Magnet
Raindrop Memory

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Summary: Deciding to pursue her career as a medical doctor even further in Konohagakure, Amaru bids farewell to her home village, and arrives in the busy village of Leaf shinobi. However, she isn't exactly welcomed with open arms… things go a wry the moment she tries to sought after the man who had helped her nearly two years ago – Uzumaki Naruto.

Preface: Amaru is a movie-only character that appears in Naruto: Shippuuden – Bonds (Kizuna). I generally loved her character and role in the movie's plot, and thought I might write something up for her. Because she doesn't have very much screen time (opposed to her total time on screen versus all other characters appearing in the anime episodes, manga, etc.) I will be fabricating partial bits of her personality to fill in the gaps.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own the concept, original story/plot, canon characters, etc. of Naruto/Naruto: Shippuuden. The images, animations and publishing all belong to creator Kishimoto Masashi, TV Tokyo and Shounen Jump!.

Rating: To be on the safe side, I'm putting the rating up as M (Mature). Do be forewarned, that there will be several scenarios of blood, gore, and other nasty little things that would make your stomach churn. Also be noted that the plot will eventually develop into some sort of mature romance.

Without further ado, please enjoy Magnet.

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Prologue Chapter

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She didn't quite remember how, but for some reason she just did.

A dull pain ached in her legs – it wasn't the jabbing sensation of a torn ligament, nor was it the rippling knife-like agony from a flesh wound. It was fatigue – and her muscles were overexerting, over-exhausted, and were slowly producing toxins that explained the pain one would experience from continuous, vigorous physical activity.

Stopping to catch her breath, a gloved wrist rose up to wipe away at a film of perspire that was clotting her plump brows. Amaru sighed; she could see the gates already, just a few more feet, and she'd be there –

About to straighten back up from her long, grueling walk, she was stopped short when she felt something sharp prickle the back of her neck. A vague breeze brushed her right arm, ruffling the fur on her parka vest.

"What are you doing here?" A voice came – a bit gruff, cautious, but there was something that seemed like concerned hiding in the ripples of suspicion in the man's tone. Amaru's spine stiffened, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek as she contemplated on what to say. "W-Well…"

The prickling came deeper, and she felt something wet dribbled down her back from the kunai point.

"I-I-I'm traveling… to Konoha…" Amaru bravely responded, but there was still a small stutter in her response. The shadowy figure behind her contemplated her answer for a brief second before drawing the knife away. Turning around, Amaru found herself face-to-face with a tall shinobi, a toothpick characteristically jutting out from his bottom lip, his longish brown hair being kept back by a dark bandanna on his head.

"Reason why?" He asked, his gruff voice perking up once more.

Amaru thought about how to answer him. If she told him the flat-out truth, it would be a bit embarrassing on her part, but…

"I… I'm interested in becoming a citizen of Konoha!" Amaru managed out, and the shinobi glanced at her with an awkward look in his eyes. "Well… that's new. We don't really get… er, immigrants to Konoha that very often." Shaking his head, he twirled the kunai he was holding back into his holster. "In any case, I'll escort you to the administrative building – under surveillance, of course." He added impishly, and she glared back.

Amaru realized that she couldn't possibly understand why she had to be kept on close watch.

"W-Why? I refuse to be treated like a…" She was cut short by the man again, who let out a somewhat irritated sigh, rubbing his bandanna-donned head.

"Look. These days are a time of crisis, so it's natural for a village such as ours, to take safety precautions." He explained, hoping it would relieve some of the anger that was currently clouding her expression at the moment. Amaru sighed, crossly turning a cheek away.

"Fine. Just take me inside the village. Please." She added tartly, and the man nodded, motioning her to follow him.

"Sheesh! Kids and their tempers these days…" He groaned inwardly, passing the massive gates. Glancing back to make sure the pale redhead was following him without running to any sort of immediate trouble, he continued down the dusty path, towards the summit where the Hokage would be waiting.

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Tsunade looked up from her stack of paperwork at the sound of slight knocking on her office door. "Come in," she bad-temperedly replied aloud, and the door opened to reveal a rather tense-looking Shizune who was cradling Ton-Ton in her arms.

"Ah, Shizune. I was looking for you."

Shizune fidgeted a little. "Uhm, Tsunade-sama… there's a guest wanting to speak with you."

The woman's brow arched upwards in question. She didn't recall having Shizune booking her a meeting today. "Who is it? Well, tell him to come in then!" She ushered her, and Shizune nodded somewhat motionlessly to the frame of the doorway. A somewhat tanned-looking boy came in, his light robust locks capped with a dark bandanna. Dark blue eyes glittered at her, and Tsunade took in the strange style of dress he was wearing with a brief glance of her golden eyes.

"And? Who's this?"

"Amaru, ma'am." The boy replied immediately, but held a tone of politeness in his voice. "I'm here to request the possibility of my transfer as a… citizen of Konohagakure."

