Finding Your Voice


Chapter Four: Finding Your Class Representative


Shion yawned loudly as she walked through the front doors of Konoha High School, the result of staying up until three in the morning surfing the net. She hadn't meant too, but there were too many funny videos online to stop at one...

She stumbled into the locker area and slowly located her own. Yawning loudly, she slipped off her walking shoes and opened her locker to grab her school ones when she noticed something odd. A poorly wrapped yellow package tied off at the top with a sloppy green bow sat waiting on the ledge reserved for her shoes. Shion glanced around to make sure no one was looking and pulled it out, checking for a note or message of some kind.

'Weird. Who'd go to the trouble of sneaking a gift into my locker and not leave a note?' as Shion opened the present and peeked inside, she doubted it was a secret admirer... Well maybe Lee, but she doubted he knew how to make cookies. No, even though it was poorly wrapped, this had to be a gift from a girl (or a very girly boy). But who?

Shion pondered over the sender of the mystery cookies as she entered the classroom and took her seat. She was surprised to find that Naruto wasn't already here; usually he came early to avoid the crowd. Shion placed the cookies on her desk and decided to wait for her four friends to arrive; they'd probably know who had a penchant for handing out random cookies.

Soon the students of Class 2-B began to file into the classroom, greeting each other and engaging in mindless chatter. Hinata and Tenten took their seats in front of Naruto's desk and Shion walked over to them, cookie bag in hand. "Good morning Hinata-san, Tenten-san." she said cheerfully.

"Morning!" the two chorused in perfect sync.

'Creepy!' thought Shion. "Hey, did you guys leave a bag of cookies in my locker?" she said, holding up the yellow bag.

"N-No, Shion-san." stuttered Hinata.

"It wasn't me either." said Tenten. Her smile changed into a teasing grin. "Maybe you have a secret admirer!"

"I doubt that. I honestly don't know who would have done this, I haven't done anything special for anyone other than Naruto since I arrived here, and I don't think he knows how to make cookies."

"Well, believe it or not, but you happen to have caught the attention of several boys in this class." said Tenten, pointing towards the middle of the classroom. Shion followed her extended finger, eventually spotting the closely packed desks that marked the boy's area in the classroom. Her eyes landed on Lee and Kiba, who waved enthusiastically to her, while the others simply nodded or smiled politely. Sasuke ignored her, pointedly staring out the window. He must have still been sore about the oily hair situation that Shion had landed him in the day before.

"Huh. I'll go ask them then." said Shion, weaving her way between the desks to the boys. She stopped in front of Lee and gave him her angelic grin, since he was one of the most susceptible. "Hey Lee-san, did you or any of the boys leave me a bag of cookies in my locker?"

"I do not think so Shion-san! Do you like cookies?" his enthusiasm was far too overwhelming, enough to make Shion want to step back a few feet lest she be burned by his 'flames of passion and youth'.

"Uh, yeah... I don't dislike them..." Shion was vaguely worried when Lee pulled out his notepad (usually reserved for Guy-sensei's impromptu lectures) and scrawled something down. Was he making a record of her likes and dislikes? So creepy...

Lee grinned his blinding grin at her, obviously waiting for more tidbits about Shion. Unfortunately for him, the blonde girl didn't have the slightest inclination of sharing anymore personal information, just in case it came back to bite her on the ass one day. Instead she pulled out the small bag of cookies and held it in front of his face. "Anyway, this was waiting for me in locker this morning. Does it look familiar?"

Apparently it did, since Lee's face turned to the colour of old porridge when he saw the cookie bag. Against his will, his eyes seemed to drift to his left, briefly focusing on the corner seat of the back row on the opposite side of the room from Naruto's desk. His eyes jumped back to Shion like he'd been caught doing something naughty and he gave her a very weak smile completely unlike his normal grin. "N-No Fujimura-san! I have never seen something like that before. Excuse me!" with that, he quickly left the room, mentioning something about going to the bathroom to those who questioned him, despite the fact that the final bell had just rung.

