The teacher and student vaulted through the trees toward Kumogakure with haste. In his exhausted state, the unconscious jinchuriki on Naruto's back caused him great discomfort, but he bore his burden with gritted teeth and no complaints. The two moved in in relative silence, the only sounds coming from the wind blowing by as they leapt across the canopies, and the laboured panting from the blonde Konoha shinobi. Jiraiya watched the two jinchuriki as he and Naruto jumped through the tree tops. He had only seen the tail end of the battle between the Akatsuki members and the jinchuriki, but those few minutes had loaded him with many questions.
"Naruto," the toad sage started, "that girl…do you know which bijuu she has?"
Naruto glanced at his teacher, eyes narrowed slightly, "She said…she has…the two tailed-beast." Naruto slowly grunted out through his fatigue. This made Jiraiya's mind swirl. He saw the girl as the beastly creature with two full tails when she used her bijuu's powers. She did not resemble the cloak that Naruto created when he used his bijuu's chakra. Had she let the beast take control of her?
"Naruto, how come she didn't attack you? She looked like she completely lost control to her bijuu."
"She didn't." Naruto answered. "She…was in…control."
"How could that be possible?!" Jiraiya was unable to equate what he was hearing with he saw.
"I dunno…but, I was…never in danger…s'if that's…what you are…thinking." Naruto huffed out.
Considering his words, Jiraiya realised one key difference between Naruto and the girl, was the feel of the chakra when they used their bijuu's power. There was no mistaking the corrupted nature of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was the feeling of hate seeping out and entering your pores. Repulsive and frightening. That was the reason he was able to easily locate Naruto, one he began using the Kyuubi's chakra. The chakra of the girl's bijuu, on the other hand, was not comparable to the Kyuubi's. It was foreign but did not pulsate with the negative emotions of the nine tails.
"A deal? A relationship, perhaps?" The toad sage muttered to himself. "It couldn't be…"
"What was that…pervy sage?" Naruto was unable to hear what his teacher was slowly deducing.
The older man just shook his head. "It's nothing." It was something he knew Naruto would know nothing about, at least. "We're coming up on the village soon. After we reach the hospital, we will most likely be arrested, don't resist them, Naruto. We don't want any more trouble than necessary."
Naruto did not respond, but rather increased his pace as he saw the looming gates of Kumogakure appear through the foliage of the trees.
"Halt! Who are you? What is your reason for entrance into Kumogakure?"
Naruto did not even land on the ground in front of the gates before he was met with questions from the two Kumo guards.
"We come in peace. We have an injured Kumo-nin with us, we want to take her to the hospital within Kumogakure." Jiraiya answered the guards as he landed beside his pupil.
The two guards glanced at the body on the blonde Konoha-nin's back. One guard made a choking sound. The other gasped. They had instantly recognized the Kumo jinchuriki.
"Yugito-sama!" One of the guards exclaimed. His eyes hardened as he glared at the two Konoha-nin. "What did you two do to Yugito-sama!" The man hissed, preparing his weapons to attack.
"We saved her, asshole!" Naruto snarled viciously. "Let us take her to the hospital like we said!"
The other guard seemed to understand the situation and waved at his fellow guard to lower his weapon. "Open the gates!" He hollered toward the gate keepers. The gates creaked as the large doors shuttered inward, opening up Kumogakure to the five ninja right outside.
The more amicable guard motioned at Naruto to pass the injured kunoichi over to him.
"Naruto, give him the girl." Jiraiya hoped the guards would be preoccupied with their jinchuriki and the two of them could just sneak away before any questions were asked.
Naruto, instead, ignored the two and passed the gates, halting to ask the gatekeeper where the hospital was. The low-level ninja cowered slightly under the blonde's hard gaze, knowing he should stop the shinobi and allow the guards to take Yugito-sama. However, the pressure the Konoha-nin was displaying with his eyes was enough to crack the gatekeeper and he told Naruto the location of the hospital. Getting his answer, he sprung away towards his destination.
