Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, but you prob know that by now
Chapter 5: Akatsuki Interference:
The next three weeks for Naruto and Shina were pretty uneventful. Shina would usually get up a bit earlier than Naruto would, do her morning routine, and cook breakfast. That first morning of them living together, Shina wanted to thank Naruto for all he did by making him breakfast. Neither of them decided to talk about what occurred before bed last night, the memory (and slight embarrassment) still fresh in their minds. At first, he was a bit skeptical, because she had actually made a nutritious breakfast other than the ramen he was used to eating. After the first couple of bites, however, he discovered how great a cook she was, which he wasn't hesitant to point out, giving her another blush. After they had breakfast, they would each head out to train.
Before they actually did any training the first day, they each shared some things about their training, techniques, and ninja career. Shina had been a gennin around the same amount of time Naruto has, with and affinity to fire jutsus. She already knew a few fire and wind techniques, mainly working on increasing her chakra capacity with chakra weights and her stamina. Naruto had no idea what those were, so she decided to show him what they were. He noticed the black weight looking straps around her ankles and wrists, and saw them glow in a bluish color as she gathered chakra into them. Shina explained to him how using it to weigh her down during exercise helped with both her stamina and chakra capacity.
Naruto told, more like boast, Shina some of his own skills, such as summoning and of course his skill with kage bunshins. She asked how many he could make, expecting maybe ten to twenty at the most. Was she ever surprised to see their whole field filled with maybe 1000 or so clones! After recovering from her utter shock, he was able to also display his move the Rasengan. Even she knew of the fourth's technique, and she even asked if he was related. Naruto was quick to say no, saying how ero-sennin taught it to him. When she asked who ero-sennin was, he told her how it was Jiraiya, which she couldn't help but laugh at the nickname he gave his sensei. When Naruto even said how he might visit sometimes and how he could help train her, she hugged him again in gratitude, something the Kyuubi would not let go of the rest of the day. With that, they began a regular training schedule where she would do some practice with her techniques, then do laps and other stamina exercises with her chakra weights. While she did that, Naruto would use his Kage bunshins, about 200 would do various chakra control exercises, while the other 800 would continue the work he did before, completing the rasengan. When Naruto told Shina about this, she herself thought it was awesome for him to do something so incredible, which he couldn't help but blush from. It was yet another thing Kyuubi poked fun at him for all day long.
At around lunch time, they spent about an hour to get some lunch. Of course, Naruto preferred going to his favorite ramen shop, where Ayame would sometimes get a joke in or two about them having lunch together, as if Kyuubi wasn't bugging the blonde haired shinobi enough. Some of the days, however, they would get some dangoes, Naruto's treat, much to Shina's delight. After lunch, they would spar a little while, then spend the rest of time between then and dinner just walking around town, avoiding as many villagers as possible, or in the forest. When the sun began to set, they would head back home, Shina would make dinner, now for two instead of her usual lonesome, and then they would head to bed after saying goodnight, ready for the next day.
Naruto couldn't help but feel unbridled joy whenever he saw her smiling and happy, like a special treasure, her smile looked totally unique and something only he could create. When Shina was around him, she didn't look annoyed, or underestimate him like his friends, and not disgusted. She would always believe in his skills, and never once chastised or berated him for his dream of being Hokage. Her elegant face only seemed to show content and happiness hanging around him, but he could still see a look in her comforting fire-shaded eyes like she held a secret far back in his mind, like any happiness she received could end all too soon. It was a look he knew all too well, even though he had no idea why she seemed that way, and he dared not ask for fear of losing such a great friend. She also sometimes had a look of thought, like she was trying to figure out something, but it would only seem to be there for a second before disappearing, so he didn't worry about it much. Our blonde haired carrier was just happy to be with somebody as awesome as her. The Kyuubi, however, had a slight suspicion. During the times Naruto spent with her, he could feel a slightly different aura around the girl. Whether it was adept at masking its presence, or is just dormant, he couldn't be sure. Although he told of his suspicions to Naruto, she hasn't been a threat to them at all, and has only been a friend. So Kyuubi just continually kept a watch for the aura, wondering why it felt slightly familiar to him, though weak the aura is.
Shina couldn't believe her luck in her current situation. Only about a month ago, she had been in her own village, lonely and persecuted, despised, and you could basically say she was tortured mentally with it all. Now, she was in a grand, peaceful, beautiful village with a kind Hokage who couldn't care less about her "condition," and in fact knew of another like her in the city. Though our red headed girl hoped to meet the girl or boy who was so similar to her, she couldn't seem to bring herself to want stay away from Naruto for the length of time she knew it would probably take to find the person. Around Naruto, she was happy at finally having a great friend, even though he didn't know all about her yet. She would attempt to delusion herself at how he might accept her despite her demon, though she never fully believed it. After all the years in her town, she didn't think anybody not the same as her could understand or even want to bother. She wasn't even sure why she cared so much whether Naruto accepted her or not. Nothing he seemed to do ever appeared wrong, amusing perhaps, but not disgusting or annoying. Shina even enjoyed his childish attitude, like he's still enjoying the childhood and innocence she wishes she had. Around the blonde haired shinobi, she felt something in the back of her mind, like something trying to stir. Usually, it was slight feeling and only a short time, like a second, so she would just ignore it.
