A/N: I want to thank everyone that added this story to their favourite and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
"So what happened over there?"
Naruto looked down at her ramen, pushing it back and forth before looking at the curious black eyes of Jiraiya. It had been one day since she came back from Kokuyo Land but not once did he bring up about what happened to her. He hadn't hovered around her. If anything he kept his distance with her and Haku as if he knew she was not in the mood to talk about it.
He probably guessed that now was a good time for her to talk about what happened to her. She guessed the fact she took time to make lunch for the three of them and making the lunch box for Hibari was enough for him to think she would be willing to talk about it. She was more calm than yesterday so she figured that there was no reason for her to admit what happened.
"I got my ass handed to me," Naruto admitted. She kept her tone even as her eyes fixated on her drink. Even though she was willing to admit this out loud, she could still feel the bubbling irritation inside of her. Was she still furious over the fact Mukuro could beat her? That sounded plausible. She had never been a good loser if you asked anyone who knew her.
Jiraiya did not look amused by her words, only grimacing as his black eyes locked onto her. The concern in his eyes made her want to squirm in her seat. It had been a long time since someone showed this much concern for her. She did not know what to do. Did she just walk away? It would be a perfect time for her to go to the hospital to check on Hibari and Sawada.
"I figured that out when you didn't come back immediately," her godfather finally said. He put down his cup of tea and looked to the television screen before looking back at her. He raised a single eyebrow at her. "How exactly did you get your ass handed to you? I taught you how to break through an illusion."
Naruto bit back the scowl that threatened to come out and decided instead to stare at her mentor. Should she tell him about her discovery on illusions? It would be of an interest to her mentor. But there was also no reason for her to go to that much detail with him. He knew genjutsu was never going to be her strong point so it should not be a big surprise.
If she told him then he would tell the Hokage about the information she gathered. Even though Jiraiya hadn't forced her to go back to Konoha, she knew his loyalty was still to Konoha. Naruto grimaced and looked at her egg. If Konoha knew then they would have to send more people to investigate this piece of information. That should make her weary but Naruto could still remember her fight with Mukuro.
She needed someone who was a genjutsu type to teach her how to break out immediately from a genjutsu.
"I lost to a boy who can make an illusion without using chakra," Naruto admitted. Jiraiya spit out his tea and snapped his head at her, black eyes widening at her words. Yeah she could understand his shock. It was unheard of when she thought about it but the blonde could not feel any chakra from Mukuro.
The Toad Sannin narrowed his eyes at her words but the blonde could see the deep interest in his eyes. She could not exactly blame him. To hear that there was someone who could make illusions without chakra would bring the interest in anyone. The blonde could only take a small bite of her ramen as Jiraiya continued to stare at her.
"That should be impossible, Naruto," Jiraiya finally said as he took a bite of his own ramen. He pointed a single chopstick at her as his black eyes locked onto her. "You can't make illusions without using chakra."
Naruto thinned her lips at those words. She had the same belief until she met Mukuro. There was a chance that he used spiritual energy but how could he have only spiritual energy and no physical energy? It made no sense in her eyes. She rubbed the sides of her head and folded her legs over each other as Jiraiya looked at her.
But then again Tsuna was able to make flames around his forehead and that was impossible too.
"If Sawada can make an orange flame on top of his forehead and hands then it should be possible for someone to make an illusion without chakra," she commented. Jiraiya jerked his head at her, black eyes widening at her words. Naruto frowned. Why the hell did he look so trouble by her words? And why was he looking at her thoughtfully? She squirmed in her seat.
"I need to check that boy's family history," Jiraiya muttered under his breath. Naruto raised a single eyebrow at the white-haired man. Why did he need to look into the family history of Sawada? His family were normal people if you discounted the fact that Tsuna was a part of the Mafia. But Jiraiya was making it seem like it was a big deal.
She shook her head and slurped her noodles. Was it really a big deal? Sawada made some flames on top of his forehead but that should not be such a big deal to anyone. Then again, Sawada did look a lot like her father as Jiraiya would comment from time to time. She looked down at her ramen. Her mother came from the Uzumaki Clan but her father's family was mysterious when she thought about it.
No matter how much she did research on her father's family for her school work, Naruto could never find any information about them. Minato Namikaze had been born to a pair of merchant parents but that was all the information she had. She did not know how her grandparents died but she did know her father had been orphaned at a young age.
She admired her father for not just being a genius or for the fact that he became Hokage at a young age, but because her father managed to turn the odds against him. Dad might have been trained by Ero-Sennin but his age and lineage were points against him. Until her father, all the previous Hokage came from shinobi clans.
