*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies. –Nira
Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've written a personalized author's note. My apologies for that. I've recently moved overseas and am now living in South Korea so life has been pretty hectic, but if you couldn't tell, it's allowed me quite a bit of free time to write, especially since I don't currently have furniture or my gaming consoles. I have several chapters already written after this (I'm finishing up chapter 31 right now), but I'll only be uploading maybe once per week. What's the point in writing if there isn't a little suspense, right? ^_^
Anyway, this chapter starts the merge between the story up to this point and the beginning of the Naruto series. Some of the next few chapters will be longer than they have been by maybe a page or two, and I'm not sure if that will remain through to the end (what- and whenever the end may be), but we'll see. I cut a lot of things out of the series, though I try to keep it all as close to canon as possible while still keeping it focused on Yuriko and her muddled/confusing relationships with Kakashi and Iruka. I hope you're enjoying the way it's turning out so far. I definitely am! And oh, the scenes I have planned for later. *evil grin*
Even though I don't respond to your reviews anymore, I do still read every single one of them, and I greatly appreciate your support and words of encouragement. It makes me smile every time I get a review or someone adds either me or this story to their favorites and/or follow list. I brag about it to my husband all the time, and he just smiles like "Uh huh. That's nice, honey." (He's not a fan of anime... I know, tragic isn't it? ... but I love him anyway.) So please, keep on keeping on, being awesome, showing your support for me and this story, and writing those reviews. Your kindness and encouragement do no go unnoticed! Thank you, and please enjoy this next chapter! It's gonna be good!
Much love,
Nira
Chapter 26
"Yuriko-san!"
The pounding on the door started Yuriko from her troubled slumber and she darted to answer it, her expression stern and determined. When she saw Iruka out of breath and with a look of panicked concern on his face, her own countenance softened.
"Iruka-san, what's going on?" she inquired, her guard lowering slightly.
"It's Naruto-kun. He's stolen one of the village's most guarded scrolls," he panted. "We have to find him and get it back and I could really use your help."
Yuriko pulled Iruka inside, demanding that he explain what the scroll was as she hastily changed into her training gear. In too much of a panic, Iruka couldn't think about the fact that she'd changed right in front of him, though it had been noted briefly, and he told her what the scroll was as the two of them took off out of her apartment in search of the young miscreant.
"Naruto-kun may be a trouble-maker, but he's not a bad kid and he's not malicious. He's also not the brightest, so I doubt he would have hatched this plan on his own," Yuriko deliberated as she and Iruka raced through the village's surrounding forests in search of the bright orange of his jumpsuit.
"I don't doubt that. The bigger problem is that that scroll contains forbidden jutsu and secrets sealed by the First Hokage. If it gets into the wrong hands, it could be the end of Konoha as we know it."
"Then I guess we'd better find him quickly, huh?"
The pair searched and searched and about a half hour later, they found him at what appeared to be an abandoned building in a small clearing. He looked like he'd been practicing something by how dirty and tired he looked and Yuriko peered around, her guard up.
"Naruto!" Iruka scolded, but Naruto just laughed, seemingly excited to see them.
"Iruka-sensei! Yuriko nee-chan! You won't believe what I've learned! Once you see it, you'll let me graduate, won't you sensei?! Isn't it true that I can if I learn one of the jutsu in this scroll?!" he inquired, a giant grin on his face and eyes as big and bright as the moon.
"Graduate?" Yuriko inquired.
"Who told you that?"
Hearing a rustle from the trees above, Yuriko dove for Naruto, tackling him out of the way as kunai flew towards the three of them while Iruka took the hits to protect the others. When Yuriko looked up at their attacker, she saw a young, gray-haired shinobi wearing the standard Chuunin uniform and the same bandana style forehead protector that Genma and Izumo wore with two giant shurikens strapped to his back.
"Naruto, don't let Mizuki get that scroll! It's a dangerous artifact that was sealed because it contains forbidden ninjutsu. Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself!"
"Don't listen to him, Naruto. Iruka is just trying to scare you into giving him the scroll. He's the one who wants to use it for himself," the shinobi shot back.
"Bull shit!" Yuriko hollered. "I won't stand for your lies!"
"Oh, I'll tell you who's lying. This whole village has been lying to you your whole life, Naruto. There was a rule enacted 12 years ago that everyone in the village except you knows about. Iruka's trying to keep the truth from you even now."
"Shut up, Mizuki! You can't tell him!"
"Tell me what? What don't I know?" Naruto inquired, hurt in his eyes and a quiver in his voice.
