Disclaimer: I do not own any of the content following this statement. All titles, names, and plots are owned by Masashi Kishimoto even thou he ruined the story for so many of us.
Note: the use of the name Naruto for both will stop after this chapter I wanted to just make a point they are and are not the same.
Reflections
Chapter 3
New Team new Life
...
Back at the hospital Naruto and Jiraiya waited in the hallway as Tsunade and Akia inspected Naruto-chan's body for any signs of injuries. She said Naruto could stay but Tsunade called him and Jiraiya perverts and pushed them out.
"Did you see anything Jiraiya Sensei,", ask Naruto thinking about Naruto-chan being hurt or disfigured by the giant seal.
"That girl has a nice pair on her but is still a little too young for me.", said Jiraiya rubbing his chin as if deep in thought. It took Naruto a couple of seconds to figure out what he meant by that and tried to hit his perverted Sensei with no success.
Tsunade opens the door and sees Naruto pinned to the floor by a large toad eating what looks like an ice cream cone with Jiraiya standing against the wall writing in his little notebook giggling like a school girl.
"Enough playing around, Jiraiya send this toad home, we need to talk.", said Tsunade tapping her foot on the floor waiting for the pervert to get moving. Once free Naruto jumps up and runs over to the Hokage, "What's wrong with Naruto-chan, Granny.", said Naruto looking more worried they she can ever remember him being.
"Don't worry baka, she is fine, I just need to talk to your perverted sensei about the seals.", said Tsunade. "Can I see her now.", asked Naruto, he looked like he was going to burst if he didn't do something soon. "Ya, Ok but no funny business in there,", said Tsunade, "What is funny about a hospital?", said Naruto not getting her meaning.
Slapping him behind the head she pushes him toward the door and walks over to Jiraiya who was still writing in his little notebook. "If you are writing anything perverted about that poor girl in there I am going to shove it up your ass.", said Tsunade meaning every word.
As the two legendary Sannin talked about seals and chakra harmonization between Yin and Yang natures, Naruto walks into the room. Naruto-chan is in the bed laying up against the pillows, not unlike Naruto had been but a couple of days before.
She had pulled her braid over her shoulder to lay in front of her, with hair uncovered she dropped her veil when she sees Naruto walk into the room alone. "How are you feeling Naruto-chan,", ask Naruto walking up to the bed.
"Very tired and sore,", the blonde girl said rubbing her belly under the sheets.
Not understanding her he asked, "I thought your seal was on your back."
"it was but now,", she said pushing down the sheet and lifting up her blue hospital shirt to expose her flat-toned stomach, not seeing anything Naruto leans over her to get a better look. Feeling his hot breath on her skin she doesn't understand the feelings she is having.
"I don't see anything Naruto-chan,", said Naruto, "Give me a minute, Tsunade only showed me how to do this once,", focusing her attention the little blonde pushed her chakra into the seal and as they both watched a black outline turned into a swirling black seal that was the mirror image of the one on Naruto.
"Wow that looks just like mine.", said Naruto standing up and looking into the eyes of the blonde in the bed. She thinks he is joking but then realized he really doesn't know, so pulling her shirt down, she leans back into her pillows.
"The process was to remove my seals and at the same time copy your seal onto me, but it's a mirror image to reflex I am Yin, while you are Yang.", she said repeating what the Hokage had explained to her.
Rubbing the back of his head Naruto thought about what she said and rubbed his head some more then with a look of understanding he said, "So you have my seal too, that's cool.", he said with a giant smile. "How does your back feel now with all the Hyuga seals gone.", He said remembering the talk about them being painful.
Knowing he was the type that needed to see things to believe them she sat back up and pulled the shirt off over her head struggling a bit with the brad. Turning her back to him, he could see her white soft skin bare down to her waist. Smooth white skin without a blemish, all of the seals, scares, and burns had completely been erased.
"It looks perfect,", he said trying not to think about her lack of modesty, wanting nothing more than to run his hand over that perfection but not knowing why, he steps back. "So does it feel different", he asked as he felt the need to move back so he doesn't do anything really stupid. Having someone this open with him much less a girl was something he didn't know how to handle. It would be much easier if she yelled at him or called him names.
Fixing her shirt back into place and pulling the braid back in front of her left shoulder she looked up at him with that emotionless look she seemed to always have. The cold beauty of her face was frozen like a classical statue of a goddess. It would seem that having to hide her face from the world her whole life prevented her from learning how to express herself.
"I don't feel anything but I did look in the mirror and it does look better.", she said with little emotion in her voice as if this was just another thing wrong with her.
Turning to the window to look out at the village, trying to get the image of a half-naked blonde out of his head Naruto changed the subject to his favorite pastime, "Do you want to go get ramen with me?"
Before she can answer the door bursts open and an irate Hokage walks into the room. 'All right you little pervert…. ", she started then not seeing Naruto next to the bed she looks around and spots the boy next to the window. Not sure if she should be happy or upset that Naruto wasn't near the most beautiful girl in the whole village, she stares at both teens.
"OK brat time to leave, I have some more tests to do and Jiraiya needs to talk to you about your training.", the Hokage said pushing the boy out the door.
Once the door closed she turned to the girl in the bed who had placed the veil back over her face and watched every move the Hokage made with her sharp blue eyes.
Tsunade can clearly see the girl is a ball of nerves as soon as she spotted her walk in, the reaction has been the same every time. Standing next to the bed Tsunade calls on her chakra to scan over the girl's form and satisfied with what she finds she looks the girl in the eye.
"I am the Hokage, not some butcher you think I am so calm down", Tsunade said waiting to see if it sinks into the blonde's stubborn head this time.
Getting no reaction just like all the other times she decides to give up on that for now and asks, "The fox in your gut seems to have healed you to perfection, I need to know, can you talk to it, or is it talking to you now with your new seal?", Tsunade asked waiting next to the bed for the girls answer.
"I can hear a whisper but not the words.", the girl said in her soft voice looking to her hands for reassurance. Looking back to the Hokage she said, "The fox's voice grows weak when Naruto is near and strong when he is gone. Even now I can hear the fox as if she is in the other room talking but not the words."
"Just now when he was in the room what did you hear?", Tsunade asked.
"The voice faded into the background.", the girl replied.
'Just as we thought, the girl's seal is dependent on the original's strength, without the death god's power to reinforce it, it weakens over time,", Tsunade thought.
"What do you think of Naruto?", Tsunade asked, trying to come up with a plan that will keep the village and the girl both safe.
"He is a strong shinobi.", she said tilting her head a little to the side. "Yes but what do you think of him.", ask Tsunade again trying to feel out the girls feeling if any for the blonde boy.
"I don't understand, what do my feelings have to do with anything?" is her response.
Trying to think how to get the emotionally stunted girl to understand she tries again, "Do you not want to be around him or do you want to be around him?", she tries again.
"I never have had a choice so I do not know how to answer.", the girl said looking at her hands in her lap, her root training screaming run from the butcher but she holds still.