Her father had been the only one to come from a merchant's family.
"Naruto, I have to tell the Hokage of what you just told me," Jiraiya informed her. Naruto looked away from her ramen and gazed at the white-haired man who took another sip of his tea. "Tsunade will have to send shinobi to investigate all the information that you just told me. This is something I cannot keep hidden from the village."
What if there is an enemy that can do what you just told me? We need to prepare ourselves. That was what she understood from Jiraiya's words and Naruto inspected her chopsticks. A few weeks ago she would have kept the information to herself but things changed. This type of information would require people to move outside of this town and she still had an obligation to her school.
There might be another two month before school would be over and even then they would have a short break of two weeks before the school term began.
"You aren't even going to try and convince me not to do it?" He asked her. Naruto shrugged and looked out to the window. Before the incident with Mukuro, she would try and figure out some way to change his mind. But things were different. She was different too. Herbivores are stupid. Those three words were probably enough for her to overcome the one fear that she had.
Because why the hell should she care about what the shinobi of the village thought of her? She knew she was stronger than ever before. Just because she failed the genin exam, did not mean she was dumb. Different was the best way to describe herself. Naruto steadied her arms and locked eyes with the curious eyes of her mentor.
Beside, Jiraiya would stop them from trying to convince her to go back to that hellhole.
"It will be a good idea for me to spar against them before they go their merry way with investigations," Naruto finally replied. She looked down at the bowl of ramen before looking back at the concerned eyes of her godfather. "Beside I can always ask one of them to tell me of a way to figure out how to break through an illusion since you did a crappy job of teaching me that."
"I never said I was a genjutsu type," Jiraiya reminded her.
Naruto waved him off and darted her eyes to the clock. If she left now then she would be in the hospital just before two o'clock and that would give her enough time to talk to Hibari and Tsuna. There was a lot for her to discuss with Tsuna and she also needed to check up on Hibari.
Hopefully, she was not going to get distracted this time around.
He really does look peaceful when he is asleep like this.
Naruto curled her lips into a small smile as she put the lunch box on top of his hospital bedside table. That tiny crease around his forehead was gone, replaced only a smoothness that she only see whenever he was having his nap on the balcony. The tension on his shoulders were also gone too if she took in the way his shoulders laid against the pillow. But the one clear indicator was the cute little snore coming out of his lips.
The whiskered girl paused at the thought. Did I really call his snores cute? The thought made her knit her eyebrows together. She shouldn't think like that. Snores were definitely not cute. But Hibari's snores reminded her of the cute snores of a hedgehog. Naruto felt a tiny laugh escaped her lips at the image of a hedgehog Hibari flashed before her eyes. She shook her head and leaned her body forward.
Her hand reached out to his hair, only for grey eyes to open and Hibari grabbed her hand. Blue eyes met grey ones and the blonde could feel her cheeks burning up at what Hibari caught her doing to him. If she was anyone else, she probably would have squeaked and looked away. But Naruto had her pride and she was not going to look away from him.
Hibari smirked and dropped her hand. Naruto relaxed her shoulders and returned back to her seat. Seconds passed and no words were spoken between them. Should she be the one to talk? Or should she wait for Hibari to say something? Actually it felt a little bit stuffy in his room. Had the nurses even open the windows? They probably were too terrified to open the windows because of Hibari.
Shaking her head, Naruto walked over to the window and flung it open.
"Little Fox, you came."
Those words should not affect her at all but her hands clutched the handles even harder. It might have sounded like it lack emotions but she could hear the slight surprise in his tone. She knew why he was vocalizing his shock. What happened between them should have made her run away but it was not going to happen again. The blonde knew he only bit her neck because he couldn't fight her.
"Why wouldn't I come?" Naruto asked. She kept her tone even and kept her eyes focused on the tree right in front of her. It was cowardly for her not to look at him. But what was she going to see if she look at him? Intensity? Anger? She didn't know. I should face him. She was not the type to be nervous but Hibari made her nervous for some reason.
Shaking her head, she looked at Hibari. Grey eyes were not fixated on her eyes but on her neck. Irritation and disappointment coloured his eyes and the blonde wondered if he was expecting the hickeys to stay on her neck. She should be irritated. She should be uncomfortable. But it only made her laugh at how childish he looked. It made her want to squirm and blush because she could still remember how her brain shut down when he bit her neck.
It was normal to be embarrassed but Naruto knew she should push back the memories if she did not want a repeat.