'Huh. Weird. He obviously has seen this before, or something like it.' thought Shion. But why was he so scared of a bag of cookies? Maybe he'd had some traumatic experience with them when he was a kid? Shion's imagination went into overdrive at that moment, simulating various cookie related accidents and she covered her mouth with her hands to hide her giggling. If she told Naruto about her suspicions on Lee's cookie problems, would he find it funny too or would he think she was crazy? Probably the latter, since friends laugh together while best friends laugh at each other. Right now, they were just at the 'friends' stage.

Anyway, back to the cookie dilemma (not Lee's). Shion figured that she she'd just ask the class at once, that way the sender would confront her later if they were too shy to own up in front of the entire class. They'd have to tell her sooner or later, rather than risk Shion going around asking everyone until they were caught.

Meanwhile, over at the corner of the classroom Rock Lee had been fearfully observing, Ami and her hench(wo)men were watching Shion with varying emotions and facial expressions. Ami was rather frustrated that Shion was too busy being a busy body to eat the damn cookies and Noriko was coldly watching her, waiting for the moment when she tasted their punishment.

But Kazuna was worried, and eventually broke under the pressure, babbling her worries out in a single breath. "Do you think she'll like them? I put my heart and soul into making them but I couldn't taste them to see if they came out alright! What if they taste bad? What if she finds out it was me and she hates me forever? I couldn't live with her giving me the evil eye every time we met, I'd die! Oh, what do I do Ami-OW!"

Noriko nodded curtly to Ami as Kazuna subsided into tearful silence, keeping her hand near the back of the stupid girl's head just in case she started speaking again. Ami sighed with annoyance and deigned to answer her questions, lest they suffer another outburst from the vegetable later on. "Look idiot, she doesn't have to like us, no one does! That's the hard life we chose when we decided to enforce the Sasuke Rules. Not everyone likes law enforcement after all, no matter how important they are. Besides, she's not supposed to find out you made them, and there's no way to trace it back to you-"

"Excuse me! Can I have your attention?" called Shion. When she was sure the whole class was listening (not that she had to try hard to get their attention), she continued. "Did anyone here leave this bag of cookies in my locker?"

Ami smirked knowingly. There was no way that rule breaker would find out that her little group had planted the tainted cookies. Now all she had to do was wait quietly until she ate them, not suspecting a thing...

"Oooh! Oooh! It was me! I made them!" yelled Kazuna, raising her hand while grinning like a moron. Noriko quickly administered a silencing slap to the back of her head and placed her hand over Kazuna's mouth for good measure.

"Huh? Who said that?" asked Shion, glancing around for the person who had spoken.

"I-I think someone outside the classroom shouted it out and ran off." said Ami, hoisting a very fake looking smile up on her face.

"Is that so? What a pity..." murmured Shion as she moved back to her seat. Ami smirked nastily as she opened the bag of cookies, and then groaned with frustration as she closed the bag and placed it back in her desk.

When was that bitch going to eat her damn cookies?!

Shion was blissfully unaware of the negative thoughts being sent her way, instead focusing on the rather worrying case of Naruto's absence. She wanted to share the cookies with him, as repayment for the onigiri he'd given her during their lunch break on the roof. It was only fair after all.

Kakashi-sensei soon wandered in ten minutes late, reading a green book while dragging poor Lee into the room by his ear. "You're late!" roared Ino and Sakura, as they usually did while Lee quickly scurried to his seat, rubbing his very sore ear.

"Sorry, sorry. I woke up late this morning (no surprises there!) and as I was walking out the door, my neighbour asked me to help her move some furniture around before she left for work..." as the class began to mutter about lame excuses, Kakashi held up a hand for silence. "And this time, I have proof!"

The students of Class 2-B were shocked into silence. He had proof? Kakashi quickly slipped a small Polaroid picture out of his little green book and held it up for the class to see. The students left their seats and crowded around, eager to see what could be proof of Kakashi's first legitimate reason for being late.

The picture was of Kakashi and a little old lady standing outside an open door surrounded by cardboard boxes. Kakashi was holding up the peace sign and giving the camera his weird little eye smile, while the old lady looked somewhat annoyed by his antics.

"Wow, looks like he's telling the truth," said Kiba, genuine amazement in his voice. "What if he was telling the truth all the other times he was late?" the class as one thought back over his previous excuses, wondering how plausible some of them really were. It was a rather big shock for some of the students, having to rethink their entire mindset concerning Kakashi. Only Sakura noticed the victorious glint in his one eye, and that made her re-examine the photo much more thoroughly.

