Disclaimer: I do not own the anime/manga series "Naruto" or any of its characters.
Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing Naruto fanfiction. I know it's short and not particularly good, but I hope you like it anyway.
Naruto trudged wearily down the street on his way to Ichiraku Tsukemen, formerly Ichiraku Ramen. He had just finished a particularly rough training session and was looking forwards to some nourishing hot food. More than that though, he was looking forwards to seeing his girlfriend Ayame.
Girlfriend he thought with a smile. He'd known the beautiful daughter of the restaurant's owner for most of his life. She and her father had been among the few people who had treated him kindly. A few months ago they had started dating and their relationship was going from strength to strength.
Ayame looked up and smiled as he entered. "Hi Naruto" she said in her usual sweet voice.
"Hi Ayame" he replied.
Her smile faded as she noticed how tired he looked. "Oh my, are you alright Naruto?"
"I'm fine; training was just a little hard today. It's nothing that a kiss from you followed by a good bowl of miso ramen can't cure."
When Ayame had first changed the restaurant's speciality from ramen to tsukemen Naruto had not been happy. Eventually he had agreed to try some and it had grown on him although he still preferred ramen. They had come to an arrangement where Ayame would prepare some for him as long as he as long as he agreed to not ask for it all the time.
Her smile returned and she kissed him affectionately. "Coming right up" she said brightly.
"So where's your dad?" he asked when she returned with his order.
"He's meeting an old friend of his."
As Naruto started digging in, Teuchi entered looking very pleased. "Hello Ayame, Naruto."
"Hi daddy" she replied.
"Hey pops" said Naruto. "So what's got you so fired up?"
"I've just been to see my old friend Yoru. Her son is getting married and she wants Ayame and me to cater for the wedding."
"That's great daddy" said Ayame happily as she hurried up to her father and hugged him.
"That it is" he agreed. "It will be refreshing to cook something other than noodles for a change."
"Hey what's wrong with noodles?" Naruto objected.
Ayame giggled.
The next day Ayame and her father arrived at the Yoru residence. Although not the largest or most opulent building in Konoha it was still highly impressive.
As they were escorted in, Ayame noticed something. Some distance away, two women were having a heated argument. They were too far away for her to hear what they were saying but something about the exchange made her suspicious.
"What's going on? Why won't Ryo talk to me?" the younger woman asked angrily.
"He does not want to see you. Now leave and do not come here again" said the older woman as she turned and walked away.
The kitchens, not surprisingly were large and well-furnished. The cupboards and work surfaces were all of finest teak, while the china was of the most stylish and expensive variety. Chefs hurried back and forth, checking and re-checking that everything was in order. The air was filled with pleasant cooking smells and a babble of chatter.
Even as she helped out with the stirring and chopping, Ayame was distracted. Something about the quarrel she had seen earlier was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on why, exactly, but it did not seem like the usual tension you would expect while preparing for a special event.
At that moment, a servant entered and announced "Yoru-sama and Reiko-sama will see you now."
Teuchi looked up. "Who?" he asked.
"The bride, Reiko Otogawa" he replied.
"But I thought the bride's name was…"
"She is a very busy woman" the servant cut him off.
Ayame's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she followed her father out of the kitchen.
"Teuchi-san and his daughter Ayame-san" the servant announced as he led them into a dressing room.
Standing in front of a gold-framed mirror was a blonde woman in a wedding dress. Next to her was the older woman Ayame had seen earlier.
"Hello Yoru. It's good to see you again" Teuchi said cheerily.
"Good to see you too Teuchi" she replied distractedly. "How are things in the kitchen?" she asked, her casual tone sounding forced.
"Everything's right on schedule. There is just one thing. I need to ask Otogawa-san about what type of rice she wants for…"
"Oh I don't care," she said dismissively. "Whatever you decide."
"Very good. Please go now, we have a lot to get on with" Yoru said.
"Daddy, does this seem a little odd to you?" Ayame asked as they were on their way back to the kitchen.
He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"You said that the bride's name was Yuna. Who is Reiko Otogawa supposed to be? And didn't Yoru-san seem a little on-edge? She couldn't get rid of us quickly enough."
He shrugged. "Sure it's a little odd," he admitted. "But it's none of our business."
Speak for yourself. Something's not right here and I intend to find out what she thought.
They were just entering the foyer when they heard shouting. They looked up to see two men dragging a struggling woman down the stairs, while another man was looking over the railing. He looked confused and frightened.
That's the girl I saw arguing with Yoru-san Ayame realised.
"Don't forget," the woman cried. "Remember what I said, it's not too late!"
"Don't hurt her!" he yelled. "Don't hurt Yuna!"
Reiko appeared behind him; her face contorted in rage, and yanked him out of view as Yuna, was pushed out of the entrance.
Ayame ran after her. Behind her she heard her father calling, "Ayame wait. I don't think we should get involved in this, we, Ayame wait!"
She caught up to Yuna halfway down the pathway as she broke down and started crying.
"There, there," Ayame said soothingly. "It'll be okay." She gently rubbed her back as she spoke. When she had calmed down, Ayame handed her a tissue.
"Thank you," she said as she wiped her eyes.
"What's wrong? What's going on here?" Ayame asked.
"I'm sorry. I can't talk now. I have to go" Yuna replied. She quickly walked away.
Ayame considered following her but decided against it. Clearly she was in no condition to answer questions.
Teuchi came running up behind her. "What was all that about? Are you all right Ayame?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "I, uh, I think she'll be okay."
