Her Golden Hero
The first time Tayuya saw her golden hero was not actually the first time they had encountered each other. The first time Tayuya had crossed paths with Naruto Uzumaki was during the mission entrusted to the Sound Four (or rather, the Sound Five once Kimimaro had been sent out for assistance) to escort Sasuke, the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan massacre, to Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin, their leader and the founder of the Village Hidden in the Sound, Otogakure. But the results of that mission are already known of, and this isn't that story. This is how Tayuya came to see Naruto as her golden hero.
It all started a few days after the mission, seen as a success by Orochimaru despite the apparent deaths of all five members of his elite squad, and a failure to the Hidden Leaf due to Sasuke's escape, and because each member of the squad of shinobi sent to retrieve him had been wounded in different ways, Naruto most of all, having to resort to the power of the Nine Tailed Fox sealed within him to survive.
After that loss, Naruto had been carried back to the Konoha Hospital, and was immediately admitted to a room so that he could recover from the wounds inflicted upon him by his best friend, and now traitor to the Leaf, Sasuke Uchiha. Those wounds, however, weren't just physical, but also emotional, and those would take much longer to heal. Sasuke was, after all, one of the only people Naruto cared about, and who he had formed a bond with. But, as with what seemed like all of Naruto's friendships, something had to come in the way of it, in this case Sasuke's jealousy causing him to leave the village in order to gain power elsewhere.
But why did he have to leave?! They could have gotten stronger together! Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura. Kakashi. Team 7 could have worked together and become the ultimate team!
But no…Sasuke just HAD to give in to the potential power of some dumb curse mark left by Orochimaru during the Chunin exams. Under Kakashi's tutelage the three Genin could have learnt more advanced techniques that would complement each other, and that could beat anything that Orochimaru or his goons threw at them. Hell, Naruto's Rasengan and Sasuke's Chidori were already strong techniques that the two had nearly mastered. Sure, it would take some time, especially because Kakashi wasn't the best teacher…okay Naruto would admit it…Kakashi was a shit teacher at times, but that didn't change the fact that he was also one of the best Jonin produced by the Hidden Leaf, and when he wasn't being lazy or reading Jiraiya's Icha Icha or Make Out novels or whatever the hell they were called, he was able to give valuable information and training to his squad that put them above the rest.
'Sas…Sasuke…' the memory of the fight terrorized Naruto as he slept, his wounds (physical, that is) almost fully healed. 'I just wanted to be your friend…we could have become so much stronger together…I could have helped you beat Itachi…if only I had talked to you instead of butting heads with you all those times…' Naruto continued to berate himself, only to realise that he was now awake.
As the yellow haired shinobi's eyes fluttered open, readjusting themselves to the light of the world, and also the bright light of the hospital room, a male voice came from beside him. "Naruto!"
Another voice spoke, this time a female one. "Ah, it's good to see you awake after so long!"
He immediately recognised the voices. "Kakashi Sensei! Grandma Tsunade!" Suddenly his eyelids drooped, and his normally cheerful and ecstatic voice became filled with regret. "I…I'm sorry."
"Hm? Sorry for what Naruto?" Tsunade asked, though she had already guessed what he was apologising for.
"I couldn't do it…I couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving…I gave it everything I had, and he still beat me like it was nothing!" The Uzumaki child was truly disappointed in himself. All that training and Sasuke still overpowered him. They were supposed to be equals dammit!
The now identified Kakashi spoke up, choosing his words carefully, so as to not worsen the situation. After all, the two had been under his watch for quite some time, so he had been one of the first to see how they grew, and how their bond was formed. "Naruto, it's not your fault. As your Sensei I should have been there to stop Sasuke from escaping…in fact I should have noticed how he felt much earlier on and prevented him from leaving the village in the first place."
