Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction that borrows characters and themes from the Naruto manga series. No profits are being made from the creation of this piece of writing whatsoever.
Seven.
It was what felt like several hours later that Naruto awakened. Disconcerted and feeling stiff, the blonde boy laid in place for many moments, trying to orient himself as he combed his memory to try and figure out why he was waking up anywhere but his cozy little bed in D Sector, and why the sounds of his fellow Drones slowly awakening and beginning their morning routines was so curiously absent all around him.
The disorientation was soon cleared away to be replaced with anxiety as memories of the events of the past two days suddenly came rushing back - the ones from his disastrous encounter with his partner surfacing particularly vividly among them. He was at once regretful and confused. Confused about how he should have handled the situation, and regretful of the action that he had taken instinctively. Naruto was also left, however, with the distinct feeling that his hurting Sasuke had been more than just a terrible accident. Before "the change", he would have never reacted with violence first. To do so went completely against everything that he knew. It felt a little bit cowardly to be blaming his loss of control on KYUUBI's recent behavior, but it really did seem like the only logical reaction for this...strangeness...that he had been feeling lately, especially around Sasuke.
Speaking of which, now would probably be a good time to run a few of the questions that had been nagging him lately by his Nav for clarification. He felt like the fox-formed program was still holding much of the truth back from him for reasons unknown.
Straightening the kinks out of his neck slowly, the blonde finally sat up in the bathtub, only to find that his guide was, once again, nowhere to be found.
Naruto sighed. This was beginning to turn into somewhat of a trend with his navigational program, a fact which was in itself suspicious. The young Drone had never before heard of a Nav that ignored it master's orders and half of the time failed to come upon command. Indeed, his guide seemed to be one of a kind.
In any case, he supposed that KYUUBI had done it's good deed for the week by coming to comfort him in his time of need last night. He wasn't sure how much time had passed exactly as there was no clock in the bathroom and his Nav was nowhere to be found. However, after sleeping for such a long stretch of time, Naruto felt like he was awakening to a new day full of possibilities. It was amazing what a good night's sleep - albeit in a rigid bathtub- ncould do for his mood.
A small expression halfway between a frown and a pout colored Naruto's features as he thought of what little quip KYUUBI would have graced him with if it had been there at that moment. Probably something rude about how his moods were very much subject to whether they had properly eaten and slept.
If there was one thing that Naruto could do without, it was the way that KYUUBI really seemed to know how to irk its master now that it had begun to display a sense of self.
Nnrrggg...
The boy's pout turned into a grimace as his stomach alerted him to its needs. He remembered suddenly that he hadn't had a chance to eat dinner after what had happened in the kitchen last night. Uncertainty filled the blonde as he considered the prospect of leaving the bathroom and having to face his partner. In addition to there being no clock inside the bathroom, there were no windows either, rendering him essentially unable to tell what time of day it might be. Though it felt as though he had slept forever, in reality Naruto had no idea if it were a new day, or if he had awakened in the middle of the night. If he left the bathroom now he might very well run right into Sasuke, and he dreaded the looming awkwardness that there would be between them after that disastrous incident.
Unfortunately for his pride, his stomach made a compelling case as to why he should stop being such a coward and just face things – the situation certainly wouldn't improve the longer he spent mulling over it.
And besides, he did feel a little guilty for having chosen the apartment's only bathroom for his retreat. If Sasuke wanted to relieve himself, he would have no choice but to go all the way over to the main building – to say nothing of the fact that he didn't have access to the shower or bathroom sink.
With these thoughts in mind, Naruto finally stood up from the tub and headed for the door, steeling his resolve with a deep breath, before finally unlocking the portal and letting it slide softly open. He was ready for the worst, but actually met with something quite unexpected the moment he peered out into their bedroom.
Not only did the room seem to be completely empty, but a very welcome smell wafted to his nostrils the moment he opened the door. Blinking into the soft morning sunlight that filtered in through the raised curtains at the far end of the bed, the young Drone swiveled his head around slowly in search of the source of the heavenly smell.
Finally his eyes landed on the ground, just a few centimeters away from the bathroom door.
There sat, unbelievably, a big tray, furnished with a plate full of eggs, bacon and – of all things – waffles.
No, not just waffles, Naruto corrected himself - big, golden, fluffy waffles, topped with butter, and with delicious syrup oozing all over them. He blinked a few times, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or something, because there was no way that he was seeing right.
