"I say again state your intentions: Uzumaki Naruto…"

He cussed silently, drawing his guard up to the figure standing in the moonlight. Thoughts began racing to the best course of action in order to get away from this situation. She possessed a Sharingan, which was obvious. He simply can't talk his way out of it, meaning he had to improvise. What was it that Kakashi told him?

"You can either negotiate, fight or flee. Find out their motive then it is up to you how to proceed…"

Right. Really helpful. Naruto hoped for a more elaborate solution but this will do. And while he was talking to himself, she must have been reading his mind. Was she?

"Yes…" She stated flatly, edging her sword to the dejected Uzumaki.

"Crap. Fine, I'll tell you." He lowered his stance showing that he had no ill intent. "I'm on a mission to extract a high value target." He couldn't possibly deceive to a Sharingan user, adding to that he knew was a terrible liar.

Her eyes narrowed. "And I assumed you have not identified nor located this target?"

He shook his shoulders. "You're on point. I don't have a clue to where she is."

It was like as if she ticked off a mental note in her list. "Confirmed. Next: You hold valuable information pertaining to classified areas in this country as well as its structure. Which automatically perceives you as a spy. What do you have say to that?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head eying to the side. "Well uhh, you're not wrong. I'm not familiar here so I had to gather as much info. I just happen to stumble upon them. Hehe…" Great job, you should be a diplomat you dumbass…

"Furthermore, you trespassed multiple restricted areas and hid under a false identity. All of which are capital crimes that is enough to put you into a death sentence." She specified vehemently, causing him to sweat bullets. It was like as if she knew he was coming even before he set foot in this country.

"I can't explain…" It wasn't even a negotiation, he already lost.

"However, you have not committed any acts that is liable for execution within my mission parameters." Her voice drew back to a calming tone and he was wide-eyed.

"What?"

"I can't kill you, not yet to be more specific."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

She sheathed her katana to the waist but still kept her Sharingan on him. "As it seems you are willing to cooperate, I will state my mission." He eased and sat down against the wall at a fair distance. "Before your arrival to the Land Of Marsh, we had a near destructive breach in security and tightened any loose ends. We got word that you're coming and I was tasked to observe you at every step of the way. Elimination would be the final resort if you were to cause any detrimental harm. Exceptions were made primarily because of your reputation."

His head quirked to the side. "My reputa-ohhh, right."

"You're catching up, that's good." Did she just belittle him? "If your village were to know how you ended up dead here, the whole world would likely set up against us if we don't have any justification to protect ourselves."

"Well, yeah. That would happen." He was regarded a Hero to the world and word spread like wildfire how he fought to release them from the Eternal Tsukuyomi. An exaggeration he couldn't possibly control.

"Just because you're the hero that doesn't mean it grants you immunity. Simply another rodent snooping around."

Oof

"I'm aware of it." He folded his arms and began to strike a casual conversation. "You know? You're the first ever person to ever catch me since I became Jounin. That's impressive and I had to give props to ya."

Strange. Did he just complimented her? Why is he just sitting there being so jovial? Perhaps the reports about him hadn't changed one bit, aside from his growth in power. She deactivated her Sharingan and lean against the ledge of the window. "Rank dose not determine skill. I faced countless higher who leaves their backs vulnerable."

He grinned. "That's subjective. You're like my nose!"

She was taken aback. "Y-Your nose? Wha-"

"Yep! Did you know your nose is always in your peripheral vision but you don't notice it because your brain chooses to ignore it, like this!" He pointed at his own nose causing her to instinctively look at her own. "Haha! See?"

Her eyes became wide. What is his game? Is he trying to trick her?!

Before he knew it, his body was slammed onto the wall and was held there by her grip on his shirt. He couldn't feel his toes on the mat and his confused gaze was met by a pair of red eyes spinning furiously. "Don't test me Uzumaki Naruto." She warned underneath her breath. "I thought my leaders were insane when they told me to kill you, how could I possibly? Hmph, perhaps the reports of you were exacerbated." She noticed his fingers twitched, what is he planning to do?