"B-but it wasn't your fight! I'm the only one who knows what Sasuke's been through! Instead of goofing around all those times I should have been studying and-" A sharp pain struck Naruto as he attempted to sit up, the act of doing so causing him to stretch the area where Sasuke's Chidori pierced through his body. And then, as he felt that pain, the memory of the attack replayed in his mind, increasing the pain tenfold. "AARGH!
"Naruto!" Kakashi and Tsunade called out, and then Tsunade continued to speak. "You need to relax. It's not even been a week, and even with your advanced healing capabilities your body hasn't fully recovered. You should take it easy for now." She started to slowly brush her fingers through his hair, hoping it would provide a soothing feeling. And sure enough, it did.
The Jinchuriki got himself into a comfortable position, the pain slowly subsiding. "D-dammit…I got it, Granny." She'd let Naruto have that one. It wouldn't do any good causing him more pain as he was recovering.
"And Naruto, as for what you were saying…you know that all shinobi suffer from loss one way or another, myself and Tsunade included." Kakashi spoke, knowing that Naruto needed to hear the truth. That statement was more than true. Tsunade and Kakashi had both lost many people important to them. Friends, family, loved ones. But, as Kakashi said, all ninja experience this, so it's best to realize this sooner rather than later.
"Yeah…" Naruto started to apologize, removing Tsunade's hand from his hair, though he couldn't say he didn't like the feeling of it brushing through. "I know that…I'm sorry. It's just…you both know that Sasuke was like a brother to me, and I've never had that type of bond with anyone, but…I lost him…and I couldn't even stop him when I tapped into the power of the Nine Tails." His anger rose ever so slightly. "If I can't fight on my own, how will I ever be able to become Hokage?!"
"Naruto, that's enough." Kakashi moved closer to his side and let out a sigh. "I know that you lack a lot of the basic knowledge that other shinobi have due to your upbringing, but one must learn that to fight on their own is not the way of the shinobi. That's one of the reasons why we have our squads consisting of 4 ninjas, if not more. So that we can cover each other's weaknesses and help improve on each other's strengths."
The Uzumaki child took this information into consideration, having figured that out over the course of being in squad 7 with Kakashi and the others. Said squad leader continued talking. "Also, while we're on that subject, I feel like I should apologize to you."
Naruto and Tsunade stared confusingly at Kakashi, unsure as to why he was apologizing. "Huh, what for Sensei?"
"For being a bad teacher to you. I guess this goes to Sakura and Sasuke too."
"W-wha? No! You haven't been a bad teacher, Sensei! It's thanks to you that we've come this far!" The Jinchuriki argued. "You taught us about teamwork, and it's because of you that we survived all of those missions!"
Kakashi smiled through his mask, and then exchanged a glance with Tsunade, mentally agreeing that Naruto had seemingly grown up, though of course he still had much more to learn. "Thanks Naruto, but there's no need to sugar-coat it. I've been lazy, and neglectful to both you and Sakura, instead focusing my attention on Sasuke. While there were times where that was needed, there were other times where I could have not done that."
He continued. "Kurenai, Asuma and Guy all have made time for each member of their squads and have created training regiments that attend to all of their needs. I, however, have left you to train on your own, and have given you less guidance than a regular Jonin Sensei should. And so, I'm sorry."
"Kakashi…" Tsunade looked over at her godson's Sensei, feeling sorry for him, and just as she was about to respond, Naruto did so instead.
"Sensei!" he exclaimed. "Come on, there's no need to talk yourself down like that! You may not think it, but you were a great Sensei to all of us. And besides, I now know why you had to focus on Sasuke's training for the Chunin exams, and if you hadn't done that then I probably wouldn't have met Pervy Sage, and so wouldn't have learnt about Summoning Jutsu or how to do the Rasengan!"
'Huh…Naruto truly has grown, and in such little time too…Lord Fourth would be proud...Lord Third too.' At that thought, Kakashi started walking towards the door. "Maybe you're right Naruto, maybe I do deserve some kind of an award. I guess we'll have to see what we can do about that!"
