Chapter 13: Flamel and Secrets Shared
"I missed you soooo much Hermione-channn!" Naruko cried as she clung on to her best friend tightly. Hermione was blushing but clung on just as tight in return. "I'm making you my body pillow tonight!" Naruko said with determination.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked a little surprised and uneasy.
"Yep! No two ways about it. The stupid Holiday Break was too long," Naruko said. She had completely forgiven Hermione for leaving and clearly forgotten how upset she was by the end of the break. None of that mattered to her the second Hermione returned and they welcomed her back.
"Called it," Ron whispered to Harry with a grin.
Harry chuckled and whispered back, "I'm pretty sure we both called it." Ron nodded and laughed in reply.
"Come on guys! Let's get going!" Naruko said as she dragged Hermione back to Gryffindor Tower. "You'll have to tell me all about your Holiday Break, Hermione," Naruko said with a grin as she continued to drag her best friend back.
Hermione struggled to get free and walk herself back for all of two seconds before giving up on that. Naruko was after all surprisingly strong and Hermione didn't mind the blonde's affection. She actually loved having a best friend like Naruko.
{-} {-} {-}
"So, you three didn't have any luck with Flamel?" Hermione asked again. The three who stayed at Hogwarts shook their heads sadly. Hermione sighed, "I wish I could have helped, but I doubt there is anyway he could be found in the muggle world."
The group of friends were talking about the business of their holiday break over some snacks. Hermione was eager to try some sweets again now that she had escaped her parents' dentist clutches. She didn't go overboard, but her parents were very adamant about no sweets at all. They didn't really count birthday cakes at least.
"We did find something interesting though, or well Harry did," Naruko started.
Hermione looked to Harry. "I tried to sneak into the Forbidden section of the library, since I got my dad's invisibility cloak as a gift. The books were trapped or something. I managed to escape Filch, but ended up in an old abandoned classroom with a magical mirror in it," he said.
"What did it do?" Hermione asked in interest.
"It was called the Mirror of Erised. It showed your heart's desire. I got to see my family in it," Harry said with a smile.
"That's nice to hear, Harry! I'm happy for you to have seen them in some way," Hermione said with a friendly smile.
"I wish I had gotten to see it. I wonder what it would have shown me," Ron said.
"How come you didn't get to see it?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked to Naruko.
"Harry took me to see it next, and we met Dumbledore there. I'm sorry you didn't get to see it, Ron," Naruko said with a frown.
"No worries. Just wondering what I would have seen. Perhaps it would have shown me winning a big wizarding tournament or something," Ron said with a grin.
"What did you see, Naruko?" Hermione asked.
"I saw all of my dreams fulfilled. That's how I realized what it did," Naruko said.
"I thought it showed you relatives who passed away at first. That's why I took Naruko to see it that second time," Harry said.
"Oh," Hermione said a little crestfallen. She usually forgot Naruko was also an orphan. The blonde girl was always so happy, friendly, warm and cute. It would be hard to know she had a tough life unless she told you the truth.
"Dumbledore told us he was moving it somewhere else for safe keeping. He mentioned how it could be very addicting to look into the mirror and people have wasted away just staring at it all day their whole life," Harry said.
"I did in a way get to learn something about my family at least. Dumbledore told me who my father was. He said he met him a couple of times with my mom," Naruko said. She then grinned brightly. "He's someone highly respected by my home and was actually my childhood hero, Minato Namikaze," she said the name with love and reverence in her voice.
"That is good to hear too!" Hermione said giving Naruko a hug. "I'm kind of with Ron on this. I wonder what I would have seen," Hermione said in wonder after a moment.
Naruko snickered. "I have a few ideas…" she started.
Hermione started to blush getting the hint.
"The tamest is probably seeing yourself surrounded by a bunch of ancient long lost and important books," Naruko said. She would tease her friend a little, but not too much.
"What's a less tame one?" Ron asked curiously.
"Sorry, Ron. That's a Girl Secret," Naruko said with a big smile. Ron gave her an exaggerated frown.
Harry chuckled at Ron's frown as he reached for another chocolate frog. He really liked the things and now knew how to keep them from escaping. He had also come to like collecting the Wizard Cards. Naruko helped him there. She liked chocolate, (what girl didn't?) but she wasn't interested in collecting the cards. She would usually look them over before handing them to Harry.