"Hold it right there!" said Sakura, snatching the picture out of her sensei's hand. She examined it closely then scowled at the now nervous Kakashi. Couldn't he catch a break just once? "The shirt he's wearing in the photo is different to the one he's wearing now!"

Sure enough, Kakashi's blue striped shirt was a far cry from the lime green shirt he had on in the photo. "Uh, I had to change it since it got all dusty. As a proud sensei of Konoha High School, I have to look the part you know?" the other students nodded, acknowledging his point. It sounded reasonable enough, but Sakura wasn't finished yet.

"Oh really?" she said, smirking evilly. Kakashi felt shivers running down his spine; the girl could look absolutely demonic when she needed to, despite her ridiculous pink hair (it's gotta be dyed right?). "Then why does the date on the back of the photo say that this picture was taken two years ago?" she slammed the photo down on Kakashi's desk, literally playing her trap/trump card.

'Oh crap. I didn't check the date! And are we playing Yu-Gi-Oh now?' thought Kakashi, slightly missing the point, getting off topic, losing the plot, etc... "I... Uh..." he gazed helplessly at the students gathered around his desk giving him the evil eye and awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, uh... Let's take attendance?"

As the disgruntled students returned to their seats, leaving a shamed Kakashi at the front of the classroom, Shion noticed Naruto sneaking into the room, once again coming in after their chronically tardy sensei (meaning he was extremely late) like he had on her first day. He quickly ducked into his seat, pulling his headphones out of his bag. As he was about to place them over his ears, he became aware of Shion staring at him and slowly turned to face her, giving her the Naruto Look.

"Morning Naruto-san!" Shion said, trying to hide her relief. She was worried that he'd gotten sick and hadn't been able to call the school because of his speechlessness. "Why were you late- Oh Kami!"

Naruto jumped as Shion yelled her last two words out for the whole class to hear. Shion felt the eyes of her fellow students on her and quickly waved them away, smiling reassuringly while trying to fight down the blush threatening to light up her cheeks like a neon sign.

Once she was sure everyone was looking at Kakashi, she hurriedly whispered to Naruto. "What happened to your face?" Naruto gave her a confused look before using the window to check his reflection. On his left cheek (previously hidden when he hadn't been facing Shion) was a long but shallow cut, stretching from just under his eyelid to his jawline. A few droplets of blood welled up and slowly slid down his cheek and hung from his chin, threatening to drop on and stain his white shirt at the slightest movement. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the handkerchief she had washed the night before to return to him and used it to wipe the blood away, not noticing Naruto tensing up at her touch.

She gently dabbed away at the cut, stopping briefly when he flinched with pain. She couldn't believe he hadn't noticed this earlier... Or had he inflicted it on himself? Shion quickly derailed that train of thought before her imagination blew it out of proportion. There was no way Naruto would harm himself... Right?

Once she had cleaned up his face, she carefully folded the handkerchief and asked Naruto to hold it against his injured cheek. She was about to raise her hand to ask Kakashi if she could take the wounded blonde to the sick bay when a tapping noise from Naruto's direction caught her attention.

Naruto had placed his notepad on his desk, tapping his pen against a freshly written note.

Don't tell anyone.

"But you're hurt Naruto-san! I..." she faltered when he shook his head insistently and tapped the notepad with his pen. "Alright then... What do you want to do about it?" he quickly wrote his reply.

Nothing.

"You can't walk around with a handkerchief on your face all day! You have clean and dress the wound so it won't get infected. At least let me help..." she stopped when she noticed Naruto giving her that touched look again, that heart-rending mixture of awe and surprise that anyone would be concerned for his wellbeing.

Thank you for your concern.

"It's what friends do," she said resignedly, smiling despite her worries. "They care for and look out for one another." Naruto simply nodded and turned to face the front, where Kakashi had finally noticed the message on the board left by the substitute sensei the previous day.

"Did I forget to elect a pair of Class Reps? Whoops..." he turned to face the class, wary of their scowling at his poor handling of his duties as a sensei. "So, uh, who would like to volunteer?"

