A Little Bird Told Me
-a Naruto fan fiction by Calliope-
Message: This is NOT a continuation of my two previous stories. It may have the same theme but other than that they're unrelated. This ones a little more light- hearted than my other story, less of a downer, and more just for my own satisfaction.
Summery: An old Konoha love fable seems to be playing out right in front of Naruto's eyes, and leading him right into the arms of the girl of his dreams. But will his perfect little story turn out for him the way he expects it? It seems the outcome can be uncertain when hopeless loves are involved.
Warning: sasunaru *shounen-ai* in part two
Sleeping the day away was something Naruto would have been more than pleased to do, however, duty called and another day of tireless exercises and training routines lay ahead of him. But more to the fact, was that a horrible screeching sound emanating from just outside his window would not allow him peace enough to sleep anyway.
"Damn it all to hell," He groaned, rolling out of bed and landing with a deliberate thud on the hard wooden floor. "Maybe if I just lay here forever, I'll just die and not have to get up." he thought hopefully. But the incessant cawing sound taunted him from outside, as if yelling at him to get up.
Bitter and yawning he got to his feet and rubbed his eyes. The sky outside his window was still dim, and to the left, roosting calmly on the top of a telephone pole was the perpetrator of the aggravating noises.
"Stupid crow." Naruto sighed, lifting up the window and leaning his head out. "Shut up you stupid bird!" he yelled at it. Oddly enough though, it did. The large black bird turned its head swiftly in Naruto's direction, making him jump, feeling as though it was staring right at him.
"Creepy bird." He muttered under his breath, pulling his head back in the window and thinking nothing more of it.
Naruto went about his morning routine, stretching, washing, getting dress and eating his instant Ramen (the best part of the morning in his opinion), and as he stood at his mirror tying his head protector on he saw an irking reflection over his shoulder. Whirling around he found that the large black crow had perched itself on his open window ledge and was now watching him intently.
"Hey! Get out of here!" He shouted at it, waving his arms and trying to scare it away. But it just sat there.
A few steps away from it, Naruto stopped, watching the bird curiously as it stared back at him.
"What do you want?" Naruto asked the bird, half forgetting it wouldn't answer him. After a moment of awkward silence Naruto shook his head and left, ignoring the irksome bird, and leaving it to sit silently on his windowsill.
* * * * * *
"Naruto! You're late!" his lovely and bitter pink haired teammate yelled at him scornfully when he arrived at their decided meeting point. "For goodness sake even Kakashi-sensei's here!"
"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto apologized, noting his, religiously-late, teacher's presence and wondering just how long he'd been in his room staring at that bird.
"What in the world were you doing?!" Sakura scolded him, arm crossed firmly across her chest, looking even more put off than usual.
"I wasn't doing anything!" Naruto defended himself, "There was this freaky crow and,"
No sooner had the words left his mouth when a large black bird swooped down out of the trees and landed on a near by fence post.
"See! That's it!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the bird, which let out a little caw and crooked its head to the side.
"Oh for heavens sake it's just a bird! Now lets just get going!" Sakura shook her head, disbelieving of his moronity.
* * * * * *
The morning faded into afternoon more or less without incident, or further sighting of Naruto's mysterious bird.
"God damn it you idiot!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto, cringing and grabbing the back of his right arm just below his sleeve.
"Ack! Sorry Sasuke!" Naruto apologized, running over to his wounded teammate. Sasuke lifted his hand from the back of his arm and examined the blood on his fingers. Naruto dropped his remaining shurinken on the ground and moved to help Sasuke with the cut which he had inflicted on him.
"Get away from me!" Sasuke snapped at him, "You know, you're not supposed to hurt your own team mates!"
"Hey it was an accident!" Naruto defended himself, his almost daily dose of anger towards Sasuke welling up inside of him.
"Naruto! What'd you do!" Sakura shrieked at him, running up from behind them. She pushed Naruto aside and rushed over to Sasuke's side. "Are you ok Sasuke?"
The way Sakura doted on Sasuke drove Naruto absolutely mad. There was no winning with her. He could do anything in the world and she'd still find a way to hate him. As a matter of fact if the world were to end tomorrow, in Naruto's mind, Sakura would still find a way to blame it on him. She didn't care at all if he liked her, she only cared about Sasuke. Even if he were to promise her everything she could ever want, she'd give it all up in a heartbeat for ten minutes alone with Sasuke.
"Hello?!" Kakashi's voice yelled at them from across the field, "If somebody's not dying I don't see why we're stopping."
"Naruto hurt Sasuke-kun!" Sakura tattled on him in an immature "he's- a-big-fat-stupid-head" kinda' way.
"Sasuke? You gonna' live?" Kakashi inquired.
"Of course!" Sasuke scowled, pulling his arm away from Sakura.
"Stupid Sasuke and his stupid superiority complex." Naruto muttered bitterly, turning his back to them and picking his shurinken up off the ground.
As he grabbed for the last one a pair of bright red feet came down out of no where and snatched up the star shaped piece of metal.
