After naruko's fight with Tsunade she went back to the inn that her and Jiraya were staying in. Naruko was sitting on one of the beds brushing her hair since it was a bit messy because of the fight.
When naruko was finished brushing her hair she went over to her backpack to grab her pajamas intending on going to bed. "I wanna punch myself in the face. She's even worse than pervy-sage said she'd be" naruko said rummaging around in her backpack. While pulling out her pajamas a photo fell out. Naruko put down her pajamas and bent down to pick up the photo.
When naruko looked at the photo she saw that it was a picture of her and Kagome. 'That Tsunade may had been awful but… why does she remind me Kagome?' Naruko thought looking at the picture.
Flashback
It was a warm and sunny day. Kagome was washing everyones clothes when a seven year old naruko was trying to sneak up on her. Naruko, being as quiet as she could, ran up to Kagome to try and scare her but she stopped when she felt Kagome flick her forehead.
Naruko stepped backwards holding her forehead. Naruko looked at Kagome when she heard her adoptive mother laughing. "Sorry pumpkin but you're gonna have to try harder than that if you wanna sneak up on me" Kagome said looking at her youngest daughter.
Naruko looked away and started pouting. Kagome stood up, walked over to naruko and said "what are you pouting about my little kitten?" "It's not fair. How do you know when I try to sneak up on you? I didn't even make a sound but you still knew I was behind you" naruko said frustrated.
Kagome giggled at her daughter's frustration and said "pumpkin I was a skilled jonin before I settled down to start a family. I had to stay well aware of my surroundings every single day. So if you wish to one day sneak up on me well you're gonna have to wait a couple more years for that because it's pretty easy for me to tell when you're right behind me."
Naruko looked down at the ground frustrated. Kagome flicked naruko's forehead making naruko look at her again. "Naruko no more pouting. You know how much I hate to see that smile I love disappear from that cute face of yours" Kagome said in a teasing yet loving tone. Naruko turn her head blushing from embarrassment.
Naruko was still not used to somebody calling her things like pumpkin, my little kitten, princess, etc. She especially was not used to someone saying something that cute and cheesy so it was still kind of embarrassing to her.
When naruko looked at Kagome she placed a gentle kiss on naruko's head. Kagome pulled away and looked at naruko who was shocked at first but then smiled. Kagome pulled her into a hug and said "there's that beautiful smile." Kagome then let go of naruko, looked at her, and smiled.
Flashback End
Naruko was still holding onto the picture as she began tearing up. 'I miss you so much. Every day you did everything you could to make me and everyone else happy all because you loved to see us smile' naruko thought.
Naruko was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door. Naruko put the picture in her backpack and wiped away the tears in her eyes. She then went to answer the door.
'Who could that be at this time of night?' Naruko thought. Naruko opened the door and saw Shizune "I know it's awfully late. I'm sorry but I must talk to you" Shizune said. "Umm… ok" naruko said letting Shizune in the room.
"Before you get into this, there's something you must know about the necklace… and also about lady Tsunade" Shizune said. "I couldn't care less about that crazy old bat" naruko said.
Shizune got mad and shouted "don't say that! She's not the type of person you think she is!" Naruko looked at Shizune surprised. When Shizune calmed down she said "please forgive me, I didn't mean to shout… lady Tsunade wasn't always like that. She used to be so kind and dedicated to the village… but ever since that day."
"What day is that?" Nauko asked confused. After a bit of silence naruko said "talk already. Since what day?" "The day she lost all she had… dreams, hopes, everything. She had nothing left after that except the necklace and all of it's memories. Please understand that necklace is more precious than life for her. It's not simply a piece of jewelry to be gambled away on a silly bet" Shizune said.
"Umm ok but keep in mind that the bet wasn't my idea, it was her's. Can you at least tell me why it's so important to her?" Naruko asked. Shizune looked at naruko and explained what happened to Tsunade, her little brother Nawaki, her boyfriend Dan, and the necklace's curse.
"So you see naruko that was the day. It changed her, she's been in torment ever since" Shizune said. Naruko now decided to skip going to bed and started to walk towards the door. When naruko walked past Shizune she looked at naruko and said "where are you going?" Naruko stopped walking when she got to the door and said "out. I need to start training."
"Before I go there is also something you need to know about me Shizune… a long time ago when I wasn't even a genin yet I had two big sisters. Their names were Ikki and Jinora. They were both talented shinobis. There was also a boy named Akito who I had a massive crush on. I loved all three of them so much but when I was nine years old my sister Jinora died on the battlefield, Akito died saving me from an assassin, and my other sister Ikki was killed right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to help them. Just imagine how much that scars a nine year old's mind, how badly I've been in torment all these years. So basically what I'm saying is that I know what it's like to lose a sibling. What it's like to lose someone you loved with all your heart. If you're gonna talk to someone about how somebody you know had lost someone they loved make sure that the person you're talking to hadn't been though the same thing or something worse. Because you are only gonna make matters even worse." Naruko said then left the room.
Shizune was completely in shock. She really didn't know what to think. She felt bad for naruko and she couldn't believe that naruko went through that at nine years old. Naruko had her head down walking through the town with tears in her eyes.