In His Own Right:
Chapter Ten:
"Again with the window?", the Hokage said blandly as both Sasuke and Kakashi allowed themselves into her office. Sasuke shrugged as he approached, his former sensei behind him as he came before the Godaime, a small frown on his face.
"I suppose you want answers," she stated simply, as she swiftly reached down below her desk, removing a bottle of Sake and placing it on her desk.
"That would be a start." she rose an eyebrow at Sasuke as he stated this, before nodding and taking a quick swing of sake.
"Alright then I'll be brief, last night Shisui Uchiha and a small squad of Anbu had been dispatched to investigate two mysterious figures roaming around the outskirts of the internal village wall..." she took another swing of her drink.
"...surprisingly the two mysterious figures turned out to be Members of the Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki?", he mouthed in question, remembering the red-haired puppet master that Sakura and that Suna elder had killed during their mission to rescue the Kazekage Gaara.
"Yes, after three years of being dormant they've returned and it's obvious that their goals have remained stagnant. Shisui came into contact with two of the rogue ninja, actually killing one of them in his battle. It's not exactly clear as to what happened, an investigation is still underway. But at a certain point, a squad of root agents had arrived at Shisui's position, they attacked Shisui in his injured state it's clear that they were assembled to do so. Fortunately, Shisui had escaped and that's when Izumi recovered him. That's all that is known at the moment."
"Someone sent an assassin to kill Shisui just moments ago, I fought him off but from his appearance, he seemed to be part of Anbu. So who sent him? I heard Kakashi mention Danzo, the village elder?"
Tsunade allowed her face to form into a scowl, not at Sasuke but rather at the mention of the elder.
"Danzo's power should be abolished, immediately.", Kakashi suggested.
Sasuke nodded in agreement, he barely knew the guy, though he'd heard of him, albeit never had he actually spoken to him. From the way they seemed to speak about him, and what he'd been accused of, and what he'd seen, Sasuke agreed with both Kakashi and Tsunade.
The Godaime rose from her desk, standing as she stood before the window the morning sun glowing upon her reflecting onto her yellow hair.
"Yes, I agree. Sasuke-san, Kakashi-san come with me."
It had taken them little under two days to reach the village hidden in the rocks. The village's name accurately describing the geography and the area that surrounded them. It was a totally different appearance opposed to the vast forest green of the village hidden in the leaves village, in Naruto's solemn opinion the gray rocks aided in making the village appear dull and bring a sense of pessimism.
Naruto's blue eyes glanced to the side. Izumi stood, her body leaned forward and arm resting on her right leg, as the two gazed down upon the village from a distant mountain. She seemed to be in deep thought though Izumi was usually quiet and stoic, there was an odd feeling in the air, he'd become used to her personality, her body signature, and non-verbal responses. She seemed, off if anything. Not off in the sense that she wasn't functioning right, more so that she seemed to be worried. This was a plausible thought and educated assumption, her cousin/best friend had been injured and not only that attacked by his own brethren. He began to frown, remembering what the Anbu captain had explained to him two days prior. "He ordered me to murder the entirety of my clan", her statement replayed like a broken record in the interior of his mind. She had said it with no emotion, none whatsoever. However, despite the impassive response, he knew that was quite the opposite of what the girl had felt. What would have happened if she had gone through with the orders? What would have happened to Izumi? Sasuke? Shisui? The Uchiha in general? Could Izumi really kill her whole entire clan? Well, the question wasn't exactly cold cut. She definitely could with maybe a few exceptions. But would we?
"Izumi.", the girl turned her head almost immediately, looking at the blond, her gaze strong and knowing, she rose her nose and forehead in question.
"What you told me earlier, about Danzo...", he trailed off looking for the right words to compile together. She continued to stare.
"...killing your whole clan and all...W-would you have actually done it?", he asked. She gazed at him for another few minutes, he returned her gaze as he felt his heart begin to beat almost in anxiety. She looked away, returning her line of sight towards the village below. He sighed at this, he should have known better than to press her about her past and something that was obviously a very touchy subject with the girl.
"Forget I said anything.", he declared, looking away from her and returning his eyes back to the village.
"Yes.", her voice came out smooth and without emotion. He turned to the girl, her eyes were closed, and her face complimented her voice. Did she just say, yes? She had her eyes closed and head lowered.
"I love my clan. They're my family how couldn't I? I know everyone by name. However, back then I had quite a different ideology, it happens with age. At the time I would do anything if I believed it was in the best interest of the village, and at the time it seemed that way..." he watched in understanding.
"...the Uchiha clan was planning a coup, and I was their inside person, being Anbu at the time, I reported information for my family. However, I also worked for the village to report on any information pertaining to my clan; a double agent if you would. Making a long story short, tensions became high and Danzo ordered me to murder everyone in my clan.",
His eyes widen, as enlightenment hitting him like a brick wall. Would the village head really do something like that? He saw a multitude of flaws with this Danzo guy. He had resorted to eradicating a clan so quickly, making a decision without even attempting to have any peace agreements. There could have been unnecessary death where simple conversations could have possibly fixed the conflict.
"What happened? Why didn't you go through with it?", he inquired.
She smiled.
"The Third Hokage happened, I owe that man everything..."
He smiled at this, that old man.
"...if not for him, who knows where I'd be currently. He invalidated Danzo's orders and allow peace agreements to take place between the village heads and my clan.", she finalized.
