Well, I'm BACK! HAHAHA! It's been quite hectic for me these last few weeks, but now I'm rested and cooled, and I'm ready to give this story a wedgie again! Err... Sorry, just had some coffee. Well, expect lots of updates for either Hero or Rurouni Naruto. I expect Hero to be my next update. Prolly up in about two to three days. Yep. As for Kaze no Kami Sama, well, I still need some inspiration for that, since the next chappie is gonna be FRIKKEN AWESOME! Well, without further ado, here's next chapter of Insatiable Instability!
Chapter 4: We Scream for Ice Cream
The morning light filtered through the dusty curtains as the birds chirped in blissful ignorance. It was a great day in every aspect with new horizons waiting to be explored and incredible wonders just teeming with excitement.
However, what lay inside in apartment number 601 was anything but calm and happy.
"WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?"
Naruto sighed for the umpteempth time as he dodged yet another large projectile with practiced ease. He noted with mild interest that it was his couch this time. "Calm down, and I'll explain everything."
"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Showing her determination, Rei picked up a lamp and chucked it across the room. The dangerous weapon flew towards Naruto at incredible speed, causing him to duck once again to avoid certain death. Having tested his limits, he clenched his fists as he inhaled a lot of air before yelling out with his lungs.
"BAKA! QUIET DOWN!!!"
The girl suddenly froze as Naruto sighed in relief. Any more commotion and the apartment manager would have probably kicked them out.
"Alright, follow me into the kitchen for some food. Your wounds haven't fully healed yet, so you should take it easy. And that means no throwing couches or any other items."
Glaring at him suspiciously, she followed him and sat down at the dinner table. "Explain. Now."
Flipping up some eggs with his expert cooking skills, Naruto scooped them onto three plates and set them on the table.
"Alright. Well, how should I begin?"
Grabbing a piece of egg with her fork and examining it, she deemed it clean and popped it into her mouth.
"You can start by explaining how I got here."
"Ah, well... You basically fainted. Didn't know where you lived so I brought you here. Don't worry, I didn't do anything to you. You're not that pretty anyways."
Rei coughed out her coffee as she glared at him. "Ha-ha. Thanks."
Naruto made downard "u's" with his eyes as his coffee disappeared. "No problem."
Looking at her plate, she couldn't help but sigh with disappointment as the food was gone. Even though she'd die before admitting it, the eggs had been delicious. Well, anything would have been delicious after 12 years of garbage for meals. Naruto seemed to sense this as he stood up and began to make more eggs.
"You don't have to do that." Her words seemed to differ from her face though, as her face twisted into a grimace.
"What? I'm making the eggs for myself."
"AH! You bastard!"
"Oh, did you want some?"
Mumbling quietly, she crossed her arms as she looked away. "Again I repeat. You're a bastard."
Naruto smiled as he turned back to his eggs. "Okaaaay. I guess I can make some for you too."
Naruto smiled as he popped three more eggs onto the frying pan. Bored, Rei looked around the apartment with quiet wonder. To a person who had never even been inside a sanitary home, this place was a mansion. There was no dust, cobwebs, or any bugs. Shuddering, she grabbed her knees. She hated bugs. Deciding to think of other things, she looked around and tried to analyze the home. However, her eyes soon found a plate full of eggs on the other side of the table.
"Hey, uhh, teme (means bastard/stupid head/whatever in Japanese). Why is there food here?"
"Oh. That. Well, I thought that my friend would be dropping by for some food."
Taking his cue, Kakashi hopped through the window as he landed heavily in front of the chair.
"Itadakimasu." At once, the nin wolfed down the eggs as he furtively slipped the food through a secret compartment in his mask. Kakashi then bowed his head as he thanked Naruto for the meal.
Rei looked at the two as she noted their similar masks. It was at this moment that Kakashi finally realized that there was another person in the kitchen.
"Oh, and who are you?"
Spotting the Jounin vest, she decided to be careful and bowed her head. "My name is Reina."