Nevertheless, after several seconds of staring at the tray in bewilderment, it was still there – with a napkin, fork and knife tucked neatly to one side and a nice big glass of orange juice on the other, even. Eyes darting about suspiciously for a moment, Naruto finally decided that, yes, Sasuke's presence was thoroughly absent from the apartment, and no, it was not a trap of some kind. Which meant that it must be some manner of peace offering – an inexplicably decent gesture completely beyond what he had thought his new partner capable of. Disregarding the fact that the placement was very similar to how one would present food to a pet or wild animal of some sort, it was really...well...nice.
Still slightly disbelieving, Naruto let his instincts take over, as he sniffed at the offering and licked his lips appreciatively before tucking in. As the blonde munched away gratefully at the offering, he did not fail to take notice of the fact that the food was still mostly hot when he started eating, which meant that Sasuke couldn't have been gone long.
He had been informed at the end of class the day before that they would be afforded a two day break from classes in order to acquaint themselves with their new partners, which meant that the dark haired boy was not in class. Absently, he wondered where the young Carrier could have gone.
After decimating the thoughtfully made meal and carefully cleaning up afterward, Naruto found himself alone in his new living quarters, a feeling that left him distinctly uneasy. It wasn't that there was anything inadequate about their living space – if anything it was better equipped and bounds more comfortable than what he was used to.
The problem was the quietness. Though a part of him was relieved not to have to face his partner just yet, with Sasuke gone the place felt deserted and barely lived-in - which, he supposed, was true.
"KYUUUBI~!" the blonde finally called out aloud, willing with all his might for his Nav to materialize. Most surprisingly, it worked.
[Please, master, there is no reason to summon me so loudly,] the fox admonished as it appeared right in front of him.
"Well I wouldn't have to yell if you'd stick around like you're supposed to," Naruto grumbled back, crossing his arms in front of himself, "Just where do you go all the time, anyway?"
[Be assured that everything I do is to your benefit, young master,] the Nav answered evasively, as it stretched itself lazily on the comfortable white love-seat that adorned the apartment's small living room.
Naruto cocked his head to the side at the gesture. Another strange thing about KYUUBI was how it often exhibited such realistic physical behaviors.
Interacting with one's surroundings was something that Navs did do upon occasion - an extra part of their programming that was designed to provide a sense of realism and tangibility that put their owners at ease. However, the fox Nav seemed far too comfortable for mere show as it nestled into the couch. Lately KYUUBI tended to display such behaviors more frequently than others, to the point that it was sometimes disconcerting. For a moment Naruto had to remind himself that he was talking to a holographic image of a fox and not the real thing.
"Yeah, yeah...I should have known I'd never get a straight answer out of this guy."
"Time," the young drone commanded finally, rolling his eyes.
[The current time is 11:27 am,] the Nav replied promptly. Although KYUUBI had been disinclined to answer many of his questions as of late, Naruto had noticed that direct commands did still seem to work most of the time – that was when his Nav was actually around to respond to them of course.
[Weather conditions are sunny, about 71 degrees Celsius,] the fox continued, [You also have one Comm awaiting confirmation.]
The blonde's ears perked at the last part of the Nav's statement.
"I have a what?" the blonde asked confusedly.
[You currently have one Comm from Yukimura Haku awaiting confirmation,] the Nav clarified.
Naruto's interest perked further upon the mention of the name "Haku". There was no doubt that KYUUBI was referring to his friend and fellow Z, but other than that he had no idea what the Nav was talking about.
"Query," the blonde commanded, "What is a 'Comm'?"
[Comm,] KYUUBI replied obediently, [Keyword, meaning 'communication'. A 'Comm' is a message sent from one individual to another. When a Comm is received, the recipient is required to either confirm or decline transmission. Comms may be sent directly from your personal contacts file, or through your Sector's Comm directory. Format is limited to text and video-voice. To bring up the Communications Menu, use the command 'Comms' or 'Communications'.]
Naruto blinked repeatedly as the Nav concluded its explanation. He had never before heard of anything of the like, and was quite bewildered as to why he had never been made aware of such a function. Mentally he commented to himself that it must have something to do with his having been entered into the Z program.
In any case, he decided that there was much more that he needed to learn about the bounds of his new reality, and resolved himself to do everything he could to investigate thoroughly later on.
For now, however, it seemed his priority was checking his friend's message.
"Comms," he commanded a bit hesitantly. Immediately a turquoise colored holographic menu opened up for him at eye level. It was much the same as the other menu commands that Navs were equipped with, and had a large heading that read "Communications" located in the top left corner. In the middle of the screen there was a large box simply labeled "Inbox", inside of which there was a single line of text, reading "From: Yukimura,Haku – Subject: Busy?". Next to the Subject line there was a small shoulders-up image of none other than Haku. A small smile rose unbidden to Naruto's lips as he mentally noted that the image really didn't capture his friend's beauty well enough.