Jiraiya let out a sigh of acceptance and apologized to the two guards before he went to catch up with his protégé.
The two bounced from roof top to roof top, speeding towards the hospital. Jiraiya was impressed that Naruto could maintain his speed and enough nimbleness to avoid tripping or slipping after his ordeals. As they kept moving, they saw the sign for "hospital" appear in large red letters; the building was impossible to miss, even in the unfamiliar village.
Naruto slammed through the doors and Jiraiya winced at the boy's crass behaviour.
"Hey, we need help!" The blonde hollered at the surprised medic employees. Naruto maneuvered Yugito so she was held in his arms, rather than on his back. When none of the medic-nin made any movements, the blonde barked again. "C'mon she needs treatment. Stop standing around!"
That startled the employees and a few of them fully absorbed the situation now. One of them shrieked, "Yugito-sama!" Another came rushed toward Naruto with a gurney dragging behind her.
"Place her here." The medic-nin pointed at the gurney and Naruto did so gently. The other medic-nin around started to act as well, several surrounding the jinchuriki, observing her and discussing their procedures as they began to move as a unit. Naruto began to follow them when Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned to face his teacher who simply shook his head at the boy, and then jerked his head towards the door.
Naruto let out a sigh, but the duo began to exit the building, sending one last look behind him at the now mostly empty general area. Almost immediately after delivering Yugito to the hospital medics and leaving the building, Jiraiya and Naruto were surrounded by several Kumo-nin. Naruto tensed, but remembered what Jiraiya said prior to entering the village, and forced himself to relax his muscles.
"You two, we are taking you in for questioning. This is an order by the Raikage, refuse and we will use force."
"We understand." Jiraiya replied calmly, glancing at Naruto to make sure he would not do anything unexpected.
"Follow us and do not break formation. If you do, we will use force." The Kumo-nin surrounded the pair of Konoha-nin such that Naruto and Jiraiya were boxed in between the four Kumo-nin. Naruto and Jiraiya followed their captors without complaint.
Naruto looked up at the sky, it was clear, the sun shined brightly. It was such a nice day.
They arrived at the detainment center, a relatively non descript building. They were led through several doors before they entered a room where several other Kumo-nin were waiting, behind a large desk. They nodded towards the ninja that were escorting the duo and then one of the ninja behind the desk began to talk.
"You two will remove your clothing, except for your undergarments, as well as all your possessions. Give them to the ninja beside you and then wait for further orders."
"C'mon you c-" Naruto was unable to finish his sentence as Jiraiya simply placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder once more. Naruto hissed to himself. The ninja surrounding them took a few steps back to give them space to undress.
Naruto removed his wallet, weapons pouch, shuriken holder, and headband. He passed the first three to the Kumo-nin nearest to him and then began to tie his headband when he was interrupted by one of the shinobi by the desk.
"The headband as well."
Naruto glared at the person talking. Naruto wanted to yell and scream and make a fuss, but he knew he put himself in this mess to begin with. Throwing a temper tantrum would not help him now. He placed the headband delicately in the Kumo-nin's hand while he muttered obscenities to himself in a low voice.
Naruto noticed Jiraiya was still removing his items, including his materials. The man had many pockets filled with odds and ends. Naruto began to undress, removing his sandals, then unzipping his jacket.
"The fishnet too."
Naruto rolled his eyes at the order but slipped off his fishnet shirt, nonetheless. He removed his pants and handed all his clothing articles to another Kumo-nin. Naruto heard a giggle and noticed one of the kunoichi behind the desk was staring at his lower half. Naruto glanced below and realised she was enjoying his toad printed boxers. Naruto looked back at her and sent her a cheeky grin, causing her to flush slightly at his directness.
"Like what you see?" Naruto chirped at her saucily. Her face turned even darker and she looked away from the blonde. Several of the Kumo-nin frowned in disapproval, either in his or the kunoichi's direction at the comment, but Naruto heard one ninja try to stifle a chuckle behind his hand.