"Hey! What the hell!" Naruto looked up and saw the black crow carrying off his shurinken, and settling down with it up high in the branches of a near by tree. Naruto ran to the foot of the tree and glared up at the bird, who cawed at him mockingly.
"What in the world's the problem?" Kakashi asked irritably, as he walked over to where Naruto was staring at the tree for reasons unexplained.
"It's that crow again!" Naruto began to rave, "It took my shurinken! What the hell dose it want from me!"
Sakura, who was doing her best to bandage Sasuke's arm as he walked, scowled at him fervently as they made their way over and looked up into the branches.
"What are you staring at, idiot?" Sakura groaned, not noticing the bird.
"It's Nayoko!" Kakashi laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"It's what?" Naruto asked.
"Nayoko." He repeated again, "See how she has red feet?" Kakashi pointed out, Sasuke and Sakura gazed up into the thick leaves, finally picking out the dark bird's bright red feet hiding amongst the green foliage.
"Why are its feet red?" Naruto wondered aloud.
"HER feet are red because of her shoes." he said matter-of-factly, as if it were just common knowledge.
"Crows don't ware shoes." Sakura snipped, hands on her hips, looking annoyed that they had stopped for a useless bird.
"Ah, but girls do." Kakashi pointed out, none of them understanding the relevance of the fact. He sighed, noting the blank looks on their faces. "Don't you know the story about Nayoko?"
"Ooo! No! Tell me!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, eager to find out what was so special about his stalker crow.
"Shut up Naruto, you're wasting our time." Sasuke said coldly.
"You shut up, Fuck-face!" Naruto snapped at him.
"What'd you call me!?" Sasuke inquired harshly, his one hand clenched in a tight fist and his other still holding his bleeding arm.
"You heard me! Fuck-face!" Naruto shouted again, getting up in Sasuke's face.
"Hey you two that's enough." Kakashi sighed calmly, wacking Naruto (who was nearest to him) on the back of the head.
"Sensei!" Naruto whined.
"Do you wanna hear the story or not?" Kakashi asked again, ignoring Naruto's agitated tone.
"Ooo! Yes!" Naruto pepped up again. Sasuke and Sakura sighed in unison, giving up their pointless fight against Naruto's will.
"Well, it's supposed to be that if you're visited by the Red Footed Crow it means you'll find true love." Kakashi began to explain.
"So then why the heck is she bothering me?" Naruto cut in, looking up at the crow who replied to his glance with a tentative caw.
"She's wants to help you."
"What? What's she wanna do that for!?"
"Nayoko's suppose to be the Guide of Hopeless Loves."
"So Naruto's hopeless?" Sakura snickered.
"Hey! I am not!"
"Don't think of it as a bad thing," Kakashi laughed, "they say a jilted spirit is never wrong."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, still trying to pretend to be uninterested.
"Well, the story goes that Nayoko was a shinobi girl who lived in Konoha years and years and years ago. She was supposed to have been incredibly skilled and talented, and her trademark was these bright red sandals she always wore. Hence the red feet." He nodded, "But Nayoko was supposedly in love with this highly skilled Anbu warrior, so much so that she never even realized that her best friend was tremendously in love with her. The Anbu she was in love with, however, didn't feel the same way about her and so she killed herself feeling that no one was ever going to love her. But her friend, the one who was actually in love with her all along, found her dying and told her how he felt. So they say her soul was reborn inside of a red footed crow and Nayoko goes around trying to save other people from making the same mistake as her by not realizing the loves that are so near to them."
Naruto looked up at the bird again, who cawed a few times before flipping his shurinken down from the branches.
"Don't think of her as something bad, think of her as a map, guiding you to the one you're meant for."
"So how's she gonna' do that?"
"I have no idea." Kakashi shrugged, "I've never actually seen Nayoko before. I thought she was just a stupid story that mothers told to their ugly daughters."
"HEY!" Naruto scowled, as Sakura and Sasuke both tried to suppress their snickers.
* * * * * *
It was hard for Naruto to concentrate the rest of the evening, as all he was able to think of was Nayoko. The ominous bird had been flapping around all day, watching them as they worked. Once Sasuke had even tried to scare it off by throwing kunai at it, but to no avail.
That evening they headed back towards the school, Nayoko flying along ahead of them, disappearing and reappearing randomly.
"Man, I hope she's here to hook me up with Sakura-chan!" Naruto thought excitedly as he walked along side her. "I mean, after all, that is a pretty hopeless love!" just the idea gave him goose bumps. Him and pretty, strong, intelligent Sakura, now THAT would be great. He looked over at her, walking along side him with her nose in the air, and her silky cherry-blossom pink hair ruffling in the breeze. To him she was like a cynical sort of angel, put on earth just to torment him.
"This is ridiculous!" Sakura scowled, shattering his lovely vision as she saw Nayoko again and picked up a rock in her hand, "Why wont that horrible bird just go away!" she pulled back her arm to throw the rock at the crow but Naruto caught her arm mid swing.
"Hey! Don't do that!"
"Why not?! It's driving me crazy!"