Being the shinobi they are of course, they would still be assigned missions on a couple of days. Naruto never missed the cue of barging into her office, yelling "Tsunade-baa-chan!" resulting in yet more bruises possibly resulting in unwanted brain damage, though both the women doubted that. Most of their missions were D-rank missions, much to the horror of the duo gennin. Some were the basic chores that would be assigned on D-rank, but a couple of times they did receive the dreaded "Tora Retrieval" mission. Shina wondered why Naruto seemed to despise it so, but after one day of doing the mission 10 times, she soon found she despised it with equal ferocity as any leaf gennin. The last time they did it they almost didn't get paid for the condition Tora was in. The evil cat seemed to be in some bad shape with some missing patches of fur that appeared burned off. Naruto and Shina explained that it traveled into a mine field and set off a weaker one before they caught it, but the sadistic smiles hidden behind their mask of innocence told Tsunade all she needed to know. Not that she minded of course, always having that unwanted paperwork of having to assign that mission so much.
One day, Shina and Naruto have been doing their regular training regime for about an hour, when a familiar sight shows up in a puff of smoke, revealing the pervert with his nose buried in his book.
"Yo" the grey haired jounin said casually raising a hand at them.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei" both of the gennin greet him, one obviously a bit louder (guess who?).
"Hey Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here? Checking up on my progress with rasengan huh?" Naruto boasted. "No" Kakashi said plainly, causing Naruto's head to droop. "I came to tell you we need to go to the Godaime's office."
"Alright, let's get going!" Naruto yelled happily. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto and Shina to walk there together. By the time the two got up there, they already saw Kakashi by the door. Walking in, Naruto once again yelled Tsunade-baa-chan, resulting in another punch to the head and sweatdrops on the two onlookers.
"Okay, I'm assigning Team 7 a C-rank mission." Before Tsunade could continue, she was interrupted by the loudmouth ninja.
"Alright! It's been forever since I got a mission other than D-rank!"
"Shut up Naruto and I could continue" Tsunade said through gritted teeth, after weighing the choice that punching him again would just keep them here longer. "Now, the mission is just a basic scouting mission through Konoha's forests from the South Gate. It should take you guys about a day or two to complete, so get going." Leaving her office before Naruto could make another comment, Kakashi told the pair to be at the south gate in about an hour. Quickly getting home, Shina and Naruto packed up their clothes, tent, sleeping bag, and in Naruto's case ramen cups. After that, they reach the gate, where after the hour is finished they're still waiting for sensei. Amazingly, he only arrives two hours late, so Naruto decides to leave it, seeing as how it's still better than three. With that, they leave the gates and begin to explore the forest.
Knowing the forest basically by heart, Kakashi and Naruto had no problem getting around, but Naruto traveled next to Shina so she wouldn't get lost or lose track of them. They traveled around in the forest all day, but it didn't look like there were any bandits or the sort around. Team 7 kept going, however, until the sun began to set. They found a clearing with a river nearby, so Kakashi went to look for food, while Naruto got firewood and Shina set up camp. The first one to get back was Naruto, so he and Shina set up the fire and just sat next to each other watching the fire until Kakashi came back a short while later. The masked jounin returned carrying a few rabbits, and had those for dinner despite Naruto's plead to have some ramen.
When team 7 finished dinner, they came up with the watch schedule. Kakashi volunteered to take half the night, while Naruto and Shina cold split the other half. After it was done, Shina went into her tent to sleep, while Naruto preferred taking up a spot on a wide branch. Nothing interesting happened during Kakashi's shift, and before he knew it his hours were up. So he then went up to Naruto's branch and woke him up so he could get to sleep. Naruto just stayed up on the branch to keep an eye out for anybody. At one point, he could have sworn he felt a chakra signature, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared, so he thought it was his imagination. Pretty soon, he had to go wake up Shina for the final shift. As he reached the sleeping bag she was in, he could see her face. It had a small smile on it, she looked totally peaceful and he really didn't want to wake her up. However, he did anyways, and she soon took a spot by the fire as he went back up onto his branch for some more sleep. Though the red headed nin was vigilant, she couldn't help but sneak some looks to the blonde haired shinobi in the tree. Before she realized, dawn was approaching and both the sleeping shinobi were waking up.