Jiraiya, now undressed as well, gave his protégé an amused look. "Looks like I'm rubbing off on you, brat."
"Uh, I hope not." Naruto replied with a grimace.
Jiraiya started to talk but was cut off by a disapproving cough by one of the ninja behind the desk. The shinobi glowered at the Konoha-nin before he spoke.
"You two will be given standard detainment clothing and will be taken to your cells. We will bring you to another location for questioning in the near future. And please, no more chit chat."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto replied, hoping to annoy the Kumo-nin further.
Naruto and Jiraiya were given a grey shirt and grey pair of pants to wear, and the two dressed swiftly. After that they were handcuffed and began to move through the doors behind the desk into another room. Naruto unintentionally caught eye of the kunoichi who giggled before. He smirked at her and gave a little wave, causing her to quickly look at the ceiling.
As the student and teacher, and their escorts, moved down a step of steps, Jiraiya spoke to his student, "What was that about, kid?" Mirth dripped from his words.
Naruto shrugged, "Probably too tired to think straight."
Jiraiya chuckled, because that could honestly be the truth, knowing his student.
After another beat of silence, the group arrived at the jail cells and each Konoha-nin was placed in a separate cell, though they were placed side by side. Their escorts left, but there were other guards that patrolled the area, walking back and forth, checking the many cells every few minutes.
"Eh, pervy sage, what do we do now?" Naruto asked his teacher as he began pacing his small cell. He was agitated about the confinement, but truly more anxious about his fellow jinchuriki's condition.
"Here is what you are going to do. You take a nap, if you're flirting with girls in a situation like this, you must be close to passing out from how tired you are." Jiraiya chuckled. "Meanwhile, you let your amazing teacher work his magic and get us out of here." Jiraiya flashed his student the peace sign which caused the blonde to snort in amusement.
"Alright, pervy sage." Naruto was not sure where the elder man's confidence came from, but Jiraiya rarely let Naruto down, so the younger man took a deep breath and laid down on the floor. "I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes…" Naruto barely closed his eyes before he fell into slumber, his body taking a reprieve from his mental and physical fatigue.
"Naruto, walk up."
Naruto bolted up from the toad sage's command. Looking around, he remembered he was a jail cell. He rubbed his face vigorously to knock out any remnants of his tiredness.
"How long was I out?" Naruto yawned. Talking a minute to stand and stretch his muscles. The floor had not been a nice bed, but he was mostly used to sleeping in poor conditions during his travel with Jiraiya.
"Can't say exactly, but a few hours at least." Jiraiya replied. "A few minutes indeed." The older man smiled.
The blonde simply rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
The guard interrupted the two by opening Jiraiya's cell and then Naruto's. Naruto blinked in surprise, but then assumed they would be taken in for questioning.
"Follow me." The guard said. He took them to another room, where two Kumo-nin were waiting with their clothing and items they were forced to leave behind.
"You two can remove your detainment clothing, and redress and take your things."
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he took his items from the ninja. He did not understand why they would let them take their things back before questioning. It was strange. He looked at his teacher, who was grinning smugly at his student. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the toad sage in pure childish nature.
The duo dressed and took their belongings. Naruto began to place his headband, but Jiraiya stopped him.
"Hide that for now." Jiraiya cautioned. Naruto tilted his head in confusion but listened to his teacher.
"Alright, do you two have all your belongings? I will escort you to the Raikage's office now." The kumo guard said with a curt nod and began walking, expecting the two to follow.
Naruto shot his teacher a look of surprise, which was met with the same smug smirk he had on before. Naruto sometimes felt that he did not give the old pervert enough credit.
"Lighting people don't like Konoha ninja, but Kumo people really don't like Konoha ninja." Jiraiya leaned over to whisper into Naruto's ear. That was why he made stopped Naruto from walking around displaying his headband.
