NARUTO
Nox Noctis Ingredior
Roomies
Early the next morning, Naruto Uzumaki suddenly, while lying peacefully beneath his covers in a semi-conscious state of sleep, began laughing and giggling nonstop, his body moving around on its own on his futon when he felt a strange tickling sensation on his right foot. He tried kicking out a bit to stop whatever it was that was attacking his foot, and rid himself of this torture, but it just would not cease.
Last night, the blonde had decided to change his sleeping arrangements, and moved away from Anko to sleep in between Sasuke and Shino, so that the girls wouldn't get to him. Much to his suppressed joy and perverted nature, he had been smothered by Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Kushina, and shockingly enough his own sensei, while he was relaxing in the hot springs. Of course there had been a rather strange massage therapy session, followed by some kisses and cuddling, but nothing too hentai; until Anko started pulling moves on him.
He managed to escape with his life…
And now, after half a night of sleeping with his eyes open and the other half actually sleeping, Naruto was now receiving a rather strange wake up call. Since he had very strange sleeping habits, he tended to sprawl out over a wide distance, and at this point had moved out from under his blanket and had rolled across Shino and Sasuke. With his head resting on Shino's blanket like a pillow and his legs over the Uchiha, things didn't seem that strange until he stuck his foot in the boy's mouth by accident.
Waking to the taste of something foul, Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized he was sucking on someone's toe, and sat up, yelling and gagging.
"GAAOOHHH! DISGUSTING! GET OFF OF ME, DOBE!" Sasuke yelled, retching and spitting. "GOD! DO YOU EVER CLEAN YOUR FEET?"
The commotion seemed to rouse Sakura and Hinata, both of whom looked towards the Uchiha in annoyance.
"Hey… what's with all the noise?" the pink haired girl groggily asked.
"We're trying to sleep… please…" Hinata mumbled, before falling back onto her pillow, picking it up and smothering her face with it. "Too tired…" she yawned.
Naruto sat up as well, blinking as he woke himself up slowly. He pushed off of his pillow, which he didn't realize was Shino. The bug boy also woke when he felt an unexpected discomfort on his chest, and looked down his body to see his blonde companion using him as a pillow.
"W-What's going on?" the whisker marked boy asked, scratching his head. He was dressed in just a singlet and a pair of black track pants. He moved his other foot off of Sasuke, who was still holding in the urge to puke. "Why is my foot wet?"
"YOU STUCK YOUR FOOT IN MY MOUTH!" Sasuke shouted.
"Eh…?"
"YOU VIOLATED MY TONGUE WITH YOUR CORNS! HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RESPOND!" Sasuke yelled a second time. Looking away, he stuck out his tongue and started cleaning it with his hands in a futile attempt to get rid of the taste.
"Ngh…" With a shrug, Naruto rolled onto his side and went back to nuzzling his pillow. Shino sweated animatedly as he watched the other ninja pat his blanket covered stomach, and shook his head in disgruntlement.
The member of Team 8 then watched as the groggy and dazed blonde slowly began to realize how uncomfortable his 'pillow' was, with Naruto sitting up to show this realization.
"Hang on a second… this isn't my pillow…" the spiky haired boy mumbled. Sitting up fully, he looked at the other end of his puffy head-rest, where he discovered to his shock he had been lying on Shino the whole time. The bug boy nodded to him, glasses over his face as per normal.
"Comfortable?" Shino asked.
Naruto's face fell into a look of despair and the lines on his head turned to a sickly blue state. "Oh God… I wasn't drooling on you the whole night was I?"
"Not by my reckoning…"
The two boys didn't have time to lie there awkwardly, when suddenly a flash of light caught Naruto's eye and with a shout of surprise, he rolled backwards over Shino, avoiding the giant sword impaling the floorboards where he was lying a second ago. The bug user was winded from the suddenly evasion tactic, and was now lying dazed back on top of his pillow.
Assuming a stance, the blonde threw his hand out and drew a kunai blade, and glared up at his attacker. He saw Ryoko perched on the handle of her sword, dressed in a bath robe and grinning down at him. Sakura, Hinata and Anko were now up and about, a little surprised at how the red-head had decided to rouse the blonde from his sleep. Sasuke had gone off to brush his teeth.
"Good morning, Naruto-chan!" Ryoko exclaimed, winking at him. "I see you're up."
"Thanks to you," Naruto replied, standing up and twirling his kunai in his hands, before having it vanish just as quickly as it had appeared out of thin air. "Do you usually do this…?"
"I did it to Zabuza all the time… kept him on his toes," Ryoko exclaimed. Kicking her sword out from under her, she spun it around her arm before catching it and landing cleanly on her feet, marching towards the boy. Before anyone could say another word, the red head grabbed Naruto's wrist and began dragging him out of the room, the boy blinking as his friends shrunk away. As she opened the door and began to pull him out of the room, his voice spoke up.
"Where are you taking me?" Naruto asked.
"Hot springs! Morning bath! You and me time! Talk!" was her words as they left the room, with the blond beginning to worry about what was to come.
