.
Naruto feels warm.
Spring is just starting, the sun stays a little bit longer everyday. Right now in his house it was not cold, but even so he was always shivering a little bit, so this was nice.
Also his throat no longer hurts. His uncontrollable wails finally subsided, for the longest stretch of time in a long, long while. Naruto was not a crybaby, he was really brave. It was just that this new house was so big and he was all alone. He missed the orphanage. Nobody talked to him there, but at least he could hear other people. His new house was too quiet.
Here, it was constantly a bit noisy. It was coming from the grown up that had brought him here. At first he whispered kind words to him, now he was just making a funny noise, like the one cats do when they're happy.
He's a good grown up, Naruto thinks. It's nice that he shared all his water and his snacks. It was nice that he helped him to stop crying, and then brought him there. In a place that is very comfy and smells like coconut and clean laundry.
He can’t see much, the only light coming from the night sky through the window. It’s pretty dark and he is not scared, he’s a big boy now. Still he is thankful to be huddled against the grown up’s chest. A tight embrace that shield him from moving shadows and made up monsters. He felt safe enough to rest, the night feeling more peaceful than it ever was.
The cub doesn't know how long he sleeps before he is awakened by the grown up being angry. It's not against him so Naruto is confused.
There's someone at the window, another grown up dressed in black that looks like he has been frozen in place.
The cub doesn't really understand. But the nice grown up changed the happy cat noise into a sound that meant danger. So Naruto stays hidden behind the back of the grown up, watching as the intruder slowly backs off, hands up in the air like he surrendered.
"It's okay" the grown up dressed in black whispers. "Looks like you got this handled. I'll come back tomorrow." Then he disappears.
With the threat gone, the nice grown up turns back to Naruto. He comb his hand through his hair, and pulls him back into his arms and goes back to making happy cat noises. Everything smells really nice, like clary sage, sweet coconut and salted water. The kid doesn't think he understands anything that is happening. But he is happy to be there.