Chapter 2

I burdened their maddening hatred. I could taste their disgust.

But the thing that hurt me the most—something that was so insufferable – was to know that they would never be a part of my life anymore. The peaceful horizon I once sought looked so far away, and I kept reaching and grabbing and trying to wretch it from his grasp. I wanted my happiness back.

Maybe I was just being selfish.

Maybe hope itself is selfish.

"So… Just 'Yume?'"

"Yep. Just 'Yume.'"

Naruto and Yume were walking along the streets of Konoha as he was giving her somewhat of a tour of the village. She was walking with her hands clasped behind her back as the blonde ninja rubbed the back of his head confused.

"Ah, that's the hot springs over there," Naruto said as he pointed. "Ne… What do you mean by 'just Yume?'"

She sighed. "Naruto, you've brought this up like fifty freaking times already. It's just 'Yume.'"

"I know… But why?"

Yume puffed out her cheeks before letting out a sigh. "I don't have a surname. It's just 'Yume.' Don't some ANBU do the same thing too? They get different names all the time, and some don't have surnames either, right? Think of it like that."

Naruto pouted.

"But that's weird!"

"Get over it," she shot him a pointed look before she glared ahead of her. People were staring at the dark-haired girl as she walked along the streets with the dense blonde. They gave her a rather odd look as they eyed the bow attached to her back.

"Oh yeah, do you specialize in archery or something? It's rare to see people use a bow as a weapon. It's pretty freaking cool though, if you ask me!" He grinned brightly as the girl beside him smirked.

"Yeah, I do. I work with lots of other weapons too, though. I have pretty decent aim," she boasted confidently, "but I never miss with my bow and arrow. I'm pretty freaking badass, if you ask me." Her smirk widened arrogantly as she repeated his words.

"Woah, you're kinda like Tenten!" He gasped slightly.

"Who?" Yume looked at the blonde with an eyebrow raised as they reached the ramen stand.

"Speaking of Tenten, there she is! Hey, Bushy-Brows, Tenten, Neji, Gai-sensei!" Naruto waved toward a small group of people as they turned towards him.

"Oh?" Yume murmured as she followed Naruto towards the group.

"Naruto!" A figure dressed in what seemed like a green jumpsuit waved at the duo approaching him and his group. An older looking version of the bushy-browed, green-suited weirdo waved as well, flashing Naruto and Yume a large grin. Yume reacted by slowly putting up a shaky hand as a greeting, jaw dropped open and gaze jumping back and forth from the two oddly dressed beings before her while she hesitantly approached them.

"U-uh…" The girl stammered; eyes still focused on the two matching men. Her fingers twitched along with her eye as she continued to stare in shock.

"Oh, Naruto, may I ask who this mysterious woman standing before me is?" The smaller weirdo asked as he glanced toward Yume before saluting her. She took a small step back as he continued talking. "My name is Rock Lee, the handsome devil of—"

"Lee! You're scaring her!"

A girl with two brown buns tied up neatly on each side of her head shoved Lee slightly from behind as she sighed irritably. She turned to Yume and let out an apologetic smile before scolding Lee once again. Yume sent Naruto an odd look as he scratched the back of his head and let out an awkward laugh.

"Idiot."

Yume turned toward the deep voice that had spoken up. A handsome guy with white robes and long, dark hair had his arms crossed over a well-built chest and was shaking his head at his bushy-browed teammate. Yume had to admit—he was quite attractive; especially compared to the other two males that accompanied him. Tall; a strong jaw line; flawless, creamy skin; a toned body from what she could make out from the muscles hiding beneath his robes— he was the epitome of a powerful shinobi. Not to mention he was hot.

His piercing gaze was shifted towards her. Obsidian met with a contrasting white. Slight shivers crept up Yume's spine as they held each others' gaze.

He's…

The corner of her lips tugged downward slightly before Naruto spoke up.

"Oh, so this is Yume!" She nodded twice and turned to face the rest of the group. "Yume, this is Bushy-Brows, Tenten, Neji, and Gai-sensei!" Naruto pointed cheerfully at each member of the group.

"Hi."

Yume greeted them oh-so-coolly before Tenten's eyes opened wide in astonishment.

