Stop, you're making me blush!
I feel so lucky to have such wonderful reviewers- all of you are so awesome!
I don't want to sound cheesy... but I haven't had a SINGLE flame... I had compliments, encouragements, and corrections, not to mention the super-cool peeps who've helped me with manga and episode downloads, and to everyone who's added me to any kind of lists!
As far as I know, i gaara, Vanya Starwind, figurechan, Otakuss, DreamWalker3, Yondaime-samaKazaraYume, and GreatMarta have added me to their 'favorite stories' list... ARIGATO!!
This chapter is rightfully dedicated to everyone who has read, commented, and helped me with this story. I love you all so much I could just die :)
A big thanks to Keltosh for catching a major blunder on my part- I made Naruto out to be a poor Jounin, but Jounin are powerful ninja who are paid well for their ninja services. Therefore, Naruto couldn't be poor, perhaps middle class at the least, but not POOR. So to help cover myself, I'm going to make him out to be a newer Jounin- one who hasn't yet earned a real history and isn't paid as well as, say, Kakashi or any other Jounin who has been a Jounin longer than a month :)
To Valakun: I have a difficulty to sticking with charcacter traits and reactions... I can think of this really clever situation that links together perfectly, but then I think, Wait, that's what I would do, and could you really see Gaara doing THAT?!
And to i gaara, I wasn't reaally going to let Sasuke in on this one xD I haven't gotten my lazy butt around to finding out what's the latest with the Naruto anime/manga, so I feel I would probably trip myself if I included him. Besides, he's a little loudmouth brat, cute at times, but I dun think he really fits into this scenario.
Vanya Starwind...you made me snort with laughter and joy when I read your comment. Thanks!!
Lastly, hiphop dancer: Like Sasuke, Hinata doesn't really have a place here. We can safely assume that she is married with or without children- it's unconfirmed as of yet -and that she and Naruto have simply become friends, just like how he's done with Sakura and how she has done with Sasuke.
For two weeks now, she had been bringing him breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day- she would give him breakfast at seven in the morning, before her shift at the Go Parlor, and give him a wake call by knocking continually at the door until he awoke and answered it, taking the styrofoam container from her and groggily mumbling a 'thank you.'
Then at lunch, since she had no shift anywhere at that time, she would simply come back to her apartment, and at dinner, before her shift at the baby shop, she would drop it off at his door.
Naruto paid her a set sum at the end of each week, of course.
Such a cycle was beginning now, as Temari locked the door to her apartment, walked next door, and knocked until Naruto answered.
But recently, he had begun to adjust to waking up early, and had answered the door only a few knocks in.
"Oh-hi-yoh, Temari-chan!" he greeted, his eyes squinting as he smiled.
"Same, Naruto-kun." she replied, extending her hand to pass him his breakfast.
It was in that moment that Naruto noticed something he never had before.
Temari's hands.
They were long-jointed, slender things, soft in the palm but calloused lightly on the sides and tips. Her nails were short, broad, and smooth... so much healthier than his, and a lovely shade of glowing pink. They seem to have the strength to twist the ear of a trouble-making child and to soothe a crying baby.
Temari paused, raising an eyebrow before furrowing them both, and demanded, "Hey! Naruto, what are you staring at?!"
Snapping back into realtiy, he gave a nervous laugh, said, "Nothing!" and retreated into his apartment.
Temari's hands gripped her hips tightly, pressing on the double-jointedness of her fingers.
Bastard...
Once safely inside his little cave, Naruto let out a sigh of relief before fetching a pair of chopsticks from his combination kitchen, living room, and bedroom, cringing as he smelled the burnt food from the container.
Nearly choking as he forced down the meal, he could only console himself with the fact that he was doing good by suffering.
Temari was certainly benefitting- the money was undeniably helpful to her, and a burden seemed to be taken off her.
The cartoons on his televiision murmured away, but he didn't hear them as he thought.
The worry lines caused by her creased eyebrows, the downward turning of the corners of her lips, the weight that dragged on her eyelids... practically vanished.
And the laughter! Once able to withstand the humor of laughtracks, she giggled uncontrollably now when the audience did, flashing beautiful white teeth and holding her belly as she rocked back and forth.
It was a drastic change from the sullen, stiff Temari he had known before.
The only thing bothering him... was why she had become like this.