"I nominate Sasuke-kun!" yelled the female population of the class, instantly drawing that special annoyed look from the Uchiha that made them swoon.

"Do the boys have any objections?" asked Kakashi, pointedly ignoring Sasuke's death stare.

"Better him than me." said Kiba.

"How troublesome. As long as I'm not one of them, I don't care who the Class Reps are." muttered Shikamaru, obviously struggling to keep his eyes open.

"It's settled then! Uchiha-kun is the new male Class Representative!" the silver haired sensei quickly moved on, cutting through Sasuke's objections. "Now, who would like nominate to be the female Class Rep?"

"I'll do it! Oooh, oooh! Pick me!" yelled Kazuna, bouncing up and down in her seat with her hand up like a pre-schooler. The class only deliberated for a second before collectively replying.

"No!" the students of Class 2-B faced Kazuna with their arms raised in crosses. Kazuna became teary eyed and looked down sadly, the very epitome of a pitiful sight. Shion found herself feeling sorry for the girl she had not yet met. Why were people so against her becoming the Class Rep?

Tenten seemed to read her mind, whispering over Hinata's head to Shion. "You may not know this yet, but Kazuna-san isn't exactly the brightest bulb. In fact, her lights went out years ago, and there is definitely no one home in that noggin of hers."

"Ah, is that so?" Shion whispered back. "So she's an... airhead?" Shion couldn't think of a kinder word.

"The airiest. It's like her head was built to shield this massive brain full of potential, but then they realized as soon as they finished it and closed it up that they had forgotten to put the brain inside."

'What a harsh and yet colourful analogy.' thought Shion, as she nodded her head Naruto style and turned back to Kakashi, who looked somewhat relieved that everyone had rejected Kazuna. After all, if someone volunteered and no one else stepped forward, then Class 2-B would have been stuck with the worst Class Rep since Maito Guy when Kakashi had been a student at the school.

"Would anyone else like to volunteer?" Kakashi asked hopefully, his eye glittering with desperation. Lee stood up, still holding the ear Kakashi had dragged into the room with. "No, Lee. You cannot nominate for female Class Rep. You may challenge Uchiha-kun for the role of male Class Rep." Kakashi stated plainly, somehow keeping a straight face as the class burst into laughter. Lee blushed and shook his head vigorously.

"No, no! I want to nominate Fujimura-san!" the class turned to face Shion, making her feel rather uncomfortable with all the attention on her.

'Whatever you do, don't you dare make a sound!' she mentally scolded her stomach. If it decided to rumble when everyone was watching her...

"The Red Dog approves!" said Kiba, jabbing his thumb into his chest.

"I suppose she'd do a good job. She's responsible enough." said Ino as she filed her nails, clearly bored with the proceedings.

"Well, the class has no objections," Kakashi gestured to Shion. "Do you accept the title of Class Rep?"

Shion took a few moments to deliberate, but it was the sideways glance and subtle nod she got from Naruto that finally convinced her. He'd had some strange look of longing in his eyes; maybe he'd always dreamed about being the Class Rep but was too shy to nominate. "Sure, why not?" she said, her reasoning being that if she was the female Class Rep, Naruto might be willing to be nominated.

"Excellent," Kakashi turned to face the board and scrawled hers and Sasuke's names and titles down the right side of the board. "If you two would come up to the front of the class, I'll present you with your badges." Shion and Sasuke left their seats and hurried to the front, where Kakashi handed them a pair of glossy green Gakkyū Iinchō pins. "Please congratulate your Class Reps for this semester, let's hope they do well, etc., etc." Kakashi muttered unenthusiastically, causing only a few people to clap awkwardly for their new Class Reps.

As Shion was about to make her way back to her seat, she noticed Naruto eyeing Sasuke's badge. Was that a look of longing? Did he secretly wish to be the male Class Rep? Shion turned back to Kakashi, deciding to throw caution to the winds.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'd like to nominate a male Class Rep. I think he'll do a great job."

"Oh really? Well, we've already selected Uchiha-kun, who was so willing to take the job," Kakashi winked at a fuming Sasuke, whose usual silent demeanour worked against him by not allowing him to argue back, since it would make him look uncool. "But let's hear your suggestion."

