A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
T-That did not just happen.
Naruto chanted those words in her mind as her blue eyes took in the familiar surroundings of Namimori Middle School. She took in several deep breaths to calm down her racing heart as Tsuna and his gang avoided looking her in the eye. I-I was not just kissed or groped by someone that looks like Hibari. It was all in her head but her legs still wobbled from that…hallucination.
It was just a weird hallucination…that really felt too real. Even though it might have been only a few minutes since she came out of that hallucination, her lips still burned from the scotching kiss that the man gave her. She schooled her expression as Future Hibari's sly smirk flashed before her eyes again.
I-I am just suffering from exhaustion. Naruto shook her head and darted her eyes to the four males who could not look her in the eyes. Yes, it was just a stunt from exhaustion because she had been working and training throughout the past few days. She knew that. But why the hell did she have the urge to touch her lips to confirm if it had been true? Because it was just a side effect from her exhaustion.
"U-Uzumaki," Tsuna stuttered. His voice trembled with a mixture of fear and embarrassment and Naruto felt a sense of dread creeping up to her stomach. If that hallucination was true then it meant those four boys had seen her future self in a state of undress. I mean I saw Hibari without a shirt! She shook her head. That had been a hallucination and nothing more.
No, it was not a hallucination…it had been genjutsu.
Genjutsu was the best explanation for what happened to her.
"Sawada, are you going to tell me what you want or can I leave?" Naruto asked. Tsuna jerked his head and looked her in the eyes but the blonde could see that his eyes kept straying back to her chest. Her eyebrows twitched. Don't hit him! It was tempting for her to smack him but smacking him for failing to keep his eyes on her eyes might be unreasonable.
It had been one powerful genjutsu after all.
So she did the second best thing and cleared her throat. The redness around Tsuna's face crept higher, reaching as high as his ears and Naruto had to wonder what type of genjutsu had he seen when it came to her supposed future self. If that genjutsu play both ways then they might have seen my fake future self in a state of undress. The knowledge made her want to blush but she held it in.
If she showed them her embarrassment then it meant that they could use her emotions against her.
"Can you take care of Lambo? W-We have been looking for a babysitter but Gokudera and Yamamoto can't do a good job," Tsuna said quickly. His brown eyes pleaded for her to agree and Naruto closed her eyes. He wants me to take care of this kid? She inhaled. There was a desire for her to protest but shifted her eyes to the quiet toddler standing right next to Yamamoto…and she hesitated.
Those sullen green eyes screamed of loneliness and for a brief moment she recalled that large mirror in her apartment in Konoha. He has been causing problems for Sawada and his friends because he wants attention, didn't he? She guessed that the toddler was just a little bit like Konohamaru. The knowledge made her sigh.
She really did have a weakness for children.
"I will charge you ¥1500 per day," Naruto said quietly. Brown eyes widened, looking almost taken back by the price, and the whiskered girl looked at Lambo. It was not a lot of money but there was no desire for her to charge them so much money to take care of a lonely kid. If it weren't for that genjutsu, I might have even charge it for less. But she was tired.
No, she was just mentally drained from what happened. The idea of Hibari liking her in that way in the future was…odd. An idea that seemed so ludicrous that she had either been hit with a genjutsu or was suffering from the side effects of exhaustion. Because Hibari didn't do emotions. It was something she was grateful for because it meant he could not judge her.
"I enjoy your greediness."
Those words still sounded sinful in her ears.
Shaking her head, Naruto clicked her feet together and walked to the gates but only to pause at the soft footsteps coming from behind her. Why is he following me? She twisted her head around and looked down at her legs. Teary green eyes looked up at her and the blonde sighed. She scooped Lambo from the ground and placed him close to her chest.
If I'm going to babysit him then I will need to train him to not show so many tears and make him strong. She knew that was not what Tsuna meant by babysitting but Naruto also knew that it was a terrible for a hitman to show these many emotions. There would be a point where someone would take advantage of this little boy and try to kill him.
"Lambo-sama is sorry!" He wailed, digging his face against her chest. Naruto sighed and rested her hand on the boy's hair, combing through the millions of tangles in his hair as various students stopped to look at her. They are really annoying me! Haven't they seen a kid before? She narrowed her eyes at them and the students scurried away from her. "Please don't hate Lambo-sama for what he did!"
Hate. That was a word she had never heard in a long time and it was not a word she used often. She did not know what this kid went through in Italy but Naruto guessed that he was not wanted there. He thinks I'm going to abandon him because of whatever stunt he thought that he pulled. The thought made her relax her shoulders.