"Then I, as the Hokage of Konohagakure, give you free will in this, you can now and moving forward choose who you can spend your time with or not.", said Tsunade, trying to make a joke of this but hoping the girl understands nonetheless.
Laughing at her own joke she looks over at the bed to find a pair of blue eyes staring at her without blinking, "Is that an order, a real order Hokage?", the girl asks frozen in place waiting with something people call hope. It's a feeling she had lost a long time ago but lately, it had returned in some small part.
Seeing that the girl was being serious Tsunade put her hand on the girl's head for effect and said, "I Hokage give you free the will to choose your friends as you wish, I so order it." Stepping back to see what she will do Tsunade is surprised to see a tear rolling down her cheek to disappear behind the veil.
Getting on her knees on the bed Naruto-chan bowed deeply to the Hokage and said, "I will do my best to follow your order my Hokage."
"Yes, so you should, now I have work to do.", said Tsunade leaving the room to find a local bar and a good drink. Dealing with one blonde was bad but dealing with two of them was really getting on her nerves.
….
"What did you want to talk to me about Jiraiya Sensei?", asked Naruto as he bounced up to the larger man waiting in the hallway.
"Let's go for a walk and we can get some of that Ramen you're always talking about.", said Jiraiya heading for the stairs. Once out of the hospital they head down the street, half the people look away from the orange-clad boy but the others stare and whisper 'Demon' under their breaths. The two shinobi ignore both groups as they had better things to do than worry about a bunch of civilians.
As soon as Naruto spotted Ichiraku Ramen shop he ran ahead to save them some seats and place the first of many orders of the food of the gods. It was rare that Jiraiya was willing to pay for Ramen and he planned to take full advantage of it.
"Hey old man three bowels of Ramen for me and one for the pervy Sensei." yells out Naruto as soon as his butt hit the seat in front of the ramen stand. As Jiraiya walked up to take a seat he can see Naruto working on finishing the second bowel and reaching for the third. How the kid was able to not piss himself with all the broth he drinks is a mystery.
Taking some noodles Jiraiya stops to think before saying, "Kid about your training, we are going to have to put it off until we can figure out what to do with that girl." Putting the noodles in his mouth he waits for the coming explosion that doesn't happen.
Looking down he can see a miracle, Naruto had put down his chopsticks and was thinking, really thinking for once before reacting. Seems the blonde idiot is growing up some, or the girl had a calming influence on him.
"I agree Prevy Sensei, once she is healed we need to take Naruto-chan with us when we leave.", Said Naruto before turning back to his fourth bowel as he drained the third of all its broth. Jiraiya was really thinking the boy was wearing a diaper of some kind, I mean really he just drank 3 gallons of soup in the last 5 minutes.
"I wasn't planning on traveling the continent with two blondes bouncing behind me.", said Jiraiya looking sideway at the overactive blonde as he drained another bowel into his endless pit of a gut.
Naruto puts down his bowel and turns to look at Jiraiya, "We can't leave her Sensei, she doesn't have anybody here and she needs to train to control her,", looking around to check that nobody was listening he whispers, "Her demon", before turning back to a new bowel the Ramen chef had placed in front of him.
Jiraiya gave the chef a look and signals to stop the parade of ramen bowels to the blonde as he didn't want to see the limit of the blonde's bladder control.
Wanting to see how or if Naruto thought this over he decided to challenge him, "I don't think that girl should be allowed out of the village, we don't know anything about her.", said Jiraiya waiting to see what Naruto's response is, as he pushed his half finished bowel back to that cute waitress.
"What are you talking about Sensei, she is just like me but prettier.", said Naruto looking into his half-empty bowel wondering what happen. "She wouldn't be safe here anyway, once people learn about her they will hate her more than me."
"What makes you think that?", asks Jiraiya sliding money for the food to the waitress and giving her a wink to make her blush. Seeing the old chef pick up a knife Jiraiya can see he pushed that a little too far.
"Will first thing is nobody knows her so that will bring distrust and second she will not know how to deal with all the, you know, looks people will give her. She may say or do something if I am not around.", said Naruto checking each bowel, in turn, to make sure he didn't miss anything.
"I see your point, lets's talk to Tsunade in the morning. You should head home and rest.", said Jiraiya knowing the kid will just run off to a training ground no matter what he says. Now to find the bar Tsunade is hiding in so they can talk.
Later that night in a dark smelly corner of an old shinobi bar Tsunade was pouring the last of many drinks into her cup as Jiraiya waited for her response.
"I can't see you training both of them at the same time, you have a hard enough time controlling Naruto and now you want two of them.", she said over her glass.
"The girl is nothing like him and you know it, she will have a calming effect on Naruto, make him focus more, and if what she said is really true, we don't want Danzo and root to get their hands on her.", Jiraiya said pushing his point as best he could with three or was that four bottles in him.
"What about Akatsuki? You told me you will need to hide Naruto from them until he is trained but with two of them, how are you going to do that?", asked Tsunade, Jiraiya's habit of going to every bathhouse in the five nations makes it hard to hide one teenager but two and one of them a girl that looks like her will be impossible.
"I have been thinking about that, we will have to spend a lot more time away from the cities at first until they both have better control. Even time in Sunagakure to train with Naruto on his wind technic would be good.", said Jiraiya, thinking about ways to convince the wind masters to train a crazy blonde that doesn't listen to half of what you say.
Tsunade stopped her glass halfway in shock at what he just said, he was willing to leave the bathhouses alone for as long as 6 months. There must be something more she isn't seeing. Emptying her glass but leaving the bottle alone for now she looked him in the eye.
"What do you really have planned with that girl you pervert", she said waiting to see if she had to punch him through the wall into the street.
"OK, you got me, she needs time away from all of this to learn to be a person and not some root robot and I think spending some alone time with Naruto would be the best place to start before allowing her into a crowded city.", Jiraiya looked over at his old teammate waiting to see if she agreed or not. Root training was hard to shake off and she already showed signs of being at a breaking point.
"I see you really thought this through, I am impressed, I say we wait a month, let her see and be seen in the village before you drag them into one of your adventures.", said the Hokage sounding a lot soberer than she really was. Knowing her for years he knew this was her last word on the subject and waved the nearest waitress over to order another bottle.
…..
BANG, BANG, BANG, shock Naruto's door and he fell out of bed and staggered over to the door of his one-bedroom apartment. The fourteen steps from his bed to the door must have taken too long as the banging started all over again.
"OK, OK, I am coming, stop with the banging,", he yells reaching for the door nob and pulling the door open to face his human alarm clock.
Swinging the door wide he stands in his underwear and sleeping hat facing Sakura in all her pink rage, "Naruto! You baka, you're late for the team meeting,", looking down at him from her shorter height she said, "Get dressed, How many time have I told you to get dressed before opening your door."
Closing the door in her face he takes the fourteen steps back to his bed and puts his pants on and then back to the door, opening it again he sees she is still there and turns and walks back into his apartment with Sakura close behind.