"Good luck brat!" Anko called after him, but then withdrew immediately when her head started pounding like a jackhammer, and fell back into bed, groaning. "Ooohh… hang over…"
Sasuke stuck his head out of the bathroom door, wearing a shower cap with his toothbrush shoved in his mouth. "Good riddance… I don't think I'll be able to taste anything for a week…"
Later that morning…
The Genin teams, paid in full and thanked for their efforts, after waking from their slumbers, then packed up their gear and prepared to leave, their mission over. Of course, after seeing that the newly crowned High Princess of the land was safe on her throne, Team 7, Team 8 and Team 10, along with their Jonin leaders paid their respects to the leader of the land, wishing her luck, and left the castle premises. However, Katsumi held Naruto back a bit, and when Team 8 and 10 had left, with Team 7 waiting by the doors for their other team member, Naruto was allowed to speak, face to face with his dear friend.
Katsumi, rising from her throne, stepped down to meet Naruto on the red carpet, the ninja getting to his knee and bowing low to her, a smile always on the young boy's face. Little Haru, the girl he had saved, hung beside him, trying to hide away from the young, beautiful angel approaching them.
Stopping before him, Katsumi smiled at him, eyes wavering with unshed tears.
"Naruto-kun… you don't need to be so formal with me… we're friends. Come on now," she said, bidding him to rise to his feet. Naruto did so, and once he did, Little Haru latched on his arm, unwilling to let go. The boy chuckled and nodded his head to Katsumi.
"You will do great, Katsumi-chan…"
"And I know you will too…" the Princess replied.
Anko smirked as she watched the pair commune for what would be their last time until next they met. Sakura and Hinata stayed back and also watched, smiling happily as they watched the blonde make his peace with the young woman. It may have been a sight reminiscent from a fairy tale… or from Jiraiya's Icha Icha books, but it suited them well.
"Of course, you still have many trials ahead of you, and I wish you all the best," Katsumi said, reaching up and untying something from around her neck. Pulling it out, she revealed it to be a necklace with a locket at the end of it, and walking up to her friend, tied it around her neck. When she did, she gazed into his eyes, a blush forming on her cheeks and her smile growing. "Promise me… you will visit me often. It gets lonely leading a country…"
Looking down at the pendant and opening it, Naruto admired what was inside it. Smiling, he looked back up at Katsumi, clearly showing his appreciation of the gift.
"It's a promise of a life time," he said, raising his fist to this declaration and grinning. "Katsumi-chan…"
Unexpectedly, the girl leapt at him and kissed him deeply, surprising not only her royal guard and staff present, but also Sakura and Hinata. Anko just snickered before bursting out laughing as Naruto returned her kiss. Little Haru watched them curiously, wondering what they were doing, but deciding not to interrupt them.
After a minute or so, the two broke apart, and Naruto smiled at the blushing princess, who bowed to him and who he returned. With that set, he then turned and strode away, waving back as he approached his team at the end of the splendid hall. Rejoining them, they exited the hall, and headed out of the palace down the large stair way. Katsumi, watching him leave, giggled and intertwined her fingers, nodding her head.
"Just like Naruto… he's always one to keep a promise…"
The journey back to Konohagakure was uneventful, and much to the relief of the Genin, they didn't have any extra weight to carry with them, which meant that this walk back to the village was faster. And of course, as stated earlier on this arc, they didn't return to that port town, and simply went around it.
Along the way, Naruto piggy-backed Little Haru, the young girl enjoying herself, the fresh air and the butterflies that seemed to hover around her. Sakura and Hinata took turns in taking care of the cute little one, with the Genin of team seven talking amongst themselves eagerly. Anko headed the group, but was accompanied by Kakashi, whom she spoke with discreetly about the upcoming Icha Icha books that the great Jiraiya was going to publish next and what they believe should be included. Much to Asuma and Kurenai's displeasure, Shikamaru and Choji would stick their noses in between them and made sure they didn't try anything, wanting to cause as much grief for the pair as possible, and embarrass the crap out of them. Shino spoke with Sasuke, well… not really talked but simply shared occasional words with him, such as 'beautiful scenery' and 'yeah', with the occasional 'ngh'. Ino stuck with Ryoko, the swordswoman who seemed more inclined to hover around Naruto's back and watch over him closely. However, the pale blonde girl and the red-head did talk, every so often drifting from plants to appearance.
"Your skin texture is amazing… so tanned," Ino exclaimed. "How do you get it so smooth?"
"I bathe regularly and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables," the woman replied, running a hand through her hair and smirking down at the girl, who was looking over her with great interest. Since Ryoko's outfit was damaged in her battle with the Jonin, she changed it a little, moving from her dark blue stuff to a pair of grey forest camouflage trousers, shin guards, boots, and a black turtle neck top with a grey camo colored scarf draped over her shoulders. She still had her spiky hair up, and the eye patch she wore remained where it was. "Because a ninja must keep her body in full fighting form, I train and eat a balanced diet, which means I have no blemishes whatsoever. What do you think?"
"I think it is incredible that you're managing to keep such fine a figure," Ino said, studying the woman's tanned arm up close. "So… you don't diet or anything?"
"HA! Diet? Hell no… the key is to train hard and work your body! That's how you keep it in such fine shape. Plus, I can eat whatever I want if I continue training," Ryoko exclaimed, thumbing at the giant blade on her back. "How do you think I'm able to swing that around like a kunai blade, eh?"
"Of course, you're incredibly strong," Ino said.
"Damn right!"
Along the line of the convoy, Team 7's group was engrossed in a conversation of their own.
