So... uhhh... Last chapter I forgot the disclaimer ^^;; so here it is –
now, this disclaimer is for the whole series, not just this chapter =P I
think it's kinda ugly to have a disclaimer on every chapter.
I do not own Naruto, that treasure belongs to it's creators and any and all copyright holders of it. Not me =P Though if any original characters turn up they're mine... but for now they'll probably be throw away goons ^^;;
Anyway, on with the fic!
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Betrothal
A naruto fanfiction.
Chapter 2 – Hatred.
Uzumaki Naruto was, to put it bluntly, very confused. Opposite him, in the living area of his own home, was one of the three Sand-nin that had been chiefly involved in the attack on the Leaf village during the Chuunin exam.
"What the hell is she doing here!?" He demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the girl, what was her name again? Heck, he was sure he'd heard her name before. 'Well,' he decided, 'It doesn't matter because she's not gonna be here long!
Standing a few heads taller than the leaf villages number one hyperactive Ninja was said Ninja's first teacher – one Iruka. The older man sighed, reaching up with one hand to rub at the scar across his nose – a common sign that he was truly concerned and worried about something.
"That," he said, "Is your fiancée."
There was a long pause in which Temari fidgeted nervously as Naruto stared at her. After a while though, Naruto grabbed a hold of Iruka's shirt and tugged – indicating that he wanted to speak with his ex-teacher in private. Ducking down, Iruka listened as Naruto whispered one question into his ear.
"What's a fiancée?"
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Iruka was worried. More than worried in fact. He was also quite, quite angry with the village council's decision to have Naruto be the one married to the Sand-nin girl Temari. It wasn't that Naruto was too young, a lot of arranged marriages were performed at his age, mostly those which had political or inter-business considerations.
Nor was it the fact that Temari was at least two, if not three years older than Naruto. Iruka wasn't exactly sure how old the ex-Sand-nin was, as he'd always believed that it was disrespectful to ask a woman her age.
Well, no, actually he'd only believed it to be disrespectful after he'd been slapped silly for asking one crotchety old coot her age. Mostly though, he didn't ask because he was afraid all women would react that way.
Mostly, however, Iruka didn't think that Naruto was really ready for such a... a... a commitment. Being a ninja was a big enough commitment as it was, adding marriage to it would be... well, it wouldn't be a good idea, that was for sure.
Naruto had asked what a fiancée was and, to be honest, Iruka wasn't surprised. Normally a boy's father would one day sit him down and give him 'The Talk' which usually covered such subject. Naruto, however, had never received such a talk, mainly because Iruka had expected the boy to have some breathing space before the subject of girls, marriage and, heaven forbid, sex came up.
Of course, as Naruto's teacher, Iruka would have to correct his earlier oversight and give Naruto 'The Talk'. Good gods that was going to be embarrassing.
'But you're not Naruto's teacher' stated a small part of his mind. 'Kakashi is.' Iruka frowned, he really, really didn't like Kakashi teaching his Naruto. Especially those rare moments when Kakashi felt he had to throw the fact in Iruka's face. As he simmered in remembered anger over this, a dim plan started forming in the back of his brain.
In fact, his thoughts went more or less like this: 1) Naruto's teacher needed to give him 'The Talk'. 2) Iruka was no longer Naruto's teacher, Kakashi was. 3) Which meant Kakashi needed to give Naruto 'The Talk'. 4) Therefore, Iruka could sit back and laugh at the Jounin's embarrassment at having to explain such a subject to Naruto.
Grinning to himself, the Chuunin instructor pulled himself out of the chair in which he had been brooding and set off to find the mysterious copy- ninja.
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Naruto stared at Temari, his eyes half closed as he squinted through them. Temari returned the stare just as hard, as if it were some sort of contest.
The two were sat on opposite sides of Naruto's only table, two small bowls of instant Ramen lay empty between them.
"So..." Naruto suddenly said, breaking away from the staring contest. "What are you gonna do?" He asked, leaning back on his chair. Iruka, whilst he hadn't explained what a fiancée was exactly, had told him that Temari would be living here for a while – though he never did say how long she would be here... More importantly, Iruka had told him to treat Temari like a guest or, better yet, like he would treat Sakura. (After all, Iruka did happen to know that Naruto had a crush on Sakura and, hopefully, because of this would treat Temari well if told to act as if she were Sakura)
Temari ducked her head and sighed. Naruto, from what she remembered of him, was immature, hyperactive, noisy and, well, rather stupid. On the other hand, he had beaten Gaara, so there was absolutely no doubt as to his strength and the amount of chakra he possessed. Biting her lower lip slightly she thought about what they could actually do, whatever happened though, she really had to get to know this immature boy better. After all, she wasn't going to marry someone she hardly knew.
As Temari sunk deeper in thought, Naruto was quickly getting more and more bored. Suddenly a thought struck as if it were divine inspiration – or at least indigestion, either way, it was perfect! It was something for him to do and he'd be able to go ask Sakura for advice, after all, she was a girl so she should know how he should act now that he had to live with one. Nodding at his own cleverness Naruto prepared to suggest his idea to Temari.
On the other side of the table, the ex-Sand-nin had decided on a possible course of action, one that would serve a dual purpose. Firstly it would let her explore somewhat, without worrying about accidentally going into a restricted area or something similar and it would allow her to perhaps get to know Naruto a little. "Naruto..." She started, but was promptly cut off when Naruto jumped up and declared his own plan quite loudly.
"Let's go explore!" he half yelled, flashing a roguish grin at Temari, "You only know a little of the village right?" he asked, grinning even wider when she nodded – half in surprise at his sudden outburst, and half in relief that she didn't have to ask him to show her around. "Then I'll show you around! Uzumaki tours, number one in Leaf village!" The hyperactive Ninja posed, like some kind of crazed explorer.
