When she met Uchiha Sasuke, she was sure that they would never be friends.
It was sad to think that she wouldn't get the chance to make a new friend of the dark boy that sat alone in the back of Iruka-sensei's class. He looked lonely, but he always glared and sneered whenever someone got too close. In Naruko's opinion, he looked like the mean cat that hid in the bushes behind the Academy.
At least she had managed to make one friend. Hyuuga Hinata was the nicest girl that Naruko had ever met. She was really quiet, but she shared her snacks and didn't ask why Naruko had whiskers when the other kids didn't. "Naruko-chan, would you like to go to the park with me?" Hinata asked, the tips of her index fingers pressed together and a hesitant smile on her face.
Naruko blinked at her before grinning widely. "Sure! Kakashi-nii is picking me up today. He can take us," Naruko said and took Hinata by the hand. "Kakashi-nii is quiet like you, but he's really nice. He lets me play with his summons when he's supposed to be watching me."
Kakashi-nii was the best babysitter that she'd ever had. He spent a lot of his time reading books, but he let her play with his pack, stay up late, and eat as much sweets as she wanted without sharing (because he was weird and didn't like them). He didn't get to stay with her a lot because he was always on missions. But he always made sure to say hi when he got back to the village. Naruko didn't have any brothers or sisters, but Kakashi-nii was the closest thing she had to one.
Once she was out in the Academy courtyard, Naruko stood on her tippy toes to get a better view of all the adults picking up children. She searched for his spiky, silver hair, but wasn't disappointed when she didn't immediately spot him. Kakashi-nii had a habit of being late, but he fortunately never made her wait longer than a few minutes.
"Nii-san!"
Naruko watched Uchiha Sasuke run over to a pretty boy with long, dark hair. For once, Sasuke wasn't frowning or glaring. Instead, he was smiling brightly and looking uncharacteristically excited. It was weird to see Sasuke smile, but she supposed that he couldn't be a mean grump all the time.
"Sasuke," the boy greeted with a small smile and poked Sasuke's forehead. "Are you ready to practice your shuriken jutsu?"
"Maa, Naruko. It's not polite to stare."
With a startled squeak, Naruko quickly turned to face Kakashi. "Kakashi-nii, you're not late," she pointed out with a surprised expression.
"It's a miracle," Kakashi responded in a dry tone. His lone, grey eye slid over to Hinata, causing the girl to shrink in on herself. "And who's this?"
"This is Hinata and she's my friend! We want to play at the park today. Is that okay, Kakashi-nii?" Naruko asked, doing her best to appear as cute as possible. The wide-eyed pout hardly ever worked on Kaa-chan, but it was normally enough to make Tou-chan sneak her a second dessert after dinner.
"Yare yare," Kakashi said and rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose that should be alright."
"Yatta!" Naruko exclaimed and pumped a fist in the air. Turning to Hinata, Naruko reclaimed her hand before gripping one of Kakashi's. "Let's go!" she declared and started tugging the both of them along.
When they got close to where Sasuke was still standing with the older boy, Naruko noticed Sasuke staring at her. But when she met his eyes, he quickly frowned and looked away. Not only was he mean and rude, but Sasuke was Weird.
~:~
Sasuke had the best grades in the entire class. It wouldn't have made her so mad if he wasn't so smug about it!
Naruko tried her hardest to get things right, but sometimes it was hard to focus in class when it was so boring. The pictures in their textbooks helped, but most of the pages were written and ended up confusing her. Hinata tried to help her whenever she could, but Iruka-sensei was getting better at catching her. Once, Hinata had gotten in so much trouble that she'd had to remain after class for detention. Naruko had felt awful for causing Hinata so much trouble.
Of course, Naruko knew that she could quit the Academy at any time and go back to having her Kaa-chan teach her. But she'd begged and pleaded with her parents for years to let her attend the Academy. After two years of her pleas falling on deaf ears, her Tou-chan had finally relented.
"If the classwork ever gets too difficult, let us know right away. There's no shame in admitting that you need extra help, Naruko," Tou-chan had told her the night before her first day.
Practical learning was rarely a problem for her. Maybe she missed the target a few times or maybe Sasuke was being more of a bastard than usual and managed to win their spars before she had a chance to really show him what she could do. With enough practice, she hardly ever had a problem learning from demonstrations. However, most of their grades came from tests, quizzes and class participation.
