--Chapter Two: The training in the darkness--

"AAH! I REMEMBER! You're Shiruba!" he yelled and pointed at her.

"Yes, I'm glad you remember." Shiruba smiled.

Then Naruto noticed all the questions look he was getting from the other ninjas, so he decided to explain.

"Shiruba is a friend of mine." He started, and was laughing and smiling like I hadn't done in months. "I meet her when I was with Jiraiya. On the other hand, more as if Jiraiya found her for me, since he had some business to attend too, she was going to train me for the week. She is really strong, and a very good ninja." His smile never left his face.

Everyone looked at Shiruba, some for them with eyes of respect, disbeliefs or wonder.

Hinata as her usual shy level look up at Shiruba, and did at once notice something special with her. "B..but, she is blind." her voice was small and weak, but everyone heard it.

"She is what?" called Sakura out. "But how could she have avoided all the attacks from Kakashi? And what about the training with Naruto?!" Everyone eyed Shiruba as she stood still in front of Naruto.

"Maybe she lost it a year ago.. or something." mumbled Kiba.

Slowly Shiruba turned to face everyone. "Yes I'm blind, and I was born this way, is there a problem with that?" The last sentence was spoken with a little harsh tone. It seemed she was used to hear that from many people, but still she got hurt from hear it.

Everyone went silent and looked at each other, totally forgetting why they were standing in the rain in the first place.

Shiruba slowly shake her head, and sighed. "But that's not way I'm here, I can take care of myself and I assume that all of you have some importer mission to attend to. That's why I'm here, I just want to help Naruto finding Sasuke." when the sentence left Shiruba, the leaf ninja was more confused. How on earth could a blind girl help them in any way? Specially with a searching. And.. how did she know about it?

Naruto was the only one that smiled at her words. "You traveled all the way here to help me?"

The girl turned to him and gives him another small, a weak smile. Moreover, at this pint Kakashi thought they had been slowed down enough from the mission.

"I'm sorry but you would have to go back to the village and wait for Naruto there, this is a mission given to us."

Shiruba looked at the white haired man. "You don't have to worry about me going to Konoha. I have something for you." Slowly she walked in front of Kakashi and handed him a small piece of paper.

Kakashi looked down on it and read it quickly for himself. "So you have already been in Konoha. And this is a message from Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama, telling us that Shiruba-san her, have also been putted on this mission."

Kiba walked over to Naruto and placed his arm round the blond's shoulders. "So Naruto, you trust her? Is she good? Can she be at any help with finding Sasuke? Or defecting the Akatsuki?"

The blond ninja just smiled at his doggy friend. "She is defiantly good, and I'm sure having her with us will help very much in finding both the Uchiha brothers." Naruto smiled with one of his biggest smile and felt very happy with Shiruba been here.

"Since you all know I'm her on Jiraiya-sama behave, I will go with Naruto. I heard everything you said about using the dogs, so if Hinata and Yamato goes their own way together and me and Naruto our way, the search will go a little faster." The new young friend of the leafs stood close to Naruto. Moreover, Kakashi looked at her with a truanting look, like he was challenging her. However, she did just look back at him with a death expression in her eyes, but her eyes was looking straight at him, even though she was blind...

"It's okay Kakashi, I can go with Shiruba, and the biggest dog can also come with us. Hinata and Yamato just go another direction." said Naruto calmly with a big smile.

Finely Kakashi agreed. "Fine, you two go together. And the big dog's name is Buru."

The biggest dog in Kakashi's summoning walked up to Shiruba, and she patted him lightly on the head.

"Kiba, since you have Akamaru, I'll take Pakkun." Kakashi turned to the dog boy, with Pakkun on his shoulder.

"No problems, we're already prepared!" called Kiba back.

"Is this alright with everyone? Shiruba you are new... and I don't know why you want to help Naruto so badly, but he trust you and so those Hokage-sama... then I guess I should as well. First off, our top priority is to chase after Sasuke's scent, after that, we'll deal with the Akatsuki... Also, if any of you happens to run into either of them, flee time being and return here. And Shiruba.." Shiruba looked up towards him. "I trust you to do anything you can do to keeping Akatsuki away from Naruto."