"So… Little Haru, are you looking forward to your new home?" Naruto asked. The Rinnegan girl nodded enthusiastically, smiling and giggling.
"Yes, Naruto-sama!" she exclaimed happily.
"Great to hear it! You're gonna love it in Konohagakure!" the blonde continued, skipping a bit and earning a laugh from her.
"We'll help look after you too, Little Haru," Sakura said. "When we get back to Naruto's place, we'll sit down and play some games…"
"And also teach you things… a lot of useful stuff for the future," Hinata added, with Sakura and Naruto agreeing unanimously. "How to cook, how to clean yourself up, and we'll teach you math, literature and writing…"
"YAY!" Haru exclaimed, throwing her arms out.
Anko, who had been looking over her shoulder at the time, smirked and shrugged, before turning to her companion walking beside her.
"Like family, don't you think?" Anko queried.
"Yeah… very much so," Kakashi exclaimed, giving the woman his famous eye-smile. "Makes me wish I had his kind of spirit…"
"Don't joke, you're happy the way you are." Anko folded her arms, nodding her head with certainty. "One Naruto is more then enough…"
The journey back was quite a joy, and when the large group finally spotted the Hokage Monument on the horizon, they wasted no more time hanging around outside their village's walls. They entered through the North Gate, checking in with the guards, before heading for the Hokage tower. The platoon became the sight of the day for many passers, who took in the battered teams, as well as the newcomers, particularly the scary, red-headed woman carrying the massive clever on her back. A quick trek down the main road, and they were at the main building, and were lead to the Hokage's office for the debrief on their successful mission.
"Good job teams… and uhh…" Sarutobi began, before noting the newcomers to the office, one of which was perched on Naruto's shoulders, and the other one surrounded by eight ANBU and held at sword point, her hands raised and a bored look on her face. "Dangerous Missing Nin… ugh… okay… moving on…" Unrolling the scroll and document from the three team's first C-Rank turned A-Rank mission, Sarutobi signed it, stamped it, and sealed it for it to be taken to the archives. His office assistant Chunin collected it up, along with the pile, and left the room, staring awkwardly at the ANBU and their uninvited guest.
Lighting his pipe, the old Third Hokage chuckled and propped his head on his hands, at the same time taking in the team's appearances. Blemish for blemish, he had to admit he had seen Genin teams who had returned from a C-Rank mission in terrible states, even worse for the Jonin teams he sent out on missions, but this just bit a whole new chunk of cake for a simple escort mission of a platoon's worth of ninja. Kakashi still had his arm in a sling, Anko was grinning through stitches on her face, Asuma looked like he had just moved several pianos all on his own, and Kurenai looked like she had been tortured. His eyes trailed over the more disgruntled Genin, all the way through to Naruto who was smiling as if he had had the time of his life.
All in all, the story they had to tell would be a very interesting one.
"So tell me… was it all because of her?" Sarutobi asked, rather amused as he looked at Ryoko, the woman looking at each of the ANBU surrounding her individually. Her sword had been confiscated and was being held by another ANBU standing in the shadows.
Curious, she ran her finger over one of the blades and looked at it afterwards, rubbing her finger against her thumb and smirked.
"You know, your swords could use some polishing," Ryoko exclaimed. She turned to another one standing to her right. "And the base of your blade is a bit rusty. Goodness. I take it you guys don't go out on missions that often?"
"Shut up…" the ANBU Ryoko was addressing growled, the voice surprising the red-head woman. The commotion that was starting had the Genin Teams and their Jonin leaders part away a bit and look behind them, with Sarutobi getting a better view of the young woman in the center of the ring of blades.
"Good Lord, you're a woman?" Ryoko laughed. She caught wind of the purple hair and the ANBU's rather feminine figure. "You know, I'd expect better from the Leaf's ANBU, especially the girls on the squads to at least keep their weapons in mint condition. What, are you starting to get a little lazy after graduating? You see, this is the problem with a lot of the other villages; you have a whole mass of shinobi that seem tough but aren't and get their asses beat, then you get a handful of other ninja that are just awesome, compared to the rest of the shinobi forces, and always do well in battle."
"What's your point?" the woman growled.
"I'm just saying… back in my village, the Seven Swordsmen were trained hard to keep their weapons well polished," Ryoko stated. She raised an eyebrow as she looked from one sword to another. "I can't help myself, I'm a swordswoman myself, I just love good quality weapons that are thoroughly cleaned and sharpened, and I hate ones that are just… is that ketchup?" Ryoko asked, pointing to the ANBU on her very left, noting a little stain smeared on his blade. The other ANBU spotted it too, and seemed to lean in closer to get a better look. That ANBU, from the markings on his mask was Hawk, backed away a bit and rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously.
"I lost my kitchen knife and used this to cut my sandwich in the morning…"
"If I may interrupt," the Hokage spoke up, drawing the ANBU and Ryoko's attention to the old man sitting behind the desk. The white haired man was looking very amused, at the same time a bit agitated, and upon silencing the prisoner and guard, took a puff on his pipe and removed it from his mouth. He nodded towards the red-head woman. "You're Ryoko Takahashi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, known as the Siren of the Hidden Mist. Your name gets tossed around a lot in the ninja handbook, but you seemed to drop off of the grid for a while after you left your village. What made you decide to show your face now?"
