The wrong person to fall in love with: Chapter One: "And in each, it breathes calmness."
"Once upon a time, there existed a creature known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. A being made up entirely out of chakra and evil, so the legends say. On that night, so long ago, it reappeared to attack Konohagakure.
The Uchiha clan, one of the two founding clans of that village, was troubled by this. For it was said that only a Uchiha, with the terrible power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, could control the terrible beast.
And it was truly terrible. With a careless swing of its mighty tails, the Kyuubi could raise up or destroy mountains, or even cause continent wide Tsunamis.
To fight this threat the people called forth every available shinobi, but even an army five times as large as the one they had stood no chance of defeating that foul beast.
It was then that a brave soul appeared to seal the demon, at the cost of his life. This man was the greatest hero that Konoha had ever known, and he was called the Fourth Hokage.
It has been over twenty years since that day, and many a legend has been made, but those tales are for another time. It matters not that the Uchiha humbled themselves before Konoha's Third Hokage, that they unknowingly averted their own demise.
It does not matter that the legend that has been written is not what Kami had originally intended. All that you need to know, is that this is a story of two individuals. Two individuals who found each other through interesting circumstances, both carefree and brutal. This, is their tale."
It was a day just like any other in the life of Nii Yugito, at least that's what she thought at first. Unfortunately for her, karma had decided to finally get back to her and bite her in the ass, both figuratively and literally.
She and her squad had been assigned as bodyguards for a diplomatic mission from Lightning country to Fire country. They were to insure that the diplomat being sent over from their country in order to negotiate multiple peace treaties was kept safe, and also to represent the Village Hidden in the Clouds. She was apprehensive about this, since she could recall a little bit of what the war between Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf had been like, and she prayed to Kami up above that that war was never repeated.
As the diplomatic mission to Fire country finally arrived at the capital of said country, Yugito let out a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Her two teammates and her squad captain each stared at her in puzzlement. "What?" she said irritably.
A green haired woman with a sharp face and a braid that was wrapped up and pinned to the back of her head answered. "Why are you so tense, Yugito-chan?"
Yugito smiled half-heartedly, "Do you really want to know so badly, Kimiko?"
Her friend smiled at her and chirped, "Yep!" Her light brown chuunin vest began to slide down one of her shoulders, so she pulled it back up with a leather gauntleted hand.
Yugito chuckled, "I guess I'm just apprehensive about the mission. I'm worried that the Fire country, and more importantly Konoha, will reject our proposals outright and try to start another war."
Their captain, a man in his mid thirties with muddy brown hair and a wicked goatee, smiled sadly. The bandanna on his head fluttered in the wind, his all black attire, sans maroon jacket, matched the color of mentioned bandanna perfectly. The strangest thing about his attire, and the most questionably fashion choice he had made about it, were the pink gloves he wore over his hands. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Yugito."
"And why is that, Kimihiro-sensei?" she asked in a soft voice.
Kimihiro Gouzentaru's expression became haunted as he replied, "Let's just say that the war was so horrible for both sides that neither country or village wants to see it be repeated."
The other member of the team, a red haired man known only as Mukanshin, finally spoke up. "You're the same as always, Yugito-chan. They don't call you the 'Overprotective Mother Hen of Kumogakure' for nothing." His hair was kept relatively short, with only a couple long bangs falling partway over his left eye. His golden eyes twinkled with amusement as he awaited her typical reaction. He was not disappointed.
However, she wasn't in the mood for that particular joke, and due to the graphic nature of the punishment she inflicted upon him, the details concerning it have been glossed over in this story.
Her sensei gave a pathetic version of a laugh, "I don't think you really need to kill him Yugito. We do kind of need him to help protect the ambassador here, I think."
"Tch. Whatever you say, sensei." she said in an annoyed tone.
"Well at least I don't have to worry about the Kumogakure shinobi being a bunch of jerks with sticks up their asses." said a voice ahead of the delegation.
The shinobi instantly became alert, staring ahead at the man who had spoken. He looked to be in his late teens, early twenties, his blond hair sticking up in random spikes. His grin was full blown, while his blue eyes took in the appearance of the five foreigners. On each cheek he bore three delicate scratches that reminded Yugito of whiskers for some reason.
She put a hand on her hip and inquired, "And why would you think we would have 'sticks up our asses', as you so eloquently put it."
He shit eating grin became a smaller, carefree smile as he answered her question, "The delegation we received from Kusa about a year back were all stuck up bastards, and weren't fun at all." His smile grew and his eyes twinkled mischievously, "You guys however, seem to be bunch of fun loving, interesting people."
Yugito snorted, "They were from Kusa, that should have told you right off that they were uptight." She smiled at him, "Are you telling me you honestly expected something different from them?"
The blond haired man laughed, "No, not really. I'm just glad that you guys aren't like them at all."
"As interesting as this conversation is, shouldn't we be moving along?" asked Mukanshin.
The blond haired man slapped his forehead before saying, "Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot. I'm supposed to take you guys up to the palace so that you all can say hello to the Fire Lord before settling in for the night."
Mukanshin glared at the blond haired man, "Why are you so weird?" he asked.
The other man shot back immediately, "Why do your clothes clash worse than a clown's?"
Yugito giggled.
Her teammates stared.
"What?" she asked. "He's got a point. I mean seriously Mukanshin, do you really think that gold, bright yellow, and blue is a good color combination?"
Mukanshin grumbled, "Can we just get moving already?"
The blond haired man in front of them grinned and motioned for them to follow him. "So what are your names?" he asked.
