(Author note: Hey guys, I just wanted to thank everyone who has read my story so far and to let you all know that I really appreciate it!)
Koyuki sat on the roof of the hotel scanning they city with her byakugan while Naruto and Jiraya slept in a room of the hotel below. She thought back to her and her squad's encounter with Gaara of the sand, they had been completely outmatched especially given the fact that he could use the sand under their feet as a weapon; it had been an unwinnable battle. Koyuki was snapped out of her thoughts when her byakugan detected a powerful chakra that had suddenly appeared behind her. She turned quickly unsheathing her sword. Before her was a man in a black cloak that had red clouds on it. He had long black hair and wore a Konoha headband on his forehead with a line scratched through the leaf symbol. Koyuki recognized the man as Itachi Uchiha, the famous rogue ninja from Konoha who had massacred his entire clan. She knew from intel that had been supplied by the leaf village to avoid making eye contact with him, though that severely limited her options if this confrontation became violent. Still despite the high tension of the situation she couldn't help but notice how attractive he was.
"I'm here for the nine tails." Itachi spoke, his voice calm and even.
"What are you talking about?"
"Playing dumb will only get you killed that much faster."
Koyuki felt her heart begin to race as her grip tightened on the sword she held.
"I am here for the nine tails." Repeated Itachi in the same tone as before.
"As I said before I have no idea what you are talking about, I am a rogue ninja from the mist village, and I'm afraid I have no idea what it is that you're looking for." Explained Koyuki as she gestured to the head band she wore around her neck as a sort of necklace.
Itachi mused for a moment on the information he had just received, his dark brooding eyes examining her for any sign of deceit. Fighting this girl would draw a great deal of unneeded attention, and without fail rouse Jiraya and the nine tails Jinchuriki from their sleep. While that was a fight that he could win Itachi was reluctant to engage the situation, he needed to save his eyes for his inevitable showdown with his brother Sasuke. Several moments passed before Itachi turned and dispersed into a flock of crows, disappearing into the night. As his presence faded completely Koyuki sheathed her sword and let out a sigh of relief but couldn't help wondering what 'the nine tails' that Itachi had been searching for was.
"That was quite an impressive display, not many ninja would stand their ground against Itachi Uchiha especially when they had nothing to gain from it." Commented Jiraya as he stepped out from the entry way that lead up to the roof.
"I wouldn't exactly call that impressive, truth be told I was terrified."
"Then why didn't you run? After all it's not as though you had any reason to fight him."
"Because…" Koyuki trailed off gazing up at the night sky.
After several moments passed and Jiraya realized she wasn't going to answer his question, he shrugged and sat down on the guard railing across from Koyuki, who had become lost in the starry sky and full moon until Jiraya cleared his throat regaining the young kunoichi's attention.
"Out of curiosity why did you agree to let me accompany you and Naruto?" Asked Koyuki before Jiraya had a chance to speak.
"Well my dear with only Naruto around I tend to get lonely, if you know what I mean."
"I think I'm beginning to see why Naruto calls you pervy sage." Replied Koyuki with a giggle.
"Not you too, I swear before all of this is over the name Jiraya the gallant will be nothing but a memory."
"I have no idea what you mean." Countered Koyuki as she gave an innocent smile before heading back inside.
"Oh, but seeing as how you're up so late, how about taking over guard duty?" Said Koyuki as she poked her head out of the doorway before again disappearing into the hallway that lead back down into the main part of the hotel.
Jiraya sighed and pulled out his telescope, he didn't know about keeping watch, but there was always late night research to be done.
Koyuki crept back into the hotel room silently making her way to the room she was staying in which was separate from Jiraya and Naruto's. Upon entering she undressed and slipped into some black and white horizontally striped pajamas then with a yawn crawled into the soft bed that was in the room. After a matter of moments she was asleep.
Koyuki awoke to an argument in the room next to hers between Naruto and Jiraya.
"Pervy sage, can't you go to a hot spring some other time?! You promised to train me and we haven't done any training in days!"
"Naruto we're leaving this town later today, this is the last chance I may get for quite some time to visit this hot spring!"
"But pervy sage you promised to train me!"
"Bye Naruto I'll be back in a few hours."
Koyuki heard the front door to the room close and a frustrated grunt come from Naruto. She considered rolling back over for a few more minutes of sleep but ultimately decided against it and begrudgingly got out of bed and headed for the shower.
When she got out of the shower she rifled through her bag looking for a clean pair of undergarments and an outfit. She eventually settled on a dark green long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans with a few tears in the front that were a result of being worn so often. She strapped her sword to her back then walked into the next room where she found a very bored Naruto laying on the bed staring off into space.
"Having fun?" She asked cheerfully.
"No, anything is better than this, I'm so bored."
"Anything huh?"
"You got it."
"Well then would you like to help me with a super important mission?"
Naruto's ears perked up and he sat up straight staring intently at Koyuki.
"Sounds awesome, what's the mission?!"