Shion turned to face Naruto and gave him a smile, which instantly made him go rigid with fear as he realized what she was planning to do. "I nominate Naruto-san!" she called out cheerfully. The class went silent as her words rang out. No one wanted to look him in the eyes, but Naruto had become acutely aware of his classmates' presence.

A few awkward minutes passed without a word being said; an impossible feat for a class of thirty teenagers. Then slowly, the students of Class 2-B turned to face Naruto, laying judging and critical eyes on him. As Naruto began to sink lower and lower into his seat, Shion began to have doubts about her idea. Maybe she had misread him, and while it was good that people were acknowledging his presence, the way they were doing it wasn't the best way…

Naruto suddenly leapt to his feet, still clutching his handkerchief to his face. Before anyone could make a move to stop him, he slid open the window by his desk, leapt up onto the windowsill and jumped out, taking only his notepad with him.

For a few moments, the students stared at the window in silent shock. Then Shion remembered one terrible fact: they were on the second floor. She rushed over to Naruto's desk, followed by a few mildly curious souls and leaned over the edge, hoping against hope that she wouldn't see a red stain on the footpath below.

Instead, she saw Naruto climbing with surprising agility down windowsills and ledges until he landed on the pavement below. He gazed up at Shion and the other students watching him from the window and took off running, heading for the main school gate.

Shion's heart was still racing, but it seemed the boys and girls of class 2-B did not feel the same way. They calmly returned to their seats, while Kakashi retreated from the window near his desk with a resigned look on his face.

The blonde girl from Oni no Kuni could not believe the lack of concern her fellow classmates showed for the lonely Uzumaki. What was wrong with these people?! Her mental tirade was interrupted by Kakashi, who gently told her to take her seat so he could start the first class of the morning.


~Afternoon Homeroom~


"Stand. Bow." Sasuke ordered, sounding like he really couldn't care less. The students did as their new Class Rep instructed, the girls much more enthusiastically than the boys.

"Dismissed." said Kakashi, already halfway out the door. With the customary farewells said, the class kicked into high gear, chattering happily amongst themselves as they gathered up their gear and left the classroom. As Kiba was about to sling his bag over his shoulder and leave with Sasuke, he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise as he turned around, quickly flashing what he thought was a charming grin at Shion.

'Ugh, so cheesy.' thought Shion. Obviously Kiba thought the old school bad boy look was still fashionable, which unfortunately no longer worked on the ladies (the smart ones anyway!). Still, she needed his help and couldn't afford to offend him now. "Inuzuka-san, would you mind doing me a favour?"

Kiba's grin widened. "Hey, no need to be so formal! Kiba is fine."

"Will you help me Kiba-san?" she asked again, turning on the puppy dog eyes for good measure. She almost smirked; there was no way she could refuse her now. She wasn't disappointed.

"Of course! The Red Dog doesn't leave a damsel in distress!" while he was trying to sell himself as the white knight for women everywhere, Shion took it as mildly insulting.

'Damsel in distress? Who the hell does he think he is?' she thought, fighting against her natural urge to scowl. Instead, she gave him her dazzling angelic smile. "You'll help me? Why thank you Kiba-san! You're so kind!"

Her overly girly acting was making her feel sick, but it was working. "So, what did you need my assistance for?" asked the Red Dog, his self-important grin stretching to impossible proportions.

"Could you take me to Naruto-san's house? I heard from a friend that you followed him home... Uh, that you know where he lives." she held up Naruto's old orange backpack. "He left this behind when he... Took the afternoon off."

The smile dropped off his face faster than Naruto had leapt out the window. "Uh, yeah. I guess I could." he scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out the best way to say what was on his mind. "I wouldn't recommend going there though. He's a weird guy and he lives in a bad part of town."

A slightly frosty tone coloured Shion's next few words. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to his house regardless." the change in her demeanour was obvious. Kiba flinched back like he'd been slapped (a feeling he knew all too well). Maybe Shion had a scary side too like most girls.

"A-Alright, I'll take you."


