Waaaaaaaaah! Gomennasaiiiiiiiiiii! I know, it's been a loooooooong time since I posted a new chapter, and for that I sincerely apologize to all of you, but it's just the way I am TT Anyhow, I finally finished this chapter, so read read read away, and review. You can critisize but PLEASE MAKE YOUR CRITICISM CONSTRUCTIVE! That means no flames please. If you don't like something in my story, tell me what, and how I can fix it if it wouldn't require re-writing whole chapters. Well...That's about all I can think of to write here...
Ch. 12
As Sasuke and Aori drew closer to the festival grounds, they came across more and more crowds. Sasuke could tell Aori was getting nervous, her hand tightening fractionally around his, her body moving an inch closer to him, her face going a shade paler. When they reached the entrance to the festival, Sasuke paused for a moment, drawing Aori off to the side.
"Are you sure you want to do this Aori?" She looked at him steadily.
"I am su-"
"Well well well…If it isn't Sasuke." Both Sasuke and Aori turned at the loud voice to see the blonde ninja from their first day they had arrived, clothed in a brown yukata with koi on it. He stood in a ruffian's pose, his legs slightly splayed and his arms crossed. He looked at them both with a mischievous grin slapped on his face. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"What the hell do you want, Dobe?" The grin fell from the blonde's face.
"Shut-up Teme!" Aori let out a soft snort, causing both ninja to look at her. Sasuke had said that this man was the closest thing he had to a friend, and yet the first thing they did was insult one another. Realizing the two were still staring, she gave a slight bow.
"Forgive me. I just find this quite amusing…" The blonde stared at her for a moment, then his eyes widened in recognition and he rushed over to her, shoving his face in hers. Aori tensed immediately, her hands going to the side of her legs before she halted them and simply stepped back.
"Hey! You're the girl from that day!" She blinked, and nodded once, stiffly. The ninja backed up a bit and looked at her a bit more closely.
"Yeah, well I wanna tell ya that you're catching me like that was a fluke. No one, and I mean NO ONE can beat the great Naruto Uzumaki!" Aori had relaxed a bit, and fought to keep a smile from her face as her eyes flicked from the ninja, Naruto, to Sasuke, and back to Naruto.
"Was it now?" Naruto gave Aori a 300-watt grin.
"Yup. Ya know what, I'm even willing to forgive you for doing that to me, on one condition." Aori raised one eyebrow slightly, still fighting a smile from her face. She liked this loud, cheerful ninja.
"And what condition would that be?" Naruto grinned even wider, pointing a finger at her.
"You haveta spar with me." Aori blinked, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"That's all?" She looked at him in slight disbelief as Naruto nodded emphatically.
"Yup. You're pretty strong for a girl. I wanna see how strong that is." Aori's eyebrows had shot upwards at the 'for a girl' part of Naruto's statement. She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a menacing voice.
"And what exactly do you mean by 'pretty strong for a girl', Naruto?" Naruto, Sasuke and Aori turned to see Tsunade glaring at Naruto, the look in her eyes deadly enough to scare even the best of assassins. Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, ah…Ba-chan…Well, ya see…" He was cut off by Tsunade's screaming. Sasuke took the moment to grab Aori's wrist and pull her into the fair grounds. She looked at him.
"We'll catch up with Dobe when he isn't on the bad side of Hokage-sama…She isn't a good person to have mad at you…" Aori blinked, and nodded, understanding dawning on her face.
Sasuke tugged her over to a slightly emptier corner of the fair grounds before letting her wrist go, giving her a chance to look around. She did so, and her eyes widened. Spread across the grounds in front of her was a huge, swirling, pulsing mass of people of every shape and size, in all kinds of kimonos. Her face paled, and she moved to stand a bit closer to Sasuke. He noticed, and glanced down at her.
"Aori?" She jerked her head to look up at him. The corners of her mouth pulled back slightly, and she nodded, signaling that she would be okay. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a loud squealing, drawing closer. Sasuke grimaced as Aori hid a small smile behind her hand. Both knew exactly what the sound meant.
