Chapter 3 is now up; I hope you guys enjoy the new changes.

No, I don't own Naruto, Tayuya would still be alive if I did.

Lastly for any questions you readers have, feel free to ask in review or PM and I'll gladly answer them as long as it won't spoil any plot points.

'thoughts'

"talking"

Chapter 3: Ode to a Hot Springs Pervert (Betrayal)

When Tayuya woke up the next morning she was still tired, the night before had been long and her legs were still getting used to moving so much, which resulted in a less than perfect night's sleep. Despite this, the morning was still quite beautiful, the birds in the trees were chirping and the sounds of other forest animals created a cacophony individually. However, somehow, the combination of all these noises ended in a harmonic backdrop to accentuate the overall feel of the forest. Wiping a small amount of saliva that had formed at the side of her face at some point throughout the night, the redhead listened to the music of the surrounding area for a few moments before forming a coherent thought.

'Fuck this I'm going back to sleep', the redhead decided, moving closer to her warm and soft pillow. After a moment, Tayuya remembered she was in the middle of the forest, where one wouldn't normally find warm, soft pillows.

Tayuya's eyes shot wide open and looked up to see she was currently very close to one peacefully sleeping Naruto Uzumaki, the same Naruto Uzumaki she had just kidnapped the night before, hell it was the same Naruto Uzumaki that she had threatened to eviscerate should he try anything funny, yet here SHE was sleeping comfortably in the same Leaf Ninja's arms. After realizing this Tayuya moved away carefully, making sure that the blonde wasn't going to be woken up by her movement.

'Like hell I'm going to let him catch me like that! Besides that, what the hell Tayuya?! How did you end up curled up to an enemy ninja like you were his fucking bitch!' The redhead mentally screamed at herself, finally reasoning that because it had gotten so cold, her body had been seeking out the best source of warmth. Of course that was what had happened, it would be crazy to think anything else could have happened, though that didn't stop the scarlet from spreading across her face even more.

After a few hours, Naruto woke up to something that smelled delicious. When he opened his eyes all he saw was the top of a small cooking fire. Upon sitting up, Naruto realized that Tayuya had made a simple breakfast to keep them going until they reached Oto. "Heh good morning Tayuya, did you sleep well?" the blonde smiled at his travelling companion, using one of his best fake grins, while in reality his head was filled with many thoughts. Between Sakura yelling at him, the villagers harassing him once again, then there was the fact that his would be assassin instead ended up taking the blonde with her. This brought up much more complicated feelings as he turned his eyes over to the brash redhead, who was seemingly extremely concentrated on cooking their breakfast, though he could see a light dusting of red on her face.

'I don't know how to feel about her, on the one hand she's loud, brash, and extremely foul mouthed, though I can't say much about those first two. However, on the other hand I can tell Tayuya knows what it's like to be lonely, and despite or maybe even because of her personality I can't deny that I'm attracted to her.' The blonde sighed, shaking his head slightly to try to clear his thoughts.

"Morning shit head, now wipe that fake ass grin off your face and come help me cook." The reply from the subject of his thoughts shocked Naruto, especially considering she barely even looked up from cooking to say that. Maybe he should add the fact that she could apparently see right through him to the positives, or the negatives, he couldn't quite decide.

When both were finished eating Naruto leaned back and sighed contentedly, he then turned to Tayuya and smiled "That was great Tayu-chan, you cook really we-" he was cut off when a fist collided with the side of his head.

"What the fuck did you just call me shithead?" Naruto looked at Tayuya from where he had landed after the punch, more than slightly confused and noticed that she looked extremely livid, although he could also see a slight amount of embarrassment behind her anger as well.

'Oh yeah I'm not supposed to call her Tayu-chan, but why is it such a bad thing to call her that?' after a moment of contemplating this, he went over to her.

Tayuya was doing her best to control her embarrassment and to a lesser extent her rage, having never heard a term of endearment added to her name when, out of nowhere, she felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder. "Are you alright Tayu-ch..Tayuya?" She looked up ready to strike again, only to be met with those deep cerulean eyes filled with compassion, understanding, and was that…concern? concern for her? Tayuya couldn't recall the last time anyone had looked at her with eyes that weren't filled with hate, malice, or fear. The feeling of those eyes focused on her was nice.