Looking at his clock he can see it's 8:15, team meetings are at 8, and with their sensei, that means more like 11. turning to face his tormentor in pink he ask, "Why did you come so early, sensei will not show up until 10 or 11, I would have been there by then."
"Team meetings are at 8 that is why.", she said not wanting him to think she was worried about him after being missing for the last couple of days.
"We have a lot of training to do if we want to bring Sasuke-Kun back to me, I mean us. So get dressed and let's go.", crossing her arms, daring him to say anything he wanders over to his bed and picks up some cleaner clothes, and walks into the bathroom. He had been training all night, not getting back until the sky started to lighten up with the new day. Not that she would know anything about training all night.
Taking care of his morning business and changing into his cleaner clothes he walked out into his living/dining room to see sakura sitting on the edge of his sofa waiting for him. "OK, let's go Sakura-chan", he said bouncing to the door and waiting for her to exit before closing it behind.
At the bridge they find a laid-back Kakashi reading his porn and tapping his foot. Shocked the remaining members of team seven walk up to him.
"Your late,", said Kakashi with a suppressed laugh.
"Sorry Sensei", they said together still not believing he was really here.
"Do we have a cool mission Kakashi Sensei, is that why you're here so early", said Naruto, knowing that was one of the few reasons Kakashi would be on time or at least close to it.
"You got it on the first guess my cute little genin, we are to report to the Hokage's office.", said Kakashi snapping his book closed and walking off in the direction of the Hokage tower.
Standing in front of the Hokage desk team seven waited for her to return after being told to wait there. Naruto wandered around the office and ended up near the windows looking out at the village. The day was one of those bright summer days that seemed to go on forever, he only wished Naruto-chan was able to join him.
The office door banged closed as the Hokage walked to her desk with a slim girl all in black walking by he side, her hair and face both covered by a cloth, not unlike Kakashi sensei. A hint of blonde hair flows out from under the head scarf. Her figure was clearly on display as her shirt and pants were tight and form fitting like many of the Anbu uniforms but she was missing any vest, her only weapons seem to be the two pouches at her hips.
Reaching the desk Tsunade sat and looked at the shinobi arranged before her. The newest member of the group dropped to a knee and lowered her head saying, "I live to serve."
"I told you not to do that anymore, now stand up.", said Tsunade getting a little more irritated at the girl's habits, all morning it's been one thing after another with her. Her insecurity about her face was the worst of it but some of the other little quirks would be funny if they weren't so deadly.
Naruto seeing the newcomer leaves the windows and runs over to stand next to her bouncing on his heels and looking at her. "How are you feeling Na…", with a bang the Hokage slams her hand to the desk stopping Naruto before he can say another word.
"Team seven, I would like to introduce to you your newest team member, Nariko. Nariko this is Kakashi Sensei, Sakura Horumo and I believe you know Naruto here.", said the Hokage, pinning Naruto down with a look knowing she will have to have a talk with him before they leave.
"Does Nariko have a last name, Hokage?", asks Sakura, "I don't recall anyone in any class with that name." Sakura knew the name of every class member not only of her own year but those one year behind and ahead of her class.
"Nariko was part of a special training program.", said Tsunade getting a little impatient with the pink-haired girl. "She is quite skilled so there is no need to worry."
Knowing this wasn't the end of her questioning Tsunade moved on to the rest of the meeting. "Kakashi your team will stay in the village for the next couple of weeks as you get acquainted with your new teammate.
"Ah come on granny we need to get out there and find Sasuke.", said Naruto forgetting for a moment the blonde girl that was staring at him.
"Naruto, you baka, listen to the Hokage,", said Sakura raising her fist to hit the blonde boy in the back of the head, as her arm came forward she found herself face down on the floor with a knee in the small of her back.
"Nariko, let her up.", said Tsunade but smiling on the inside, about time someone defended Naruto from his own teammate.
Getting off the floor Sakura gave the new girl a dirty look and moved to stand by Kakashi Sensei. Naruto having closed his eyes, started to look around trying to figure out what happened and smiled at everyone.
"Kakashi, why don't you show Nariko your team's meeting place while I have a little talk with Naruto here.", said Tsunade, waiting for the three shinobi to leave, calling Naruto over to her side so they can talk.
"Naruto, we need to keep Naruto-chan's origin a secret, so we gave her a code name that you have to use in public, you understand?", said Tsunade to the overactive blonde.
"Ya I got it but why did you name her after thunder, that isn't cool.", said Naruto. "What? Your name means maelstrom so I thought it was fitting.", said Tsunade. "But she needs a petty name, not one that is all dark and moody.", was Naruto's answer clearly not seeing the girl for who she was.
"Enough of this, what is done is done, now go find your team and stay out of trouble.", said the Hokage watching the blonde run out of the room, Jiraiya walked out of the shadows to stand in front of the Hokage's desk.
"You sure this is a good idea, letting them loose on the village like that.", said Jiraiya.
"I can't let you just take Naruto without giving the girl a chance to know the village. We both know what type of training she has been through.", said Tsunade, "She will need time to normalize and Naruto is her touchstone at this point."
"It's not that I don't agree with you but the Akatsuki don't care about how some girl feels about the village.", said Jiraiya walking to the same window Naruto had been using but a couple of minutes ago.
"We have to take the chance, once I am sure she is stable then we can talk about your crazy plan.", putting to a close their little debate.
…..
Walking behind Kakashi Nariko had to remind herself this wasn't the shinobi she knows, this one seemed lazy and distracted by a small book he carried in front of his face most of the time. His skill as a ninja wasn't in question as she watched him move around the civilians with ease without ever taking his eyes off his book. The fact that he hadn't randomly killed someone was the biggest clue he was not the same man she had trained with in the past.
It was the civilians that puzzled her the most, they all seemed so happy and without a care in the world. Some even waved at them as they walked by, reminding Kakashi of something called a D-rank mission his team did for them. It was all so strange, thought Nariko as she followed them.
There was one thing that did bother her to the point she had to ask, "Kakashi Sensei, why are all the civilians staring at us." Kakashi paused and looked at the slim girl who had been following way behind as he walked leisurely to the meeting spot.
Surprising Sakura, Kakashi lowered his book and look at the blonde girl from head to toe, with a shrug he said, "Most Kunoichi that look as good as you in an Anbu skin suit travel by rooftop or at least wear an overcoat."
A red face Sakura yells, "Kakashi Sensei you pervert don't talk like that,", and she pulled her arm back and tied to hit Kakashi who simply sided stepped the wild swing and let Sakura spin around.
Not impressed by Sakura's reaction Nariko looked down at herself and even tried to look at her own backside, she didn't understand what he meant as she looked the same as always. Root members had been telling her she was ugly all her life so what changed now.
The fact that she had almost been able to twist herself completely around had frozen more than a couple of male civilians in place as they thought about how flexible she was. Now with her standing tall again, they all hurried along hoping she didn't see them staring.