Temari barely suppressed a smirk, instead keeping her features impassive and blank. "I would like that." She said as Naruto deflated somewhat due to a lack of response from his audience. If nothing else, she'd at least be able to gauge how much the villagers disliked her – under the safety of being accompanied by a Leaf-nin, albeit a rather dim one.
She was, however, caught unaware as Naruto grabbed her by the hand and practically dragged her out of the house, slamming the front door shut as they left. Temari noted that he didn't bother to lock it, and decided to ask him about it when they returned. After a few moments of franticly trying not to be pulled off of her feet, she realised Naruto had stopped in front of a Ramen stand.
"This," began Naruto, "Is my favourite Ramen stand in all of the village! Sometimes Iruka-sensei brings me here and buys me some Ramen to eat!" The way the boy declared this in an almost respectful tone of joy made Temari smile slightly.
'So, Naruto seems to like Iruka,' she thought, 'Since he has no parents he must see Iruka as a father figure. Or perhaps it's the other way around and Iruka treats Naruto as his son.' Temari knew about Naruto's lack of parents, mainly because Iruka had told her about it when they had travelled from the council's meeting place to Naruto's house earlier that day.
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Iruka sneezed and glanced around. Either he was spontaneously developing hay-fever, or someone was talking about him. Probably Naruto.
He was reasonably close to the small bar where he had heard Kakashi often hung around whenever he wasn't off doing any of his trademark 'mysterious things' or with his ninja team. For a moment Iruka wondered if Kakashi actually owned a house, and if so where, or if he just slept outside or in the trees every day. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi did do such a thing.
At last he arrived at his destination, a small, relatively nondescript building with only a single little wooden plaque hanging next to it's door declaring that the place was a bar. Stepping inside Iruka found himself in a rather cosy little establishment, along one end of the room was a small drinks bar that was apparently maintained by a thick heavyset man and a comely young woman. Glancing around the Chuunin instructor caught sight of a bush of thick and messy grey hair and sighed in relief.
Kakashi grinned at a joke his drinking partner, Asuma Sarutobi, had just finished telling. The two Jounin instructors were discussing recent events concerning their team – away from the stuffier instructors like Gai or Kurenai. "So..." He murmured, "I assume you heard about the... Agreement?"
"The marriage?" Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and nodded. "I heard of it – along with several rants from Suzume, you know how she is." The rough-looking Jounin grinned as Kakashi suppressed a mock shudder.
"She's been yelling at me about it, the 'A foreign ninja will corrupt our youth' speech right?" Kakashi asked, blinking his one visible eye when Asuma nodded. The two had both had run-ins with the screechy-voiced academy teacher. She, like many other Chuunin and more than a few Jounin, had views. Mostly of the 'Sand-nin should stay out' sort. "Well, whatever she says, it won't have much effect on the council's decision. Anyway, they already chose who the girl has to marry."
"The Uchiha kid, right?" Asked Asuma, "Seems like a good choice to me, the boy has a good head on his shoulders he'll do fine."
"Except," Spoke a third voice, Kakashi looked up and saw Iruka standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "They didn't choose Sasuke. Kakashi, I'd like a word with you." The Chuunin glanced at Asuma then looked back at Kakashi. "In private, if you could."
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"And this is where I knocked Closed-pervert out with my Harem No Jutsu," Naruto was rambling about the things he'd done, the places he liked – and why he liked them. Although he didn't particularly trust the Sand-nin girl, he did have to admit that it was nice having someone to listen to how he felt. Then he blinked and turned to face Temari, scrunching his face up in confusion. "Oi, oi, oi, I'm not boring you am I?" he asked, watching her face as she looked around the clearing. At his question the sand-haired girl blinked and looked at him.
"No, no really," Came the subdued response. In the past hour Temari had been dragged from place to place – listening to Naruto's life story as they went. At several points she had felt for the boy, having no family and the hatred of almost the entire village dumped onto his shoulders. It was, she reflected, quite similar to her own past and almost identical to that of Gaara's. Temari and Kankuro had both been made outcast due to their brother, Gaara, but they hadn't been despised by their entire village instead they were merely 'tolerated'.
A faint crunching sound whispered across the breeze, passing Temari and Naruto by. Temari's ear perked up slightly at the sound, then settled again when she saw a flash of dusky red fur. 'An animal. I'm getting spooked by an animal' She sighed to herself, realising that it would take an awful long time for her to become used to living in a place so teeming with... with... with _life_. Rabbits, foxes, bears, frogs, dogs, insects – all these were absent in the Sand village, and all these were prolific here, with their scratching and gnawing and scampering and...
Temari shuddered slightly. Beyond the odd camel or sand viper, she'd had little contact with animals. She'd seen a tiger once though, a big terrifying thing. And she'd also seen insects... hundreds of the tiny winged, biting, icky things, running up her arms and onto her face and in her mouth as she screamed and screamed and scream-
There was a whistling sound followed by a meaty thunk! A kunai appeared before her, embedded in the thick wood of a tree trunk. The sound had pulled her out of her walking nightmare and set her body into full alert status, every sense stretched out for the faintest signs of an attack and every muscle in her body ready to respond to such.
Beside her Naruto had fallen into a sort of half crouched stance, his hands held out like claws. His eyes roamed the edges of the clearing, his background meaning he was able to notice things Temari wouldn't have normally thought of.
A small rabbit scampered out from behind one of the bushes, heading directly towards Temari. The girl noticed, but dismissed it as a harmless threat. Naruto, on the other hand, had heard of tactics that some of the meaner members of the Leaf village used, because of this he was ready. Diving towards the rabbit he grabbed it with ease and ripped a small white tag off of it's belly, quickly dropping the tag he bounced away moments before it exploded – ripping the ground apart and sending showers of dirt into the air.
