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Thanks for reading and please enjoy

My Heart's Desire

-Chapter 3-

-Last Time-

"…Why am I in Jiji's office?" Naruto asked in confusion once his brain fully registered where he was, causing him to scratch his head in confusion. However, after a few more moments the whiskered boy noticed some distinct and important things. First was the admittedly very pretty lady sitting beside him, second was the funny tingly feeling spot on his cheek, and lastly… "Hey, where's my headband?"

-And Now-

If you were to ask Naruto, he would tell you that Ichiraku's Ramen was one of the greatest places in the world. The owner and his daughter were the nicest people ever and the ramen they made was unmatched in deliciousness. It was the place he went to whenever he was hungry, wanted to celebrate, feeling down, feeling excited… okay yeah he went there for basically any reason he could come up with.

So it would come as no surprise to anyone that the whiskered blonde was once again sitting in a stool at the restaurant with one of the biggest bowls you could order set before him. What was surprising was the glum look on his face as he halfheartedly poked at his bowl of noodles.

To his side was the Hokage, casually enjoying a bowl of Miso, and Aqua, who was putting an Akimichi to shame with how much she was wolfing down.

Then there was Jiraiya, who was keeping a healthy distance between himself and the bluenette, no doubt from the angry glares she sent his way whenever she had to stop eating because her frog-like tongue dribbled out of her mouth like a limp noodle.

"My oh my, quite the healthy appetite you have there Aqua-san," Teuchi, the shops elderly owner and head chef, stated as he brought Aqua another bowl that she wasted no time scarfing down next. "Keep this up and you might just beat Naruto's old record for most bowls in one sitting."

"Well that's… what tends to happen… when you don't eat for… I don't even know how long…" The bluenette muttered between bites before eventually just picking up the bowl and downing the brothy dish in a few gulps. Setting the empty bowl down on the nearest stack once she was done, she leaned back in her seat with a sigh while patting her stomach. "Oh sweet lord that hit the spot, thank you."

"We aim to please here at Ichiraku." The ramen chef said with a chuckle as he collected the used dishes and carried them to the back for washing.

"Jeez, you almost took your eye out this time," While he was doing so, his daughter Ayame, a young lady with light brown hair, was busy fussing over the jagged scar marring Naruto's cheek. As she was talking, the brunette grabbed a small jar from behind the counter and popped it open, revealing a thick green salve that she started gently spreading over the discolored tissue. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you to be more careful."

"I'm sorry Nee-chan…" The whiskered blonde mumbled under his breath, barely reacting as the fragrant cream was spread onto his face. His lackluster response caused the brunette to pause mid scolding, causing her frustration turning to confusion as she set the cream down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay Naruto?" She asked in concern, which only grew when Naruto refused to answer her question and just kept stirring his ramen. "Naruto?"

"The gaki's fine lady, he's just a little grumpy that he lost his headband." Jiraiya explained from over on his side of the stand. Upon hearing this, Ayame's eyes flicked to Naruto's forehead, her gaze softening when she finally noticed the missing article that would have been covering it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Naruto."

"It's fine, I sent some clones to go find it," He said with a smile, albeit a half-hearted one, before finally eating his food instead of just messing around with it. Like magic his mood almost instantly improved once the brothy noodles touched his tongue, causing a more genuine grin to cross his lips as he eagerly dug into the food. "It's only a matter of time till I've got it back."

"I could help if you'd like." Aqua offered with a friendly smile… that was kind of ruined when her tongue once again tumbled out of her mouth.

"Uh, thanks for the offer miss but I think I've caused you enough trouble for one day already." The whiskered teen politely declined while the bluenette was struggling to get the appendage back in her mouth where it belonged.

He had been given the shorter (And slightly edited) version of Aqua's arrival on the way to the stand, such as how she saved Naruto's life after he accidentally summoned her into the canyon he was plummeting down. Naturally the orange-clad teen had apologized profusely for dragging her into his mess, even after she explained that he had unintentionally helped her out of an even worse mess.

"It's really no trouble at all, I know a few charms that make finding lost things a cinch." The otherworldly lady stated while snapping her fingers, creating a small shower of tiny stars that swirled around the stand for added emphasis. The little display got Ayame to gasp softly in amazement and curiously grab at one when it flew close to her. Her eyes lit up when she actually managed to catch the little light before a giggle escaping her lips as she watched it bounce around between her fingers until it faded away.