Nariko, seeing that Kakashi was already two blocks down the street and soon to be out of sight, ran up the side of a building and jumped a couple of rooftops to land back down in front of the reading Jonin who stepped around her without a pause in his step. Watching him walk away again Naruto ran up and joined her. Now with Naruto walking at her side, she noticed that the civilians didn't stare so much when she was so close to Naruto.
Finding themselves in a park with a peaceful stream flowing under a small walking bridge Nariko was puzzled as they stopped and looked at her. Naruto had wandered off again chasing some small boy with a long scarf who said something about kissing in a tree, she really hadn't paid attention to what was said until Naruto ran off screaming about something. Now alone with her new team sensei, she could hear the fox muttering in the back of her head.
"In the morning we meet here to plan for that day's mission or do training, so don't be late.", said Kakashi talking over the top of his little book at the team. Shaking her head to clear it from the fox's endless stream of comments she spoke up.
"We take mission's from here?", she asked, "No we get missions from the mission hall at the Hokage tower.", said Sakura as if the new girl was another blonde idiot, she didn't care how good looking everybody thought she was, Nariko was a friend of Naruto so she was an idiot in Sakura's eyes.
Walking over to the railing Nariko looked down to see hundreds of small cut marks as if someone had stood there with a blade cutting at the railing for hours. Turning to Kakashi as she now refused to talk to the pink-haired girl whose name she forget ask, "Then why don't we meet at the mission hall?"
"Ah, that is because we meet here don't you see.", said Kakashi in his playful tone that anyone that knew him meant he was messing with you.
Running her hands over the cuts in the rail she was beginning to understand not why but who would have done this, Naruto must have been taking his frustration out on this rail so he wouldn't have to kill his teammates.
"Nariko, I found you,", yells Naruto as he runs up to the girl by the railing, seeing her hand on his handy-work he laughed and said for only her to hear, "ya they can be a pain sometimes." Getting a grunt of an agreement he turned to his team rubbing his head and smiling only to see Sakura's lips in a sharp line as she held back from yelling at him and Kakashi wondering off reading his book.
"What!?", Naruto questioned everybody, Kakashi waved over his head yelling, "My orders were to take her to the meeting location, that was it.", and with a Body Flicker Technique vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Stomping her way off the bridge past the two blondes Sakura said, "You're both idiots." as she headed home to stare at her collection of Sasuke pictures.
Naruto followed her with his eyes wondering who she was talking about while Nariko knew she was talking about them and had to remind herself that killing a teammate was a bad thing.
Thinking hard but not coming up with anything Naruto said, "You hungry? I am, lets's go to Ichiraku, they have the best Ramen in the world." Not knowing what an Ichiraku was and always being a little hungry Nariko agreed with a nod and off they ran.
Dropping onto a stool Naruto Yelled out, "Hey old man, two bowls of the Naruto special with extra pork." With Nariko taking the seat next to him she looked around having never eaten outside of the shinobi cafeteria before, it was a strange and exciting experience. Having her back to the street was unnerving but if it didn't bother Naruto then she would put up with it.
"You have food named after you?", she asked as Naruto played with his chopsticks on the countertop. "Ya, I come here all the time and order the same thing so they named it after me, Dattebayo."
Soon a cute waitress placed two very large bowls of Ramen in front of the two shinobi. Yelling thank you for the food Naruto started slurping the noodles in as fast as he could making a mess out of himself in the process.
Nariko watched for a minute not thinking much of it having done the same not too long ago she lowered her mask and after one small taste test of a noodle soon joined in slurping the bowl clean almost beating Naruto to the bottom of the bowl.
As Naruto slammed down his bowl, Nariko was not far behind, laughing at the silly grin on his face, looking at her Naruto smiled even harder, "Ayame two more.", yelled Naruto feeling better than he had in forever.
Ayame came over to collect the bowls and stopped to stare at the uncovered face of Nariko, "Oh my.", she said without thinking, Nariko hearing her quickly covered her face, "I am so sorry for offending you", said Nariko in her soft voice.
Ayame seeing the reaction Nariko had, she placed her hand on the blonde girl's hand and said, "It's me that should be sorry, it just you're so beautiful it took me by surprise." Turning and taking the empty bowls to the back she left the two young shinobi alone for a moment.
"Nariko, you really are pretty you know,", said Naruto hoping that was the right thing to say but braced himself for when she would hit him for saying such a thing.
"You really think so?", said Nariko not making a move to strike him as he expected.
"Ya Dattebayo, I wouldn't lie to you. Ever", said Naruto, this time keeping eye contact.
Not knowing what to say she thanked the gods that Ayame brought two more bowls and they could enjoy the food of the gods for a couple of more minutes before having to think about all of this again.
Leaving the ramen stand after three bowls each the two blondes felt full and happy, with nothing else to do Naruto said, "Hey you want to train with me?", he totally expected her to say no like everyone else but was surprised when she said yes.
Running to training ground seven Naruto said, "Can you make the Rasengan?", thinking he would be able to show off he summoned a clone and started to make a spinning ball of chakra when a shurikens hit the clone in the head causing it to pop and the Rasengan to spin out of control and burn his hand.
"Dam that hurt,:, he said shaking his hand, "Why did you do that?"
She looked at him for a full minute trying to think of a way to tell him before saying, "Using a clone in combat would be foolish as I just showed you. Learn to make the Rasengan without it." The blank stare she got in return told her what she needed to know.
"You can't can you.", she stated more than asked as he kicked the dirt and turned his back to her.
"No I can't, Jiraiya sensei said it was good enough and stopped training me on it.", said Naruto.
"Well it's not good enough, so come here and let me show you how," said Nariko as she held out her hand and formed a Rasengan in her palm.
"Wow, how you do that so quick, even Jiraiya sensei doesn't make them that fast.", said Naruto.
Letting the Rasengan fall apart into the air and not wanting to tell Naruto what pain she had to go through to learn the Rasengan Nariko said, "First hold your hand like this and then close your eyes and image your chakra is clay in your hand, you have to focus your mind as the mind is the master and the chakra is the slave.", she said using the words told to her.
"So like this,", he said as he tried to make his chakra mold in his hand with a blue glow and then a spark of chakra before it faded.
"Close but you have to not use force, force will only break it, you have to mold the chakra.", she said showing him once again how she does it and then taking his hand and laying it in her palm face up molds her chakra in his palm.
For Naruto, the feeling of her chakra moving in and over his hand was strange but pleasant as a half-formed Rasengan formed and faded away.
Laughing at her own failure she said, "It's a little harder with someone else's hand but did you feel the molding?"
"Ya I think I did that time,", said Naruto leaving his hand in hers he tried to mold the chakra in his palm slowly this time with focus and not trying to force all his chakra into the jutsu. As a blue glow formed and a shadow of a ball could be seen Naruto got excited and pushed a little harder to only watch it spin out of control and vanish.
"So close but I think you're getting it,", said Nariko, this was one of the hardest jutsu she had learned and it had taken her months to figure it out. Chakra molding was a branch of chakra control that wasn't taught in the normal training programs of root. After spending the remaining hours of the day working on molding chakra Nariko noticed the sun was falling behind the Hokage mountain.
