Hey guys welcome back to another chapter. Now this will be the last every two week one I have for a while…probably. After this I will go for every three weeks to get some time to relax while still getting use to the 'real world'. Now this may disappoint the few people that actually like my story but I hope that it will make my chapters a bit better seeing as I won't feel forced to pump them out. Plus I don't want there to be much of a chance of me to burn myself out somehow. Anyways I don't want to make these super long anymore so I will end this with one last thing. I pretty sure I am going to end up playing runescape for another month just so I can finish the quests…so if any of you find me feel free to talk to me on it (though yes I know not a lot of people play it anymore but..meh why not).

Chapter 42

+Outside of Konoha+

Two women were currently just a few minutes' worth of a walk till they reached the village.

"Listen I know you are still upset about what happened but this needs to be done…I am sorry." One of the girls told the other clearly not too happy with the idea herself.

"I know it is just too soon…and I don't even know this bastard." The other girl growled out.

"Shizuka! While you may still be upset that is no excuse for insulting people. Especially someone who surely has a lot of sway in this village." The older woman scolded Shizuka.

"Sorry Tokiwa. This whole thing just brings me pain and sadness." Shizuka admitted

"I know but hopefully he will be good for you and help you recover." The older women told her trying to make the depressed girl feel better. "Poor girl. First her loved one dies and now we have no choice but to honor the promise made years ago. A promise that forces her to have to marry someone that she doesn't even know right after such a horrible event." Tokiwa couldn't help but think as they walked but still forced herself to remain neutral so she could finish the mission and not make the girl feel even worse about said mission.

*sigh* "Oh why did it have to happen to you Sagiri-kun. Curse those bastards for taking you away just after we worked so hard to actually be able to be with each other." Shizuka thought sadly as she continued to walk but yet refused to shed a single tear. After all she was a proud kunoichi and refused to let other villages see her as a weak girl; even if she felt like her insides were torn to shreds. This silence stayed between the two of them for the rest of the walk as they both wallowed in their own thoughts till they reached the guards.

"So, what are two kunoichi of Nadeshiko village doing at are gates?" Izumo asked the two girls.

"We are here on a mission that requires us to visit Konoha. Here is our papers." Towia told them before handing them a scroll explaining their mission which had the seal of their village as proof. A scroll that Izumo took and quickly read over with his eyes raising slightly out of surprise.

"Ok this certainly is an…interesting…mission. Though has Lady Tsunade-sama approved of your entry into this village?" he asked after he finished reading the scroll.

"No but surely she will allow such an important mission to continue seeing as it will bring our villages closer together."

"Yes it may do just that. Still we must bring this to the attention of the Hokage before we allow you to pass. Kotestsu take this to Lady Tsunade and explain that these two are here." Izumo ordered his fellow guard who quickly left to do just that. "Sorry Kotestsu but there is no way I am going to explain to Tsunade that Naruto is being 'hunted' by another village….still he is a lucky bastard. I mean the girls he already has have all turned into beauties and now he is having yet another basically brought to him….man I wish I had that luck. Though maybe not with the whole needing to fight for this one." Izumo thought as he watched the girls in front of him.

~Hokage's office~

"Lady Tsunade we have two kunoichi from Nadeshiko standing at our gate." Kotetsu told the women soon after entering her office.

"Huh, what do they want?" Tsunade asked slightly annoyed seeing as she was just woken up from one of her 'productive naps'. Though instead of answering Kotetsu simply handed her the scroll making her slightly curious. She then read through the scroll and finally let out an annoyed groan as soon as she finished. "Why does that damn brat manage to cause me headaches even when I haven't even talked to him today." She thought rubbing her temples. *sigh* "Let them in but make sure they know I don't want this brought into the actual village. They can use a training ground though." Tsunade told Kotetsu who quickly nodded and rushed back to the gate. "Now Naruto I really hope you don't die but my hands are partially tied here. After all if I stop them then would start some bad blood to develop between the villages. And right now we need more allies than enemies with the Akatsuki already moving around causing trouble." She thought before mentally giving herself a reminder to kick Jiraiya's ass for causing this problem to begin with.

~Konoha Gate~

"Okay welcome to our village both of you. Just remember what Lady Tsunade said. Don't cause any trouble in the village." Izumo tells the girls who nod and walk into the village.