Shiruba simply nodded to him. Making him smile under his mask. He then looked at everyone's faces and raised his right arm.

"SPREAD OUT!!"

As the order was heard, everyone disappeared from the roof and started running towards there way, in search for Sasuke.

Some few minutes later was Naruto, Shiruba and the big dog, Buru, stop running and started to walk the way they were on.

"So why did you suddenly come now?" Naruto asked curious.

Shiruba just smiled a little and answered. "You have really forgotten that time. It's almost strange that you did not attack me too." Naruto looked at her with a nervous smile.

"Really..? But I would never attack someone unless I know the person is an enemy."

This made Shiruba.. laugh. It was a small and strange sound, but it was really. A really laugh she hadn't been doing for one and a half year. "I did remember what I said to you they day I left you with Jiraiya. Therefore, I have been running towards Konoha in sometime. I did planning on coming sooner but it was some other things I had to do. And when I finely come to Konoha, Jiraiya was the person who did meet me. He and Hokage-sama made the letter to Kakashi" She looked down in the ground.

"Hehe." Naruto laughed. "Don't think about it. Kakashi and Kiba were just worried that's all. None of the Leaf ninjas had never seen you before, so... well, you get the point." This made Shiruba smile a little bit more.

"I'm glad to see you Naruto." though Naruto knows she didn't see, he did understand that she couldn't say it in other ways. So even though she did not see, you still used the word.

"You do even seem stronger for when I was training you." Shiruba said suddenly.

Naruto make a sweat drop. "eh.. yeah.. that training. Training in the dark stuff was not so very easy to do... And Jiraiya did train me very hard after you left."

---Flashback---

"Common Naruto try to hit me again." Shiruba called. They were in a dark cave, it was so dark in there that Naruto couldn't see his hand even if he hold it right in front of his face.

"Look me in the eyes." Shiruba order him. But how would he? It was too dark!

Naruto stood in the dark trying to hit or see his trainer, Shiruba who was somewhere in the endless darkness.

"Naruto I'm not standing in that direction, and if you keep walking that way you will soon.." she stopped as she heard something fall and hit the ground. It was Naruto who had tripped on a rock and was now to worn out to get up.

They had been training like that for a week, with no really food. Sleep was something they could not have, if they did fall asleep they could die. The cave was felled with big dangerous rock. The ground was not safe either, with so many holes and weak spots that could make them fall down. Some places were water, but not so much. In addition, when it comes to food, was it something Naruto had to catch himself. Some small animal or whatever it was the lived in here that was eatable, but just to make sure that Naruto did not die from poison, Shiruba had do check everything before he could eat it.

There Chakra was active at all times. Running and jumping up and down, they had to have Chakra under there feet's to be able to run everywhere. Even sometimes Shiruba order him to do some destroying of rocks. However, they main training was for Naruto to hit Shiruba. Something that was not easy. So it was maybe not so strange why Naruto was wary tired. And he was also tired of hearing "Look me in the eyes." all the time.. she had said that ever since they enter the damn cave.

As easy as walking on a straight way on a clear day, Shiruba walked towards Naruto, completely ignoring all the rocks and holes in the ground. When she stood beside him, she reached her hand out to him. "You did very good Naruto. However, I guess your strength is to see you enemy in battle. But this training did give you some more stamina. If that is possible." The last was more like a funny comment to Naruto, because she knows how good and how much stamina had.

While laughing and panting, he took her hand and was helped up on his feet. "Common, to day is the day we get out of here." Shiruba said, and leaded the way out of the cave.

It took them one hour to get out. Naruto was surprise on who strong the sun was when he saw it. "Damn.. the sun up...? arg, what time is it?" Naruto was full with dirt on his clothes and hair, he did not smell so very good ether. "Ugh... I smell like a week old rubbish." In the cave Naruto had lost count of time in the whole week and had not known if it was night or day. Not that really matters, when the fact was that they couldn't sleep in there.

Shiruba smiled and almost laughed. "It is Monday, 01:49 pm. We have been in the cave for seven days and four hours and nineteen minutes."

