Chapter 3

Naruto stood to face his Sensei. He hadn't expected to see Kakashi so soon. Behind him, Tayuya kept her eyes on the Jounin. She was very cautious of the possibility that this was a setup to lure her into a false sense of security and then kill her. She didn't completely trust the leaf ninja yet.

Naruto licked his lips. He hadn't prepared his reasoning, so he was going to have to go with whatever came off the top of his head. His brain was racing. His palms were sweaty and his throat was dry. Kakashi hadn't moved since he'd whacked Naruto's shadow clone. It was making Naruto even more nervous than he already was. He wasn't sure if he should let his sensei speak first or if he should.

Kakashi sighed and broke the tension with his voice. "So Naruto, you brought back a Sound Ninja have you?" Kakashi nodded towards Tayuya. "And I see you've even gone as far as letting her stay with you."

Naruto swallowed as he answered the taller ninja. "She was wounded. I…didn't want to just leave her in the forest. It didn't seem right no matter who she was..." Naruto gave the semi-demon girl a short glance. "Or…maybe…used to be."

"Naruto, I understand that you can't help caring for injured people." Kakashi sounded as if he was going to give him a 'she still tried to kill you' talk. But surprisingly, the conversation went into a different tone. "I really wish you would have left her where she was and come to get me from the village. All that movement may have caused some extra problems." The Jounin walked around the stunned blond to the redhead lying on the couch. He rested his palm on her forehead. She tensed slightly, but when a rush of warm healing chakra rushed into her body, she relaxed. Several of her open wounds healed and her ankle felt a bit better.

"Kakashi-sensei…." Naruto said. The silver haired man looked at the blond. He smiled. He retracted his hand and put it on the shoulder of the fox boy.

"She will require rest," he said. "Don't let her move much tomorrow. I'm no medical ninja, but I know that the head injury will clear up with less movement. Don't worry about her slipping into a coma, I've insured that that won't happen. And Naruto…" the older ninja knew he didn't have to finish his sentence. Naruto knew exactly what he was going to say. With that he walked out of the house, leaving the two alone once again.

"Naruto…" Tayuya said. She couldn't think of anything to say. She had never had a real sensei, so she didn't know what to say to a disappointed student. Comforting others had never been her strong point. She decided to stay quite and leave the boy think for a while. Maybe she should just do as the Jounin wished and take a rest so that she could leave as soon as possible and cause as little tension between the boy and his teacher as possible. The thought once again brought up the matter of where she was going to go after she recovered. She had nowhere to go and nobody to accept her. Maybe she could just go to a new village and get a fresh start. Maybe…

All this thinking was hurting her head even more than usual. She guessed that it was because she had hit her head. It further complicated the problem of her going to sleep. But that was partially a good thing. She wanted to stay awake in case Naruto needed someone to talk to.

Tayuya was disgusted with herself. Where the hell had that thought come from? What did she care if that orange piece of shit was comfortable or not? She needed to worry about number one. Herself. She was all that mattered. What was she going to do? Convincing herself that the thought was a mix of head trauma and the small bit of gratitude for her life being saved, she turned over and tried to sleep, but her discomfort was apparent to Naruto when she turned over again after a few seconds.

"So, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked. He sat back on the sofa with her. She figured she might as well tell him the truth.

"I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping is all. No concern of yours," she said. When the blond ninja put his hand behind her neck, she flinched. What the hell was he doing? Whatever it was, it was helping her relax.

"Don't worry," Naruto said. "Shizune taught me this technique. When I was in the hospital, it was hard to fall asleep. So she taught me a relaxation technique using your hand on the back of your neck. It works better if the hand isn't yours, because it may be uncomfortable to do it yourself." His fingers massaged the back of her neck. She was still a bit cautious, but looking into his soothing blue eyes told her that everything was going to be ok. His eyes were the nicest shade of turquoise. She continued to stare back at him until she fell to sleep.

Naruto stood up. Tayuya had finally fallen to sleep. As for himself, he wasn't quite ready for bed yet. He walked outside. Leaning on his front door. He watched the moon rise. He did this often. Ever since he had realized why the villagers hated him so much the moon seemed to relax him. Sometimes, the Kyuubi would speak to him. Times like now.

'You've brought back quite a snack boy. When do we eat?'

"We're not eating her," he spoke softly. "She's a guest in our home. We'll be hospitable to her."

'Oh I see. She's your mate then?' The kitsune knew from the surge of emotion that he had hit a cord somewhere. He knew this untrue. But it was fun to fuck with his host every now and then.

"Shut up stupid fox," Naruto said. His face turned a very light pink.

'Well even if she wanted to be your mate, she wouldn't once she learned of my presence within you. She'll reject you like all of the villagers here.'

"Kyuubi…." Naruto's voice was warning the fox to stop. But the fox only snickered at his host's discomfort.

'I've told you before that there is nothing that would satisfy me more than ripping you to shreds and scattering your body throughout the land. Unfortunately that dream may be too far out to reach. But at least I can watch you suffer. But I won't let you die.'

Naruto went into a deep type of thought. He hated to think that the Kyuubi might be right. That nobody would love him because he was bonded to the demon. He could only keep the secret for so long. And chances were that Sasuke was going to inquire about the red chakra he had seen and find out about him. This damned demon ruined his life. Every time he had a happy moment, he knew that it wouldn't last because the Kyuubi would make sure something went wrong. A single tear slid from his left eye down his cheek. He just wanted to be accepted for the human on the outside, not the monster on the inside.

The cool night air made him shiver. He stared at the moon again. "Do you disapprove of my existence too?" he asked the shining light. He got no response. As if it were considering it. Naruto wanted to punch something. To make something bleed. He wished he were fighting Sasuke again. He needed to release this pent up anger.

"Hey," a voice behind him said. Naruto didn't need to turn around to know it was Kakashi.

"I'm going to let her stay with me as long as she needs to no matter what anyone says," Naruto stated firmly. "If you've come here to try and talk me out of it, you've just wasted a whole trip coming here."

"I'm not here to talk you out of it, just give you a bit of advice." The man gripped Naruto's shoulders. "You've got responsibility now. Taking care of someone, let alone in secret, is no easy task. You've got to protect her like you told her you would. Don't betray her trust no matter who she is." Naruto looked lost. Kakashi ruffled his hair and said, "If you need any help, I'll always be here."

As Kakashi prepared to leave, he was stopped by Naruto's voice. "Kakashi-sensei…." He spoke. Kakashi turned to him and invited him to continue. "You…. came early. What's up with that?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "I finished the book I was reading a bit after your clone tried to trick me. And the next installment in Jiriya's series doesn't come out until next month." With that, he sped off into the night.

Naruto turned to re-enter his house. As he reached for the doorknob, it turned and opened to reveal Tayuya awake on the other side of it.

"What are you doing up?" Naruto asked. She looked from his feet to his chest, but never gave him direct eye contact.

"Um, I guess I had a bad dream," she said. She knew it was a lame excuse, but she had to think of something. Naruto wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled.

"Come on, we'll get you back into the bed. I'll help you if you want." Tayuya looked up to his face and felt a warm feeling as his arm wrapped around her. Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe it was her own non-concern for where he put his hands right now. But she didn't want him to let go of her, even when he set her back on the couch and lie beside her on the floor.

That's it for today's issue. I noticed that my last chapter was a bit short so I tried to make this one a bit longer. So as always, review for me. I really appreciate all the reviews I'm getting so far. Next chapter up soon. Until next time, Gravevirus out.