The feeling of abandonment was an emotion that she knew all too well from her childhood.
"I don't hate you," Naruto declared. She placed the boy down on the floor and allowed her hands to wander into his hair. I will probably need to ask Haku to check for any injuries on him. As long as the kid was under her care, she would have to do him right. This was a responsibility and while she disliked Sawada for his behavior…at least he was trying to do good with the kid. "Lambo is a good boy, isn't he?"
He sniffed and nodded his head before latching onto her. He really is a little boy that just wants some attention. The knowledge made her curl her lips into a slight smile and the blonde hid her face behind his curls. Whatever happened in that genjutsu was just a lie. A lie that she should forget. Instead she should focus on making sure that the kid grew up strong.
Because only the strong could survive in this cruel world.
If it was possible for all of her blood to turn into stream, then Naruto had no doubt that it would only be a matter of seconds before it actually happened. Even though it had been three hours since she started her shift, Yamamoto had been watching her with hawk eyes. Not once had he stood up from his spot even though she knew he wanted to talk to her.
Naruto tightened her grip on the wet tissue and focused her eyes on the table. She should focus on scrubbing the table and getting rid any speck of dirt on the table. If I look at him, I'm going to whip him with this napkin. It was this thought that made her clenched her jaws together. If only Yamamoto was not the son of her boss then she would be free to smack him with the napkin.
God, she hated the fact she had to open her mouth to voice her displeasure.
"Yamamoto, I know you have something to say and if you don't say it in the next five minutes…I will smack you with this wet tissue." She kept her tone as cold as possible. If she even allowed an emotion to leak out then he would know she was bluffing about the last part. Even though she was milking money out of Tsuna, she still needed this job.
The baseball player laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't you have a nicer way of asking me what I want?"
"Did I ever claim I was nice?" Naruto raised a single eyebrow at him before resuming her work. Being nice would probably cause her nothing but trouble. Being nice meant people would take advantage of her and that was the last thing she wanted. She thinned her lips. Even if she acted really nice, there was never going to be a guarantee that people will like her.
When she acted like this then it made her whole life easier.
"I just wanted to know if your future partner did anything to you," Yamamoto finally said, not bothering to deny her words. Naruto paused and kept her eyes locked onto the table. Why did he brought that up? Did he really believe in that illusion? She dug her fingers against the wet tissue. It did not matter if he believed in those silly genjutsu because she did not.
The idea of Hibari being attracted to her was ridiculous. What on Earth could he be attracted with her? She was not all sunshine and frills like Sasagawa or even that Haru girl. She kept her emotions in check and never let down her guard. The only thing that they had going on between them was the alliance that they had.
She killed anyone that tries to do harm or really any scoundrel that she believed shouldn't live and he helped her do the cleaning up. That was how their relationship worked. If he asked for a favour from her then she demanded something in return. If she needed something from him then he would do the same. That did not mean he could be attracted to her.
Whatever happened was the result of someone putting a genjutsu on her!
"You shouldn't talk nonsense," Naruto said. Her tone was steady while her heart thundered against her ears. Why the hell was she still so damn affected? It had been hours since the genjutsu ended but damn was she still affected by that illusion. "It was just an illusion."
Was she trying to convince herself? Or Yamamoto? Because Yamamoto did not look one bit convinced by his raised eyebrow and she didn't feel all that confident in her words. She inhaled and focused her eyes on the brown eyes of her classmate. If she looked him in the eye then he would never dare to tell her that she was being a liar.
Yamamoto tilted his head and his brown eyes inspected her like he was trying to figure out what her game was. She folded her arms against her chest. The boy focused his eyes on her shoulders and Naruto glanced at her shoulders. Oh no. If he noticed the slightest tremble of her shoulders then he would know that she was not very convinced by her own words.
But it was still so slight that she doubt that he would even notice it.
"If it was just an illusion then why are you so shaken up about it?" He asked. His brown eyes dared her to deny it and Naruto paused. Lying was definitely not her thing and denying it when there was proof on her shoulders. She sighed. Why was she so shaken up by that illusion? It was something that she did not completely understand.
Was it because it had been Hibari? Or the fact that the person, whoever conjured up the illusion, made her experience a kiss so intense that she could still feel her whole body shaking from it? Or was it the idea that there was a cub? No. It was probably the fact the man claimed he was going to do…filthy things to her future self.
He made it seem like she was desirable and that was odd.