Ryoko smiled and shrugged, folding her arms. "I don't know… boredom…"
"I see… well… by the way you seemed to stride into this village today, I immediately knew that you weren't ushered here as a prisoner, so I assume you were invited along," Sarutobi said, turning and staring at Anko and her team. The other Genin teams also glared at them, moving back a bit to emphasize in terms of space on them. The purple haired Jonin shrugged.
"Don't look at me, ask him," Anko said, pointing down at her blonde student, who was still balancing Little Haru on his shoulders. Naruto turned towards the old man and grinned, while the black haired girl started playing with his hair and face from where she sat.
Sarutobi sighed. "Of course…"
"I'll have everyone in this room know that we had nothing to do with it!" Kurenai spoke, with a lot of the Genin surrounding her nodding in agreement.
"I understand…" the Third replied, before glancing over at Kakashi, who had his hand in his pocket and really wasn't saying anything. "Anything to add, Kakashi?"
"Nope… I'm practically in the same boat as they are," the silver haired man said, gesturing towards Asuma and the others. The old man sighed and rubbed the space between both his eyes, knowing that he was going to lose all of his hair over this.
"Good enough…" he waved at the Genin and Jonin in the room. "Teams 8 and 10 can go, but I need to have a word with Team 7…" The other teams bowed, and all of them, including Kurenai, left the room without another word. With Anko, Naruto, Sakura and Hinata being the only ones left in the room, beside Ryoko and the ANBU flanking her, Sarutobi could finally get down to asking questions and receiving straight answers without interruption.
"So tell me… aside from delivering Princess Katsumi safely and completing the mission, not only did you decide to adopt a young girl from a coastal port down on your way there, but you also managed to pick up one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the second strongest from that group no less, and bring her here with the intention… to…?"
"To enlist her as a ninja of Konoha's Forces… or to have her around as a body guard," Naruto said, shrugging. "I thought it was a great idea…"
"Sure was. Now look at me; I've got the welcome party I've always dreamed of," Ryoko called out sarcastically, obviously making a point towards the surrounding ANBU. She sniffed the air, catching a whiff of something unpleasant, and looked towards the ANBU to her right again. "Someone hasn't showered in a while…"
The ANBU sweat dropped, and whistled quietly to bypass the awkward situation.
"Naruto… did you think this through at all?" Sarutobi asked, trying to hold back a smile at the show of good humor by an enemy of the village.
"I thought about it… a lot," Naruto affirmed, folding his arms. "I gave her my word that she could stick with me when she passed the interrogation office's tests; Ibiki owes me one anyway. I also believe that by introducing her to our village that I could encourage the other villagers to take tolerance of outsiders, and understanding to heart. Plus I have her word to back me up." He looked back at the girl, who was still having an animated discussion with the ANBU she had addressed about the smell, this time on personal hygiene. When she noticed the whisker-marked boy looking at her, she raised a fist in declaration.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen always keep their word. When a deal is made, it cannot be broken," the red-head stated.
"Lovely," Anko exclaimed, throwing her arms out. "There you have it! Can we go now? I'm hungry, and it's two for one at the dango bar today…"
"In a moment," Sarutobi continued, pointing in the woman's direction. "I trust that if anything should happen to any of my ninja in this village should I let this deal fly, you four will be held responsible for it?"
"Now wait just a minute…" Sakura yelled.
"Shush, pinky," Anko said, pulling her back into formation beside Naruto and Hinata. The woman stepped forward. "If my student trusts this woman, then I'll be prepared to accept full responsibility on their behalf."
"Forget that; I will take full responsibility," Naruto spoke up. "She made the deal under my word; it was an agreement between two parties." Anko smirked down at him, raising an eyebrow.
"You're young kid; you still got your whole life ahead of you."
"Fine then, it'll be on your heads, you two," Sarutobi said, pointing at the both of them, before glancing down at Naruto. "I'll take it easy on you though…"
"What for?" Naruto asked, folding his arms. "Am I too valuable to the village, or an inconvenience to even care?"
"No; for keeping quiet about the… you know…" the Third whispered, gesturing carefully to make sure the others in the room didn't get it.
"Right… that thing," Naruto said with a nod and a smile. He thumped his chest and gave the old man the thumbs up. "Okay then…"
"Good, then we have an accord," Sarutobi said, looking up towards the ANBU and Anko. "Team 7 is dismissed, and I will send the necessary papers to you four to fill out, since you obviously have a new roommate. Hang on… two new roommates for Naruto…and these three have volunteered to help out!"
"Hey, I didn't promise to help out with anything," Anko said, throwing her arms up. "All I promised was to train these three and look after them. Trust me; I'm no good with kids…"
"No kidding," Sakura mumbled. Anko lead into her, brandishing a knife to her cheek and causing the pink-haired girl to stiffen in surprise.
"What was that, pinky?"
"N-N-NOTHING!" Sakura shouted. Hinata giggled at the sight.
"We should be m-mindful of our words, Sakura," the Hyuuga exclaimed.
"Get on out of here you three," Sarutobi said, waving his hand at them, ushering them out. "I already have enough work as it is without having to worry about this new debacle. And ANBU can take Ryoko down to Ibiki." Team 7 bowed and began heading out, with Sakura hanging around just a bit as she watched her teammates leave.