"Thank kami that at least went smoothly. Now, let's get a room then start looking for our target." Tokiwa planned as they walked further into the busy streets of Konoha. A plan which Shizuka simply accepted with a shrug as she followed the older women. They then began to look around the village to trying to find their best option for a hotel so they could at least be a bit comfortable in an unknown village. A mission which only took a short while much to the relief of both girls who quickly purchased the room and began to unpack some of their less needed supplies. Shizuka then let herself fall onto the soft mattress trying to take a few moments to relax before they had to start their search. A search that surely would be complete torture for her.

"Tokiwa-san can we wait till tomorrow to start the search?" she asked the older women who seemed slightly surprised.

"What? But we still have hours of sunshine left before…" Tokiwa began to say before she actually saw how tired her partner was right now. "Poor girl..the depression and stress must be exhausting to try and deal with. I really wish I didn't have to even push her this hard to begin with." She thought sadly. "Sure Shizuka we can start in the morning. How about you get some rest and try to relax?" Tokiwa suggested to the girl who gave her a small smile of appreciation that was clearly forced.

"Thank you Tokiwa." She said a bit happier knowing that said women was at least trying to make this horrible mission as pain free as it could be. She then closed her eyes and tried to sleep off some of the increased tension she felt.

+A bit latter+

When Shizuka woke up from her short nap she actually did feel slightly better. She also noticed the smell of food coming wafting into her nose. A smell that forced her up due to hearing her stomach growl for the food. So, she sat up and quickly noticed the take out that her travel companion was currently eating.

"Good you are up. I got you some food as well and was hoping that it wouldn't get cold before you could eat." Tokiwa told the girl who slowly walked over to the table and ate said food after quickly saying thanks. "So, we still have a few hours before we should sleep. Is there anything that you want to do?"

"Hmm something I want to do. Well I guess I could go see Naruto-kun and see how he is doing. Who knows he may be able to help make this search faster so I can just get it over with…or at least possibly make me feel a bit better." Shizuka thought remembering how caring Naruto was. "Actually there is something I want to do; I have a friend here that I haven't seen in a while so this is the perfect time to see how they are doing." She told Tokiwa who was yet again surprised.

"Oh, I had no clue you ever met someone from Konoha before." She admitted.

"Yea I met a few of ninja from here a while ago while they were training near our village. So, if you don't mind I am going to go see them now…maybe they will even be able to help us." Shizuka told her before finishing her meal and tossing it into the trash. She then walked out of the hotel.

"Well I guess while she is going for a bit more help I can get my own search started." Tokiwa decided before leaving the room herself. After all she wanted this experience to be as painless as possible for the young girl.

~Naruto's Apartment~

After only about fifteen minutes of searching Shizuka was able to locate Naruto's home. For it seemed that a good portion of the village both knew Naruto and where he lived. Though it did slightly worry her that she saw that a few people clearly weren't happy about that fact. Still she put that to the back of her mind as she knocked on the door. Course she was slightly surprised when instead of seeing her blond friend she saw a beautiful women open the door.

"Hello what can I do for you?" Haku asked the girl in front of her confused about why a random foreign kunoichi was at her and Naruto's home.

"Oh, I am sorry I must have gotten the wrong house. I was looking for Naruto Uzumaki. Do you know where he is?"

"No you got the right house. Here let me get him for you." Haku told the girl before shutting the door. For she decided to simply let Naruto know that she was there and let him decide if he wants to talk to her or not. So, she walked into the living room where Naruto was working on some project.

"Hey Naruto-kun there is a girl from the Nadeshiko village. Do you want to talk to her?" Haku asked Naruto.

"Huh Nadeshiko…the only person I know from there would be Shizuka-chan but I don't know why she would be here." Naruto mumbled before simply shrugging. "Well I guess I will just have to see why she is here I suppose; thank you Haku-chan." Naruto told the girl giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking to the door.

"Oh so it is Shizuka-chan. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked after opening the door to see the sad girl standing in front of him.

"Hey Naruto-kun I came to Konoha for a…mission. Anyways can I come in and talk for a bit?" she asked him not wanting to talk about anything private out in public.

"Sure come on in." Naruto told her leading her into the living room where he quickly picked up his things and sat down in a chair. "Now what do you want to talk about?" he asked the girl who sat across from him who was looking at Haku currently. "Oh, sorry about that. This is Haku-chan one of my girlfriends." Naruto told the girl who instantly glared at him.

