Caranril: I meant to get all the chappies up that I've already published, but I ran out of time proof-reading last night. Do what I can, but a new chappie will be up soon. And Naruto's element being Wind? I wrote that before that manga chapter with the Chakra paper was released. I SO called it!
Legolas: And now, for my new job.
Caranril: Yes, for I decided he ought to get promoted for doing such a good job on "The Dark Before the Dawn". Now he's thanking reviewers, ain't that right, Lego-kun?
Legolas: Aye! Thanks to Benney, just for reviewing.
Caranril: Enjoy, y'all.
disCLAIMER: While I do not own Naruto nor any affiliated subjects therein, Kishimoto-sama does and therefore he owns my soul.
Chapter 5: Meetings and Misconceptions
The room had gone silent. Kaori stepped away from the man behind her and turned around. He wore a black cloak that paled next to his ebony hair. His skin was so white he looked monochromatic. Even his small eyes were black. His face was passive, which Naruto's expression completely opposed.
"Naruto," he responded. He lifted an arm through his cloak and offered a large package to him.
Naruto crossed his arms and stared at the taller man. "What are you doing here?"
"Happy Birthday," the grim man said.
"I asked him to come," Iruka said hurriedly, appearing next to Naruto. "He is your friend after all."
"Yeah, but he owes me a fight." Naruto's face was completely serious.
"Naruto, do you really think this is the time or place?" Iruka glanced about the room in emphasis. The tension had increased dramatically, and everyone was waiting for something to happen.
Naruto suddenly laughed. "Sasuke-temee, it's good to see you again! Where have you been lately?" He heartily smacked Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke managed to form a grimace-like expression, but it seemed enough for the party-goers. They returned to their ruckus, which allowed Kaori and Iruka to sigh with relief. Iruka gave Kaori a tired smile before returning to bargain with the slackers in the corner.
"Don't tell me you were worried about me, Naruto," Sasuke muttered.
"Hah, about you? Never!" Naruto chortled. "No, no, there's someone I want you to meet. Kaori, this is the fourth member of Team Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Naruto, there's no more-"
"Yeah I know!"
Kaori held her hand out. "I can't guarantee I'll remember your name, Sasuke-san, mostly because I'm horrible with names, but it's good...to...meet..." She dropped her hand as Sasuke stared at it blankly.
"Naruto, I told you to stop introducing me to your girlfriends. I'm not interested."
Naruto's eyes widened. He glanced at Kaori, who had her arms crossed and her head cocked.
"As flattering as it is that you think I'm Naruto's girlfriend, he's single right now. And I'm just wondering one thing..." Kaori's mouth drew into a charming smile. "Who stuck that kunai up your ass?" Her smile instantly fell into a glower, and she stalked away. Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah. She's not my girlfriend."
Sasuke looked only slightly mollified. He regained his passive composure and looked back at Naruto.
"I realize...I haven't been around," he said hesitantly. "But I need..."
"Time. I know." Naruto grinned. "Take all the time you need, but one of these days I'm gonna get a rise out of you and a fight!"
Sasuke smiled slightly. "Thanks."
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke lost his smile immediately. He rolled his eyes, which made Naruto laugh and wave as he returned to his guests.
"You've change Sasuke, but not that much!" Naruto said gleefully. The only reason he didn't still hate Sasuke for capturing the hearts of every girl in Konoha was because he had his own group of admirers now. Even though Sasuke hardly spoke to anyone or hung out anywhere, Naruto was glad he was back. He didn't know what had happened to change Sasuke, but he was slowly getting back to normal. If anything, the Sasuke fan club would help bring back the good old days.
Naruto glanced at the business card Kaori had given him. He grinned, imagining a free bowl of ramen everyday. He glanced about, spotting Kaori near the door, looking lost and ready to make a break for it. That wouldn't do. Naruto popped up next to her and grabbed her arm.
"Let's introduce you to people."
"I'm not very good at names," Kaori stuttered.
"I know, but with my help you'll have no problems at all!"
"Actually," Kaori whispered, "I'm not very good with people. You saw how I 'met' Sasuke. I've always been...different. And I hate crowds. Whenever we had passengers on the Inazuma, I stayed aloft because I couldn't handle the crowding. Don't make me do it, Naruto."