After everyone was awake, Kakashi went to catch some fish while Naruto and Shina prepared the fire. He came back in a few minutes with a fish for each of them, and afterwards they took down the camp and were on their way back.
They were still a few miles away from the south gate when Shina decided to comment on the mission.
"This was pretty boring, wasn't it Naruto-kun?"
"Yea, I thought for sure I'd get to beat up some bandits or something" Naruto whined a little.
"It can't be helped, let's just head back to Konoha and-" but before Kakashi could finish, the team could feel the air displacement behind them and jumped to the ground to dodge the shuriken. Turning around, they saw two men, both of them wearing black cloaks with red clouds embroidered on them. Removing their straw hats, the Konoha nin could see the taller one on the left had blue skin with what appeared to be gills and wearing a shark toothed smirk. The other one, however, showed no emotion on his face, his onyx eyes did not betray his emotions.
"Uchiha-teme, fish man, get out of here! I don't want to deal with you right now!" Naruto yelled to the pair.
"Look Itachi, the brat thinks he can order us around" the blue man said, the smirk not disappearing from his face. "Now you agreed I could shave off a limb, right?"
"Yes Kisame, just be sure to keep him alive, we need to bring him back" the man with the onyx eyes said in a monotone.
"Who are these two?" Shina asked, not taking her eyes off of them.
"Akatsuki" Kakashi said seriously, removing his hitae-ate from his eye. "I'll hold them off. Naruto, Shina, get out of here and get help."
"Hai" they both said, jumping away.
"Kisame, go after them" Itachi said looking at Kakashi.
"With pleasure" Kisame said, jumping after them. Kakashi was about to go after him, but Itachi appeared in front of him, trying to slash him with a kunai before Kakashi jumped back, taking out his own. "I will not allow you to disrupt our mission" he said in his monotone.
"I hope they're strong enough to fight Kisame by now" Kakashi thought getting into his fighting stance.
In another part of the forest:
"Hurry up Shina-chan! We have to get help for Kakashi-sensei ASAP!"
"What's wrong Naruto-kun?! Who are those guys?!" Shina said the worry evident in his voice.
"I don't have time to tell you all the details, but let's just say they're the bad guys" he said as they continued the trek towards Konoha. They weren't able to get much farther, however, when one of the men appeared, swinging his sword and breaking the branch Naruto was about to land on. He fell to the ground hard, but Shina helped him up as they glared at the man in front of them.
"Kay brat, it's time to come with me" the shark man said while the bandages his sword had were taken off.
"Like hell I will!" Naruto said, charging towards Kisame. "Shina-chan stay back!" he yelled running forward, he made the ram seal for his specialty jutsu, the shadow clone jutsu. He made five clones, making six of him in all. Three of them began throwing shuriken at the swordsman, who easily blocked them with his sword and slashed at the other three going for a close range assault, making them poof out of existence like it was nothing. Charging forward so fast they had trouble seeing him, he punched the three clones, but all three of them poofed into clouds of smoke. Looking behind quickly, Kisame saw four Naruto's charging at him. Getting ready to slash at them too, he didn't notice the ground beneath him until the Naruto under it already punched him upwards, the clones quickly taking the chance to do their Uzumaki Barrage. Each hit was a success, but before the last Naruto kicked him downward, Kisame grabbed his leg and swung him downward. Following the toss, the shark man flashed through some seals, yelling "Water Shark Missiles!" Shina saw a shark made out of water slam into Naruto, driving him into a tree. The blonde shinobi, however, recovered after a couple of seconds quickly. Making some more clones, he charged at Kisame again. Kisame was becoming anxious to finish this battle fast, slashing through the clones easily. Feeling a presence behind him, he turned to see another Naruto with a blue sphere in his hands. He could hear the blonde shinobi yell "Rasengan!" before driving his sphere into the sword to block. "Damn this kid, this attack is too strong" Kisame thought trying to keep it at bay. "Just a little bit further" Naruto thought as he drove the sphere further, before knocking the sword out of Kisame's hands and driving the sphere into his gut. As he went spinning into a tree, however, the Kisame he hit and the sword dissolved into water. "Damn a Mizu Bunshin!" Naruto thought before feeling a heavy blow to the head, beginning to lose consciousness. Seeing Shina running towards him, a look of concern and worry in his face, the last thing he could say before his consciousness slipped away was "Shina-chan … get out … of … here."