Naruko had tried to get help from other girls in the class. (The boys never wanted to help a girl.) But they'd been quick to dismiss her. Even Sakura-chan, who was by far the smartest girl in class, had laughed when Emi had made fun of Naruko's whiskered cheeks and called her dumb.
As a last resort, she'd asked Mitsuki-sensei for extra help and had begged and pleaded that he not tell Iruka-sensei or her Tou-chan that she needed help. Mitsuki-sensei had smiled and agreed to help her without much convincing. Naruko had been so relieved and grateful, but no matter how hard she worked with Mituki-sensei, there hadn't been any improvement. In fact, her grades were getting even worse!
"Some people just aren't cut out to be shinobi. You should just give up before you get yourself killed," Mitsuki-sensei had told her.
But she didn't want to give up! She was going to be the greatest and the first female Hokage! She was going to be an even better shinobi than her Tou-chan. The entire village would look at her and see more than just the Hokage's troublesome daughter.
Admittedly, she was feeling terribly low after receiving Mitsuki-sensei's judgement. So lowly, in fact, that she hadn't bothered to go home after school. Instead, she'd gone for a walk in the northern part of the village where the forest was dense and the trees were giant. Head hung low and hands shoved in her pockets, Naruko had wandered around for hours before finally deciding to head home and face the music. Unexpectedly, Naruko heard dull thuds and what sounded like a boy's grunts. Never one to stifle her own curiosity, Naruko ducked through some bushes to get a better look.
Vaguely, she recognized the older boy that was training out here in the secluded forest. She spotted the red and white uchiwa fan emblazed on the back of his black shirt whenever his long ponytail moved to the side. She watched him toss a few shuriken into the air before throwing a second round at them to redirect them towards the targets that he had scattered all over the small clearing. Naruko felt her jaw drop when he landed a bullseye on every target, even the one hidden behind the tree to her right.
"It's safe to come out now," he called out and looked directly at her bush.
Without hesitation, Naruko crawled out and quickly ran over to the older boy. "That was so cool! How'd you do that?"
The boy stared at her silently, his face blank. "Practice," he finally responded before walking around her to collect his shuriken. "Does the Hokage know that you're wandering around out here alone?"
It wasn't surprising that he knew who she was. Everyone in the village knew her, either from her awesome pranks or because of who her parents were. "Nope! I lost the ANBU that was following me hours ago," Naruko announced proudly. She had yet to successfully sneak away from Kakashi-nii, but it was almost too easy to lose the other ANBU that followed her around.
"That doesn't sound safe," the boy chided.
"It sounds like I'm gonna be a great shinobi- the best!" Naruko declared with a wide grin. The boy smirked a little at that. Suddenly, Naruko remembered the entire reason that she had gone for a walk and quickly lost her cheer. "…Or I was gonna be…"
"You've changed your mind?" the boy asked with a raised brow.
"No. But Mitsuki-sensei says that I should quit being a shinobi. He says that I'm not cut out for it cause I'm no good," Naruko said, shame lowering her gaze to the ground.
The boy didn't speak for some time after that. He hummed once before gathering the last of his shuriken from the targets and walking back over to her. "Would you like a second opinion?" the boy asked and offered her a shuriken.
Like a tentative ray of sunlight, Naruko looked up through her lashes to see if the boy was messing with her. He had the same clan crest as Sasuke. Maybe he was mean like Sasuke, too? But this boy didn't look like he was playing a trick. Hesitantly accepting the shuriken, Naruko turned to face one of the target's stuck to a tree. She carefully turned the weapon over in her hands before taking her stance just like Mitsuki-sensei had shown her.
"Hold on," the boy interrupted. Before Naruko could question him, he went about gently adjusting her limbs. "Now try," he instructed and stood back.
Taking a deep breath, Naruko tossed the shuriken as hard as she could and prayed that she wouldn't accidently poke the boy's eye out. She hadn't realized that she'd preemptively closed her eyes until the boy had said, "Not bad." Incredulously, Naruko opened her eyes and looked at the target. She hadn't hit the bullseye, but she'd managed to hit one of the inner rings! Her jaw dropped.
"I never hit the target," she muttered in disbelief.
"You hit it this time. Would you like to try again?" the boy offered and held out another shuriken. Naruko barely restrained herself from eagerly grabbing at the weapon.