Naruto stared at her through slit eyes. "How old are you?"
"I told you before."
"Then stop acting like a child." Naruto dragged her to a trio who were laughing hysterically.
"Hey, Naruto. Happy Birthday!" A young man with narrow eyes and red streaks on his cheeks held his glass up. A short girl facing away jumped and turned around quickly. She tapped her forefingers together nervously.
"Hello, Naruto-kun," she said quietly. Her eyes were opaque like Neji's, but they didn't stare through Kaori like she was nothing. The third party member, who hid behind a high-collared jacket and sunglasses, merely nodded.
"Hey, guys. Remember I told you about the new foreign ninja I was training?" Naruto pointed at Kaori, who smiled sheepishly. "Kiba, Hinata, Shino, this is Kaori."
"Ah, learned any cool jutsus from Naruto yet?" Kiba growled, flashing pointy white teeth.
"Ah, no. We start that tomorrow."
"Since when have you been a teacher, Naruto?" Shino asked.
"Since Tsunade-'baachan let me," Naruto puffed his cheeks. "Is that so hard to believe?"
Kaori watched Hinata, whose fingers were working furiously as she debated whether or not to speak.
"Keep going," Naruto huffed, pulling Kaori away. He introduced her to a large young man by the name of Chouji who was hoarding the buffet table. Naruto whispered later that his techniques depending on being "big-boned", as was Chouji's preferred description.
Tenten and Neji were speaking together, but Kaori was hesitant to dwell anywhere within Neji's sight. Lee was talking animatedly to a man who looked like an older version of himself. Gai was his name, and he was quite full of himself. Just the same, Kaori felt Lee deserved no less of a man for a sensei. As they parted, Gai hinted at a long-time rivalry he had with Kakashi. Kaori thought this quite interesting and asked Naruto about it.
"Eh? I don't know much about that," Naruto muttered. "Kakashi-sensei never said anything about having a rival, but Gai-sensei is always talking about it. Fuzzy eyebrows would be a better person to ask about that."
Naruto caught a Jounin couple on their way out the door. Asuma and Kurenai congratulated Naruto on his big day and excused themselves to go in search of sake. Iruka had confiscated their secret stash.
Naruto led Kaori back to Sasuke, who was drenched with ogling girls. Many of which Naruto didn't know and who had shown up because they'd followed Sasuke. Naruto tried to pry Ino off so she could meet Kaori, but all the blond did was glare at Naruto for his interruption and stab Kaori to death with her eyes. Naruto gave up despite the looks of desolation on Sasuke's face. Kaori only sneered when their eyes met. She found the situation to be very amusing, and her expression told Sasuke so. He rewarded her with a nasty glare.
"I don't get it," Kaori commented as they continued around the room. "He's not that attractive, and he's got a horrible personality. What could all those girl see in him?"
"I guess they think he's hot," Naruto shrugged. "But it's also because he's the Uchiha."
"The Uchiha?"
Naruto looked at the ceiling, debating his choice of words. "About ten years ago, Sasuke's older brother killed everyone in the Uchiha clan. It's a long story and no one really knows what happened in the years Sasuke was gone, except maybe Tsunade-'baachan, but I think he managed to kill Itachi. That's been his goal since he was ten. So he's the Uchiha because he's the only one left."
"Oh. Well that's...darn."
"Yeah." Naruto was silent for a moment, lost in some memory. Kaori shuffled a foot and looked about the room. She'd met nearly everyone at the party, but she couldn't remember any names. Of all the things she wasn't good at, it had to be something that solidified her as a social outcast. She'd hoped things would be different in this foreign land, but she was meant to accept her status here too. Her eyes caught a head of pink hair. Sakura was standing next to a very tall man with black hair tied on his head like Iruka's. He looked like he was complaining about something, while Sakura was half-listening as she stared off into space. No, not into space, for as Kaori turned she could see Sasuke and his tag-alongs. Kaori couldn't read her expression, for it was well-guarded, but her eyes were filled with longing.
"Hey, Naruto."
"Huh?" Naruto's mind returned to the present.
"Sakura. What's with her and Sasuke?"