Harry ate his frog and then looked at the card. He sighed. "Dumbledore again. I've got too many of him now. To think, I was really excited when I first got him…"
Harry's voice trailed off. His eyes widened. He quickly flipped the card over and read back bio. He read it again two more times. Just to be sure.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Naruko asked in worry.
"I've… I've found him… I can't believe I actually found him," Harry said in disbelief.
"Flamel?!" Naruko asked excitedly.
Harry nodded to her. "I told you all I remembered the name from somewhere. Here it is," Harry said before passing the card around quickly.
Hermione gasped. "I'll be right back!" she said after reading the card herself.
She quickly ran to her dorm room. She barely heard Percy's warning of, "No running in the common room," before she was already up the stairs.
"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked as he read the card again. "I can't believe he was right here under our noses the whole time," he said.
Hermione returned with a large book in her hands. It was far too big looking for her. She seemed to have a little trouble carrying it. Ron raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. A bit of light reading?" he asked.
"How'd you know that?" Hermione asked in surprise.
Ron shook his head. "Lucky guess…" he said dryly.
"Anyways, listen to this! Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover, is in possession of the only currently known Sorcerer's Stone. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quite live in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)," Hermione read to them.
"This is it! This has to be it. The Sorcerer's Stone is a legendary substance capable of turning any metal into gold and it produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal," she concluded.
"No wonder we couldn't find him in any of the books we looked through. He isn't exactly recent history. That's got to be what that dog is guarding," Ron said.
"And anyone would want something that can so easily make gold and give you immortality. I wonder what the Elixir of Life taste like. I wonder if it would be cherry flavored," Naruko said with a thoughtful expression that was far too cute for her own good and Hermione's.
Ron gave a laugh. "If it can give you immortality, it probably tastes worse than all of Madam Pomfrey's healing potions combined," he said.
"So, we know what's being guarded, since Nicolas and Dumbledore were such close friends," Hermione said.
"Now what do we do?" Harry asked. The others shrugged their shoulders. They were all wondering the same thing.
"I know one thing you can do," Ron started suddenly. "You have your next Quidditch match coming up. They should be announcing it and the referee soon," he said.
"Really, Ron… Is Quidditch all you think about?" Hermione huffed.
Ron frowned. "There isn't anything else we can do regarding the stone, and what if something happens with Harry's broom again?"
"Oh…" Hermione said a little surprised. She almost felt respect towards Ron, if that was what he thought.
"Plus. It is Gryffindor's year! Harry needs to be in his top form! I'm sure Oliver already has a jam-packed training schedule ready for you all," Ron added excitedly.
"And there it goes…" Hermione thought with a sigh as the new respect she had for Ron flew screaming out the window.
"Hey, Hermione-chan," Naruko started.
"Yes, Naruko?" Hermione asked brightly.
"I don't have a problem with you reading large books, but I don't think there's room for it in my bed tonight. You better not be thinking of reading it again," Naruko said with a stern look.
Hermione blushed and pointedly looked away as she said, "W-w-why do you think that? I-I-I was reading a different book recently anyways."
"Just a thought," Naruko said in sing-song voice as she suddenly smiled brightly. She couldn't help but hold in a giggle at how cute her best friend was acting. She gave Hermione a tight hug. "I'm glad you made it back safely. I really missed you," she said quietly to Hermione.
Hermione hugged her back and smiled. "I loved spending time with my parents again, but I'm really glad to be back. I missed you lots too, Naruko," she said.
The group of friends talked a little longer and even spoke with some of their other friends. Eventually they did have to go to bed though. Naruko hummed happily as she got ready. Hermione was happily reading a book in Naruko's bed. Thankfully this book was a lot smaller than the one she had for 'light reading'.
"I really love how we get to have a sleepover again. I never got to have them when I was younger. We may share a dorm, but it isn't the same as when we actually share a bed," Naruko said.
"I'm just glad this one is for a much more pleasant reason than the last one," Hermione said looking up from her book for a moment and smiling. "I never got to have a sleepover either when I was younger," she admitted.
"Lonely childhoods are definitively one thing we have in common and along with Harry. Oh well. We're making up for lost time now at least," Naruko said with a smile as she climbed in bed.
The two closed the curtains so they wouldn't disturb the others and talked for a good while. Hermione was later surprised how little she read of her book that night. She wasn't upset though. She decided it was more fun talking to Naruko.
When they finally started to fall asleep, Naruko held on to Hermione tightly and giggled as she said, "I did say I would make you my body pillow tonight."