"It's not your bird, so leave it alone."
"Oh for heavens sake..." she scowled again, giving Naruto and nasty look and running ahead to catch up with Sasuke.
Naruto scowled himself, watching as she grabbed hold of his arm; a huge indulgent smile on her face. Sasuke was his nemesis in damn near everything. Naruto loathed him with every fiber of his being, and yet, he seemed doomed to be in envy of him forever. He could only wish it was his arm that Sakura clung to so readily.
"What do you want from me?!" Naruto thought to Nayoko in his head as he watched her come swooping down across the road and land gracefully on a near by mail box, her bright red feet blending with the matching paint.
* * * * * *
When they arrived at the school Kakashi insisted that Sasuke receive stitches for the wound Naruto had given him earlier as the back of his arm had yet to quit bleeding, and sent him and Naruto down to see the nurse.
"You can go now you know." Sasuke told Naruto monotonously as they sat, waiting quietly, in the stark white nurses office.
"Yeah well, Kakashi-sensei told me to come with you, and besides," he laughed lightly, "Im thinking that maybe if I stay inside long enough that bird will get bored and fly away." By now his thoughts of Nayoko had started to become a little spiteful, as the hopelessness of his love for Sakura seemed more than even a, supposedly, magical crow could remedy.
Sasuke didn't reciprocate Naruto's humored feeling and just sat quietly staring down at the floor. The two sat, in awkward silence, neither one saying a word.
Sasuke's cold, nonchalant, demeanor, always gave Naruto the chills. Just watching the ominous, dark haired boy gave him the shivers. His morbid aura was a night and day contrast from Naruto's own intense, sun shine, persona. Which was all the more reasons for them to be rivals (at least in Naruto's mind).
Moments later the nurse came in and instructed Sasuke to take a seat on her table. Undoing the blood soaked, makeshift dressing on Sasuke's arm Naruto could clearly see the damage which he'd inflicted on his team mate. Sasuke's skin had been sliced through like a hot knife would through butter by the razor sharp edges of Naruto's shurinken. Edging closer, Naruto watched as the nurse wiped away the oozing blood, causing Sasuke to cringe.
"Your handy work?" she inquired, looking up at Naruto as she began to prep her tools.
"Uh, yeah." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry bout that Sasuke." he nodded, scratching at the back of his neck. Naruto couldn't help but cringe too when he saw her pulling out a fresh needle. The idea of the wire thin metal piercing Sasuke's flesh slowly and deliberately made his throat tighten.
"Do you want and anaesthetic?" she asked Sasuke, with a disconcerned tone in her voice.
"No." he shook his head, never making eye contact with her. Naruto was irked to see that Sasuke was so calm, even in the face of deliberate impalement.
Naruto watched tentatively as she rubbed his deep wound with antiseptic, and he could see the way Sasuke's eyes widened, as it no doubt stung horribly. Slowly she pierced his skin, and the young boy seethed through clenched teeth, his obvious pain showing on his face for only a moment before he pushed it aside again and resumed looking morbid.
"You don't gotta' put on a tough guy act for me." Naruto snickered, "If it hurts just say so."
"Shut up idiot." Sasuke shot him a bitter look, "This is YOUR fault you know."
Naruto shrugged and hopped up on to the table next to Sasuke, jarring it ever so slightly and causing the nurse to shoot him an equally ugly look as she was trying to pull the thread through Sasuke's arm. Naruto looked down and noticed the way he was clenching his fists so tightly, his nails pressing deep into his palms as he withheld all expression from his face.
Reaching down Naruto turned his hand out to Sasuke, who without stopping to think, took hold of him, squeezing his hand incredibly hard. But Naruto didn't mind, after all, it was the least he could do as it was his fault anyhow.
* * * * * *
Ten stitches later Sasuke's arm was redressed and they were sent off on their way again.
"You know, I really am sorry about that." Naruto said again as they wondered back down the hallway.
"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged.
* * * * * *
Naruto had all but forgotten about his little stalker when he arrived home that evening. Showering and changing his clothes he sat down on the edge of his bed tiered and bored. Flopping down against his soft mattress he stared at the ceiling a while wondering what to do; but he wasn't left wondering long as an unexpected visitor came to rest just outside his window. A shrill cry caught his attention and he wandered over to the window, leaning on the sill and sticking his head out.
"You. What do you want!?" Naruto yelled at the dark feathered bird, who didn't answer, but just sat there, looking at him with a crooked stare.
Jumping from its perch the bird came to rest again on the window sill, Naruto sitting back on the floor and looking up at her, her bright red feet gripping at the wood.
"I don't know how you expect to help me." Naruto shrugged, beginning to carry on a conversation with the bird, never stopping to think it was odd, "Sakura-chan will never notice me no matter how hard you try. Trust me, I know. She think's im an idiot."
Somehow it started to feel good to vent all his thoughts to the crow, who had by now, hopped inside and was perched on the back of a chair, listening intently as Naruto paced about the room talking incessantly.
