A/N: I want to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows
"You are finally back!"
Naruto grinned as Kiko and Akane tackled her to the ground, their eyes gleaming with relief at the sight of her walking straight. She hugged them tightly, eyes closed as she breathed in their scent. Kenji and Kumiko glanced at each other, heads shaking at their daughters' antics while Eisuke strolled in and hand-chopped the girls on their heads.
"Ouch!"
"What was that for, Eisuke!" Akane yelled. She released Naruto from the hug and turned to her smiling brother. Hazel eyes narrowed at the smiling hero, who just shrugged his shoulders and strolled towards the kitchen. The girl turned to her younger sister as if she had an explanation for their brother's strange behaviour.
"Greet us too, brat!" Eisuke called out from the kitchen. Kenji and Kumiko shook their heads, eyes twinkling with mirth at the comment. Naruto made her way to the living room, taking a seat on the blue couch. Her relatives followed suit with Kenji grabbing the remote from the coffee table, turning on the television. Music blasted out from the television screen, the colourful costumes of the celebrities brought a smile from everyone.
"Anything interesting happened?" Kumiko questioned the girls.
Kiko and Akane flickered their eyes at each other, nodding their head as if agreeing to do something. Kiko slid towards the coffee table, pulling out an opened envelop from the drawer. She handed the notice to Kenji, green eyes avoiding her father's searching eyes. Akane avoided her mother's raised eyebrows, knowing that the woman was furious for being a busybody.
Kenji pressed his lips into a thin line and handed the letter to Kumiko. His green eyes didn't reveal his emotions nor could Naruto feel the emotions coming out from the man. She glanced at her cousins who avoided her blue eyes as if the notice was going to annoy her. Kumiko sighed, placed the notice on the coffee table.
"Your teachers are going to come today to talk to us about you staying in their dorms as a way to protect you and the other students." Kumiko informed her, hands folded on her knees. She seemed calm and poised, green eyes seemed completely blank and cold as if she was trying to process the information. The woman flickered her eyes to the living room, eyes narrowed at the sight of the lingering mess in the living room.
"If the two of you read the notice then why didn't you clean the living room? Go and clean your mess!" Kenji declared, jerking his fingers to the stains on the floor. Kiko swirled her head to her sister, lips curled into a triumph smile while Akane groaned, lips pressed into a pout. The girls made their way to the closet, pulling out the cleaning supplies. "Honestly we left the two of you alone for just three days and you can't even clean up after yourselves! If you even use your clones then I will know!"
Kumiko and Akane winced, knelt down and began to clean the floors. Eisuke took a sip of his tea, green eyes twinkling with joy at the sight. Naruto just shook her head, lips pressed into a smile. She tilted her head when she felt her phone vibrated against her pants pocket.
She tilted her head when she saw that the message was from Shouto.
Got any plans for tonight?
Nope. Naruto chewed on her bottom lip as she sent the text to him. Why was he asking about her plans? Sakura and Kakashi were staying in a hotel, no doubt waiting for tomorrow where she would tell them about the story of Sasuke and Itachi. Oh right. She still needed to get into contact with her friend's brother to tell him about her final decision.
She chewed on her bottom lip, staring at her contacts that had Itachi's temporary phone number. Her fingers hovered, uncertain whether to type out the message that she had came to a decision. It was Itachi's job to bring him back and to reason with him. Her words and actions couldn't get through him and neither did Sakura's words. Her friend followed the words spoken by Itachi, which meant he had the best chance of getting through to him about his insanity.
Can you meet me at the beach tonight?
Blue eyes grew large at those words and she just stared at the phone. Taking a deep breath, Naruto rubbed her eyes again and again, trying to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She even pinched herself, earning strange looks from her family members. In all her time with Shouto, not once had he ever ask her to go to the beach.
Was something up?
The doorbell rang and Naruto stuffed her phone in her pockets as Kenji strolled towards the entrance. Kiko and Akane scrubbed even harder, their faces drenching in sweat. Kumiko sat up straight, head locked on the clock on the wall while Eisuke made his way to the kitchen to bring out the drinks for their guests to drink. Should she go and help him? It was rude but her brain seemed to be in a lock-down mode from the strange message.
"I believe that all of you have been informed in advance about the U.A High School boarding policy," Aizawa-sensei announced as All-Might and him walked into the living room. His red eyes lingered on her, almost looking as if he was uncertain on whether to yell at her or to be glad she was safe. "And I wish to discuss about the consequence of Uzumaki's actions for the night of Bakugou's rescue."
"If you want to yell at her for being a reckless idiot then go ahead," Kenji flickered his eyes towards Naruto. "I have already scolded her for not informing me about Konoha."
"It was clear from the television that there were two other ninjas after Uzumaki,"Aizawa stared at her. "Are you okay?"
Naruto nodded. "I think I have got Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan handled."