"Again, thanks but no thanks, I've got it covered," However, Naruto didn't even blink at the display and simply shot her down again while Teuchi brought him a fresh bowl of ramen. In one smooth motion he scooped up almost half of the noodles, stuffed them into his mouth, and slurped the entire thing down. "Besides, shouldn't you be worried on finding a place to stay until you can find a way back home?"

That got the otherworldly bluenette to pause, a confused look spreading across her face for a moment before quickly being replaced with realization. "Ah, right, gonna need somewhere to sleep and such. Totally forgot about that."

It had been who knows how long since she needed to sleep that it had honestly slipped her mind that she… well actually needed to sleep again. Just thinking about it now was causing Aqua's eyes to feel a bit heavier as she bit down a yawn threatening to come out. However, it wasn't exactly going to be easy getting a place considering one majorly glaring issue she had on her hands.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know any place that lets you crash for free or at least somewhere I could get some work, would ya?" Aqua asked with a sheepish giggle as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly with one hand and held out her empty wallet with the other. "I'm a little short on cash at the moment."

"You need a job huh?" A perverted grin cropped up on Jiraiya's face as he slowly started to nudge closer to the bluenette. "In that case, I might know this nice little brothel that's always looking for new workers-"

"Silence." A soft blue glow surrounded the shaggy sage's lips as all sound coming out of them suddenly stopped, making it seem like he was just mouthing the words. Raising a hand to his mouth, he breathed out on them curiously before clapping his hands together and shouting something.

…Or at least everyone assumed he was shouting since he still didn't make a sound.

"Does anyone else have a suggestion?" Aqua asked dully, lowering her glowing hand as she ignored Jiraiya's continued attempts to speak despite his newfound muteness.

"Well I can't say anything about work but I do believe I might have a solution for your housing problem," Hiruzen stated, getting the bluenette's attention, before he motioned towards a certain whiskered teen. "Correct me if I'm mistaken but aren't you currently renting two apartments in your building Naruto?"

Pausing mid-bite, Naruto lowered his chopsticks back into the bowl as he turned to the elderly Kage with his brow raised. "Uh, sort of… why?"

"Then perhaps you could allow our new friend here to use one, at least until she can get herself sorted out." Hiruzen pointed out, getting the whiskered teen to blink before his face scrunched up in thought.

"…I guess so…" He didn't seem to be a big fan of the idea if the conflicted tone of his voice meant anything. Yet in the end Naruto still nodded in agreement, albeit reluctantly, after mulling it over for a minute or so before glancing at Aqua. "I'll have to move some stuff around but it could work, that is as long as you don't mind plants much."

"Not at all, I've always had a bit of a green thumb actually." The otherworldly woman waved off his concern with a shake of her head, getting the blonde to nod again.

"Great," Finishing off the last of his bowl, Naruto hopped out of his seat and stretched a bit before heading for the doorway. "Then if you'll excuse me I've got work to do."

"Hold up a second, I'll go with you," Aqua called out as she got up as well and followed after the whiskered teen, easily catching up with him. However, she ended up stumbling a little and cupping her stomach when it protested the sudden movement after such a large meal, a pressure building up in the back of her throat that- "BEEELCH! Oh… excuse me."

A light blush spread across the bluenette's cheeks as she covered her mouth and looked around nervously before sighing in relief when she saw that nobody paid her any mind. While she would admit she was not exactly the most lady-like that was still a pretty loud burp.

"Why are you following me?" Aqua was snapped out of her thoughts by Naruto's words as the boy in question stared at her with a raised brow.

"Well for one thing I don't know where this apartment of yours is, so I kind of need you to show me." She pointed out to the whiskered boy, getting him to pause for a moment before coughing awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh… right… good point."

"And secondly, I figured that since you're being kind enough to give me a place to stay I could at the least lend you a hand with the moving part," Aqua added, getting Naruto to nod, before the bluenette grimaced as she wiped her neck with a sleeve. Pulling it back, her face scrunched up in disgust at the thin layer of slime that trailed between her skin and the cloth, a little present left over from her little… misadventure of being a frog. "Besides, the sooner we finish the sooner I can take a nice long hot shower, I've got mucus in places I didn't even know I had."