"And Sasuke! Sasuke that bastard. He's got it all doesn't he, god damn it!" He continued to seethe, "Strength, skill, talent, coordination, speed, smarts, AND Sakura! He's got everything I don't! Him and his stupid Sharingan too!" Just the thought of Sasuke and his perfection was building up an intense anger in Naruto's chest.
"Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect body, perfect eyes, perfect EVERYTHING!" Naruto yelled, ruffling his own long, spiky, blond tresses angrily with his hands.
"Maybe Sakura's right, maybe I am just an idiot." he finally sighed, slouching down against the wall and pulling his knees up to his chest. Visions of Sasuke were plaguing his mind. There wasn't a bit of him Naruto couldn't see vividly in his head. Sasuke was the embodiment of everything Naruto had worked so hard to become, and yet, he was still Naruto and Sasuke was still Sasuke. Better than him, in every way.
There were times when it felt as though Sasuke were the Shinigami himself, as every thing he did he seemed to do with at least some sort of malice. But then again, he began to think. Staring down at his hand Naruto thought back to the nurses office; how Sasuke had held his hand so tightly, almost as if he would crush his fingers. But yet, Naruto hadn't felt threatened by him at all, if anything Sasuke's silent suffering had pulled at his heart strings and made him feel horribly bad about what he'd done, because it'd become evident to him then that even Sasuke Uchiha was vulnerable to at least so degree of pain.
Snapping back to reality Naruto jumped up and walked over the window, looking out over the sleepy village outstretched bellow him and off into the distance where the stars were slowly beginning to appear over the mountains. Somehow he found himself unable to stay inside. So without bothering to put on socks or shoes he jumped out the window and on to the edge of the roof below.
"Later Nayoko!" he shouted up to the red footed bird, who was watching him from the sill as he jumped down to the ground bellow.
* * * * * *
Wondering the ever darkening streets aimlessly Naruto found himself wondering about the true nature of Sasuke Uchiha. All of the irrational things hed found himself saying earlier were sounding more and more ludicrous the more he thought them over in his head. Sasuke really wasn't a bad person, Naruto just couldn't make himself admit that he was just so insanely jealous of him. Everything about Sasuke's perfection seemed to consume him, just the way his own desirers for personal perfection did.
Stopping in the middle of the road Naruto looked back over his shoulder in the direction of Sasuke's house. He was debating going over and telling him he was sorry again, and this time actually meaning it. But it was late. There was no point anyway, Sasuke'd just send him home and never listen to a word he said anyhow.
Just then, Nayoko came hopping across Naruto's path, her bright red feet seeming to glow ever so slightly in the darkness.
"Hey there." Naruto sighed.
"Wark!" Nayoko replied, cawing at him.
"Well?" Naruto asked, his hands on his hips, "What do you want now?"
She waddled over to him and pecked at his exposed toes, making him jump back.
"Hey! Cut it out!"
"Wark! Wark!" she cawed again, flapping her wings madly.
"What? What do you want?!" Naruto shouted at her. "Boy, Sakura was right," he sighed, "you are a crack head."
Weather this offended her or just set her off he couldn't tell, but the large black bird began crowing incessantly, flapping her wings and hopping up and down wildly.
"Hey! Hey! Shut the hell up!" Naruto yelled, bending down and grabbing at the flustered bird, trying to keep her from waking everyone up. Just as he had his hands around her she flew off down the road and landed a ways off, cawing over and over again.
"What?" Naruto said again, "You want me to fallow you, is that it, you freak bird?"
Nayoko gave a short cry and flew off again a little further down the road. Sighing, and thinking to himself how stupid this was, Naruto fallowed the belligerent bird down the winding village streets.
* * * * * *
Stopping every now and again to let him catch up, Nayoko seemed to be traveling in an erratic path, leading him up and down ally ways and behind buildings, all leading to nowhere in particular.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Naruto inquired mournfully, his bare feet beginning to sting as the cold dirt road under them was rough and stony. But just then, he realized they were heading slowly in the direction of Sakura's house.
A wave of excitement washed over him as he remembered just what it was this seemingly demented bird was supposed to be doing.
"Sakura." he smiled, looking down the road in her direction. If she was really leading him towards her house, then this was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Could he and Sakura really be meant to be together? He didn't even care how stupid and unlikely the idea was, he just felt his excitement building up inside of him and making his ears tingle.
"Alright Nayoko! Lead away!" He shouted up at her as she circled over head.
Taking off at a full run Naruto fallowed the bird closely as she glided along in front of him, twisting her way through the streets.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naruto began to think, his impatient excitement building the nearer they came to her house. This was what he'd always wanted. To be "destined" to be with Sakura, his fiery, cherry-blossom, goddess.
He was breathing harder and harder as he ran, haphazardly, along behind his shadowy guide; his heart feeling as though it were beating in his throat.
"I'm almost there Sakura-chan!" he smiled widely as he rounded the corner just before her house.
Unfortunately for him however, every seemingly perfect scenario has its flaws. And Naruto found himself colliding head-long with another person as he ran full tilt around the corner, hitting hard and sending them both sprawling across the ground.