Hermione blushed. "Fine," she said. Hermione realized now just how lonely Naruko must have been being the only girl in their dorm the whole break. She gave a warm smile and ran a hand through the other girl's blonde hair.
Naruko held Hermione like that for a while longer before finally letting up, so they could both be comfortable. She decided to wait a few days before telling Hermione about her being a kunoichi. She hoped it would go well, but was worried how her friend would react. She was still determined to let Hermione know next. It seemed only fair, since Hermione was her best friend.
{-} {-} {-}
The students quickly got back into the routine of things, even if they all kind of wished the break was a little longer. Mostly they wished this so they wouldn't have to get back to homework so soon. The terrible weather outside didn't help matters either.
Naruko had been putting off telling Hermione about being a kunoichi. She always seemed to find a reason to choose a later date. This decision didn't really help her nerves though. Harry sighed, "You still haven't told her. Have you?"
The blonde girl shook her head. The two of them were currently alone.
"You've been putting it off too long now, Naruko. You said you wanted to tell both of them and to do so quickly," Harry said.
"It's only been a couple of weeks…" Naruko lamely defended herself. She knew it was pathetic. She was being cowardly. She was supposed to be this super cool and tough but fun Kunoichi! She wasn't supposed to be scared of telling her best friend something this important.
"Yes. It has been a couple of weeks. It has been a couple of weeks since you were supposed to originally tell Hermione," Harry said giving her a look.
"I'm worried… What if she hates me?" Naruko asked as she sat down right next to Harry.
"I don't think she will. She might need some time to process it all, but she won't hate you. We all worked together, but she sees you as the one who saved her life from the troll. You told Ron and me what to do," Harry said.
"I know but still…" Naruko started.
"You're also the one who got her to get over her fear of flying. Heck, she likes it now. So long as you aren't going too fast and she isn't alone," Harry said.
"Fine! I'll tell her tonight after supper," Naruko said with a cute pout.
"That would be good. That will give her time to sleep on it if she needs it," Harry said with a small smile.
{-} {-} {-}
"Naruko Uzumaki! You will not chicken out this time," the blonde kunoichi told herself as supper came to an end.
Hermione had been looking over to her in concern throughout the meal. It seemed Naruko's nerves were showing more than she liked. This was probably for the best. Hermione wouldn't be one for leaving her friend alone like this.
"Hermione," Naruko said to her friend a little more stiffly than she liked.
"Yes?" Hermione asked back.
"I need to tell you something. In private. Will you follow me?" Naruko asked.
"Okay…" Hermione replied. She was suddenly feeling a little nervous due to her friend's behavior.
The two girls left a little early and made their way to an empty classroom. Naruko was pacing a little in worry. Hermione was feeling a little more worried for her friend. "Is everything okay? Naruko?" she asked.
"I hope so," Naruko said more to herself. She then took in a deep breath. "Hermione. There is something really important I need to tell you. It might be pretty hard to fully grasp, but I need to tell you. I really hope you will hear me out before asking me questions… or deciding you hate me," Naruko muttered the last part under her breath.
"Okay. I'm listening," Hermione said.
"What if I told you I wasn't just a witch? What if I told you, like my mom, and most of my clan, I was also a kunoichi?" Naruko asked.
"A kunoichi? Like in those films?" Hermione asked in wonder.
"Not exactly… Ninjas really do exist. I'm from a hidden continent full of them. There is a big barrier keeping our worlds separate…" Naruko then started to tell Hermione all about her being a female ninja.
{-} {-} {-}
"Wow… That's a lot to take in… I would say it was unbelievable… But we are in a magical school with talking portraits and three headed dogs guarding magical stones that grant immortality and make gold," Hermione started after they were silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry… Do you hate me?" Naruko asked in such a small voice Hermione wanted to just hold her tightly and never let go.
"I'm just surprised and trying to wrap my head around the fact my best friend is a child soldier…" Hermione admitted. In a way, it made sense to her. It explained why Naruko was so surprisingly strong. It also explained why she usually felt very safe around Naruko too.
She did have to know though…
"Have you… killed anyone?" Hermione asked in her own small voice. She needed to hear this, but also dreaded hearing the answer.
Naruko's wince didn't help matters.
Naruko sighed. She might as well get this over with. If Hermione hated her, at least they could part ways now instead of later. "I have… I was on a body guard mission for a merchant and his family," she slowly answered.