"One of?" She asked with a bit of venom in her voice causing Naruto to sweat a bit though thankfully Haku expected this to happen when a girl found out and was prepared to save him from being killed.

"Yes one of. You see the village forced Naruto-kun to partake in the CRA program so that his clan is less likely to die out. Though I promise you that each one of us was willing to be a part of his 'harem' and weren't forced." Haku explained making some of the KI in the air disappear.

"…Ok I guess if you are fine with living like that who am I to judge." Shizuka told Haku still disgusted with the idea of the CRA program being a thing. "Anyways I guess I will ignore that in favor of explaining why I am here." She added making Naruto snap out of his fear and focus on what she was saying. "You see I am here to find someone in the village so I can fight them as required by my village's rules and I was hoping you would be able to help us find him." She explained.

"Wait why do you have to look for someone I thought you being with Sagiri stopped you from needing to do that." Naruto asked confused and he then watched her already sad expression get even worse.

"Sagiri-kun has…died." She told him in a barely audible whisper.

"WHAT! How did that happen!" Naruto asked shocked.

"Well you see after you helped us get together he still had to spend a good while with his family getting ready to come live in the village. Though while he was in his own town apparently a group of bandits learned that they had a good amount of valuable and attacked them. They fought hard but in the end weren't able to fully repel the bandits…we found out ourselves when we searched for why they were late only to find a good portion of the village died." Shizuka explained crying a bit even though she was trying her hardest not to.

"Grr. Those bastards! We need to make sure that they get what they deserve." Naruto told her furious that one of his friends died without him even knowing.

"D-don't worry we already have eradicated the bandits seeing as they wrecked one of our supply lines and were way to close to our village…I just wish I was there to stop them from getting them in the first place.' Shizuka told him hating the fact that she wasn't able to protect her loved one. Course in her bout of self-hate she failed to notice that Naruto got up from his seat and sat right next to her. She only noticed when he wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug that brought her close.

"Shh, Shizuka-chan don't hate yourself because of this. There was no way you could have known that bandits were coming…we may be the protectors but even we can't help everyone in time…besides Sagiri wouldn't want you to be like this." Naruto told her trying his best to make the girl feel better.

"B-but if I went with him." She began only for Naruto to stop her.

"You wouldn't have been allowed to because of your village and you know it. Now this isn't the time to think about things you can't change. Instead just focus on his memory and what he would have wanted. Now tell me would he have wanted to see you so upset?" Naruto asked the girl who simply shook her head. "No, of course he wouldn't. Now how about you try and focus on your good times with him seeing as he would want you to be as happy." He told her while gently rubbing her back to try and make her feel a bit better. A hope that worked partially as she tried her best to think about only the good times but the knowledge that he died kept popping back up into her mind making her end up breaking through her mental fortitude and start to cry into Naruto's shoulder.

"Poor girl I can understand what she is feeling right now." Haku thought remembering how Zabuza who was her father figure die. "But at least Naruto somehow manages to help make anyone feel better even though he isn't the best speaker in the world." She thought with a small smile remembering how Naruto somehow always makes people feel better. She then simply sat quietly as Shizuki cried for a few minutes until she finally got a hold of herself.

"S-sorry" she muttered with her cheeks slightly red due to being embarrassed about her emotional breakdown.

"it is okay Shizuki-chan. We all have those moments. Now what do you need help with in Konoha?" Naruto asked partially curious and partially wanting to make her think of other things besides Sagiri's death.

"W-well now that….you know…happened I am now back to being forced to keep the promise that was made years ago of fighting and possibly marrying the apprentice to the sannin called Jiraiya. So, can you help me find this person so that I can get this torture over with." Shizuki explained making Naruto look at her in utter shock. "…what?" she asked confused.

"Well Shizuki-chan the person who was trained by Jiraiya was…me" He admitted to the girl shocking her as well.

And that is where I am going to end this one I think. Now Naruto making her feel better may seem ab it week to some but I tried my best. I also wanted to make it a bit rougher seeing as Naruto really isn't the best with speaking and emotional stuff yet. He learns as he goes. So, basically while he somehow always manages to make most feel better he still is far from perfect at it. As for why the tough Shizuki cried well you try being forced to basically go find another lover after having your first die. I am sure that if you aren't give any real advice to get over your depression and time to recover. So she is basically on an emotional high to begin with and probably would break down crying herself anyways eventually. So, my writing for that was sort of bad partially for a reason and partially due to my own 'skills' in writing. Ja Ne.