Tentatively, the blonde directed his cursor to the subject line of his friend's message and selected it. Right away a small box popped up asking him to confirm or decline transmission. Naturally, Naruto selected "confirm", and at once a new window opened up, containing several lines of text. Curiosity fully piqued, the blonde Drone immediately began reading.
[Hi, Naruto,this is Haku!
I asked one of the professors to search the Z Program's participant database for your Nav's contact address. I hope you don't mind. In any case, I was a bit worried about you, so I thought I'd check in.
I'm sure dealing with a totally new environment is difficult. I can't even imagine being uprooted from my home and placed somewhere completely different. So I thought that maybe if you're free this afternoon, we could go over to the shopping district to hang out and maybe have lunch? If my hunch is right, being from the labor sector, you've never been shopping before, right? I'm sure you'll find it interesting. I was thinking we could meet up at around noon. Don't worry about bringing anything but yourself – I'll handle all the preparations from my end.
Looking forward to hearing from you! -Haku ]
After he finished reading his the other Z's transmission, Naruto felt a bashful smile rise unbidden to his features. His friend's kind message left a familiar feeling of warmth in his chest, and without warning thoughts of his other close friend, Gaara, came to mind. The blonde thought about what Gaara would say if he knew that his blonde companion had already made such a nice friend. The Drone was certain that the red-head would be happy for him.
All of a sudden, Naruto felt the urge to see Gaara. It had only been two days since they had last spoken, but with all of the changes he had been going through, it felt like much longer than that. After a moment of reflection, a brilliant idea came to him.
"KYUUBI, is there any way that I can contact Gaara using one of these Comms?" he asked excitedly. If he could somehow get in touch with his friend, then he could convey to the other boy what was happening and why he had suddenly disappeared from their team.
The red-headed boy wasn't very expressive of his emotions, but Naruto was sure that he would be very worried by now. He couldn't bear to think of what the other boy might be going through, having had his best friend go missing all of a sudden. The blonde wondered if anybody had even been thoughtful enough to tell his work-mates what had happened to him and that he was okay.
However, he was met only with disappointment at the fox's reply.
[Negative. Communications are not permitted in Sectors D and below,] KYUUBI said matter-of-factually, [Is there someone else you want to contact?]
Naruto's hope fell flat at that statement.
So it wasn't just his imagination – members of the labor sectors weren't allowed the privilege of using the Comm system. If that were the case, then what else had they been denied? The more he thought about it the more uneasy the blonde became. It was understandable that The Hive wanted Drones to prioritize productivity over all other things - but surely a simple thing like accessing the communications system wasn't a hinder to that...was it?
Naruto struggled with his own feelings over the matter for the second, unsure of what his heart was telling him. He wished for his Hive's eternal prosperity, as said prosperity meant happiness for all of it's members, but something felt off about what he had learned about the labor sector ever since he had been taken out of it. It all just didn't seem very..fair?
Biting his lip as his mind was assaulted with dozens of other questions about the nature of The Hive, Naruto tentatively turned his attention back to Haku's message, where he selected the "Reply" function, and immediately began entering his response. The digital clock representation in the upper right corner of the Nav window indicated that it was already just a few minutes before noon, so he would need to start getting ready right away if he wanted to make it on time.
After double checking his response, Naruto let his cursor hover over the 'Send' command for just a few seconds. He was a little nervous about sending his first Comm. As simple a matter as it might be, he had checked over the short message twice for errors, not wanting to have his reply come across as rushed.
Once he clicked the send button, Naruto waited anxiously for a few moments. Happily, Haku replied right away.
[Great! Meet in the courtyard in about fifteen minutes?] the other boy asked.
[Ok, see you there!] was the blonde's immediate reply. As he completed his response, Naruto could feel anticipation building in his chest. He had never done anything like this before – meeting with a friend for the express purpose of 'hanging out'. It was all so...new. Of course he understood the term 'shopping'. But as a Drone, that aspect of life had never come into play for him before.
They were provided with everything they could ever need from the very start - including a sense of belonging. Something like 'shopping', or 'hanging out', had never been a necessity - though he supposed spending time in the fields and living quarters with Gaara after work might be similar to "hanging out" - and he was curious to find out what it entailed. Judging from Haku's tone in his messages, it sounded like a lot pf fun.
Eager to meet up with his new friend, Naruto hurried back into the bathroom to begin getting ready.