"Your bow… It's beautiful! Do you specialize in archery?"

Yume's expression mirrored Tenten's before she broke out into a huge grin. "Why, yes."

"Oh right, how was Tsunade-baachan not able to break it?" Naruto inquired, staring at the large bow strapped to Yume's back.

"It's an extremely rare, yet powerful bow enhanced with chakra—practically impossible to break, even by someone with monstrous strength such as the Hokage. How did you even get your hands on such a weapon? They're incredibly uncommon, especially since shinobi don't generally specialize in archery."

Yume's grin widened and her eyes glimmered. "I got it from my guardian."

"Your guardian?" Naruto questioned further.

"As in, like a parent," Yume smiled brightly before her stomach growled again. "So can I get some food already? I'm starving! My guardian always said that it's impolite to make people wait."

The group of six sat down along the table as they ordered. Naruto sat to the left of Yume while Tenten was situated on the right of her. Naruto ordered for the dark-haired girl and the group chatted while waiting patiently for their meal.

"So Yume, what brings you to Konoha?" Tenten asked, leaning into her palm as she spoke.

"I live here now."

Neji raised his brow slightly at this from beside Tenten, but kept silent as he listened. Rock Lee leaned forward from his spot next to Neji to have a better look at Yume before speaking.

"Let us become friends, Yume-chan!"

"Sure, sure," Yume replied, waving her hand casually and grinning. Neji sighed and dragged his palm down his face as he shook his head.

"We can be friends too, Neji-kun," Yume drawled sarcastically, reaching behind Tenten to punch Neji in the arm.

Hard.

Tenten giggled as Neji shot his attacker a glare. The food was then brought over by an old man who smiled cheerfully, his eyes crinkling.

"Eat it while it's hot!"

"Thanks!" Naruto beamed brightly as he clapped his calloused hands together.

"Itadakimasu!"

Each person repeated Naruto's actions before indulging into their food. Noisy slurps were coming from Naruto, Rock Lee, and Gai as they devoured the ramen bowls before them in a silent battle to see who could eat more. Yume looked on either side of her while slurping up her noodles as well before swallowing and grinning.

"I'll join too!" The girl then gulped up the remainder of her ramen as Tenten and Neji stared dumbfounded at the sight of the four pigging out at the ramen stand. The sounds of bowls clanging on each other rang out as more and more bowls were piled up.

Though the other three had a head start, Yume was quickly catching up to her male competitors. Tenten and Neji sat pale faced, quietly eating their ramen while watching the competition. By now, Gai had dropped out after half of his third bowl, claiming the excess fat gained from the ramen would ruin his youthful image.

One down, two to go. Yume smirked inwardly, sipping up the remnants of her fourth bowl. Rock Lee was out after barely finishing his fourth bowl, burping and placing his head down on the table, green-faced and obviously bloated. Naruto was still eating happily, his pace unwavering as he slurped onward. Yume received her fifth bowl and sighed heavily as she stared at the bowl before her. She dove in with her chopsticks, the noodles slipping every now and then as she rushed to finish. She slurped loudly, staring at Naruto as he was placing more and more of the ramen into his mouth.

Both were halfway through their fifth bowls, and one person was clearly the winner.

"DAMN YOU, NARUTO!" Yume shouted, pushing her bowl toward Tenten and Neji's direction in one swift movement, clutching her stomach as she groaned. Naruto swallowed a mouthful of ramen and set his finished bowl down, reaching for the abandoned bowl and grinning brightly.

"More for me!"

Yume blanched as she watched Naruto finish her half-eaten ramen. Neji sighed irritably from his seat and mumbled incoherently under his breath. Gai and Rock Lee were congratulating Naruto for his victory while Tenten rubbed Yume's back. Forehead pushed to the table, Yume moaned loudly and pouted childishly. Naruto gave a laugh and patted her shoulders lightly.

"You should sit up. The table is filthy," Neji crossed his arms again and got up from his seat. Yume lifted her head off the counter slightly, her onyx eyes lidded as she stared at him.

"Neji," she started, looking at him blankly. He turned his head slightly towards her, eyebrow raised slightly as he waited for her to continue. No words were said, and she stared impassively.

