Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

To think there existed ways beyond simple medical equipment and medicine to speed up the recovery process, Yami had to admit, that she was appreciating the unique way that the people of this world healed others. She didn't need some advanced surgery to heal her broken bones, and she had broken bones, and she wasn't being forced to take some strange medicine or shot to fix herself up. The doctor that was fixing her was a woman who had glowing green hands, and was placing them against her sternum.

Like magic though, her bodies pain was vanishing, and her bones were being reset and restored by the mystical touch of the woman healing her.

She was surprised more about the fact that she was in the same tent as a woman who was in a coma, while she was being healed by a slightly depressed looking woman. The woman in the bed had a dull blond hair, and tanned wrinkled skin. She was sleeping on her back, and she wasn't moving much at all. It was clear that some sort of exhaustion had caused her coma, and Naruto was looking at the old woman (in her 60s?) with slightly saddened eyes as well.

The woman healing her, much younger, a woman in her possible late 20s with short black hair, and a slender body with a normal figure. She had trained her body to perfection, but her kind black eyes seemed to train in on Naruto.

"You really gave this girl a beating Naruto, you shouldn't treat girls this way."

"Assassin." Naruto pointed at Yami, the finger of blame pointed. Even that didn't stop her medical treatment like she assumed that it would. "Assassin Shizune, this girl tried to kill me. Sage Mode was the quickest way to end the fight." Naruto explained to the woman, Shizune, who gave him a soft smile.

What?

Naruto explains that an assassin tried to kill him, and he was now asking for her to be healed, and the woman smiled at him? Naruto must make it a habit of saving the lives of the people who tried to kill him if this was people's reaction to that statement.

"-and now she has had a change of heart. I swear Naruto, it's like your voice has the magic ability to bring out the best traits in others." Shizune gave a sigh, having seen it several times before. She had seen the victims of Naruto's heart-changing speeches, she was only alive after having her own soul ripped out and sent to hell, because of Naruto's way of talking with others and changing them.

Yami furrowed her brow.

That trait sounded... familiar to her, as if she had heard of a species of people whose attractive looks, and voices, could bring out the best in others, and inspire love. She looked at Naruto with a furrowed brow for a moment.

"So Yami, who hired you?" Shizune asked the girl.

"I wasn't truly hired. I, and many other assassins, recieved a transmission from a man named Orochimaru. We were all given a mission to capture or kill Uzu... Naruto." Yami changed the way she addressed Naruto. She saw him send her a look when she tried to speak of him formally.

Shizune sighed.

"That man is just a cause of so much trouble. To think he could even contact aliens." Shizune didn't even need to be told the girl in front of her was an alien.

Her internal organs were slightly different, he body was filled with some kind of strange metalic feeling thing that slightly interfered with her juts, and with Naruto's luck a cute female assassin from outer space was about right. Naruto also didn't seem to be too worried about how she was taking it, and instead of taking the girl to Sakura he took her to her, which meant he wanted this kept secret.

She knew Naruto well.

"He was a sneaky snake... more assassins?" Naruto asked Yami with a deadpan tone.

That sounded annoying.

"The ones who could get you were promised rewards beyond their wildest imagination." Yami explained the base of it. The actual cash to credit amount wasn't stated or anything, but it was hard to turn down the offer of a reward so great that it couldn't be put into words.

...

"Experimentation." Shizune and Naruto spoke in unison.

No doubt, any assassin that actually managed to get him would prove themselves as a worthy test subject to Orochimaru. He wanted to find a strong alien to experiment on, and what better way to find a strong alien, than to have them fight a strong ninja? The man's reward was little more than the 'honor' of being a test subject. Both Shizune and Naruto knew this from personal experience with Orochimaru, and both of them having knowledge of his past deeds.

'So there was no reward, and everyone was given bad information...' Yami thought, her expression quickly souring upon realizing that she had nothing to gain from this entire endeavor. All she earned herself were broken ribs, and damaged pride, which honestly wasn't worth the trip or the gas that she used getting to this forbidden planet in the first place.