~Old Residential District~


"Here we are." said Kiba, pointing to an old house at the end of a nameless street, one of many similar looking ones in this older part of town. They'd walked for nearly twenty minutes to get here, partially due to Kiba losing his way at times, though he tried to hide it. "I'll be going now." he looked rather uncomfortable so Shion bade him farewell and watched him leave. 'Huh. Some white knight he is, leaving a girl alone in a dangerous part of town.'

Kiba scurried off without a backward glance, leaving Shion to walk down the dark street alone. The streetlights weren't working and the sun had begun to set, casting deep shadows everywhere. The road ended in a cul-de-sac, with six identical houses (aside from their unique states of dilapidation) arranged in a half circle. They were built on a single plot of land that was abundant with long uncut grass and weeds. It seemed that the developers had once had plans to turn the place into a luxury micro community, since an empty half built swimming pool and a rusty old playground were waiting sadly next to one of the houses, unused and uncared for.

Shion headed towards the houses and stopped abruptly, realizing she'd forgotten which one Kiba had pointed out was Naruto's. The lights were on in three of the houses, but she really didn't feel like knocking on all of them until she found the right one. Luckily for her, one of the front doors opened and a man dressed in a police officer's uniform stepped out, hauling pair of black rubbish bags to the pavement.

"Excuse me!" called out Shion, glad to see another person in this lonely street. "Could you tell me where Uzumaki Naruto lives?"

"Uzu-kun? He lives next door." he replied, pointing to his left.

'Uzu-kun?' Shion eyed the officer dubiously. Who was this guy? Despite her concerns, he seemed friendly enough, giving her a smile when she recognized her uniform.

"Are you a friend of his from school?"

"Yeah, I came to return his school bag. He left it behind." she replied, holding up Naruto's backpack. The officer's grin grew wider.

"That's great! I'm glad that he's finally making friends. He's such a good kid, but no one will talk to him because, well... he doesn't."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you refer to him so familiarly?" she asked, genuinely curious about Naruto's relationship with his neighbours. If he didn't speak with anyone, how was he on such good terms with this guy?

"Huh? Oh, my family has become good friends with him over the last few years or so. Naruto once offered to look after my daughter when I was called to a crime scene in the middle of the night and I couldn't find someone to look after her. He's been her babysitter for the past few years now, and he does it for free! He won't take my money either, so in return I help him with odd jobs around the house. Last week I helped him fix his front gate, and the look on his face was so thankful and sincere, it really made it worthwhile you know?"

Now that was a surprising piece of information. Was Naruto good with kids, despite not being able to speak? Or was the police officer's daughter just as strange? "I see." replied Shion. "Well its good know he has some friends at home as well as at school."

"That kid has a good heart. Thank you for being his friend. Well, I won't hold you up any longer. Goodnight, and make sure you get home safely." the police officer smiled at Shion and then turned and headed back up the small footpath leading to his front door.

She heard the front door close as she walked over to the house next door. As she opened the waist high gate, she noticed that it was built of wooden planks slightly newer than the rest of fence. The hinges were still shiny, indicating that the gate had been replaced recently. It opened without a creak, and she slowly made her way to the front door, becoming a little more nervous with each step. How would Naruto react to her visiting him at home? If this was his little haven away from school, then her presence wouldn't be appreciated would it? How would she explain how she knew where to find him?

She decided to peek in through the front window, just to make sure she had the right house. What she saw inside thoroughly surprised her.

Naruto was seated in a small threadbare couch, reading manga and wearing his trademark headphones. While that wasn't unusual, the strange reddish-orange cat on his lap was. Who knew Uzumaki Naruto was a cat person? At least, she thought it was a cat (it had a decidedly foxy looking face).

He stroked it gently as he read, then put the book down and bundled the cat up in his arms, giving it hug. His mouth was moving, but Shion couldn't tell if he was speaking or not. If he was, she desperately wished she could have heard his voice, had the window not been in her way.

She noticed that he had bandaged his cheek wound neatly. In fact, it looked almost professional. As he tried to put the cat down and leave the couch, it stuck out its claws and waved them about threateningly (explaining what had happened to his face). Naruto gave the cat his Naruto Look and sat down again, placing the fluffy creature back on his lap. As he resumed petting it, she watched as his 'Naruto Look' (trying to whistle with his mouth closed) stretched into a full blown grin. It was first smile she'd ever seen on his face!