A moment later she sighed and nodded a little, still managing to punch the blonde, albeit much less fiercely than she may have intended. "Yeah, I'm fine…shithead." As the two began their journey once again on that road and heading towards Oto, a somewhat awkward feeling between them while the redhead tried to sort through the situation she was finding herself in, and her accompanying feelings.

Sakura woke up feeling horrible. 'Why did I say all of those horrible things to Naruto? Maybe I should go apologize.' In the midst of getting dressed in her usual clothes and having a quick breakfast with her parents, she thought about the night before, realizing more and more how cruel she had been to her knuckleheaded teammate.

After eating, Sakura immediately headed out towards her blond teammates apartment, hoping to catch him before he left to go train for the day. Upon reaching the apartment complex Naruto lived in, Sakura could see what looked like broken glass and random scorch marks throughout the small area. She furrowed her pink brows and brought a balled hand to her lips.

"What…happened here?"

Continuing into the complex, Sakura walked straight to Naruto's apartment and knocked on his door, ignoring for the most part the general neglect that permeated the complex. After waiting and receiving no answer, she twisted the knob, somewhat surprised that it was loose. Naruto didn't lock his door? 'It's not like Naruto to leave his door unlocked…what's going on?' After another moment of thought, the pink haired kunoichi finally turned the knob fully and entered the apartment.

Upon entering the apartment, Sakura noticed that a lot of the things that normally cluttered the shelves were now missing, including several things she knew her teammate wouldn't easily get rid of. In fact, as she approached his bedroom and looking around more thoroughly, Sakura noticed that it too was mostly empty. 'Where did everything go? Did Naruto get robbed or something?'

After not finding him in his bedroom or the master bathroom, Sakura began looking through the apartment again before suddenly noticing that her teammate's headband was lying on the living room table. She picked it up, and in that instant her eyes widened when she noticed the gash that was now left running through the middle of the leaf symbol. Sakura started to panic at this point, trying to figure out what exactly was happening. 'Why would Naruto leave the village, that doesn't even make sense... No, Naruto wouldn't leave all his friends. Plus, he has a crush on me and wouldn't leave while I'm here. So why is his headband here, and most of his stuff gone? Does that mean…he's been kidnapped by someone?'

Satisfying herself with this answer, Sakura quickly left the apartment and went straight to the Hokage's tower to report what had happened and show the Fifth the headband as well.

"Come on Tayuya, there's a hot spring not too far from here, you can make it." Naruto stated matter-of-factly as the two stopped to rest again, looking back at his new red haired travelling partner as she hobbled along somewhat slowly.

"Shut up! I'm fucking exhausted in case you haven't noticed…we've been walking all god damn day and I just got back to using my legs." Tayuya stated matter of factly as she finally caught up with the blonde. She was caught off guard the next moment and barely restrained herself from squealing as her blond companion suddenly picked her up bridal style.

"Then I can carry you Tayu-Chan, that way your legs get to rest too." Naruto said with his trademark foxy grin, failing to notice Tayuya's embarrassment.

"I told you not to call me that dipshit!" the redhead yelled indignantly as she pummeled on his chest.

'W-what the hell is wrong with him carrying me like this and calling me that? Does he like me or something?' She thought. Tayuya felt a slight flutter in her chest at that thought, but she pushed it aside at his next comment.

"Wow, you're pretty light Tayuya heheh." Naruto exclaimed, smiling down at the Oto nin as he began walking, only to be hit harshly on the head before he had taken two steps.

Tayuya simply growled, staring at the ground once he had begun moving once again, realizing just how muscular the idiot carrying her actually was. Despite herself, the redhead couldn't help but take in the blondes features once again as they continued to the hot springs that he somehow knew of.

Jiraiya was having a great time, after completing an easy assignment from the Hokage, he had come to the hot springs just on the border of the Land of Fire. After getting inside, Jiraiya spent almost two hours "researching" the girls on the other side of the wooden fence and giggling pervertedly the entire time. He couldn't believe his good luck, seeing as the hot spring was extremely busy, but didn't seem to have many other male patrons to interrupt with his studies.