Sure she could just clean herself up with a quick spell, but after everything she'd been through a nice hot shower was sounding really tempting.

"Hehe, yeah, fair enough." Naruto said with a light chuckle, he hadn't wanted to say it out loud but the lady was starting to smell more than a little ripe. The scent of sweat, blood, and frog goop wafted off of her in a not so pleasant bouquet of scents that more than a few people they walked past made a point to keep their distance.

Though he didn't exactly have room to talk himself since he no doubt smelled just as bad if not worse, not to mention the large blood stain that covered the collar of his jacket. 'That's not gonna be fun getting out later.'

Whilst the boy was caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice as Aqua gained a confused look as she scratched her chin.

'Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?' The Keyblade Master wondered to herself as she couldn't get rid of this nagging sensation in the back of her head that she missed something important. Yet for the life of her she just couldn't figure out what it could possibly be, she'd sent an emergency signal for help, she'd figure out her money issues soon, and even gotten a place to stay thanks to this young man. 'Dammit, what am I forgetting? It can't be-'

"Whelp, here we are." Naruto unintentionally cut the bluenette off as he gestured to a modest apartment complex, a pretty standard building about three stories tall. Before she could note much beyond that, the blonde suddenly grabbed her hand and led her inside, heading straight for a stairway beside the doorway up to the top floor.

After that it was just a short walk down a hall and the pair found themselves standing between the doors to apartments 3-6A and 3-6B.

"That one's my place," Naruto stated while pointing to the latter before walking over to the former while fishing out a key from inside his coat. Unlocking the door, the whiskered blonde stepped aside as he pulled it open so that Aqua could go in first. "And here's where you'll be staying."

"…Wow…" Was all the bluenette could say as soon as she got a good look at the inside of the apartment for herself.

When Naruto had asked her about not minding plants she had been picturing a few potted flowers and/or maybe a small herb garden.

Instead, what she was greeted by could be modestly summarized as an indoor jungle, with nearly every single open space covered by vegetation of some kind. She could see all types of flowers, from common ones such as lilacs and daisies to more exotic looking ones that she couldn't even hope to identify, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Hanging baskets and wall mounts had Ivy dangling off them, a few carefully tended bonsai trees and bushes along with some ferns. Then on the more edible side there were more bushes and bonsais trees laden with fruits, vegetable and herb beds the size of beds, and even a few terrariums filled with different mushrooms.

Various grow lights and sprinklers were set up all over, hanging from the walls and ceiling or mounted on tables with the plants themselves. At first glance it seemed like a disorganized mess with everything crammed together in the enclosed space haphazardly. However, as she stepped into the room, it didn't take long for Aqua to notice a pattern to the apparent chaos.

Plants that needed more sun were closest to the windows and had the most lights whilst ones that grew better in shade or darkness were positioned under the rest. Bags of fertilizer were neatly stacked under a desk that was covered with various gardening tools where the kitchenette used to be. The only oddity that didn't fit in was a little wooden perch for birds that sat next to the window, covered in a layer of dust that told her it hadn't been used in quite some time.

"You uh… you certainly like gardening, huh?" She muttered once she finally finished taking everything in, looking over her shoulder back at Naruto after hearing the door close.

"It's a hobby," The whiskered blonde stated dismissively with a shrug as he walked past her, adjusting a few of the pots when he walked by. Picking up a small flower that was looking a little wilted, he frowned slightly and picked off the dying leaves before setting it back down as he continued along. "Bathroom's to the right if you want to get that shower now, I keep towels under the sink just in case and the washing machine's in there so you can wash your clothes too. I'll get started on clearing up the bedroom."

Naruto didn't wait for a response from the otherworldly bluenette as he stepped into said bedroom, leaving her alone with the plants.

"I guess that works for me." Aqua muttered awkwardly with a shrug, a bit put off by the boy's bluntness, before she went through the other door instead.

XxXxX

Roughly twenty minutes later Aqua would reemerge amidst a cloud of steam looking a lot better than when she went in.

"Oh man, I really needed that." She muttered with a relaxed smile, humming softly under her breath while running her hands through her damp hair. Giving her head a few shakes to get the remaining moisture out, the bluenette patted out the creases in her outfit and stretched before heading for the bedroom.