The Fifth Hokage huffed, crossing her arms. "Don't get too ahead of yourself Kakashi. You still have missions to do, you know."
The sole remaining member of the Hatake clan waved her off and walked out. As he did so, Naruto got Tsunade's attention. "Hey, Granny?" She looked back at him. "So, uhh…how are Shikamaru and the others doing?"
"Ah, right. I figured you would ask this eventually. They are all recovering well, it seems. Shikamaru, Kiba and Lee suffered the least injuries, mostly due to the assistance of Gaara, Temari and Kankuro of the sand".
"Gaara came to help?!"
Tsunade thought back to how she asked them for assistance. "Yes, he and the others did. I sent out a call for their help, and since Gaara felt he owes a great deal to you, they came without a second thought. He even came here personally while you were unconscious to wish you well.
Naruto grinned. "Heh, that's just like Gaara, I suppose. I just wish he had stuck around for a bit longer, so I could thank him." Naruto's grin then disappeared. "Wait a second…you said that Shikamaru, Kiba and Lee were fine, but what about Choji and Neji?"
'Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't ask about them. I don't want Naruto to feel guilty about their injuries.' "Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples. "Those two…as I said they're fine now, and we've been giving them top medical treatment but-"
"Come on Grandma Tsunade! Just tell me what happened!"
She sighed again. "They were seriously injured in their fights. Neji had been impaled with an arrow of sorts and had received many injuries all over. If he hadn't moved in time, Neji would be dead right now." Naruto looked away, distraught. "As for Choji, he suffered from major chakra loss, also taking other injuries. I have no idea what you guys fought against out there, but I suppose it must have been very dangerous. We're just lucky you all survived."
The blonde Genin chuckled, confusing the medical ninja. "What's so funny? I just told you that your friends nearly died for god's sake!"
Naruto stared at Tsunade, giving her a determined look. "You don't need to worry about us Granny, because we're the strongest in the Leaf! And I told you, didn't I? There's no way in hell that I'm gonna die! Not before I become Hokage!" He yelled, reminding Tsunade of the many times he had said this sort of thing before.
This time, Tsunade was the one to burst out in laughter. It seemed that Naruto was more capable of handling things than one might think.
"So…what happens next?"
Tsunade's laughter died down. "What do you mean?"
The Genin moved one of his hands to feel his wounds, finding that thanks to the power of the Nine Tails, and thanks to the medical attention of Tsunade, he had already nearly recovered. "I mean…after I get out of here. Will Kakashi Sensei be able to train me some more, or will I have to find my own way? Speaking of which, where did Kakashi go earlier?"
"As you know, the village is still in repair from Orochimaru's invasion, and because we lost a large amount of shinobi during the attack, we can only send so many out on missions at a time. Since Kakashi is one of our more skilled Jonin's, he is one of the ninja we have chosen to take on missions."
"So Kakashi is out on a mission then? Got it."
The Hokage carried on. "That is correct. That day when Sasuke left us, Kakashi was supposed to be sent out on a mission, but he disregarded my orders, and went after you instead. While that isn't entirely a bad thing, I've chosen to have a little fun with him, and am sending him out on more missions."
The two blondes broke out into a small fit of laughter, Naruto scratching the back of his head as they did so. "As for what will happen next, I suppose Kakashi could always give you more training, but I believe that Jiraiya wants to train you instead, so you have that to look forward to."
"Pervy Sage is gonna train me again?!" Naruto shot up in his bed, jumping up and down. "ALRIGHT! Maybe he can teach me some super secret awesome Jutsu! Or-or maybe he can show me how to do stuff with the toads! Hell, I'd be fine if he helped me master the Rasengan a bit more!"
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. You'll have to wait and see, Naruto. For now, though, I have to go check up on some of the other patients, and then…" Tsunade groaned, thinking of all the work that Shizune probably has piled on her desk right now. "It's back to my actual job. In the meantime, you should rest up. After all, it'll be easier to train when you're at one hundred percent."