Naruto grunted, "I was serious when I told said you were impressive, I mean it as a genuine compliment!" He exclaimed nervously feeling the cool presence of her blade inching to his throat. He swallowed a lump when he felt her gaze sharpened.

"What are you getting at?!" She snapped.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

A few moments later they found themselves at opposite sides of the room with the moonlight shining down between them. Earlier, she backed off when she realized she went overboard and misunderstood the blonde as soon as he refused to even retaliate to the point when he almost lost his breath. Naruto felt a bit annoyed by her passive-slash-glare piercing into the back of his skull as he tried to get some sleep facing the wall. Now he knew how Shikamaru must have felt.

'What the hell is going on in her head?' He looked over his shoulder and there she was, looking right at hi-? Huh? She looked like as if she was staring off into space. Most importantly, why hadn't she gone off and stick to the shadows like a good ninja, already? A man needs his rest and privacy…

Minutes passed as Naruto couldn't contain his boredom and sat up against the wall, catching the attention of the unknown kunoichi. "If we're gonna sit here like potted plants, we ought to get to know each other. Ahem, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! The Future Hokage Of The Hidden Leaf Village!" He saluted in a silly manner with his face all crunched up.

"I know all about you, Uzumaki Naruto." His introduction did not seem to faze her neither the flat tone in her voice. It irked him. "You were born in 10th of October with The Nine Tailed Fox and lived as an orphan in all your life. Because of the monster of which that eradicated many lives, living inside you, the people scorned and you were socially isolated. You enrolled into the Ninja Academy at the age of 9, miserably failed an absurd amount of times, kissed a classmate of the same gender, initiated various vandalism and ludicrous pranks, failed every single exam until you stole a forbidden scroll in order to be granted a pass. After you graduated you-"

"Hold up-I'm not even going to bother with the last one." He held up his hand, silencing her. "Since it is as if you have my entire bio on top of your head, let me ask you one question." He help up an index up as she stared at it. "What's the name of my favorite food?"

"What?" A perplexed gaze was met by an endearing nod.

"You heard me. What do I like to eat?"

She held a finger to her chin and contemplated for a moment. A few minutes of complete silence later, she stared at him and replied-

"I don't have that information."

"It's Ramen!" He answered without hesitation with a cheeky grin.

"Ramen?"

"That's right! Ramen!" He bolstered, puffing his chest while making weird gestures. "A food that is bestowed by the heavens and blessed to the likes of man! Only God's chosen messengers are worthy for its creation to deliver the taste of wonders to mere mortals! Every strand of noodle and trickle of ingredients creates an euphoria of perfection! THAT. IS. RAMEN!"

"…"

"…"

"Sooo, have you heard of it?"

"Of course, I've heard of it. I never tasted them myself because they look quite disgusting." She blew a hole in his heart as he felt his knees buckled, clutching onto his chest for dear life.

"It'sokay,Naruto. Justcalmdown. Everyonehavedifferenttaste. Dontforceit! Dontforceitonthiscunt. Justcalmdown. Juuustcalmdown. Calmdown." He looked up from the floor to her passive blank stare. "You must have had a terrible first experience and I promise you, I'll make it right. You will regret ever saying that."

"Whatever." She muttered, for sure getting a bizarre vibe from the blonde. 'What is his problem?' They spent a couple more minutes of awkward silence glancing and glaring at each other, mostly the latter was from the female shinobi.

Naruto, well…he really didn't feel like sleeping at all but more or less curious about the stranger/executioner. She mentioned that she will kill him if he commit any harm to the country, never tried the food by the gods and knew every single thing about his life. Furthermore, why does she have a Sharingan?

"I didn't get your name."

"That's classified." She passively answered.

Naruto sputtered. "So what? Each time I'm going to see you chopping my head I should nicknamed you as stranger, stalker, creeper, annoyer, killer, cracker, cun-"

She sighed. "Fine. If you want me to tell you the name of your would-be-killer, I'll tell you. You may call me, Amena." That earned a cheeky grinned from the blonde. "What?"