That seemed to satisfy Teuchi as he nodded and started back towards the kitchen. As Ayame followed him she thought I have to do something.
Later that afternoon Ayame went over to Naruto's apartment. She knocked lightly on the door, hoping that he was home. He would have let her know if he had been assigned a mission but there was always a chance he was out training.
He opened the door and grinned as he saw her. "Hi Ayame."
"Hi Naruto" she said, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. "Sorry to bother you but…"
"Hey it's no bother. You can always come to me if there's anything wrong" he said.
She smiled. "Thanks Naruto. Yes, I think there is something very wrong."
"What do you mean?"
She quickly told him what she'd seen at the wedding preparations. "There's something else too" she added as she took out a napkin she had taken. Printed on it were the words "Ryo and Yuna."
"Hey, that is odd" Naruto agreed. "We should investigate further."
Ayame was relieved. "Let's go and talk to Yuna" she suggested. "Maybe she can tell us more."
A short time later Ayame found herself knocking on another door. It opened a fraction and a wary voice said "hello."
"Hello Yuna" said Ayame gently. "Do you remember me?"
"Yes. You talked to me when I was crying" she replied.
"My name's Ayame and this is Naruto. Can we please come in?"
She let them in and then went to make some tea. While she was gone Ayame noticed something and pointed it out to Naruto.
On the bookcase was a framed picture of Yuna and Ryo standing arm in arm. The affection between the couple could not be mistaken.
That poor girl Ayame thought. If I thought someone had taken Naruto from me… She looked at him and he nodded in understanding.
When she returned with the tea Ayame said gently, "Yuna, I think we can help you get Ryo back. Can you tell us about what happened?"
Yuna closed her eyes briefly, composing herself, before speaking. "Ryo and I were engaged. Everything was going fine, right on schedule, until about a week ago. That's when Reiko appeared." She spoke the name as though it were the worst kind of insult.
Her voice started to crack as she went on. "After that they wouldn't even let me see him."
"Yuna, Ryo loves you, not Reiko," Ayame said gently.
"Then why aren't I walking down the aisle today?"
"You still can be. All you have to do is go there."
"What do you mean?"
"Ryo isn't himself, you saw that. You can get him back."
"Yeah" Naruto agreed. "It sounds to me like he's under a genjutsu. If you can snap him out of it everything will be all right"
Yuna slowly nodded. "All right" she said.
The sun shone brightly down on the assembled people. They were seated on folding chairs with white ribbons tied to them. Everyone was dressed in elegant formalwear. If the different bride puzzled anyone, they certainly didn't show it.
At the front of the gathering was Reiko in her wedding dress, holding a bouquet of flowers. Ryo stood besides her. No one seemed to notice the dull, vacant look on his face.
The priest, a tall, distinguished-looking man was speaking, "if there's anyone here who knows of a reason these two should not be joined, speak now or …"
"Stop!" screamed Yuna.
That got everyone's attention. They turned to look at her, Ayame and Naruto as they came running in.
"I love you Ryo," she cried, looking him directly in the eyes. He blinked and then the vacant look on his face lifted. He ran to Yuna without even glancing at Reiko.
"Yuna I'm so sorry," he said as he hugged her tightly.
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault" she replied.
The people in the congregation were starting to murmur in confusion as the reunited couple embraced.
"You should not have done that," Reiko hissed venomously. "Ninja Art: Light Whip!"
People screamed as she flicked her wrist, sending out a glowing cord of white light. Naruto sprang in front of Ryo and Yuna, creating a wall of shadow clones in time to block the attack. The clones vanished in clouds of smoke as the Light Whip struck them. Reiko spun around and started running away, casting off her veil as she did so.
"Ayame stay with them, I'll get her" Naruto yelled as he gave chase.
He caught up to her as she ran around the back of the building. Naruto leapt over her head, twisting in mid-air to land facing her. "Give up Reiko" he growled.
She smiled mockingly and looked right into his eyes. "Ninja Art: Vitality Sap!" she said.
Naruto felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. Suddenly his eyes felt heavy and his limbs tired. "Hey, w, what's going on?"
Reiko sprang forwards and punched him hard, knocking him to the ground. He looked up, head swimming and his senses reeling to see her draw a kunai.
"Die" she snarled.
BAM!
Before Reiko could strike Ayame came running up behind her and swung a steel dish with all her strength, hitting her in the back of the head. The kunai slipped from her slack fingers and she dropped to the ground unconscious.
Ayame offered a hand and Naruto took it. "Are you okay Naruto?" she asked as she helped him up.
"Yeah thanks to you I am" he answered.
She grinned. "No one messes with my Naruto."
Later that afternoon Naruto and Ayame were enjoying ramen together in Ichiraku's, having turned Reiko over to the Konoha authorities. Naruto had also given a full report to Tsunade.
It had turned out that Reiko was an academy drop-out who had developed an obsession with Ryo. She had left Konoha and received training in another village, including use of a forbidden mind-control technique similar but far weaker and less efficient than the dojutso that Shisui Uchiha had possessed. While unable to affect shinobi it was effective on civilians. Upon her return she had used it to take over the minds of Yoru and Ryo.
"I'm sorry Ayame" said Teuchi. "I should have listened to you."
"It's okay daddy really" she replied. "I'm just glad that Naruto and I managed to stop Reiko and get Yuna back together with Ryo."
"Thanks again for saving me Ayame" said Naruto. "You were amazing."
"You're welcome" she said with a laugh.