"You are a shy little fox," Hibari answered. That observations made her gulp. It was not those words that made her gulp but his tone. The tone leaking out of his voice made her stomach turn. Not in a bad way. Nope. It was a good way. The kind of way she felt whenever she ate some ramen. Ramen was the food of the gods…and she should not compare it to her favorite food.
She should stop the conversation. She knew what happened between them was because he could not fight her the normal way. That was something she knew. This was something she concluded but…
"Why did you do it?"
The words hung in the air as Naruto stared at Hibari. She should focus on his eyes but her eyes danced to his large hands. The same large hands that grabbed her in the small room. Her eyes went to his thin lips. It felt good to have his lips on her neck. But how would it feel if he kissed her? The older Hibari kissed her like she was someone desirable.
She shouldn't think like that. Hibari was her ally. He was her stupidly-attractive ally and that was something she should always remind herself even if he looked at her like she was a temptation to him. It was so different from the various gaze that she encountered during her time in Konoha. Not once had she ever seen someone look at her in that way.
"I'm your predator and you are my prey," Hibari finally answered. Those were the same words he always told her but she knew there was a different meaning to his words. Maybe she was foolish but it sounded like he was telling her that she belonged to him. That he belonged to her. But it sounded ridiculous.
Hibari was not the type to allow anyone to possess him. It was wrong for her to think like that. He belonged to no one, just like she belonged to no one. But the thought of actually owning something even if it was an idea made her stomach flutter. It made her heart race with excitement and her chest tightened but Naruto schooled her expression.
She should change the topic before her mouth spilled words that could never be taken back.
"I didn't defeat Mukuro," Naruto said, clearing her throat. She shouldn't talk about the Pineapple Bastard but it was a safe topic for them to talk about. If she continued with their current topic then she didn't know what will happen between them. Would it lead to her telling him emotions she did not know how to talk about anymore? Would things end up being like one of Ero-Sennin's books? She didn't know.
She was not certain if she wanted to find out.
Hibari grimaced and looked up at the ceiling. She could almost see the clouds hanging around his head at the reminder and the blonde walked back to him. She sat down on her chair and darted her eyes to his hand. Should she hold it? It was a form of comfort but he might be irritated with her habit. It was showing more concern to him when he was fine.
"You allowed someone else to defeat him," Hibari commented. His grey eyes locked onto her. Why? That was the unspoken question shining through his eyes and the blonde dropped her head on top of his bed. She was not irritated. But how did she go about explaining it? Would he understand her reason? Hibari was always the type to charge in without thinking.
She should explain it anyway.
"Sawada could see through his illusions," she muttered. Her eyes widened when she felt a hand combing through her hair as she spoke those words. Was he combing her hair? It felt like it. Maybe since there was no one around them, Hibari thought it was fine to do this. It was an innocent touch. Not something for her to freak out but it made her lean her head closer to him.
With the way his fingers dug through her scalp, she felt like a little fox that was just ready to purr. She jerked her head when Hibari stopped combing her hair. Why did he stop? Grey eyes lit up with interest and looked down at her blue eyes before skimming to her lips before landing to her neck again.
"That herbivore is odd," Hibari commented as he resumed combing through her hair.
The blonde curled her lips into a tiny smile and popped her head up. Odd? That was the best way to describe Sawada. If she knew Hibari as well as she did then she knew what caused him to say that. For someone like Hibari, Tsuna was now flickering between being strong and weak. It was something Naruto knew that caused his interest on the brown-haired boy.
Her blue eyes flickered to the clock and Naruto knew that she should leave soon. Visiting hours were going to be over soon and she needed to visit Tsuna about making a deal.
"You should focus on getting better, Hibari," she mumbled, removing his hand away from her hair. Naruto stood up from her seat and allowed a smile to escape from her lips as she walked away from him. She paused right in front of the door and turned to look at him. "When you finally recover Hibari, you can go back to biting me to death in your usual way. You won't have to go through what you have to do yesterday."
The words hung in the air and grey eyes locked onto her. His eyes were like that of a rattlesnake if you asked her. Not because of the fact that it looked dangerous but because of how it hypnotized her to stay there. She should look away from him. But her legs were just locked there, unwilling to move away from him.
She did not know whether to hate this feeling or like it.
"Little Fox, you are not that naïve."
She should open her mouth to protest but it felt like someone sewn her mouth together. She was not naïve. Jiraiya was her godfather. He was her mentor and Hibari caught her godfather peeking on some of the girls in the hot springs. She corrected the books that he was making through his peeking. He did not know that but Naruto knew Hibari had some idea.
Nothing really escaped his attention.
"We were stuck for a long time, Hibari," she finally said. "It was bound to happen."