Yugito spoke up for the rest of the group, "The man with the questionable fashion is Mukanshin, the bandanna man is our sensei and his name is Kimihiro Gouzentaru. The girl with the green hair is Misato Kimiko. And the fancy dressed man who has kept pretty quiet is Ambassador Ryuuken."
The blond man raised an eyebrow, "And what's your name? Or should I just call you beautiful?"
Yugito's face instantly heated up and became scarlet, and her teammates began to guffaw at her expense. They quieted down after she sent them a glare. "My name is Nii Yugito." she said quietly.
The man looked directly at her and grinned, "A pretty name for a pretty girl, who would have guessed?"
Her face flamed again and she glared at him, but unfortunately it had no affect. "So what's your name, Blondie?"
"My name is Naruto, Yugito-san."
Her face grew even more red. O great, she thought, can this day get any more embarrassing? First he compliments me out of no where, which is new to me, but then he has to go and do it again. And now he's even using appropriate honorifics and everything. Ugh, its times like this that I wish I hadn't been playing hookie when we supposedly learned how to deal with polite speech and etiquette in class.
She glared at her so called teammates, And they're definitely not helping any by laughing the way they are.
Soon after her blush had calmed down, they reached the palace of the Fire Lord. The guards standing in front of the gate snapped to attention as the delegation came into view.
"Halt." said the guard on the right. "Who goes there?"
"We are the delegation from Lightning country, sir." said Yugito.
The guard on the left seemed to grow suspicious, "And what business do you have with the Lord of Fire country?"
"I am Ambassador Ryuuken," said the stoic gray haired man, "and we are here to discuss peace treaties with your great lord."
The two guards' expressions grew thoughtful as they tried to figure out what to do in the situation.
"How about you just let them in already?" asked Naruto.
The two guards snapped to attention, saluting Naruto as they exclaimed, "It shall be done, Naruto-sama!"
As the two guards hurried to open the doors for the group, Naruto mumbled under his breath, "I though I told you guys to stop calling me that."
"So what rank of ninja are you, Yugito-san?" asked Naruto as he led them through a veritable maze of hallways and various passages with ease.
"I'm a jounin." she said. Her expression grew thoughtful. Now would probably be the perfect time to ask, "How about you, are you a ninja?"
He scratched the back of his head, "Kind of." he replied.
This confused her, and she wondered what he meant by that. She raised an eyebrow, "And how are you 'kind of' a ninja?"
Using air quotes, Naruto helped to answer her question. "Because of certain unforeseen 'family issues', I had to retire from active service before I could retake the chuunin exams."
"I see..." said Yugito in a voice that said she did anything but. She could see that it was a sensitive issue, one that held dark and depressing memories for him. She decided to change the subject. "Do you still keep up with your ninja training? Are you strong?"
"Yes I do keep up with my training, and if you want to see how strong I am, we could always find time for the two of us to spar, as long as your sensei doesn't mind."
Kimihiro chuckled, "I don't mind at all. It'll be hilarious if Yugito here got beat by someone who retired as a ninja before even becoming a chuunin. I just hope you're strong enough, Naruto-san."
Naruto smiled, "So how about Yugito-san? Want to spar in a couple of days?"
She smiled as she watched is body language. He seemed excited about the prospect, almost like a kid finding out he could buy as much candy as he wanted the next time he went to the candy store. It wouldn't hurt anybody, she thought, and besides, maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to see him bare chested. She blinked, and then had to fight off a blush. Geez, what is with me today? I mean sure, he looks handsome enough, but why are my thoughts turning so much to the carnal today? C'mon Yugito, pull it together girl.
She smiled at him and replied, "I would love to, Naruto-san."
Naruto grinned, "Then I'll get everything set up then."
She grinned as well, "I'll look forward to it." And she would. It had been some time since she had been able to cut loose in a fight, so this spar would be a perfect opportunity to do so. She just hoped he had skill enough to handle her for more than five minutes.
"Naruto-sama, are you bugging guests for fights again?"
Yugito turned her attention to a well dressed man who stood in front of the door leading to the Fire Lord. His clothing was strictly formal, and the staff in his hand denoted his status in the palace as the Head Advisor.
Naruto gave a pout and replied in a whiny voice, "Please, Isshin, do you have to cut into my fun all the time?"
Isshin chuckled as the doors to the reception hall were opened, "You know me, Naruto-sama, I'm just a stickler for rules."
Naruto sighed, "Don't remind me."
As the group walked inside the room, Yugito noticed that not all that many people were there. There was the Fire Lord sitting directly in front of them, and three people with identical sashes, two men and one woman, around their waist.
The Fire Lord was a man in his late fifties with hair that remained mostly dark black, with only a few white hairs showing through. He smiled at the group kindly, before inquiring, "You are the group from Lightning?"
Ambassador Ryuuken bowed slightly, "We are, great lord."
The Fire Lord nodded, "Excellent. We have much to discuss, however, we must wait upon the representative from Konoha, since these talks concern them as well. I will have someone show you to your accommodations."
Naruto took a step forward, "I can do it, Grandfather."
-- -- -- --
TBC
AN: Okay then, it seems I've started yet another multi-chaptered fic...I hope I can finish it...
To those who read Conceived, don't worry, I'm still working on that fic, its just that with that fic it is harder to figure out what to do next.
I'm not sure how long I'll make this fic, and considering that school is starting, I'm not sure when I'll be updating. Hopefully, I'll still be able to write when I'm inspired, but you never know what could happen.