"If you have the Sharingan, I supposed you would have inherited the Uchiha name. Odd." Naruto stated as she folded her arms below her chest.

"Being the one of the two remaining people in the world with a unique kekkei genkai, keeping myself low profile preserves a best chance for survival."

"Then why are you exposing it to me?" He asked as she spun the tomoes in her Sharingan.

"I don't leave any person alive knowing I have such an ability." She glowered, expecting him to be frightened but he became visibly skeptical.

"So you'll kill whomever know you have a Sharingan…Does that mean not even your superiors knew?"

She was visibly startled and almost lost her composure. "How'd you come up with that conclusion?"

"I'm no fool of how greedy this world can be. Everyone seeks power and once they realized it can be exploited, they'll seized it. Whatever they've taken hold, they'll want more and multiply it to hold onto its strength." He strongly emphasized the last sentence, looking at her straight in the eye with peril. "It's not death you're running from, it's a fate much much worse." He had experienced several walks of life and the misfortune that came with it. Stories he heard were unbelievable, yet the real truth of such happenings were usually much more tragic.

Amena grimaced, retracting her visual prowess and stood up facing the window. "If we have nothing further to discuss, I will leave you to rest." She looked over her shoulder and he shook his head. "Know this, Uzumaki Naruto: I will always be in your shadows." With a gust of wind, she disappeared leaving the tired blonde to flop his head onto the pillows.

"That…that went better than expected."

"I thought I was gonna die…she was pretty scary."

"I don't mind her killing you. It'll be a win and I'll be free!"

"Shut up, Kurama."

The next morning.

Naruto stepped out of the inn, yawning as he closed the door behind him. The street was relatively empty and the morning sun soothingly kissed his skin. He stretched his fingers and pulled out a map. "Alright, where to next?" The clones assigned in the current village did not have much luck finding out where 'Shiramui Village' was and so he crossed it out, failing to triangulate its location. A finger was pointed at a region near to the shores and Naruto dart to its owner.

"I suggest looking into here for starters." He shot his head to the side and there was the raven-haired kunoichi, Amena. If it weren't for his years of training not freaking out, he would've scrammed.

He stared at her, looking broadly surprised. "Didn't expect to see you so soon."

"I did say I will be in your shadows, here I am." She said it like it was a matter of fact. He looked down and she was in fact, standing on his shadow. No one trained him not to laugh.

"HAHAHAHA! You got me! Good one!" She stood there like a mannequin as he laugh and laugh until he slapped her shoulder out of sheer delight, unbeknownst to the menacing aura surrounding her.

Later on a trail in a forest

"So uuuhhh…where are we going, exactly?" He curiously asked the Uchiha walking behind him at a fair distance, also refraining from soothing the bruise on his cheek.

"We're heading east, approximately 400km(248mil) to our destination from our current location." He gawked at the distance and she did not wait from him to reply. "The village Shiramui might be loosely based on the Shiranui (disambiguation) phenomenon."

"Shiranuhi phenomenon?"

"There had been unusual sighting on the shores of Kyushu like a rain of fire materializing in the sky." She perked his curiosity and continued. "The phenomenon occurs several kilometers out from the shore in open water. First one or two flames will appear. These will split off to the left and right and multiply, eventually producing anywhere from several hundred to thousands flames in a row. Reportedly to span 4-8 kilometers."

He whistled. "That sounds awesome, I can't really wrap my head around how it looks like."

"Imagine a row of sparklers standing close side by side and you lit the first one. It will cause a domino effect but they'll be continuously lit for half an hour. Now imagine seeing them in the sky with immeasurable magnitude." She explained making Naruto keen to hear more.

"Have you seen it?"

She shook her head. "No, but I really wanted to."

She seemed to wander off into space for a moment. "Alright, you're telling me Shiramui Village might be located near the shores because of this phenomenon?" He queried getting the subject on track.

"That's only my assumption but I firmly believe so. It's common practice for villages to be named and based off on their territory and surroundings." She responded without doubt. "You will proceed with your investigation how you dealt before on villages along the way, an answer might sprung."

"You're right, chances are I might get what I'm looking for."