As she peered inside, the first thing Aqua noticed was Naruto's lack of presence, which she safely assumed meant he was moving something elsewhere.

The next thing was that unlike the main room, the bedroom was much emptier and dimly lit, the windows boarded up so that only the barest amount of light filtered into the room. There were a few tables that had some odd-looking tools, a few books, a couple loose scraps of paper, and of course more plants.

When she got closer though, the bluenette was quick to notice that what Naruto was growing in here was definitely not your garden variety vegetation. The plants themselves weren't too out of the ordinary; little bushes, flowers, ect, mostly rather run of the mill stuff.

However, whereas the living room had tons grown together, these were each carefully separated from each-other and kept within individual sealed terrariums. Not only that but the soil they were planted in was incredibly dry and coarse, with just a look telling her that it was not ideal for growing. Neither were most of them suited for such a dark environment either, in fact most of them were ones you'd only see growing under well-lit sunny conditions.

And yet, as Aqua grabbed a little strawberry plant terrarium, she couldn't help but marvel at how healthy it looked. Although as she looked closer, she noted that the fruits had an odd purplish coloration mixed in that gave them a somewhat sinister look in the dark lighting.

Setting it back down, her attention shifted to the table covered in books, most of which were still open to different pages. Grabbing the closest one she could reach, the bluenette idly glanced over the contents on the pages before flipping the book shut and looking at the cover.

"'Hybrids and You: A Comprehensive Guide to Cross Breeding Plants'," She read aloud with a raised brow before glancing at the terrariums again, her eyes lighting up in understanding. "Oh, so he likes making new plants, neat."

With that little mystery solved Aqua started to set the book back where it belonged…

"Hm?" Only to stop when she noticed a folded piece of paper that slipped out from between the pages and fell onto the table.

Picking it up, the otherworldly lady noted how rough the paper felt against her fingers, a texture akin to older parchment that did not fit with the newer modern print pages of the book. It also had Naruto's name scribbled haphazardly across the front in black ink that had been smudged a little from water damage.

Finding her curiosity peeked once more, Aqua unfolded the paper to find that is was a letter with a photograph neatly tucked inside.

Taking out the picture first, her brow rose at seeing that it was of someone's backside as they were half-buried in a bush. She couldn't really make out any defining features aside from a pair of red pants, a ragged black cloak, and a purple belt so there was no telling who's behind exactly she was looking at.

So she turned her attention to the letter instead…

D-ar Naruto

I'm glad to h-r that you'-e been d-ng well and - you still are when y-u get this. Th-gs have been p-et-y much the -ame as they—alw—s been, nothing -ch going on aside from -waro and Rhea's usual antics whenever -y come by. S-king of which, I showed them the ro- -sh you sent to me last month and -y lit-e b-ther thought it was -n-ther be-y bush li- last time.

He -ed up ge-ng h-self stuck -n it t-ing to find them as so- as I tu-d my back. For-ately we were ab- to get him -t before - accidentally s-t it -ze… again. It took al-t an hour to -t all the thorns out of him aft-ards and he s-e never to -y that again, but I wouldn't be s-ris-d if he did soon. Swe- as he is, he's not exa-tly the sh-pest tool in -e shed.

Also th-ks for the -w -try books t-o, I've enjoyed them immensely and R-ea seems to e-jo- them as well, al-ough that -ay ju-t be be-use she's as b-r-d as I am -n this -ace.

I hope - -ar from yo- a-ain s-on,

Sincerely, Sa-do -exion

Aqua frowned and squinted her eyes as her gaze flickered over the parchment over and over. While she could make out the gist of the letter, several words had been badly smeared to the point of being almost completely illegible.

'Looks like he spilled water on it or something,' She thought before running a finger over the smeared parts, nodding her head when she felt the telltale distortions of water damage. What was odd though was how spaced out the damage was, all in perfect little drops all over the paper's surface, almost as if someone had-

"Hey!" Aqua was broken out of her train of thoughts by a sudden shout before the letter and photo were snatched out of her grasp. Snapping her head towards the one responsible, she found Naruto standing beside her giving her a very annoyed look as he carefully folded the letter back up. "You make it a habit to go through other people's mail?"