"Hmmm... Reina? Never heard of you. Then again, I was kind of out of it for the last four years. Well, nice to meet you Reina. I'm Kakashi." He smiled as he held out his hand. The girl cautiously approached his hand as she wrapped her small fingers around his calloused hands. In almost a whisper, she quietly repeated. "Nice to meet you."
A sudden pile of eggs flew onto her plate, effectively scaring the living daylights out of her. Looking up at the source, she saw a smug looking Naruto with the frying pan over his shoulder.
"I'm Naruto by the way." Sarcastically, he then continued. "Thanks for introducing yourself to the guy who saved you." Turning back towards the sink, he began washing dishes as Rei clenched her fists. This guy... was so annoying. Meanwhile, Kakashi watched the two with a slight twinkle in his eye. Smiling, he leaned back as he took out his favorite book. Since the majority of the female population would hunt him down for reading the book in public, he had taken to reading it in the privacy of Naruto's home. Of course, he would never let Naruto read it, but then again, the blond didn't seem to be interested in anything like that. Looking at Rei, he smiled as he cupped his hands.
"So, what are you doing with Naruto here? I didn't know that he had found someone already."
Rei was about to yell out when Naruto placed some toast on their plates. "She's not my girlfriend or anything like that. Just an annoying girl I found while walking around town."
"Oh? Well, from what I can tell, you guys already seem like a married couple."
Both of them pointed at each other as they shook their heads respectively. "No way."
Kakashi smiled as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Well, either way, I have something to give to you Naruto. Here." Kakashi rumbled through his vest as he pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Naruto looked apathetically at it for a while before opening it slowly. Rei ignored the two as she stood up to relieve her new load. The eggs and toast had been quite filling. Deciding to help herself, she walked over to the nearest door and walked into the bathroom.
A few seconds after Naruto scanned the piece of paper, he nodded and handed the paper back to Kakashi. "So, you want me to take the genin test?"
The copy nin smiled. "Yep. Of course, you're probably way above Chunin, or even Jounin level for that matter, but you've got to take the steps. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll pass the genin test. I mean, it's pretty difficult..."
Naruto and Kakashi blinked several times before bursting out in fits of laughter. They each grabbed their collective stomachs as they tried to draw in some desperately needed breath. After a few minutes, they finally calmed down enough as Naruto wiped a tear away from his eyes. "Oh... man, Kakashi, you're killing me here."
"Yeah. That WAS pretty funny actually. But seriously, you need to take it." Kakashi laughed as he tossed a card at him. "This is your academy id. You'll need it to take the classes. Go to room one sixteen in an hour. Your class will start then."
Naruto dropped his frying pan fork as he looked at the clock. Sighing, he scratched his head as he sat down at the table. "Geez, you tell me now? Ah, whatever. I guess I'll have to skip morning training then." Naruto pointed at the now satisfied Rei that had just exited from the bathroom. "After all, she wasted all of my time."
Rei ran over to Naruto as she slammed her fists into his face and pointed at an innocent looking Kakashi. "HEY! WHAT ABOUT HIM!?"
Naruto groaned for a second before pulling out her fist. "Nah. Only you wasted my time baka-Rei."
Angry, she fell into her chair and forked some more toast into her mouth.
Sensing the awkward tension, the copy nin placed his dishes into the sink before winking at the two kids. "Well, I'll take this as my cue to leave... Ja ne!" With that, Kakashi flashed away through the window leaving only a faint smoke trail. The two meanwhile continued their silent game for a while before Naruto finally got up to go to the restroom.
Rei finally slowed down on her eating frenzy as she heard the shower in the bathroom turn on. Walking over to the couch, she smiled as she jumped onto its soft exterior. Rolling around in bliss, she stretched out her arms as she squealed in delight. It was soooo comfortable.
"Man... I should just kill this guy and take his apartment." Laughing at her little joke, she sprawled over the couch and threw back her hair. Combing it with her hand subconsciously, she looked out the window and sighed. But really. What do I do? It's not like I can just stay here...