"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Aori took a step to the left just in time to avoid being trampled by the hoard of girls reaching for Sasuke. Aori watched in amusement as Sasuke took off running, the crowd of girls behind him causing any in their path to leap out of the way. As Sasuke ran by, he gave her a quick glare, and with that glare went the loss of her self-control. She began giggling, the hand against her mouth just barely keeping her from outright laughter.
As she was giggling, Aori felt someone appear next to her. She whirled to see a…slightly bruised…Naruto staring at the spectacle that was Sasuke's Fan-girls with a grimace on his face. She blinked.
"Um. Naruto?" He turned to look at her, his face set stubbornly. The question was plain in Aori's eyes.
"He deserted the village for four years…and all his fan-girls still love him…" Aori frowned slightly, looking at Naruto closely. She could see resentment hidden in his eyes, jealousy and…loneliness. Her frowned disappeared.
"Naruto. Yo-" She was interrupted as Sasuke whizzed by again, spitting out a quick plea towards Aori.
"AoriIreallycoulduseyourhelprighthereIthinktheyllstopifyoumakeitknownthatyouaremydate!" He kept on running and both Aori and Naruto blinked as the girls all rushed by, screaming and squealing. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"So…Ya gonna help him out?" Aori glanced at him, and then Sasuke, smoothing a smile from her face to look at Naruto seriously.
"I guess so. Someone has to, or there may not be any Sasuke left." Naruto smirked at that.
"Well, ya better hurry, 'cause here he comes." Aori turned to see Sasuke running towards her again. She flung out her right arm and he grabbed it, holding on tight as she swung him out of the way. The fangirls immediately turned towards them and halted, noticing Aori for the first time. A rustle went through the group, a wind through leaves.
"A girl…"
"Who's she?"
"How dare she touch my Sasuke!"
"A girl…."
By this time Sasuke had composed himself, and he glanced at Aori quickly, sending her a look and mouthing Play along. Aori nodded fractionally and Sasuke gave her a tiny grin before grabbing her waist and pulling her close to him. A true actress, she turned into him, wrapping one arm across the front of his neck and the other around his waist. The fangirl-cloud let out a unanimous enraged gasp. Still acting, Aori stared at all the girls out of the corner of her eyes, her lips pouting slightly.
"Sorry girls. He's mine." Like a balloon that had been punctured, the fan girls let out a loud, long wail and dispersed quietly. When the last girl left, only Sasuke, Aori, and the temporarily forgotten Naruto stood there. Aori immediately let go of Sasuke, putting a foot of air in between them, and Naruto took a step towards them, drawing their attention. Both Aori and Sasuke frowned a little at the odd look they found in his eyes.
"That was quite the…little act…you two put on there." Aori's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the tone of his voice, but Sasuke just shrugged, fixing his still slightly twisted yukata.
"We'd done stuff like that before, when it was needed. This was no big deal." Naruto turned a scorching gaze on Sasuke, a scorching gaze seen only by Aori as Sasuke was looking at his yukata. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped when Tsunade appeared in front of Sasuke.
"Ah, Sasuke, there you are. I need you to come with me now, you and I have to have a small talk before I present you on stage." Tsunade took a quick glance at Aori as she spoke, getting her point across to Sasuke. He frowned.
"Hokage-sama, must it be private? You know how Aori is…" Tsunade gave him an appraising look.
"I shouldn't have to worry about Aori being able to control herself, now should I?" Sasuke shuffled slightly at the tone in her voice, and glanced over to Aori. She gestured at Tsunade with her head, and he blinked, sighing.
"No Hokage-sama, you don't have to worry, she'll be fine…Let's just get this over with." Tsunade smiled happily, giving a nod to Naruto and Aori before leading Sasuke off into the crowds.
When Sasuke had disappeared from sight, Naruto shifted to look at Aori, said girl immediately on edge as he gave her a serious look.