"I'm not that shaken up," she finally answered. Yamamoto blinked and Naruto had to give him credit for understanding her words. To anyone else, it sounded like she would denying it but he probably figured out that she was denying the magnitude. She was not that shaken up. If she was shaken up then it would be impossible for her to be here doing her work.
Yamamoto thinned his lips into a thin smile. "Gokudera noticed it too."
Are we really using Gokudera as a measuring stick for obliviousness? She wiped the table even harder as brown eyes continued to stare at her. Just because the silver-haired teen was also slightly oblivious, did not mean that he was a good measure. But then again if they were comparing Gokudera and Tsuna then he would be the better measuring stick for them.
Tsuna might be terrible with his grades but he did have potential of being a great observer.
"You shouldn't push me," she warned him. Talking about what happened was the last thing she wanted. It was just a stupid illusion that felt way too real for her. So what if she enjoyed her imaginary first kiss? It did not mean Hibari would want her. She would know the signs of someone being attracted to her.
Hibari never once indicated that he wanted her.
"Are you denying it because you want it to be true?" Yamamoto asked. Her eyebrows twitched and Naruto wondered if the teen was deciding that today was the day that he wanted to be more pushy in this strange friendship he wanted between them. She grinded her teeth together. The baseball player frowned. "Or are you denying it because you think it is impossible?"
Impossible. She bit her tongue from spilling that single word to him. It was already bad enough he figured out that she was being affected by what happened to her, admitting it out loud to him was a whole different ball park. A future with Hibari was…strange. Sure she played with his hair and maybe he was affectionate in his own way, but those things did not mean they would be in a relationship.
If she really liked him then wouldn't she be a blushing mess everytime she was around him? Wouldn't she have a desire to push her feelings onto him like Sasuke's fangirls? She did not have that desire. Sure there was that awkward incident but that was it. Pushing her feelings onto him was something that she could never picture herself doing to him.
It meant chaining him down and Naruto liked Hibari the way he was.
"Were you happy with the future that you saw?" He asked. Naruto jerked her head away from the table and locked eyes with her classmate. Curiosity and concern colored his eyes and the blonde wondered why he would care. We aren't the best of friends. The words were on the tip of her tongue but they weren't ready to be spilled.
Instead all she could do was picture the future that she saw. Hibari being affectionate in his own weird way and the knowledge that there was probably someone who accepted her for all of her faults. You were being a greedy little fox again and decided to try and test my limit since our cub isn't here. She didn't fully understand what it meant but cub meant a child.
She could distinctly recall a photo of blue-eyed toddler in Hibari's living room.
"I could never imagined it," Naruto finally admitted. It was the first time that she admitted those words out loud. Sure she planned to have a child after seven years but her plan was through a surrogate mother or adoption. Maybe she would go through the natural way but she always thought that it was a long shot.
But the fact that she might have a kid in ten years with Hibari was definitely not something that she would imagine.
"Your future self seems to be really in love," Yamamoto commented lightly. She stiffened and the baseball player offered her a smile as he clasped his hands behind his head. "She was definitely not happy when that toddler tore her away from her time with her husband."
"I can't blame her since he is a really good kisser," Naruto sighed. Brown eyes gleamed with amusement and the blonde swirled her head at him. She tried her hardest to hold back the blush but the memory of the kiss kept replaying in her mind. I can't even avoid Hibari because of the deal. Just because of the kiss, she was already trying to figure out if Hibari was just a good kisser as the guy.
But it would be incredibly greedy of her to satisfy her burning curiosity.
"So Future Hibari kissed you?"
The words hung in the air and the blonde could practically hear the steam erupting from her ears. How did he figure out? She couldn't even pretend to deny it because her mouth kept hanging open at the question. Dear god, her face must be as red as a tomato. No. She just needed to take deep breaths and calm down her racing heart before answering his question.
"W-What makes you think it was Hibari?" Brown eyes gleamed with even more amusement and Naruto cursed under her breath. The fact her tone just went a little bit higher meant that it was him. Why is it only Hibari that can make me react like this? She had never felt so flustered in her life. Not even when there had been rumors about Sasuke having a stupid crush on her.
This was an even worse case scenario for her.
"Your future self had a lot of hickeys around her neck and lower," Yamamoto commented with a cheeky smile. I was planning to bite your older self to death. Her face burned at the memory and she had to hold herself back from running to the bathroom to scream. "Out of everyone I know, only Hibari seem to have a biting kink."