The water in the shower stopped and Naruto walked out of the restroom while ruffling his hair. Little water beads flew everywhere as he stepped through the kitchen. Turning to look at her, he frowned as he opened the fridge.
"Well, I thought that you had left already. Didn't know that you felt so comfortable here."
Rei's face flushed red as she yelled at Naruto. "FINE! I'LL LEAVE THIS STUPID PLACE!" With that, she stormed towards the door and slammed the door shut, effectively shaking the whole house. Not knowing what that had been about, Naruto shrugged as he fished for a milk carton. Either way, it wasn't his problem.
OooOo
Rei sighed a she crouched down near a deserted alley way. Patting her stomach, she looked up at the sky before cracking her neck. Maybe I should attend today. After all, today might prove to be a little interesting since graduation is coming up.
OooOo
Naruto walked into an average sized classroom as he surrounded himself with an air of indifference. He had left Amaterasu at home, since the sword probably wouldn't have any place in an academic classroom. Looking around briefly, he spotted a whole bunch of girls surrounding a dark haired boy. Basically meaning that they were fan girls, and ultimately a waste of his time. Finding an empty table near the back, he quietly walked over there and sat down. Focusing his chakra, he entered a meditative state that effectively shut off any distractions from around him.
Sakura and Ino had been fawning over Sasuke when they finally realized that a newcomer had come. This blond and mysterious masked youth clad in black and white intrigued them, though not to the point of giving up their position next to Sasuke. However, when the blond closed his eyes, blue streams of chakra had started to leak off of him. Sasuke seemed to have noticed this, causing him to openly stare at the blond with mixed emotions. Finally deciding that it was a waste of his time to get to know this new person, Sasuke sat back down and tuned out the girls. The intensity of their fandom was almost enough to make him go pull an Itachi. If that man had gone through this... Sasuke smiled almost for a second as he imagined dozens of girls trying to ring their arms around the stoic Uchiha. It was enough for a man to go insane. His thoughts were cut off though as a voice suddenly yelled into the classroom.
"YOU!!!"
Everyone turned their eyes towards the voice, even Sasuke, as they saw a long raven haired girl storm through the class to reach the mysterious new boy. "DON'T IGNORE ME!" Picking up a stool, she was about to hit him with it when Naruto finally opened one eye.
"Oh, it's you. Baka-Rei was it?"
"Teme..." Her voice trembled as veins popped out of her forehead.
"Stop that. You look like a horse."
Rei "hmph'd" as she looked the opposite way. "So, why are you here anyways?"
"Didn't you hear this morning? Or were you to busy taking a crap? Fatty."
Dunk. Naruto's head slammed into the desk as Rei clapped her hands. Sitting down next to him, she crossed her legs and looked away. Meanwhile, the whole class had immediately flew into a gosip frenzy, with rumors already spreading like wildfire.
"He just said that they were eating breakfast together. I think I heard that they were married!"
"No, that's wrong. She couldn't have bagged a cutey like him. After all, she's..."
"Stop. It's bad luck to talk about that. Anyways, do you think he's available? I hear he's..."
Naruto sighed as his sensitive hearing picked up every word. He didn't really care for the random gossip, but that bit about baka-Rei was interesting. Taking a furtive glance at her, he briefly sighed as shook his head. Enigmas were his thing. Not the queer girl that had sat next to him. Finally the teacher came in, causing the class to immediately quiet down.
Iruka walked to the front of the classroom before raising his voice to get the students' attention.
"Class. I know it's late in the year, but we have a new student. He'll also be taking the Genin test with you guys at the end of this month, so make sure you accept him into your groups. Uzumaki Naruto, please stand up.
Everyone looked over to Naruto's seat and tried to get a glimpse of his emotions. He didn't seem happy, annoyed, or nervous. In the end, it was pure apathy. .
