Disclaimer: Well, unfortunately, I still don't own Naruto. My lawyers just don't seem to be arguing hard enough.
I looked up through tear-stained hair and was greeted by a warm face. The Hokage was leaning against the other wall of the alley.
A slight wave of panic rolled over me. Does she know about last night? Am I going to be taken away to some prison cell where they can make sure I never try to run away again? Will I have to eat stale bread and water for every meal? Then the worst thought crossed my mind.
Will I be stuck here forever?
The Hokage smiled at me. She must have noticed my tension, because she leaned towards me and placed her and on my shoulder. "This must be a lot for you to take in." She motioned to the people passing us along the street: normal folk, carrying groceries, lumber, or just talking with friends. But scattered among them, constantly alert, were the shinobi. They all had pouches of knives and headbands just like Naruto and Sakura, and smiled at us as they passed.
That was another thing. They all noticed us. A couple walked over to say hi to Lady Tsunade or inquire about why she was in an alleyway, but most just continued on their way. I looked at the woman crouching in front of me and tried to figure out what about her was so intimidating that even people with the same abilities as Naruto would be scared even to say hello.
I nodded in a response to her question. It was a lot to take in—especially the whole "superhuman-abilities" thing.
She took her hand off my shoulder, and handed me a tissue from her bag. I wiped the wetness off my face and blew my nose, grateful to have stopped crying and to be able to breathe again. I opened my mouth to convey my gratitude, when she began speaking in a serious tone.
"I heard about last night."
Oh, shit.
"I'm sure you didn't actually think we would allow you to live with a single shinobi, especially Naruto, without other surveillance, right?"
It was hard to swallow. I looked down at my knees. She knows.
"I hope you are aware that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated from anyone in the Leaf, and especially not you. Do I need to remind you that you hold the key for the survival of this entire Village? Maybe even the Great Five Nations?"
Well, let's be optimistic about this. At least when I go to prison I'll have enough free time to get into shape like I've always wanted.
I moved my wrists around, enjoying their last few moments of freedom. I've always hated the idea of handcuffs, and, well, any inability to move in general.
"So, in regards to the events of the night before, I just have one question." I looked up at her, expecting to see the rage of God instilled in her eyes, but instead was met with a kind, open face. "Why?"
The question caught me off guard. I thought that was obvious? I want to go home. I don't belong here. Everything is terrifying and new and I miss my tiny apartment a block from the library.
"We aren't here to hurt you, (Y/N). In fact, quite the opposite. I wasn't going to tell you this because it might defeat the purpose of the whole process, but…" She sighed. "You aren't living with the Uzumaki boy because we want to see if Uchiha Sasuke is a good host. We know he's a good host."
My mind was reeling. She lied to me in the hospital?
"You're living with the Uzumaki boy until you get accustomed to Konoha—the Leaf Village—and can move into your own area in the Uchiha residence. It's fairly secluded and Sasuke won't bother you. It's much safer for you in there than in an individual complex by, say, Naruto."
My brows furrowed. Everything was being flipped on its head. The first person I had an actual interaction with in this place—the woman who made things start to make sense—had lied to me? Was this a joke? Was she waving freedom in front of my face so I would be more compliant in the future? Likely, but not probable. If that was the case, I doubt she would be crouching in an alleyway with me…and I doubt she would have bought me food. I know I wouldn't get food for someone I saw as a danger to my city.
I loosened up a bit, and took a deep breath. Okay. I think I can handle that. Plus, alone time means less supervision. Which means I can take more time to strategize and execute my escape.
Lady Tsunade smiled at me. "A woman of many words, huh?" I could feel the sarcasm, but it was light. I smiled back, and she patted me on the knee as she stood up. "I need to get back to work before Shizune has an aneurism." She held out her hand and helped me stand, then headed towards the street. "Before I leave, however, I want to remind you that you aren't just here to have a good time." Well good, because I wasn't doing that in the first place. "In order to be the key to the prophecy, you need to train and become capable of holding your own in battle. Talk to Naruto. He should be able to help. Speaking of which, you should head home. He's probably started to search the entire city with his shadow clones by now." She waved, and she was gone.
Shadow clones? I picked up the sticks from my food and stepped out onto the streets. My face was still in pretty rough shape from crying so much, but nobody seemed to pay me much attention. What the hell is a shadow clone? And why did she have to remind me about the stupid prophecy…
As if on cue, I saw Naruto bolting down the street and skidding to a stop when he noticed me. "(Y/N)!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and started yelling in multiple directions. "I found her! By Ino's flower shop! She's here!"
Before I could process my confusion, I saw five other Naruto's jump down to the street. Shadow clones. At least Lady Tsunade warned me a little bit.
"(Y/N)!"
"Goddamnit (Y/N), don't do that!"
"I thought you tried to leave again!"
All six of the Naruto's charged at me, and even though I knew there was no point to it, I ran. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to do? Six clones of the same person were charging after me! I raced down the street, trying to evade people and merchant carts, but it was to no avail. Two strong hands grabbed me by the waist and suddenly I was flying through the air.