"I can't believe this, what's with this guy?"
She shrugged, her black eyes coming into contact with Naruto. "He has a different view on how the village should be governed. I'm just appalled that I've taken orders from this man in the past."
He nodded.
"Let's get moving.", she declared. He stood tall as he watched her get to her feet.
Night had fallen.
"One room.", at first, he blinked, continuously, his blue eyes staying firm on Izumi, his mouth opened as he stares, waiting for the girl to correct herself, state that she had made a mistake and meant to say otherwise.
"What?!", he almost yelled, causing the red-haired clerk to jump back at his words.
-They had decided to check into a hotel, knowing that they'd be here for quite some time they had packed for a week away from home.
Izumi turned towards Naruto. "What's the problem?"
"We're going to share a room, you and I?", his eyes were wide as he pointed at the girl then himself.
She nodded "It would be an inconvenience to get two separate rooms."
"But...", he stopped short. He knew it would be inappropriate, especially considering his infatuation with the girl, it was one thing walking and sparring with the girl, however sharing a room with her, that would be heart-pounding.
She giggled at his response, shaking her head and grabbing the room key as she did so. "Come on.", she started leading him towards their room.
The Jounin just simply stared at the back of her head, before shaking his head and running off after the girl.
The short walk to the room was quiet and awkward. Well, awkward for him, he swore that he saw a small smirk on Izumi's face, maybe she knew how uncomfortable he was and had been doing it on purpose. At least she finding ways to have fun as they completed their mission.
They finally came upon the door, Izumi slipped the key into the hole and unlocked it. The door slid open with a creak, revealing a nice small hotel decorated in white, a futon and what seemed to be a queen sized bed. They stepped inside, Naruto uneasy as he followed her in, shutting the door behind them. He watched as she walked over to the bed and placed her belongings on it. So, she claimed the bed as her own. He sighed in relief at this, he guessed he'd be sleeping on the futon. Her eyes turned to Naruto.
"I'm taking a shower, it's been about two days since I've cleansed myself. Unpack, get comfortable.", she explained for entering the bathroom.
To say the least, Naruto was at a loss for words. He needed to clear his head, get the fact through his head that nothing was going to happen and that they had a mission to worry about, nothing more nothing less. He needed to ignore the fact that a beautiful girl was currently showering in the same hotel room as him and he needed to ignore the fact that they were probably spending the night in the room, just the two of them together. He would keep his distance, make sure she was comfortable and knew that he was someone she could trust and that her presence didn't bother him at all. Though that was far from the truth, but he wanted to believe that at least.
He dropped his bags next the futon sat down and began to search through it, he decided to clean and organize his weapons, specifically his tri-pong Kunai. This kept him occupied for some time as he waited. For what exactly? He was completely unsure, but he waited.
Suddenly the door opened, a cloud of steam flowing out of the bathroom. His eyes quickly ran to the door. His eyes suddenly widened. No, this was going to be much more difficult than he'd first thought. She stepped outside, her body no longer clad in her normal civilian attire but instead undergarments that exposed her body significantly. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, but instead now long and wet, strands coming forward over her face and eyes. The only piece of clothing she wore now was a bra and panties. He couldn't help but take into account how developed her female parts were. Yes, it was inappropriate, and he felt ashamed, but boys will be boys. She truly had an hour-glass figure, she was definitely what you'd consider a gem. The men that would kill to be in his position right now.
Was she really this comfortable around him? And why?
"You can shower now if you wish.", she stated before walking over to the bed. He couldn't help but watch her as she did so, she was absolutely captivating, if she realized he was staring, she made no move to address it.
Her nightgown didn't exactly help the situation. It did cover her, yes. But the white nightgown, stopped a bit short. And not only that, it was white and almost transparent. His head hurt, and he was just simply shaken up. He couldn't fight the attraction he felt for her, but he didn't want to make things awkward nor did he want her to be creeped out. Izumi herself was not helping the situation at all.
Naruto dressed himself for bed, their journey here had made him tired, and his current situation gave him a headache. He approached the futon, his body preparing to relax.
"Naruto, why don't you come sleep on the bed. There's plenty of space, we'll just stick to our own side.", her voice came just as he fell on the futon.
Seriously? She was really doing this to him.
"No, thanks for the offer Izumi, but no." he scratched the back of his head, this being his best response.
"I insist."
Did the universe hate him or something? He wanted to say no, to tell her that he'd rather not be that close in proximity to the girl, but he gave in. He didn't say much, the bed did seem comfortable after all, so he plopped himself on the opposite side of the bed. Naruto yawned before turning on his side away from the girl. She was just being kind and nothing else. He repeated in his head over and over again. Before he finally allowed himself to fall into the world of sleep.
*Ok, so as you guys may know, school has started. Yay, last year of high-school. So, I've been incredibly busy with my school work and basically situating myself with college and all that... Or rather preparing to situate myself. So, I won't be updating frequently, it'll probably be random if anything. So yeah, I thought you guys would like to know this.
*As for this chapter. Yikes! I'm not sure if I put too much emphasis on Naruto being plumpy. Maybe, I'm pushing Izumi and Naruto towards each other too hard? Maybe I'm moving too slow? Too fast? I'm indecisive, unsure, and totally weird. Someone straight out just tell me XD.
*So until next time guys, do leave a review, though!