"So…what you guys did just there…it really was just acting." Aori looked at him quizzically at this question for a moment, and Naruto was afraid she wouldn't answer, but then she shrugged her shoulders, nodding slightly.
"Yes. He had to all the time with the Snake-Man." The words, spoken so casually, made Naruto's blood run cold.
"You mean Orochimaru?" Aori, staring at the crowds in a slightly nervous manner, nodded.
"Yes, the Snake-Man. He wasn't nice." Naruto snorted, causing Aori to look at him.
"That is the understatement of the century Aori." She sent the blonde ninja a lukewarm glare, opening her mouth to reply. A slight tug on her yukata stopped her, and she turned, looking down to find the source. When a small smile broke onto her face, Naruto followed her gaze to find a small girl standing at Aori's feet, a girl clutching a raggedy, old doll with a sparkling necklace around her neck. Aori crouched down, and the girl backed up a little, smiling shyly.
"Well, hello again Kioko. How is Ami doing?" As Naruto watched, the girl hugged her doll tightly before replying softly.
"She's good Miss Aori." The girl, Kioko, shifted slightly, as though there was something else she wanted to say, and Aori raised an eyebrow.
"Is there something you wanted to ask, Kioko?" Kioko blushed a little.
"W-well, my friends…Th-they were wondering if you would make their dollies pretty necklaces as well…" Aori laughed slightly.
"I'd love to. Go and bring them here, alright?" Aori smiled at the pure joy that lit up Kioko's face as she nodded eagerly, then scampered off to find her friends. Aori stood up as Kioko went, smoothing her yukata and dusting a bit of dirt off of it. She felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see Naruto looking at her with a slightly amused, slightly lonely expression in his eyes. She frowned slightly at that. Loneliness was not a usual emotion for people her age.
"Naruto?" He blinked at her questioning voice and the loneliness was gone, tucked away behind a, Aori was startled to see, figurative mask much like her own. He grinned at her.
"So, ya like the kids, huh?" Letting his hidden emotions slide for the time being, Aori nodded, a small smile on her face again.
"Yes. They are the ones who look with eyes not judging." Naruto snorted bitterly.
"Yeah, sure. Unless their parents have already filled their heads with crap…" Aori looked at the blonde in front of her sadly, feeling pain from that closed off entity inside of her as well. It would have taken much, and extremely unusual circumstances, to make a young man this bitter at the world already. It was a feeling that she herself was well used to.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably as a look of extreme sadness and…understanding…came into Aori's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Aori turned from him, looking down once again to find Kioko, along with ten or twelve other little girls, all of them holding dolls. He watched Aori's eyes crinkle at the corners as she bent back down to the eight year old.
"My, my Kioko. You have so many friends. I do believe I'm jealous of you." Kioko giggled at Aori's teasing, and then turned to her friends.
"It's alright you guys. Miss Aori's really nice." She turned back to Aori with a happy grin as the other little girls began to move shyly forward. Aori laughed softly holding up a finger.
"If you all will be just a little patient…" The girls watched, amazed, as Aori's hands began to glow with a soft golden chakra, and she placed them on the ground, causing six thick, dark green stems to shoot up. The young girls all gasped in unison as twelve large, shining silver flowers unfurled on the stems. As all the girls began to twitter, Naruto had to smile. It was funny, how relaxed Aori was around them, and how quickly she gained their trust.
Aori threw an unnoticed glance at Naruto, his attention focused on the plants and the twittering girls. Her eyes lit up with an idea, and she turned to the bunch of Kioko's friends, holding up her index finger to silent them.
"I'll give all your dollies pretty necklaces, but first I want you to meet a friend of mine, ok?" As all the girls nodded eagerly, Aori turned to look at Naruto, beckoning him to her with encouraging eyes. His eyes returned with a half deadly angry, half extremely uncertain look, but he stepped forward grudgingly. As soon as he moved, the attention of the girls was caught, and they went silent, knowing exactly who this was.