"Hold on a second… Naruto," Ryoko called, as the handful of ANBU began hurrying her out the door. Halfway through, the red-head turned towards the blond. He looked up at her in question when he reached her. "Could you take my sword back to your place, I don't trust these yokels?"
Naruto turned towards the ANBU holding her sword in the corner, then back towards the Third Hokage. The old man smiled and nodded towards the ninja holding onto the weapon.
"I'll allow it…"
The masked ninja in black strode over to the blonde and handed him the large sword, with Naruto taking it carefully. At this point, Hinata and Anko looked down at it in interest, noticing the strange gleam and chakra fluctuation it was giving off. Even Little Haru had a look at it, gazing at it through her Rinnegan, and tilted her head in curiosity when she saw a strange purple energy move through the sword's blade like a bubble. Ryoko chuckled as they looked at it, drawing their attention to her when she began to speak again.
"It gives off a certain chakra signature, so I'll be able to find you through it," the woman exclaimed. The ANBU, sensing she was done, began pushing her out the door again, but just as she was rounding the corner, she craned her head to look back at them. "Oh, and if the sword starts talking to you… just ignore it…" With that, she was gone.
"Starts… talking… to me?" Naruto queried.
"Worry about it later, Naruto… lets go!" Anko said, pushing him out the door. Hinata followed, a little it nervous at the last statement.
"How can swords talk to people?" the young, purple haired girl thought, disappearing around the corner where Naruto ad Anko had gone.
With the Hokage and Sakura being the only ones left in the room, gave the young girl free rein to discuss what she had on her mind to the old man. Standing at attention, she turned towards the old man with a stoic look, with Sarutobi locking his eyes onto the only other person left in the room. A few seconds passed before either spoke, since the pink haired Genin was a bit nervous, and Sarutobi was just plain confused as to why she was still here.
"What is it?" he asked calmly.
"Hokage-sama… umm… in regards to Naruto's adoption forms… uhh… well… there is something that I wish to ask you… a request if you will…"
"Of course, child; what do you have in mind…?"
Later that day… in the afternoon…
"Ugh… I'm beat," Naruto groaned, flopping down on his couch next to Little Haru, who was looking through the folded pile of recently bought and assorted clothes. The spiky haired blonde, who was now dressed in a pair of jean shorts, white t-shirt and orange and black vest with socks, looked over at his new guest, watching as the girl looked from one T-shirt to the next and from one pair of pants to another; and so forth.
Earlier today, the young Genin and Anko had taken the little girl shopping for new clothes and supplies, not wanting her to keep those old rags from the port town. The three of them ventured from one store to the next, picking up everything they needed, while endlessly embarrassing Naruto on the side… well… Anko did most of the teasing, what with the lectures she gave him. The leader of Team 7 felt that her student needed to learn a bit more then just taking care of the child in terms of food, clothing and house keeping, but also to know about the bare essentials. She took the two youngsters to the chemists to pick up a number of nameless items the boy did not want to know about, as well as undergarments from the clothing stores. Naruto wished Hinata had accompanied him when he was shopping with his sensei, but she had to go off to deal with other matters elsewhere.
Thankfully, by the end of the shopping spree, which emptied much of his wallet for now, Naruto was relieved and out of it.
After carrying the bags and groceries back to his apartment, he used his clones to help deposit and organize all of the food in the kitchen, before letting Little Haru look through her newly purchased items.
"You like your new stuff?" Naruto asked, watching as Haru put a woolen, ushanka hat over her head, with the flaps on the sides falling over her ears. Her black hair masked most of her facial features, covering her right eye while leaving the left exposed. She smiled at the blonde, blushing cutely.
"I thought so," the whisker marked boy replied. Noting the dirt and dust still covering her, Naruto stood up, the girl watching after him. "I think you should have a bath now. It didn't matter much on the mission but now… you're in my home, cleanliness is essential." Offering her a hand, Haru took it, leaving her stuff on the couch as she was led to the back of his apartment.
Naruto opened the door to the back garden, and lead his new guest down to the lawn. Enclosed by a high bamboo fence, with a flower garden circling it on the inside and a simple took shed against it, Naruto used whatever space was available to set up a rather ingenious bath.
Much like the springs, Naruto had set up a large, wooden tub on the grass on top of a fire pit, with steps that led up to the top and into it. It was basically a huge boiling pot that the blonde used to take relaxing baths in when he didn't need to go to the hot springs. On days after hard training and he didn't want to go out, he would enjoy a nice, hot soak.
Leading the hose over to the tub and rigging it up like a shower head, Naruto quickly began filling up the large basin with water, while at the same time getting some freshly cut planks of wood, and tossing it into the pit beneath the bath. Haru watched curiously as the boy let the fire and filled the bath to a foot beneath its rim. Once finished, the blonde waited for the tub to reach a suitable, heated state, and ushered Haru over.
"Come on… you'll definitely enjoy this soak," Naruto exclaimed. Poking his finger in the hot water, he nodded his head, assured it was perfect for her. Little Haru undressed and with towel in hand, walked up the steps with her adoptive brother's help, and slowly stepped in.
A few seconds of dipping into the water and testing the temperature, she jumped in, and leaning up against the side began to relax. The little girl giggled and splashed the water around a bit, Naruto smiling as she waded around.
"Good, eh?" the boy asked. Haru turned and nodded.
"Yes! It's nice and warm!"