Hermione gasped at that admission. There was a flurry of emotions flashing through her eyes.
"My team and I came across a bunch of bandits and a missing ninja. They were going to kill the merchant and his newborn son… They were going to do much worse to the young wife…" Naruko said. She hoped some context would make it easier on Hermione.
"That's terrible… A baby?!" Hermione asked in shock.
Naruko nodded. "They were really bad people. If we had just taken them out, put left them alive… They would have ransacked a nearby village. I'm not proud of it and it isn't something any of us would do easily. Going that far… is a last resort," she said.
Hermione wasn't sure what to think about that. Her best friend had killed! Her best friend was a soldier. Her best friend also protected people when she did that. Naruko wasn't okay with it or seeing it as something easy. That was something Hermione found a measure of relief in.
Hermione kept thinking about how much Naruko had done for her. She was aware of what soldiers did. Her dad was in the military and he wasn't just a dentist at base camp. She still couldn't believe Naruko had already been through so much.
"How did you deal with it?" Hermione couldn't help but ask. She wanted to run, but she also wanted to stay there. She wanted to stay there by her friend's side more than run at least, but this answer was important as well.
"I'm not okay with it. I hate that it came to that. But seeing the mother and her baby boy… That is what really helped me out. My Jonin Sensei also talked to us all. I think the fact my teammates also went through the same thing at the same time really helped me as well. I will never do that again, if I can avoid it. It probably will happen again sometime, but hopefully that will be a long time off from now… Do you hate me?" Naruko asked again sounding really small.
"I don't. I keep thinking of everything we have already done together. My dad was in the military so I kind of know a little about that stuff. I'm just mostly trying to wrap my head around the fact you are a soldier and have already been through so much… I can also appreciate how tough it was for you to tell me. I saw how you were acting tonight and a couple of other times as well. Are you telling the others?" Hermione asked.
"Harry already knows. I kind of told him over the holiday break. I plan on telling Ron as well, but I wanted to tell you first. I felt I should since I still see you as my best friend… I would have probably told you over the break as well, but you went home," Naruko said.
Hermione wondered how that would have played out.
"If it helps… the staff know all about me being a kunoichi. They knew my mom. She didn't go around shouting about it, but she didn't really hide it from her friends. She probably glossed over certain parts… Maybe I should have done that, but I didn't want to hide too much from you," Naruko said to Hermione.
"Is there more you haven't told me? Anything else really big?" Hermione asked.
Naruko was in thought for a moment. "There is, but I can't really talk about it at this time. It is a big village secret. The Hokage, our leader, is very strict about it. It is part of the reason I had such a lonely childhood. I want to tell you, but I can't. And I think you have more than enough to think over for now."
Hermione didn't like secrets, but she could accept this since Naruko was so upfront about it. Perhaps she should have run away screaming from Naruko after learning about this, but she couldn't. She knew her friend had killed, but she still couldn't get over that this was her best friend. This was her first friend. Naruko was very important to her and Hermione would admit she never thought she would have such important people in her life.
Hermione then thought about the troll and everything else so far. Naruko was a big part of her life. She knew Naruko was about as far from evil as you could get. Then she thought of the troll again. Her eyes blinked. "Could you have killed the troll?" Hermione asked.
Naruko stilled. "I could have. I thought about it as an option. I was really scared of you getting hurt or killed by it. I was probably closer to just stunning it and then jumping out the window carrying you instead though. As you know, I can carry you easily. Then when Harry and Ron came, I couldn't do that option anymore. I was glad there was a way for us to just knock it out though and get out of their safely. That's why I told them to use the club to knock it out with the levitation spell," she answered.
"I need a little more time, Naruko. Just to process everything. I don't hate you or anything and I do want to be your best friend still, but I need to come to terms with everything. I'm glad you answered my questions honestly. They have really helped me. You have killed. I will probably always have that in mind, even if it is the back of it. But I believe you when you talked about how you didn't like it and see it as only a last result. The fact we had to face down a mountain troll and you didn't immediately go for killing it, helps," Hermione said.
"I'm glad you at least heard me out. We do need to head back and go to bed… Hopefully when I see you again tomorrow, you still won't hate me," Naruko said. She really didn't want to know what would happen if Hermione started hating her after this. There was a part of Naruko that was kicking herself for saying anything about it at all to Hermione.
As they walked in mostly silence, Hermione eventually turned to her and said, "You will have to show me some of these jutsus sometime."