"M-Miss Aori…" Aori turned back to Kioko, confused by the fear in the little girl's voice.
"Kioko, what's wrong?" Kioko pointed behind Aori, and she turned to look at Naruto, seeing him looking at her with emotionless eyes. Aori turned back to Kioko.
"Kioko?" Still pointing at Naruto, Kioko answered in a stammering voice.
"Th-that's the b-bad man that Mommy says to stay away from." Her eyes widening slightly, Aori turned to look at Naruto again, seeing the slightest hint of the pain he was feeling in his eyes. Pursing her lips, Aori once again looked at the girls.
"Shame on you Kioko. What you just said wasn't nice. Uzumaki Naruto is a very nice man. He's my friend." Kioko, and all the girls, looked at Aori in awe, and one of the other girls spoke up.
"B-but Miss Aori, doesn't he try to hurt you?" Aori frowned.
"Of course not. Why would he?" The girls all shifted quietly, before another one spoke up.
"We dunno. That's just what our mommies and daddies tell us." Aori sighed.
"Well your mommies and daddies are wrong." At that all the girls began protesting, but quickly went quiet as Aori held a hand up again.
"I don't care what they tell you, I know for a fact, they are wrong. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, they are wrong." All the girls looked at her solemnly, and yet again, she sighed. Keeping her eyes on the girls she called out to Naruto.
"Naruto, get down here and introduce yourself please." She felt him kneel beside her, and the girls all backed up a bit.
"…Aori-
"No. I don't want to hear it." She turned her gaze to Kioko.
"Kioko, I would like you to meet my friend, Uzumaki Naruto." Kioko switched from foot to foot, and cast an uneasy glance around, but finally stepped forward, looking up at Naruto fearfully as she bowed down. As she straightened again, all the girls waited with baited breath for the man to lash out at her, hurt her in someway. They were all shocked when he gave her a soft smile, and replied in an equally soft voice.
"It is a pleasure to meet someone who looks up to Aori so. I hope that you watch her closely, and keep her out of trouble. She needs the supervision." Aori glowered and pushed him off the balance of his toes, causing him to fall on his face. All the girls jumped back a bit, but then began to giggle. As Naruto pushed himself up, more of the girls stepped forward, bowing shyly and giving him their names. Naruto reintroduced himself to every one of them.
When the introductions were done, Aori smiled happily, and called the girls attention back to her.
"There see. He's very nice, isn't he." She and a shocked Naruto watched as they nodded their heads softly.
"Well, since you did as I asked, it guess its time for your necklaces." All the girls let out a cheer as Aori waved at the plants and all the flowers flattened and dried. One by one, the girls brought their dolls forward, and one by one, they walked away with dolls with glimmering necklaces. Once the last girl had gone, Aori waved her hand at the plants, letting them sink back into the ground as she and Naruto stood up.
"Aori…" She looked over at Naruto.
"…Thanks…" Aori smiled and shrugged. She then opened her mouth to say something, but her stomach growled so loudly that Naruto could hear it. She looked at him a little sheepishly.
"Uhm. Is there anything to eat?" Smiling widely, Naruto grabbed her hand, not noticing when she tensed, and began to pull her over towards the food tables.
"Yeah, there's tons! You have to try the ramen, it's delicious!"
Me: Tada! What did you guys think.
Sasuke: Glares I was only in the first half. And whats with the fangirl chase!
Me: ;
Naruto: Neh, Sasuke, shut up. You're just jealous because I got to spend time with Aori while you were stuck with the old hag.
Tsunade: What was that Naruto?
Naruto: Goes white Oh, Tsunade ba-chan...Did I tell you how wonderful you look today?
Tsunade: Narutoooo! Chases after a now frantically running Naruto
Aori?
Sasuke: Smirk Well, now that that Usuratonkachi is taken care of... Goes to talk to Aori
Me: Ehehe... Well... See you all next chapter. Review!