Hibari did not look one bit convinced by her words. His grey eyes looked at her as if she was being a silly little animal for saying those words. It should make her bristle but she just stared at him, daring him to argue against her words. A smirk creeped up on his lips, reminding her of the big wolf who was just ready to gobble her up.
She doubt that he could gobble her up.
"Little Fox," Hibari said. There was almost a purr in his voice as his finger wiggled for her to come closer. This was a trap. She knew it. She should walk away from him, not walking right towards him. She stopped right in front of him. A single hand reached out to her and before Naruto could even blink, he yanked her to him.
She laid against his chest and looked at those grey eyes. What was going in his mind? She couldn't tell. She could only feel his heartbeat racing against his chest or was it her own? It was rather hard for her to tell. The heat was definitely all him alongside the lingering scent of the Pinetree. Blue eyes widened when Hibari tilted her chin to the side.
A whine escaped her lips when he bit her ear. Why did she allow it to escape her lips? Why must she feel the desire to squirm when he did that? She jerked her head back to him. What should she say to him? Nothing came to her mind. It was like her brain fried itself. She should pull away from him.
"Every time you lie, I will do that."
Her heart pounded against her chest as grey eyes warned her of the consequence of lying about what she felt. Was he going to push her feelings out? Because she had no idea of what to feel. She knew when he looked at her like that, she felt vulnerable. Not the bad kind of vulnerability but the kind that she was sure Hibari did not want to see.
But she also knew Hibari was not going to push her into voicing things out loud. He respected her that much. If he thought she was going to run away from him then he would not vocalize it. This knowledge made her relax her shoulders.
"What happens if I decide to lie every single time?"
Maybe it was her imagination but her voice almost sounded out of breath. Grey eyes darkened and Naruto could see his eyes flickering from her eyes to her lips. Was he going to kiss her? Would she let him? She actually did not know but her eyes did wander back to his lips. She probably would let him.
"Then it means you are stubborn little fox that needs to be taught a lesson."
Naruto gulped. Those words sounded like he was going to teach her a lesson by fighting but she knew from those grey eyes that those words meant something else entirely. His idea of punishment did not sound like the boring punishment Iruka-sensei would give her. If anything, his hot breath caressing her face told her of what his desire might be.
He leaned forward, grey eyes looking at her like she was the most desirable prey that he had ever seen. If he kissed her then what would happen to them? Would it be physical? She couldn't do that. Even if she liked the way he looked, she was not shallow. A relationship should be filled with some emotional intimacy. Could she do it? Should she let him kiss her? He did look like a nice piece of bowl of ramen if her eyes looked at his lips.
But should they really do it in the hospital?
That thought was enough for her to jerk her head away from him. Not the time. He was in the hospital and even if he could yank her, it did not mean Hibari was able to do any activities. Besides if they do whatever this was, then it meant she had to be…vulnerable. It meant opening up even more and that was just a terrifying notion to her.
If whatever they had fizzled then she would have no way of knowing how to interact with him anymore.
"I-I got to see Sawada before visiting hours are over."
It sounded like an excuse but it was the truth that acted like one.
"U-Uzumaki, I will get the money as soon as I can walk properly!"
Naruto folded her arms against her chest at the high-pitch tone leaking out of his voice. It was really odd seeing him like this after seeing what that new bullet did to him. I think he is only cool when he shot with that new bullet. The thought made her sigh and her eyes focused on the various bandages around his body. It seemed like that new bullet had a terrible effect to his body.
That was a terrible shame if you asked her. It meant the boy could not be shot with the new bullet or else he would end up looking like a damn mummy. Well I guess Reborn could always shoot him until he got used to it. That would be something she would do if someone asked her to tutor Tsuna. Sadly the honor had to go to Reborn.
"I didn't come here for your money," Naruto said, taking a seat beside him. Tsuna blinked and looked at her like she was an alien for saying those words out loud. Her eyebrows twitched and the teen quickly muttered an apology. She relaxed her shoulders. "I came here because of Lancia."
Tsuna blinked. "Lancia-san? What about him?"
"I want him to stay with Haku," Naruto answered. Brown eyes widened at those words and the blue-eyed girl looked at him with blank eyes. She understood why he was shocked about her words. The words spilling out of her mouth were not words that anyone should be expecting to come out of her mouth. "And I would rather not face the headache of having the Mafia police after us…so can you get the Vongola Familigia to get rid of his crimes?"
Tsuna nodded his head and stared at her for the longest time. His eyebrows knitted together into one thick line as if he was trying to figure something out. Knowing the boy right in front of her, he was probably thinking very hard about her motive. She hoped he was thinking about it. If he did think then it meant that he was starting to learn.