"His line means he is going to beat you up till he sends you to the hospital," she informed him. "It doesn't mean he jerks off at the idea of someone biting him or biting someone else."
It was really hard for her to keep the blood from flowing straight to her cheeks at those words. Hibari was not a pervert. That was something she had to remind herself even though her legs wanted to fall off from his melting kiss. But he did like it when I was on top of him. But it had been purely biological for Hibari to react like that.
That did not mean he liked her or anything.
"So…do you have feelings for him?" Yamamoto asked, placing his head on top of his hand. Naruto raised a single eyebrow, wondering what on earth brought up that idea with him. Anyone would blush when they experienced a kiss like that! And a good ally would defend their ally's words! It was a common fact that did not need to be said out loud. He held his hand up at her. "I'm just asking because he calls you Little Fox."
She knew what Yamamoto was going to imply and Naruto decided to tune him out. Little Fox. The nickname came from the mask she liked to wear on her patrols alongside the fact she was shorter than him. He only began calling her by that nickname after the fifth or sixth match that they had. It might sound patronizing but I actually thought it was…endearing. The thought made her pause.
If anyone in Konoha had called her that, she would think they were patronizing her but Hibari had been different. It was like he was complimenting her for her skills. Most people called her a monster, ugly fox and even deadlast. But Hibari had been the first to give her a nickname that did not sound all that bad in her ear.
But that did not mean she had feelings for him. It just meant she was happy that someone could give her a nickname that did not sound like a constant insult.
"I don't have those kind of feelings for Hibari," she informed him. That was not a lie. Those romantic feelings were not something she think she could handle. If a person was in love then they would constant be confessing their love? Or trying to be things that they were not? With Hibari, she just felt like she could be herself without judgment. "Those feelings that you are talking about and the one Sawada keeps thinking about…I don't have time for it."
She would always feel a pressure to be something that she was not.
"Is it because you have no time? Or is it because the idea of liking someone in that way…scares you?"
Naruto closed her eyes.
"I have work to do, Yamamoto."
That was the only answer that she could give him.
Judging from those suits, it seems like the Mafia is chasing after that little kid.
Naruto thinned her lips as her blue eyes fixated on the light brown-haired boy weaving through the streets. It was never good news when the Mafia was involved. Am I really going to get involved? She sighed. This was a dilemma. A cute kid was being chased but then this was also the Mafia. Mafia meant that this would be Sawada's problem.
Naruto picked up her kunai and locked eyes on the boy below her. Killing them would be a piece of cake. She paused. But if she killed them then she would have to talk to Hibari about a cleaning up. Was she going to be able to talk to him without looking like she committed a sin? Yes, it was possible. Just because his future self kissed her…did not mean that there was something going on between them.
Beside, she wanted to unleash her frustration and killing members of the Mafia was better than killing an innocent kid.
Everything is going to be fine between us. She took in a deep breath and hopped down onto the ground. Her blue eyes fixated on the dashing men and Naruto closed her eyes. This is the first time that I'm using this wind jutsu but practice makes perfect. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes together before weaving her hand through the five hand seals.
Snake. Ram. Boar. Horse. Bird! She opened her eyes and clapped her hands together before tossing her kunais alongside the powerful gale of wind. Blue eyes watched with blankness as the kunai pierced through the men's shirt, stabbing them on their chest and forcing them to stumble down to the ground.
Their cries and screams pierced through the silent night.
The little boy turned his body around and Naruto hid back in the shadows. Brown eyes darted everywhere and she knitted her eyebrows when she saw the rather large book in his hands. That was a really unusual book. It looks kind of old too. She should not care. There was nothing about this kid that interested her in anyway.
Naruto sighed and pulled out her phone, only to pause when she heard the familiar howl of a motorbike. So he is patrolling around here. That would make things easier for her. She would just ask him to clean up the dead bodies and tell him about the boy. Then she could go her merry way back to the apartment and make some dinner if Jiraiya and Haku hadn't eaten all of her cooking.
But can I really look Hibari in the face after what happened today?
And is he going to realize something is up with me if I can't look him in the eyes?
She stepped out of the shadows and stared down at the kunais that was now locked onto the shoulder blade of the Mafia's mens. The bright red stains of blood covered the street of this town. Its rusty scent tickled her nostrils and Naruto knew that it would be a matter of minutes before Hibari would smell it.
If she leave now then she had enough time to regroup and talk to him. But it would mean I'm acting like a damn coward. The thought irritated her and the teen lifted the mask from her face. If there was one thing she did not want to be seen as…it was a coward. She slumped her shoulders and let out a quiet groan.