The old Sanin continued his hobby, noticing after a few minutes a new face entering the sauna. 'Oh yeah! Today is definitely my lucky day!' He smirked as a young redhead walked in, wearing nothing but a towel as she sauntered over to the springs. Unbeknownst to Jiraiya, his blonde haired student had since walked into the sauna and proceeded to sneak up on his sensei. 'Damn pervert. The hell I'll let him spy on girls like that, especially since Tayuya-chan is in there too!' and made the hand sign for tiger.

"Leaf Village Finger Jutsu: Thousand Years of Death!" The blonde yelled while performing his sensei's infamous Jutsu, sending Jiraiya over the fence and to the other side. Naruto snickered slightly as he waited for the women to notice his sensei.

Tayuya walked into the hot springs and looked around, seeing several other women she sighed, resigning herself to sharing the baths with the other females. Despite that the redhead couldn't deny the immediate effects as she sat in the springs. Relaxing slowly, the Oto kunoichi let her thoughts turn to the mission she was sent on and, as a result, the idiot she was currently travelling with.

'I swear he's the most annoying shit head I've ever met; Kami only knows why I let him live.' Tayuya huffed out, before sinking further into the water as her thoughts returned to the blonde. 'It was his eyes, those lonely and sad eyes when I saw him..almost like looking into a mirror. I mean besides that he's pretty easy on the eyes, and even with his constant over the top attitude he's been nothing but kind and caring to me..'

The redhead shook her head in confusion as her mind continued to turn, confused by the recent feelings she had begun to have for that same blonde idiot. 'I can't wait to deliver him to Orochimaru and get the hell away from him, at least then I won't have to deal with all these bullshit feelings.' Crossing her arms, she grew even more angry at the thought, mostly because it caused her stomach to turn uncomfortably as well as a small pain in her chest.

It was just as she began to doubt her own thoughts when a silver haired old man flew over the divider between the two sides of the hot springs and landed with a resounding splash on their side. Tayuya cracked her knuckles and grinned slightly. "Oh you showed up at the wrong time you fucking pervert." With that the redhead proceeded to beat the pervert within an inch of his life, with the help of several of the other women who were just as pissed off as she was about the old man's brashness.

After beating him senseless, the redhead assisted some others in throwing him back over the divider and back into the men's side, this time she sat on a small ledge, letting her legs rest in the hot spring while she enjoyed the warm air on her naked body.

Naruto continued laughing as his sensei splashed back into the hot springs next to him. "Hey Pervy Sage, having fun with your research heh." The blonde looked over at his sensei and smiled, both glad and nervous that his sensei was here as well. Said sensei simply smiled at his young student. "And what brings you here my young student? Did you come to enjoy the beauties here, is my young apprentice finally growing up?" The Sanin grinned implicatively at Naruto.

"What? No I'm not here to perv around like you old man!" The blonde ninja glared at the man, though it was all part of the rapport the two had developed over the years of travelling.

Jiraiya simply raised an eyebrow, knowing he hadn't seen any of the boy's fellow leaf ninja in the hot springs. 'The only one even near his age was…the…redhead...' With a slight grin he looked at his student once again. "So, who's the redhead Naruto? Finally found a girlfriend huh?"

Naruto's face suddenly became extremely red, suddenly shaking his head vigorously as his sensei laughed. "I-it's not like that Pervy sage!" Before he could say more, Naruto was suddenly pushed over to the same peep hole that Jiraiya had been using when he entered. "Hey what are you doing?!" The silver haired Sanin simply grinned "I'm letting you see your girlfriend of course."

Naruto began to protest once again, however the argument died in his throat. Immediately he noticed Tayuya, her red hair plastered down by the heat of the sauna. His red haired companion was fairly pale from the years spent mostly indoors, but he couldn't help but notice that her creamy skin contrasted nicely with her fiery red hair. Continuing to stare, the blonde drank in the site of her breasts, which were slightly bigger than a handful.

Looking further down, the blonde saw her toned stomach and curving hips, doubtless from years of kunoichi training and, just above the waterline, a small patch of red was peeking out, making Naruto's heart rate quicken even more.

