Buckle up it's a long one : )
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Chō woke up to the sun shining through the window. She smiled slightly as she could still feel Naruto's arm around her and could still hear him snoring.
'Guess I woke up first' She thought.
Then she remembered how Naruto had cooked breakfast for her and how good it was. Smiling wider she decided that this time she would cook for him and it would be even better than what Naruto made.
She snuck out of the bed as to not wake the blonde and crept into the kitchen to begin cooking.
'This is going to be great!' She thought excitedly.
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Everything was going horribly wrong.
Somehow Chō had managed to create the most repulsive meal on the planet. She grimaced as she stared at it and thought about where everything went wrong.
For starters, when she tried making the eggs the pan was too hot at first and it began to burn, after seeing this she lowered the flames but the temperature was too low and it failed to cook the eggs properly. So she had half burnt half raw eggs.
Second she burnt the waffles, which baffled her because the toaster cooked them to perfection everytime and there were no settings to mess with.
Somwhere along the way she decided it would be a good idea to toss the waffles into the pan along with the eggs. She was going to do the same for some bacon she had cooked but they had slithered away when she wasn't looking, refusing to be a part of her monstrosity.
Lastly she tried to cover all of her mistakes by drowning everything in syrup and mixing it up thoroughly.
So there she stood staring at her creation.
'Maybe it'll look better if I plate it.' She thought.
She lifted up the pan and scooped the contents out onto a plate where it landed with a wet plop.
She grimaced at the sight and sound of it and wanted to throw it out, but at that moment Naruto walked out of the bedroom yawning.
He looked to her with blurred vision and said "Good morning Chō-chan" Naruto's eyes lit up as he smelled that something had been cooked and then he saw the plate.
"You cooked breakfast? Sweet!" He exclaimed.
Naruto grabbed hold of a fork and stood over the so called "food".
"Naruto I really don't think-" Chō began, but it was too late. He had taken a bite.
His whole body tensed and froze completely in place.
"Naruto?" Chō asked worriedly. He was completely still with his hair shadowing his eyes. She poked him trying to get a reaction, he stood stock still without the slightest twitch.
She could see something slowly begin to form behind him, floating in the air. She squinted and looked closer.
"It's the shinigami! I killed him and the shinigami came for his soul!" She screamed.
Thinking on her feet she yanked the fork out of Naruto's mouth and scooped up more "food".
She looked towards the terrifying figure and asked "Do you want to try some of my food shinigami-sama?"
At this the death god gained a worried look and shook his head no.
"Please, I would love it if you just took a bite" Chō said stepping forward and bringing the plate with her.
The shinigami backed up as she approached. "Please oh please take a bite, just one?"
Now the shinigami began furiously shaking his head and as he backed into the wall Chō got even closer.
The poor demonic ghost was horrified as Chō began to stretch out the fork towards his mouth. The fork inched closer and closer until the shinigami could take no more and disappeared. The soul just wasn't worth it.
Naruto collapsed behind her and she ran to his side and placed the plate on the counter. Naruto's eyes shot open and he gasped for air.
"Naruto! Are you alright?"
He looked at her, bleary-eyed "What the hell did you put in that!" He said grasping her arm.
'It couldn't have been that bad' She thought downcast.
"Don't worry about what I put in it! Are you alright?" She asked again.
Slowly, Naruto calmed down and put the back of his hand to his head to feign illness.
"Only ramen can save me now Chō-chan" He exaggerated.
Chō giggled at his antics and said "I'll make you some then."
"NO! Don't...touch anything" Naruto said fearfully.
Chō sweat dropped 'I guess it really was that bad' she thought.
"let's go to ichiraku ramen, man, dying sure makes you hungry." Naruto said offhandedly.
Chō rolled her eyes and followed him out the door, leaving the plate forgotten on the counter. Never looking back to see it had sprouted arms and come alive.
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Naruto and Chō were walking side by side towards the ramen shop and they were nearly there.
"So" Naruto spoke up. "How'd you sleep?" He asked.
Chō remembered last night and recalled that she had one nightmare and another dream, a pleasant one.
Chō blushed and said "I slept better with you there."
Naruto smiled at her and she smiled back as they approached the shop.
"Hey listen, nightmares can be hard to get rid of but you just have to confront the emotions that cause them."
Chō looked at him. "You sound like you know what you're talking about. What caused your nightmares?" She asked.