The young student looked shock at his also so young master. "What? How did you know that?" his voice showing how surprised he was, how was that possible in the first place?

The girl make her smile smaller. "When you are blind.. you have the habit of counting the time.."

Naruto looked sadly at her. Shiruba's eyes were so beautiful with the light violet color in them and had now pupil. But it didn't matter how beautiful her eyes were when they were filed with so much sadness. The first time Naruto saw her, he thought first she was a Hyuuga, but her eyes was a little to violet for that, and he soon learn from Jiraiya that see what blind.

"But you know... the blindness is not so bad. It makes me feel everything around me. And much more." At the same time, she bended down and picked up a flower and gave it to Naruto. "I can't see what you sees Naruto... but I know what a flower is, I know the trees that blows in the wind, and the water that flouts down the river. The only thing I don't know... is the feeling of a loved one, ore a family."

Naruto went silent when he heard this. That last part what she said, was maybe the reason why he did trust her so much. She did know the feeling to be alone. The feeling Naruto himself had feel in so many year. Now he did have many friends and peoples that were precious to him. However, she had still nobody precious in her life.

"Naruto! Shiruba! Glad to see you two are out of the cave." The two of them looked at their left. And there come the old Jiraiya walking up towards them. "How was it Naruto, did you learn anything?"

"Eh... learning? How to fight in the darkness? ...I could have died! Do you have any idea on how many times I could have fall down those big holes?! And been bitten by whatever is in there!" Naruto was angry and yelled to his frog master.

"No Naruto, you could not have died. Shiruba did take good care of you didn't she?" Naruto looked on Shiruba. "Yeah.. she saved me many times.. I can't even remember how many."

Shiruba was silent for a second, then smirked. "I saved you from falling down forty-three times, twenty-six other times did you almost fall on sharp rocks. And fifty-one times.." She was cut of in her sentence by Naruto's hand over her mouth. "Okay, okay, I get it, you remember very much. But you don't have to telling him everything." Naruto looked up to Jiraiya who was laughing with all his might.

"I see, I see." laughed the old man. "She is as incredible as they say, glad you could teach him something."

"Didn't you listen Ero-sennin? I did hardly learn anything in there."

"Sure you did Naruto, it will just take some time before you realize it." Shiruba said while starting to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going Shiruba, the village is that way." Naruto pointed the other whey.

"I'm sorry Naruto but I have to go now. However, I will find you when you are going to search for Sasuke. Just don't forget."

Naruto looked after the girl, but after a second... she was gone.

---End of the Flashback---

That was how they left each other. Naruto had totally forgotten that time, but the memories come back to him now.

"That was really some times." said Naruto happily while walking with Shiruba by his side again. "In the next days after that Ero-sennin kept peeking on me how many times you saved me, and how bad I had smelled when I come out from the cave. Damn him." Naruto did not mean it in a hard way, because he was laughing of it too.

"Naruto, I have a feeling something is happening somewhere.. I just can't tell where. But something is for sure.. the Akatsuki is on the move."

Naruto looked a little nervous. "Let's get moving."

The girl smiled. "You want to find Sasuke as soon as possible don't you? And tell him your dieing feeling you have for him."

"eh..?" Naruto when speechless, and blushed madly

"You know even though I can't see, doesn't it mean I can't feel you struggling and hear you heartbeat go faster. Why suddenly so embers?" Shiruba smirked, because she did know something about Naruto and Sasuke that they had yet to discover.

"HEY! Stop talking like that. It's creepy."

"So the fact that you dream about Sasuke the time you did get some sleep in the cave was just my imagine?" she tried hard to not sound too arrogant, and was having so much fun tease the blond.

"I dreamed about him?!" Naruto yelled out, more blood was strumming to his face, and made it even more red.

Shiruba laugh a soft laughter, and start running "Common Naruto, let's hurry." she said running away from the embers ninja.

"Hey comeback her!" he called after her and start running.

The Buru sighted and starts to run after them as well.


Okay.. done with that one.. em, yeah a little from the Manga here too.

I hope I really can get this story to be as I think it would be... And.. do some of you find many wrong grammar sentence? If you do just tell me if you want.

And about the story... wish me good luck.