Chapter Ten: "Determination Brewing."

Naruto

Naruto was working day and night now.

It had only been three months since he entered the Academy, and it was a lot harder then he had expected. There was so much to remember and to do- Midori did her best to help him with his studies but he wasn't exactly the best at retaining knowledge. If there was one thing he could do, it was punch something. So, that's what he was determined to do. He would leave the academy as soon as he could to train.

Why wasn't everyone as accepting as Midori? He wondered. It hadn't been very long ago that it seemed like everyone was against him, and the moment that Midori had taken him in and shown him kindness he had started to believe that things would be different when it came to people in the village. Sure, things were different now. He had some people in his life that meant a lot to him.

Sato Midori and Mayumi, Akagi Masami, Tsuki, Old man Teuchi, his daughter Ayame... there was so many people there now compared to what he had, and he was grateful for it.

The thought weighed heavy on his mind as his fist made contact with wood. He thought he might be able to make friends at the academy on his own, but nobody seemed to want to bother with him. Everyone treated him as they always had, and he was desperate for a friend, one that he could make on his own and without any help from Midori. She made it seem like it was possible... yet.

Nobody seemed to care no matter how hard he tried. His fist made contact again, and then his foot. Recently, he had begun to cook up some pranks on his sensei that got him in trouble but made everyone else amused. The laughter seemed rapturous and positive so he eat that up, and pretended like everything would be fine if things kept on like that.

If Midori knew he was causing trouble... Naruto shook the thought from his head.

On occasion, he found he could skip class with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, they didn't seem to mind him much but not enough to hang outside of class. He took what he could get since they didn't mind him around. Any friendship at this rate was something he would take.

Naruto flopped over onto the grass as he caught his breath. The sun had set already, and Midori would not be happy about that. She liked him to be home before the sun set entirely, something silly about how she worried about him being out at night. He didn't like worrying her, and he didn't like the current situation but what could he do? She was always going out of her way to brave things that were hard, and he could to do it too. So, he was going to keep training his ass off and prove himself to everyone!

Naruto pulled himself back off of the ground, and went right back to it once again. He would prove himself to everyone no matter what it took.

"Naruto, I know you want to train all the time now, but I can't heep wrapping you up every other day because you overdid it, again." I scolded him for coming inside with more bangs and bumps. I knew he would heal up quicker then other children but I hated to leave him without some coverings just in case it took longer then what I assumed. "You're going to look like a mummy if you keep this up, and my mother will scold me for not scolding you enough. And you know how that is."

Naruto didn't say much, but he did mumble an apology.

"There, all done." I stepped up and rubbed my hands together. "If you're going to keep doing this, then you'll have to let me show you how to keep from breaking your bones."

I felt his eyes shift back onto me. "How would you know?"

"You don't know what I've done in the past." I said mysteriously. "I know more then you think."

"Don't sound mysterious it doesn't make you cool at all." He gave me a look, the one I usually gave him whenever he said something stupid to me. Waving that look away, I smiled. "I am the coolest mother, do not even go there, sunshine."

Naruto hopped out of the chair I had made him plop in when he stumbled through the front door of our apartment. "I have to study," He grimaced. "Iruka-sensei assigned a lot of stuff to go over, it's so boring." He had genuinely been trying to read through and learn things, but it was proving tough with his attention span. He was more excited about fighting then learning, but you had to have a balance of both to be a good student in this academy of hard-knocks.

"I could always help you, y'know." I offered. "I know how to make learning much more action packed if that's your problem."

He shrugged, helplessly. "...I know, but I've been trying to help myself lately."

I frowned. "...Is something else bothering you?"

"No, I'm alright." He reassured me and headed down the hall to his room. I knew better then to let that slide, but he wasn't ready to admit the problem to me just yet and I would respect that. He would tell me- or I would find out on my own if things got worse.

It was only a matter of time.

...

The next morning, I set out to do some shopping after I dropped Naruto off at the shinobi academy. My mother usually brought by food these days, and I hardly ever had to cook much unless Naruto wanted me to cook something specific. I had the same few shops I would visit, that being only two, because they were the only ones that would allow me service these days. One was a elderly woman who pitied me, and the other was owned by one of my mother's friends.

Masami had decided to join me, she wouldn't be scolded for being late to work since the shop was closed today. She was telling me about her mother, and how she had been accepted to work part time at the tea house that Tsuki's aunt owned. It seemed as though Masami and Tsuki were growing abet closer in recent weeks, and I was glad to see that Masami wasn't all too intimidated by Tsuki anymore. "It's working out very well. My mother is smiling again!"

The loss of Shinobu was hard on her, hard on the whole Akagi family when it came down to it. I understood that the pain would never leave, but they could get better if they didn't allow their grief to consume their beings. I was glad to hear that she was doing better, I hadn't yet met her mother but on one occasion but she seemed kind enough and nobody wants anybody to suffer like that. "I hope it works out for everyone." I offered her a smile.

"Me too," She replied. I set my basket into her hands, and nodded my head. "Hold onto that for a moment, I need to pick up some of my mother's favorite fruit. It's all she'll eat when she has a cold unfortunately, stubborn old woman." I grimaced. I entered the shop with Masami in tow, when a voice called out to me.

"Midori-san! It's been a while!" Called out Watanabe Ryouta, the son of the shop keep. He was a bit older then myself, but he had a kind smile that seemed genuine enough. I believe he had been out of the village for the past few months, so he might not have known what I had been up to when it came to Naruto. "How have you been?"