So that's what he'd been trying to do every time he gave her that 'Naruto Look' of his. He'd been trying to smile! Shion found herself smiling fondly. So the boy could smile like a normal person!

She stepped away from the window and placed his bag by the front door. She didn't want to interrupt that little scene, it was too precious. Instead, she quietly sneaked away, disappearing into the dark streets lit only by moonlight.

If she managed to get him to smile like that at school, then she could start the next phase of his social readjustment: making a new friend (with a little bit of her help).

And she already knew the perfect person for the task.


Finding Your Omake: Bells Ring and Dreams Sing


"Nighty-night Shio-chan!" Shion's mother's voice wafted up the stairs, reaching the blonde girl's ears just as she was opening her bedroom door. She smiled, cradling her mother's gift gently in her hand as she bid her goodnight.

"Goodnight Okaasan. See you in the morning." with that said, she gently closed the door behind her, adhering strictly to Fujimura Miroku's House Law Number Seven: Never Slam Doors Loudly. Her mother's rules were referred to between them as 'Laws' since they were in her mother's eyes just as important and just as unforgivingly enforced.

When Shion was four, her mother had returned from an overseas trip to visit her daughter at the temple. Miroku stayed for three days, and Shion unwittingly broke a Miroku Law (which were still being devised for the day in which mother and daughter would live under the same roof) on day two.

Miroku Law Number Three: Never Dip into Okaasan's Makeup Kit without Permission. Shion had found her mother's makeup and attempted to replicate her mother's 'going out with friends' look. When Miroku found the disastrous painting Shion had made on her own face, she took a few minutes to have good chuckle, then quite seriously informed her daughter of Law Number Three, stating that ignorance of the law didn't make it any less applicable when Shion tried to argue that she hadn't known of such laws.

Shion then spent her afternoon playtime in her cot, while her mother sat watching her like a prison warden, occasionally making her laugh with a silly face or noise to pass the time. Once Shion was freed from her prison, she vowed to follow all the Laws to the letter, getting her mother to write them all down in a tiny little book.

Fourteen years on, and the now grubby, paint splattered, moderately damaged and now fragile book still resided in her desk drawer, amongst Shion's other childhood treasures. The makeup law was still adhered to strictly, and even Law Number Five: Tell Okaasan When You Need to Use the Bathroom was jokingly mentioned every now and then.

Shion made her way over to her desk, unlocking and opening the small drawer containing her most valued trinkets from the past. As with most people's treasure troves, some of the stuff in the drawer would be considered to be junk by people unaware of the memories attached to them.

But what Shion was about to add to her collection was a treasure both in associated memories and value. Her mother had been digging around in the attic and had found one of her old business suits, on which was pinned a small little bell.

This bell was made of crystal and contained a small ruby within that produced the purest sound when shaken. The Fujimura bell had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations, having been said to be a good luck charm to ward away evil and misfortune. Shion's mother had worn it nearly every day, but had misplaced it during their move from their first house in Oni no Kuni to their second (and last before moving to Konoha).

Needless to say, it had been a relief to have finally found such a treasured heirloom. Without delay, Miroku finally passed the bell down to her daughter, a few years past the birthday on which she should have received it. But Shion wasn't complaining; she had always admired the bell whenever she saw it pinned to her mother's jacket, dreaming of the day when she could display it proudly as well and now she too finally could wear it like all the Fujimura women before her.

For now though, she'd keep it safe in her drawer until she was ready to handle the responsibility of looking after it. She gently placed the bell down on top of the book of Miroku Laws, hearing the soft and pure sounding clink as it settled on the book's cover and slowly closed the drawer, smiling contentedly.

Shion quickly slid under her bedcovers and rolled over to face the window, the ocean of stars in the night sky being the last thing she saw before slipping away into the soft embrace of sleep.

The blonde girl found herself wandering down a nameless street at night, admiring the brightly lit neon signs and buildings and watching the people around her going about their business. As she walked on, she came across a sign which instantly caught her interest.

'Tonight Only! The Seven Blonders of the World!' was written in fancy yellow script, with a picture of a group of six blonde haired people surrounding and pointing towards the seventh who stood proudly in the middle. The faces of the group were obscured by question marks, but the hairstyle of the main person seemed weirdly familiar.

