DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto and it's characters, nor the canon plot. I hope you enjoy!
"Go on."
I stared wide-eyed at the large town-house in front of me. It was quite a large building, white in color with a navy blue roof that sat atop it. The Hokage had informed me that I would be residing in the home of recently registered foster parents. The Hokage had said something about them not being able to have kids of their own, so he believed this to be the perfect opportunity for them. The Hokage had ordered one of his personal guard to send word to the family beforehand, and had personally led me to the home of the family himself.
The Hokage stood patiently by my side, waiting for me to take the steps leading to the black front door. I shot an unsure look to the powerful man at my side, but he just sent me an encouraging smile, lifting some of my concerns. With Ikuto at his usual place on my shoulders, I rose my small fist, and delicately knocked on the large door, waiting for an answer from the other side.
A few seconds passed before I heard a muffled yell from the other side of the door I stood in front of. "Honey, they're here! Make sure that the table is set, please!"
When the door swiftly opened, I was greeted by a young woman, who was obviously thrilled to see us standing there. She was short, but tan of skin, and wore her shoulder-length chocolate brown hair down around her content face. Her emerald green eyes shone as she graciously allowed the four of us entrance, bowing when the Hokage made his way in.
"Hokage-sama, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me and Gakushi. They're beautiful children."
The young woman smiled down Ikuto and I as she brushed a lock of my silver hair behind my ear. She giggled slightly when she saw Miki sitting by my feet. "And I suppose this is the 'furry company' you mentioned in your message, Hokage-sama?" The elderly man chucked deeply and nodded, as the young woman scratched the cat between the ears, causing her to purr in deep content. I giggled at the action, and trailed after the woman as she led us into a spacious dining room, inside which contained a young man with short black hair, pale skin, and deep blue eyes furiously trying making sure everything was in place upon the table. When he noticed that he had company in the room with him, he was startled but soon his shocked face matched his wife's one of joy. He bowed deeply to the Hokage who stood next to us and stepped up to his wife's side to wrap an arm around her waist.
"We're so glad to have this opportunity, Lord Hokage. Would you do us the honor of joining us for lunch? We've prepared curry and rice for the occasion." The Hokage graciously accepted, and we all sat down in our appropriate seats. The young woman, who had introduced her and her husband as Gakushi and Katsuko Sakamoto and received our names in return, placed a bowl of cream down for Miki, and took her place next to Ikuto.
I was in bliss eating the food that the young couple had prepared for us. It was delicious. They certainly knew how to prepare a meal. I was mostly quiet throughout lunch, answering questions when I was prompted. I mostly used the time to observe my new house-mates. They had been married for at least a few years, and I could tell that they loved each other very much like Mommy and Daddy had. I watched Gakushi-san as he smiled softly at his young wife, who was feeding spoonful after spoonful of delicious rice to Ikuto. Miki had finished her cream, and slept soundly on the floor beneath my chair.
When lunch was over, and the dishes had been cleaned from the table, the Hokage had the young couple fill out mine and Ikuto's citizenship paperwork, and left back to his office and his duties as the village leader. The nerves began to bubble inside of me once again after he had taken his leave. I hoped Gakushi and Katsuko were nice when the Hokage wasn't around, too. My worries seemed to be in futile as Katsuko turned to face me, kneeled in front of me and pulled me into a warm hug.
"I'm so glad you're here. How about we go do a little shopping? You need new clothes, right? And we have to fix you up for school. We'll clean you and Ikuto up and then we can head out, alright?"
I smiled at the woman before me, who returned my smile with a cheerful one of her own. She gathered Ikuto from her husband, informing him that she was going to clean us up, and held her hand out for me to take. Placing my hand in hers, I felt at ease for the first time in a long time.
….
"How about we get you some new clothes first?"
I enthusiastically nodded at the suggestion. I had always adored shopping. I was a girl.
Katsuko held Ikuto firmly on her hip, her left hand locked with mine, and Miki lounged on my left shoulder as we made our way through the streets of Konoha. This was another perfect opportunity for me to view my new surroundings and people-watch. Watching the way people communicated and acted was a hobby of mine, and since it was something I was constantly doing, it gave me the talent of being able to read people reasonably well, despite my young age.
Weaving through the people that bustled through the streets of the lively village, I spotted a young boy running in my direction, seemingly evading a man whom was chasing him. The young child, who seemed to be about my age if not a tad bit younger, was clad in a simple white tee-shirt with a red swirl design on his chest complete with plain black pants and ninja sandals. He had deep, crystal blue eyes, and atop his head sat a mop of messy blonde hair. He laughed feverishly, as the man tried to catch up to him. I stopped walking, halting Katsuko, in favor of watching the commotion, along with most of the other people that stood around us.
"NARUTO! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"
This only made the boy laugh harder, as he glanced back at the man following behind him. "You're never gonna catch me, old man!"
I watched the chase until the two disappeared, and glanced back up at my guardian to see that she didn't really seem surprised. I heard several of the people around us talk about the boy, calling him "dangerous" or "a monster" which only made me curious, but I didn't ask any questions as we started back on our path.
….
"Well, now that we have all the clothes that you need, how about we go and set you up for school?"
I nodded my consent, and followed her all the way back to the large building in the heart of Konoha. We took the stairs that wrapped around the large building again, and were allowed into the building by the two guards that flanked the double doors. I thought we were heading back to the Hokage's office again, but we walked past his office to come to another door. Walking through the doors, we came into a room that had about a dozen ninja sitting in desks around the room, tending to paperwork. Katsuko led me to a desk in the back, and engaged the ninja working the desk in conversation. Having nothing better to do, I listened in.
"I need an enrollment sheet for Konoha Civilian Academy, please."
Hearing this, I went back to some of my earlier thoughts of when I had been traveling with Kakashi. He had been so fast, so agile, and so quick-thinking. I would have been lying if I had said that it all didn't appeal to me. I wanted to be agile, as well. And strong. I reached up and tugged on Katsuko's shirt before she could accept the paperwork from the ninja before her.
She seemed stunned by what I voiced next.
"I want to go to the Ninja Academy."
A/N: So, what do you think? Review and let me know! :) Next chapter will be out soon! This one was kind of short, but the next will be longer, I promise! I'm just trying to get Misaki settled.