"The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed away inside you! You are the Demon Fox that destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents twelve years ago!"
Iruka shouted at Mizuki to stop, but even Yuriko was shocked and drawn into the story that he was spewing. "You are the very being that draws hatred and resentment from everyone in the village! Did you think that it was just strange that everyone in the entire village despises your existence? Everyone has been lying to you, keeping it a secret your entire life, hating you for what you've done to our home and loved ones! Even your beloved sensei hates you! Die, Naruto!" Mizuki yelled, twirling one of the shurikens before throwing it toward Naruto.
Yuriko yelled for Naruto to get down and reached for her fan, but before she could do anything, Iruka was standing in front of her and Naruto and took the hit again, the shuriken implanting itself in his back and Yuriko's eyes widened as he coughed up blood.
"W-Why..?" she and Naruto both whispered and Iruka forced a smile through the pain.
"Because we're the same, Naruto, you and I. When I lost my parents, I acted out. I wasn't very good at school so I did stupid things and pulled pranks just to get a laugh from people- so they'd notice and pay attention to me. It didn't matter if it was good or bad. It was attention regardless… but it was so hard… wasn't it? And so suffocatingly lonely… I was hurting inside, just like I know that you are now."
Iruka had begun to cry as he explained his story and Yuriko felt her chest tighten, throat burn, and tears form on her eyelids. It had been the same for her after she'd lost her parents and it was the absolute worst until Rin came into her life. The strange desire to pull him to her and cry with him overtook her, but the thought was short-lived as Mizuki opened his big mouth, reminding her in an instance that she hated him and that they were in the middle of something.
"Cut the crap, Iruka! You know you've always hated Naruto ever since he killed your parents! You're just saying all of that to get the scroll from him!"
The look of uncertainty and mistrust in Naruto's eyes stabbed through Yuriko's heart. She knew that feeling all too well, too, and to see it in the first person to make her feel important and useful and human again for the first time since she was about his age made it hurt that much more, intensifying her growing rage for this Mizuki guy who was so blatantly using Naruto's insecurities against him. When Naruto took off in the opposite direction, running away from it all with Iruka calling after him, Yuriko's gaze hardened and hyperfocused on Mizuki.
"He's not the kind of kid to change his mind. He'll use the scroll to take revenge on the village. Didn't you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of a Demon Fox."
"I've heard enough of your shit," Yuriko snarled, drawing her fan. "You don't know Naruto-kun like we do, Demon Fox or not."
"Whatever. All I want is to kill him and take the scroll. I'll take care of you insolent fools later!"
Mizuki took off after Naruto and Yuriko took a brief moment to tend to Iruka's wounds with her medical ninjutsu. She was glad that she'd gotten bored enough to want to pick it up and had plenty of time to train before needing to use it.
"What are you doing? Don't worry about me! We have to help Naruto!" he demanded, pushing her away.
"Shut up. You can't help him if you can't catch him. It'll just take a second and we can go kill Mizuki together. There's no way in hell that I'm letting that son of a bitch hurt Naruto or get that scroll."
Iruka paused, his eyes widened upon seeing Yuriko's resolve and determination. Despite being new to the village and having heard the truth, she still trusted and cared for Naruto and Konoha. It was a true display of her character and priorities, he thought, and he couldn't help the swell of admiration for her that arose within his chest.
"I've got a plan," Iruka grinned as soon as she'd finished healing the wounds in his leg and back.
Iruka transformed into Naruto with a log transformed into the scroll on his back and took to the trees while Yuriko found the real Naruto. When she'd found him, he was hesitant to trust her, clutching the scroll to his chest and backing away from her. She held her hands up, palms showing and stood up straight, dropping her guard to show him that she had no intention of hurting him.
"Naruto-kun, listen to me," she pleaded. "I know that it's hard for you to trust people right now. I've been terrified of people for years, so I understand completely. It's still a struggle for me every day, but I'm learning."
"Why are you afraid of people?" Naruto asked, though his guard was still up.
"I've met a lot of bad people who have done terrible things. I've seen how cruel people can be to each other and experienced it more times than I would like to think about. But it's hard to see the good in people when all they've ever shown you is how ugly they can be, isn't it, Naruto-kun? But there are good people, and Iruka-san is one of them. I can prove it if you just come with me… please."
"What about the scroll? Why aren't you trying to take it from me?"