'An explosive tag...' Thought Temari, as she hopped back to stay near to Naruto, after all he knew the layout of the land and she didn't. It never does pay to lose one's guide in unfamiliar terrain. 'They used a trained rabbit, and were planning to blow it – and me – up!'
"Poor mister bunny!" Wailed Naruto. Temari glanced around and saw him hugging the rabbit and crying about hurting it when he had ripped the tag off. "I'm sorry mister bunny!" He sniffed, patting the bunny on the head and gently laying it on the ground – whereupon it promptly scampered away to freedom. Wiping his tears away with one sleeve of his bright orange overalls he glared around angrily. "OI! OI! OI! Who's dumb enough to try and blow up the future Hokage!?"
"Who's dumb enough to hang around with the enemy?" Came the taunting reply from somewhere in the bushes nearby, "You that's who – and that makes you a traitor, isn't that right?"
"Daaa... you said it yesyes, you said it goodgood!" Squeaked out a second, rodent-like voice from elsewhere in the bushes. There was a brief rustling and suddenly two ninja were there, having moved at such incredible speed that all Naruto had seen was a brief blur emerging from the greenery.
"We don't like traitors around here, do we Tokurou?" Asked the first, a lanky ninja – Chuunin level if his apparent age was anything to go by – with wild and spiky black hair, though it was painfully obvious that it was dyed, as Naruto could see the blonde roots of it. The Chuunin's eyes were brown and unfriendly, which matched his outfit – a brown jacket covered in pockets with a set of black trousers.
"Naaaa... Traitors are badbad they are they are, nothing goodgood comes from them, should aaaaaaall be killed." The second ninja, also probably a Chuunin, was hunched over – looking to be the same height as Naruto – his face, his whole being reminded the duo of a rat, a large ugly rat. Most of the older ninja's – Tokurou's – face was covered by brown hair that fell all around his head like some kind of natural veil. Like his companion, he too wore the standard issue chuunin outfit, only his was more tattered and torn up. "We should killkill him yesyes, killkill the traitor, then killkill the spy, killkill the spy!"
"Well now," Murmured the other Chuunin, "I can't argue with that plan." He grinned, an evil grin, which wasn't so much a smile as it was a show of smug superiority.
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"The Talk?" Kakashi asked the question innocently enough, but Iruka could have sworn that the grey-haired man knew full well that 'The Talk' was and that he was only asking to embarrass Iruka. Iruka scowled as the Jounin smirked. Well, at least Iruka thought he was smirking – it was quite hard to tell with Kakashi, mostly due to his ever present mask which covered the lower half of his face. Still, the eye not covered by his head protector looked like it was closed in a smug way so he probably was smirking.
"You know what I mean! 'The Talk', the one about... things. You know, stuff." Iruka blushed slightly, whilst he knew of the topic it had never really been one he'd followed along with – which explained his current status as a bachelor. "Girls, relationships... Sex. That Talk."
"Oh." Kakashi nodded, "That Talk. I suppose you're asking because of the current situation with Naruto?"
"Of course, the boy knows what a girl is, and given that Jutsu he has, what sex is on the surface, but I don't think he understands the consequences and responsibilities of being... well, married." Iruka sighed to himself and flopped down onto a nearby chair, "I'm worried about him, I guess... I guess you were right about him being ready for the Chuunin exam, but I know I'm right about him not being ready for this."
Kakashi, nodding to himself, sat down next to the worried ninja academy teacher. "You're probably right at that, Naruto is too... well, I guess immature is the word, he's brash and hyper. He's courageous and he'll probably be good to Temari but, I don't think he'd be a good husband to anyone." The grey-haired man paused and thought for a moment, "Not yet at least."
"I think you see what I mean, he's never had any real role model for relationships, other children have their own parents as role models. Naruto... Naruto has only ever had me, and you know I've never had much luck with women." Iruka sighed and stared around the room. "He needs someone to keep an eye on him, and to guide him through the responsibilities such a relationship would entail. Frankly, I'm not qualified for such a thing."
"... And you believe that I am?" Kakashi asked, surprise on his face. "Me? I'm flattered that you'd think of me for this but I-"
"Cut it out Kakashi!" Yelled Iruka, "You know exactly what Naruto is going to have to go though! You've been in his sort of position before!"
Kakashi's smirk fell from his features, his one visible eye going flat and unfriendly. "Iruka... Don't ever try and bring that up again. Even if you are a friend – somewhat – I'd have no problem with hurting you if you do."
"Y-you're right, I'm sorry... It was stupid of me to even think it." Iruka bowed his head in apology, no-one had mentioned the particular event he had referred to in almost eight years, mostly because it was possibly one of the greatest tragedies of the leaf. Barring, of course, the deaths of the four Hokage who had led the village from it's beginnings.
"Mmm... Well... You are right in one thing, Naruto will need someone to help him in this. I'll see what I can do." Kakashi pulled himself out of his seat and nodded at the Chuunin instructor. "I'll see you once I have a plan about this."
"Thankyou." Whispered the scarred man, relief filling him. This situation with Naruto worried him very, very much.
"Eh, don't worry about it." And, with that, Kakashi left the room – the door swinging shut once he had gone.
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Temari took a step backwards, she really didn't want to fight right now, in fact, it was pretty much imperative that she didn't fight. After all, first and foremost, she had been given a direct order not to fight by the Sand village council before she had left. Although she technically wasn't a Sand- nin anymore, she felt that she had to follow the order, that by doing so she clung to some shreds of her Sand heritage.
There was, of course, another reason but any smart ninja could probably tell what it was with ease.