After about an hour of target practice, Naruko had to hold back from doing a dance of victory. She'd hit the target every time! She'd even managed to land a few bullseyes! Maybe there was hope for her yet? "I did it!" she exclaimed again, looking up at the boy with a bright grin.
Her gave her a small smile and nodded, "Yes, you did. You're improving."
Naruko stared up at the nice boy for a few seconds before proclaiming, "You're nicer than I thought you'd be."
"Oh?"
"You're an Uchiha right? I saw your clan crest on your shirt. I thought all of the Uchiha would be mean, but not you," Naruko said.
Suddenly, another, familiar voice called out, "Naruko!"
Quickly turning to face the new visitor, Naruko smiled hesitantly. "Tou-chan! You found me!" she said and ran over to him. Wrapping her arms around her father's shins, Naruko said, "I hid too well for the ANBU, but I knew you'd find me."
The frown on her father's face slowly lifted as he released a long sigh. "I've told you enough times, Naruko. The ANBU are for your protection," Minato said and crouched in front of his daughter.
"I don't need the ANBU when I have you, Tou-chan," Naruko charmed, making sure to smile extra wide. Just like she expected, Minato returned her smile before scooping her up in his arms.
"I'm sorry if Naruko was a burden, Itachi-kun," Minato said to the boy still standing behind them.
"It's alright. She was just demonstrating what she learned in the Academy. I have to say, it wasn't what I expected," Itachi said. Minato's brows furrowed a bit and he glanced at the targets. "My younger brother is in the same class, but he's never spoken of the unorthodox teaching methods of the Academy instructors."
Naruko's brows furrowed in confusion, but her father's gaze narrowed. "Unorthodox?" Minato repeated.
Naruko was left lost in her confusion when Itachi and her father silently stared at each other for several moments. "What does unortho… What does that mean?" Naruko asked.
"Un-ortho-dox," Minato sounded out. "It means that something is different from the normal way of doing things. Naruko, is there something you want to tell me?"
Naruko gulped. She looked back at Itachi for a few seconds, but he didn't come to her rescue. Quickly wriggling out of her father's grip, Naruko exclaimed, "It's okay now, Tou-chan! I figured it out! I don't have to quit being a shinobi! Itachi-san helped me with my shuriken jutsu. I hit the target this time, I swear! I can read the books, too! I promise that I'll try harder just don't make me quit the Academy!"
"Naruko," Minato said and rested his hands on his daughter's heaving shoulders. "Breathe. I need you to take a deep breath and calm down."
Naruko hiccupped and tried to steady her breaths while wiping at her teary eyes. She gulped down the tight feeling in her throat and exhaled slowly. Minato ran a comforting hand over her back with a soft smile. "Naruko, this is very important," Minato started. Naruko watched her father's face shift, losing the smile and looking more like his serious Hokage Face. He only looked like that when he was really mad. "Who told you to quit the Academy?"
~:~
Naruko couldn't understand how someone as nice and kind and amazing as Itachi could be related to a stuck up, rude, bastardlike Sasuke. They did look alike, but that was where their similarities ended. Since Mitsuki-sensei had disappeared, Itachi had been helping her with her sparring, aim, and academy lessons for a few weeks now and it had done wonders for her grades. He couldn't help her all the time because he was often out of the village on missions, but he always tried to make time for her because she was "his brother's friend". Naruko had already given up trying to explain to Itachi that she and Sasuke were not friends.
One afternoon, Naruko had come over to the Uchiha main household with her Kaa-chan but had quickly left her mother to chat with Mikoto-san in the kitchen. Walking through the halls of the traditional home, Naruko searched high and low for the Uchiha clan heir. Maybe he could show her a new kunai trick today? Or maybe she could get him to help her with her homework? It was a lot easier to pay attention and understand her lessons when Itachi helped her.
Unfortunately, the first door that she tried wasn't Itachi's. When she looked around the bedroom, she'd been disappointed to see Sasuke's spiky head sitting at the desk in the corner. Before she could shut the door and escape, Sasuke turned around and quickly frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Sasuke," Naruko spoke his name like an insult.
"Are you following me now?" he asked with a glare.
"You wish!" Naruko exclaimed. Her brows furrowed in confusion before she said, "Wait a minute… You were following me!"
