Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
I really hope you like it! It is sort of long, but the next chapters won't be as long as this. Please review, good or bad. I'd love some constructive criticism, seeing as this is my first story.
"Intro":
this is Konoha as I make it. All people are four years older than they are in the beginning of the Naruto series, meaning Naruto is 16, Sakura is 16, Sasuke is 16 (yea, I still have him here), and so on and so forth. Pretty much everyone is still Genin. Except Skikamaru, because he's special like that. xD Some people who die, aren't dead. Yes, I brought them back to life. Hah. Oh, what now? Okay, sorry. So some things don't exactly follow the Naruto series, but a lot pretty much does. So, yea. Now on with the story finally!
Takato found herself wandering in a training ground, with only one other person besides her there. He was about her age, sixteen, and was practicing kunai targeting. He had spiky blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes. The boy also had strange markings on both sides of his face, like whiskers. Takato stopped, and without realizing it, absent-mindedly watched him. She thought he was kind of cute, and could tell he was strong. But a thought came to her mind, "Is this the boy who holds inside of him the nine-tailed fox?" She answered herself instantly, "Yes, it is. He's the one." Her eye saw two chakras inside of him. She also sensed an evil presence, but it was obvious it wasn't the boy, it was quite clear to her that his dream was pure. "In a way, he is like me, both of us having two different beings in one, but-" her mistakenly spoken words were cut off by the boy.
"Who the Hell are you?" he asked, walking towards her, "And why are you here?"
"Oh, please forgive me, I did not mean to interrupt. My name is Kyoshi Chie-Hitomi-Michi-Takato, but most people just call me Takato" she replied politely, "May I ask your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," the boy replied, now a foot or so in front of her, "So what are you doing watching me train?"
"Well, I decided to go for a walk earlier, but it's been a while since I have been in Konoha, and I kind of got lost, so I was just wandering around, trying to get back to the main part of the village, when I saw you," she explained.
Naruto looked at Takato a little closer. She was shorter than him, slender, and had long, strait, black hair. Her face was very pretty, at least the parts of it that could be seen. A Konoha ninja headband covered her right eye, and there was bandage tape wrapped around some of her face, covering her nose. Her uncovered eye was a beautiful midnight blue color, and had no pupil. He thought she was pretty, even prettier than Sakura. Naruto found himself staring into Takato's eye, her eye staring back into his, and felt as if she were staring right through him. He found himself thinking of her voice, her soft, calming, yet assertive voice.
Takato's eye drifted to the side, and Naruto suddenly felt embarrassed for staring. "Would you mind taking me back to the main part of the village, Naruto-san?" Takato asked, holding her hands behind her back.
"Sure, no problem!" Naruto replied enthusiastically, "Just follow me!"
As they started to walk side by side, Takato thought of what she saw in is eyes. A dream to become Hokage, a pure dream, as she had first thought. Friends, enemies, she was able to see everything. One major thing in his life made her feel as if they were the same, and that he would understand her. The pain of being alone. Separated from everyone for a reason unknown to you. Everyone looking at you with a stare as cold as ice. A somber frown was put on Takato's face, and she lowered her head, remembering that pain. Naruto noticed.
"What's wrong, Takato-chan?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Takato said, somehow cheered up some amount by his voice. She smiled, looking up again, "I guess I'm just hungry. I haven't had lunch yet. Is there a place where they have good ramen anywhere near here?"
"Yea, there is. I'll take you there to eat I haven't eaten yet either, and I love ramen!"
"So do I! I guess that's something we have in common."
"Yea, maybe I can show you around the village after we eat. How does that sound?" Naruto asked.
"That would be wonderful," Takato said, both of their smiles widening. Takato again put her hands by her sides, a small part of her hoping he would take her hand in his.
"There is this place I always go to every day," Naruto said, "They have great ramen, and I especially like their barbeque pork ramen."
"I can't wait," Takato said, "I haven't had ramen in a month, maybe more, what with traveling so much."
"Where do you come from, anyways?" Naruto asked, moving slightly closer to Takato.
"I used to live in this small village, sort-of by the Land of Waves," Takato explained, "but before that I lived here, until I was seven."
"So you became a Genin here before you were seven?" Naruto asked, somewhat jealous and surprised.
"Yea, I guess I did," she sighed, her sad expression staring at the ground.
Naruto stared at her, wondering why she would look so sad about becoming a Genin, a ninja. "Hey, is something wrong, Takato-chan?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Oh, it's nothing really," Takato said calmly, "I was just thinking about when I had to leave here before, about leaving everything behind. I guess a few bad memories are linked in there."
Naruto nodded as Takato again held up her head, that cheerful smile once again on her face, like nothing had even bothered her. They finally reached the main part of the village. "It's not to far now," he said.
"I'm glad," Takato replied, "I didn't really get to eat breakfast, either."
"Wow, you must be really hungry. How could you not eat all day?"
"Well, I was cleaning my old house. My father still owned it when we left, but it's gotten so dirty. I was so busy all day with cleaning I guess I forgot. By the time I remembered it was too late for breakfast, so I went for a walk."
"Well, here we are!"
"Great! Let's go eat!"
Naruto pulled back the curtains to the shop and let Takato enter before himself. They both sat down. "Two bowls of ramen with barbeque pork, please, chef!" he said.
"Okay!" the chef replied with a lift of his hand, back turned to the two, tossing the noodles.
"You know what, Naruto-san?" Takato asked.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"I feel I should thank you, Naruto-san, so order whatever you want and however much of it you want and I'll pay." Takato said, that cheerful smile still on her face.