Realizing that they were waiting for an introduction, Naruto sighed as he stood up. "Hey. You already know my name. I've got blond hair and blue eyes." With that, Naruto sat back down and leaned back. Everyone sweat-dropped before turning back to Iruka.
"Well, thank you for the introduction Naruto. Anyways, today we'll be reviewing the henge no jutsu. Later in the afternoon, we'll practice shuriken throwing. At the end of class we'll then pair you off into groups for sparring. Now, can I have everyone line up in order by last name? Akimichi Chouji first..."
Naruto watched with boredom as he saw everyone transform into a copy of some famous figure from Konoha's history. It was a smart idea, since it required both historical knowledge along with ninjutsu application. Being the second to last person, he sighed as he waited for his turn. He hadn't learned to use any ninjutsu arts yet, but he would do it when it came to him. Looking back at Rei behind him, he noticed that she had been the only one without a last name. They still had not talked since their morning skirmish. Not that it bothered him or anything. Finally, after a few more minutes, it was finally his turn. Looking at the teacher, he pulled his hands out of his pockets as Iruka instructed him to transform.
"Hey, um, Iruka-sensei was it?"
"Yes Naruto. Do you have a question?"
"Well, the truth is, I don't know the henge jutsu."
Most of the class snickered as Iruka almost dropped his board. This boy had been recommend by both the Hokage and famous ninja Kakashi. How could he not know the henge no jutsu? Shrugging, he decided to ignore it this once.
"Okay then. Can you show me a bunshin jutsu?"
"Nope. Don't know that one either."
At this, a kid suddenly yelled out in laughter. "What the hell are you doing here? This is for ninjas! You're so stupid, trying to look all cool and all when you actually know nothing!"
Naruto turned away in disinterest from the voice as he looked back at Iruka. "I'm not sure, but from what I could tell, the Henge is an illusion in which the user focuses their chakra to build up a false image around their body. The chakra would have to be at the perfect frequencies, thus the handseals. Each seal controls the pigments, contours, and so on, and with the mind visualizing the pattern, the image comes to life in the form of your external chakra. Is that right?"
Iruka gaped as he shook his head in disbelief. The kid was so young and already he knew about chakra theory. Most kids simply learned the handseals and accepted the jutsu as a magic art when actually, there was quite a bit of science involved. Smiling, he nodded Naruto's answer correct.
"Well then. I guess that's simple enough." With that, Naruto suddenly transformed into Kakashi, without the use of handseals. Any laughter regarding the boy effectively stopped as Naruto walked up to the loudmouth boy from before. Patting they boy's head, Naruto clapped his hands to show that he was a solid transformation. Most of the class simply gawked. While the illusionary henge no jutsu was a D rank jutsu, the solid henge jutsu was high B rank. For a student know that kind of technique...
"So I shouldn't be a ninja huh?"
The boy nervously gulped as he shook his head.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Kiba... Inuzuka Kiba."
Naruto's mask seemed to hide a smile as Naruto patted the boy one more time before walking back to where he had been standing before. "Nice dog you've got there by the way."
Kiba numbly replied as he felt Akamaru shaking in his jacket. "Th.. Thanks."
Iruka scribbled furiously into his clipboard as he nodded. This one was definitely interesting. "Okay then, next."
Rei stepped forward as she looked around for a bit. Placing her hands together, she made the handseal and suddenly transformed, revealing one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade.
Iruka checked his clipboard and smiled. "Good. That concludes our henge review. Everyone, take a five minute break. Except you Naruto. Could I see you for a second?"
Naruto nodded briefly as he walked against the flow of students. Iruka motioned him to come into his office before closing the door.
"Now, Naruto. Was that really your first time trying the Henge?"
"Yes."
Iruka whistled as he leaned back. "Impressive. Remarkable really. But something's been bothering me. Why didn't you know the Henge jutsu? Didn't anyone teach you?"
"No."
"Well, what jutsu do you know? Or rather, what skills do you have?"