He just couldn't stop looking at the girl on the other side, no matter how hard he tried. Despite himself the blonde didn't want to look away, memorizing as much of his travelling companions body as possible. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the redhead stood once again and left the sauna, allowing Naruto to finally tear his eye away from the hole and punching his sensei in the stomach "Damnit Pervy Sage, that's not funny."

The blonde stormed out quickly, leaving his sensei smirking slightly at his student's antics. 'I guess the attraction to redheads runs in the family...still since when was Naruto interested in girls other than his teammate?' Shrugging this off for more important things, Jiraiya turned back to his research with a delighted chuckle.

When Tayuya met back up with Naruto, the first thing she noticed was that the blonde's face was very red. 'Guess he stayed in too long.' She thought absentmindedly, more concerned with the old pervert who had come flying into the hot spring with her.

"Alright dipshit, let's get going so we can make it to Oto as soon as possible." Tayuya looked at her blonde companion, raising an eyebrow as he refused to meet her gaze before responding.

"Actually Tayuya, I was going to suggest we stay here for the night so that your legs would have a chance to rest some, I mean you don't want to push them too hard right?" The blonde looked over curiously and, despite herself Tayuya couldn't think of a legitimate reason not to stay. Plus, she did want to rest her legs for a little bit longer. "Fine asshole, I suppose we can stay for one night, but we have to head out first thing in the morning to reach Oto." After receiving a nod from said asshole, the two went to the small hotel that made up the other half of the hot springs.

Despite her initial thoughts, Tayuya decided that the best course of action would be to get one room, that way she could keep an eye on the blonde. 'Why did I agree to stay a night here again? We could have made it to Oto by midnight, but then again my legs realistically may have given out. Fuck why do my legs have to be so weak right now!' Huffing, the redhead went to their room.

Once inside, Tayuya looked over at Naruto "Hey shithead, what do you want to eat tonight?" Looking over, she saw once again that he wouldn't meet her eyes, and simply shrugged in response. Sighing and glaring slightly at the blonde, she walked over and poked his chest, only getting more annoyed as she had to look up to see his eyes. "Ok what the fuck is wrong, and don't you dare even trying to lie to me or I'll get violent damnit!"

Naruto continued trying to avoid the redhead's gaze, however he found he couldn't with her being so close, which also didn't help as his heart beat continued to increase. "Um...Uh...Well you see...My sensei is a huge pervert and he was the one that I threw over the fence because he was peeking on you and the others but then when you threw him back over he made me look and I... kind of...saw you naked..." The blonde haired ninja rambled out, trying his best not to cringe at the punch he was expecting any moment now, instead he heard a slight huff of air after a moment.

Upon opening his eyes in surprise he noticed that Tayuya was looking away now and trying her best to glare, though her face was fairly red. "Y... you fucking dipshit, you think it's that big a deal? We're ninja, we don't get to be all innocent and shit damnit!" Despite her best attempts however, the redhead was still extremely embarrassed. 'Damnit, no one has ever seen me like that except the snake bastard, but he doesn't even count. Now this guy I've known for 2 days has seen everything...'

Gathering herself once again, Tayuya grinned slightly as a thought crossed her mind. 'I could always make him show me, plus I get to see even more of hi-No wait, it's just to get even and that's all!' The blonde Genin saw the grin and gulped slightly, wondering what kind of hellish torture he was about to be subjected to.

"Alright dipshit, you saw me so now I get to see you." The redhead said matter of factly, managing to even keep her voice and tone normal as she spoke. Looking over, Tayuya saw that now the blonde was looking embarrassed, and somehow made her giggle, HER the toughest kunoichi in sound, giggling.

"I mean that sounds f-wait you want to what?!" The blonde couldn't believe his ears, she wanted to see him? The redhead simply looked at him "What, it's only fair, you fucking peeped at me. I mean unless you want me to just leave, I could always do that." Tayuya grinned, expecting an overreaction from him. Instead she saw his cerulean eyes turn downcast and somber, his face instantly going from embarrassed to a clean slated mask. Tayuya's grin slowly faded, replaced with a look of concern.

Naruto looked at the ground 'Does she want me gone too? She's just like Sakura-chan and the villagers then…who can blame her for it though, apparently I'm nothing more than the demon inside me.' however he was surprised after a minute when he heard a small voice call his name…well as close to it as he would probably ever hear from the owner of that voice.