It was just a few minutes before his scheduled meeting with Haku when Naruto finally poked his head out of the front door of his and Sasuke's shared living quarters. Glancing down the long, wide corridor just outside, he took note that it was empty save for the gentle sunlight streaming in from a large pair of windows at the far end.
Grimacing to himself sheepishly, Naruto mentally chided himself for being concerned that he might run into Sasuke at any turn. It was obvious that after leaving him breakfast the other boy had gone off to his own devices for the day. Allowing a natural smile to soften his features, the blonde took a short breath to calm himself, before quickly heading for one of the floor's elevators.
In another few moments, he was taking his first steps out of the building, and once again found himself gazing up in awe at the tall, majestic structure that he now called home. According to the lighted numbers he had seen inside the elevator, they were living all the way up on the eleventh floor. It was somewhat unbelievable to him to think that he and Sasuke were living so far above the ground, but also exciting and new.
Shaking his head to clear it, Naruto took off toward the courtyard at an easy jog, eager to meet Haku again. He did not have to wait long.
Haku stood at the forefront of the courtyard, just barely in the shade of the many trees planted there. Soft streams of sunlight filtered down through the leaves, benevolently casting their shine on the dark haired young Z's face. The light seemed to reflect off the other boy's delicate, pale skin perfectly, enhancing his natural good looks, and causing Naruto to pause mid stride, blushing slightly.
For the second time that day, all Naruto could do for a moment was think how unbelievably lucky he was to have made such a beautiful and kind friend. Knowing that Haku was there for him made the whole experience that much easier to bear, and he wished very dearly that he could introduce the dark haired boy to Gaara. He was sure that his best friend would be pleased with Haku, and vice versa. Perhaps the three of them could even go shopping and "hang out", just like he and Haku were going to do today.
That thought brought an even wider smile to Naruto's face.
And so the blonde's face was lit up with pure excitement when he finally called out to his friend on his approach, drawing Haku's eyes to him.
"Naruto!" the other Z called out with a wave and a genuinely relieved smile,"You look much better than I expected. I'm so glad. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah!" came the instant reply, as the blonde trotted over to his friend's side, "How long were you waiting for—Gyaaahhh!"
The young Drone's eyes nearly bulged out of his head in surprise as he cried out, inciting a similar expression from his friend in response.
"Wh-What is it Naruto?" Haku inquired confusedly, cocking his head to the side.
"Who's that?" Naruto demanded, gaze pinned on a space under the trees just a few feet behind Haku, "Come out here you weirdo!"
Indeed, there in the shadow of one of the trees, stood - or rather, slouched - a tall figure.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Naruto," Haku answered right away, turning to face the figure in question, "I forgot to tell you."
Naruto merely raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. "Tell me what?" he asked, confuedly.
"Naruto, this is our chaperone for the afternoon," the pale skinned boy supplied, gesturing to the stranger who had emerged from the shadows.
In response, said stranger merely turned a bored looking gaze on the two of them.
"Nara Shikamaru," the newcomer offered his name, in a voice flat enough to match his disinterested gaze, "I'll be watching you two today, so don't do anything troublesome."
After saying his piece, the bored looking boy, who appeared to be around the same age as he and Haku were, turned his lazy stare back up toward the sky.
"Chaperone?" the blonde repeated inquisitively, "For us? Why?"
His vibrant blue gaze darted between Haku and the boy who had called himself Shikamaru, torn between listening to his friend's explanation and staring in disbelief at their so-called "chaperone".
Shikamaru cut an odd figure with his back slouched against a shade tree in a manner that implied it might be his default stance. His poor posture contrasted greatly with his actual physical appearance, which from what Naruto could see was characterized by a thin face with sharp, narrow features and strong bone structure, accentuated by the way that his longish hair was pulled tight into a small, spiked ponytail high on the back of his head. Though he wore a large, olive green, military style jacket over matching slacks, partially obscuring his figure, it looked as though he were rather well-built in a lanky, wiry sort of way.
For his part, Haku seemed unperturbed by his friend's confused look, chuckling softly.
"Well, you remember in my message that I told you I would take care of the preparations, correct?" the dark haired boy explained, earning a hesitant nod in reply, "Well, this is what I meant. We Z aren't allowed to enter the other sectors without a body guard of some sort. Naturally it is preferred that we be accompanied by our Carriers when we want to go out, but when that isn't possible, or when we just want to spend some time apart, we can apply to have an Escort accompany us instead."
Naruto nodded slowly, taking in his friend's words carefully. He understood what the brunette was explaining to him, but he wasn't sure as to why they needed to be accompanied by somebody else when all they wanted to do was go out and have some fun. It wasn't as if they were small children and could get lost - as long as they had their Navs to guide them, they would be fine.