"Oh. Ryouta-san, it's nice to see you again." I greeted with a small wave. I was only being polite, as Mayumi always insisted. It was important that I kept my reputation right as rain, after all. "How is your father doing lately?"

"Great, great. I'm running the shop now, he's out on a run for a bit with my younger brother. I am excited, actually, he trusts me enough to leave me in charge! What about your mother, I heard she is a bit under the weather lately." Ryouta smiled, he pulled a basket of apples out from behind his desk. "I figured you would drop by sooner or later once I heard that, so I got you the best picks all ready."

That was kind of him. "Thank you, Ryouta-san, my mother will appreciate this."

When we left, Masami burst into a fit of giggles. She usually didn't do that unless she was gossiping with her friend, Ayame, so I was caught off-guard when she directed that at me. Upon noticing my raised eyebrow, she decided to let me in on what she thought was so funny. "He likes you," Masami teased.

I glanced at her. "Well, of course he does, we've been acquaintances for years, so there's no malice there y'know."

"I mean... man, are you dense Midori-chan?" Masami said, to which I blinked. She was implying that he liked me romantically. "Oh, you mean... Ah, that way. He's just an acquaintance, Masami-chan, I don't like him like that."

"Well, he likes you like that." She countered.

I stuck out my tongue.

There had been a time when I didn't mind chatting about my romantic options, but that was a strictly limited department after I had taken in Naruto. There were plenty of attractive men and women in Konohagakure but I never really put any effort in that since I spent so many years of my life trying to avoid others that I didn't notice when things like that sprung up in regards to myself. "He's not my type, Masami-chan, plus, I'm too busy focusing on Naruto right now to just- go out like that, besides, worry about your own dating life, not mine."

Masami hmphed. "Don't get onto me like Tsuki was the other day, she was trying to pry my crush out of me without any regard for how I felt."

"That's her way of showing she cares, don't worry she's tried to do that to me before I was your age. She'll lay off after a bit," I shrugged my shoulders. "She thinks that she's helping by trying to torment your crush into going out with you. It's a little problematic."

"You think she would actually do that..?" Masami asked.

"Are you trying to get her help, now?" I raised an eyebrow.

Masami immediately shook her head and tried to refute that idea from my thoughts. She tried to change the subject, opening her mouth to say something else. "Uh, no. Actually, uh, how's Naruto doing lately? I haven't seen him in a while, is he busy with his studies?"

I nodded my head. "More or less. He spends a lot of his time out of our apartment these days, he's trying to train really hard lately. I haven't seen him much either when he gets home at night. But, he's going to come in with me on his next day off, he promised."

"He's really determined then," Masami said. "I'm glad he's doing well."

"He's trying his best." I did agree. Naruto was trying his best. I knew something wasn't right though, and at that moment it had then occurred to me what time of the year it was. It had been a year since things had changed for the both of us, and fall was just coming through the air. "Though, speaking of my sunshine, that reminds me... I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys but his birthday is actually coming up very soon." It would be the first time we would be celebrating it together, and that was something I planned on making special.

Masami blinked. "Really? Oh, we have to do something big for him! My mother is really good at baking and she knows how to make all kinds of treats, maybe I could get her to make him something when she has the chance off of the tea shop."

"That's kind of you to offer, but if she does do that let her know that I'll have to help her. I do have a particular idea in mind and she would need my hands to help." I said.

"Sure thing."

...

I knocked on the door to my mother's upstairs apartment a few times before she finally answered the door. She wasn't all that surprised to see me, Tsuki had been caring for her for the last few days but I had advised her to take the day off today and I could check up on my mother for her. I had been meaning to after all, we had not really had the chance to talk much for the last couple of weeks. At work, it was all about business and there wasn't much time to converse like that.

Tsuki and Masami were a little less serious when it came to that matter, but there was no budging my mother when it came to that. She had softened a little ever since I had brought Naruto around, but she wasn't going to have a complete transformation from her true character.

Mayumi stepped to the side and let me inside. She returned to her seat on her couch. She had her hair down today, it had thrown me off to see it not in it's usual tucked bun. She had a blanket around herself, it wasn't too warm in Konohagakure when the winter was approaching either. I, myself, wasn't looking too forward to another winter where snow would be on the way.

I didn't care much for the season.

"You're looking a little better today, mother." It was true, her cheeks were a bit more colorful then they had been days prior. Mayumi had been struck done by a seasonal cold and at her age, she couldn't handle it like she once could. "I brought you your favorite," I raised the basket up and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. "Masami helped me out with the shopping today, so it didn't me as long as it should have this go around."

"That's great, dear." Mayumi murmured. Her voice was still a little hoarse. I doubted she would want to speak much if her throat still ached.

"There's also some honey and your favorite tea for later when you're feeling up to it." I added. "I made sure to pack that before I left the house this morning." Mayumi didn't as anything as I pressed my hand to her forehead. It wasn't as hot as it had been when I had last checked. "You're not as feverish either, I'm glad."

Mayumi made a knowing sound. "Mm."

"You're heading back to bed though, right?"

"Once you're on your way," Mayumi confirmed.

"I'll see you in a couple of days. I know Tsuki mentioned that we're having a little surprise party for Naruto at my place in a couple of days. It's just going to be the few of us, but I want it to be just right, y'know?" I said. "I hope you'll be feeling better by Naruto's party." Something about the way she looked at me right as I was leaving left me feeling like she had more she wanted to say to me but she couldn't find the will to say what she needed.