"What?" He sighed. Yume took her time responding as she continued to gaze at his face. Moments passed before her lips slowly parted and words formed.

"Can I braid your hair?" She asked. Face serious and cheek pressed against the table, she eyed the Hyuuga steadily.

"O-Of course not! Stop being an idiot!" Neji's eye twitched, and he turned away quickly. "I'll be taking my leave now."

Tenten waved at him as he stalked off.

"It's getting late, Yume-chan. I guess I'll get going too," Tenten smiled as she gave Yume another reassuring back-rub before getting up from her seat. Yume got up as well and responded with a smile as Tenten began walking off.

"Ja ne!" Tenten waved as she cheerfully sauntered off in the same direction as Neji did. Lee and Gai said their goodbyes after Gai paid for his team's meals and left as well, leaving a boasting blonde behind with a sulking girl.

"I'll walk you home, Yume-chan," Naruto smiled as he pulled out a frog shaped wallet.

"You're still paying, you jerk."

Naruto laughed miserably as he began to count the change in his pouch. The owner was wiping down the tables and his eyes crinkled as he smiled at Naruto.

"It's on the house."

Naruto beamed as he put his wallet away. "Thanks, Teuchi-san!"

The duo walked down the dimly lit streets as the number of people started to die down. Yume giggled loudly as she spoke to Naruto.

"Who wears green spandex?" More giggles erupted from her as she continued. "And those eyesbrows! That bowl-cut! And that Gai person—I wonder how he got his teeth to be so perfect! I'm actually quite jealous, too. Maybe if I started flossing… Yeah, he definitely flosses."

Naruto chuckled as they walked towards a small building.

"Hey, Yume, I think that's your apartment. Woah, it's right by Sasuke's old apartment…" Naruto's smile died down as he stopped walking, causing his companion to stop too.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Naruto stared, dumbfounded.

"You… know Sasuke?"

She nodded, her eyes darkening. "A lot of people want him dead. Wasn't he your old teammate? Before Sai?"

"Yeah… Wait a minute, how do you know th—"

A man appeared before the two, carrying a large stack of papers tied with a thin string, barely able to contain the pile. Yume swiftly turned around to address him as Naruto's eyes bore into the back of her head.

"Ah, Yume-san? Hokage-sama requests that you must fill out these forms to register yourself as a Konoha citizen. Please turn them in as soon as you can." The courier plopped the papers into her arms as she stumbled.

"What the—these are freaking hea—"

"And these papers," the man continued without taking a breath, "are for registering you into the Academy. Turn these in tomorrow morning at the Academy and you will then be assigned a classroom." He pulled out a smaller stack, yet still piled quite high, from behind himself and released it into her arms as well. "Oh, and another thing. Hokage-sama accidently dropped both stacks of papers while getting them out, so they are out of place. She requests that when turning them in, they should be in the correct order and completely filled out. Any questions?" The man smiled politely.

"DID YOU PULL THAT OUT OF YOUR ASS OR—NO, SHE DID NOT DROP THEM BY ACCIDENT—UGH, I CAN'T BELIEVE—"

"If there are no further questions, I shall be going now." And with a poof, the courier left.

"OI, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

Yume fumed as she stumbled forward and balanced the mountainous waste-of-trees in her arms. Sighing loudly, she fixed the stack with a huff and turned to Naruto, almost falling over as she did.

"G'night, blondie. I gotta get my beauty sleep for my first day of school tomorrow," she drawled sarcastically before inching—with much difficulty—up the steps to her door.

"Uh… See ya?" Naruto watched as she gradually, and finally, progressed beyond the second steps, throwing a wink behind herself towards Naruto.

Tbh, I've had this chapter (and chapter 3) written and completed for over a year LOLOLOL I was just too lazy to update. Well, I usually have a set time/day of the week that I update my stories on, but like, I kept missing the time so I was like, "FUCK IT, I'LL DO IT NEXT WEEK." I decided to upload it anyways because I promised I would XD SO YEAH. HERE YOU GO.

THANKS FOR READING.

OKAY BYE.

~Love, Christine