"Great," Naruto exclaimed. Creating a shadow clone, he sent it inside to collect some clothes for her and with nothing else to do, sat back and kept watch over Haru as she played around and cleaned herself up.
By the time she was done, it was drawing into the late afternoon. Drying off and getting dressed into a large orange T-shirt and a pair of baggy, dark blue jean shorts, Naruto took her upstairs to get dinner started, leaving the clones to pack away the bath and drain the water. When they did, he immediately began hurrying around the kitchen making fried rice for tonight, great bowls of it for a great feast, with a side of char siu and Asian style roast pork. Little Haru helped around a bit with great joy of being in the boy's presence, getting him the necessary utensils he asked for and setting up the table outside of the kitchen area. Since his apartment was so small, the dining room and kitchen was practically the same room.
Once done, the two of them got down to eat, with Naruto serving. However, the wafting smell of fried rice and char siu did not go unnoticed, with a clatter of pots sounding an intrusion from the kitchen window. Naruto looked over in surprise, on instinct reaching for a kunai from his pocket. However, when he saw a familiar face, he blinked.
"Hey brat! That stuff smells good!" Anko exclaimed, sniffing the air. Dressed in a pair of black cargo pants, a pink tube top that stopped at mid-drift, with red letters written on her well endowed chest area saying 'Up Yours', and wearing red flip-flops with her spiky hair let down, the usual sadistic Jonin was definitely set for casual. The woman locked her lips. "Mmm… I can taste it now!"
Hopping off of the window sill, she grabbed a small bowl and chopsticks off of the kitchen desk, marched over to the table, and pulled up a chair next to Haru, all the while the Rinnegan girl and Naruto watched her, either in bewilderment or interest. It was only a matter of lining up the responses.
"I love char siu! Well… not as much as dango but… you know what I mean," the woman exclaimed, getting herself a bowl of rice and piling pork onto it. She began gorging on it, turning to see Naruto still staring at her and Haru resuming her meal. The Jonin blinked at her student.
"What?" she asked with a full mouth.
"Uhh… NOTHING! Nothing… umm… wow…" Naruto replied, waving his hands in front of him. He averted his gaze briefly, rubbing the back of his head, before glancing back at the woman. Out of the corner of his observing gaze, he saw the Jonin grin at him.
"You've never seen me wearing clothes like this before, have you?" Anko asked. "Since I'm always wearing my fishnet and trench coat most of the time, you assume that I wear stuff like that 24/7?"
"Huh? No! No. No…" Naruto hesitated for a moment. "Okay… now that you've pointed it out… I have to admit… I've never seen you in pink before, sensei."
"Oh. Well… there you go!" Anko exclaimed, holding her arms out. Without another word, she dived back into her meal.
Smiling and shaking his head, Naruto just sat down in his seat and got himself some rice. However, just as he was about to eat, he heard another clatter by the window, and turned around to see Jiraiya sloothing in.
"Hey, kid! Man… that smells good!"
"Oh God… not you too…" Naruto groaned, watching as the white-haired old man leapt down onto the kitchen sink and then onto the floor. "What ever happened to having manners and using the door?"
"I think they both killed each other… you know… one of those murder-suicide deals," Jiraiya exclaimed pointedly, rubbing his hands together as he approached the table. "Fried rice? Boy did I come on a good day. You know, you make the best fried rice in the entire village."
"Says you," Naruto replied with a small smile. "I didn't know you were still in the village, Pervy Sage…"
"Well, when I heard that your C-Rank mission turned into an A-Rank mission, and that you managed to bag, not only a girl with Rinnegan eyes but also one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, I just had to come down and congratulate you," Jiraiya exclaimed, walking over to him and taking a seat beside the blonde. The table was designed for six people, and already four seats were occupied in a span of five minutes in an apartment where only one person lived. "Congratulations…"
"Thanks a lot, Pervy Sage…"
"Stop calling me that," Jiraiya quickly said, before glancing towards the girl with the black hair eating her dinner. She was looking at the man with caution, still not being able to trust strangers after her life experiences so far. "So… if she's not the second member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, then I'm guessing she's the girl with the Rinnegan eyes." The old man tilted his head as he looked at the girl's exposed eye, noting the tell-tale rings against the purple sclera, circling the small pupil. His thoughts strayed from knowledge to experiences with the Rinnegan, as old memories of his past began to surface. The old man was amazed and curious at the sight of a second pair of the Sage of the Six Paths' eyes, with a sense of foreboding also overcoming him. "But this doesn't make any sense… only one pair of Rinnegan are said to have ever existed, and these were in the possession of the Sage. When I met Nagato… I thought that he was the only incarnation of the Legendary Sage to ever possess the eyes, and that he was the child of prophecy. Then suddenly… she shows up…"
Jiraiya, canceling out his thoughts for the time being, he smiled at the girl and nodded at her. "What's your name?"
"H-Haru…"
The old man nodded in response. "Well, it's a real pleasure young lady…"
Jiraiya, producing a bowl of fried rice for himself also began eating, obviously satisfied with the meal from the moans he gave off like Anko did. Them most delicate way of summing up this dining experience was no short of a orgy of delight. Naruto shook his head as he too began eating, joining Anko and Jiraiya in conversation, basically talking about the mission and about what had happened over the course of the four days. He and Anko left out the most incriminating parts that Jiraiya would find most interesting for his next book, such as the hot spring incident.