The arrived at the Raikage's building after a few minutes of walking. The guard talked briefly to the receptionist and then took Naruto and Jiraiya up a set of stairs to a large door that would enter into the Raikage's office.
"Naruto, I want you to wait outside for a bit while I talk to the Raikage. I'll have someone get you after a while." Jiraiya told his pupil.
Naruto frowned at his teacher's odd behaviour. "How come pervy sage, that doesn't make much sense to me."
"Just trust me Naruto. It's the least you can do after getting us into this mess." Jiraiya placed his hands on his hips, displaying a rare, no-nonsense tone from the man.
Naruto huffed in discontent. "Fine, whatever you say." Naruto crossed his arms and sulked.
"That's my boy." Jiraiya ruffled the genin's hair causing the blonde to squawk and lightly slap at the hand. But the toad sage's actions and words had the boy grinning in delight.
The guard coughed to get their attention. "If we may?" He opened the door.
Naruto glimpsed inside to see a hulking figure of a man sitting behind a desk. His skin was a dark tan that was richer than anything you could find in Konoha. His Raikage cloak and hat, as well as his sitting position, hid most of his body, but just from looking at his bulging muscles near his collar bone, Naruto could tell the Raikage was built. Next to the man stood his attendant, a beautiful woman with rich caramel skin, and light grey hair. She was wearing a nice green dress that suited her.
The door closed and Naruto was left alone in front of the door. With time to kill, he observed the area. He looked around the corridor and saw that there were some people walking up and down the corridor, entering and exiting rooms busily.
"Hey." Naruto called out at one of the shinobi, who was holding a stack of paper. The man turned and blinked owlishly at Naruto. Naruto waved toward himself, trying to signal for the man to approach. The man pointed at himself as if to say "who, me?" Naruto nodded.
The man approached. "Uh, what can I do for you sir?"
"Do you know where I could get a gift for someone who is in the hospital?"
"Do you mean flowers or something like that?"
"Yea! Flowers sound great. Could you tell me the location of a store?" Naruto asked the man.
"I think there is one a few blocks from the hospital." The man gave Naruto some more detailed explanation on how to get to the store from the hospital and Naruto paid rapt attention, memorizing the route. "Is..that it?" The man asked quizzically.
"Yup! Thanks a lot, man." Naruto grinned at the shinobi. The Kumo-nin bowed slightly, and walked away, muttering to himself about the weird interaction.
Naruto rocked back and forth on his heels while he wasted time thinking about a variety of topics. About what Jiraiya could be talking to the Raikage about (maybe giving him copies of his pervy book so they could leave the jail), what kind of food Kumo would have (hopefully ramen!), hoping that he could leave for Konoha soon and see all his friends, and occasionally drifting his thoughts towards Yugito and hoping she would be okay.
The door behind Naruto opened and the guard stepped out, motioning for Naruto to enter. Naruto saw that Jiraiya and the Raikage were chatting light heartedly but ceased their conversation as Naruto approached.
"So, are we out of jail or what?" No sooner had the words exited Naruto's mouth, Jiraya's hand came and slapped him on the back off his head. "Urk!"
"Haha, so sorry about that Raikage-sama. I've taught the brat a lot, but his manners not so much." Jiraiya said, holding his pupil's head down in a bow.
The Raikage seemed peeved but waved his hand to dismiss the toad sage's worries.
"The jinchuriki of Konoha huh, your master has told me that you saved my jinchuriki's life." The dark-skinned man addressed the youngest shinobi in the room.
Naruto wiped a tear that had formed in his eye before he replied. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and yea I saved Yugito's life." Naruto stressed his and Yugito's name. There was an edge in the tone of his voice.
The leader of stroked his chin ignoring the impertinence of Naruto's attitude, "I didn't ask for your name, kid."
"Might as well learn it now, since I'm going to be the next Hokage." Naruto responded coolly, but his cobalt eyes stared at the Raikage, brimming with resoluteness.