"Why do you want Lancia?"
The question hung in the air as brown eyes gazed right into her eyes. The curiosity and weariness in his eyes made her lips twitched. Perhaps he was really starting to learn. That meant all those times she milked him out of his money was actually starting to sink into his head…or the match was a wakeup call for him.
She would like to think it was her milking her money out of him.
"I'm going to give you two truth and one lie," Naruto said. Tsuna opened his mouth and closed his mouth like a goldfish, no doubt trying to protest at her plans but too afraid to say anything to her. "If you can figure out the lie then I will decrease the amount of money by ¥1000 but if you fail, I will increase it by ¥8000."
The brown-haired teen thinned his lips and looked at her thoughtfully as if he was deeply considering her option. It would be a huge gamble for him while it meant nothing to her. A decrease of ¥1000 was not much when she considered how much money she asked from him. But it would be terrible if the price could not be increased by ¥8000.
"I will play the game," Tsuna finally said. "But you will decrease the amount if I guessed it right?"
"I'm not Reborn," Naruto said dryly. He nodded his head and grimaced at her words while the blonde leaned against her seat. She looked up at the ceiling. "I'm doing this because I'm a cold-hearted bitch who only cares about her benefits. If I bring Lancia with me then Haku will be happy because he sees Lancia in himself. Now which one of my statements was the lie?"
Brown eyes locked onto her and for the first time since she met him, the boy was taking his time to figure out the clue. Which one would Tsuna pick? She had a feeling of which one it would be but she was not going to decrease the price so easily. If he gave her a reason that was not naïve then she would do it.
"The first part is the lie, isn't it?" Tsuna finally asked.
Naruto raised a single eyebrow at him. "Why?"
"Because even though you always increasing the prices and have a twisted way of viewing things, you care about Haku," Tsuna explained. Naruto paused and Tsuna looked almost confident as if he knew he was getting to the truth about things. "Even though you claim only to care about your own benefits, you also care about the happiness of Haku…not just because he is your friend but you want him to be efficient?"
Blue eyes regarded the boy right in front of her. The answer was perfect. It was a little bit naïve but it showed her Tsuna was starting to learn about the way she did things. Naruto hummed and stroke her chin. She liked the answer that he gave, but she was a little bit heart-broken. It seemed like she would have to decrease the price by ¥1000.
"You won the prize of me decreasing the price, Sawada," Naruto answered and brown eyes lit up with happiness and pride. "But you are still a little bit naïve when it came to your answer."
Tsuna froze at those words and Naruto tilted her head. Why did he look less happy about those words? She thought he would be happy that he was naïve. He might have decreased his whining about not being apart of the Mafia but the boy was still awfully naïve if you asked her. That aspect of himself did get on her nerve.
"I-I let Mukuro and friends live."
Naruto nodded.
"I knew you would."
It was not easy for someone to kill especially someone as kind as Sawada. Some people were just not meant to be killers but Sawada was no longer in that category of people. He would sooner or later be forced to kill someone and when that day happened…well he was going to cry like a little baby. The knowledge made her sigh.
Reborn should make him have his first kill soon.
"I can't kill anyone and I definitely cannot force Lancia to live with you."
The blonde hummed.
"I figured that out and I am going to talk to Lancia tomorrow," Naruto said with a blank tone.
Brown eyes widened and she knew if Tsuna could, he would have jumped up from his bed. His brown eyes kept widening like he was not expecting this type of answer to come out from her lips. She guessed he expected her to blow off with him. But after what he had done yesterday, she could watch him relax around her before playing him again.
It was fun to mess with people and maybe she could understand why Shikamaru liked his mind games.
"Why aren't you—"
"Take one step at a time," she answered, standing up from her seat. Tsuna frowned and the blonde looked out to the window. "You fought against Mukuro and defeated him when I could not. You figured out how to break through his illusions and I guess in that way…you are a better fighter than me. Of course I can still whip your ass but you are improving."
Naruto curled her lips into a smile and Tsuna gawked at her.
"Uzumaki, you are—"
"My smile is my way to express my thanks to you for saving my ass out there," Naruto replied, waving him off. She did not want to deal with Tsuna when he got emotional. She also did not want him to think he was special because she gave him a smile. "Don't get used to me smiling at you, Sawada. You still have a long way to go before you can impress me."
He was on the right tracks but Naruto was never going to spill those words to him.
A/N: Do continue telling me if you think Naruto should have a flame or not. What do you think of this version of Naruto? And the relationship she has with Hibari? And how do you think the shinobi of Konoha will react if they see the interactions between Naruto and Hibari?