"We should stop here, there is no use training when you're tired, all you do is burn chakra and waste time learning the wrong way to produce a jutsu.", said Nariko as she pulled her hand away from Naruto's and looked around at the village lights started to brighten the night sky.
"But I always train all night,", said Naruto.
"And look where that got you, you can't form a Rasengan on your own, your control is useless because you're always too tired to focus and your reaction time for a shinobi is way too slow.", listing all the faults she had seen Nariko didn't see the dejected look on Naruto's face as he turned to walk away.
When Naruto had almost reached the edge of the training grounds Nariko ran up to him and said, "Are you mad at me?", stopping Naruto in his tracks. "I thought you hated me and didn't want to be my friend anymore with all those things you said.", yelled Naruto as he turned to face her.
Now Nariko wasn't all that good with emotions having spent most of her life being trained to suppress them but the big ones like hate, anger, and even love she did have an understanding of, even if she hadn't felt all of them herself.
"How can I hate you, I am just like you, I used to train day and night almost killing myself in the process it wasn't until I learned that you need proper rest and focus did I start to make any headway, I just wanted to help.", she said almost reaching for his hand but stopping halfway not knowing what to do. Emotions again, they confused her so much.
"So you really want to help?", said Naruto, now more confused than ever, nobody ever really wanted to help him before.
"Yes I really want to help so stop being mad at me OK,", said Nariko, the thought of him being mad at her had formed a knot in her chest that she didn't know what to do with, feelings again are more complex them all the jutsu in the world.
"That's so cool, you want to get Ramen with me?", said Naruto smiling hard and rubbing the back of his head. Getting a nod from Nariko he grabbed her hand and ran with her off to Ichiraku Ramen.
Teuchi had seen a lot of strange things living in a Ninja village but watching two teenage shinobi eat not one or two bowls but ten each in a matter of an hour was top of his list. As Ayame came back with a stack of bowls she giggles looking behind her, "Dad, they look so cute together don't they, I am so happy Naruto found a friend and such a pretty one too.", she said with a girly squeal.
"Ayame, you should stay out of the customer's business, even Naruto's. I know you think of him as a little brother.", said Teuchi stirring another batch of noodles into the large pot he has spent most of his life behind. Noodles he understood and god bliss Ayame's mother, she understood the nature of the noodle also, if only she had survived the Kyubbi all those years ago.
Out front, the two shinobi finished their last bowl and sat back with a happy grin on their faces, food of the gods Naruto called it and Nariko would have to agree. "This was great but I guess I have to go home now and rest for training tomorrow.", said Naruto jumping from his seat and running down the street, he turned to see Nariko still sitting there so he ran back and said, "Aren't you going home to, I thought you said you didn't want anymore."
Nariko looked down at her hands and then over to Naruto before she got up to walk over to him. "It's just that Akia said she would find me a place to stay after I got out of the hospital but she got sent on a mission and well, I don't really have any place to go.", said Nariko, "I figured I would just sleep in one of the training grounds or something."
"No way, you can come and stay at my place, it's not big but it's better than the woods.", said Naruto.
His apartment building was only a short jog away and as they ran up the stairs to his place Nariko wondered how he was allowed to live so far away from any other shinobi. She didn't see any type of security but Anbu are good at hiding so she wasn't that worried until they entered his home.
He opened his door with a key, no seal or hand sign needed just a key, she had a hard time believing it even when she saw it with her own eyes. As they entered his home she looked around at a standard one-room apartment with a separate bathroom but a kitchen living room bedroom great room. She had seen many of these efficiency-style rooms before, most civilian bachelors use them before they start a family but for a Jinchuurki of the nine-tails, it was unheard of.
She knew the pain of being alone but she had been surrounded by a company of root members to keep watch so if she strayed or had any mental issues they would report her. She learned young that throwing a fit would only get her time in the small dark room all alone for days until she swore to near ever do that again, whatever it was that upset them.
For Naruto, she expects so much more in this free and peaceful village that hadn't known war in so very long.
"Welcome to my home,", he yelled kicking his saddles off and spinning around with his arms wide open. "This is the kitchen, and this is the living room,", he said pointing to a sofa that looked like it had seen better days, "And this is the bedroom", again a double sized bed over in the corner that she was sure hadn't been made, ever.
"I know it's not much but you're welcome to stay as long as you need to.", he said with a smile and a little more hope in his voice than he meant to use.
She removed her shoes and walked around, 14 steps to the bed, 22 to the kitchen she counted and over to the window she can see a couple of small plants that would be happy when the sun shined in the morning. She liked plants but had never really had a chance to own one having lived mostly underground. She really needed to stop thinking about root and its darkness, she was free of that and needed to remind herself of that more often.
"So what would you like to do, we can listen to some music or play some card games,", he said, "It's really not that late." Having never, ever had anybody stay for more than a couple of minutes Naruto was unsure of what to do or say and was jumping around trying his best to make her feel at home.
"You can play music?", she asked not seeing any musical instrument.
Moving to the end of the sofa he turned on a small beaten-up radio that had seen better days, it started to play smooth Jazz as the DJ called it. "I can only get this one station but it's nice as they play all night without talking about useless stuff.", said Naruto.
Not having a radio of her own, anything would have been nice but this was something unexpected, she quickly learned she liked this 'jazz' music having never heard it before.
"That's nice, I like it.", she said moving over to sit with him on the small two-person sofa. As they sat there for over five minutes she realized this was the longest she had been with him without him talking and looked over to check to see if he was still awake.
Naruto had his eyes half closed and was swaying to the music, he seemed to really be enjoying himself, getting lost in the song, he had found this was one of the only things that really blocked out the fox. He looked at her feeling her eyes on him and said, "You can relax now. It's OK you're safe here.", he said.
Safe, she hadn't been safe since the day she was born, the very idea was alien to her, no seals, no guards, and only that one little lock to keep the monsters of the world out and he said she was safe. The more she thought about it the stranger it felt.
"Hey what's wrong, you look like you're going to have a panic attack or something.", Naruto said holding her hands in his. She looked at their joined hands and scanned the room, checking the door and window with her eyes before looking back at him.
"How,", she said with a shaky voice, "How, can you say your safe."
His grin almost split his face in two as he pulled her hands back and forth, "That's easy because I am here with you. You can trust me on that, Dattebayo!", he said as if that was the answer to all of her problems.
The word "But' ran around her head, she was thinking of all the things that could happen but then it hit her, he had lived here all his life and he felt safe, then why can't she be safe too, all she had to do was trust him, trust the one person that she really knew was just like her.
"OK, I will trust you.", she said softly but clearly for him to hear. Laughing not at her but in the joy of being trusted he bounces off the sofa and dances around the room before sitting back down.
"I will never let you down Naruto-chan, that is a promise of a lifetime.", he said holding her hands again and grinning like a fool. Now with his supreme oath giving he sat back and relaxed on the sofa turning back into the music. She copied him and let the music flow over her until she could feel a tension in her bones she didn't even know was there finely let go.