"Was not!" Sasuke denied back, his face a little pink.
"Was too! I knew I saw your duck butt hiding behind that trashcan!" Naruko declared loud enough for the whole house to hear. She knew that she wasn't going crazy! She'd noticed a dark blur out of the corner of her eye once when she'd been on her way to Ichiraku Ramen with Hinata. Hinata hadn't noticed anyone following them, but Naruko had been doubtful.
The light pink tinge to Sasuke face was turning a deep red. "Why would I follow you around, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke sneered.
"Why would you follow Naruko-chan around the village, Sasuke?"
Quickly turning on her heel, Naruko shot a bright smile up at Itachi. She hadn't even noticed him entering the bedroom behind her! It was to be expected, however. Itachi was one of the best ninja in the village. "Itachi-nii-san!" Naruko greeted.
"Hello, Naruko-chan," Itachi nodded before looking behind her. "Sasuke, have you finished your homework yet?"
"…not yet."
"Would you like some help?" Itachi offered.
"I can do my homework without any help, Nii-san," Sasuke dismissed, rather rudely in Naruko's opinion.
"Ne, Itachi-nii-san. Can you help me then? I brought my books and everything!" Naruko said and showed off the backpack on her back.
"It's not like it'll do you any good, usuratonkachi."
Naruko grit her teeth before turning back to Sasuke and sticking out her tongue at him. Sasuke was turned around in his seat, his hands gripping the back of his chair as he glared at her. He looked just like that angry cat, as if he was ready to start hissing and scratching at her.
"That's enough, you two," Itachi said just as he rested his hand on Naruko's head. Immediately, Naruko broke eye contact with Sasuke and looked up at Itachi. "You shouldn't fight."
"He started it," Naruko grumbled with her arms folded.
"We'll leave you to finish your homework in peace, Sasuke," Itachi said and guided Naruko out of the room. "I'm sorry that my brother was cruel, Naruko-chan."
Naruko shrugged and said, "It's okay. I punched him pretty hard the last time we sparred. He fell over and everything."
"I did not!" Sasuke shouted as Itachi was closing the bedroom door behind them.
~:~
As much as she didn't like Uchiha Sasuke, she couldn't help but care what he thought of her. She wasn't obsessed with him like the other girls in the class (except Hinata thankfully). But she did want him to acknowledge her. She wanted to beat him and shut him up for good. Then he'd have to stop calling her an idiot or, his personal favorite, "usuratonkachi".
But it seemed that no matter how much she trained or who she trained with, she just couldn't quite catch up to him. She'd come close several times, pinning him during a spar or managing to be slightly more accurate at target practice. Sasuke still beat her in all things theoretical because no matter how many different explanations Tou-chan tried, some lessons just wouldn't stick.
By the time that they were about to graduate, Naruko wasn't taking any chances when it came to her grades. She and Hinata spent hours trying to drill boring facts into her head. Even Hinata's older cousin, Neji, helped on occasion. She'd also swindled Kakashi-nii into helping her with her jutsu now that he had left the ANBU and had more free time.
She practiced her jutsu for hours at a time, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't perform a perfect bushin to save her life. They always came out too pale or too big or with too many limbs. She'd made Kakashi promise not to tell her parents, but especially not her father. Naruko was determined to prove herself. She would figure this out. She was the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage, a certified genius, and Uzumaki Kushina, a fuuinjutsu master!
Collapsing in a heap on the grass, Naruko panted and tried to catch her breath. She could feel Kakashi's lazy stare on her, but he didn't say anything about her impromptu break. She'd been at this for hours yet again with no luck. Normally, she could figure things out pretty quickly if she threw herself into it and got a feel for how it was supposed to work. But this jutsu was impossible!
"I think this is good as you're going to get, Naruko," Kakashi said in his lazy drawl. Naruko immediately sat up and stared at Kakashi with a wounded look of betrayal in her eyes. Kakashi raised his hands, palms forward in defense. "Let me explain. Kushina-san and Minato-sensei have already explained your status as a jinchuuriki to you. Correct?"