Stupid so-called Hibari and his stupid kiss!
"You bit a lot of preys tonight, Little Fox." The image of half-naked Hibari flashed before her eyes and she fought back the natural urge to blush. She swirled her head at him and grey eyes locked onto her. He shifted his attention from her to the six dead bodies surrounding her. Not a single emotion flashed through his eyes and Naruto knew he wanted an explanation.
"A little kid was being chased by them," she explained. Hibari nodded and knelt down to the inspect the bodies before flickering his eyes back at her. His grey eyes examined her clothes before moving to her clean mask on her hands. It might have been her imagination but it almost seemed like he was fixating his eyes on her chest.
I was planning to bite your older self to death. Those words echoed in her ear again and Naruto shut her eyes as a shudder ran across her body. Your future self had a lot of hickeys around her neck. Stupid Yamamoto. Now she was starting to wonder if Hibari had a whole different meaning for her when it came to biting her to death.
"Something happened to you."
Naruto froze at the accusation and Hibari stalked towards her. How did he know? He seemed to be too busy inspecting the corpses that she didn't think he would look at her. But he had to notice something was wrong. She willed her eyes to focus on his grey eyes and not to stray anywhere below his face. But the knowledge of what she saw in the possible future, made it difficult for her.
"Something did happen," she admitted. Hibari raised a single eyebrow at her, almost daring her to further her story but the blonde held her ground. This was all she was willing to tell him. He sighed and looked down at her. His hand reached up to her face, tilting her head up and she tried her hardest not to look at him.
He narrowed his eyes. "Did that peacock do anything to you?"
"Peacock?" Naruto asked. Hibari grunted and she could guess from the scowl that Haku had been officially dubbed as Peacock. She did not know whether to snort at the animal or to wonder what his biggest problem with Haku was. He hasn't disturb the peace in this town. She pinched her nose while grey eyes narrowed at her.
"Males are pretty," he answered as if that was the most obvious explanation. If she knew him as well as he did then it did make a lot of sense for Hibari to dub Haku by that animal nickname. She sighed. It would be a good idea for her to explain the whole thing with Haku, but she didn't know why he was so upset with him.
She sighed and allowed her hand to wander up to his hair. Her fingers dug through his hair and Hibari twitched. Not the usual twitch that told her that he wanted her to stop it or else he would bite her to death.
"Haku is not that type of guy," she informed him. Hibari did not look one bit convinced, thinning his lips and looking down at her blond hair before flickering to her eyes. Naruto narrowed her eyes at him. Why the hell did he think that Haku would be the type of that boy? It was not like he was a pervert or anything. "He wouldn't do anything to me."
"The peacock could trick you," Hibari commented airily. He clicked his heels and turned away from her while the blonde narrowed her eyes at him. She should keep quiet. Arguing with him was pointless but those words rubbed her the wrong way. She would know if someone was going to use her again.
Haku would never trick her.
"And what would he gain if he trick me?" Naruto asked. She knew that there was nothing for Haku to gain if he betrayed her. Jiraiya would probably kill him for what he had done. He would not have a house to stay in. The whole thing would not make sense if you asked her. But it would be interesting for her to hear what he had to say.
He did not answer her and instead he walked away from her. She should keep her mouth shut. This would be a good place for her to end the conversation but there was something that she wanted to understand. It was not anything to do about the insane idea that Yamamoto had about her feelings for him.
No, she wanted to understand something else.
"Hibari," Naruto called out. The boy stopped in his steps and looked at her. A single eyebrow was raised and he tilted his head at her, looking at her with a curiosity that made her hesitate. It would be weird for her to ask but it would forever be on her mind. "What does being greedy mean to you?"
It took him three minutes to answer that question. Three long minutes of Hibari locking eyes on her and not saying a single word to her. It was like he was debating of how to explain his idea to her. Maybe she was right. Their definitions might be a whole different definitions but she was curious to hear what he had to say.
"When I desire something, I take it without second guessing."
That was oddly vague or maybe she was reading into his words again.
(It would be the last proper conversation they would have before the attack on the members of the Disciplinary Committee).
A/N: So that is the end of the daily life arc for now. The next couple of chapters will be dealing with Kokuyo Arc. Do tell me if you think that the pace is going too quickly for them. Also what do you think is the answer to Yamamoto final question to Naruto? Please tell me of your thoughts in this chapter.