'Oh boy.' Jiraiya thought to himself, scratching the top of his head.
The Raikage, meanwhile, could not hold back his smirk. "If I see you in a Hokage hat next time, I'll try and remember it then, jinchuriki." The mustached man sneered at the young blonde, the lack of respect in his voice evident. Naruto responded with an angry glare but did not say anything to combat the man. Naruto had been doubted by just about everyone on the shinobi hierarchy, the Raikage was just another notch to add to his motivation. "Anyhow, I believe Jiraiya's report on the matter and I'm going to let you two go. Count your blessings that your teacher is one of the great Sannin!"
"You are too kind, Raikage-sama." The toad sage's voice was diabetic.
Naruto rolled his eyes at his teacher kissing up to the leader of Kumo.
"Your master has come to me with a favour and I plan to honor it, so from now on-" The Raikage started, however Jiraiya swiftly interrupted him.
"If you don't mind, Raikage-sama, I intend to explain the situation once I acquire proper lodging for my student and I."
The Raikage nodded at the toad sage, "If that's what you want Jiraiya. Ah, by the way, when you deliver the information, come to me directly. You two are dismissed."
"Thank you for your patience and understanding." Jiraiya bowed and glared daggers at Naruto, forcing him to do it too.
As they were exiting the room, Naruto muttered to himself in annoyance, "What was the whole point of detaining us, s'if he's just gonna let us go so quick, jeez."
"What was that!" The Raikage roared. Naruto turned around to see the man smash his large arm on the desk in front of him, splintering it to a thousand pieces. Naruto jaw dropped at the display of raw power.
"N-nothing Raikage-sama! Thanks for being so nice!" Naruto squeaked out in fear before bolting out of the room and down the stairs. Jiraiya gave the man an apologetic look and left the room as well.
The guard exited the room as well, unperturbed. The Raikage breaking his desk in anger was not an unusual scene for many of the Kumo-nin who frequented his office.
"Hmm, what a cute kid." The caramel-skinned attendee offered her unsolicited thoughts, causing the Raikage to guffaw.
"You are probably twice his age, Mabui."
Mabui frowned in disapproval, "I didn't mean it like that, sir."
"Sure, sure. Ah, make sure to get me a new desk." The leader sat on his chair, feeling awkward without a desk to sit behind.
"Of course, sir, but please be sure to take more care with it this time." At the rate the Raikage was going, they might need to form an alliance with Konohagakure just to have enough wood for the Raikage's bad habit.
"Oi pervy sage, what was he talking about in there. 'Bout a favor or something?" Naruto walked beside his teacher with his arms behind his head and his fingers laced together.
"Listen Naruto I…" The white-haired man began, before he spotted a restaurant and pointed towards it. "Why don't we get some food first?"
"Sure!" Naruto chirped. He was starving. The two entered the establishment and were seated promptly. Naruto perused the menu looking for ramen. Frowning as he realised the restaurant did not carry it, he settled on char siu buns.
The waitress came over and the two ordered their food. While they were waiting Naruto asked again, "The favor?"
Jiraiya sighed at his student's persistence. The boy was always peculiar about what he would and would not badger the Sannin about.
"Listen, you want to see the girl at the hospital, right?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes as his teacher avoided his question but nodded his head at the question.
"Well, go and visit her after we eat. I'm going to go look for a hotel, there will be plenty near the entrance of the gates. Come there after you check on her and I'll find you. Then I'll tell you about what I talked to the Raikage about. Sound good?"
Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes. He could tell Jiraiya was purposely avoiding talking about it, which only made Naruto more curious, but the plan was agreeable. Naruto did want to see Yugito as soon as possible and make sure she was okay.
"Alright, sounds good to me."
Jiraiya smiled at his student and the two discussed some inane topics while they waited for their food. The waitress eventually placed the steam pork buns and fried rice in front of the student and teacher and the two dug in. Naruto shoveled half a bun in his mouth, chewing loudly as he struggling to swallow the large pieces. Jiraiya displayed much better table manners as he speedily polished off his fried rice. The pair had a habit of eating quickly, even if they thoroughly enjoyed the food.
