Authors Note: This is probably going to be a little cheesy, as romance is not my forte, so apologies for that.
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, the characters or any of the situations. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
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Chapter 26
Mei and Ao
When she wasn't with her friends, Fu was exploring Kirigakure. Though she couldn't fly using Chomei's wings, which did sadden her. However even on foot the girl was fast and she glided through the misty streets quickly. The villagers noted most the jinchuuriki as only 'the strange new arrivals that the Mizukage brought' so they payed her no mind after the first few days.
One time, she was running through the village with a vibrant energy. The seven tails jinchuuriki was aimlessly chatting with her tenant to pass the time.
"What do you think of Kiri Chomei?" Fu asked the bug like creature curiously.
"I think the mist is thick." Chomei bluntly answered in their usual, deeper voice.
"Yeah but that's obvious. Like, what do you think about it compared to Taki?" The young jinchuuriki elaborated on with a sigh.
"The mist is thicker here." The seven tails once again deadpanned, though this time it had an amused mocking tone that made the girl giggle out loud.
Luckily, not many villagers saw them, and if they did no one questioned it. The jinchuuriki continued to wander the village without a destination in mind. The mint haired girl would share a friendly hello with random people she passed, which was usually returned. After a while though, Fu began to get lost in her thoughts.
A substantial amount of time proceeded to pass before Fu bumped into someone. Realizing what had happened, she immediately started to apologize before being interrupted.
"Hey, it's fine kid. No worries." The person she bumped into assured while chuckling.
Looking up, Fu saw that it was a tall woman dressed in blue with auburn hair. The jinchuuriki recognized the woman from times she had seen Yagura doing his Kage work. She remembered that she was the one who had been standing in as the Mizukage while Yagura got the group together. Thinking back, Fu was pretty sure her name started with a 'M'.
The kunoichi was with another shinobi, who looked embarrassed for some odd reason. There seemed to be a tense situation going on, as the two both seemed uncomfortable. Actually, it was the shinobi who looked uncomfortable, the woman looked irritated. Fu wanted to know what was going on and tried to ask for the woman's name out of curiosity.
However, before the young girl could ask for this information. The woman had already left the shinobi in a huff to do other things in Kirigakure.
The next time Fu saw Yagura, she implored about the auburn haired kunoichi.
"Oh you mean Mei?" The Kage had tiredly asked as she described his friend.
"Yeah, her!" Fu remembered.
"Why do you want to know? Did you run into her or something?" Yagura casually asked as he drank some water.
"Well I ran into her while wandering the village. She was with another man though. They were acting really weird next to each other." The girl informed with a confused tone, wanting to understand the context.
The Mizukage simply proceeded to give a mock sigh before breaking out into a light chuckle. Shaking his head after putting his water down.
"Ah, she must have been trying to get in a relationship again then." The Sanbi jinchuuriki stated.
"Huh?" Fu went, growing more confused, eyes begging for a bigger explanation.
"Mei really wants to get into a relationship and get married you see Fu. But recently, it hasn't been working out for her." The short Kage further explained with a soft smile.
"Oh, so she's worried about not ever falling in love?" She innocently summarized.
"In a way Fu. But don't worry about Mei, she's just waiting to find the right person." Yagura waved off as he got ready to leave.
"Hmm, okay." Fu called back, though inside she wanted to learn more about the situation.
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Later, Fu asked Chomei about what it knew about relationships and love.
"Why are you asking me? I don't indulge myself in such things as the humans do." The Nanabi simply stated. "In fact, I find the entire concept of 'love' that the humans engage in confusing." They added, thinking back to Fu's mother and father.
So with Chomei being no help, the girl asked her fellow jinchuuriki about what they knew. Gaara offered similar sentiments to Chomei. Meanwhile Naruto related an experience he had with a girl back in Konoha, someone named Sakura that didn't matter right now. Apparently the pink haired girl would punch him a lot, which didn't sound that good but was noted.
Yugito simply told her that it was a very deep connection between two people. When Fu asked if it were deeper then friendships, Yugito ended up not answering, pondering the question herself instead.
Han tried to explain what crushes were, as a very strong attraction for a person. After asking the armoured jinchuuriki, Fu tried to question Roshi but Han tried deflecting the question for his friend. However, Roshi waved the five tails jinchuuriki off, saying that it was something of great importance and trust. The older jinchuuriki then tried to use a metaphor about puzzle pieces that Fu only half understood.
Utakata wasn't available for her interrogation, so it was left unknown on what the quiet six tails jinchuuriki thought about the subject.
In the end Fu decided to focus on the one relationship she knew was lovey and all that. The relationship between Yagura and his wife, Asuri. Observing the couple, Fu noted that it seemed very casual, and though they gave each other weird looks it appeared no different from a friendship. But, she did see that all the things the jinchuuriki had said seemed to apply to the pair.