Continued...
Message: This is NOT a continuation of my two previous stories. It may have the same theme but other than that they're unrelated. This ones a little more light- hearted than my other story, less of a downer, and more just for my own satisfaction.
Summery: An old Konoha love fable seems to be playing out right in front of Naruto's eyes, and leading him right into the arms of the girl of his dreams. But will his perfect little story turn out for him the way he expects it? It seems the outcome can be uncertain when hopeless loves are involved.
Warning: sasunaru *shounen-ai* in part two
Sleeping the day away was something Naruto would have been more than pleased to do, however, duty called and another day of tireless exercises and training routines lay ahead of him. But more to the fact, was that a horrible screeching sound emanating from just outside his window would not allow him peace enough to sleep anyway.
"Damn it all to hell," He groaned, rolling out of bed and landing with a deliberate thud on the hard wooden floor. "Maybe if I just lay here forever, I'll just die and not have to get up." he thought hopefully. But the incessant cawing sound taunted him from outside, as if yelling at him to get up.
Bitter and yawning he got to his feet and rubbed his eyes. The sky outside his window was still dim, and to the left, roosting calmly on the top of a telephone pole was the perpetrator of the aggravating noises.
"Stupid crow." Naruto sighed, lifting up the window and leaning his head out. "Shut up you stupid bird!" he yelled at it. Oddly enough though, it did. The large black bird turned its head swiftly in Naruto's direction, making him jump, feeling as though it was staring right at him.
"Creepy bird." He muttered under his breath, pulling his head back in the window and thinking nothing more of it.
Naruto went about his morning routine, stretching, washing, getting dress and eating his instant Ramen (the best part of the morning in his opinion), and as he stood at his mirror tying his head protector on he saw an irking reflection over his shoulder. Whirling around he found that the large black crow had perched itself on his open window ledge and was now watching him intently.
"Hey! Get out of here!" He shouted at it, waving his arms and trying to scare it away. But it just sat there.
A few steps away from it, Naruto stopped, watching the bird curiously as it stared back at him.
"What do you want?" Naruto asked the bird, half forgetting it wouldn't answer him. After a moment of awkward silence Naruto shook his head and left, ignoring the irksome bird, and leaving it to sit silently on his windowsill.
* * * * * *
"Naruto! You're late!" his lovely and bitter pink haired teammate yelled at him scornfully when he arrived at their decided meeting point. "For goodness sake even Kakashi-sensei's here!"
"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto apologized, noting his, religiously-late, teacher's presence and wondering just how long he'd been in his room staring at that bird.
"What in the world were you doing?!" Sakura scolded him, arm crossed firmly across her chest, looking even more put off than usual.
"I wasn't doing anything!" Naruto defended himself, "There was this freaky crow and,"
No sooner had the words left his mouth when a large black bird swooped down out of the trees and landed on a near by fence post.
"See! That's it!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the bird, which let out a little caw and crooked its head to the side.
"Oh for heavens sake it's just a bird! Now lets just get going!" Sakura shook her head, disbelieving of his moronity.
* * * * * *
The morning faded into afternoon more or less without incident, or further sighting of Naruto's mysterious bird.
"God damn it you idiot!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto, cringing and grabbing the back of his right arm just below his sleeve.
"Ack! Sorry Sasuke!" Naruto apologized, running over to his wounded teammate. Sasuke lifted his hand from the back of his arm and examined the blood on his fingers. Naruto dropped his remaining shurinken on the ground and moved to help Sasuke with the cut which he had inflicted on him.
"Get away from me!" Sasuke snapped at him, "You know, you're not supposed to hurt your own team mates!"
"Hey it was an accident!" Naruto defended himself, his almost daily dose of anger towards Sasuke welling up inside of him.
"Naruto! What'd you do!" Sakura shrieked at him, running up from behind them. She pushed Naruto aside and rushed over to Sasuke's side. "Are you ok Sasuke?"
The way Sakura doted on Sasuke drove Naruto absolutely mad. There was no winning with her. He could do anything in the world and she'd still find a way to hate him. As a matter of fact if the world were to end tomorrow, in Naruto's mind, Sakura would still find a way to blame it on him. She didn't care at all if he liked her, she only cared about Sasuke. Even if he were to promise her everything she could ever want, she'd give it all up in a heartbeat for ten minutes alone with Sasuke.
"Hello?!" Kakashi's voice yelled at them from across the field, "If somebody's not dying I don't see why we're stopping."
"Naruto hurt Sasuke-kun!" Sakura tattled on him in an immature "he's- a-big-fat-stupid-head" kinda' way.
"Sasuke? You gonna' live?" Kakashi inquired.
"Of course!" Sasuke scowled, pulling his arm away from Sakura.
"Stupid Sasuke and his stupid superiority complex." Naruto muttered bitterly, turning his back to them and picking his shurinken up off the ground.
As he grabbed for the last one a pair of bright red feet came down out of no where and snatched up the star shaped piece of metal.