She instantly regretted asking because in response Naruto simply scowled at the villagers around him.
"Oh, right." She muttered quietly.
"The dreams stopped when I decided that I would become hokage, no matter what. They stopped because I decided that I wasn't going to let myself feel inferior to everyone else anymore."
They reached the shop and sat down. A big man with a kind face walked out from the back and smiled at Naruto.
"I see you're back for my world famous ramen!" He glanced at Chō. "And you brought a girlfriend too!" He said laughing.
Both of them blushed furiously and said "We're not together!"
'Thats what they always say' Teuchi thought to himself.
"Anyway what'll it be Naruto?"
"Two bowls of miso ramen please"
"Coming right up" The man said as he walked away to prepare the food.
Naruto looked to his companion who was still blushing from Teuchis accusation.
"What's the plan for today? Think I can learn something new?"
Chō gave it some thought and decided that he still needed to learn a few things before they could continue.
"I have a couple more things that you need to learn and then we can start looking at the other elements. Which one do you want to learn next?" she asked
Naruto hummed in thought "Oxygen seems fun to learn I guess."
"Good choice, mastery over oxygen can make you very powerful since it's always around us." She stated.
Teuchi walked out with two bowls and set them out in front of his customers.
Naruto mouth was watering and he licked his lips in anticipation. "Time to chow down!" Naruto began to violently devour his noodles and Chō could only stare in fascination, wondering where it all went.
Naruto finished quickly and drank the broth leaving behind an empty bowl. Chō laughed and began to enjoy her own food as Naruto asked for another.
She heard another thud and saw that he had finished the second bowl. She was about to ask how that was even possible but there was a poof of smoke, alerting them to someones entrance.
They both looked of to see an anbu member standing stoically. He slowly glanced over to Naruto and said "Uzumaki-san your presence is required by Hokage-sama, now." and with that short sentence the man vanished.
Naruto blinked, "man they sure like to get straight to the point, not even a 'nice weather we're having' " he joked.
Chō giggled "What do you think the Hokage wants you for?" she questioned.
"I dunno but I guess I should get going. I'll see ya later!" He said as he began to run off.
Chō stared at his retreating form as he barrled down the street at full speed.
'Hopefully he's not gone all day' she thought.
Teuchi smiled and asked "Miss him already?"
"W-what no I... I GOTTA GO!" She yelled, dashing out of the shop blushing. Teuchi laughed loudly glad that Naruto finally had a friend.
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Naruto burst through the door to the hokages office to see a suprised looking Hiruzen sitting at his desk.
"You know Naruto" he said smirking "A closed door usually means you should knock."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and said "Aww come on jiji aren't ya happy to see me?"
The withered kage laughed. "Of course Naruto but I didn't just call you here to catch up. There's something important I must tell you"
"What is it?" He hoped it wasn't punishment for the prank he'd pulled a week ago. Personally he thought the anbu looked good in pink armor.
The hokage cleared his throught to catch Naruto's attention. "I decided that it would be best for you to enroll in the academy this year, I have all your papers filled out if you wish to go."
Naruto's eyes lit up like beacons and he beamed at the elderly man. "Really?! That's so awesome! I'll be hokage in no time dattebayo!"
Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto's verbal tick. "I'm sure you will young Naruto, but it's going to take a lot of hard work, are you ready for that?"
Naruto's eyes met those of the wise kage, and as he stared into those cerulean blues he could see embers of the will of fire, embers that would grow into a roaring inferno.
"I was born ready jiji"
Hiruzen smiled and moved closer to the boy, he had one more thing to give him.
"One last thing Naruto"
He looked up at his jiji inquisitively. Hiruzen produced a scroll from his robes and showed it to him.
"What is that?" Naruto asked
"Before I tell you anything you have to promise me to never try and teach this to anyone else."
The boy nodded his head. "I promise"
"Good. This here is a kinjutsu, a forbidden technique. It is called the kage bushin no jutsu or shadow clone jutsu."
"Forbidden justu" Naruto repeated, staring at the scroll.
Hiruzen had always known that Naruto would have enormous reserves due to the kyuubi and when he realized the clone jutsu was on the curriculum he decided that he couldn't let Naruto fall behind over something so simple. It was either this or teach the boy to master his chakra control.
