Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do I seriously have to say that every time?

MAJOR EDIT COMPLETE

KOKORO: SOUL, HEART

By the time either of them noticed the attackers, all Naruto could do was dodge the kunai aimed at his back.

"Dammit! How'd I let them get the drop on us?" Kokoro cursed, unsheathing the twin blades she carried on her hips as she got in a battle position. "Show yourselves!"

"Hmmm… now why would we do that?" a female voice asked, and both Konoha ninja could tell she was arrogant.

"Because if you don't we'll kick your butts!" Naruto yelled, five shadow clones already surrounding the original.

"That's not a valid reason, loudmouth! Though the fact that I know the female is hiding behind the tree two meters to my left and her male companion is currently attempting to sneak up behind you and failing miserably seems like a good reason to me, no?"

Without another word, a man with an eye patch and shaved head jumped towards Naruto and destroyed a random clone with a flying kick to its head.

"Oi, brat! You gonna make this interesting or are you gonna be as boring as the last Konoha ninja I killed?"

"I'm not a brat! Why does everyone say that?" he grumbled, and that was all Kokoro was able to witness before her attention was occupied by her opponent.

She was probably in her twenties and looked to be in good shape. The weapon she held was unusual and crude- a long metal rod.

"Prepared to die?" she growled, charging towards her with a feral grin on her face.

With almost cat-like grace, Kokoro jumped up, did a neat flip, and landed behind her. The woman barely managed to dodge her blades as they came thrusting at her heart, falling off the branch as she did so. After she landed, she turned and faced Kokoro, the grin gone from her face.

"You're quick; I'll give you that,"

Before she could blink Kokoro was behind her again, one of her swords raised in a deadly arc while the other jabbed forward preventing an easy dodge. When they connected to their target, however, it dissolved into a puff of smoke. On instinct, Kokoro crouched and crossed her blades in front of her chest. Lo and behold, there was a clang of metal as the woman's rod hit where her unprotected chest had been the moment before.

"Your swords must be strong; Daiki usually breaks every blade he faces,"

Ok, so she named her weapons.

Not bothering to answer, Kokoro pumped chakra into her arms and jumped up and forward, pulling the woman with her and causing her to slam into a tree. When she got up, she practically snarled.

It was around this time that Kokoro noticed two things. One- the woman, and probably the man too, wasn't wearing any hitai-ate, and two- the rod she was holding now had electricity running through it.

Crap.

Kokoro really, really hated lightning. It was probably one of her greatest weaknesses, which didn't even make sense considering her chakra affinity was wind- it should be the other way around. Of course, it probably had something to do with her but that was something she didn't even want to think about.

Kokoro spent the next five minutes barely dodging kunai and metal rods from hell- the woman had pulled out two more after she had managed to send one flying through the forest- and attempting to kill the annoyingly persistent woman who wouldn't stay down. It had taken the entirety of this time-and a few minor injuries- for Kokoro to decide whether or not to use jutsu.

"You know, I hate jutsu-"

"Oh really now?"

"-but I have no qualms about using one on someone as annoying as you, Secret Technique: Air Needles!" she roared, smirking as the woman gasped in pain. It was a dangerous jutsu- razor sharp needles were formed from the air and launched at the target in seconds. They were impossible to block and almost endless in quantity. The only downside was the amount of chakra they took- most Chuunin would pass out from chakra exhaustion after using it once. Normally, Kokoro wouldn't have used it, but today she was irritated and that insufferable woman was pissing her off even more.

In seconds the woman was dead, leaving Kokoro to wonder where her temporary teammate was and how much more time he was going to waste.

OOooOOooOO

Naruto was getting frustrated; the one eyed man simply wouldn't give up. Not that he would if he were in the man's position- Naruto had yet to land a single major hit. Every time he did, it turned out to be a clone or he'd use a substitution jutsu; every time he got close the man would just smirk and dodge him as if he were nothing.

"Ha! Brat, you're nothing!"

A tick appeared in Naruto's forehead, "Will you shut up so I can pound you into the ground?!"

"Aw, is the little baby mad that he can't land a punch on mean old Hibiki?"

"Yes!" Naruto yelled, leaping to a thicker branch. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"I'm getting tired of your pathetic clones. Don't you have anything worth my time?" the man, Hibiki, whined, pulling out an ax.

"What?" Naruto shrieked. "How the hell did you hide an ax?!"

"I'm a ninja, birdbrain. Ninjas can do cool stuff like that. Guess that makes you a worthless brat,"

"I'm a ninja too!" the blonde protested, glaring as he destroyed all ten of his clones in two swipes of his ax.

"Damn smoke..." Hibiki muttered, giving Naruto an idea.

"Na na na boo-boo, you can't catch me!" he taunted, jumping from branch to branch until he entered a clearing. Chuckling immaturely, Naruto squatted, folded his arms like wings, and began to make chicken noises. "Big ol' Hibiki is afraid of a kid,"

"You stupid- damn these clones!"