"You really don't have to pay, Takato-chan, I can pay for the both of us."
"But I feel that I must. Most people would just turn away if I asked them to take me back to the village and ignore me, but you stretched your gratitude out to me, and even offered to show me around, so I have to repay you in some way."
She spoke her words so passionately; Naruto was a bit surprised because of how shy she appeared to be before. Takato blushed a little at his silence. She broke eye contact, looking down again. "I guess if you really want to," Naruto replied, "After all, I've never been known to turn down free ramen before!"
Takato smiled. "Here you are!" said the chef as he placed the bowls in front of them.
"Thank you!" Takato replied, now cheerful again.
Naruto and Takato broke apart their chopsticks in unison, and said, "Itadakimasu," a phrase traditionally said before eating a meal. They both ate at the same pace and in the same way. Both finished at the same time a little while later. "Two more bowls, please, chef," Takato said with a smile. They got their bowls a short time later, and started stuffing their faces again. An old man with long, white hair entered the restaurant, but the two didn't really seem to notice.
"Hey, Naruto, long time no see," the man said.
"Hey, perverted hermit," Naruto replied between noodles, "What are you doing here?"
"I was around the neighborhood and decided to stop and have some ramen," the man replied, sitting down. They both kept eating, Takato seemingly uninterested by the man. "Hey, Naruto-san, who's this pretty girl you're with?" the man asked, "Your girlfriend, perhaps?"
Naruto and Takato both started choking on their noodles. The old man looked slightly confused. "What, did I say something wrong?"
Takato managed to swallow the noodles that had just gagged her. She wiped her mouth politely with her napkin, as Naruto was still choking, coughing loudly. "Naruto-san and I just met today," she said calmly while focusing chakra in her hand, eyes closed. She then put her hand on the back of Naruto's neck, and he immediately stopped choking with a gulp.
"What did you just do?" Naruto asked.
"I made the noodles easier to swallow so you would stop choking. It looked like you needed a little help," Takato said, voice sounding slightly annoyed. She then turned to the old man, opening her eyes. "So who the heck are you?" she asked, a slight frown on her face.
"My name is Jiraiya," he said in a somewhat grumpy tone, "What is yours?"
"I am Chie-Hitomi-Michi-Takato, but most people call me Takato," she replied, voice oddly cheerful again.
"Jeeze, a little mood-swingy, are we?" Jiraiya asked.
"If we do not forget our anger we will soon be blinded by it."
"Intelligent young girl. Psychotic, but intelligent."
"Thank you," Takato replied, ignoring his insult, then resumed eating. Naruto also started eating again, and Jiraiya resumed eating.
Naruto finished first, and said the phrase traditionally said after a meal. Takato soon did the same, and they both left the shop. "I thought you'd be hungrier than that," Takato said plainly.
"I'm… not very hungry right now," Naruto replied, "Want me to show you around the village now?"
"Sure" Takato smiled.
Takato let her eyes wander to different places, and she soon set her gaze to a large mountain range. On it, the likenesses of four men were sculpted with care and pride. "Wow… That monument, it still amazes me. Can we go take a closer look?" she asked.
"Sure," Naruto replied. He took her hand as they worked their way through the crowd. It wasn't long before they reached a large red building that took on a cylinder form. They climbed many stairs and reached the flat roof, surrounded by a metal rod fence so the careless wouldn't fall. Surprisingly, no one else was there. Takato let go of Naruto's hand and walked to the side of the roof closest to the monument. She rested her hands on the fence, gazing at the four faces in awe. Naruto stood by her, resting his hands on the fence as well, placing one hand on hers.
"The great Lord Hokages. Each sacrificed so much to build this village, a place safe and protected. A place called home to many, where you can always expect to get food each day, a warm bed to sleep in at night. A feeling of having one big family to protect, and love, and teach. Having respect and much honor to hold. How great it must be, to carry the flaming spirit of the Village of Konoha." Takato's words were spoken so passionately, spoken so truly. During her little speech, they had inched closer and closer together. Their shoulders now touched. Naruto smiled.
"I'm going to become Hokage one day," Naruto said confidently, "Then everyone will stop disrespecting me." Takato leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder.
"That is a wonderful dream, Naruto-san," Takato said with a warm smile, "And I have complete confidence in you that you will make that dream a reality. You are very strong, Naruto-san, I could tell that from the moment I saw you, but you also have something very important; the flame of Konoha."
Naruto looked down at her gracefully happy face, slightly shocked. No one had ever really given him such encouragement before. "Takato-chan, do you really believe tha-"
"Oh no!" Takato shouted suddenly, snapping up strait. Her expression changed to worry as she turned her body to face Naruto. "I'm going to be late! Oh, I don't know how it slipped my mind! I'm so sorry, Naruto-san, but if I don't hurry, I'm going to be late for something very important." Naruto turned his body to face her.
"But-"
"There's really no time to explain, but meet me at the ramen place at noon tomorrow and we can talk then."
"Okay, but I-"
"I really need to go, Naruto-san, I'm sorry," Takato said, Naruto still trying to get a word in.
"But-"
Takato hugged Naruto and gave him a soft, short kiss on the cheek, then hurriedly walked away, calling back, "I'll see you tomorrow!" as she started down the stairs.
Naruto stood there, frozen in place. What just happened? he thought to himself. He could still feel Takato's lips on his cheek, and he raised his hand to touch it. He was completely stunned, yet very happy at the same time.