Night

During the couple of days' worth of tree hopping, they passed by a number of villages and Naruto sent his clones to gather information or whatever rumor they could get hold onto and moved on. They decided to camp further away from the trail and set up a perimeter. Now Naruto found himself sitting opposite of the raven haired and between them was a camp fire, crackling to the cricking night. He watched her with a puzzled expression while she meticulously maintain her sword.

"You are wondering why I am assisting you in your journey, which is understandable." She stated, polishing her blade with an Uchiko ball. Naruto nodded. "Helping you means I can have you off my back faster. I'd rather not have anything to do with you, at all. Dead or not."

His face fell flat onto the ground and stammered. "T-that…I can understand. Is that it?"

She finished her maintenance and sheathed her katana. She took out the gloves then clasped her delicate hands together and lean in. "However, in return, I want to know more about my heritage. Your friend is an Uchiha…I assumed you might have some level of knowledge."

He was honestly taken aback and sat up straight. "Are you serious? I thought you knew."

"My travels were limited, I only have scraps or whatever that is commonly known. I want to know why the blood in veins still flows." She had an adamant tone in her voice, refusing to take a no for an answer.

Naruto snickered. "You're just like him. Fiiine, I'll tell you, so let's strap up with your blankets dry because we're in for wild ride." He brought her waaay back to the origin of The God Tree and the stories that came with it. How the sons of Kaguya Otsutsuki battled the Juubi (Ten-tails) and sealed their mother. How the sons of Hagoromo Otsutsuki had their millennium long rivalry through incarnations eventually giving birth to The Uchiha Clan & The Senju. How they fought and created The Hidden Leaf Village. Madara and Hashirama's 'final battle.' Destruction of Konoha by the manipulated Kyuubi. Finally, The Massacre Of The Uchiha Clan by Itachi Uchiha.

She stopped him as he was about to continue. "I have dozens of question but how are you able to tell and explain in such detail all the way down its roots. It's like you have an encyclopedia inside your head."

He smiled coyly. "Hehe, that's because I do!"

"What?"

"I have a realm in my mind that I can access whenever I want. It's like an alternate reality and it's like you're physically there. I have full control of whatever information that comes in and out." He enthusiastically explained as she lean forwards. "Basically, it used to be Kurama's cage then I turned it into a library."

"A mental library inside your head. That is impressive."

"It's pretty lit…"

"Brat, what are you doing?! Stop giving her ideas! Sasuke was the last person I wanted to be inside here and you basically sent her an invitation!"

"Relax, you know we designed a security system that prevents a hostile takeover…"

"That was never actually tested…"

"We'll see how it goes…" He looked back at her and she seemed to be pondering all the information absorbed like a sponge. Her eyes twitched and a vein popped on the side of her temple.

She rubbed off her headache and grunted. "Argh, that's a lot to take in. Photographic memory is easy but remembering words is a lot harder."

"Want to take a look inside?" He chimed in and she raised her eyebrow.

"WOAH! Are you serious?!"

"I know what I'm doing…"

"Take a look inside? How can I do that?" What she got was a confused blonde.

"What?"

"YES!"

She repeated. "Looking inside your head. How can I do that? Is it one of the Sharingan's ability?"

Naruto had a blank look on his face. "I…I have no idea." He muttered staring into space. "Hey Kurama, how'd Sasuke got inside my head? You remember, right?"

"You tell me…He just popped in like a boner...Yeah that's what he is, a dickhead…"

He then dart his eyes back at her. "You can read minds, right?" What he got was anything but confusion.

She simply lean her head to the side. "No I can't actually read minds. What I can tell is whether you're lying or not." Amena watched as Naruto put on his thinking cap and waited.

He jolt right back up and snapped his fingers. "I got it! Activate your Sharingan!"

"Uhh, okay."

He went to sit right in front of her, further filling her curiosity. "Now put your hands on the side of my head and look at me in the eyes."

"Okay." She complied and pressed her hands against the locks of his hair. "Now what?" She said, gazing at his azure blue eyes.