After a while she felt the need to move, move with the soft sounds flowing around the room, and standing up she started to slow dance around the room with half closed eyes, letting her body move on its own and for once just enjoying the feeling of being alive.
Naruto was transfixed watching her move with the music, her form was that of a goddess, and when she pulled her mask off along with her hair scarf his heart missed a beat. Undoing the pin holding her hair in its brad she let it fall all around her in a wave of gold down her back.
Naruto swore at that moment that he would move heaven and earth to keep her safe, the gods themselves would never toucher her. Her dance continued for a good long time before the beat of the next song broke her out of her trance. Looking around she found that she had dropped her mask and some of that old panic began to invade her mind.
"Don't worry Naruto-chan, I am the only one here and you don't have to cover your face when you're with me.", said Naruto, knowing that she doesn't believe anybody that calls her pretty or gorgeous, even those words don't do her justices.
"Sorry, it's just that.. I.. you know … never take it off.", she said having a hard time getting the words out, to many years of insults will take a lot longer than a week to get over if she ever could. She felt broken in so many ways and the mask was a way to hide it from the world.
"I know,", said Naruto, "It's getting late why don't we get some of that rest you said we need and then we can start training again in the morning."
After turning the radio off he turned back to look up at her still standing there, "You can use the shower first because you're a girl and all. Don't worry I will sleep here on the sofa."
Not getting what he meant by that girl part but willing to let it go she walked into the bathroom, there was only a small shower and no tub, she found the two towels hanging on the back of the door.
Hearing the shower running he hoped she doesn't take too long as the hot water doesn't last long and he didn't want her to get shocked when it turned cold.
Hearing the door open he turn to see her walk out only wearing one of his small bath towels wrapped around her middle barely covering her while she used the other to try to dry her hair. He could see all of her clothes in a pile on the bathroom floor, he noticed she liked orange panties before he realized that she wasn't wearing anything but a towel.
As she walked in what felt like slow motion toward him, he couldn't help but think that she had the best legs he had ever seen. Bending over to dry her hair he prayed that that towel would stay in place and by some magic that only girls seem to know how to do it didn't fall off as she stood back up throwing her hair over her back.
"God that felt good, you going to take a shower too?", she asked, she was totally unaware of the effect she was having on him, having been naked in front of so many in the common showers of root training it never crossed her mind that this wasn't normal.
"Ya, I will", said Naruto after a couple of tries to find his voice. "OK, I didn't see any other towels, you can use this one.", she said taking the towel off her body and handing it to him.
'I am going to die a happy man, was the only thought he had as he beheld her perfection. From her perfectly sized breast with those pink nipples to the toned abs, and the sway of her hips atop legs that didn't seem to end, she was a picture of a supermodel mixed with a world-class athlete.
His mouth hung open as he robotically took the towel from her hand, she turned back to the bathroom to gather up her clothes, seeing her backside as she walked away broke him and he fell onto the floor with a thump, with a stupid grin on his face.
Coming out of the bathroom she finds him pulling himself off the floor using the side table next to the sofa. "What happen, you Ok,", she said holding her clothes to her chest. Her complete lack of modesty was going to kill him but what a way to go.
"No, No, I am fine, just need to get to the shower.", he said not looking at her, and walked quickly into the shower, for once he will be very happy it will be a very cold shower indeed.
After one of the longest, coldest showers of his life he put on his pajama pants and walked out ready for anything. He found her sitting on the sofa wearing one of his t-shirts that landed halfway to her knees. Letting out a long breath he didn't know he was holding he walked over to her.
"That was great, Oh, mmm, you can use the bed, I have slept on the sofa a lot so don't worry about it.", he said, 'wondering if she is wearing anything under the shirt,', pops into his head. 'Stop thinking like Jiraiya dammit.', he thought to himself.
"I just feel really bad taking your bed,", she said looking up at him with those big blue eyes, eyes he thought he could stare into them for hours.
"No really it's OK.", he said trying to think of something else, anything but her eyes. Sasuke's eyes popped into his head and a cold sweat ran down his back. Ok, thinking about her eyes was way better.
Looking over to the bed she said, "It's big enough for two, we can share."
"No really you can have it,", said Naruto
"OH, I understand, you don't like me, I guess I am too ugly.", she said looking upset now at his betrayal. "All those words you said were lies."
'Fuck', was his only thought, "No NO please it's not that, I meant everything I said, I really did.", said Naruto apologizing for something he didn't do like every man has done from the dawn of time.
"Good then we agree, your sleeping in the bed", she said walking over to the bed and sliding under the covers. 'Trapped,', he thought as he turned off the lights, the room was barely lit by a street light as he moved to the bed and climbed in.
It was his bed, and he had slept in it for years but tonight it felt foreign and strange. Laying his head down on his pillow he tried not to move as he felt her rolling around. "good night Naruto.", she said from her side of the bed, "Good night,", he responded.
Somehow, he fell asleep and slept like a baby for the first time in a very long time.
…..
Waking up for Naruto had always been a slow process, the dream world was so much better than the reality he lived in that he fought to stay there as long as possible. But this morning, this morning was different the real world had something he wanted to wake up to, if only it would stop that incessant sound. Opening one eye he looked down at the spay of blonde hair spread across his chest.
They are in a tangle of arms and legs all twisted together in the middle of the bed. The sound that woke him was his bedmate's snoring, 'Dam she is loud and people say I snore', he thought as he tried to move the blonde girl off of him. She wouldn't have any of it and fought back to keep her place wrapped around him.
He was sure she was still asleep and really didn't want to wake her up. He found that in the middle of the night they had found each other in the middle of the bed and he was holding her as much as she was holding him. Coming more awake it dawned on him he had his arm completely up the back of her nightshirt, he could feel her soft skin under his hand as he moved it along her back. Moving lower and lower he found he was wrong and she did have on a pair of panties, thank the gods, he didn't know if his willpower could have handled finding her bare.
Moving his hand to her shoulder he pushed her back until he could see her face as her eyes fluttered open to look into his. As they slowly focused on him she pushed herself up until she was hovering over him, looking down under her curtain of hair she said, "Morning, you snore." she said bluntly, "so do you", he said back at her. They both laughed as she finished sitting up on the bed. "I guess you slept well, I sure did.", she said
"Ya it was great, I don't remember a better night's sleep.", Naruto said watching her for any signs she was upset with him for touching her. She gave him no such sign, only that blank look she almost always had when talking to him or anybody for that matter.
"I think I will take a shower first this time if that is OK with you?", he said, hoping she didn't notice the reason why. "Sure, I don't mind.", she said using her fingers to comb out her hair.
"Did your hair grow overnight?", he said seeing her fight with the blonde wave.
"Yes, I think it's the fox's way of getting back at me, it grows this long every night even when I cut it short.", she said holding out the strands that now reached down to her feet.
Shaking his head in wonder he got out of bed hiding his morning problem and went to take a shower, for once he is glad he had to save the hot water.
….