Naruko felt better about that and smiled a little in relief. Maybe they weren't doomed as friends. "If you still don't hate me after you had your time, I will show you a few. That's a promise," she said.
"And you never break your promises," Hermione said with a small smile as well. She had a feeling things would be okay between them. Maybe they would even be better friends after this. It was still hard to grasp that Naruko was a soldier… A kunoichi. Another thing that might help her get over this was her own curiosity. Hermione now wanted to know all she could about the ninja world Naruko was from, but she needed to process everything and she was really tired for now.
{-} {-} {-}
Hermione's curiosity won out in the end. She only took a couple of days to process everything. Her being so very curious about jutsus really sped up the process for her. She also knew she had fully taken it all in as well. She was happy she wasn't glossing over it all just so she could see something new and exciting.
She was currently in an abandoned classroom waiting for Naruko to finish securing the room as she called it. Hermione was a bit curious what she was doing with those pieces of paper, but her eagerness to see jutsus caused her to put those questions in the back of her mind for now. She didn't want anything postponing this any longer.
"There we go. I'll show you a couple of jutsus and a technique used for getting around," Naruko started.
"I can't wait!" Hermione said as her eyes seemed to almost glow in excitement.
Naruko nodded. "The first one I will show you is something we call the henge. It's why I don't really find McGonagall's animagus trick amazing like everyone else," she said.
She thought what to look like. "Henge no Jutsu!" she shouted as she ran through the signs.
There was a puff of smoke and Hermione blinked as she stared at herself. The only difference between them was her copy had a certain natural confidence she never even had in her dreams. "Wow…" Hermione said breathlessly as she examined her copy.
"Eeep! Really, Hermione?!" Naruko said with a ridiculously cute pout.
Hermione blushed furiously. "I-I-I had to be sure…" she said in a poor attempt to excuse herself. She blushed more as she touched her own breasts this time. Her copy's were actually softer to the touch. Hermione then blushed as she realized Naruko's copy of her wasn't wearing a bra!
"How was I supposed to know you wouldn't be wearing a bra?!" Hermione then asked while blushing.
"I didn't think you'd want to touch your own boobs," Naruko said with a frown.
Hermione continued to blush. She then said, "It is impressive, but not the same as turning into an animal." It was time to move on with their conversation.
Naruko nodded. She did the jutsu again, but this time she turned into a cat. She then transformed back and did the jutsu again. This time she was a bunny rabbit.
"I get the point," Hermione said with a sigh.
Naruko grinned at her after changing back. "This is a basic skill we learn once we graduate the academy," Naruko then said.
Hermione watched as Naruko started to walk over to a wall. Her eyes then bulged as she watched Naruko effortlessly walk up the wall as if it was perfectly normal. Naruko kept going and was now standing on the ceiling as she looked down and said, "It is called tree climbing, but as you can see it works for any solid surface."
Naruko dropped down with a flip to the floor and stood once more in front of Hermione. "There is a more advanced version of the skill called water walking. It is more difficult because water isn't solid or perfectly still."
"That. Is. Incredible!" Hermione shouted in excitement. "What else can you do?" she asked eagerly.
"I'll show you one more jutsu. It is kind of my favorite," Naruko said with a grin.
Hermione was eager to watch as her friend made a cross sign with her index fingers.
"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" Naruko called. Then there were suddenly three more Narukos.
Hermione blinked as she looked at the four Narukos. She touched each of them to be sure they were real and not just some illusion. She was careful not to touch anywhere inappropriate this time. Though there was a part of that wanted to touch them a little inappropriately just to see if they reacted the same way. She would have accepted the punishment Naruko gave her for taking such a liberty.
"Wow…" Hermione said.
"I can literally be in more than one place at once!" the Narukos said at the same time.
"Jinx! You all owe me Ramen!" one called out with a grin. The others groaned. The original Naruko frowned at them and quickly dismissed them all.
"Sorry about that… They kind of have their own quirks. They can think and work fully independently until they are dismissed by force, use up their allotted chakra, voluntary dismissal, or I dismiss them," Naruko said.
"That is really… something!" Hermione said in awe.
"More than that," Naruko started. "I actually get their memories when they're dismissed. I kind of used that to catch up on everything I needed to know, but didn't learn properly at first. I kind of thought studying was useless in the beginning, but I learned my lesson on that before it was too late," she said.
