I don't own Naruto. But if I did, one Icha Icha book would actually be published, mostly to see what Naruto fans would do then. BTW, just the other day I saw a sign for some new age spa that actually said they offer chakra balancing. Seriously. Too bad I didn't catch the name of the place.
Chapter 10: First Night Without Naruto Around
A few days went by uneventfully for Naruto. He found out in that time that Akane could already read, swim, and do basic math. She couldn't hit a bulls-eye in target practice or write eligibly yet however. She seemed as smart as a first year academy student who hadn't been taught history, jutsus, weapons, or chakra exercises. Maybe a little smarter. If she attended the academy when the next term started, and wasn't treated like he had, then she would be a decent student at least. Maybe not Rookie of the Year, but surely not the dead last.
One afternoon, as Naruto and Akane were having a ramen-eating race at Ichiraku's, they were joined by Iruka. "Hey Naruto. I heard you got a daughter recently. This would be her I presume?"
"Yep." Naruto said with his mouth full of noodles, then looked at the girl. "Akane, say 'hi' to him."
The young girl turned to look at the scarred instructor, not pausing her eating, and instantly felt a friendly, trusting sense of familiarity towards him. "Hi. I'm Akane Uzumaki. You friends with Otou-san?"
Iruka nodded. "Yeah, we go way back. I taught the little troublemaker back when he was in school. Maybe I'll be your teacher too. Just don't be as bad as him, okay?"
"Alright, then I'll be worse." Akane playfully replied with a sneaky grin.
Naruto gave his former instructor a pitying look. "Sorry sensei. There's no stopping her now. Now it's a challenge for her."
'First Naruto, then Konohamaru, and now her? Guess bad things do come in threes.' Iruka thought. "Anyway Naruto, the hokage wanted me to tell you that she's got a mission for you. One that might cause you to be out of town for several days."
Naruto stopped eating, allowing Akane to get ahead of him. "Crap. Hinata-chan's out already with her team. I need a sitter for Akane-chan fast."
"Well, I can cover that part for you if you'd like. It'll let me see what I've got to worry about when she enrolls." Iruka offered.
"You sure it won't be a problem?" Naruto asked.
"Shouldn't be. Sound okay girl?"
"You say something?" Akane asked as she finished off her 12th beef-flavored ramen bowl.
"Looks like she's got your attention span." Iruka commented.
After being informed about the mission by Tsunade, Naruto took Akane back to his apartment and packed up a few things in a pack for her. He also gave her a key so she could come back if she had to for some reason. Then he brought her to Iruka's own modest apartment. "You be good you hear? Nothing dangerous or inappropriate." Naruto told her paternally.
She nodded. "But I can still have fun, right?"
Naruto shrugged. "Of course. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Gotcha." Akane nodded. 'That must mean that if he would do it, then it was okay.' Shame he once told her about all the pranks he used to pull one night when she asked how good he was. "Have fun."
He ruffled her hair and and left with his partners hoping nothing bad would happen. Not to Akane, not to Iruka, and especially to Konoha in general.
Akane was sort of unsettled. Due to impressions of Naruto's memories acting as her own, the idea of being alone in Konoha as a young child didn't comfort her. Sure, she was a demon rather than a defenseless human, but she didn't want to reveal that side of her here. The town had a major dislike of fox demons such as herself and if her identity was revealed any chance of her and her adoptive father having a decent life would be gone like shedded fur.
At least the scarred man close by was no threat. If anything he might be a fun target. "So Akane-chan, why don't we go get a snack and you can tell me a little about yourself?" Iruka offered to treat her to warm up to him and find out how to keep her from being bored. A bored Uzumaki was a dangerous thing.
She agreed, and Iruka led them to a dango shop, hoping to get her to eat something besides ramen. When they got there he wasn't surprised to see Anko already there munching on the dumplings, no more bandages on her arms now. Akane saw her too and was the first to say anything. "Hey, it's the crazy candy-thief."
Anko's eyebrows arched and she stopped chewing. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"
"Whatever smells so sweet here." She answered, already drooling like a hungry animal.
Anko looked to Iruka. "You buying her a treat?" He nodded, and she sighed. "Tough break man. She's got quite a sweet tooth on her."
"Well, Otou-san says he's surprised you don't have diabetes by now." Akane replied non-hostilely.
'You should see her when she's PMSing. She won't eat anything that doesn't come with chocolate on it.' Iruka wisely chose not to say.
Akane turned to Iruka. "By the way, what is diabetes anyway?"
"Ask the hokage that." He told her. He made the order, then sat down on a bench between Anko and Akane. "So I take it you two have already met?"
"Yeah." Anko lazily answered before reaching for another stick of dango. Akane reached for it two and both grabbed it at the same time. Anko glared daggers at the girl. "You'll get yours in a minute. This one's mine."
"I'm not afraid of someone who smells like sugar and snakes." Akane replied, not wanting to relinquish the treat.
Before Anko could do anything, Iruka gently grabbed Akane's hand and made her let go. "Akane-chan, you shouldn't do things like that. What would your father say if he saw you?"
Akane looked like she needed to think it over. "He might say..." Then she suddenly changed into an exact copy of him, without using any hand signs. "No way. This one's mine. Believe it." She even sounded exactly like him.