Naruto agreed, and even though he already felt pretty much perfect, he followed his godmother's orders, and laid back in the hospital bed to rest.
As it turns out, Naruto was still as restless as ever, and so barely any time had passed before he got changed into his usual shinobi attire and jumped out the window. Though where he was headed, he hadn't actually decided on, so for now Naruto would just let his feet carry him somewhere.
'I don't think I should see the others just yet…especially not Sakura…I can't face her, especially not after failing to bring back Sasuke' Prior to the mission, Sakura had asked…no, begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back, and he had promised to do so. But, the mission was a failure, which meant that the promise was currently broken.
He had no destination in mind, and yet nowhere in Konoha seemed like the right place to be. With each step he took, each leap from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto was reminded of the fact that he had failed his village…his people…and had failed to keep intact the one bond he held above all others.
As the seconds passed, Naruto's mind once again became clouded with memories of his clash, each moment replaying in full detail. Each hit Sasuke dealt to him felt as if it were happening then and there, and Naruto could feel the impact of his own fists on his best friend. A few second after Sasuke would pierce through Naruto's lung, the event would replay from the beginning, and Naruto would have to go through it again. The emotional impact grew stronger each viewing, and it came to a point where it became hard for Naruto to sustain the pain.
'No…Stop it Sasuke…Come back…I don't want to see this anymore!' Eventually, the memories came to a stop, and the blonde shinobi had calmed himself down, getting himself to a point where he could concentrate on the present again. Coming out of his zoned-out stupor, the Uzumaki tried to recognise where he was.
There were trees, and bushes, and a lot of grass…so, he was still in Konoha? Yeah, Konoha had a bunch of parks, so Naruto had to be somewhere there! Seconds later though he realised that it couldn't have been Konoha, the reason behind this being that all of the trees in his home village were still intact, while all of the ones around him were split into pieces, resulting in a mass of stumps and logs piled on top of each other.
'Wait a minute…this can't be what I think it is, right? It's not where I was a few days ago, is it?' But somehow, Naruto was right. Even though to him it seemed like only a few minutes had passed, it had actually been half a day, possibly longer, since he left the Hidden Leaf Village, and his feet had somehow brought him to the area in the Land of Fire where Shikamaru and Temari had fought against the only female member of the Sound Four. 'So, I guess this is Temari's work, huh? I knew she was strong, but this is…woah.'
Naruto was left speechless as he took in all of the destruction caused by a few simple Jutsu. Sure, he had seen many powerful ones before, and hell, when he summoned Gamabunta to help him fight against Gaara who had been taken over by the One Tailed beast, Shukaku, a fair bit of land was destroyed, but then again, that was through a summoning, meanwhile Temari did this all by herself, and she was only a Genin!
Hopping from tree to tree, or rather, hopping from the remnants of the trees, the shinobi found himself puzzled, seeing as the direction he was headed into was neither towards Konoha nor anywhere else familiar to him. To anyone observing, it would look like Naruto was looking for something, because his movements seemed to keep him within the area of the destroyed forest. It was not long before a sound brought him out of his stupor, that sound being a weak grunt of sorts.
"Ugh…fuck."
Naruto froze from hearing that sudden sound, confused as to where it was coming from. The Jinchuriki then moved back and forth between the trees, trying to find what it was that caused the sound. Not long after, he pinpointed it to a certain pile, and started walking back and forth, now attempting to find the source of the sound. With each step he took, more sounds became vocalised, confusing him even more.
"Argh…Ser-" It coughed. "seriously whatever the fuck it is that's doing that better st-" The voice coughed again, and this time Naruto noticed how it sounded dry, and yet familiar. "stop or I swear to god I will beat the fucking shit out of you…"
The blonde boy scratched his chin, nearly having figured out where the voice came from. 'Hmm…it sounds close, so that must mean…aha!' He had finally found the source of the noises, that being from below him, and so he leaned over to look down the side of the pile, only to trip over his feet and fall, face first onto the creator of the voice.