Hiruzen continued to explain "The kage bushin no jutsu allows it's user to create a solid clone of themselves, which can be used for combat or reconnaissance."
Naruto furrowed his brow and wondered alloud "Well why is it forbidden then? It seems simple enough."
"That would be due to the enormous chakra requirement, I have seen many cases of chakra exhaustion due to this jutsu. But you shouldn't have a problem with that at all considering how massive your chakra pool is."
Naruto sat there letting the information sink in. He took the scroll and held it in his hands, he couldn't believe that he would be using a forbidden jutsu before he was even a genin.
The kage chuckled at the expression of awe on the young boys face.
"Well then Naruto, you better get to learning that jutsu if you want to become hokage."
Naruto looked up and said "I'll take that hat off your head in no time, just you wait old man!"
Laughing Hiruzen dismissed the boy from his office. He gazed out to the stone face of the fourth. 'He will make a fine shinobi' he thought.
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Chō was lying down in the grass watching as the clouds slowly drifted by. The area was littered with small glittering crystals from previous training sessions.
She was bored.
With Naruto gone there was nothing for her to do. He was the sole purpose for her even being here and now he was gone.
She sighed and sat up.
'At least he treated me to ramen before he left' She giggled 'Watching him eat was kinda funny too.'
She smiled as she recalled the past few days they'd spent together. He was always able to make her smile, even when he wasn't there apparently.
She absentmindedly began to create something out of diamond as she continued to think. Flashes of Naruto and his huge goofy grin passed through her mind.
When Chō was finally conscious of what she was doing she glanced down at her hand which now held a small Naruto head grinning up at her.
She let a small smile grace her lips. The head was actually pretty accurate. It had his spiky hair, big grin, and whisker marks to boot.
She could hear footsteps approaching and the sound of someone screaming her name.
It was Naruto!
She shot up to her feet and held her creation behind her back, trying to hide it. Naruto ran up to her grinning.
"You won't believe what Jiji just gave me!" He yelled. He thrust the scroll out in front of her. "It's a forbidden jutsu! And he says I can use it!"
Chō smiled and was about to respond when Naruto cut her off.
"Hey whatcha got there?"
Chō blushed a deep pink. "uh.. it's not- um I don't, I mean..."
"Aren't you gonna show it to me?" Naruto asked curiously.
Her will to resist was shattered as she saw Naruto staring at her like a curious little puppy.
Her blush intensified as she slowly pulled the crystal head out from behind her. She held it out for Naruto but looked to the side in embarrassment.
Naruto grabbed the strange object and inspected it closely. Upon realizing what it was he began to blush slightly, in his opinion the face was more handsome than he actually was.
'Is this... what she thinks of me?' he wondered.
"H-hey Chō why'd you make this?" He asked smiling at her.
Chō seemed very calm on the outside, but on the inside she was having a crisis.
'I don't know why I made it! Oh man why did I make it?! What kinda question is that anyway?! Why does it matter if I made it while thinking of him cause he was gone?! Oh man I need an excuse and quick!' She ranted in her mind.
Suddenly an idea popped into her head. She took her creation out of his hands and said "Here, watch this"
She turned towards a tree and gripped the head tightly. Taking aim Chō reared her arm back and hurled the small projectile toward her target.
The Naruto head flew through the air and, due to the very sharp hair, stuck into the bark. Chō smiled wide as she brought her hand up and snapped, causing the Naruto head to explode, shredding the tree it was lodged in and imbedding shards in many others.
Naruto stared in shock and glanced over to Chō "So you recreated my head just to violently blow it up?"
"um...yes?"
Naruto faulted. "That's kinda evil Chō-chan"
She giggled. "But that's how I wanted to start today's lesson"
'That's right Chō just make up a cover story for that head, he'll never suspect a thing.' She thought to herself.
Naruto began to pay attention and she continued to speak.
"I taught you how to manipulate carbon to make diamond, but I never taught you that you can manipulate the diamond even if it's not connected to you."
"For instance." She said, pointing to the shards imbedded in the trees. She formed the ram hand seal and Naruto watched as the shards began to grow and spread across the trunk of the tree.
"You always amaze me Chō-chan" He said in awe.
Pink rose to her cheeks "Thank you Naruto-kun. We can practice for a few hours and then go home to study"
Naruto grinned and shouted "Sir yes sir!"
That earned him a punch, but also a smile and the pain was worth it if she smiled.
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