Just as Naruto was getting in deep in the talking between his two senseis, another voice spoke up that was obviously foreign from the group, but the blonde mistook it for someone at the table.
"You're pretty cute for a kid, you know…"
"Okay, for the last time Anko, can you stop saying creepy things like that?" Naruto said, putting his chopsticks and bowl down. "Hitting on me is not a good motivational tool, especially at the dining table!"
Anko looked at him, mouth full. "But I didn't say anything…"
"Neither did I," Jiraiya also said, looking around, surprised.
"My master was right… you do have a nice butt…"
Naruto blinked. "Wait… you can see us?" He, Anko, Jiraiya and Little Haru turned towards the source of the sound, but found themselves staring towards the doorway of the kitchen leading into the small lounge room, where all they could see was the back of the two-person couch and Ryoko's sword propped up against it.
Anko blinked, swallowing her food. "Must be our imaginations…"
"Or this place is haunted…" Naruto also added.
"The hell it is! It's me you dumb-wads!" the voice shouted again, this time accompanied by the audible sounds of metal rattling. The sword propped up against the couch also moved with the voice. "Come over here so I can get a better look at you, blonde!"
"The… sword… is… talking…" Jiraiya murmured. He looked over at Anko and Naruto, seeing both of them turn back around with wide eyes and freaked out expressions in play, whereas Haru continued looking at the sword in interest.
Anko glanced at Naruto, back stiffened. "Should I quit drinking, brat?"
"No… you're fine," the blonde haired ninja replied.
"There's a lot of purple moving around inside the sword…" Haru exclaimed. Even though her words fell upon the three ninjas' ears, it only served to scare them even more so.
"Ryoko told me that the sword would start talking to us," Naruto whispered, now sweating a bit. "What should we do?"
"Just ignore it, I'm sure it will stay quiet if we don't listen to it," Anko said. "After all… she did tell you to ignore it in the first place if it did start talking."
"Hey! I said come over here! I'm bored, and my master is away… and you're hot!" the sword shouted, this time addressing Anko. "You also have a nice butt! Why don't you waggle it on over here, purple girl?"
"Okay… it's bi… nice…" Anko said, now feeling even more uncomfortable. "Good thing Ryoko will be out of Ibiki's Interrogation Department soon…"
"It's a fascinating weapon though," Jiraiya said, putting his thumb and index finger to his chin as he analyzed the weapon over Anko's shoulder. "Aside from an elegant design and that it is giving off an eerie chakra signature, it's got its own wisdom to boot: an intelligent weapon that can speak, and perhaps offer battle tactics to its owner. Impressive! I wonder if it can be used by multiple wielders…"
"Jiraiya, shut up!" Anko hissed. "Don't make eye-contact with it!"
"But it doesn't have any eyes!" Jiraiya said back, frowning.
"It's wrapped in gauze and it's big, plus it's a sword! It shouldn't be talking in the first place!" Naruto added, growling.
"The old goat over there is right. But unfortunately, I'm a one in a kind weapon! What day is it anyway? Last I heard it was some time in late June. I could go for some snow right about now…"
"Just ignore the sword…" Naruto mumbled, eating on, while still sitting in a surprisingly straightened manner.
"Hey! Hot stuff! I'm talking! Come on… pick me up and let's go cut something! Come on…"
"Now I know why Ryoko was acting as insane as she was," Anko said, shaking her head, while continuing to eat as well. "To live with a talking sword all your life must give you a tumor after the first year."
"Agreed," Jiraiya said.
KNOCK! KNOCK! A rapping at the window to the kitchen caught everyone's attention, and they turned to see Sakura sitting on the sill, wearing a huge camping backpack and carrying a big suitcase with her.
"Hey! Anyone home…" A whiff of the smell in the air distracted her, and the girl hummed in appreciation of the scent, squeezing through and hopping onto the floor. "Hey… that smells good!"
"For goodness sakes, can people please use my door?" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his head back in distress.
"Where's the fun in that, Naruto-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, skipping around the table, setting her bags up against the wall and pulling up a chair. Summoning a bowl out of thin air, she began loading rice into it, accompanied by the char siu. "Boy, I'll have some of this! It's been a while since I've had a good meal!"
"Hey, Sakura-chan… what's with all the bags?" Naruto asked, noting the suitcase and backpack, before looking up at his pink haired teammate, who had begun gorging on the food. The way she horsed it down meant that the boy's cooking skills were top notch. "Are you moving out or something?"
"Correction: moving in; with you!" Sakura replied cheerfully, pointing her chopsticks in the blonde's direction. Naruto it his tongue at this response, and stared at the pink haired girl with wide eyes. Anko set her bowl aside and watched on with a grin, whereas Jiraiya looked at her in interest. "Since you've got Little Haru to look after now, and since I figured you could use some company, after a lot of thinking, I made a decision! I was able to request the papers from the Hokage to move me out of my apartment and move in with you!"
"Wha… ha… it's… gah… huh?" Naruto babbled trying to find the right words to reply to his teammate. He shook his head and looked at her with a confused look.