"Hey! What the hell!" Naruto looked up and saw the black crow carrying off his shurinken, and settling down with it up high in the branches of a near by tree. Naruto ran to the foot of the tree and glared up at the bird, who cawed at him mockingly.
"What in the world's the problem?" Kakashi asked irritably, as he walked over to where Naruto was staring at the tree for reasons unexplained.
"It's that crow again!" Naruto began to rave, "It took my shurinken! What the hell dose it want from me!"
Sakura, who was doing her best to bandage Sasuke's arm as he walked, scowled at him fervently as they made their way over and looked up into the branches.
"What are you staring at, idiot?" Sakura groaned, not noticing the bird.
"It's Nayoko!" Kakashi laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"It's what?" Naruto asked.
"Nayoko." He repeated again, "See how she has red feet?" Kakashi pointed out, Sasuke and Sakura gazed up into the thick leaves, finally picking out the dark bird's bright red feet hiding amongst the green foliage.
"Why are its feet red?" Naruto wondered aloud.
"HER feet are red because of her shoes." he said matter-of-factly, as if it were just common knowledge.
"Crows don't ware shoes." Sakura snipped, hands on her hips, looking annoyed that they had stopped for a useless bird.
"Ah, but girls do." Kakashi pointed out, none of them understanding the relevance of the fact. He sighed, noting the blank looks on their faces. "Don't you know the story about Nayoko?"
"Ooo! No! Tell me!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, eager to find out what was so special about his stalker crow.
"Shut up Naruto, you're wasting our time." Sasuke said coldly.
"You shut up, Fuck-face!" Naruto snapped at him.
"What'd you call me!?" Sasuke inquired harshly, his one hand clenched in a tight fist and his other still holding his bleeding arm.
"You heard me! Fuck-face!" Naruto shouted again, getting up in Sasuke's face.
"Hey you two that's enough." Kakashi sighed calmly, wacking Naruto (who was nearest to him) on the back of the head.
"Sensei!" Naruto whined.
"Do you wanna hear the story or not?" Kakashi asked again, ignoring Naruto's agitated tone.
"Ooo! Yes!" Naruto pepped up again. Sasuke and Sakura sighed in unison, giving up their pointless fight against Naruto's will.
"Well, it's supposed to be that if you're visited by the Red Footed Crow it means you'll find true love." Kakashi began to explain.
"So then why the heck is she bothering me?" Naruto cut in, looking up at the crow who replied to his glance with a tentative caw.
"She's wants to help you."
"What? What's she wanna do that for!?"
"Nayoko's suppose to be the Guide of Hopeless Loves."
"So Naruto's hopeless?" Sakura snickered.
"Hey! I am not!"
"Don't think of it as a bad thing," Kakashi laughed, "they say a jilted spirit is never wrong."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, still trying to pretend to be uninterested.
"Well, the story goes that Nayoko was a shinobi girl who lived in Konoha years and years and years ago. She was supposed to have been incredibly skilled and talented, and her trademark was these bright red sandals she always wore. Hence the red feet." He nodded, "But Nayoko was supposedly in love with this highly skilled Anbu warrior, so much so that she never even realized that her best friend was tremendously in love with her. The Anbu she was in love with, however, didn't feel the same way about her and so she killed herself feeling that no one was ever going to love her. But her friend, the one who was actually in love with her all along, found her dying and told her how he felt. So they say her soul was reborn inside of a red footed crow and Nayoko goes around trying to save other people from making the same mistake as her by not realizing the loves that are so near to them."
Naruto looked up at the bird again, who cawed a few times before flipping his shurinken down from the branches.
"Don't think of her as something bad, think of her as a map, guiding you to the one you're meant for."
"So how's she gonna' do that?"
"I have no idea." Kakashi shrugged, "I've never actually seen Nayoko before. I thought she was just a stupid story that mothers told to their ugly daughters."
"HEY!" Naruto scowled, as Sakura and Sasuke both tried to suppress their snickers.
* * * * * *
It was hard for Naruto to concentrate the rest of the evening, as all he was able to think of was Nayoko. The ominous bird had been flapping around all day, watching them as they worked. Once Sasuke had even tried to scare it off by throwing kunai at it, but to no avail.
That evening they headed back towards the school, Nayoko flying along ahead of them, disappearing and reappearing randomly.
"Man, I hope she's here to hook me up with Sakura-chan!" Naruto thought excitedly as he walked along side her. "I mean, after all, that is a pretty hopeless love!" just the idea gave him goose bumps. Him and pretty, strong, intelligent Sakura, now THAT would be great. He looked over at her, walking along side him with her nose in the air, and her silky cherry-blossom pink hair ruffling in the breeze. To him she was like a cynical sort of angel, put on earth just to torment him.
"This is ridiculous!" Sakura scowled, shattering his lovely vision as she saw Nayoko again and picked up a rock in her hand, "Why wont that horrible bird just go away!" she pulled back her arm to throw the rock at the crow but Naruto caught her arm mid swing.
"Hey! Don't do that!"
"Why not?! It's driving me crazy!"
"It's not your bird, so leave it alone."