Naruko frowned and rubbed at her arm. She still vividly remembered the talk. She was a jinchuuriki, a container for the tailed beast inside her, just like her mother. Her parents explained to her what the kyuubi was and how she'd gotten it sealed in her. In order to save the village from the kyuubi's wrath, her father had helped seal half of the beast's chakra into her. With the Sandaime's help, Mintao had split the kyuubi's chakra and sealed both halves away to save the village and her mother's life. Having the kyuubi's chakra within her didn't make her a monster, but there would always be people who viewed her as such. Fortunately, the identities of the village's jinchuurikis was an S ranked secret.
"Yeah. They told me," Naruko responded.
"Having the kyuubi's chakra within you drastically increases the amount of chakra that you have at your disposal. In addition to your larger than average reserves from your Uzumaki heritage," Kakashi explained.
"What do my chakra reserves have to do with my clones looking half-dead?"
"The bushin jutsu requires a very small, fixed amount of chakra. It's not like the majority of jutsu in that you can't just add more chakra to make it larger or more effective. In a sense, there is such a thing as too much," Kakashi said.
Naruko frowned and stared down at her hands. "So… I'll never be able to do it?"
"You have a tendency of doing the impossible. So, I wouldn't say that it's impossible, just very, very unlikely," Kakashi said with an easy shrug.
Naruko shouted in frustration and tugged at her already frayed pigtails. "Then what am I supposed to do for the graduation exam!?"
Kakashi rubbed at his masked chin as he hummed in thought. "Well, there is a jutsu that I can teach you instead…" he trailed off.
Practically instantaneously, Naruko was on her feet again with her hands clasped in front of her. "Please teach me, Kakashi-nii!" she pleaded.
"Sure," he agreed brightly. Naruko perked up, but her smile faltered when Kakashi continued, "If you walk and groom the pack for the next two weeks."
"What!?" Naruko exclaimed. She thought about Bisuke's frequent shedding, how much Bull drooled, and Urushi's habit of chasing squirrels whenever he was walked. "You're just being lazy and trying to get out of your work!" Naruko accused and pointed up at Kakashi.
Kakashi shrugged and looked over his shoulder coolly. "I've spent so much time over the past few days helping you train that I haven't had time to take care of them."
Naruko glared up at Kakashi and folded her arms in front of her. Kakashi turned back to her and gave her an expectant stare. Naruko growled and grumbled a bit but eventually stuck out her hand. "Fine. I'll do it. Just teach me the jutsu already."
Kakashi clasped her smaller hand in his gloved one with a smile. "Pakkun found a new shampoo that he likes, and he won't use anything else," Kakashi informed and gave her hand a shake to seal their deal. Naruko grimaced but sobered up when Kakashi performed a single hand sign and said, "Kage bushin no jutsu!"
~:~
She'd passed!
She'd actually passed and even managed to get praise from Iruka-sensei and the other exam proctors for being able to perform the Kage Bushin. Her parents had been proud and loud in their congratulations when she'd come home to share the good news. But Tou-chan had questioned where she'd learned such an advanced and forbidden technique.
"It's a very draining jutsu, Naruko. It's forbidden because of how much chakra is required to make a single clone," Minato had explained.
"There's no harm in her finding a way around the rules. She has the chakra for it. I say that she should use it," Kushina had said with a foxy grin. "Being a shinobi is hard in general, but it's extra hard for a girl. Girls have to be tough in this world," Kushina advised with a clenched fist raised and fire in her eyes.
Minato had tried to calm his wife down but didn't have much success. "Just promise to be careful with how frequently you use your clones. Don't overuse them and give yourself chakra exhaustion."
Her good cheer had followed her into the classroom the next day, her new forehead protector glinting in the sunlight. Hinata had been pleasantly surprised to see her and had shuffled over on her bench to make room. "Naruko-chan, I'm happy that you passed," Hinata said with a smile.
"Thanks! I knew you'd get your headband, Hinata."
"I wasn't so sure… But I'm glad that I worked so hard with you. It helped me a lot, too," Hinata replied.
"That's great," Naruko said with a grin. "Now we just have to wait for Iruka-sensei to tell us what teams we're on. Hopefully, we're on the same team."
"I hope so, too."
They weren't put on the same team. Hinata had been teamed up with Kiba and Shino, which wasn't a bad team in Naruko's opinion. Kiba was pretty funny, Akamaru was cute, and Shino was… Well Naruko didn't know Shino too well, but he'd never been mean to her. Not like her teammates.