As they paid an exited the restaurant, Naruto rubbed his belly in satisfaction. "Whoo, char siu buns are almost as good as char siu ramen!"
"That's quite a high praise coming from you." Jiraiya laughed.
"Yup!" Naruto placed his hands in his pants pockets as he walked beside the toad sage. "You headed to the hotels now, right?"
"Yea, and you're going to the hospital?"
"Well I think I'll visit a flower shop first." This caused Jiraiya to raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"Wow, you've gone sweet on the girl already? That was fast, kid!" The older man grinned widely at his protégé. Naruto in turn looked at his teacher strangely.
"What, no! I barely know her. Bringing a gift is a normal thing to do when you visit someone at the hospital, perv." Naruto told off his teacher.
"Of course, I know that, but I wouldn't have expected you to understand hospital decorum."
Naruto screwed his face trying to understand the word, "Huuuh, decorum?"
"It's…never mind. The more pressing issue is that you think you need to know someone to like them. I mean all you got to do is check out the body! And that chick seemed to have a nice one!" The toad sage began to move his hands in a motion tried to replicate the curvature of Yugito's body, while his nostrils flared in excitement.
"Ugh, you're so gross! I'll see you later." Naruto shook his head at perverted sensei's antics and leapt onto the roofs to hasten himself toward the store.
"Ahh what does he know, he's just a kid." Jiraiya exclaimed to himself in indignation as he made his way, leisurely, toward the hotel district.
Naruto was slightly adept with plants but knew little about flowers. He decided on a purple lilac, just because it tickled his fancy. Purchasing the flower, which came in a small bunch, he made his way towards the hospital which was within walking distance. He entered the medical building and made his way towards the receptionist.
"Hi, could you tell me where Yugito's room is?" He asked pleasantly.
The receptionist scowled at the boy, causing Naruto to frown in confusion. "Yugito-sama's room, is only available for close friends and family. I'm sorry." The receptionist stated stressing the -sama.
"I'm, uh, I'm the one who brought her in. Can't I see her?"
The receptionist leaned back in her chair and scoffed in disdain. "Right, sure." She said in a tone obviously dismissing his words. That made Naruto start to lose his patience.
"Alright listen here, you don't even kno-" Naruto was about to lay into the young lady when he felt a tugging on his sleeve. He turned ready to place his ire on the person interrupting him when he remembered her as the medic nin who brought the gurney to pick up Yugito. "Oh, it's you." Naruto said lamely, dissipating his anger.
"I'm sorry about that, sir. She's in room 232. Just take the stairs at the end of the hall up one floor and then take the third left after that. It's the second room." She smiled gently at Naruto.
The receptionist stood up. "Why would you tell him that?!" She stated angrily.
"He actually did bring her in, you should apologize." She sternly commanded the receptionist. This caused the young lady at the desk to blush in embarrassment.
"Oh…I'm sorry…I just…I apologize I didn't mean to-" The girl struggled to articulate why she had a negative reaction.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto said easily. "It's water under the bridge." He smiled brightly at the girl, who seemed appreciative. "And, thanks a lot." Naruto turned to the medic nin, bowing his head slightly to give his thanks.
He followed the medic-nin's direction and made his way toward Yugito's room. He opened the door and entered.
He was met by four pairs of eyes staring at him.
Yugito was lying on a hospital bed, with her back inclined so she was sitting up. She was wearing a hospital gown and her hair was loose, flowing around her back, with some strands littering the front of her face. Naruto was glad to see she seemed alert and healthy.
The other three people were strangers to Naruto. One was a male with light, spikey hair and dark skin that seemed quite common in Kumo. He was sucking a lollipop. Next to him were two ladies, one was another milk chocolate skinned individual with dark red hair, and the other was a fair skinned lady with, well, voluptuous boobs. She also had blonde hair, Naruto noted as an after thought.