Naruto leaned back and tipped the chair onto its hind legs. "Well... I know a couple of sword techniques. I'm okay at taijutsu, though my kenjutsu's way better. I don't know any genjutsu, though I'm sure that it's simply enough to create. Let's see... I know chakra shunshin, kawamiri, and I can now do henge no jutsu."
Iruka nodded as he wrote all this down. Looking at Naruto sternly, he placed his clipboard on his desk. "Well, to graduate and become a genin, you're only required to know the Bunshin no jutsu, Henge no jutsu, and Kawamiri. Since you know two of those, I think you'll be fine. However, there is something I'd like to ask you."
Naruto remained silent, meaning that he was listening.
Iruka looked around as he nervously tapped his fingers on his desk. "Well, its about your relationship with Reina."
Naruto slightly raised an eyebrow. He wasn't aware that he had any relationship with that girl.
"It's just that this is the first time she's ever successfully done the jutsu. Actually, come to think of it, this is the first time she's come to class in weeks."
"Is she bad?"
Iruka laughed as he shook his head. "No no! Quite the opposite. She's got a lot of talent with amazing potential. It's just that... her peers shun her and tend to discourage her. Also, she doesn't have a home."
Naruto closed his eyes as he thought silently. "It's because of what she is, isn't it?"
Iruka lowered his head as he silently nodded.
Sensing that the conversation was over, Naruto stood up and started to walk towards the door. However, he stopped before reaching the handle. "If you think that I'm like those kids out there, you're severely mistaken." With that, the blond boy walked through the door and let it click softly behind him.
Iruka smiled lightly as he looked again at the boy's information. "You're an intersting guy, Uzumaki Naruto. I think I'll watch you become a great ninja."
OooOo
The rest of the day had been quite uneventful, save for the fact that he had garnered a small fan club after his spar with the Uchiha. Naruto groaned with annoyance as he felt another group of girls start to come after him. Growling, he thought about using some nicely placed "Hakka: Gofubakus" on the crowd, but decided against it due to the trouble it would cause later. Deciding to just use some good old fashioned shunshin, he teleported to the opposite side of town before resuming his walk towards his house. However, after a few blocks, he then saw a familiar face crouched down against a wall next to a restaurant.
He was deciding whether or not he would go and talk to her when the restaurant owner suddenly walked out of his store. Looking at the girl, he angrily yelled at her while shaking his fists.
"What are you doing here girl? I told you that you're not allowed to loiter on my property?"
Not receiving an answer, he walked up to her and raised his fist. "Answer me you little devil!"
Rei simply looked at him in disgust before resuming her position. It didn't matter whether or not he hit her. Even if she left, someone else would just bag on her. Deciding to ignore him altogether, she turned her cheek as she waited for the hit.
Seeing that he was being ignored, the restaurant owner yelled and brought his fist down. He suddenly stopped however when he felt a deathly chill attack his senses.
"Put your hand down. Or perhaps you'd rather make me put it down mangled and detached from your arm."
The demonic voice made both Rei and the owner turn around, just to see a glowing red kid with blond hair. Looking back at the girl, the owner then spat on the floor before walking back into the restaurant.
Rei glared at Naruto as she felt the dangerous aura around him vanish. "I didn't ask you for help you know."
Naruto scoffed as he held out his hand to her. "Hurry up."
Rei looked at his hand quizzically before smirking. "What, you wanna hold my hand you big baby?"
"Shut up baka-Rei. Let's go get some ice cream."
"Oh? And what if I don't want some."
At that moment, her stomach growled as Naruto kept his hand up. Slapping it away, she then stood up as she sighed. Stupid stomach. "Alright, I'll let you treat me to some ice cream."
Naruto withdrew his hand as he sarcastically replied. "Thankful, aren't you?"
Sticking out her tongue, she grinned as she slugged his shoulder. "Of course." Naruto then started to walk towards the nearest ice cream parlor with her following in suit. A few seconds later she stopped him though as she tugged on his sleeve.
"By the way, what's ice cream?"
Naruto face faulted as he shook his head. "Baka. Don't you know anything?"