'Oh crap!' thought the clumsy ninja as he fell, unable to speak because his mouth had been mushed against what felt like another person's lips. 'Dammit I didn't kiss Sasuke again did I? Wait, no…Sasuke's not here, so what am I on top of?' Naruto's hands had fallen onto a couple soft bits of clothing that stuck out a bit, but he was unable to figure out what it was, so he gave it a few squeezes. This proved to be useless, as Naruto was still confused, so he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with another pair that was angrily glaring deep into his own, like they were trying to pierce through into his soul. 'Uhh…'
The…thing…underneath everyone's favourite Genin squirmed, growling as a form of complaint at what just occurred. "Grr…G-get the hell off me you…you perv!" Suddenly Naruto was thrown onto the forest floor, still not clear on what just happened.
"Ow!"
The voice returned, gravelly and fierce. "W-what the fuck is wrong with you, you perverted sack of shit!" It started thumping its fists against the ground, mustering up what little strength it could for a chance to shout. "THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS YOU THIEVING ASSWIPE! G-GET BACK UP HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!"
"W-wha? What the heck just happened?" Naruto picked himself back up, dusting off his clothes and jumping back onto where he had just been thrown from.
After doing so, blue eyes stared into brown, locked in mental and visionary combat. It wasn't long before the owners of both pairs of eyes identified each other.
"It…it can't be…YOU!" Naruto recognised what he could of the other persons appearance. Definitely a girl. And let's see…red hair, brown eyes, a bitchy scowling expression. Yup, it was her. "YOU'RE THAT LOUDMOUTH SHIKAMARU AND TEMARI FOUGHT!" Now something else puzzled Naruto. 'How is she still alive? I thought Temari killed her! Also…why'd my first kiss with a girl have to be with her? I mean she's cute but she's an enemy…AND NOT AS CUTE AS SAKURA!'
Now the girl, who unknown to Naruto was called Tayuya, retorted. "YOU! YOU'RE THAT SHITHEAD KID WHO TRICKED ME BACK THEN!" She found it hard to shout, having not had a chance to eat or drink in days, and since most of her body was crushed under the trees, that didn't help either. 'What the fuck is he doing here? He here to kill me or something? And what's with that moron kissing me like that? I swear to god if that Suna bitch didn't have me pinned under here I'd have him dead in seconds!' All the while her face was covered in a deep blush, which was natural given that she technically just had her first kiss, and her breasts had been toyed with a little bit, even if it was by one of the shinobi from the village she had recently infiltrated.
After a few seconds, the two stopped staring each other down, and instead broke the short silence with more loud outbursts, each of them screeching at the top of their lungs.
First came Tayuya. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Then Naruto. "HOW ARE YOU EVEN STILL ALIVE?"
"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE? I THOUGHT YOUR FRIEND KILLED YOU!"
"HEY! SCREW YOU! I'D NEVER LOSE TO SASUKE!" The Genin curled his hands into fists.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Tayuya swiped her fists around above her, trying to hit Naruto, though it was to no avail.
Naruto snarled. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN YOU IDIOT?"
"WHY WOULD YOU WORK FOR SOMEONE LIKE OROCHIMARU? AND WHERE'S SASUKE?!"
"THAT PUNK ASS BITCH? WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU?! IT'S NOT LIKE I HAV-" Tayuya coughed once again, the shouting putting a clear strain on her lungs, her voice weakening by the second.
Naruto, for a reason that would remain unknown to him, grew concerned. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Am I alright? Does it look like I'm alright you idiot?" An eyebrow rose on Tayuya's face "Also…the fuck? Why should you care if I'm okay?"
The male ninja shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'm just curious. I did just get out of the hospital myself, so I suppose I'm kinda worried about others now." He gave his answer. "Besides, I don't get how you're still alive. After all, it has been a few days since Shikamaru beat you."