"Why I'm here trying to convince you to trust me has nothing to do with the scroll. I don't want it. I'm not going to take it from you and I won't ask you to give it to me. I have faith that you won't use it for harm because you're a good kid, and you have big dreams to become Hokage. I just want you to know that it is extremely important and could ruin everything we know and love about Konoha if it got into the wrong person's hands, so guard it with your life, okay? And I'll do everything in my power to protect you and that scroll with mine."
With that, Naruto relaxed a bit more, deciding to trust her and followed her to the location that she and Iruka agreed to meet at, setting the trap for Mizuki. When they'd all done their part and everyone was in place, Mizuki asked Iruka what the point was for Iruka to protect the monster that had killed his family.
"I'm not gonna let an idiot like you get the scroll," Iruka retorted.
"You're the idiot. Naruto is like me. Anyone can do whatever he wants once he has that scroll. There's no way that monster fox won't take advantage of the power of that scroll," Mizuki stated earning a ferocious glare from Yuriko from her hiding spot behind the tree next to Naruto.
"You're right…" Iruka chuckled with a smug grin on his face. The look of devastation on Naruto's face as his brow furrowed and he huddled into himself, clutching the scroll tighter to his chest was heartbreaking. "...if he was the Demon Fox. But Naruto is different. I know that he's an exceptional student who works very hard. He's clumsy and single-minded at the same time. No one accepts him but he understands and knows human suffering. He's not the Demon Fox Spirit. He is Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure!"
"You're so gullible, Iruka. I was going to save you for later, but I've changed my mind. You can just die now!"
Mizuki spun his giant shuriken to attack Iruka again with the intent to kill and mania in his eyes and again before she could do anything to intercede, someone else stole Yuriko's thunder. Naruto had come out from behind the tree where he'd been hiding and tackled Mizuki, a fierce look of determination and mettle boring into his opponent.
"If you ever lay a hand on Iruka-sensei, I'll kill you," he promised in a steely voice and Yuriko couldn't help the proud grin that spread across her lips as she took her place beside Naruto.
"Shut up! I can take care of a kid like you with a single blow!" Mizuki snarled back.
'I'd like to see you try, you worthless sack of shit," Yuriko chimed in, her fan drawn and ready to end his world.
"I'll strike you back a thousand times over!" Naruto hollered as he made the hand signs for a shadow clone jutsu.
In an instant, the entire clearing was filled with clones of Naruto and Mizuki looked around, fear in his eyes. Everywhere he turned was a jeering Naruto, menacing and ready to kick his ass for hurting his favorite teacher. "Come on! I thought you said you could beat me with one blow!" they heckled and when Mizuki froze, Naruto and his clones took it upon themselves to bring the fight to him, leaving him in a bruised and bloodied unconscious heap on the ground. When he finished he turned to Iruka with concern in his eyes, the sun beginning to rise in the distance from behind the mountains.
"I guess I got a bit carried away. Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto chuckled.
"I'm fine. Yuriko-san patched me up so there's nothing to worry about," Iruka smiled. "Come here, Naruto-kun. I have something that I want to give you."
Naruto walked over and Iruka smiled as he asked Naruto to close his eyes. When Naruto did as requested, Iruka took Naruto's goggles off and replaced them with his own forehead protector while Yuriko watched, confused.
"How much longer, sensei?" Naruto asked, impatient.
"You may open your eyes now," Iruka smiled, still holding Naruto's goggles. "Congratulations on your graduation."
It dawned on Yuriko then that Naruto must not have done well on his final exam for the academy to become Genin originally, but after the evening's events, he had proven himself worthy to Iruka who gifted him his own forehead protector which, she assumed symbolized the passage from one stage to the next. As Naruto stood speechless, his eyes watering and mouth unable to form words, Yuriko smiled, a warm wave of pride swelling in her chest as she looked between the two.
"Congratulations, Naruto-kun. You've done well," she cooed.
"To celebrate, tonight we're having ramen!"
When Naruto still stood frozen to the spot for a moment, Yuriko and Iruka looked at each other before looking back at Naruto. As if the return of their gaze to him thawed him, Naruto leaped into the two, his arms wrapped tightly around each of them in an embrace.
"Iruka-sensei! Yuriko nee-chan!"
Yuriko and Iruka's smiles were warm and gentle as they hugged him back, and when their gazes met each other, they both blushed crimson. They had all been through an emotional rollercoaster that evening, and Yuriko still had a mind to handle Mizuki permanently, but she decided that it would be best left to the ANBU and Hokage to decide his fate. In the meantime, she had a day to spend and a celebratory ramen dinner to attend with two of her favorite people in the whole village.