Sakura was pissed, not her normal I hate the world pissed but a more focused I hate that idiot pissed. She had waited for hours for him to show up at the team meeting and for once Kakashi showed up before him.
For three hours she waited alone on that dam bridge, they needed to train to get stronger to be able to save Sasuke but he was LATE.
Kakashi Sensei sent her to find him and bring him to the training ground and that is what she is going to do, even if she has to drag him there by his god-awful orange jacket. Stomping up the stairs of his dilapidated building until she stood in front of his graffiti-covered door she took a deep breath and pounded on the door. "Naruto YOUR LATE.", she screamed.
Standing there she pounded on the door knowing he was in there sleeping and not caring at all Sasuke was out there alone. When the door unlocked and began to swing open she was ready to unleash her righteous fury on him when she was greeted by a blonde goddess wearing one of Naruto's t-shirts, as she tossed her head back causing a wave of blonde hair to fly backward her blue eyes shined in the morning sun as her cold stare landed on the pink haired terror at her door.
From her long legs to her shining hair she stood there half naked with more dignity than Sakura had ever shown in her short life. Sakura had no words to say as she was confronted by everything she wish she was but never would be.
"What do you need Sakura-san", said the half-awake Nariko not caring for now that she was bare-faced in front of this person. She felt something, some emotion that she assumed some would call anger but all her training said to push it aside.
"What's all the noise about,", said Naruto walking out of his bathroom with only a towel around his waist. His chiseled Abs were still wet from the shower as he came out worried that something was happening to Nariko.
Sakura opened and closed her mouth a couple times trying to find words, this can't be happening, how did things change so fast, one day he was a dumb fool with no class, the last in his graduating class and now he is with the most beautiful girl she had ever seen and he looks mouthwatering sexy in a bath-towel. How did this happen, did she fall into an alternate universe this morning.
"You're late.", she finally said in a subdued voice as the blonde goddess walked back into the room and climbed back into the bed that clearly showed they have been sleeping in this morning.
This was too much to handle, as Naruto walked over and said, "Sorry Sakura-chan we slept in, can we meet you there in like 30 minutes,", he said looking over at the blonde to get her agreement. 'Ya, this is too much,', thought sakura as she turned around saying, "Don't be late again, I will tell Kakashi Sensei you're coming." After finding the stairs she found her way down to the street and headed back to the training ground. 'God she needs to talk to Ino about this.'
"Does she always do that,", said Naruto-chan from the bed, she had found a kunai and was cutting her hair shorter one-foot length at a time knowing it will grow back by the morning. It was easier to brad that way.
"Only when I sleep in.", said Naruto taking some clothes into the bathroom to change.
"Then we best not sleep in again, I don't want to have to kill her.", she said from the bed looking at the Kunai, she is going to have to show him how to sharpen a blade later.
"What did you say Naruto-chan?", said Naruto coming out of the bathroom in his orange tracksuit. "Oh nothing important.", she said heading into the bathroom for a shower and to change into her clothes.
Coming out, she looked like the trained killer she was in her black body suit with her hair and face covered and weapons around her waist.
Walking over to him with that walk women do with her hips swaying he totally forgot why they got out of bed. "Come on let's go to the training ground before they send your teammate back to get you.", she may be joking or not, it was hard to tell but he went with her out the door.
Arriving at training ground seven they find Kakashi Sensei showing Sakura how to form an earth wall. She wasn't having much luck, perfect control of chakra was great but you still needed chakra in the first place and she just didn't have enough to form the wall.
Nariko watched the interaction and wondered why Kakashi even bothered. "Kakashi Sensei we are here, ", yelled out Naruto in his over-the-top fake happy voice.
"Are you going to teach us the earth wall technique too?", Naruto ask getting excited he would learn a new jutsu. "No your nature is wind, while Sakura is an earth type.", said Kakashi.
"Great then you are going to teach me a wind jutsu then?", said Naruto looking hopefully at his sensei.
"I am not a wind type, that is very rare in the village, we will need to find you a sensei for that.", said Kakashi.
Looking between Naruto and his Sensei Nariko didn't understand why he didn't seem to want to teach him a jutsu. Nariko walked over to Naruto and said to Kakashi, "Aren't you Kakashi the one-eyed, master of a thousand Jutsu, you must know some wind jutsu?", she stated in her soft but clear voice, not waiting to use the name all the villages call him.
Kakashi looked at her and looked at her for a couple of minutes more before replying, "I don't think I would be the best one to teach Naruto, all my wind Jutsu require a high level of control." Nariko knew the truth, when you copy a jutsu you know how to do it but not how to teach it, Kakashi only really knew how to teach the dozen or so jutsu he was taught before getting that thrice dammed eye.
They stared at each other for so long Naruto thought they would start to fight so he got between them saying, "It's OK, Nariko, I can learn a wind jutsu when we find a sensei.", trying to calm the black clad blonde girl before she did something. Taking her eyes off of Kakashi she said to Naruto, "I have never heard of a sensei refusing to teach a student before, are you sure he is your sensei?"
"What are you trying to say,", screamed Sakura stomping over to them, "This is team seven, and this is OUR sensei, I don't know who you think you are but Kakashi is our sensei."
With both girls now standing noise to noise with sparks flying between them Naruto was looking back and forth wondering what to do. He can't support one teammate over the other but he didn't want to see them fight.
"Now Now, no need to fight over me.", joked Kakashi forcing the two girls apart, "Why don't we do some team training to better understand each other."
"What do you mean One Eye,", said Nariko clearly not happy with him or who he was in her world, Naruto wasn't sure why Nariko didn't seem to like Kakashi and planned to ask her when he gets a chance.
"Ah you see here in 'this' village we work as teams, and teams require teamwork.", said Kakashi wondering over to the center of the training grounds. He turned to face them and said, "I happen to have picked up some nice team-building D-Rank missions we can do today."
….
After six days of team building and Nariko was already devising a plan on how to kill Kakashi without Naruto finding out, she didn't want to upset him but this has got to stop. The only good thing about any of this was they stopped before sundown every day and had free time to train as they wished. Sakura ran off as soon as the last mission was complete saying she had things to do.
Eating their fill of Ramen before heading back to the training grounds to work on some wind Jutsu she had picked up in her training, she was a fire type but one thing root did was to cross train you as much as possible.
"What you going to teach me today Nariko-chan", said Naruto bouncing from his seat after the last bowl of ramen hit the counter. "The same jutsu as yesterday and the day before, you need to master one jutsu before moving on to a new one.", she said walking down the street with him close behind.
"You're so cool Nariko-chan,", said Naruto now walking at her side.
She had a strange warm feeling when he called her 'chan' but for the life of her, she didn't know why. All her life she had been told she wasn't worth anything but for what she could do for the village. Naruto made her feel she was worth something all by herself.
Reaching the center of training ground three they walked up to the shore of the pool at the bottom of a small waterfall. "Remember what I showed you, wind can cut water but you have to focus.", said Nariko.