"Team seven: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruko," Iruka had called out. It had sounded like a death sentence. Naruko had barely heard Sakura's loud cheer over the sound of her head hitting the table. She felt Hinata's consoling pat on the back before her friend got up to move to where Kiba and Shino were sitting.
Naruko picked her head up with a deep sigh. She could do this. Tou-chan had said that your team was like family. Kakashi-nii had said that your teammates were your comrades and those that turn their back on their comrades were worse than scum. Taking a deep breath, Naruko got up from her seat and walked over to where Sasuke and Sakura were sitting.
Sasuke was staring off into space, completely ignoring Sakura scooting closer and closer to him. Steeling her resolve, Naruko stood in front of Sasuke. Who knows? Maybe they would be able to get along eventually? When Sasuke didn't acknowledge her presence, Naruko climbed onto the desk in front of him and shouted to get his attention.
"Get out of my face, Dobe."
Her initial response was anger, but she managed to force it down long enough to say, "If we have to be on the same team together, we should at least try to get along."
She had offered him her hand as a gesture of good will- a truce. At first, he'd stared at her as if she were crazy. But then he'd looked as if he were genuinely considering it. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to accept her offer.
The jab at her back had come unexpectedly, and she'd tried her best to stop her fall. But she'd still ended up with her lips pressed against Sasuke's. He stared at her with his eyes wide open in shock, his eyes looking impossibly dark. Once the shock had worn off, Naruko quickly pulled away from Sasuke, falling off the desk in the process.
Her first kiss had been with Uchiha Sasuke. She would never live this down.
~:~
Being on a team with Sasuke and Sakura was about as awful as Naruko had expected. She had never gotten along with either of them. And despite genuinely trying to make friends, they had both rebuffed her at every turn. Truthfully, she didn't try very hard to make friends with Sasuke, but she would have if he'd stopped showing off and being such a bastard all the time. Sakura had been less inclined now to treat her hospitably than when they were in the Academy. It was as if Sakura genuinely couldn't stand her, but Naruko had no idea what she'd done to the girl.
The frustration of endless D rank missions, Sakura criticizing her every move, and constantly competing and arguing with Sasuke was what led to Naruko plopping down and turning her back on her father and the D rank, mission scroll that he held out for Kakashi. If she had to pluck weeds all day again, she was going to do more than silently protest.
"Naruko! Show some respect in front of the Hokage!" Iruka chided.
"I'm not doing it," she firmly declared.
"Naruko," Iruka warned.
"That's alright, Iruka-sensei," Minato spoke up. "Naruko, are you a Konoha shinobi?"
Sensing a lesson and disciplinary talk incoming, Naruko peeked over her shoulder. "Is that a trick question?"
"As a loyal shinobi of Konoha, you have a responsibility to the village. You accept whatever missions are given to you and you carry them out without fail. If you're unable to do so without insubordination, then you can leave your headband on my desk," Minato calmly explained.
From over her shoulder, Naruko locked eyes with her father. He had his Hokage Face on so she knew that there would be no swaying him with puppy dog eyes. His hands were folded on the desk in front of him, an expectant look on his face. She could feel the gazes of everyone else in the room, watching and waiting to see how she would respond.
Fortunately, Kakashi spoke up, "Sensei, I have to agree with Naruko's protest." Minato broke eye contact with his daughter and raised a brow at Kakashi in question. "I believe that my students are ready for something a bit more challenging. They would do well with a chance to prove themselves."
Minato silently considered Kakashi's words before looking through some papers in front of him. "Very well, Kakashi. I have a C rank for you instead," Minato said and offered a new scroll. "Protection detail."
Naruko nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by the look that her father had shot her as she left with her team, she knew that this wasn't the end of the discussion. But she'd managed to avoid the confrontation for a bit longer thanks to Kakashi. "You owe me for that, by the way," Kakashi had pointed out as they were leaving the Hokage Tower.
"What do you want?" Naruko hesitantly asked. Even Sakura and Sasuke were listening now, always intrigued by the familiar relationship between Naruko and their sensei.
"I didn't expect to be leaving the village and I left the pack in my apartment. This mission should take several days and the pack tends to get a bit rowdy without me around to keep them in line. I'll most likely need the place cleaned when I return," Kakashi said and shot her a look out of the corner of his eye.
"What!? I don't wanna clean up after your ninken! They get drool and fur everywhere!" Naruko objected.
