Blood of the Broken, Scars of the Spiral (there are whirlpools in our veins)

Chapter Two

/car·ing/

/ˈkeriNG/

adjective

displaying kindness and concern for others

//

Naruto knows he's not exceptionally bright, it's hard to forget when he's constantly bullied and teased for it, but he notices things. He notices a lot of things actually.

He notices the way different people smell, and how their buzzing energy feels different depending on the person. He notices when food goes bad before anyone else and when it starts to smell like spring.

One thing he notices is that most of the unclaimed orphans had no surname– they were blank slates. The orphanage staff insisted it was a sign of potential, ready for the day when they had a family name to call their own.

The cold, harsh reality of it, Naruto realized, just meant they were unwanted.

He, however, was not just another unclaimed orphan.

He was Uzumaki, he had a name.

Above all else, the scariest thing he notices is that there were people in the orphanage who hated him for it.

It wasn't all the orphans who were like that, obviously, he doesn't think he could survive if they were.

The younger ones, about his age, didn't care much, and even though many of the children tried to harm him, a lot of the older, more jaded, and world-weary ones had outgrown their bitterness for each other, and were instead turning it towards the system.

At least that's what he hears them say through the cracks in the walls.

It worked out in the end because when the orphanage staff was busy they would have the older children care for the younger ones.

That wasn't a luxury offered to him until recently, the caretakers didn't want him 'infecting the children,' but that changed when a violet-haired girl with crooked teeth named Aiya volunteered to care for him.

That made the caretakers upset, they tell her that she has the option to change her mind but she refuses, insisting that she cares for him.

Aiya smells sweet, like the sunflowers in the garden, and her buzzing energy feels like a cool breeze on a summer day. She doesn't stink of hatred or anger and Naruto grows to like her very quickly.

When he escapes he's going to take her with him, she doesn't smell sour and treats him nicely.

She appears to be a nervous, clumsy girl, but Naruto can smell the deceit and lies, and can tell she has clever hands, a thief's hands.

When she plays with him in the big room he can smell the goods that she's been hiding, but she's kind and gentle with him and he doesn't want the 'Aunties' to take her away so he says nothing.

She protects him too.

Once when Chitose, one of the orphanage staff, had tried to beat him. He wasn't in the mood to be yelled at and bared his too-sharp, not quite human teeth at her.

She falls back and begins shivering, screaming and crying, and for a moment Naruto sits there, confused, he hadn't touched her so why was she sobbing as though he had raked her face.

The orphanage matron, Jun, rushed in and barked out a demand to know what had happened and Chitose raised a shaking hand, pointing at Naruto. "Th-the demon," she whispered, trembling, "it– it was going to attack me! I saw it! I did!" The pitch of her voice was rising, hysterical.

"No!" Aiya countered defensively, "He did nothing wrong!"

And with that Aiya scooped Naruto up as the matron led the trembling Chitose out.

Aiya cooed at him, kissing the whisker marks on his cheeks until he stopped sniffling and broke into a fit of giggles.

"Yur' just a lil' puppy, aint'cha?" she smiled at him, ruffling his hair. At this he can't help but make a face as he pats his hair back down.

Seeing Naruto's reaction to her touch, Aiya softened, "Oh, sorry puppy," she said. "Won't ruffle ya hair, 'kay? I know ya don' like it now."

Yeah, he was definitely taking Aiya with him when he escaped.

She takes him outside for the remainder of the day, keeping them out of the way of the orphanage workers.

Doing this meant missing dinner, but the outdoors are pretty and he can actually enjoy them knowing that none of the children are going to hurt him.

Besides he trusts Aiya, if it was so bad that she was okay with sacrificing her own meal then he probably shouldn't go back inside.

He tumbles onto the grass and even though he likes the way the grass tickles him he can't help but wish for the salty shores of his dreams, it's too earthy, too quiet, not home.

But he doesn't even know what home even is, and he likes the warm earthy smell of the ground so he runs around on all fours, laughing and smiling because he knows that if Aiya was watching then the other children wouldn't hurt him, not that they were there in the first place.

Eventually he does tire himself out and curls up in the warmth of Aiya's lap.

She rested her hand on Naruto's head and gave a soft sigh. "Ya not a demon," she whispered, so quiet Naruto could barely hear her. "Don' listen ta that shit, 'kay? Ya ain't."

Naruto couldn't stop himself from snuggling further into Aiya's soft belly, and he fell asleep to the sensation of her hand stroking his back, dreaming of waves crashing against ocean cliffs as he and Aiya ran barefoot in the sand.

A/N

Me Introducing Aiya: LOOK, I MADE A THING!

I like her name too, Aiya in Japanese means "design", "colorful" or "beautiful" and it's written as あや.

But what do y'all think of her, I think she's just precious but then again I'm the one who made her.

Poor baby Naruto, I love him, such a sweet summer child. You can already tell he's a sensor, he just doesn't know what he's sensing yet, hence the term "buzzing energy," he doesn't realize it's chakra.

Sorry that this chapter was kind of short.

Please leave words of encouragement, your comments will fuel me.

By the way, you are looking fabulous today. Did you do something with your hair? Whatever it is, it looks great on you.

Remember that you are loved and appreciated.

Have a good day/night :)

Disclaimer

I do NOT own the Naruto series, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I own only my original characters and the plot.