"Now I want you to concentrate. Imagine like as if my eyes were windows. Just hop in. The feeling will come naturally." He eagerly advised, willingly bore into the eyes of her Third-staged Sharingan.

"Alright…"

She did exactly what he said then suddenly, her breath hitched and her Sharingan began spinning. Naruto's pupils dilated and the next thing she felt was like diving into pits of his eyes. Swirls of vortex engulfed her vision and at the end of the tunnel was a light. She continued to fall straight through and the next thing she knew was standing in a field of grass on top of a hill. A gust of wind brought her mind to a complete and utter shock. She gasped, breathing as hard as she possibly could. The flutter of her hair, the light kissing her skin, it felt so real. Could this be his mind? Comparing reality and here had little to no difference except for one thing, serenity. It overwhelmed her like a gentle wave. It was like she could just sit there and gaze at the breathtaking view forever and forget her worries. It…it was refreshing to her. Was this what she had been missing?

"I knew you could do it." Naruto congratulated, standing beside her.

She would usually flinched and kept her distance, but simply shook her shoulders. "I didn't know I had that in me." She smiled and noticed his attire was different. Long-sleeved blue shirt, a pair of short khakis and completely bare-footed. She looked down and noticed she was still wearing her battle-kimono and sandals which she immediately took them off but kept her kimono on. "How was it possible?"

"My guess is I made myself vulnerable to you…You were a natural. I read somewhere that not all Uchihas share the same ability. Like even if they're in the same stage, one ability might overpower the person with same ability. Nothing is equal." She silently agreed and they just stood there, looking over the mountainous landscape. "You look like you're enjoying yourself…"

She took a long breathe of the aroma coming from the meadow of flowers below. "I can't explain what it's like being here. The grass, the wind, the view…the view? What in the hell is that?" She stammered, pointing at the orange figure peering its head over a mountain.

"Oh, that? That's just Kurama, don't mind him. He's just being nervous…" He nonchalantly bat it off like it was normal.

"Nervous…?" She crooked a brow and stared at it. "Pointy ears, black eye marks, orange fur and…tails? A fox?" Realization finally set in. "I'm inside of you and if my guess is correct, that's the Kyuubi." She flinched when it started to crawl away from behind the mountain and sat down on an open field revealing itself of all its glory.

"Don't call him that, he's a bit sensitive." Naruto whispered and the beast snarled.

"Screw yourself, cunt! If she got near me, Aye fookin torch ya!"

Its voice boomed across the land and Amena felt herself swallowing a lump, upon realizing it was glaring at her, causing her to back away by a foot. "This doesn't feel right…"

Naruto stepped in. "Come on, Kurama! She's our very first guest, show some hospitality!"

The Nine-Tailed snorted. "Hospitality?! Aye'll send her to the hospital if she keeps staring at me with that bloody Sharingan!"

He looked back with an urged expression. "You heard him, can you try to revert it?"

She nodded and concentrated on withdrawing it but felt no difference. "Is it off? I can't tell."

He turned to face her and was broadly stunned. "You can't? I-I think it's because your Sharingan outside is still active. It makes sense."

"I see." Kurama's glare turned intense and she promptly dart her eyes away. "Can we move on elsewhere?"

"Right," Naruto understood the situation and motioned for her to follow him. "I almost forgot why we're here. Let's go. I can explain why he's so mad at you…" Amena followed suit and the walk was interesting. She encountered odd looking vegetation like huge mushrooms and multi-colored trees. There were some animals but she wasn't able to identify them because they looked somewhat, strange. "Here we are." They finally arrived before a humongous tree, like seriously huge. It was punctured with holes as 'windows' and a set of double doors. Naruto opened it and it was a scholar's wet dream or a librarian's nightmare. Books of shelves lined up all across the wall complete with stairs and platform reaching all the way. And finally in the middle of the wide atrium was a wide table and a beanie bags. Scrolls littered all across the floor. She glanced at them but was unable to decipher its content. "I call this place the Tree Of Knowledge."

"This is amazing…" She muttered, staring in awe as the sun rays peek through its hollow interior. "Is this all you've learned?"