"It's cuz I'm the best kunoichi there is! Scrap that, I'm the best ninja alive, that's how! And I sure as hell ain't gonna let no dumb blonde whore kill me to protect her boyfriend!" Was her response.
"Blonde what now?" Naruto tilted his head and tried to think who it was that Tayuya was on about. "Oh, you must mean Temari!" Naruto then realised that the way he worded that answer made it sound like he thought Temari was what Tayuya said. "Not that she's a…y'know, whore."
The red haired kunoichi growled again. "I don't give a damn about what her name is! All I care about is getting a chance to fight her again, and I'll win this time dammit!"
The blonde chuckled, and then spoke up. "Pfft, you think you can beat Temari? She's way stronger than you, and way stronger than you'll ever be!"
"Yeah that's what you think! But I'll beat her next time ya hear? I've got so many tricks up my sleeve that she'll never see what's coming. Even without the help of Lord Orochimaru's curse mark I can…" Tayuya then realised that she was still talking, almost casually, to this enemy shinobi, which was especially strange because she didn't even talk this much with her teammates, or at the very least she didn't have casual talk with them. Instead of continuing on with the conversation with Naruto, she decided to cross her arms, stop talking and look away, huffing as she did so. Besides, why should she care what Naruto thought?
"You can what?" Naruto asked her a few times, wanting to hear the end of Tayuya's argument, though he knew it was getting late, and really, he should be getting home now. Tsunade was probably panicking, and she probably had sent out a bunch of ninja to search for him.
When the red-head didn't respond, Naruto gently tapped her head with his foot, but instead of receiving a response, Naruto had his foot swatted away. "Come on, why'd ya stop talking?" After a short while longer of trying to get anything out of the trapped enemy, Naruto gave up. "Eh, I guess we're done here. I should probably be going then."
The Uzumaki figured that Tayuya, whose name he was still yet to learn, was keeping her mouth shut so as to lessen the chances of her revealing critical information, such as revealing where Sasuke went, or what's going to happen to him, or what secrets lie in the curse mark gifted to him by Orochimaru. Instead of pushing it any further, since he was getting pretty hungry, and once again, it was late (not to mention Naruto was ages away from the Village), he decided to head back in the hopes that his favourite ramen stand was still open.
Just as he was about to leave, he turned back to face Tayuya, pestering her. 'Oh for fuck's sake, what does he want now? Can't he just leave me to die already!'
"Wait a second, can I at least get your name?" He asked, hoping to learn at least that much, if not anything else, but Tayuya glared at him for another second, growling, and then turned her head away, ignoring him and trying to hide the residuals of the blush that was on her face from the earlier…event…with Naruto. "Oh, I guess not. Eh, whatever… I'm sure Shikamaru knows."
Tayuya screamed internally. 'Just piss off already!'
And with that, Naruto started his journey back towards the Hidden Leaf, leaving Tayuya to potentially die, but gaining a strange feeling that made him think she wouldn't and that they would cross paths again soon. It was odd, because Tayuya was, after all, one of the people who assisted in the murder of the Third Hokage and was one of the people who kidnapped Sasuke. Oh, and she also delivered a few hits to Naruto himself. Ah, what the hell, it was probably just a one-time thing.
This feeling is what would lead to Tayuya coming to see Naruto as her golden hero.
Authors Note:
Hello there fellow NaruTayu fans. As you can probably see, this is a re-write of that fic I started a while back. The reason for me re-writing it is because, let's be honest, the writing was shit. It was not what I originally pictured it to be.
Anyway, the premise is the same as last time, so the characters will all be in their Shippuden ages and clothing, meaning you have to pretend everything that happened in Naruto happened a couple years later. This means Naruto will be 15 and Tayuya will be 17. I know it won't make much difference to the story, but I want it that way. I'll try not to take too long with the re-write of the next chapter, but then again I'm lazy so who knows.
Reviews are appreciated but not necessary
ArcaneLucario