"If this is the case then do you have their contacts? I want to have a talk with your former teacher about what he taught you." Aizawa informed her as he took a seat on the chairs opposite her relatives. His dark eyes did not reveal his emotions but Naruto could guess he felt frustrated about the lack of information as well as her recklessness.
Naruto pressed her lips into a thin line. "Are you going to question them?"
"As of right now no, the authorities aren't involved since they did help All Might to defeat the Villain," Aizawa informed her. Naruto relaxed her shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief while Kenji just took a sip of his own tea. The blonde grabbed one of the pieces of paper, took the pen lying on the coffee table and scribbled down the address that Hinata and the others had been staying in.
"If we were to bring them in for questioning then the media will paint everything out in a bad light. So they should consider themselves lucky…it is a conversation between one teacher to the next." Aizawa continued, nodding when Naruto slid the piece of paper to him. He pocketed inside his jacket's pocket and looked at them. "It is only for this reason that they aren't being brought in for questioning, normally we questioned them."
"If you plan to yell at Kakashi then don't bother," Kenji interjected. Naruto swirled her head at her uncle, blue eyes growing wide at how calm the man was. In the hospital, he looked like he wanted to murder her teacher and now he seemed utterly calm. "He knows that he screwed up with Naruto and the guilt is eating him alive. The man has problems expressing his emotions just like most ninjas."
"That wasn't my intention but I will take this into consideration when I have my discussion with him," Aizawa shook his head when Eisuke offered him some orange juice. All Might nodded and took his own glass from the hero. "But let us discuss about the dorms as you must know, we plan to relocate all of the students into the dorms as a way to protect them. If you have any doubts…"
"I don't have any doubts and I'm certain that the same could be said for Kumiko," Kenji took a deep breath and drank his tea. His wife nodded, offering the two gentleman a smile. "Yes, the injuries that some of the students sustained were bad but it is clear that you care about the students. What happened in the training camp might not show it but the school had taken steps in dealing with Naruto's mental health."
Her teachers blinked their eyes while Kenji stared at her.
"It pleased my husband to know that you know the true strength of Naruto," Kumiko informed them. Green eyes shown with so much warmth that Naruto felt her throat tightened. "She might not have been in her best state here but from what Kenji told me, she could have been a lot worse. Instead of accepting the self-fulfilling prophecy set by the people of her village, she chose to walk a different path. It isn't something a lot of people can do but it shows just how strong and determined Naruto is."
Naruto blinked when her aunt and uncle bowed their heads.
"I hope that you will continue to help this little Maelstorm become the best hero and person that she can be and continue to believe in her like you have always done."
Why did Shouto asked me to come here in the middle of the night?
Naruto scratched the back of her neck as the sand dug through her sandals. The moon loomed over her, shinning down like in those romantic movies Kiko loved to watch. Her lips twitched at the sight of a few of the couples strolling in front of them, hands clasped together and Naruto's eyes softened. She might not be a romantic at heart but love was something precious if you asked her.
The sight of seeing someone receiving so much love made her want to smile.
She blinked her eyes when she saw a note lying on the sand. Tilting her head, Naruto picked up the note and felt her lips twitched when the notes told her to follow the path of papers. If it had been anyone else, she would ignore the note but the blunt, neat handwriting told her it was Shouto. What the hell was her friend planning? He never did something like this before.
Her lips twitched into a large smile when she saw Todoroki standing there with an orange tulip in hand. What is he doing? She flickered her eyes from the sunflowers to him and then back to the beautiful rose in his hand. Blue eyes widened when he handed her the flower.
"You brought me a tulip?" Naruto smelled the flower, lips curling into a smile at the gesture. Had she ever told him that she like tulips? Sure there had been that one time when she stopped at the flower store to smell them but it had been so long ago. How could he remember something as small as this? Her friend nodded. "Why?"
"You like them, don't you?" Todoroki scrunched his eyebrows together, looking almost put out by her question. He avoided her eyes but the slight pinkness in his cheeks told her that he almost felt embarrassed by the action.
Naruto's eyes grew large as she stared down at the tulip. Her lips curled into a large smile and she bobbed her head before placing the flower in her ear. She tucked the other strand of hair, cheeks slightly burning at her friend's good memory. Her cheeks felt like they were being roasted when her friend stared at her, mismatch eyes lingering on her pink cheeks.
"I don't think I ever told you that I like them."
Todoroki nodded. "You always seem to stop whenever there was a tulip in the gardens or in the flower shop near the train station. I just presumed that it means you like them."
"For a moment there, I thought you asked Hinata about my favourite flowers or even Itsuka-chan." Todoroki pressed his lips and shook his head, mismatch eyes not revealing about his emotions towards her words. He stared at her blue eyes and for the first time since Naruto met him, her friend's eyes shone with an emotion that she hoped was real.