"Oh for heavens sake..." she scowled again, giving Naruto and nasty look and running ahead to catch up with Sasuke.
Naruto scowled himself, watching as she grabbed hold of his arm; a huge indulgent smile on her face. Sasuke was his nemesis in damn near everything. Naruto loathed him with every fiber of his being, and yet, he seemed doomed to be in envy of him forever. He could only wish it was his arm that Sakura clung to so readily.
"What do you want from me?!" Naruto thought to Nayoko in his head as he watched her come swooping down across the road and land gracefully on a near by mail box, her bright red feet blending with the matching paint.
* * * * * *
When they arrived at the school Kakashi insisted that Sasuke receive stitches for the wound Naruto had given him earlier as the back of his arm had yet to quit bleeding, and sent him and Naruto down to see the nurse.
"You can go now you know." Sasuke told Naruto monotonously as they sat, waiting quietly, in the stark white nurses office.
"Yeah well, Kakashi-sensei told me to come with you, and besides," he laughed lightly, "Im thinking that maybe if I stay inside long enough that bird will get bored and fly away." By now his thoughts of Nayoko had started to become a little spiteful, as the hopelessness of his love for Sakura seemed more than even a, supposedly, magical crow could remedy.
Sasuke didn't reciprocate Naruto's humored feeling and just sat quietly staring down at the floor. The two sat, in awkward silence, neither one saying a word.
Sasuke's cold, nonchalant, demeanor, always gave Naruto the chills. Just watching the ominous, dark haired boy gave him the shivers. His morbid aura was a night and day contrast from Naruto's own intense, sun shine, persona. Which was all the more reasons for them to be rivals (at least in Naruto's mind).
Moments later the nurse came in and instructed Sasuke to take a seat on her table. Undoing the blood soaked, makeshift dressing on Sasuke's arm Naruto could clearly see the damage which he'd inflicted on his team mate. Sasuke's skin had been sliced through like a hot knife would through butter by the razor sharp edges of Naruto's shurinken. Edging closer, Naruto watched as the nurse wiped away the oozing blood, causing Sasuke to cringe.
"Your handy work?" she inquired, looking up at Naruto as she began to prep her tools.
"Uh, yeah." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry bout that Sasuke." he nodded, scratching at the back of his neck. Naruto couldn't help but cringe too when he saw her pulling out a fresh needle. The idea of the wire thin metal piercing Sasuke's flesh slowly and deliberately made his throat tighten.
"Do you want and anaesthetic?" she asked Sasuke, with a disconcerned tone in her voice.
"No." he shook his head, never making eye contact with her. Naruto was irked to see that Sasuke was so calm, even in the face of deliberate impalement.
Naruto watched tentatively as she rubbed his deep wound with antiseptic, and he could see the way Sasuke's eyes widened, as it no doubt stung horribly. Slowly she pierced his skin, and the young boy seethed through clenched teeth, his obvious pain showing on his face for only a moment before he pushed it aside again and resumed looking morbid.
"You don't gotta' put on a tough guy act for me." Naruto snickered, "If it hurts just say so."
"Shut up idiot." Sasuke shot him a bitter look, "This is YOUR fault you know."
Naruto shrugged and hopped up on to the table next to Sasuke, jarring it ever so slightly and causing the nurse to shoot him an equally ugly look as she was trying to pull the thread through Sasuke's arm. Naruto looked down and noticed the way he was clenching his fists so tightly, his nails pressing deep into his palms as he withheld all expression from his face.
Reaching down Naruto turned his hand out to Sasuke, who without stopping to think, took hold of him, squeezing his hand incredibly hard. But Naruto didn't mind, after all, it was the least he could do as it was his fault anyhow.
* * * * * *
Ten stitches later Sasuke's arm was redressed and they were sent off on their way again.
"You know, I really am sorry about that." Naruto said again as they wondered back down the hallway.
"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged.
* * * * * *
Naruto had all but forgotten about his little stalker when he arrived home that evening. Showering and changing his clothes he sat down on the edge of his bed tiered and bored. Flopping down against his soft mattress he stared at the ceiling a while wondering what to do; but he wasn't left wondering long as an unexpected visitor came to rest just outside his window. A shrill cry caught his attention and he wandered over to the window, leaning on the sill and sticking his head out.
"You. What do you want!?" Naruto yelled at the dark feathered bird, who didn't answer, but just sat there, looking at him with a crooked stare.
Jumping from its perch the bird came to rest again on the window sill, Naruto sitting back on the floor and looking up at her, her bright red feet gripping at the wood.
"I don't know how you expect to help me." Naruto shrugged, beginning to carry on a conversation with the bird, never stopping to think it was odd, "Sakura-chan will never notice me no matter how hard you try. Trust me, I know. She think's im an idiot."
Somehow it started to feel good to vent all his thoughts to the crow, who had by now, hopped inside and was perched on the back of a chair, listening intently as Naruto paced about the room talking incessantly.