Naruto laughed. "HAHA! No way! There's not a chance for my bird brain to learn whatever stacked on those shelves. I couldn't even tell you how I shoved them in here." He imagined his head would explode if he had his clones read every single one day by day. "The important one are on the 1st level, the not so important are on the 2nd and 3rd. The rest are just garbage or things I won't even bother." He pointed out while dancing his fingers along the shelves.

Amena simply followed him from behind. "I don't get it. This isn't something anyone would reveal." She stated but he casually shook his shoulder.

"Even if you might be the person who will take my life one day, I felt like I can trust you." He stopped and pulled out a 4 inch thick book clad with red leather. "Besides, it's boring being alone in here." He turned to face her, extending to book forward. "Here, take it."

She reluctantly took it and turned to read the cover. "History And Origins Of The Uchiha Clan."

"I had to make the book from scratch because a lot was lost after the massacre. Finding whatever sources that were reliable was a complete pain but this thing isn't legal per say if it had gotten outside." He classified, perking his brows as she immediately flip through dozens of pages.

"This. This is amazing. Models of Mangekyous'. Tales of The Elite. Eye Of Death. Susanoo. Tsukuyomi. Amaterasu. This is everything I could ever ask for!" She gasped, looking up to him with saucer eyes. "Thank you!"

He couldn't help but to gloat.

Later(atrium)

Naruto yawned, resting his legs on the table while flying through his scroll. He glanced to the side to see his companion completely engrossed on the book. Seeing someone else fixated on his work gave him a flint of pride. Is this how Jiraiya felt?

"If you think I didn't catch you looking at me for the 7th time, you'd be wrong. If you have questions, just ask. I think you deserve it." The Uchiha insisted, looking up from the book to the sheepish blonde.

"Ah-ha…you caught me. I guessed the first question what your favorite dish is?" He asked expectantly, earning a dull but intrigued reaction.

"Hmm. If I had to choose it would be Shabu-Shabu with sake on the side. I couldn't quite remember the last time I had 'em. If it's a day to day thing I would eat anything that had beef or chicken in it." Amena pondered then realizing she went slightly off track. "Next question."

"Oh-uuhhh…What…what can you do with Mangekyou?"

She sighed, bookmarking a page before closing it. "To be completely honest with you, I don't have clue."

"Woah, really? Is it why you're so curious?" She nodded.

"Like I said, I hardly knew any of it at all. When I awakened it for the first time, everything became so precise and predictable that it completely threw me off reaction wise because it was all so jarringly slow."

Naruto snickered. "I can imagine. When I was training for Sage Mode my skin turned rough and scaly, it was really bizarre." He shivered at the thought of turning into an amphibian.

She raised her eyebrow. "Is that what I saw humping around? Huge frogs?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't think you had that literally in you…"

"Hehe-!" He chuckled lightly then stared at her eyes for only a moment.

"What?"

"How'd you get 'em? If you don't mind me asking…" He asked gently, knowing before possessing a Mangekyou require a process of dreadful and traumatizing phase.

She stayed quiet, continuously rubbing her thumb with the index finger. Gazing and staring hard at the table. Naruto thought he should not have ask when her eyes turned solemn and distant. Silence gloom over them until she tapped her nail onto the table. "It was betrayal…" She muttered, stood up and turned her back towards him before taking her leave.

He watched her as she open the doors letting a gleam of sunlight to cast her figure on the barren floor, before it was vanquished. "Betrayal huh…"

"I just had a chill running down my spine…" A mini-sized Kurama popped in from behind and hop onto the table. "…Not the fear kind but it was unsettling."

"You felt it too…" He sighed, leaning his palm onto his cheek and rest his elbow on his leg. "Whatever she couldn't tell me, it's best if I leave her to it."

"You're fookin strange, brat." Kurama narrowed his cute little eyes at him. "You met her literally yesterday and here she is inside your head. Brooding alone as a façade for an evil scheme, maybe. Anyway, I'm being serious here. Why do you trust her?"