'Is that play on 'The Seven Wonders of the World' or a typo?' though Shion. Considering that the people on the sign were blonde, she went with the former. Her curiosity piqued, she walked down the small foot path leading to the entrance and stepped inside.

The ticket booth to her right was unmanned, but a sign on the counter told her to proceed through the main doors. She did so, squinting as a bright spotlight shone down on her, following her as she made her way towards the stage. The seats around her were empty, but something seemed to be drawing her towards the front row. As Shion finally arrived at the edge of the stage, a massive cloud of smoke billowed out from the middle of the raised platform. When it cleared, she found herself staring at the group from the sign outside in the exact same pose as the picture. They even had the question marks obscuring their faces, but then the six supporting members reached up as one and removed them, showing that the question marks were masks.

Shion stared in disbelief. She knew some of the people on the stage. While the people on the edges were generic looking strangers, the three people in the middle had her attention. On the right of the main figure stood Ino, dressed in a glittery golden skin-tight suit which revealed a lot of skin. On the main person's left stood another Shion. The doppelgänger was grinning widely, completely unlike her normal smile, and was dressed in a low cut golden ball gown which extended to the floor.

'Wow, I have to admit, I look stunning in that dress.' thought Shion, before the reality of the situation hit her. 'Hang on, why the hell is there another me there?! I'm going to get to the bottom of this!' with that, she turned on her heel and started to head back to the ticket booth, hoping to get some answers.

"Wait, Shion-sama!" a deep voice, one she'd never heard before called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

''Shion-sama'? Well, I suppose I could listen to what they have to say.' she thought as she slowly turned back to the group on stage, trying to suppress her egotistical nature. "Do I know you?"

The main figure slowly reached up and pulled off his mask, tossing it away with a flourish. As the mask fell to the ground, so did Shion's jaw. "Naruto?!" she yelled out in disbelief. Had he actually spoken?

"We are The Seven Blonders of the World! Enjoy the show!" said Ino, speaking into the microphone that had magically appeared in front of Naruto. Music started to play, and the six people around him began to dance. Her doppelgänger was performing some sort of traditional dance, swaying elegantly from side to side. Ino on the other hand was dancing in a more modern fashion, pulling off immensely flexible poses and shimmying, shaking her unrealistically ample breasts suggestively and seductively.

"..." Shion was at a loss for words. Then Naruto opened his mouth and Shion stared at him absolutely flabbergasted. Was he actually going to speak, let alone sing? Was that deep voice from before really his? She leaned forward eagerly, ready to finally find out what her friend's voice sounded like. The music picked up in tempo and Naruto began to sing.

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!"

She heard the sound of glass breaking as her expectations were crushed and Shion suddenly jerked awake, sitting up rapidly in her bed with her arms around herself as she shivered (not because it was cold). Her mouth was still hanging open, seriously doubting her own sanity to come up with a dream like that. She slowly tried to speak, and eventually managed to say the one thing on her mind.

"What the fu(BLEEP)?"


Author's Note:

Hello Readers! This chapter may seem a little rushed compared to the previous ones since I've had a rather busy week. My apologies for that. Anyway, what did you think of the Omake? If you're wondering why the first half wasn't included in the main chapter, it's because I originally wanted to write just the dream bit, since it was too silly to put into an actual chapter. However, I got a little carried away when I remembered the bell. I wanted to introduce it in chapter two but it slipped my mind at the time. Then I started writing about the Miroku Laws and it ended up being a very long introduction to a silly dream (Was the dream Rick Roll funny?).

Anyway, I'll be keeping the bell story and other side stories like it in the Omakes since it's a good way to give the characters some extra development without having to dedicate a proper chapter scene to it. That way, I can stick to writing the Shion/Naruto story while making the Omakes relevant to the plot.

Finally, the following notice will not be relevant to the people reading this story years from now. Still, you can read it and realize how far the story has come since it was published in 2013. For those of you waiting for Chapter Five and reading the story as its being written, there will be a slight delay of about two to three weeks on all my stories as I make the big move to university and get settled in. It'll be really busy for a while so I won't know when I'll be able to sit down and write the next chapter so until then, wish me luck!

Kagyuubi