"Hey, who the hell are you? You can't just barge in here!" The red-head declared angrily, pointing at Naruto.
"Oh man, a stranger. What could he want? Could he be here to assassinate Yugito-sama? Ah, maybe even worse, what if he's here to assassinate me?" The other male in the room muttered to himself.
Naruto watched mouth agape, as the two people acted so wildly in a hospital room. The third member viewed the situation with a neutral expression, but Naruto could tell she was watching him closely, just in case. Yugito had her face in her hands.
Yugito let out a sigh of exasperation. "You guys, knock it off. This is Naruto-san, he's the one who saved my life." Naruto rubbed the back of his head in bashfulness at the last comment. The demeanour of the other shinobi changed immediately.
The male member of the group walked up to Naruto and clasped one of Naruto's hands in both of his.
"Oh man, thanks so much for saving Yugito-sama. Who knows what would have happened if you didn't? After Yugito-sama, those guys would probably come after Bee, and then the village, and then the rest of the world most likely!" He shook Naruto's hand between both of his rapidly.
"Uh, yea. No problem." Naruto did not really understand how to deal with the strange fellow. His teammate stepped up to help Naruto out, however. In a manner very reminiscent of Sakura, to Naruto, the red-head slammed her first into the skull of the tan-skinned boy, causing him to release his grip and face plant into the ground.
"Stop acting like that Omoi, you're annoying Yugito-sama's saviour!" The girl turned her attention to Naruto and beamed at the blonde. She shook his hand normally. "Thanks for giving those Akatsuki bastards what-for. We'll leave you guys to talk some." She turned to her fallen comrade and dragged him out of the room, by using the hood on his shirt.
The third member bowed at Yugito, "Sorry for the trouble Yugito-sama."
"Don't worry about it Samui, those kids can be a handful, I understand."
Samui gave the Kumo jinchuriki a small smile and exited the room, giving Naruto a nod of acknowledgement on her way out.
Now alone with his fellow jinchuriki, Naruto scratched his head and gave a nervous smile at the lady. "Colourful bunch of friends you got."
The bed-ridden kunoichi let out a short, but brilliant laugh at his statement. "Yes, quite colourful. Although I wouldn't have them any other way. Why don't you sit down?" She offered the chair next to her bed for the blonde boy.
He sat down and presented the flower to Yugito. "It's a get-well gift."
The Kumo kunoichi's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but a smile graced her face as she accepted the gift. "Thank you, Naruto-san. That's so sweet of you." She took a sniff of the bunch of flowers and sighed in content. "What a beautiful colour, and a nice smell as well. Did you happen to bring a vase?"
Naruto's eyes widened and he slapped his forehead. "Ah man, I didn't even think about that." He groaned at his stupidity.
Yugito simply smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, I'll enjoy it while it's still alive." She took another smell of the flowers and then placed them on the table on her bedside. "I'd like to give a proper introduction." She faced the Konoha-nin. "My name is Yugito Nii, it's a pleasure to meet you in a much more relaxed environment." She extended her hand.
Naruto took her hand at gave a firm handshake. "Naruto Uzumaki, but, uh, you already knew that." He let out a small chuckle. After the handshake, Yugito Nii bowed her head at the younger man.
"Thank you for saving my life Naruto-san." Her words were seeped in appreciation.
Naruto waved his arms in front of himself in protest. "Ah, you don't have to worry about it, I just did the right thing, y'know?" This made Yugito raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"I'm sure jumping in to help a foreign kunoichi, is not the right thing to do by any countries shinobi standards. Especially if the enemies are S-ranked missing-nin."
"Oh well, in the Naruto handbook, it's one hundred percent the right thing to do." Naruto stated as if he was observing that the sky is blue.
"In that case, I'm glad you're the one who stumbled upon me. You're a rare breed of shinobi." Yugito said with mirth in her dark eyes.