His eyes lit up a bit and he let out a light-hearted chuckle. "There's something about 'lost people' that really compels me. Something in me just kicked telling me I should help them. Know them. Find them. Cherish them. Perhaps…" He went silent for a moment before looking back at his foxy companion. "…perhaps, it's the darkness I'm trying to save them from." Zabuza, Nagato, Obito and Sasuke appeared in mind. With that, he stood up and went on to find Amena.

Kurama grumbled and fleet his ears downwards. "There he goes again…" Stubborn as Naruto was, his drive will always be impossible to break. The brat transcended his way to change a hatred-incarnate being into a loyal comrade, even if he wouldn't admit it. "When the time comes, I doubt I would get as much shut-eye as now…" He crouched around like a blanket and fell asleep with his tail wrapped.

Amena

She wondered aimlessly around the forest, seemingly only concerned in her own mind with a pensive expression. She stopped in her track and sighed, rubbing her temples. "That was a bit embarrassing…leaving him like that." She was about to turn back but then a flicker of light glimmered in the corner of her eye. "…?" She went off the trail and into the bush, brushing away ferns along the way to come upon a small clearing. What caught her attention was a marble rock crouched on the base of a pine tree. On it was a bottle of rice sake and a porcelain plate. By their side was a plain covered book with the cover titling the romance of a gallant shinobi. Written on the rock like it was carved by an artist was titled…

"Ero-sennin; Jiraiya Of The Legendary Sannin." The Uchiha muttered, tucking her arms around her waist. Right, Jiraiya. He was the man behind the success of Uzumaki Naruto and the depression of Nagato Uzumaki. The man who cultured the Children Of Prophecy and left when betrayal devoured him.

"Knowing him, he probably left with a smile…" Naruto walked out from behind the tree and into the light by her side.

"He was killed by his own student, why would you think he'd be like that?" She asserted but Naruto gave no reaction, he simply smiled while gazing at the memorial.

"I wish I knew what his final thoughts were. Hell, I'd give my life just to see him again." The Uzumaki declared which earned a frown from the Uchiha.

"You are talking about the man who avoided and forgotten about you while you were treated like garbage. Why wouldn't you hate him for that?" Amena sputtered, causing him to look into her eyes.

"It's the same reason why I want to be Hokage. How can I be one if I would be no better than the people who scorned me?" He asserted firmly, bringing his eyes back to the memorial away from the distraught Uchiha. "Look, I'm sorry if I brought back painful memories when I should've known better. Please, forgive me."

Amena sighed, realization fell like a brick on her head as she shook it off. "No, don't be. I apologized for slandering your teacher, I'm sorry."

"That makes us even." She nodded timidly as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "You know what? Let's just chill and enjoy some sake." He sat down on the grass, motioning for her to do the same.

However, guilt was still coarse on her skin. "Are you sure? I'm really sorry."

He waved it off, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm used to it so don't be so hard on yourself." He snapped his fingers and a set of sake magically appeared between them. "Tada-!"

"…?"

He graciously poured for each of them looking delighted. "When you drink it, it doesn't go into your actual body but you still can taste it." He offered out and she took it by her hands.

She stared at the stagnant reflection of herself, the tomoes spinning in unison. He had a teacher whom he most respected and not even death can temper with it. Hated by thousands which turned into millions by admiration through sheer guts and determination. She? She felt like lost dog searching for the owner who abandoned her making her feel completely worthless as compared to him. "I'm jealous…"

"Amena?" He remembered that look. It was similar to how Sasuke always expressed whenever he looked at him, blank and passive but full of envy. How can her cheer her up? Asking her to confess and used him as a shoulder was out of the question. Letting her be would be the same mistake he had made. That meant he had one choice, the only choice he could think of. He put away the cup and summoned a red leathered book. "You know? Some things are better left unsaid, which I generally realize right after I have said them."

She looked up and furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"What I'm trying to say is I never hide who I am," He said, finally got the effort of getting her attention. ", although, the general consensus seems to suggest that I should." She remained silent but she looked at him like he was ridiculous, her lips slightly perking higher. He turned the book towards her. "I've made lots of mistakes but when I try to fix them, it generally turns to shit. Right now, I need the chance for me to help you, to know you." He declared, pouring emotions into his words.