"Oioioi! You don't scare me! You two are like rats!" Naruto yelled, before pointing at Tokurou, "And you even look like one too!" Naruto nodded to himself, his blonde hair swaying as he did so. The young Leaf-nin believed that he looked incredibly cool like that, actually he looked like an idiot but even if people told him Naruto always ignored such accusations.
"Feh, it's better than looking like some foxyfoxy moron." The rat-like chuunin replied, "Those funnyfunny whiskers look reeeeaaally uglyugly, if I were born with them, I'd wear a bag over my head! Hehehe... yesyes..."
Temari blinked, she'd seen the whisker-like marks on Naruto's face quite a few times now, but she'd always assumed that he drew them on himself – or that they were tattoos perhaps. But the way the rat-like ninja had insulted them... Were they natural? And if so, why? She'd never heard of anyone being born with face markings like those before.
The other opponent took advantage of Temari's musings to fling a set of metal balls at her. Almost reflexively she swung her arm up and around to grab her fan and- her hand gripped nothing but empty air. With a faint seed of panic she remembered that she had been told to leave her fan at Naruto's house. Granted, going around with a weapon would have provoked more resentment, but right now she wished she'd brought it anyway. Resentment and anger she could handle, a fight without it she couldn't, not with almost all her Ninjutsu techniques being completely reliant on having a fan or something similar to perform them with.
Quickly revising her plan of action, Temari dived to one side and rolled as she landed – stopping in a half crouched 'fight or flight' ready position. Then something smacked into her side with enough force to make her curse in pain. Glancing at the direction it had come from she saw the metal balls coming towards her once more – rather than being a normal projectile attack as she had expected, the Leaf chuunin must have used some kind of Ninjutsu instead.
Naruto saw Temari get hit and fumed. Granted he may not like her, nor did he trust her much, but Iruka had told him to treat her like Sakura. Now, if there was one thing Naruto wouldn't stand when it came to Sakura, it was Sakura getting hurt. Due to this, Naruto had a rather simple logic for this particular situation.
He had to treat Temari as he would treat Sakura. Temari is getting hurt. If Sakura was getting hurt, he'd protect her. Therefore, he should protect Temari.
Besides, hurting someone for no good reason was just plain wrong!
The remaining metal balls hovered in mid-air for a moment, before suddenly shooting off towards Temari. Temari rolled to one side as several of the balls embedded themselves in the dirt upon which she had just been crouched upon.
"Ha! You like my Shuryou Dairiseki no Jutsu then?" barked out the upright opponent ninja, "Those hunting marbles are freely controlled by my chakra, and I'll use them to hunt you down and slaughter you like the desert dog you are!" Waving his hand he directed the remaining metal marbles at Temari, laughing as he did so. Beside him his companion also laughed, a short chittering laugh that made him seem even more rat-like.
Temari winced, her Taijutsu wasn't that spectacular, and without her fan almost all her Ninjutsu techniques were useless. Also, with the consequences of fighting back hanging over her head, all she could do was dodge and hope.
"ORAAAAA!" The cry was like the scream of a hunting hawk as Naruto slammed bodily into the taller Chuunin, causing him to lose control of his chakra – which in turn caused the metal marbles to fly wildly off target, scattering across the area and ripping up the ground around the area. "Temari!" he yelled, "Why the hell don't you fight back!?"
"Who cares!" Screamed the elder chuunin, as he flung Naruto off of him. Fortunately Naruto landed on his feet and was able to dodge as the rat-like chuunin leapt at him holding two vicious-looking bone coloured knives. "She'll be dead soon enough anyway!"
"yesyes!" Squealed the rat chuunin, Tokurou, as he slashed at Naruto with both knives, his arms moving in a motion that resembled a bite – with the two knives as teeth. "Kill the sand-dog, kill the traitor too yesyes!"
Naruto rolled away, narrowly ducking under the twin blades and coming up in a half-crouch near to Temari. "Why?" he asked, "Why don't you fight!?"
"I... I can't!" Retorted the ex-Sand-nin, "If I fight back then people will have more reason to hate me! B-besides, I'm no good without my fan!"
"Then..." Naruto grinned, it was the sort of grin Temari had seen on a few of her old villages instructors. It was the grin that said 'I have a plan, you don't, prepare to lose'. Naruto's hands flicked rapidly through a series of motions, the hand-symbols that were used to channel chakra, Temari only recognised a few of them since Naruto's hands were moving so rapidly from each one to the next.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto's cry echoed around the clearing as, suddenly, the clearing wasn't so clear anymore.
Chapter 2 – ended ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors notes: Wheee! A cliffhanger! I decided to split this chapter up, as I realised that what I had originally planned for this chapter would take me months to write x.x
Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering a few things, such as 'why was Naruto chosen to be with Temari?' and, 'Why did the Sand send Temari anyway?'
Well, I could be completely anal and say 'because I felt like it', but I won't, there are good reasons. They'll just be explained later on in the story. That's all ^.^
As for the two leaf chuunin x.x well, many people would harbour anger and hatred against Temari simply because she is, or was, part of the Sand village. Many people probably lost loved ones during the attack, and so someone was bound to try and take vengeance on Temari.
I may have scheduled it a little early though... But word spreads fast in a ninja village (unless, of course, there are issues of secrecy at hand) so most of the village probably knows by now that there is a Sand-nin around.
Uhm... to the people who reviewed my last chapter, Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou! ^.^ It made me sit down and whip this part to completion just that little bit faster =P (granted, it was mostly done already but... uhh... yeah. .;; )
Last thing x.x I request help with Technique names, which I want in japanese (thus continuing how I read the scanlated manga, all the techniques were left in japanese) If you see a technique name that doesn't translate right, pop a note including what it should be in yoru review and I'll fix it up. ^.^
Lackey H
TECHNIQUE GLOSSARY –
Shuryou Dairiseki no Jutsu = Hunting Marble Technique
I do not own Naruto, that treasure belongs to it's creators and any and all copyright holders of it. Not me =P Though if any original characters turn up they're mine... but for now they'll probably be throw away goons ^^;;
Anyway, on with the fic!