"That's a compliment, right?" Naruto squinted, unsure if he was being insulted or not.
"Yes, it is Naruto."
"Cool!" The boy grinned widely. Yugito found his smile contagious and the corners of her mouth were upturned as well. "Anyway, I'm glad your okay, that Hidan guy was doing some crazy stuff." Naruto grimaced as he remembered the Jashinist.
"It didn't seem like he was trying to kill me, I don't think I was even going to die from blood loss for at least a couple more hours either. Seemed he was more interested in inflicting pain, than damage."
"What a sicko." Naruto growled.
"At least he is no more. Your sensei was the one who killed him? Correct?" Yugito asked the boy.
"Yea it was pervy sage, who got him." Naruto clarified for the kunoichi.
"Pervy sage?" Yugito asked, perturbed by the moniker.
"I mean, Jiraiya, the toad sage."
Yugito flinched from hearing Naruto call the great Sannin by his pet name. "You called the esteemed Jiraiya as such? Why?"
Naruto shrugged. "He's a pervert and he's a sage…so pervy sage."
"I…I see." This new-found information was hard for Yugito to swallow.
"Anyway," Naruto leaned back in his chair, "do you know when you get to leave this place?"
"They will discharge me tomorrow, really I'm only staying overnight as a precaution."
Naruto smiled at the news. "That's awesome."
"…Naruto-san, do you know when you are leaving?" Yugito asked the boy.
"Uh not, sure, probably soon, but who knows with pervy-sage. And no need to call me Naruto-san, just call me Naruto! I hope I can call you Yugito, as well."
"Well I suppose I can't deny my saviour a small wish such as that." Yugito grinned as Naruto's face twisted in discomfort.
"Ah, man, don't call me your saviour. If it wasn't for pervy sage, both of us would be toast." Truthfully, Naruto was frustrated that he struggled so much with the Akatsuki members. Even with three tails of the Kyuubi's power, he ended up in a position where he would have been killed if Jiraiya did not bail him out.
"No need to be modest Naruto. Your sensei helped, yes, but without you I would have been far before your sensei made it to us." Seeing the blonde boy squirm in his seat, she changed the topic. "Naruto, if you are still here tomorrow, why don't we get lunch together?"
"Lunch?"
"Yes, and maybe I can show you some of Kumogakure's famous sites? I feel like that's the least I can do."
"Wow, that sounds amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in joy. "Ah, but I don't know what hotel I'm staying at, and you're getting discharged right? How are we going to meet up?"
Yugito smirked and tapped her nose. "Nibi's chakra lets me get a great sense of smell if I want. I'll just sniff you out."
Naruto's eyes bugged out. "Sniff me out?! Are you saying I smell?" Naruto lifted his arm and smelled his armpits, but he could not discern any repugnant odours.
Yugito giggled at Naruto's antics. "No, no, don't worry about it. You're from Konoha right? It's similar to what the Inuzuka clan can do. People tend to have their own distinct smells."
"Ahh, I see. So, you're gonna, use my smell to find me."
"Yes, that's the gist of it."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uh, kind of weird, but cool I guess." Naruto glanced at the clock about Yugito's head. It was getting late.
"Damn, I gotta go Yugito. Need to find pervy sage and hit the hay." Naruto stood up from the chair.
"Of course, Naruto. It was lovely talking to you. Thank you for the flower." Yugito smiled warmly at her fellow jinchuriki. Naruto gave her a toothy grin in return.
"Yeah, I'm glad you like it. I'll see ya tomorrow for our date!" The exuberant boy waved at the older girl once, before exiting. Yugito coughed slightly at Naruto's choice of words.
"A date huh." Yugito rubbed her forehead with the back of her thumb. "Kids these days are so impetuous."
Yugito reached over to the lilacs Naruto brought her. Bringing them to her face, she basked in their gentle fragrance once more.
A/N Thanks for the reviews and encouragement. I really appreciate. I hope you liked this chapter as well.