Like the heavens above singing a chorus, she let out a soft chuckle and Naruto became wide-eyed as it reached his ears. "I can assure you, no good can come from getting to know me." They both snickered. She took the book and put up her cup for a toast. "Fiiine. If you're willing to put up with me, I'll do the same."

"I'll try not to disappoint you. Phrasing 'try'." They clinked their cups and drunk to their hearts content.

Thirty-minutes later, Amena let out a blissful sigh, feeling herself glancing at the blonde as both their cheeks flushed. "How looong have we been in here? I'd really like a good sleeep…" She slurred, leaning back on her arms.

Naruto slant his eyes to the sky and wondered. "Time flows differently here but I think it's already daybreak."

"Whaaat?" She wined, letting her body fall to the grass. "Have my body been up all night?" Especially she had her Sharingan active since she got here…feeling the strain would be a major pain once they got out.

He lazily shook his shoulders. "I'm not sure…you're ready to head out?"

She covered her eyes with her arm and waved her free hand. "Just…gimme a minute." She murmured, eventually letting out a faint and light snore.

"Amena?" Naruto groaned with his eyes half closed. All he got were whispers from her peaceful slumber and he shook his shoulders once again. "I guess a couple wouldn't hurt." He poured more for himself and drunk them.

Later

Amena burst her eyes open and immediately turned off her Sharingan. She did not feel disoriented or any of the sort but fully heightened and alert. She felt something in contact with her forehead and nose though. Light colored skin and whiskers were the first thing she managed to describe. "W-what?" She whispered in confusion. The form right in her vision had what it seemed like eye-brows, then its skin tightened. Realization struck her when she visualized she was leaning on Naruto's face. Her breath hitched and it caused blue-azure eyes to crack open.

"Hmnghh…" He grumbled. The Uchiha hastily backed away with a fleet of redness causing his face to be contact with dirt instead. "Argh"

Amena was rapidly breathing and stood up, watching the blonde recover. "Say no word on any of this."

"What?" He sat up, crossed his legs, scratched his hair while looking a bit disoriented and noticed her. "You say something?"

Slightly taken aback, she flutter her hands in denial. "N-nothing."

"Hmm, okay…" He yawned and rest his eyelids for the time being. "So, how do you feel? Feel anything different?"

She gazed around, fluttering her eyes, intermittently turning on and off her Sharingan. "No…but I feel sort of…disconnected." She looked at her hands, slowly clenching them.

He nodded. "It's normal. It sort of happens when you hop in and out from an alternate world…So, what about your Sharingan? They were on all night but I think you had your eyes closed." He observed her, noticing the lack of bags underneath her eyes.

"No strain whatsoever, like 8 hours of sleep."

"Interesting…" He speculated that he unknowingly might have had been supplying his own chakra to her, thus dismissing her any exhaustion. That explained why he felt kinda tired but constant supply require perpetual physical contact. He asked her about it but she refused to give any input, oh alright.

"The Sun is up, we better get moving." Amena stated and proceed to erase any indication that they were there including the fire pit. Hmm, it looks like it was out several hours before they woke up but she did feel not any chill at all. Could it be-No! Don't even think about it. She looked over her shoulder noticing he was dozing off. She gently kicked his leg, popping his bubble. "Uzumaki Naruto. Get. Up." She strained and kicked again, he groaned.

"Okay! MOM! I'M UP!" He slapped her feet away and stood up, wiping his eyes. Suddenly, alarms went up inside his head, eyes wide. He looked at Amena who was having the same unexpected reaction. "Do you feel that?"

She narrowed her eyes at the forest, Sharingan spinning. "They're coming…" She muttered and all that was left on the dirt ground they stood on was left empty leaving a handful of floating leaves.

To be continued...


Hello! It's been a loong time since I've updated anything at all. College and part time jobs have been tough on me and I only can concentrate on making these few hours a week or less. Anyways! Omaewo mo shinderu...

If you're wondering what Amena looks like, go up to my profile for a direct link to the image