"And Sasuke! Sasuke that bastard. He's got it all doesn't he, god damn it!" He continued to seethe, "Strength, skill, talent, coordination, speed, smarts, AND Sakura! He's got everything I don't! Him and his stupid Sharingan too!" Just the thought of Sasuke and his perfection was building up an intense anger in Naruto's chest.
"Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect body, perfect eyes, perfect EVERYTHING!" Naruto yelled, ruffling his own long, spiky, blond tresses angrily with his hands.
"Maybe Sakura's right, maybe I am just an idiot." he finally sighed, slouching down against the wall and pulling his knees up to his chest. Visions of Sasuke were plaguing his mind. There wasn't a bit of him Naruto couldn't see vividly in his head. Sasuke was the embodiment of everything Naruto had worked so hard to become, and yet, he was still Naruto and Sasuke was still Sasuke. Better than him, in every way.
There were times when it felt as though Sasuke were the Shinigami himself, as every thing he did he seemed to do with at least some sort of malice. But then again, he began to think. Staring down at his hand Naruto thought back to the nurses office; how Sasuke had held his hand so tightly, almost as if he would crush his fingers. But yet, Naruto hadn't felt threatened by him at all, if anything Sasuke's silent suffering had pulled at his heart strings and made him feel horribly bad about what he'd done, because it'd become evident to him then that even Sasuke Uchiha was vulnerable to at least so degree of pain.
Snapping back to reality Naruto jumped up and walked over the window, looking out over the sleepy village outstretched bellow him and off into the distance where the stars were slowly beginning to appear over the mountains. Somehow he found himself unable to stay inside. So without bothering to put on socks or shoes he jumped out the window and on to the edge of the roof below.
"Later Nayoko!" he shouted up to the red footed bird, who was watching him from the sill as he jumped down to the ground bellow.
* * * * * *
Wondering the ever darkening streets aimlessly Naruto found himself wondering about the true nature of Sasuke Uchiha. All of the irrational things hed found himself saying earlier were sounding more and more ludicrous the more he thought them over in his head. Sasuke really wasn't a bad person, Naruto just couldn't make himself admit that he was just so insanely jealous of him. Everything about Sasuke's perfection seemed to consume him, just the way his own desirers for personal perfection did.
Stopping in the middle of the road Naruto looked back over his shoulder in the direction of Sasuke's house. He was debating going over and telling him he was sorry again, and this time actually meaning it. But it was late. There was no point anyway, Sasuke'd just send him home and never listen to a word he said anyhow.
Just then, Nayoko came hopping across Naruto's path, her bright red feet seeming to glow ever so slightly in the darkness.
"Hey there." Naruto sighed.
"Wark!" Nayoko replied, cawing at him.
"Well?" Naruto asked, his hands on his hips, "What do you want now?"
She waddled over to him and pecked at his exposed toes, making him jump back.
"Hey! Cut it out!"
"Wark! Wark!" she cawed again, flapping her wings madly.
"What? What do you want?!" Naruto shouted at her. "Boy, Sakura was right," he sighed, "you are a crack head."
Weather this offended her or just set her off he couldn't tell, but the large black bird began crowing incessantly, flapping her wings and hopping up and down wildly.
"Hey! Hey! Shut the hell up!" Naruto yelled, bending down and grabbing at the flustered bird, trying to keep her from waking everyone up. Just as he had his hands around her she flew off down the road and landed a ways off, cawing over and over again.
"What?" Naruto said again, "You want me to fallow you, is that it, you freak bird?"
Nayoko gave a short cry and flew off again a little further down the road. Sighing, and thinking to himself how stupid this was, Naruto fallowed the belligerent bird down the winding village streets.
* * * * * *
Stopping every now and again to let him catch up, Nayoko seemed to be traveling in an erratic path, leading him up and down ally ways and behind buildings, all leading to nowhere in particular.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Naruto inquired mournfully, his bare feet beginning to sting as the cold dirt road under them was rough and stony. But just then, he realized they were heading slowly in the direction of Sakura's house.
A wave of excitement washed over him as he remembered just what it was this seemingly demented bird was supposed to be doing.
"Sakura." he smiled, looking down the road in her direction. If she was really leading him towards her house, then this was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Could he and Sakura really be meant to be together? He didn't even care how stupid and unlikely the idea was, he just felt his excitement building up inside of him and making his ears tingle.
"Alright Nayoko! Lead away!" He shouted up at her as she circled over head.
Taking off at a full run Naruto fallowed the bird closely as she glided along in front of him, twisting her way through the streets.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naruto began to think, his impatient excitement building the nearer they came to her house. This was what he'd always wanted. To be "destined" to be with Sakura, his fiery, cherry-blossom, goddess.
He was breathing harder and harder as he ran, haphazardly, along behind his shadowy guide; his heart feeling as though it were beating in his throat.
"I'm almost there Sakura-chan!" he smiled widely as he rounded the corner just before her house.
Unfortunately for him however, every seemingly perfect scenario has its flaws. And Naruto found himself colliding head-long with another person as he ran full tilt around the corner, hitting hard and sending them both sprawling across the ground.
Continued...