Glaring at him, she crossed her arms as she followed him into the store. "Well, whatever it is, I bet you anything that I'll hate it."
(Ten minutes later...)
"OH MY GOOOOD!!! I LOVE ICE CREAM! OOOOOH!!! WHAT FLAVOR DID YOU GET?"
Naruto grimaced at her unusually loud voice as he quietly replied. "Strawberry."
Taking a scoop from his cup, she popped some strawberry ice cream into her mouth before spitting it back out. "Ewww, gross. I like chocolate waaaay better! Wow...this is so good though! Like, it's cold! But, like totally sweet!"
Sighing, Naruto irritably groaned. "Yes. It's called ice cream." Wondering what had caused such a change in her attitude, he silently continued to eat the rest of his ice cream as he smiled a little at her excitement. A little.
"I can't believe you've never tried ice cream before."
Placing the cup down, she silently looked at the creamy substance as her eyes retained a faraway stare. "Well, I didn't really get stuff like this while growing up..."
The two then finished the rest of their ice cream in relative silence, with her usual comments of how tasty chocolate was. Eventually, it became night and Rei started to look uncomfortable. Remembering Iruka's words, Naruto shook his head. "It's pretty late. Why don't you just stay at my house? After all, I have a spare room."
Rei paused as she thought hard. Was he setting her up? After all, no one had ever been so nice to her. Then again, a house seemed very appealing compared to the streets. By the time she had weighed all of her options, she had noticed that Naruto had long since started walking away. Shouting, she ran up to him.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
Shrugging, Naruto turned back towards his path. "I thought that we were going home?"
Rei stopped for a second as she silently whispered the word. It was so foreign to her, yet so austere and simple in nature. Home... She had never had one, yet in an instant from a stranger, she had gained one. Well, at least for one night. Shaking, she clenched her fists before running quickly past him. "I GET TO SHOWER FIRST!"
Naruto blinked twice as he saw a dust cloud follow in her wake. Scratching his head, he started to wonder if he had made the best decision. However, in her running, he hadn't missed the tears that had streamed down her face as she tried to wipe them away with her sleeves. Continuing his slow gait, Naruto smiled as he looked up to the stars.
"You're welcome."
OooOo
(Somewhere in the middle of nowhere)
Shin stepped into a solitary cave as he smiled brightly. Immediately, nine shadows leapt outside as each showed off their chakra. One particularly big chakra stepped forward as Shin continued to smile.
"Stop. This is Akatsuki. Anyone who trespasses will die. Now, who are you, and how did you get in here?"
Shin smiled as he pulled out his sword. It was a dull gray with dancing violet flames. "My name is Natsumune Shin." Pointing at his sword, he then gave a terrifying grin. "I got in with this. Oh, and from this day on, I'll be the leader of this organization."
TBC...
A/N: WELL! That was a sappy chapter! Hahaha! Don't worry, Instatiable Instability won't be all nice and simple. NO! THERE WILL BE BLOOD! AND MURDER! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! So, watch for that! So, this chapter focused on Naruto and Rei's relationship. Don't know if they'll become romantically involved. We'll have to see. Anyways, if you've read any of my other stories, you'll find that this OC is significantly different from my other OC girl characters. In fact, Rei kind've reminds me of a cross between Rukia from Bleach and Tayuya. Hm. So please review, even if it's just a good job, (though longer ones are always better XD) and I'll try to update as soon as possible! Now, for some review topics.
1) Whoa. Shin? Akatsuki leader? Things will get preeetty crazy for Naruto. What do you suppose will happen?
2) Like I said before, Rei's different from my usual O.C.'s. Good different or bad different?
3) Pairings... as usual.
4) IMPORTANT: Soon, Ninja missions are going to come up. Now this is a two part vote. First! Do you want Rei on Naruto's team? Second! Do you want a mission in Wave country, or some other country? Your choice!
Thanks for your time! Now click the bottom of this page and review. Neotonix orders it... BWAHAHAHA!