At first Iruka and Anko were stunned silent, but then neither could stop themselves from laughing. "He would say that, wouldn't he?" Anko said. "Can you do anyone else?"
"Sure." Akane then turned into Anko. "Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat."
Iruka and the shop owner laughed harder at this one. Anko wasn't laughing, but she was smiling to show she wasn't offended.
"Oh, here's a good one." Akane, as Anko said, before grabbing a dango skewer and morphing into Ibiki. "I'm Scarface. Say hello to my little friend." She held the stick like a kunai.
Anko laughed loudly at this one, and even Iruka chuckled. "Say, can you do Kakashi Hatake?" The shop owner asked as he handed Iruka the treats he paid for.
"Who?" Akane asked, more familiar with her nickname for him than his actual name.
"Grey hair, black mask, nose in an orange book all the time." Anko described.
"Smut-lover?" Akane, now in her normal human form, asked as she bit down on the dango stick.
Anko giggled. "'Smut-lover.' I gotta remember that one."
"Can you turn into other things or just people?" Iruka curiously asked.
Akane chewed and thought it over. "Not sure. I know I can do animals too."
"Really? I'd like to see that." Iruka said.
Akane looked away. "I'd rather not."
"Why?"
"Because the animal that's easiest for me... well, I don't think people want to see it." She sadly answered.
This peaked the shop owner's interest. "C'mon, show us something. Nobody's around to judge you."
"Alright then." Akane then got off her stool and transformed again. In her place was a red fox the size of one of the Inuzuka battle dogs, like Kuromaru. Being careful still, she made sure she only had one tail at the moment. Outside of that, this was her true form, free of all disguises.
"Interesting choice." Iruka said, thinking she had just randomly picked a fox form. Anko was the only one present who knew the truth, and hoped nothing bad would come of this.
"Everybody! There's a fox demon here!" Some civilian passerby screamed from outside the shop, having seen the transformation out of the corner of their eye.
"Quick, turn into a snake." Anko told the fox, who changed instantly into a brown serpent. Anko summoned some and had them intermingle with her.
Several civilians came to the shop entrance. "Where'd the fox demon go?" The shouter asked.
"I asked a few pals of mine to drive it off. So it's gone now." Anko told them while pointed at her snakes.
It looked like most of the crowd didn't care and just left. A few that didn't trust Anko said that the fox was most likely still close by and went to go look for it themselves. Anko recalled her snakes, but told Akane to stay like that and hide in her jacket, just in case someone was watching them. After a moment to avoid looking suspicious, she and Iruka paid for their food and walked away. They made it to an alley where Akane slipped out of Anko's jacket and became human again.
"Thanks candy-thief. I owe you one." She said gratefully.
"Well then, try calling me something else. Something a little more friendly would be good." The tokubetsu jounin stated.
Akane thought it over. "Okay, how about Sugar?"
"Why the hell would you want to call me that?" Anko asked. 'And why the hell would she think I would want to be called that?'
"Well, you smell like sugar, so it was either that or Snake. Would you prefer that?"
"Neither. 'Sugar' sounds so against my style, and I get enough bad people calling me snake-something. How about just Anko?"
"Okat then, Anko-san." The fox girl said.
"Well, I should probably get going. Let me know if you come up with any more impressions okay?" Anko said as she started walking off. They waved to her and she waved back before disappearing.
Iruka led her into his apartment. It was a one bedroom so she would have to bunk on the couch or something until Naruto came back. She said she didn't mind. The two would play a few card games, and apparently Akane was an expert at poker. Probably because she saw Iruka's tongue touch the left side of his upper lip whenever he had a bad hand. Of course if she had any tails visible then she surely would be the one losing. When they finished they watched a comedy on TV and had some popcorn and soda.
Naruto, Neji, Tenten, and Lee had come to a stop and had already set up camp for themselves. They probably wouldn't reach their destination until tomorrow night at the earliest.
Apparently there was some commotion in a distance town that they had been asked to look into. Neji, Tenten, and Lee could most likely handle it on their own, but Tsunade had reason to believe from the reports that Kashou Ryuutake, the man whose attack released the Kyuubi, was in the area. That's why Naruto was going along, to positively identify him and if possible obtain the sword so Tsunade could have someone examine it's abilities.
"Whatcha thinking about Naruto? You're being awfully quiet for once." Tenten asked.
"Just got a lot on my mind." He mumbled.
"Are you taking to your new responsibilities well?" Neji asked. He had heard from Hanabi about Akane's use of the Sexy Jutsu on Hiashi and still thought it was hilarious. He figured this girl could definitely add some much needed flair to Konoha.
"I guess. I'm just glad she's not so impulsive or reckless." Naruto answered.
"Sounds like her flames of youth burn brightly and justly." Lee commented.
"Well, if you say so Bushybrows. And if they burned any hotter she'd have heartburn."
"Just wait until she becomes a teenager, Naruto." Tenten warned.
'The Kyuubi going through puberty?' Naruto nervously thought. He then pictured Akane screaming about pimples and weight and popularity and other basic adolescent issues. Then he pictured her trying to go out on dates with boys and dealing with the horrors of the female cycle. He inadvertently shuddered. 'I need a mom for her and fast. When Hinata-chan gets back, I'm going to see if I can get the two to bond on their own. A day out together might do the job.'