"Laundry." Koyuki answered smiling at the blonde who visibly deflated.
"I think I'll pass"
"Come on Naruto it's no worse than sitting around here waiting for Jiraya to get back."
"Fine."
"Great! Now gather up all of your dirty clothes and let's go."
Naruto rolled off of the bed and began gathering up several orange jumpsuits. Koyuki had never understood why so many ninja bought the same outfit multiple times and never differentiated their appearance. She then walked back into her room and gathered up several of her own clothes and placed them in a large wooden basket beside the door.
"Alright I got my clothes together." Said Naruto as he walked into the room carrying a large pile of jumpsuits and black shirts.
"That's great, go ahead and put them in the basket."
Naruto obliged not entirely sure if this really was any better than just sitting around. After a moment to double check to make sure she had her things Koyuki picked up the basket and walked out the door with Naruto following behind her. As they made their down the main road, which was a dirt road, she noticed a number of small shops and a few restaurants. Due to the early hour the streets weren't very crowded, something Koyuki was thankful for.
"Hey Naruto, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure go for it."
"…why did you save my life? I mean why not just let me die?"
"I owed you for treating me to that meal of ramen, you even left enough money for me to get another bowl. Besides I'm going to be hokage one day and that means protecting everyone. Believe it!"
Koyuki walked on in silence for a moment completely dumbfounded but soon she found herself giggling.
"Hey, what's so funny?!" Asked Naruto in a defensive tone.
"Naruto I can honestly say I've never met anyone quite like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry it's a compliment."
Koyuki sat with her hands folded in her lap waiting for the laundry to get finished as Naruto paced back and forth impatiently. As the minutes passed Naruto's pacing intensified even Koyuki had to mentally admit that this was pretty dull. After another couple of minutes she sighed and stood up, which drew a curios stare from Naruto.
"Are you hungry?" Koyuki asked Naruto as she reached her arms over her head and stretched.
"Heck yeah!"
"Alright let's go eat my treat. What are you hungry for?"
"Ramen!"
"For breakfast?"
"Absolutely, if I had it my way I'd eat Ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day."
"Well if that's really what you want…"
"It is."
"Well then lead the way." Sighed Koyuki.
Naruto lead her to a small ramen shop around the corner. They ducked under the thin cloth covering the top half of the entrance and sat on two bar stools.
"Welcome to Marucha Ramen do you need a minute or can I take your order now?" Asked an abnormally tall server who walked up and handed them both a menu.
"We'd like just a minute to look the menu over thank you." Koyuki explained as she opened the menu.
"Alright well then I'll be right back to take your order in a minute." Said the server as he walked away.
A few minutes later he returned and took their order. Naruto had ordered a large bowl of beef ramen where as Koyuki had only ordered a small bowl of miso soup. Koyuki had literally begun to hear Naruto's stomach growling while they waited for the meal to arrive. After the meal, which had consisted of one bowl of miso soup and three bowls of beef ramen, two bowls of pork ramen and four bowls of deluxe ramen, they returned to pick up their laundry. When they arrived their laundry had just been finished and it was folded neatly by the staff and left in the basket they had brought it in.
"Hey Naruto I have an idea."
"Ok, what is it?"
"Well do you think you could possibly make a shadow clone to take the laundry back to the apartment? Because there are a few other places I'd like to go."
Naruto shrugged then made a shadow clone who picked up the laundry and left.
"So what'd you want to do?"
"Just a bit of shopping, come on."
Naruto sighed and followed Koyuki down the main road which was now quite crowded as it was nearing mid-day. After they had walked a little ways Koyuki turned into a clothing store she had seen earlier.
"Ugh what is it with women and clothes" Grunted Naruto.
"Actually we're here for you Naruto" Koyuki responded.
"What? But I have plenty of clothes!" Protested Naruto
"No, you have the same set of clothes multiple times."
"So? What's the problem with that?"
Koyuki ignored his question and began looking through racks of clothes while Naruto went and sat on a bench. After a few moments she walked up and handed Naruto a pair of black relaxed fit jeans and a plain medium sized long sleeve orange jersey. Naruto looked at the clothes then at Koyuki with a rather unamused expression.
"Come on Naruto at least try them on."
Naruto sighed and headed towards the changing rooms in the back followed by Koyuki. Who waited on a chair and made small talk with the attendant while Naruto changed. A minute or so later he walked out. He didn't seem to mind the change and in Koyuki's opinion it looked good. After Naruto changed back into his normal clothes they bought the outfit and left the store. They were about half-way back to the hotel when they encountered Jiraya leaving the hot spring.
"Hey-hey you two."
"Pervy sage." The two greeted in unison
"Aw come on now that's no way to talk to your elders."
"Should we call you mister pervy sage?" Koyuki asked doing her best attempt to sound genuine.
Jiraya rolled his eyes and started walking back in the direction of the hotel.
After quickly packing the trio was off it was a little after noon when they left, and the sun was just beginning to set. Naruto was wearing his new outfit which he had actually taken a liking to.