"That makes me jealous," Hermione admitted.
"Why?" Naruko couldn't help but ask.
She gasped in understanding just as Hermione said, "I'd use such an ability to read all of the books in the library and to study even more!"
"That is possible, but you'd have to be careful," Naruko said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"If you have them absorb too much knowledge at once and dismiss more than one at a time, the memory feedback can be overwhelming. In a worst-case scenario, you won't get any of the memories back properly. They would be a jumbled mess that you couldn't even really sort out. The memories would then just disappear more or less," Naruko said.
"Ohhhh…" Hermione said with a look of shock.
"It took me a while to figure out my limits with the jutsu," Naruko said. She gave a wince. "The first couple of times weren't pretty. The feedback really does get to you," she said.
"Ouch…" Hermione said in sympathy. She could only imagine how painful strong memory feedback would be.
"Anyways," Naruko started. "That's just a beginner's guide to the very basics of a kunoichi," she said with a smile.
"I want to learn more…" Hermione said with a cute pout.
Naruko giggled at her friend and hugged her. "I know, but I'm not going to tell you everything. I'll tell you more from time to time. You can ask questions, but I might not always answer them," she said.
Hermione smiled. "I'm glad you told me this much. I know it wasn't easy on you," she said.
"I was really worried. Harry got on my case more than once with how I kept putting it off," Naruko said.
"Now you just have to tell Ron. How do you think that will go?" Hermione asked.
"I actually think he will be the easiest, but I'm still nervous. I've been wrong before," Naruko said.
"Well… I'll always be here for you. I'm sure Harry will be as well," Hermione said as she hugged her friend and rubbed her back a little in comfort.
Naruko gave a foxy smile and let out a contented sigh in response to the gesture. Hermione couldn't help but give a giggle seeing the face Naruko made in reaction to their hug. She felt their friendship had grown much stronger with Naruko telling her this secret.
"Friends really are wonderful," Hermione thought to herself with a smile at Naruko.
{-} {-} {-}
"So, what is this all about?" Ron asked a little worried. He was alone in a room with Naruko. She wouldn't say what this was about, just that it was important.
"I have something very important to tell you, Ron. I've already told Harry and Hermione. I wanted to tell each of you one on one. It is also something all of the staff know, because they knew my mom," Naruko said.
Ron realized this was serious, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel important. Naruko was trusting him with something only their closest friends and the professors knew. "I'm listening," Ron said carefully to her. He wanted her to realize how serious he was taking this.
"What would you think… If I told you I'm not just a witch, but also a kunoichi? A female ninja?" Naruko asked to start things off.
Ron couldn't help grin widely as he said, "Wicked…"
Naruko felt really relaxed about this. She had a feeling this would actually be the easiest version of this talk.
"Well… It is true," Naruko said. She then told Ron all she told the others…
{-} {-} {-}
"That's so awesome!" Ron said. Naruko just showed him one of her jutsus as a demonstration. It was crazy to think she had already been through so much, but Ron didn't doubt her word for a moment.
"I'm actually really glad you took it so well," Naruko said to him.
"Why wouldn't I? I mean you're like an Auror… Or maybe it is better to say a hit wizard?" Ron asked in thought. Auror was better, but both were awesome.
Naruko hummed in thought. "I'd say in my case it is closer to an Auror. I'm not really the type that does assassinations. I also don't really take on missions from just anyone. They come from the Hokage, our village leader. We may take on contracts, but Konoha doesn't just accept any business. We aren't that desperate," Naruko said.
"So… more like muggle military?" Ron supplied.
"That's more accurate. I am considered a soldier more or less. We are part of our country's military. We just have a lot more liberty than the standard military does," Naruko said.
"This is all really cool, but I'm getting a little hungry… Sorry to ruin the mood," Ron said with a slight frown.
Naruko smiled as she said, "You didn't at all. I kind of chose to talk to you this close to a meal on purpose. That way we could part quickly if things got awkward."
"Ohhh," Ron said.
"Let's get going. I'm hungry too!" Naruko said as the two grinned to each other and left together.
Naruko was relieved she talked to both Ron and Hermione. She was also really happy they were both okay with learning truth about her. She knew she chose well with her friends, but she was still wary. It wasn't an easy topic and she was really exposing herself emotionally to them. She didn't want to dare dwell on what she would have done if they rejected her after learning the truth. Fortunately, she didn't need worry about that. She had clearly chosen well with her friends.