"Don't forget poop," Kakashi reminded cheerfully with a bright smile. Naruko balked. Kakashi ruffled her hair and instructed his students, "Pack your bags for a few days. We leave in an hour."
"Wait a minute," Naruko said when she saw Kakashi walking away. "You're headed home right now! Why can't you just send them away before you leave?"
"There have been some robberies in my neighborhood. I'd feel better knowing that my apartment is being watched over. I have a lot of valuable things after all," Kakashi said over his shoulder.
Naruko was almost shaking with irritation. She knew that Kakashi had wards and traps all over his apartment. No one would be able to break into his place without serious bodily harm, much less manage to rob him. "What valuable things!? Your porn collection!?" Naruko shouted in the middle of the busy main street, garnering the attention of everyone around her. Kakashi quickly vanished with a swirl of leaves, leaving his students behind.
~:~
She didn't understand him.
Naruko had been so sure that Sasuke hated her with every fiber of his being. They fought relentlessly, with words and (more often) with fists. He insulted her, her skills as a shinobi, her intelligence, and her fashion choices regularly. (Seriously, what was his problem with orange?) Sasuke had made it clear that he didn't care for her at all.
So why had he nearly died for her sake?
Their plan to have her sneak up on Haku from outside his crystal ice mirrors had failed and the both of them had been left at the older boy's mercy as he rained senbon down onto them. She had been overwhelmed, unable to keep track of Haku's movements and barely able to defend herself against the incoming needles. For every one she managed to deflect with her kunai, two more had found their way into her skin. Eventually, it had gotten too difficult to move in time to avoid the last round of senbon and she'd stared at the oncoming attack in dread. But before a single needle could touch her, the sight of Sasuke's navy blue shirt blocked her vision. She'd stared up at him in pure shock and horror, watching the blood slowly ooze from his mouth and countless wounds.
"Don't make such a dumb face, usuratonkachi," he'd chided just before falling forward.
She'd broken out of her stupor fast enough to catch him before he hit the ground and did her best to ease him down into a somewhat comfortable position. His onyx eyes now glowing red with his sharingan, Sasuke had looked so fragile laying on her lap. She felt like her brain was short circuiting, struggling to understand what exactly had just happened. "Why? Why would you do that?"
"I don't…know," he replied, sounding far too broken for Uchiha Sasuke.
She almost started shaking him in frustration. "That doesn't make sense!" she shouted instead.
"What do you want from me, Naruko? My body just moved on its own."
An unconscious action? Like a reflex? Why was his reflex to shield her and not to dodge? "That was stupid," she chided, feeling vaguely touched.
He gave her a small, amused smirk. "Probably," he replied as his eyes drooped.
Naruko's hands hovered over him, not sure what to do to help. She'd never been good at medical ninjutsu when they'd had basic lessons in the Academy. She could barely dress a wound right. (She'd never needed to learn how to when the kyuubi kept her healthy and healed.)
"He's dying. There's nothing you can do for him now," Haku had pointed out matter-of-factly. Naruko glared up at Haku's masked face, her fists tight. Teeth clenched, she felt overwhelming anger start to boil her blood and tinge her vision red. She could barely feel the hot tears rolling down her cheeks.
"How dare you," she'd hissed, her voice taking on a darker tone.
"Destroy him… Kill him… Let me help you erase everything that hurts you," an ominous voice cooed in her head.
Through a moment of hesitation and clear thinking, Naruko was able to identify the disembodied voice. 'Kyuubi?'
"Gaki, you need my chakra don't you? You're not strong enough to face him on your own. Let me do it," the kyuubi's voice boomed.
She'd never felt chakra so powerful before. It was a physical thing, malicious and dark. She could feel her body overheating, the many injuries littering it giving off steam as they closed. 'Tou-chan and Kaa-chan said…'
"They gave you my power for you to use. I'm giving it to you now, gaki."
Naruko shook her head wildly to clear it, but she could still feel the chakra building until it was leaking from her very body. It ripped at the concrete beneath her, swirling and spiraling around her and Sasuke. 'Sasuke…' she thought and glanced back at his unmoving body.
"Let me help you avenge him…"
'I don't want to kill anyone,' she thought, feeling the last of her control slip.
"You won't," the kyuubi replied with a deep chuckle.