"Hm, well that's a long story too, but even though she says she isn't into him anymore, I can tell she is. But she's not going to do anything about it now. Sasuke's too different, and as far as we know he'll kill her."
"Kill her!"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't really know why she admires from a distance. She used to be his biggest fan publicly. Now...I think she's afraid of him. She's seen what he's done. So few of us have."
Sakura spotted the pair watching her and waved them over.
"Kaori, it's nice to see you again. Have you met Shikamaru?"
"No." This time when Kaori held out her hand, the stare at it was that of exasperation. She crossed her arms and sighed. "I don't get it."
"Get what?" Naruto and Sakura said in unison.
"Iruka-sensei told me that when one meets new people, they occasionally shake hands. I've offered my hand twice so far because it's still so weird to me, and both times people have stared at it like it's a dead fish or something."
Naruto burst out laughing, and Shikamaru held up his hands hastily.
"I didn't want this to be troublesome!" he whined, offering his hand to Kaori. She shook it firmly. "Sorry about doing that, but I'm really irritated at things in ANBU right now."
"For once, I know exactly what someone is talking about," Kaori sighed. "ANBU was one of the first things Iruka-sensei taught me about."
"So you're really new to this place," Shikamaru commented. "I could never do something so troublesome as starting over in another country. Especially one without ninjas. I'm no good at anything besides jutsus. And Shougi."
"Well you're good at slacking off," Sakura suggested. "Maybe slacker is a career in other countries."
"In that case, I'd leave in a heartbeat."
The other three laughed, while Shikamaru just grinned hopelessly. While Iruka had Naruto blow out his candles and cut the real cake, Sakura continued staring at Sasuke, who was rescued by the arrival of Tsunade, Shizune, and a big, white-haired old man. Naruto went to greet the trio, while Izumo and Kotetsu made a mad scramble out the window. Apparently they were supposed to be filing something. As Tsunade and Shizune handed Naruto his gifts, the blond realized he never finished opening the ones he had. With a whoop he returned to the stage and tore apart more presents. Tsunade gave him a large selection of pocky, which could have lasted any normal being months. Naruto would no doubt finish it in a week.
Shizune gave him a set of kunais that were made to return to his hand at a command. Overly excited, Naruto threw them into the wall.
"Kaeru," he commanded, his palm outstretched. As the kunai tore themselves away from the wall, Iruka shrieked at the damage done to his classroom. Naruto hopped from foot to foot joyfully, for he would never run out of kunai with the pair on hand.
From Chouji he'd received a long blue scarf that matched his hitai-ate. Ino gave him a work out video, which Naruto felt was worthless as he spent all his time training anyway. Tenten gave him an arsenal of handy weapons. Shikamaru gave him money, claiming that buying a present was too troublesome.
Naruto fidgeted as he thanked Lee and Gai for their gifts, which were green silk sheets that matched their suits. He moved on to Shino's present, which was a small bottle of bug-repelling liquid to "keep away those Bikouchuus in your kitchen", at which only Kiba and Hinata laughed. Naruto huffed and tucked it safely in his scarf. He opened Hinata's gift next, which wasn't really wrapped as it was a lotus plant in a pot. Naruto attacked Hinata a tight hug, which made her blush and falter, but she maintained her balance. Neji gave him a book on meditation, which Naruto seriously considered skimming through later. After all, Neji was a genius, and this book was like a tip.
Asuma and Kurenai had given him a case of sake, which Naruto hid away before Iruka could commandeer it. Captain Yamato had been called away on a mission and had sent his regrets along with a wooden figurine of a nine-tailed fox. Unlike its model, the animal was crouching playfully with a cute face. Yamato had made it himself.
He couldn't help but be very excited at Sasuke's present, which was the complete set of the Princess Fuun movies on DVD. Naruto ignored the knowing smirk on Sasuke's face and gave him a huge thanks.
Kakashi watched in amusement as Naruto gaped at his present. The book was a bit on the lighter side compared to the "Icha Icha" series, and less tasteful in his opinion, but it should suit Naruto just fine. He'd heard that Naruto studied more often lately in hopes of becoming Hokage. Perhaps his mind needed a pleasant break from all that studying. After all, the book was titled "Oiroke no Jutsu".