Jiraiya meanwhile, was now grinning from ear to ear. "Kami kid, I was right! I knew you'd start reeling them in eventually…"
"Whatever happens from here on out, gaki; the girls are always right, and you are expected to reply everything with a 'yes'!" Anko pressured, punching the boy in the shoulder. Naruto winced and rubbed the bruise, as he watched his friend consume her first bowl of rice.
"So… you really want to move into my apartment?" Naruto queried, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I have to admit I'm a bit surprised, but I have to ask… well… I have my answer already… but… oh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head, looking up towards the ceiling. "Man… this is just weird…"
"It's fine, Naruto. I won't slow you down, and I'll try to stay out of your hair when you're busy. So…" Sakura said, lowering her bowl and looking up at the blonde with a very stern-mixed-happy face. "As earlier stated, Haru will be sleeping in your bed… so in that case; I'll be sharing it with her… while you get the couch!"
"You know, I have a spare mattress…"
"Okay then; I get to sleep on the spare mattress and you get the couch!" Sakura simply stated, returning to her food. Naruto groaned and propped his head on his hand and arm.
"I shouldn't have said that…" he muttered.
"Deal with it brat, never get into a fight over a bed with a girl," Jiraiya stated, almost like a proclamation, holding up a bottle of sake and a couple of small shot glasses. "That's the first step to an awful life together."
"When were you the expert on all this?" Anko asked, pitching herself some sake in the other glass Jiraiya had brought with him. "I don't see you and Tsunade romping it all out in a motel room somewhere on the edge of the Land of Fire."
"Unfortunately, she and I have had some rather interesting moments together on missions when we were younger that I would… not soon be forgetting," Jiraiya said the last part out slowly, taking a sip from his drink. "That frying pan still haunts my nightmares…not to mention that broomstick handle she used on me and where it went when she caught me peeping on her."
"Okay, too much information!" Sakura said, putting her hands over her ears. Haru copied, giggling in amusement. "Go take your Icha Icha talk somewhere else!"
The half an hour into dinner proved to be rather interesting, with Naruto eventually coming to fully accept Sakura into his apartment, but was not too pleased at the prospects of sleeping on the couch. But since he didn't usually sleep that much now a days, he was pretty content with the idea for now. Anyhow, as the day drew into night, and the group was still engrossed in deep conversation, another intruder into the kitchen had everyone turn their heads.
"H-Hello… everyone!" the timid voice of Hinata came from the kitchen window. Naruto and everyone watched as the girl clambered down from her perch, suitcase in hand and backpack worn over her usual jumper and attire. Anko snickered.
"Oh… this night has just gotten more interesting…"
"Seriously! Can people start using my door! Geez!" Naruto threw his arms out.
Hinata smiled as she stood in the kitchen area, swinging her suitcase a bit from side to side in that shy girl manner, as she looked at Naruto.
"Umm… N-Naruto-kun… if it isn't too much trouble for you… well… if it won't upset you or anything, I…I have decided to…well… I would like to move in with you!" she said outright, blushing fiercely. "I mean… I'll understand if you don't want me to."
"Oh… geez, Hinata-chan… he-heh…" Naruto chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "Man this is getting awkward."
"Oh, is it ever," Anko exclaimed, sitting back and watching the show. "Come on kid, what's your answer?"
"Well… umm… sure… why not. Unless Sakura-chan is willing to share a bed with you," Naruto replied.
"Swing and a miss…" Anko exclaimed, looking over at Jiraiya. "Although that depends on the batter's point of view…"
"S-Share a bed with Sakura?" Hinata asked, looking over at her pink-haired teammate. The young kunoichi grinned and waved at her, now still working on her second bowl of the evening.
"Hey, Hinata! Yeah, I'm sharing the apartment with Naruto as well," Sakura affirmed, before pointing towards the purple haired girl and her baggage. "I assume you got the Hokage to help fill out some forms to?" The Hyuuga girl nodded in response, earning a shrug and a smile from the other girl. "That's cool. Hey… lookin' forward to spending some more time with you."
"M-me to…" Hinata said with a small smile, although inwardly she was a bit disappointed. "I wanted to spend some more time alone with my Naruto-kun…"
"Excellent, we have a home run!" Anko declared, raising her glass. "Good one, Naruto! You've got an awesome pair!"
"Please… think before you speak, sensei," Naruto said, slapping his forehead and shaking his head. He looked up, watching as Hinata took the last chair and had a seat. Kindly, she pointed towards the food and looked at the blonde with a smile, using hand signals and body language to communicate. The whisker-marked boy nodded in response and soon enough, everyone at the table was sharing a delicious home cooked meal.
There was a lot of rice made, so there was plenty to go around. And of course, since everyone was so engrossed in the meal and the aura of joy floating in the air around them that they had completely forgot about the sword in the lounge room. The sword of course had taken to quietly tuning in on their conversations, finding interest in the topics thrown around.
Suddenly, rattling at the window sounded the appearance of yet another visitor, and everyone, including a flustered Naruto, looked up to see another familiar face stick his head in. Kakashi Hatake smiled as he started climbing through.
"Hey… that smells good! Can I join you?"
Unexpectedly, an empty bowl of fried rice was hurled through the air and shattered upon hitting the Jonin in the side of the head. Dazed, the silver haired Sharingan user fell out the window, and after three stories, hit the soft grass below.
"USE THE DOOR!" Naruto shouted, on his feet and arm extended in an executed throwing motion.
TO BE CONTINUED…