Naruko closed her eyes, regretting not trying harder to hold the kyuubi back. The last thing she remembered was seeing the red chakra bubble over her skin as an inhuman roar left her throat.
~:~
When Naruko had come to, she'd been lying next to Sasuke's motionless body. There was a light flurry of snow falling and chilling her heated skin. She'd moaned softly as she sat up, her eyes taking in the destroyed bridge around her.
"Naruko!"
Turning to the side, Naruko spotted Sakura kneeling at Sasuke's other side, her eyes and nose red. Sakura looked worse for wear, her hair frazzled, and her clothes torn and bloodied. She still had tear tracks on her face. "Sakura-chan? What happened?"
"Don't worry. Zabuza and Haku already retreated. Kakashi-sensei convinced them to give up and change sides when Gato showed up," Sakura said before frowning. "What happened to you two? I couldn't see anything through the mist, but I could feel this really scary chakra…"
Naruko swallowed thickly. "I… I don't remember," Naruko lied and looked down at Sasuke's still body.
Sakura smiled softly. "I think he'll be okay. His pulse was really weak, but it's been getting stronger. I did my best to look at his injuries and they don't look like they hit anything vital. Kakashi-sensei said that it must have been blood loss that made him pass out," Sakura said with a relieved sigh.
Naruko hesitated a bit before placing her fingers on Sasuke's neck. Sure enough, she could feel his pulse thrumming away under his cool skin. She had never felt so relieved in her life. But at the same time, she felt immense guilt. She'd let the kyuubi take control.
"Naruko."
Turning quickly, she spotted a battered, bruised, and bloody Kakashi standing off to the side with an expectant look in his eye. Swallowing again, Naruko eased herself onto her feet and shuffled over to him. She moved with heavy, exhausted limbs but it was mostly the reluctance for facing the upcoming talk that had her moving so slowly. When she was finally standing before Kakashi, she looked up at him fearfully.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, his tone firm and voice hushed.
Naruko tried to steady her breathing. "I…I let the kyuubi out, Kakashi-nii. We were fighting, but we were losing and then Sasuke… I thought he was dying and the kyuubi was in my head."
"You heard it?" Kakashi asked.
"It… It gave me some of its chakra. I don't remember what happened. I'm sorry, Kakashi-nii. I didn't… hurt anyone did I?"
"I got to you before you could do any serious damage," Kakashi said and reached behind her head.
Naruko felt him pull something from the back of her neck. When Kakashi held the piece of paper in front of her face for her to see, Naruko quickly recognized the sealing paper written in her father's handwriting. "Tou-chan knew I would lose control?" she asked, not sure if she was grateful for her father's foresight or hurt that he didn't have faith in her. But his lack of faith wasn't irrational. Her first mission out of the village and she'd already lost control.
"He didn't expect you to. He hoped that I wouldn't need them, but he gave them to me months ago, just in case," Kakashi answered. "He'll need to look at your seal again when we get back to Konoha."
Naruko nodded and hung her head. She rubbed at her arm, the shame flooding her when she heard the kyuubi's dark chuckle echo in her mind.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's overjoyed voice suddenly cried out.
Turning quickly, Naruko spotted a confused Sasuke being embraced tightly by Sakura. Once again, relief eased the weight on her shoulders. With tentative steps, Naruko went over to her teammates. She wasn't sure what she would say to Sasuke, but everything that ran through her mind seemed inadequate. What could she say to him after what he'd done for her?
Once she was close enough, Sasuke looked up and met her gaze with tired eyes. She gave him a tentative smile and wrung her hands. As Sasuke came back to reality, he pulled Sakura arms away from himself and tried to stand. Sakura was quick to try to help him up, but Sasuke shot her a warning glare. Somehow, seeing Sasuke return to his usual, prickly self had Naruko relaxing. "Bastard," Naruko said with a roll of her eyes. Before Sasuke could reply, she reached out, grabbed him by the upper arm, and tugged him to his feet.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted and frowned at her. "What the hell happened?"
"Kakashi-sensei finished our fight for us and sent Zabuza packing. He can be pretty reliable when he's not being lazy," Naruko answered. Suddenly, Naruko felt a fist harshly thump the back of her head. She cried out in pain, her fingers clutching at her scalp.
"You brat," Kakashi chided, causing Sakura to giggle lightly and Sasuke to smirk.