Sakura's present was a handy med kit for Naruto to keep in his pack. Even though Naruto rarely needed serious medical attention, it would be there for him to help someone in case a medical nin wasn't available. Kakashi felt a twinge in his gut. Rin had given him a med pack when he had become a Jounin. And Obito had...
Kakashi closed his eye and sighed. What was most odd was that he never felt anything in common with Naruto; he felt Sasuke was much like himself. Yet here this simple gift had made him feel almost...understanding. And that was enough of that. He pulled out "Icha Icha Odoroki" and began mulling over those pages instead of his sudden fatherly feelings towards Naruto. He glanced up to see Naruto yelping with excitement as he discovered an orange winter jacket from Kiba. The hood, sleeves, and bottom were trimmed with white fur. In fact, it was a mirror of Kiba's own jacket of choice. Kakashi shook his head. It would look horrible with his Jounin jacket.
After opening an envelope from Iruka with a free trip to the hotsprings, Naruto sighed with pleasure. He'd never been excited about his birthday before, but because his friends were excited for him, he could deny the feeling. Plus he was the centre of attention. He saw Iruka smiling at him from the crowd and proceeded to pounce on and embarrass the older man. But his gratefulness was undeniable.
As the evening waned on, Naruto spent time with every person, mostly talking about himself, and as they filed out alone or in pairs, he noticed how empty the room felt. Jiraiya placed a large hand on his shoulder.
"I didn't want to give you this when there were so many people around," he said cheerfully, rubbing his nose. "It's not exactly legal for me to have it, much less you."
Naruto looked at the seal on the scroll. "Scroll of Wind?" he read.
"You are a Wind Element guy, so I thought this might come in handy. I don't need it anymore. I've got my hands full with...research," Jiraiya finished his sentence eyeing a woman approaching him. "Oh, she's not much to look at now, but I bet with the right clothes and make-up and hair style, she could inspire many stories for me!" Jiraiya chuckled maniacally. Naruto stared at him blankly, then turned to a tap on his shoulder.
"Huh!" Naruto screeched when he saw it was Kaori. She was startled at his reaction, but decided he'd just had too much sugar. Naruto's face sagged in annoyance.
"Ero-sennin..." he muttered.
"I'm a what?" Kaori said.
Naruto shook his head. "Ero-sennin, this is Kaori. I'm training her to be a ninja."
Jiraiya was quiet for a moment before bursting out in raucous laughter.
"Training? Her?" he hooted. "That's a good one Naruto!"
Naruto puffed his cheeks and Kaori crossed her arms. Jiraiya's reaction wasn't flattering to either of them.
"Ero-sennin, huh? That means you're Jiraiya."
"Oh, so you've heard of me?" Jiraiya wiped the tears from his eyes, quite pleased.
"Only that you're a horny old fart who can't get any so spends his time watching other people get some." Kaori's expression dared Jiraiya to challenge the truth in her statement.
Naruto's face turned beet red, partially because he was holding back a huge guffaw, also because she'd said this statement very loudly in a room that had only a few people in it...including Godaime Hokage.
Jiraiya's left eyebrow twitched as it always did when he was annoyed. Kaori was oblivious to the stares from the rest of the party, and Naruto was holding his breath for the sake of his life. Never a big fan of Jiraiya, Sasuke smirked, then let loose a short "ha". That set Naruto and the rest of the room off. Laughter at Jiraiya's expense was always hearty. Jiraiya looked like he was about to explode, hovering dangerously over the smaller Kaori. She stood defiantly, practically goading him into making a move. His eye twitched once, then he closed both and gave her a huge grin.
"Ah, I see Naruto's told you all about me, then." Jiraiya chuckled. "Tell me, did he say that exactly?"
"No," Kaori smiled back. "Those are my words, but more or less what Naruto told me."
"You have guts, miss. Just like him."
The only one in the room not at ease was Kakashi, who was offended by Kaori's remarks. He didn't normally react this way, but anything against his beloved "Icha Icha" series or its author made his blood boil. He snapped his book shut and decided that the party had lost all appeal. He stalked out of the room, observed only by Iruka, and then realized as he reached his house that he had forgotten to get a piece of cake.