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Betrothal
A naruto fanfiction.
Chapter 2 – Hatred.
Uzumaki Naruto was, to put it bluntly, very confused. Opposite him, in the living area of his own home, was one of the three Sand-nin that had been chiefly involved in the attack on the Leaf village during the Chuunin exam.
"What the hell is she doing here!?" He demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the girl, what was her name again? Heck, he was sure he'd heard her name before. 'Well,' he decided, 'It doesn't matter because she's not gonna be here long!
Standing a few heads taller than the leaf villages number one hyperactive Ninja was said Ninja's first teacher – one Iruka. The older man sighed, reaching up with one hand to rub at the scar across his nose – a common sign that he was truly concerned and worried about something.
"That," he said, "Is your fiancée."
There was a long pause in which Temari fidgeted nervously as Naruto stared at her. After a while though, Naruto grabbed a hold of Iruka's shirt and tugged – indicating that he wanted to speak with his ex-teacher in private. Ducking down, Iruka listened as Naruto whispered one question into his ear.
"What's a fiancée?"
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Iruka was worried. More than worried in fact. He was also quite, quite angry with the village council's decision to have Naruto be the one married to the Sand-nin girl Temari. It wasn't that Naruto was too young, a lot of arranged marriages were performed at his age, mostly those which had political or inter-business considerations.
Nor was it the fact that Temari was at least two, if not three years older than Naruto. Iruka wasn't exactly sure how old the ex-Sand-nin was, as he'd always believed that it was disrespectful to ask a woman her age.
Well, no, actually he'd only believed it to be disrespectful after he'd been slapped silly for asking one crotchety old coot her age. Mostly though, he didn't ask because he was afraid all women would react that way.
Mostly, however, Iruka didn't think that Naruto was really ready for such a... a... a commitment. Being a ninja was a big enough commitment as it was, adding marriage to it would be... well, it wouldn't be a good idea, that was for sure.
Naruto had asked what a fiancée was and, to be honest, Iruka wasn't surprised. Normally a boy's father would one day sit him down and give him 'The Talk' which usually covered such subject. Naruto, however, had never received such a talk, mainly because Iruka had expected the boy to have some breathing space before the subject of girls, marriage and, heaven forbid, sex came up.
Of course, as Naruto's teacher, Iruka would have to correct his earlier oversight and give Naruto 'The Talk'. Good gods that was going to be embarrassing.
'But you're not Naruto's teacher' stated a small part of his mind. 'Kakashi is.' Iruka frowned, he really, really didn't like Kakashi teaching his Naruto. Especially those rare moments when Kakashi felt he had to throw the fact in Iruka's face. As he simmered in remembered anger over this, a dim plan started forming in the back of his brain.
In fact, his thoughts went more or less like this: 1) Naruto's teacher needed to give him 'The Talk'. 2) Iruka was no longer Naruto's teacher, Kakashi was. 3) Which meant Kakashi needed to give Naruto 'The Talk'. 4) Therefore, Iruka could sit back and laugh at the Jounin's embarrassment at having to explain such a subject to Naruto.
Grinning to himself, the Chuunin instructor pulled himself out of the chair in which he had been brooding and set off to find the mysterious copy- ninja.
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Naruto stared at Temari, his eyes half closed as he squinted through them. Temari returned the stare just as hard, as if it were some sort of contest.
The two were sat on opposite sides of Naruto's only table, two small bowls of instant Ramen lay empty between them.
"So..." Naruto suddenly said, breaking away from the staring contest. "What are you gonna do?" He asked, leaning back on his chair. Iruka, whilst he hadn't explained what a fiancée was exactly, had told him that Temari would be living here for a while – though he never did say how long she would be here... More importantly, Iruka had told him to treat Temari like a guest or, better yet, like he would treat Sakura. (After all, Iruka did happen to know that Naruto had a crush on Sakura and, hopefully, because of this would treat Temari well if told to act as if she were Sakura)
Temari ducked her head and sighed. Naruto, from what she remembered of him, was immature, hyperactive, noisy and, well, rather stupid. On the other hand, he had beaten Gaara, so there was absolutely no doubt as to his strength and the amount of chakra he possessed. Biting her lower lip slightly she thought about what they could actually do, whatever happened though, she really had to get to know this immature boy better. After all, she wasn't going to marry someone she hardly knew.
As Temari sunk deeper in thought, Naruto was quickly getting more and more bored. Suddenly a thought struck as if it were divine inspiration – or at least indigestion, either way, it was perfect! It was something for him to do and he'd be able to go ask Sakura for advice, after all, she was a girl so she should know how he should act now that he had to live with one. Nodding at his own cleverness Naruto prepared to suggest his idea to Temari.
On the other side of the table, the ex-Sand-nin had decided on a possible course of action, one that would serve a dual purpose. Firstly it would let her explore somewhat, without worrying about accidentally going into a restricted area or something similar and it would allow her to perhaps get to know Naruto a little. "Naruto..." She started, but was promptly cut off when Naruto jumped up and declared his own plan quite loudly.
"Let's go explore!" he half yelled, flashing a roguish grin at Temari, "You only know a little of the village right?" he asked, grinning even wider when she nodded – half in surprise at his sudden outburst, and half in relief that she didn't have to ask him to show her around. "Then I'll show you around! Uzumaki tours, number one in Leaf village!" The hyperactive Ninja posed, like some kind of crazed explorer.
