In The Arms of Angels
By: KyubiX
Chapter 7: Hope
A/N: Okay, to all my fans, I am so very sorry for the ridiculous amount of time it took me to post this chapter. Truth be told, I was about ready to scrap this story, I had only a vague idea of where to go with it, and even that was an incomplete train of thought. I was so frustrated that I was ready to abandon this story. However, thanks to my good friend One Azn Dragon, who I am giving the biggest shout out in the world to, this story is now back on track and going full steam ahead.
I also want to take this moment to thank everyone who has reviewed. You guys are amazing; I believe that this story is at 166 reviews! Thanks for all the reviews and keep it up! Once again, thanks for being patient and now on with the show…
Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes, only to shut them tightly at seeing the blinding light of the sun. He sat up and quickly rubbed his eyes as he scanned the room he was in. Suddenly memories of what happened the last time he was conscious flooded his mind. Naruto quickly jumped out of the bed and looked down to see that he was in PJ pants with no shirt on. He looked around and found his clothes in a neat pile on a chair next to the door.
Naruto sighed as he made his way to the clothes. Just as he was about to reach for them, his ninja sense kicked in as he heard someone approaching the door. He grabbed his sword and hid behind the door. The door slowly creaked open and he heard a vaguely familiar voice let out a gasp before screaming out, "He's gone! He's not in his room!"
Naruto tensed as he heard the sound of many feet running up the steps and towards his room. He prepared himself as several figures rushed into the room. Naruto leapt and activated his sword as he came down upon the tallest member of the group. The said person turned and gasped as Naruto prepared to strike.
Naruto's mind went into overdrive as he realized that the person he was about to strike down was none other than Ayame, the girl he loved. At the last second he turned his body and rolled across the ground before slamming into the wall unceremoniously. The sword deactivated as Naruto rubbed his now sore head.
Ayame was by his side in a minute, placing his head on her lap and looking down at him concerned. This of course of action made Naruto blush as he stuttered out, "A…Ayame, its fine, I'm okay."
Naruto slowly sat up and turned to look at Ayame only to have a hand driven into his cheek very roughly. Naruto held his cheek and looked to see Ayame standing over him with tears in her eyes. "You…You idiot! You had me so worried; don't ever do anything crazy like that again!"
With that being said she buried herself into his chest and cried softly thanking heaven that he was okay. Naruto just sat there and confused as he could be as he consoled his upset girlfriend.
"Naruto…" a voice called out which caused Naruto to freeze where he was. He turned and saw Haku standing in the doorway. Naruto gently let go of Ayame and was on his feet in an instant staring the boy down.
Everyone watched nervously as the tension in the room grew to strangling levels. "Haku, I apologize for going berserk on you, I pray you are in good health." Everyone let out the breath they were holding as the tension instantly dissipated.
"No Naruto, it is I who most apologize, I almost took away the life of the one you loved." Naruto simply waved his hand and said, "Its fine, you didn't kill Ayame so no harm no foul right?"
Haku started at the boy and though, "Incredible, to be able to forgive just like that, just how powerful are you Naruto?"
"Well, well, it looks like you're finally up and at em hey Naruto?" Kakashi said with his usually lazy persona in place. Naruto looked to his sensei and smiled before giving a small nod.
"We, to give a basic explanation, you've been out for three days. Zabuza and Haku have decided to come back to the village with us and have been helping me train Hinata and Kiba. The bridge is almost completed and will be done within the next two days. As soon as the bridge is done, we will be heading home." Kakashi said as he did his infamous one eye smile.
Naruto nodded again and helped Ayame onto her feet. It was at the moment she noticed that Naruto was no wearing a shirt and blushed heavily. Naruto noticed the blush and looked down at his bare upper body. "Um, I think I better get dressed." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Everyone nodded and left the room except for Ayame. Naruto noticed that Ayame had a strange look on her face. "What's wrong Ayame-Chan?" With that, Ayame flung herself onto Naruto again and locked her lips with his. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he caught her. He quickly regained his composure and kissed her back softly as he closed his eyes.
Ayame broke the kiss and buried herself in his chest whispering, "I don't want to lose you Naruto…Promise me I won't lose you Naruto." Naruto grabbed her cheeks gently and looked her straight in her eyes as he said, "I'll never give up, and you're not going to lose me anytime soon. I promise you Ayame."
With that they shared another small kiss before Ayame broke away and grabbed up a towel. She put it in his hands and told him to take a shower, get dressed, and come downstairs to get some lunch. Naruto watched Ayame walk out of the room with a small smile on his face.
Naruto waited until Ayame closed the door behind her before picking up his clothes and taking them into the bathroom with the towel.
Ayame walked down the stairs and smiled kindly to Zabuza who simply nodded back to her with a small grunt. Ayame walked into the kitchen and saw Tazuna's daughter gathering the necessary materials to make some lunch. Ayame quickly put on in apron and began to hum as she stood next to Tsunami. "Oh sweetie, you don't have to help me make lunch."
Ayame turned to Tsunami and smiled sweetly saying, "Its okay, I want to help make lunch for everyone, its no trouble at all." Tsunami smiled at the nice girl and went back to cutting up vegetables.