"Hey shithead...I was just playing you know, I can't exactly leave you anyways since you're my mission right now." She looked up at the blonde, her eyes betraying the worry she felt after seeing that look on his usually goofy face. Tayuya couldn't stop what she was feeling right now, despite everything her personality would normally dictate she was concerned about this idiot she had met only two days ago. Hell, in two days he had shown more concern and care for her than any of her former teammates or the snake Sanin that led her village, the least she could do in return was make sure he was going to be ok.

Naruto's frown softened when he saw the look in her eyes, and after a moment his goofy smile returned "Well I'm glad Tayu-chan, you had me worried th-" the blonde was cut off as he was slapped, hard.

"Fucking blondie I told you not to call me that, now let's go the fuck to sleep!" The brash redhead walked to her room, however she glanced back as she reached the door. "Don't ever hold in your emotions around me dipshit, the last thing I need is to be worried about your dumb ass from now on." Smiling slightly, but genuinely, Tayuya walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

The former Leaf Genin simply smiled before going to his room, thinking about his new friend and how she actually cared about him.

Later that night the blonde was awoken by the sounds of a flute coming from her room, as he sat there listening he could almost feel the emotions held within.

Beginning as a haunting melody, the tune spoke of an insurmountable loneliness, of both betrayal and hatred that eventually conglomerated into something that spoke of numbing pain. Continuing to listen, Naruto heard the melody continue to darken and convey a great and destructive pain, something that the blonde knew only too well from growing up as he did in Konoha, before becoming something completely cold, conveying the girl's detachment from her emotions over time, and even managing to make him shiver as he heard it. After what seemed a lifetime of this dark tune, he was surprised as the music began to turn warm, speaking of a sudden compassion and the feeling of belonging for the first time. The song began filling Naruto with a sense of companionship, something he had sorely lacked for the majority of his life, and he could feel tears beginning to roll down his cheeks at the warmth and beauty that her creation was now conveying to any who would listen.

Despite himself, Naruto found he was moving towards Tayuya's room, wanting to be closer to the source of all these emotions. Once he got there, the blonde slowly opened the door and saw her. She was sitting by the window, staring out at the night sky as the moon rose slowly and cast a ghostly glow, accentuating her red hair further and creating a soft glow that radiated from her skin. The redhead didn't seem to notice as she was lost in the melody, so he sat on the floor and simply let himself follow the emotional coercion as the tune led him through her most personal feelings. After a while the melody slowly ended, speaking finally of friendship and, surprisingly, the possibility of something more.

Tayuya sensed another presence in the room and easily recognized it. Just as she was about to lay into the shit head for sneaking in and listening to something that conveyed her innermost thoughts and feelings, she noticed that the boy was sleeping peacefully with a small smile graving his face. Tayuya sighed and laid down after a moment's thought, deciding to let him off for this one, if only because she was exhausted after pouring her soul into her music as she hadn't in years. Closing her eyes, the redhead fell asleep thinking of the warmth that the melody ended on, and realizing that it was the first time she had ever played something so warm and inviting. Maybe bringing the shit head along hadn't been a bad idea after all.

True to her word, Tayuya woke Nartuo early the next morning so that they could be on their way to Oto. Despite the fact that the current base was only a few hours away, she wanted to get there quickly, plus if her legs acted up she didn't want to be delayed for another day. The silence between the two was only slightly awkward after the night before, between the redheads request and her opening up to Naruto even the the small amount she had. The two ninja walked to Oto in an attempt to not draw any attention to themselves, especially since one was currently a missing nin now and the other was probably still in the bingo book for several nations.

Luckily, the weather remained fair throughout the morning despite the ominous clouds that could be seen on the horizon, allowing them to continue unheeded to their destination.

Upon reaching Orochimaru's current base, Tayuya motioned for Naruto to stay outside, deciding that it would be better for her to go in alone first, that way she could hopefully explain the situation before bringing the blonde inside.

With that in mind, Tayuya snuck in quietly, homing in on the Otokage's chakra through the vast labyrinth that made up the underground base. Shivering despite herself, she looked around on the way to the central room, realizing once again the difference between the open aired Konoha and the dark, dank underground that made up the maze like base of Oto. The obvious signs of disuse didn't help, and she was reminded of the dark years spent being experimented on and of being forced to fight others for the chance of survival.