Temari barely suppressed a smirk, instead keeping her features impassive and blank. "I would like that." She said as Naruto deflated somewhat due to a lack of response from his audience. If nothing else, she'd at least be able to gauge how much the villagers disliked her – under the safety of being accompanied by a Leaf-nin, albeit a rather dim one.
She was, however, caught unaware as Naruto grabbed her by the hand and practically dragged her out of the house, slamming the front door shut as they left. Temari noted that he didn't bother to lock it, and decided to ask him about it when they returned. After a few moments of franticly trying not to be pulled off of her feet, she realised Naruto had stopped in front of a Ramen stand.
"This," began Naruto, "Is my favourite Ramen stand in all of the village! Sometimes Iruka-sensei brings me here and buys me some Ramen to eat!" The way the boy declared this in an almost respectful tone of joy made Temari smile slightly.
'So, Naruto seems to like Iruka,' she thought, 'Since he has no parents he must see Iruka as a father figure. Or perhaps it's the other way around and Iruka treats Naruto as his son.' Temari knew about Naruto's lack of parents, mainly because Iruka had told her about it when they had travelled from the council's meeting place to Naruto's house earlier that day.
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Iruka sneezed and glanced around. Either he was spontaneously developing hay-fever, or someone was talking about him. Probably Naruto.
He was reasonably close to the small bar where he had heard Kakashi often hung around whenever he wasn't off doing any of his trademark 'mysterious things' or with his ninja team. For a moment Iruka wondered if Kakashi actually owned a house, and if so where, or if he just slept outside or in the trees every day. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi did do such a thing.
At last he arrived at his destination, a small, relatively nondescript building with only a single little wooden plaque hanging next to it's door declaring that the place was a bar. Stepping inside Iruka found himself in a rather cosy little establishment, along one end of the room was a small drinks bar that was apparently maintained by a thick heavyset man and a comely young woman. Glancing around the Chuunin instructor caught sight of a bush of thick and messy grey hair and sighed in relief.
Kakashi grinned at a joke his drinking partner, Asuma Sarutobi, had just finished telling. The two Jounin instructors were discussing recent events concerning their team – away from the stuffier instructors like Gai or Kurenai. "So..." He murmured, "I assume you heard about the... Agreement?"
"The marriage?" Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and nodded. "I heard of it – along with several rants from Suzume, you know how she is." The rough-looking Jounin grinned as Kakashi suppressed a mock shudder.
"She's been yelling at me about it, the 'A foreign ninja will corrupt our youth' speech right?" Kakashi asked, blinking his one visible eye when Asuma nodded. The two had both had run-ins with the screechy-voiced academy teacher. She, like many other Chuunin and more than a few Jounin, had views. Mostly of the 'Sand-nin should stay out' sort. "Well, whatever she says, it won't have much effect on the council's decision. Anyway, they already chose who the girl has to marry."
"The Uchiha kid, right?" Asked Asuma, "Seems like a good choice to me, the boy has a good head on his shoulders he'll do fine."
"Except," Spoke a third voice, Kakashi looked up and saw Iruka standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "They didn't choose Sasuke. Kakashi, I'd like a word with you." The Chuunin glanced at Asuma then looked back at Kakashi. "In private, if you could."
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"And this is where I knocked Closed-pervert out with my Harem No Jutsu," Naruto was rambling about the things he'd done, the places he liked – and why he liked them. Although he didn't particularly trust the Sand-nin girl, he did have to admit that it was nice having someone to listen to how he felt. Then he blinked and turned to face Temari, scrunching his face up in confusion. "Oi, oi, oi, I'm not boring you am I?" he asked, watching her face as she looked around the clearing. At his question the sand-haired girl blinked and looked at him.
"No, no really," Came the subdued response. In the past hour Temari had been dragged from place to place – listening to Naruto's life story as they went. At several points she had felt for the boy, having no family and the hatred of almost the entire village dumped onto his shoulders. It was, she reflected, quite similar to her own past and almost identical to that of Gaara's. Temari and Kankuro had both been made outcast due to their brother, Gaara, but they hadn't been despised by their entire village instead they were merely 'tolerated'.
A faint crunching sound whispered across the breeze, passing Temari and Naruto by. Temari's ear perked up slightly at the sound, then settled again when she saw a flash of dusky red fur. 'An animal. I'm getting spooked by an animal' She sighed to herself, realising that it would take an awful long time for her to become used to living in a place so teeming with... with... with _life_. Rabbits, foxes, bears, frogs, dogs, insects – all these were absent in the Sand village, and all these were prolific here, with their scratching and gnawing and scampering and...
Temari shuddered slightly. Beyond the odd camel or sand viper, she'd had little contact with animals. She'd seen a tiger once though, a big terrifying thing. And she'd also seen insects... hundreds of the tiny winged, biting, icky things, running up her arms and onto her face and in her mouth as she screamed and screamed and scream-
There was a whistling sound followed by a meaty thunk! A kunai appeared before her, embedded in the thick wood of a tree trunk. The sound had pulled her out of her walking nightmare and set her body into full alert status, every sense stretched out for the faintest signs of an attack and every muscle in her body ready to respond to such.
Beside her Naruto had fallen into a sort of half crouched stance, his hands held out like claws. His eyes roamed the edges of the clearing, his background meaning he was able to notice things Temari wouldn't have normally thought of.
A small rabbit scampered out from behind one of the bushes, heading directly towards Temari. The girl noticed, but dismissed it as a harmless threat. Naruto, on the other hand, had heard of tactics that some of the meaner members of the Leaf village used, because of this he was ready. Diving towards the rabbit he grabbed it with ease and ripped a small white tag off of it's belly, quickly dropping the tag he bounced away moments before it exploded – ripping the ground apart and sending showers of dirt into the air.