Concluding her observations, the seven tails jinchuuriki decided to try and help Mei with her search of love and a husband.
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It appeared that Mei was a busy individual. Though it wasn't surprising considering that if she was like Yagura, she would be just as busy as him. Eventually, after a couple weeks Fu found the kunoichi alone in the training ground with another man.
Deciding to observe the situation first before approaching, Fu ducked behind a thick pillar but listened in on the conversation. She was good at stealth from numerous times she eavesdropped on the people of Taki.
The man that Mei was talking to had dull blue hair that was styled up. Most notably, he had an eyepatch over his right eye.
From listening in, Fu noticed that the two were mainly discussing fighting tactics and the like. The girl also observed that the two seemed to trust each other to an extent, though she couldn't tell what. But mainly, they seemed calm and at ease in the others presence.
The man with the eyepatch left after a while, and when Mei moved to do the same Fu popped out of her hiding place. Mei didn't look that surprised, as she and the man had already saw that the jinchuuriki was watching.
"Hey there again." The kunoichi greeted in a kind manner, waving to the girl.
"You're Mei right?" Fu eagerly asked with a bright smile.
"Yeah, that's me. And you're the seven tails jinchuuriki, Fu." Mei whispered in return, to which she received a nod. "Do you mind telling me why you were spying on Ao and me Fu?" The older woman proceeded to ask chuckling.
"I was curious on a few things." The Nanabi jinchuuriki replied.
"Like?" The Kage level kunoichi went.
"Love and stuff. Yagura told me about you and relationships." Fu explained, oblivious to the landmine she was treading on.
"Oh… really?" Mei continued calmly on the outside, inside she was drawing up a death plan for the current Mizukage. "And what did he say?" She asked with a wondrous tone.
"That you were waiting for the right person." The innocent girl stated, surprising the kunoichi who then dropped her murder plans.
"Really?" Mei trailed off with a chuckle, appreciating that her friend believed in her.
"So you and the eyepatch man…" Fu trailed off on her own, as the two then walked out of the training grounds.
"You don't think me and him are a thing do you?" The Kiri kunoichi questioned amused.
"Well from I know, love is like being really good friends, trust and something about puzzle pieces." The young jinchuuriki stated. "Are you and Ao friends?" She then questioned intently.
"I mean, we are friends but it's more like colleagues." Mei answered calmly.
"Do you trust each other?" Fu pressed.
"Of course I trust Ao. We've known each other for years." The older kunoichi replied casually.
"Hmm, okay. Last question. Are you like puzzle pieces?" Fu concluded, finishing her questioning.
"Puzzle pieces?" Mei asked confused.
"Roshi said something about puzzle pieces when I asked him. I think it means you're not yourself without the person you love." The jinchuuriki explained though she herself was still confused about the topic.
Mei gave a noise of agreement as the two walked through Kiri. The younger of the two still babbling her theories about romance. The older was thinking however about what the girl had brought up.
"Me and Ao?" The kunoichi contemplated, not shooting the idea down entirely.
Anyways, she needed to meet with Ao anyways, so the jinchuuriki could come observe. "Why are you so interested in my love life anyways?" Mei asked after a few minutes.
"I want to help!" Fu cheered.
"Well the effort is appreciated Fu." The woman thanked as Ao approached them.
Fu then left, calling over her shoulder that Ao and her would make sense according to her own understanding. Catching Ao up on the humorous situation the girl was talking about, proceeding to discuss the actual matters they were meeting for.
When they were done, they moved into lighter topics. "You know, the girl said she wanted to help me with my love life." Mei stated as they sat on an old wooden bench.
"That's nice of her." Ao replied, unmoving as befitting his rigid personality.
"She suggested you and I be a pair." The kunoichi informed with a bored expression.
"Oh really?" The eyepatch wearing shinobi said, curious as to where the conversation was heading.
"I doubt the kid will just leave it at this to be honest. And you know how kids can be sometimes with their plans." Mei started with a wondrous tone. "Do you want to try it out? A relationship Ao?" She finally asked with a sly tone.
This surprised the man despite him guessing where it was headed. "To avoid any schemes the jinchuuriki would undoubtedly cook up then?" He said, maintaining a cool composure.
"I suppose that would work.?" The auburn haired woman answered.
It was silent for a few good seconds, before the two burst out laughing. After their chuckles wore down, the two gave each other a warm look, two eyes meeting one. The two Kiri ninja shared a smile.
So maybe they needed a spark to light the fire. Or maybe the foundation was already there but was left untouched without any reason to. But the seven tails jinchuuriki had uprooted it for the moment, and maybe even more.
The next time anyone saw the duo, the two were holding hands. If at first to avoid any inevitable plans concocted by meddling kids.
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Authors Note: So as I said, romance is not my forte and I thought that something simple would work here.