Naruto looked at Tsunade.

"Has Granny shown any signs of waking up?" Naruto asked Shizune on a different note.

Shizune frowned and shook her head.

"Severe chakra exhaustion isn't something a woman her age can handle lightly. She used nearly all of her chakra to save as many villagers as she could. She's lucky to be alive at all." Shizune spoke with strong emotion welling up. She looked at Tsunade, in her elderly appearance, with sad eyes.

Neither Naruto nor Shizune thought any less of Tsunade when she looked so old, neither of them bothered by her actual appearance.

Yami glanced at Tsunade.

"There is a medic who might be able to wake her. As a show of gratitude for healing me-"

"Don't sweat it, Granny will recover from this in time. She just needs rest is all. I'm the one who hurt you, so you don't need to be grateful or anything." Naruto interupted her. They didn't need a special doctor or anything. Tsunade would recover naturally in time, sad as they were that she was in a coma they still believed she would recover. The old woman was a trooper through and through, something like this wouldn't keep her down forever.

Yami frowned for a second, and then kept that frown on her face.

That was odd, and it caused a strange feeling inside of her stomach.

*Growl*

No, that was hunger, she was just hungry. Her face turned a little pink, and she looked away from a grinning Naruto. Shizune even let out a light giggle at Yami's reaction to her hunger.

"Lets go get some ramen Yami, on me. Want to come Shizune?" Naruto asked his elder ninja. She shook her head, and looked towards the stacks of unfinished work that she needed to get done.

"No, but thank you. Rebuilding a village takes a lot of work, and I'm having to do the Hokage paperwork while Tsunade is in this condition. I understand why she drinks." Shizune hated to admit it, but she wanted to go get a drink. She was dealing with so much paperwork involved with the village being rebuilt that it was insane.

Naruto snorted.

"She drank before becoming Hokage. Come on Yami, lets go get some ramen. Ichiraku Ramen had their store rebuilt not long ago, and I'm craving ramen ya know!" Naruto's words were excited like a puppy. Yami looked towards him silently, judging him, and trying to figure out if there were any underlying reasons for his offer.

She just assumed, safely, that he was just that friendly of a guy.

So she nodded her head.

She got back onto her feet, and she gave Naruto her extra nod to show that she was ready to go and eat. After being healed, her body felt slightly drained of energy, the fight she used a bit of energy fighting Naruto also having something to do with her hunger. She had the itch to stab Naruto in the back when he turned his back towards her, walking out of the tent, but she pushed down the urge.

He was no longer a target, she was never truly under contract to get him, since the information was not only misleading, but the one contracting her was dead.

'Ya know?' Yami thought when she noticed the strange way Naruto ended his sentence. She simply raised her eyebrow at him, before she looked around. She could see civilians and ninja working together to rebuild the village. With the village inside of a giant crater, she could only hazard a guess that something huge happened. The village was massive, and the fact that the crater was just as massive to the point it stretched all the way to the outer walls of the village showed that some grand battle occured.

Oddly enough, nobody was giving her strange looks for her clothes, even though they weren't much like the clothes around her. Her red eyes weren't being talked about, and nobody was shrinking away from her.

It wasn't bad.

"-and Granny is the current Hokage, though right now... Yami?" Naruto questioned her as he explained the recent history of the Hidden Leaf Village. He noticed that she was just looking around, taking in many of the freshly built buildings, and the people building them. "Yeah, the village is really awesome. You should have seen it before it was destroyed. I've travelled all over, but nothing beats home for me. No matter how trashed this place becomes, it'll always be beautiful to me." Naruto furthered his statement, and Yami nodded her head at his enthusiasm at least.

Naruto gave an awkward smile.

She wasn't one for small talk, was she?