'An explosive tag...' Thought Temari, as she hopped back to stay near to Naruto, after all he knew the layout of the land and she didn't. It never does pay to lose one's guide in unfamiliar terrain. 'They used a trained rabbit, and were planning to blow it – and me – up!'
"Poor mister bunny!" Wailed Naruto. Temari glanced around and saw him hugging the rabbit and crying about hurting it when he had ripped the tag off. "I'm sorry mister bunny!" He sniffed, patting the bunny on the head and gently laying it on the ground – whereupon it promptly scampered away to freedom. Wiping his tears away with one sleeve of his bright orange overalls he glared around angrily. "OI! OI! OI! Who's dumb enough to try and blow up the future Hokage!?"
"Who's dumb enough to hang around with the enemy?" Came the taunting reply from somewhere in the bushes nearby, "You that's who – and that makes you a traitor, isn't that right?"
"Daaa... you said it yesyes, you said it goodgood!" Squeaked out a second, rodent-like voice from elsewhere in the bushes. There was a brief rustling and suddenly two ninja were there, having moved at such incredible speed that all Naruto had seen was a brief blur emerging from the greenery.
"We don't like traitors around here, do we Tokurou?" Asked the first, a lanky ninja – Chuunin level if his apparent age was anything to go by – with wild and spiky black hair, though it was painfully obvious that it was dyed, as Naruto could see the blonde roots of it. The Chuunin's eyes were brown and unfriendly, which matched his outfit – a brown jacket covered in pockets with a set of black trousers.
"Naaaa... Traitors are badbad they are they are, nothing goodgood comes from them, should aaaaaaall be killed." The second ninja, also probably a Chuunin, was hunched over – looking to be the same height as Naruto – his face, his whole being reminded the duo of a rat, a large ugly rat. Most of the older ninja's – Tokurou's – face was covered by brown hair that fell all around his head like some kind of natural veil. Like his companion, he too wore the standard issue chuunin outfit, only his was more tattered and torn up. "We should killkill him yesyes, killkill the traitor, then killkill the spy, killkill the spy!"
"Well now," Murmured the other Chuunin, "I can't argue with that plan." He grinned, an evil grin, which wasn't so much a smile as it was a show of smug superiority.
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"The Talk?" Kakashi asked the question innocently enough, but Iruka could have sworn that the grey-haired man knew full well that 'The Talk' was and that he was only asking to embarrass Iruka. Iruka scowled as the Jounin smirked. Well, at least Iruka thought he was smirking – it was quite hard to tell with Kakashi, mostly due to his ever present mask which covered the lower half of his face. Still, the eye not covered by his head protector looked like it was closed in a smug way so he probably was smirking.
"You know what I mean! 'The Talk', the one about... things. You know, stuff." Iruka blushed slightly, whilst he knew of the topic it had never really been one he'd followed along with – which explained his current status as a bachelor. "Girls, relationships... Sex. That Talk."
"Oh." Kakashi nodded, "That Talk. I suppose you're asking because of the current situation with Naruto?"
"Of course, the boy knows what a girl is, and given that Jutsu he has, what sex is on the surface, but I don't think he understands the consequences and responsibilities of being... well, married." Iruka sighed to himself and flopped down onto a nearby chair, "I'm worried about him, I guess... I guess you were right about him being ready for the Chuunin exam, but I know I'm right about him not being ready for this."
Kakashi, nodding to himself, sat down next to the worried ninja academy teacher. "You're probably right at that, Naruto is too... well, I guess immature is the word, he's brash and hyper. He's courageous and he'll probably be good to Temari but, I don't think he'd be a good husband to anyone." The grey-haired man paused and thought for a moment, "Not yet at least."
"I think you see what I mean, he's never had any real role model for relationships, other children have their own parents as role models. Naruto... Naruto has only ever had me, and you know I've never had much luck with women." Iruka sighed and stared around the room. "He needs someone to keep an eye on him, and to guide him through the responsibilities such a relationship would entail. Frankly, I'm not qualified for such a thing."
"... And you believe that I am?" Kakashi asked, surprise on his face. "Me? I'm flattered that you'd think of me for this but I-"
"Cut it out Kakashi!" Yelled Iruka, "You know exactly what Naruto is going to have to go though! You've been in his sort of position before!"
Kakashi's smirk fell from his features, his one visible eye going flat and unfriendly. "Iruka... Don't ever try and bring that up again. Even if you are a friend – somewhat – I'd have no problem with hurting you if you do."
"Y-you're right, I'm sorry... It was stupid of me to even think it." Iruka bowed his head in apology, no-one had mentioned the particular event he had referred to in almost eight years, mostly because it was possibly one of the greatest tragedies of the leaf. Barring, of course, the deaths of the four Hokage who had led the village from it's beginnings.
"Mmm... Well... You are right in one thing, Naruto will need someone to help him in this. I'll see what I can do." Kakashi pulled himself out of his seat and nodded at the Chuunin instructor. "I'll see you once I have a plan about this."
"Thankyou." Whispered the scarred man, relief filling him. This situation with Naruto worried him very, very much.
"Eh, don't worry about it." And, with that, Kakashi left the room – the door swinging shut once he had gone.
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Temari took a step backwards, she really didn't want to fight right now, in fact, it was pretty much imperative that she didn't fight. After all, first and foremost, she had been given a direct order not to fight by the Sand village council before she had left. Although she technically wasn't a Sand- nin anymore, she felt that she had to follow the order, that by doing so she clung to some shreds of her Sand heritage.
There was, of course, another reason but any smart ninja could probably tell what it was with ease.
"Oioioi! You don't scare me! You two are like rats!" Naruto yelled, before pointing at Tokurou, "And you even look like one too!" Naruto nodded to himself, his blonde hair swaying as he did so. The young Leaf-nin believed that he looked incredibly cool like that, actually he looked like an idiot but even if people told him Naruto always ignored such accusations.