- - - -
Kakashi sat on a cushioned seat atop a cement couch, one of many inside the tall, fat building accompanying the Hokage's office.A few other Jounin teachers were nearby, but down the hall came Iruka, his arms piled with papers listing the information of the newest members of the academy.
He greeted everyone as he approached, but took a seat beside Kakashi, holding the tall papers on his lap. It had become their weekly habit; when Kakashi came in for his report to Tsunade about Team 7, and Iruka came to update the Hokage on the status of the cadets, the two men would chitchat, mostly about Naruto.
"He's alright." said Kakashi absent mindedly to Iruka's usual, 'how are they?', knowing Iruka was mainly focused on Naruto's well-being.
"He hasn't improved his diet, however- it seems to have gotten worse, if anything." the silver-haired man murmured, his tall, lean body slouching in the stiff, posture-orientated couch he sat on, his eyes browsing the latest Icha Icha Paradise.
"Is that even possible? Three Cup Ramen a day is pretty bad." laughed Iruka, shuffling through his papers.
"Well, he told me he's hired someone to cook for him, but obviously, whoever it is doesn't know anything about what's edible and what isn't. Multiple times in training, he's had to run to the bathroom and often doesn't return for a while." said Kakashi, the curves of a smile pressed against the cloth that stretched over his mouth.
"Hn, how strange. It must be a man's cooking." laughed a nearby female Jounin who had been listening in on their conversation.
- - - -
Forcing himself to get active, as he had no training with Kakashi today, Naruto abandoned his apartment to browse through the carts that were dotting the stony main road in the midst of the city, mostly eyeing the wares that sparkled and shone with brilliance.
"Rare! Rare trinkets from the Hidden Village of Sand!" yelled one vendor, advertising items such as necklaces and beaded bracelets, but one item caught Naruto's attention. It was a shapely glass pot, curved like a gourd, filled with several textures of sand, blended and mixed in smooth swirls and twists, it's top plugged with a tan cork.
His eyes glanced over it repeatedly, weighing his his want for the item with his want for food and clothing.
The glass sand-gourd won.
- - - -
The previosuly sunny weather had vanished, and grayish storm clouds had invaded Konoha, sagging with rain.
And of course, as Temari was walking home that night, it began to pour.
Quickening her pace, she began to run, a newspaper over her head and a hand on her stomach.
Although she ran beneath the patios and roofs that hung over the street, the wind combined with rain easily soaked her.
Finally, she arrived home, entering the apartment building and gasping for breath.
Now inside the warm place, she let out a happy laugh, brushing her half-wet, half-dry bangs out of her eyes.
It was her first time ever being caught in the rain, and she had to admit, it was pretty fun.
Bending down, with difficulty, to take off her sandals, she let them hang from her fingers as she walked down the hall to her home, enjoying the softness of the carpet on her cold toes.
Pushing her key into the lock, her feet brushed something. It seemed the power was out, and she hadn't noticed what someone had laid at her door.
Stooping to pick it up, she let out a small gasp as she saw what it was. Tied around the little glass gourd was a piece of paper, fastened with a white ribbon. She squinted to read the messy handwriting, practically every other letter crossed out and rewritten.
Hey Temari. I was out buying stuff and I saw this and thought that you would think that it's cool. The guy said it was straight from Sunakagure but he didnt charge me full price when I told him I was buying it for someone from there. Hope you like it. Uzumaki Naruto.
As a matter of fact, he had gotten a reduced price- all thanks to his sexy no jutsu, of course.
She smiled and let out a soft laugh in appreciation of his kindness, holding the beautiful but heavy ornament in her arms.
Unlocking her apartment, she carefully groped about, feeling for the dresser she kept near the door. The moment she placed the glass gourd on it, a candle was lit from across the room.
She whirled around, and panicked when she saw who it was, hurriedly running backwards and smashing into the wall.
The items on the dresser rattled, and a glass vase fell and shattered on the floor.
After that, things blurred- all Temari knew was that she fell, cut her hand, screamed, and threatened the two men in her apartment.
Naruto was awakened from yet another nap, this time to hear a woman's scream echoing through the entire building.
Once more, the shriek ripped through the air, and this time, his eyes widened in shock.
Not even pausing to put on a jacket over his t-shirt and boxers, he ran to her apartment, barreling through the door without hesitation.
Sands lingered at his feet.
"No, Gaara!" a voice yelled, more demanding than begging.
- - - -
Kind of a rough cliffhanger there ;) So, taking votes: should Naruto die or live? xD