There was no way it would happened.
She would recognized if he liked her back, wouldn't she?
The two of them stopped walking when they reached to the further end of the beach, where a red picnic blanket laid on the ground with a basket waiting for them. Naruto tilted her head, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion at the sight of the blanket. She turned her head to tell Todoroki that they needed to go somewhere else because this place seemed to be taken.
Blue eyes grew large when the boy took a seat on the blanket. What the hell is happening here? Naruto slowly took a seat on the blanket, eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to piece together the actions. This felt less like a get-together for friends and more like a date, which was wrong. She would know if her friend asked her out for a date, wouldn't she? She would have gotten a warning, wouldn't she?
'Naruto you got a date don't you? That's why you are abandoning us in the middle of the night!'
Akane's words echoed in her ears as Todoroki stood up. Her friend began pacing back and forth like he was debating to do something. When was her friend ever fluster about anything? She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to make sense of this strange behaviour. Was he trying to test her on how to confess his feelings for his actual crush?
That doesn't sound like Shouto, he would tell me about his crush and then ask my permission to use me as practice.
Where was Hinata when she needed her? Everything seemed to be strange. Todoroki gave her the flowers she clearly loved, which made no sense since she only stopped for them a few times. The picnic basket and the blankets were sweet, almost reminding her of Todoroki. Despite his rough beginnings, her friend had shown her time in and time out that he was sweet.
"Shouto, is everything…"
Her words died off when Todoroki turned towards her, his hands running through his hair. Blue eyes grew large at the sight of the younger boy knelt down on one knee. She twirled her head around, trying to see if this was her friend's idea of a sick joke. There were no other people around, just the two of them.
She couldn't sense any of her friends' chakra signature and she definitely couldn't hear any signs that people were watching them.
"What are you doing, Shouto?"
"I don't really know how to do this," Todoroki admitted. "I tried researching about this but it hasn't been much help. I thought of going to Midoriya but he seems to be just as clueless as me when it comes to this kind of thing. My brother wasn't much help since we were never close and going to my sister for advice felt weird…so I asked Bakugou."
Naruto felt her throat tightened as her mind began to connect the dots of what was happening.
"He seems like he knows this kind of thing." Naruto chewed on her bottom lip as the boy stared at her. "But it turns out he wasn't much help too. So I tried reading some of those mangas my sister used to like to read and this is where the idea come from."
Naruto took a deep breath and tried to calm down her racing heart. "Shouto, what are you trying to do? Because it seems like…"
"When I first met you, I thought you reminded me of my mother with the way you act," Todoroki continued. "So I tried to help you because I know how difficult it can be to open up to people and then USJ happened…and I was worried out of my mind. I know I shouldn't have reminded you that you could have died but it was so reckless of you to be willing to throw your life away."
"You know now that it is different."
Todoroki nodded. "I know but I just have to tell you this. When things went to hell for me in the Sports Festival, you tried to comfort me and tell me that I'm not like my Shitty Old Man. I know you were dealing with your own shit but you still took the time to comfort me and make me feel better about myself."
Blue eyes grew large as her mind swirled with information about what her friend was telling her. This almost sounds like he is confessing to me but he couldn't possibly be. Her throat tightened as her friend stared at her with those earnest eyes that she grew to love.
"I think that was when it all started for me," Todoroki continued. "I always thought that you were pretty but I never really consider how beautiful you were when it came to your personality. Even though I treated you badly in the beginning, you still tried to comfort me. I think that is one of the things I love about you as well as the fact that you always seem ready…"
That is one of the things I love about you.
Naruto felt her throat tightened. "Are you trying to tell me that you have feelings for me?"
Todoroki paused and nodded, mismatch eyes flashing with uncertainty about her reaction. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe to tell her that she didn't need to return his feelings or maybe to tell her that it was some kind of joke. All Naruto could do was stare at him, throat tightened at the words spoken by her friend. She took in a couple of deep breaths.
"It's okay if you don't re…"
Naruto shook her head and stood up from her spot. Taking a deep breath, the blonde grabbed hold of Todoroki's shirt, pulled him down and pressed her lips against his, taking in comfort of the strange mixture of coldness and hotness of his lips. She waited for him to push her way, to tell her that this was too soon. Instead he hesitantly kissed her back, moving his lips into an unfamiliar pattern.
They slowly separated from each other and Todoroki furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her like she needed to explain herself. Naruto let out a husky laugh, shaking her head at the boy's actions and tiptoed to kiss him again, pouring all her emotions to him.
"I like you too, Shouto."
It might be too soon to say love but Naruto was willing to explore what her feelings for Todoroki might be.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. Chapters 54-56 were deleted due to the fact that I wanted to do some edits and correct some grammatical errors, so it will be uploaded after two weeks. I am sorry for this inconvenience.