With Naruto
Naruto gasped in pleasure as the warm water hit his skin in the shower. He sunk his head under the water stream and let the water soak down his wild hair. He closed his eyes as he remembered the events of the fight and remembered the terrible power of the Kyuubi.
A voice to his right made him jump as it called out, "Naruto…" Naruto spun around to see Gabriel standing there with Tobias and Alice standing there with serious looks on their faces. "Hey guys, what's up?"
"Kyuubi, you must stay away from him Naruto, you must not use his power and you must not allow hate to overpower your emotions on the bridge like you did. I say these harsh words for your safety Naruto, that demon is the most dangerous demon of them all, and to boot he is very tricky. I sense a terrible feeling coming from the seal and I fear that if he is released again something bad will happen to you. You must promise me Naruto, you must promise me to stay away from the Kyuubi." Gabriel said with a very serious tone.
Naruto nodded and look guilty at the fact that he let himself fall into senseless rage. Gabriel saw this and said, "Naruto, listen to me. Your acts, although foolish were honorable. You simply wanted to protect the people you love. And although you almost fell into hate and despair, we managed to pull you out just in the nick of time, so basically, don't beat yourself up. Now that you know not to make the same mistake again, you learn from the incident and move on."
Naruto gave a small smile and nodded again before seeing someone small hiding behind Gabriel, Tobias, and Alice. "Hey, who's that?" Naruto asked curiously.
Gabriel gently grabbed a small girl and brought her out from behind him. "This is Alexis; she is one the most intelligent angel and is responsible for information gathering and a few other unmentionable things." The girl bowed slightly and Naruto did the same letting the water pelt down his back.
"To keep this short as to not raise the suspicions of your friends, the chunnin exams are coming up for the ninja villages and you are going to need training. I already know that your teammates are going to train with their families and that your sensei is going to be helping train the Uchiha child who just recently activated his Sharrigan bloodline limit." Alexis said before taking a breath and continuing.
"We wish to take you on a training trip to teach you some skills to help make you stronger, as well as teach you absolutely perfect charka control, strength conditioning, and speed conditioning." Alexis finished speaking and Naruto's mouth was hanging open.
"Um, sure, the training will be awesome, but I have only one request." Naruto said watching as all eyes turned on him. "I want my sis to come with me and I want her to be able to see you all, I consider her part of my family I think she should be able to see you guys as well.
The angels all seemed to flinch and turned to each other talking in a "huddle." Naruto watched anxiously as the angels talked.
Before long they all turned to Naruto and Tobias said, "We need to go discuss this with our "superiors, we will give your our decision before you step foot back into Kohona."
Naruto nodded and waved goodbye as the four angels disappeared. Naruto quickly finished his shower and dried himself off. Just as he finished getting dressed a knock came at his door and Kiba let himself in. "Hey Naruto, lunch is ready so get your butt in gear."
Naruto came out of the bathroom and followed Kiba down into the dining area. Naruto saw everyone waiting for him and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry guys, I got a bit distracted." Everyone waved him off and both Ayame and Tsunami both said, "Its okay, we just finished getting it ready."
Everyone had a pleasant meal and at the end Tazuna said, "Everyone I have an announcement." Everyone turned their eyes to him and Tazuna took a deep breath.
"The bridge will be finished tomorrow. We are so close to accomplishing our dreams and we owe it all to you brave ninjas, who took on a job that was above you and rose to the occasion. And you young man," Tazuna said pointing to Naruto. "When all hope seemed lost you summoned that giant phoenix and brought back our hope. Because of this I am going to name the bridge the Great Naruto Bridge."
With that declaration Ayame squealed and latched herself onto Naruto. Everyone else smiled and nodded and some clapped. While Naruto simply kept his head down. "Stop…" Naruto said softly but the tone of his voice was felt by all and everyone stopped what they were doing and started at him.
Naruto unlatched himself from Ayame and got up out of his chair, his face still hidden by his bangs. "Don't name your bridge after me, who showed that deep down inside he is a monster." The entire room was silent until a loud slap echoed across the walls.
Naruto looked at Ayame in shock as tears streamed down both of their faces. "Don't you ever…EVER call yourself a monster again or I swear that I will never speak to you again Uzumaki Naruto! You fought with your entire heart and saved these people, you are not a monster! You are a HERO!"
After speaking her piece, Ayame slammed herself back into his chest and wept. Naruto held her close whispering over and over again that he was sorry.
"She's right you know Naruto, don't beat yourself up over the small details, you have to see the whole picture. Remember, a ninja sees underneath the underneath." Kakashi said with his one eye smile.
Everyone agreed and with that being said, lunch was cleaned up.
The next day was very uneventful. The Great Naruto Bridge was completed and hope was once again restored to the wave country.
The very next day, Team 7 along with Zabuza and Haku made their way home.
The last night of camping before they would reach Kohona; Gabriel, Tobias, Alice, and Alexis came to Naruto while he was on first guard duty shift. "Naruto, we have made our decision…"
A/N: And that's it baby, boom the chapter is done! I hope this chapter gets you pumped up for the next chapter because boy or boy is there going to be a lot of action. From training to the first two tests of the chunnin exams alongside of the fated meeting with Orochimaru, and many other twists and turns that you'll never see coming!
Oh yeah, please Read And Review!
Kyubi-X