Hesitating slightly, the blonde boy voiced his opinion.
"I think I get what you're trying to say," he replied, "But what exactly is an Escort, and why do we need one with us if we're just going shopping?"
Haku turned his gaze to the ground for the moment as he folded his arms together in front of his midsection, pausing in his thoughts.
Naruto could tell that the other boy was searching for a way to explain things in a way that he would understand. That kindness and consideration was exactlyone of the things that made Haku such a good person in his opinion.
"Naruto, this may be surprising to you, and I hope you won't be frightened," the slightly smaller Z prefaced slowly, "But the truth is that it can actually be unsafe for Z to wander the lower districts without protection - especially very public areas like the shopping districts. Escorts are professional bodyguards secured by the Program to accompany Z when they want to leave the Z Program's bounds. Simply put, they're around for our protection."
"Ehh?" came the automatic response, "But who would want to hurt us? Injuring a Z on purpose would be to the detriment of the Hive itself."
In reply Haku merely shook his head. "That's not what I meant by unsafe," he elaborated, "Actually, it's the very fact that Z are so valuable to the Hives that they are unsafe alone in public. You see... there are those who hunt Z – who would try to capture and sell us for profit on the black market."
"Ehhh!" This time Naruto's reaction was loud enough that it actually earned them both a languid, annoyed looking glance from Shikamaru, not to mention Haku's slight grimace at the shrill sound.
"It's true, Naruto. Cases are rare now because of the instigation of mandatory chaperones several cycles ago, but it does happen. Naturally the program tries to stop information on those incidents from getting back to the participants to prevent unnecessary paranoia – they want us to feel safe going into the other sectors as long as we're properly accounted for," the pretty young drone summarized, earning a slow nod of understanding from his blonde friend.
However, understanding the situation didn't stop Naruto's gaze from sliding over to Shikamaru again. Haku could tell that the situation probably still felt awkward to the other boy, and so he tried to minimize the strangeness of it with words of comfort.
"I can see why you might find it strange for us to have to bring someone else along," the brunette inserted quickly, in an attempt to mitigate the situation, "But Shikamaru really is a professional – He's very good at his job! Escorts are especially skilled at keeping out of sight of their charges. You'll barely even notice they're there at first, and eventually you'll learn to forget that they're even with you when you're out."
Naruto's gaze had softened a little bit, but his tiny frown of displeasure still remained. He had hoped to have some time alone with Haku to discuss his problems with Sasuke.
Very much aware of Naruto's lingering disappointment, the dark haired youth tried his best to reassure him.
"We really must have a chaperone of some sort, Naruto," he insisted, "And I wanted so very much to talk to you about how things went last night...I even asked Zabusa for some time alone so that I could meet you. I promise Shikamaru won't be paying attention to our conversation in the slightest. He's a professional - one of the very best there is. It really is the next best thing to being on our own."
This time his words seemed to have gotten through. The blonde gave one last glance toward their odd Escort, before finally turning back to his friend again, eyes set. Like it or not, Naruto realized, if he and Haku wanted to go shopping, the only way they were going to be able to do so was with a chaperone.
"I guess that's just the way it its," he conceded with a slight sigh, allowing a slight grin to take over his features, if only to comfort his companion. "Lead the way."
Haku couldn't help but smile at his friend's vibrant grin – obviously Naruto intended to make the best of things, no matter what, even if he clearly wasn't pleased with the addition of a third party to their entourage.
And with that the two of them were off, their lazy shadow trailing disinterestedly behind them at a distance.
Author's Note:
At last, another chapter! _;; I'm so sorry that there has been such a huge lag between this chapter and the last one. It's been what, like, three months now?
I know there are some people out there who were really hoping for a new chapter all this time. Chapter 7 has actually been finished for a good while now, but I've been sitting on it until my beta could get to it. Unfortunately, she is unavailable for the time being, and I'm not sure when she will be back. D'X (Nooooo~~~)
So after careful consideration, I've decided to just go ahead a release the new chapters as I finish them. Hopefully they will be coming out at a nice clip like they were when I first started this fic. They will be unbeta'd, but I'll be going over them as best I can before each release...wish me luck? e_e;;
That said, this chapter is pretty pedestrian, if you know what I mean. I justify it by saying that this is a necessary transitional chapter, and that there is plenty of action, aaaaand the entire Uchiha family (!) in the next one. Also...Shikamaru! XD I love me some him. Staaay tuned~
- hachi