I screamed.
Naruto laughed.
I was starting to notice a trend.
As we were leaping over rooftops, much against my will, the hands dropped me mid-air. I tumbled down towards the street, screaming my head off, until I landed hard on the back of anotherNaruto. I heard a loud poof behind me, and turned around to see that the clones had disappeared. The Naruto I was sitting on was the real one.
He zig-zagged around poles and ran circles around buildings, purposefully coming ridiculously close to hard objects before jumping to the side and avoiding them. I clung onto his shirt so intensely that my fingernails started to rip holes into is, and even behind his back the air was forcing more water out of my eyes. If that was even possible. He finished the ride by leaping down from the roof of an incredibly tall building, flipping a few times, and then landing perfectly on the ground. Needless to say, I don't think I've ever shrieked as much as I did that afternoon.
"That", he said breathlessly as he let me down, "was for scaring the crap out of me."
I narrowed my eyes at the idiot, but couldn't help but smile. That's what he was, after all, an idiot. A blonde idiot who was just following orders. I scratched my head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Oh!" I reached into my backpack and handed him his green frog back. "I didn't spend any of it. You can count it if you don't believe me."
He took the bag, but paused. "If you didn't spend any of it, you didn't eat anything! You need to eat!" He stuffed the bag in his pouch and started to pull me towards him. I, however, was not having any of that. I seriously needed a break from the whole jumping insane heights and running at ridiculous speeds.
"No! I ate! I promise."
He looked at me with a goofy grin on his face. "Silly, if you ate, then how did you avoid spending money?"
I paused. Should I tell him about Lady Tsunade? He probably already knows… "Lady Tsunade brought me some food while I was wandering around."
"Wait…Lady Tsunade bought you food? She never buys me food!" He seemed to be pouting. Was my story not believable? Shit….I've got to…um…
"Um…well, she um…she said it was her apology for kidnapping me. She wanted to try to make me feel more comfortable here in Konoha."
Naruto scratched his head, looking at me with a weird expression on his face. "Well,,,I guess you're just lucky. Tomorrow I'm going to walk right up to her door and demand that she buys me Ichiraku's! With all that we've been through…" Naruto's muttering became incoherent, and I noticed that the wind had started to pick up a little bit. I shivered as its cold fingers brushed across my bare arms. Sakura hadn't given me any kind of coat when she picked out my outfit, so I was at a bit of a loss when it came to evenings.
He stopped muttering. "You're cold," he observed. "Here." He slipped off his jacket and put it around my shoulders.
"Oh, no, really I'm fine." I started to take it off, but he pushed it back up my arms.
"Keep it. I don't need it."
I noticed the lack of goosebumps on his arms. He really didn't need it. In that case, I smiled and thanked him, and began walking to the stairs to get to his apartment. Maybe Sakura didn't give me a jacket on purpose.
"Oh, no. (Y/N) you lost your walking privileges when I lost you for the second time in a day." I scooped me up and was carrying me bridal-style up the stairs before I could get a word in edgewise. 'I swear I'm going to buy a leash for you or something. Maybe a balloon so I can find you in a crowd."
I laughed at the idea. I imagined Naruto following a bright red balloon through a crowd of people. If he tried that one, I would definitely have to tie it onto a cat or something just to mess with him.
We reached his door, and he set me down. I followed him in, taking our shoes off, and he motioned for me to sit on his couch. I complied, finding it more comfortable and, well, clean than I had originally expected. I heard the clinking of pots in the kitchen, and a few minutes later Naruto appeared with some tea on a tray.
"You made tea?"
He laughed. The sound seemed to fill the room. "Is that surprising?" Well, yeah. The idea shocked me. Partially since all I'd seen the boy ingest since I'd been here was ramen, and also because I'd never seen a guy make tea before. Not to sound sexist, but when I think about every movie I've ever seen and every interaction involving tea, a girl always made the tea. I just wasn't expecting it.
He handed me a cup and sat down on the couch with his own, facing me with his massive blue eyes. I had never noticed how large they were before, or how bright his eyes were. For a moment, I thought I could see a cloud pass by his pupil. He held my gaze for a few moments until I finally snapped out of my daze. I shifted uncomfortably. "I know Tsunade didn't buy you food out of the blue. She wouldn't do that."
My eyes widened a little. He knows. I stiffened back, but he reached his hand out and gently held my cheek. "Come on, (Y/N), I may not be the brightest but I'm not stupid. Your face is puffy. Your eyes are still a little pink." I looked away, knowing what he was getting at. I couldn't talk about it now. Not when I had finally stopped crying about it.
Naruto, however, wasn't having my reluctance. He set his tea down on the tray and used both of his hands to gently guide my face back to him. "Now," he started, "what were you crying so hard about?"
Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying it so far. I decided I needed to start adding a little bit more fluff now that the characters have been through a little bit more, but I don't plan on dropping any major romance bombs too soon. That would spoil the fun! So just a little fluff for now.
Also, new characters will be coming in during the next couple of chapters, so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me if I'm ever getting OOC.
Read and review! Love you all, and happy weekend!