"Who are they?" Yami asked as she pointed a finger towards the mountain nearby, the mountain with 5 faces carved into it. It was the only huge, recognizable landmark that she could see, besides the village being in a crater. The faces on the mountain were actually the only reason she knew that Naruto would be here. That landmark had been included in the briefing message for the job, but no details about it.

It was odd, but the face covered mountain commanded respect, and looking upon the noble faces on the mountain, she felt like she was looking upon greatness itself.

"That's the Hokage Monument. When somebody becomes the Hokage, the leader of this village, their face is placed on that mountain out of respect. One day, my face is going to be up there to." Naruto stared into the eyes of each of the stone faces with pride, his eyes almost sparkling with admiration for each person on the mountain. It breathed in a deep breath filled with his emotion, and exhauled in a way that showed so much self-confidence that Yami didn't doubt his words.

Naruto just looked at the stone face of the Fourth Hokage.

His father, and with those words, more pride filled him.

"Senju Tsunade, the woman in the coma, is the Fifth on the mountain?" Yami asked as she stepped closer to Naruto to talk on more even terms with him. Walking side by side towards there destination, she was able to see people smiling and waving towards Naruto.

So many people seemed to hold Naruto in high value, and the amazing in their gazes, the sheer way they seemed to regard him as somebody to be held up with respect, was visible to even her.

Naruto was the hero of these people, that much was obvious, even if Yami didn't know why he was considered such.

"She must be a great woman." Yami noted with a respectful nod.

"Granny Tsunade is pretty awesome, though she has a nasty temper... She once punted a guy through a door for mocking her age." Naruto laughed when he remembered that.

It was hilarious.

"You call her Granny."

"Well, me and Granny Tsunade are like family. Doesn't stop us from arguing a lot though, but I always win!" Naruto bragged as he puffed his chest out. Whenever he bet with Tsunade, whenever he had an argument with her, whenever they had a disagreement, it would always end with him winning. "So what about you, what is your family like?" Naruto asked Yami, and she didn't respond right away.

"I don't have one."

Yami looked at Naruto after she said that, and she noticed that he was making a sad face, a comically sad face with tears in his eyes. He clapped his hands around one of her own, and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"That's so horrible, I know just how that feels. I never had a family growing up either. Don't worry Yami, I'm sure you'll find the people you'll consider your family one day ya know!" Naruto's words of sympathy and hope didn't really mean much to her. Though she did take note of the fact that Naruto didn't have a family growing up.

Assassins had to take note of all small details that could be useful later one, it was part of the job.

"It's fine, weapons don't need family."

'... She kind of reminds me of Haku.' Naruto thought with a softer look appearing deep in his eyes. He stood up straighter and let go of Yami's hand. He started to walk again, before he blinked a few times. "You're a girl... right? Not some kind of tranny?" Naruto asked Yami with a shiver going down his spine.

Sometimes, he just had horrible luck when dealing with boys who looked like girls, or girls who dressed like boys.

He had trouble identifying crossdressing.

"I am female." Yami deadpanned at him. She didn't know why she was asked that, but she was a little annoyed at her obvious gender being called into question. She looked at Naruto with some confusion when she saw his sigh of relief, shoulders relaxing as his hand went to his heart.

Strange.

Naruto was a strange guy, she was learning.

"Come on, lets hurry, I'm getting hungrier just thinking about that ramen waiting for me. I know you're going to love it! You can order anything on the menu, my treat!" Naruto walked in front of Yami, turning around and walking backwards with closed eyes, a smile on his face. The carefree way his arms were behind his head, and his voice was filled with the pure meaning of what it meant to be friendly reassuring her.

She could feel herself relaxing, that alone putting her on edge when she realized that she had almost relaxed her guard completely. It was strange, and frightening, how in only a few hours this boy had managed to become so friendly with her, and how he was able to get her to relax around him.

Uzumaki Naruto.

She had never met somebody as strange as this man.

Chapter End!
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