Naruto only laughed as twenty clones charged at Hibiki, blood curdling war cries springing from their lips. In one giant blow, all the clones were destroyed, vanishing in an even bigger puff of smoke than before.

He stopped cursing when he got a Rasengan in his face.

OOooOOooOO

"Will you stop squirming?" Kokoro demanded as she tried to tie a bandage around Naruto's arm. After the fight, they had decided to camp for the night in the small clearing he had stumbled upon while fighting Hibiki.

"No, I won't!" Naruto said vehemently. "It's only a small cut from a kunai and I heal fast. Besides, you look like you need more medical attention than I do,"

It was true. Kokoro had quite a few small cuts on her arms and a bigger one starting at her knee and ending at her ankle.

"How did you get those anyway? I thought the only weapons the ugly lady had were kunai and that stupid rod thing,"

"It's hard to dodge ten kunai at once while trying not to get hit by a lightning-enhanced rod," she replied, slightly annoyed at his assumption that the woman had been a pushover.

"Hmm… too bad you can't do that rotation thing Neji can since you're just as arrogant as he is…"

"Why do you keep bringing up Hyuugas? And wasn't one of your classmates a Hyuuga? Shouldn't you respect them?" she asked, genuinely curious though she would never admit it. Naruto didn't seem like the type of guy to run around purposefully offending people. Then again, he was an oblivious moron.

"You mean Hinata? What about her?"

"You keep insulting the Hyuuga clan, doesn't that bother her?"

"Huh? I'm not insulting them. They're proud of their arrogance. I'm pretty sure they have secret contests to see who can be the most arrogant," he whispered as if they were talking about something hush-hush.

"You're an idiot, Naruto," Kokoro whispered back, laughing as she finished tying the bandage.

"Oh my god,"

"Huh?"

"You laughed,"

"And…?" she trailed off, fuming inwardly. Damn charismatic charm on idiotic blondes who don't know the meaning of the words 'personal space'!

"You actually laughed. And you bandaged my wound. And you were curious about my classmates. And you called me by my name. Who the heck are you?!" Naruto yelped, jumping up and backing away slowly. "Are you that woman? Did you take over Gin-me's body using some zombie jutsu? Or is it just a simple henge?"

"Shut up, loudmouth. Just because I- ugh just take first watch and wake me up at midnight," she ordered, walking to her sleeping bag with only a slight limp. Inwardly, she cursed herself for letting her guard down. She wasn't a ninja to make friends, not that she wanted any.

Naruto only watched her go with a grim look on his face. For a moment, she had seemed almost human; the barrier that she used to block out the world had weakened. Of course he had to be an idiot and point it out, putting her on her guard! Sighing, he almost let her go.

But what kind of person would let their injured comrade limp around unaided?

"Oi, Gin-me! You'd be dead weight injured like that. Use some of this,"

Without a word, she accepted the small jar he had thrown at her.

"Hinata made it, she's a pretty good medic too. It should help at least a little,"

"Whatever, loudmouth,"

"Love you too!" He replied cheerily.

"Just wake me up at midnight,"

For a minute, she couldn't help but feel grateful for Naruto's kindness.

Then she squashed it like an annoying bug.

Ninjas didn't need friends.

"C'mon, Koko! Don't you want to come with us? It'll be fun, I promise! Yuuto's sister is coming too so we won't be the only girls,"

"Oh alright,"

"Yay! Koko's making friends!"

Ninjas didn't need emotions.

"Koko, lighten up. It was only a joke,"

"Will you stop laughing?!"

Ninjas didn't need bonds or promises.

"Koko? I miss mom. And Kaida,"

"I do too. It's okay, Takara. We still have each other. Even though the rest of the world can't be trusted, you can always trust me! I'll always keep you safe and you'll do the same for me. Deal?"

"Deal!"

Bonds made niinjas weak.

"Run! I can't break free! Yuuto, run!"

And weakness was something a ninja couldn't have.

"You wouldn't kill me, little girl. You don't have it in you,"

"Oh, I don't? Hibiki, wasn't it? While Naruto is weak and squeamish rest assured that I am not. Your grave will have no marker, Hibiki,"

"No- you're just a girl-you wouldn't-"

"I may be eighteen, but I became an adult when my father ruined my life. Good bye,"

"No! Noo-"

No. Kokoro wasn't weak and she never would be. It didn't matter if Naruto was the god of charm, she would not waver. If it took an hour every night to reflect on the fact that she was a kunoichi then so be it. No matter the cost, no matter the pain, she would rip out her heart to prevent any further defects by the end of this mission.

"Don't lose yourself,"

She was wrong. When Takara had spoken those words, she was wrong. Kokoro hadn't found herself yet.

Maybe loudmouthed blondes were good for something after all.

So, how did you like my first action scene? Any ideas for pairings, or do you even want any? Any requests? Complaints? Thoughts? I need to know these answers! [I need to find my way! Seize my tomorrow, learn my yesterday! Yes, I watch Barbie XD]

The next chappie will be zooming back to when Kokoro was around nine and Naruto was seven but I'm too lazy to put everything in itallics so I won't. You have been forewarned!