"Feh, it's better than looking like some foxyfoxy moron." The rat-like chuunin replied, "Those funnyfunny whiskers look reeeeaaally uglyugly, if I were born with them, I'd wear a bag over my head! Hehehe... yesyes..."
Temari blinked, she'd seen the whisker-like marks on Naruto's face quite a few times now, but she'd always assumed that he drew them on himself – or that they were tattoos perhaps. But the way the rat-like ninja had insulted them... Were they natural? And if so, why? She'd never heard of anyone being born with face markings like those before.
The other opponent took advantage of Temari's musings to fling a set of metal balls at her. Almost reflexively she swung her arm up and around to grab her fan and- her hand gripped nothing but empty air. With a faint seed of panic she remembered that she had been told to leave her fan at Naruto's house. Granted, going around with a weapon would have provoked more resentment, but right now she wished she'd brought it anyway. Resentment and anger she could handle, a fight without it she couldn't, not with almost all her Ninjutsu techniques being completely reliant on having a fan or something similar to perform them with.
Quickly revising her plan of action, Temari dived to one side and rolled as she landed – stopping in a half crouched 'fight or flight' ready position. Then something smacked into her side with enough force to make her curse in pain. Glancing at the direction it had come from she saw the metal balls coming towards her once more – rather than being a normal projectile attack as she had expected, the Leaf chuunin must have used some kind of Ninjutsu instead.
Naruto saw Temari get hit and fumed. Granted he may not like her, nor did he trust her much, but Iruka had told him to treat her like Sakura. Now, if there was one thing Naruto wouldn't stand when it came to Sakura, it was Sakura getting hurt. Due to this, Naruto had a rather simple logic for this particular situation.
He had to treat Temari as he would treat Sakura. Temari is getting hurt. If Sakura was getting hurt, he'd protect her. Therefore, he should protect Temari.
Besides, hurting someone for no good reason was just plain wrong!
The remaining metal balls hovered in mid-air for a moment, before suddenly shooting off towards Temari. Temari rolled to one side as several of the balls embedded themselves in the dirt upon which she had just been crouched upon.
"Ha! You like my Shuryou Dairiseki no Jutsu then?" barked out the upright opponent ninja, "Those hunting marbles are freely controlled by my chakra, and I'll use them to hunt you down and slaughter you like the desert dog you are!" Waving his hand he directed the remaining metal marbles at Temari, laughing as he did so. Beside him his companion also laughed, a short chittering laugh that made him seem even more rat-like.
Temari winced, her Taijutsu wasn't that spectacular, and without her fan almost all her Ninjutsu techniques were useless. Also, with the consequences of fighting back hanging over her head, all she could do was dodge and hope.
"ORAAAAA!" The cry was like the scream of a hunting hawk as Naruto slammed bodily into the taller Chuunin, causing him to lose control of his chakra – which in turn caused the metal marbles to fly wildly off target, scattering across the area and ripping up the ground around the area. "Temari!" he yelled, "Why the hell don't you fight back!?"
"Who cares!" Screamed the elder chuunin, as he flung Naruto off of him. Fortunately Naruto landed on his feet and was able to dodge as the rat-like chuunin leapt at him holding two vicious-looking bone coloured knives. "She'll be dead soon enough anyway!"
"yesyes!" Squealed the rat chuunin, Tokurou, as he slashed at Naruto with both knives, his arms moving in a motion that resembled a bite – with the two knives as teeth. "Kill the sand-dog, kill the traitor too yesyes!"
Naruto rolled away, narrowly ducking under the twin blades and coming up in a half-crouch near to Temari. "Why?" he asked, "Why don't you fight!?"
"I... I can't!" Retorted the ex-Sand-nin, "If I fight back then people will have more reason to hate me! B-besides, I'm no good without my fan!"
"Then..." Naruto grinned, it was the sort of grin Temari had seen on a few of her old villages instructors. It was the grin that said 'I have a plan, you don't, prepare to lose'. Naruto's hands flicked rapidly through a series of motions, the hand-symbols that were used to channel chakra, Temari only recognised a few of them since Naruto's hands were moving so rapidly from each one to the next.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto's cry echoed around the clearing as, suddenly, the clearing wasn't so clear anymore.
Chapter 2 – ended ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors notes: Wheee! A cliffhanger! I decided to split this chapter up, as I realised that what I had originally planned for this chapter would take me months to write x.x
Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering a few things, such as 'why was Naruto chosen to be with Temari?' and, 'Why did the Sand send Temari anyway?'
Well, I could be completely anal and say 'because I felt like it', but I won't, there are good reasons. They'll just be explained later on in the story. That's all ^.^
As for the two leaf chuunin x.x well, many people would harbour anger and hatred against Temari simply because she is, or was, part of the Sand village. Many people probably lost loved ones during the attack, and so someone was bound to try and take vengeance on Temari.
I may have scheduled it a little early though... But word spreads fast in a ninja village (unless, of course, there are issues of secrecy at hand) so most of the village probably knows by now that there is a Sand-nin around.
Uhm... to the people who reviewed my last chapter, Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou! ^.^ It made me sit down and whip this part to completion just that little bit faster =P (granted, it was mostly done already but... uhh... yeah. .;; )
Last thing x.x I request help with Technique names, which I want in japanese (thus continuing how I read the scanlated manga, all the techniques were left in japanese) If you see a technique name that doesn't translate right, pop a note including what it should be in yoru review and I'll fix it up. ^.^
Lackey H
TECHNIQUE GLOSSARY –
Shuryou Dairiseki no Jutsu = Hunting Marble Technique