Making the hands signs Naruto pulled his hands to his chest and pushed out, "Cutting Wind Blades", he yelled sending a wave of chakra into the air forcing it into streams of force. The wind hit the waterfall and moved it back but didn't stop or slow the flow.
Nariko watched from the side, seemingly focuses only on the water but she felt his chakra flow turbulently around him before he released the jutsu. "You control, it is unfocused but you're able to produce twice as much chakra as I can for that jutsu, it really is your nature.", she said as she stood by his side.
"Let's try again but try to use less chakra and more focus,", she joked as she stood back out of the way of any wild wind blade Naruto could lose control over.
Hours later an exhausted Naruto and a discouraged Nariko entered Naruto's apartment kicking off their sandals they both landed on the sofa together. "I will get it next time, Nariko-chan I swear.", said Naruto rubbing the back of his head and grinning at Nariko.
"I know, and if not then the next day, we will not stop until you can do it.", she said grinning back at him removing her head covering. "Come on, let's get ready for bed", jumping off the sofa she headed for the shower when there was a knocking on the door. She looked at Naruto and shrugged her shoulders before walking to the door.
Drawing the mask over her face and hiding a small blade behind her back she opened the door to see an Anbu standing in the doorway. The cold white porcelain mask of the Anbu had a bird painted over her face as she looked into the blue eyes of the young girl in the doorway.
The Anbu reached up and against all protocol removed her mask, "Akia, your back", said Nariko.
"Yes I am back, sorry I had to leave so suddenly.", said Akia walking into the apartment and looking around, seeing Naruto still sitting on the sofa she gave him a small wave as he looked over at her.
"I have arranged a place for you to stay so get your things together.", Akia said still scanning around the one-room apartment as if looking for something. Nariko stood frozen at the open door and turned to look at Naruto, he had his fake smile on and seemed to have expected this to happen.
"What?", said Nariko, "I don't want to leave.", as she closed the door to walk over to face Akia, getting between her and Naruto still hiding the blade in her palm. "I like it here.", Nariko's words caused Akia to change her focus from Naruto to her, grabbing Nariko's arm and removing the blade from her hand she said, "come outside, we need to talk." Pulling the young girl out the door onto the open walkway. Standing by the railing overlooking this part of the village Akia turned back to Nariko.
She had a stern look on her face as she said, "I don't know what you're thinking but you can't be living with a boy at your age, it's not right what you're doing,", Akia grip on Nariko's arm tightened until Nariko was forced to pull free.
"What are you talking about, I am not doing anything wrong", said Nariko taking a few steps back. She didn't want to get into a fight with Akia but she also didn't want to be grabbed again.
"Dammit girl you can't be having a serious relationship, you're still too young.", Akia responded. "I still don't know what you're talking about?", said Nariko crossing her arms over her chest and looking every bit the defiant teenager that she was.
"Come on, I know your not dumb like that one in there,", said Akia pointing at the closed door, she noticed Nariko change her stance as if to attack her, "I just don't understand how you let him get you in bed so fast, is all I am saying".
"He didn't, I had to force him to bed, but what has that got to do with anything.", said Nariko.
"What? You forced him?", said Akia.
"Ya, he wanted to sleep on the sofa but the bed fits two so I forced him but what does that have to do with my age?", said Nariko.
Now Akia was confused for a minute and then an idea hit her, "So you haven't been having sex?", she said, figuring it was best not to dance around the subject anymore.
"Sex? what is sex have to do with anything,", said Nariko.
'Oh god', thought Akia, 'maybe she really doesn't know what sex is'
Taking a calming breath Akia moved closer to Nariko so she could talk more softly, "Did they ever tell you how children are made?", she asked the blonde girl.
"Children? What does that have to do with me living with Naruto? Children are made by civilians, everybody knows that.", said Nariko, sounding puzzled by this change of subject.
Not wanting to get into why it's only civilians that have children Akia decided to press on, "But did they teach you how it is done, what brings a child into the world?", Akia asked hoping that the blonde at least knew the basics.
Throwing her hands in the air Nariko said, "Not really, it's not something shinobi do so they didn't really talk about it, we just see children with civilians so that is where they come from."
Not believing what she is hearing but knowing that root has a way of twisting its members' minds as a way to control them she could see how they may have done this to the poor girl. But then what about Naruto, it only takes one to know what to do to complete the act.
"Can I talk to Naruto, you know alone for a minute,", she asked Nariko
Feeling things she hadn't felt before with all this strange talk of sex and children Nariko looked over at Akia, "Only if you promise not to hurt him, I wouldn't like that if you did", Nariko said. "Don't worry I just want to talk, can you wait here for me?", said Akia, getting a nod from the blonde she opened the door and walked into the apartment.
Naruto hadn't moved from his place on the sofa and looked depressed, he looked up at the door to see Akia coming up to him. "You took Nariko away already, I wanted to say goodbye", he said sounding even sadder.
"No she is still here, I just wanted to ask you something, OK?", said Akia taking a seat next to the boy on the sofa, doing her best to remain calm in one of the strangest conversations she has ever had, dammit she was too young herself to be dealing with two teenagers that needed 'the talk'.
"Naruto, in the academy, did they ever teach you about sex and where children come from?", she asked bluntly knowing Naruto on a good day will not get any subtle nuance.
He seemed to be thinking a little too hard but she waited for him to say something when he got a grin on his face and said, "Ya, I remember there was this class about something like that but the sensei said I didn't have to go to it and I just went to the training grounds to work on my jutsu.", he said looking happy to remember those days.
"You mean you didn't go to any of those classes, the other students didn't talk to you about them?", she asked not believing this of all subjects was hidden from him even by the other students.
Looking down at his feet and then back up to her he said, "Well, I did ask once and the sensei got really mad at me, I didn't have any real friends back then so I never asked again. I got held back that year and when I when back the next year they didn't have that class anymore.", said Naruto hoping that was what she wanted to know as he hadn't really thought about this subject.
"Then why are you always asking Sakura out on dates?", said Akia, the stories of Naruto chancing that little pink-haired girl was the talk of the Anbu that had to watch over him as he was so loud about it.
"Oh that's easy, so we can be friends, I remember hearing this lady tell a guy at the ramen stand that we can just be friends from now on when they came there for a date.", said Naruto now talking about something he felt he knew the answers to.
"Oh god, I am not touching this subject tonight.', thought Akia, standing up from the sofa she walked over to the door and asked Nariko to come in, pulling out a scroll from her belt she handed it to the blonde girl as she walked over to sit next to Naruto. Nariko looked him over to make sure nothing had been done to him while she was waiting.
"That storage scroll has all the clothes I bought for you, I am sorry I didn't leave it for you when I left for my mission.", said Akia as she turned to the door, stopping to look back at the couple on the sofa seeing that Nariko was learning on Naruto without even knowing it, she said "I will see you two later.", closing the door behind her she headed to the Hokage's office hoping there was an open bottle waiting for her as this was going to be one hell of a story.
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I hope I put a smile on your face with all this cuteness. I had fun writing it. Review please so I know I am not alone.