"So an immigrant, then." Tsunade placed two and two together, cupping the side of her chin with a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "Are you a shinobi? I don't see your forehead protector with your Village's insignia on it."

"I'm… not a shinobi." Amaru replied briskly, scratching the side of her cheek nervously. Were all Konoha ninjas like this? Suspicious to the very core? 'Well, the guy from earlier did say they were in a time of crisis…'

There was a shred of doubt in Tsunade's eyes now. "Oh? So if you're not a shinobi… then what are you doing here in Konoha?"

"I…" Amaru started, not sure on how to phrase it without embarrassing herself. A slight tinge of blush appeared on her cheeks. "I… want to offer my services as a doctor… due to the help Konoha had given me prior a year ago."

The blonde woman leaned forwards, elbows tipping her desk as she studied Amaru a little more closely. Certainly she was carrying some equipment befitting of a medic; the holsters contained antidote vials, syringes, and rolls of bandages into another pack, along with her scalpel blade. Besides the scalpel, there wasn't any else she could determine as shinobi weapons.

"I see…" Leaning back in her chair, Tsunade folded her hands together, cupping her chin on her knuckles. "So you were one of our clients in the past. I'll see if I can do something to arrange to your request. In the meanwhile, Shizune…" Her eyes shifted over to her trustworthy secretary, who nodded as if she was ready for her orders.

"Team Yamato is on standby, Tsunade-sama. I assume that you're…?" Shizune trailed off, reading the female Hokage's mind easily. A slight smile crept up on Tsunade's face. "Precisely. Have at least one of them guide Amaru around town after we get the paperwork done. Dismissed!"

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Shizune had brought Amaru to a small cafeteria area on the ground level of the administrative building. As they both sat down on the table with a cup of tea each, she went over the process of application with Amaru patiently, whom found all of this rather new, but rather uninteresting.

"Just fill out your name, date of birth, sex, age, etc. in the blanks there." Shizune instructed, and watched Amaru closely as she picked up a pen, slowly and carefully filling out the information. Smiling, Shizune took a small sip from her cup. "So Amaru-kun, where did you come from?"

"Kobosu Village." Amaru curtly replied, continuing to scribble gently as her eyes scanned the paper thoroughly.

A flash of memory struck Shizune. "Y-You mean… back when the Sora Country attacked Konoha… and your village was the one that was…?"

"Yes." Amaru came again, pausing for a moment as she recalled the surprised yet delighted looks of her townspeople gave her when she had rescued them from the prison cell.

This sort of polite and limited conversation continued on for another few minutes until Amaru was completely finished the paperwork. Shizune stacked the papers together neatly, smiling as she glanced back at the new immigrant. "Thank you, Amaru-kun. I'll come fetch you again later today once we figure out where we can place you for the night." Standing up, she checked her wristwatch.

"Speaking of which, someone from Yamato-san's team will come pick you up. Go outside to the front doors with me? We'll wait for them." Shizune smiled, and Amaru returned the gesture, following the woman outside.

"O-Oi! Yamato-taichou, this isn't fair!" A voice roughly protested, strongly echoing in the clearing. Shizune smiled as she saw Yamato coming towards her way, an equally pleasant smile on his face as well, completely ignorant of the scene he had made behind him.

"I see you had to… force him to come, Yamato-san." Shizune stifled a laugh with a hand, and Yamato sighed exasperatingly. Entwined in two long stalks of curved wood, a pair of limbs and legs were thrashing about from the crevices, a mop of bright yellow hair crowning the young Genin's head. "H-Hey! Why can't I stay back for training, huh? I don't want to be a travel guide for some–"

He stopped short when he saw her face, whose eyes were round as saucers.

"Amaru!" He exclaimed delightedly, calming down for a brief moment. A wide grin spread across his face happily. "Oi! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yeah." She grinned back, placing her hands on her hips as she surveyed him from below. "Looks mighty cozy up there, Naruto."

Upon hearing his name, he chuckled. "Say, are you the one that's…?"

"Yup."

"That's really great." He laughed, before shooting Yamato a glare. "Now, I would love to come down and show you around…" Yamato sighed, dispelling the jutsu with a Rabbit hand seal, whereupon the Uzumaki landed on the floor rather ungracefully.

"O-Oi… couldn't you be at least… a little gentler, dattebayo…?" Naruto weakly managed out, picking himself up from the floor and dusting his slightly soiled jacket. "A-Anyway!" He cleared his throat, before gesturing towards the pathway that paved towards the village. "Let's get going!"

Grabbing her by the wrist, he pulled Amaru along with him, quickly escaping the vision of both Yamato and Shizune. Yamato sighed once again, before rubbing the back of his head with a faint smile. "He was so persistent with his training, now he's excited from the distraction. Oh well."

Shizune laughed as well. "Well, they're young. This is nothing but a fraction of their time, believe me."

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End of Prologue Chapter

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