Once she located him, Tayuya couldn't help but stay back and listen quietly to the conversation he was having with his right hand man, Kabuto. What she heard shook Tayuya to the core and brought to light what the Snake Sanin had planned for her after this mission.

"So, if Tayuya succeeds, we will be using her to breed future Sharingan hosts for you, correct lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto stated, attempting to better understand his lord's plans, while also maintaining his usual stoic expression when it came to the darker aspects of his masters experimentation and strategies.

"That is correct, but if she fails... Then we will have only lost one useless shinobi." Orochimaru grinned evilly, somewhat hoping Tayuya would succeed and kill the demon brat that still managed to get in his way, not in the least because it would result in a line of Sharingan users that he could control. "She's failed me once already, what does it matter if she fails a suicide mission?"

Tayuya was completely shocked, everything she had done and this bastard was just going to use her as a breeding machine, or discard her like useless trash. The redhead quickly but quietly left the base, heading back outside to the shit head, the one person who had showed her any form of compassion instead of simply using her for their own personal gain. Tayuya laughed dryly as she realized the person who probably cared the most for her was the one she had been trying to kill less than two days earlier.

Arriving back at the entrance to the underground base, Tayuya felt hot tears falling from her eyes, a result of the maelstrom of emotions currently tearing her apart from the inside. Even though she knew the snake sanin only saw his subordinates as tools, the experimentation and other horrors she had endured in his name. The redhead wiped the tears away quickly but found that they just wouldn't stop, before noticing that the ominous clouds that had begun on the horizon were now causing a freak rain shower, however this only partially hid her tears. Just as she felt ready to collapse, Tayuya was surprised when suddenly she felt a pair of strong kind arms encircle her. "Tayu-chan are you ok?"

Of course it would be the blonde idiot, but instead of yelling at him, Tayuya found herself grabbing his stupid orange and black jacket and continuing to cry. Slowly losing herself in him before she began to feel it. As she remained in the arms of the blonde, Tayuya felt that the storm of emotions inside her was slowly calming, allowing the redhead to recount what she heard to the man holding her. After recounting the story, Tayuya simply buried her head in the chest of her former target, inhaling his scent as she continued to let her emotions flow.

When she finally got herself under control, Tayuya returned the hug for a moment before pulling away slightly and looking up into the calm blue ocean that made up Naruto's eyes. "Thanks Naruto." she said simply, yet uncharacteristically solemn after what had happened.

"Anytime Tayuya" Naruto gave her a small smile, finding that once again it wasn't forced, but instead was a genuine smile. Thinking for a moment, the blonde looked down at her once again "So, what should we do from here then? Seeing as I'm a missing nin from Konoha and the snake bastard only wanted to use you, I think our options might be limited."

"Do you know anywhere that we would be safe?" Tayuya asked, finally pulling away completely as she regained her composure, but feeling once again that strange fluttering in her chest.

"Well, the way I see it, we can either go to the Sand village or the Wave country." Naruto said after thinking it over, realizing that those were probably the two safest places they could go.

"We should go to the Wave country, they don't know me there, and the Sound and Sand don't exactly have the best relationship after Orochimaru killed their leader." Tayuya stated, and received a nod of understanding from Naruto. "Either way though, we shouldn't stay in any one place for long, seeing as ninja from both our villages will eventually begin looking for us."

Soon after the curt discussion, the two of them began the long trek in the direction of the Wave country, both with much on their minds, however both also noticed when the rain suddenly gave way once again to a brilliant day. Seeming to be an omen of a new point in their lives, the two ninja looked forward towards the journey ahead, deciding that the silence between them was somehow much less awkward than before.

Well there it is, Chapter 3. I felt like a buildup in their relationship would be appropriate, as well as Tayuya showing her true emotions even just a bit. Things will still move slowly on their overall relationship, as opposed to my last writing of this story, though there will be moments such as the one at the end of this chapter where it will leap forward momentarily.

Anyways let me know what you guys thing, and as always feedback of any sort is greatly appreciated.