"Huh? …Oh!" The otherworldly woman's cheeks burned in shame while she awkwardly scratched the back of her head once she realized what she had been doing. Here this young man was giving her a place to stay and one of the first things she does is start digging into his privacy, talk about lack of appreciation. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to snoop, I just got caught up in my curiosity and… sorry."

Her words just caused the frown on Naruto's lips to deepen before he sighed with a shrug and tucked the letter away inside his kunai pouch. "Whatever, please don't do it again."

"Of course," Aqua was quick to agree with a nod, getting the whiskered teen to relax a little. "Uh although if you don't mind me asking, where did you go?"

"There wasn't enough room to move everything out so I had to go buy some new storage scrolls to put it all," The blonde stated while holding up one of said scrolls for the bluenette to see before unrolling it on a nearby table, revealing a complex looking ink drawing that he quickly stacked everything else that was on the table onto it. Then, after placing his palm at the base, all the stuff aside from the scroll vanished in a large puff of smoke. "Also had to explain to the landlord that you'd be staying here for the time being, he says its fine as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Ah, well that's good." The Keyblade master said with a nod before moving to help the boy seal everything up.

A tense silence fell over the pair during their work, neither saying a word as they just did their part. With them working together it only took a few minutes for them to get everything packed away, leaving a single table for her to use. They then divided up the rest of the work, such as cleaning, reorganizing, ect, about as evenly as they could.

However, while Aqua was sweeping up the dirt and trimmings that had been left over most of the floor, she glanced over at Naruto, who was currently unblocking the window. Several questions were swirling around in the back of her mind about the enigmatic blonde, most concerning how he was able to bring her out of the realm of Darkness.

But seeing as she doubted that he was any more aware of that than she was, the bluenette instead opted for asking something a little more… domestic. "So how long have you been into Botany?"

Blinking in confusion, Naruto turned to Aqua with a raised brow after ripping off the last board on the window. "Bot-what now?"

"Botany, you know, plant science stuff." She reiterated as she gestured to the pile of trimmings she was about to toss in the trash.

"Oh… I'm not really into any science, it's just a hobby." The whiskered blond said with a shrug while stacking the planks up and putting them in another scroll. Tossing it over with the rest of the used scrolls, he moved on to patching up the holes that had been left behind with spackle.

"For just a hobby you sure put a lot of effort into it, especially renting an extra apartment." Aqua pointed out, to which Naruto just shrugged again.

"I don't actually rent it," He stated much to the lady's confusion, "Nobodies rented it for years so the landlord just let me use it when I asked, said I might as well since the space was going to waste."

"But why wouldn't anyone rent it?" The water themed girl asked with a raised brow, not understanding why a perfectly good apartment would be just left unused for so long. Aside from the obvious clutter of all the vegetation there was not a single thing she could see wrong with the place.

"…I think I put the old futon in the bathroom closet," Naruto said after a brief pause as he pointed to the door without looking away from his work. "Might want to make sure it's still good to use unless you feel like sleeping on the floor."

Blinking in confusion at the abrupt change of subject, Aqua opened her mouth to say something… only to stop herself as a frown marred her lips. Whatever was up, it was obviously a touchy subject for the blonde if the way he hesitated said anything and she was already on thin ice with him for reading his mail. So she decided to just let the matter drop, for the time being at least, and did as the boy suggested without another word.

Naruto sighed heavily once she was gone while opening the front of his jacket, revealing a pendant stylized like an eight-pointed sun hanging from his neck by a plain black cord. Gently grasping the charm, he flipped it over to show an old photograph carefully taped onto the backside.

A sad smile crossed his lips as he looked at the picture with watery eyes, before quickly tucking it away again and wiping his eyes when he heard Aqua coming back. 'I'll find you again one day…'

-End Chapter-

Obtained 📜Tear-Stained Letter

A letter from an unknown person for Naruto, most of the words are illegibly smeared

AN: To answer a few inevitable questions. As you have probably figured out now, this is not your typical 'Canon' Naruto story. How much different is he from canon? You'll find out. Aqua reading Naruto's mail? She's been in complete isolation for a prolonged period of time doing nothing but focusing on surviving so her social skills are understandably a little rusty. Who is the writer of the letter? No Spoilers but feel free to try and figure it out. Thanks for reading and please review