Kakashi and Itachi's battle, same time as Naruto vs., Kisame:
Itachi immediately through some shuriken at Kakashi, who jumped to the left to avoid them. While in midair, however, Itachi appeared behind him in a flash, stabbing his back with a kunai. The Kakashi he stabbed, however, poofed out of existence. "A kage bunshin, clever Kakashi" Itachi said before jumping into the air to avoid his underground assault. As he appeared from the ground, Kakashi flashed through some hand seals, shooting a great fireball towards Itachi. The Sharingan master flashed through his own seals, sending another fireball, which collided into Kakashi's and made an explosion. As the smoke cleared, Itachi saw Kakashi coming forward with another kunai for some close combat. Their kunai clashed as they traded blow for blow and kick for kick at speeds that most shinobi would have some trouble following. Neither of the fighters could land a hit on each other though. They soon separated, and Kakashi tossed some shuriken at Itachi, which he caught. During that, Kakashi flashed through the seal for his original jutsu. The Uchiha killer saw Kakashi running towards him with a white ball of lightning chakra, yelled "Raikiri," and landed the attack into his left shoulder. Instead of Itachi falling back, however, Kakashi was surprised to see him grab his wrist. What Kakashi heard from Itachi next instilled some surprise, and even a bit of fear.
"Boom"
And at that, the Itachi his wrist was in exploded, sending Kakashi flying into the tree. As he was recovering, he looked up to see Itachi staring at him with his Mangekyo Sharingan. The world turned into a familiar red sky with black moon. Kakashi was trapped on a cross, and saw Itachi in front of him holding a katana.
"For the next 72 hours, you will suffer by being impaled by this katana continuously. With that, he let the torture commence. After what seemed like forever to Kakashi, who already seemed worn out, he could hear Itachi say again "Just 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds to go."
In the real world, what occurred in Tsukyomi's world only happened in the span of a second. In that second, however, Kakashi collapsed and lost consciousness from the mental strain.
"Now to take the Fourth's Legacy to-" is what the Sharingan master said before feeling a large chakra spike a couple miles from here. "This is unexpected" was all the man said before heading off to the chakra spike.
Naruto, Shina, and Kisame, Itachi's fight finishing:
"Naruto-kun!" Shina called as she saw him collapse under the hit from the broadside of the Samehada. Charging towards them, she threw some shuriken towards Kisame, which he deflected easily. Shina threw a variety of punches and kicks at the shark man, all to be blocked, before he countered with his own punch to her gut. Recovering fast, she pulled out a kunai just in time to block a blow from his Samehada.
"Tell me, foolish girl, you think you can protect that demon over there" he mocked before applying more pressure. He was able to overpower her in his better position, and shaved off a good part of the skin on her shoulder, the wound flowing blood a bit freely. Kisame also got in a hard blow into her gut and sending her into a tree.
"As you may have noticed, my sword is made from scales; meaning it shaves instead of cut."
Getting back up, she went through some hand seals and yelled "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." The swordsman quickly retaliated with his Water Shark Missiles, which overpowered her fireball and still flew toward her. Shina was narrowly able to avoid them as she jumped to the right and threw some more shuriken at Kisame. Though he blocked or dodged them all, one of them was really a kunai with an exploding note attached, which activated when he hit it, causing an explosion that sent Naruto's limp, unconscious form towards Shina. She caught him quickly and laid him against a tree trunk, but was too distracted to see Kisame charge behind her. He got another blow with Samehada to her back, shaving off more skin and followed with a punch, making her crash into the same tree she laid Naruto on and landed onto Naruto's lap looking up at him.
The red headed kunoichi could feel some broken ribs and some bones in her arms were busted. Feeling her will to fight leave her, she looked up onto Naruto's face, and shed tears not from the pain of her body, but because she was too weak to protect her only precious person here.
"Not again, I can't lose another person, not again" she thought, still spilling some silent tears. Kisame kept walking closer, a smirk evident on his face. As this was happening, she could feel something arise in the back of her mind, in a way calling out to her. Shina saw the edges of her vision turning black, the last thing she saw Naruto's whiskered marked face.
Area Unknown:
When Shina first regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that it was pretty dark. As her sight adjusted to the lack of light, she then saw how she was in, a sewer? The last thing she remembered was being in a forest fighting that shark man in the cloak. Deciding to explore, she went down the hallway for what seemed like forever. There wasn't much to see, just some pipes and murky water that pooled around her feet all over the hallway.
After what seemed like an hour of walking she finally stumbled in front of a large cage. She saw that the cage had a door, but instead of a regular lock there was a piece of paper that had the kanji for "seal" written on it. After looking at it, she finally decided to call out to inside the cage.
"Hello is anybody in there! Helloooo!" After a few seconds without an answer, she was ready to turn around and move on, until she heard what sounded a bit like a screech. Looking into the cage again, the first thing Shina noticed was a big pair of Orange eyes, similar to her own. They promised power and harm to those who cross her, yet something she didn't expect in a demon, was it kindness? Pretty soon, a body appeared with the eyes, revealing a majestic phoenix. The red and orange feathers all around its body is surrounded by a heated fire; that gave it a commanding and powerful look. A strange sight that made it more different from other birds is that it had four wings and six tails made of a fire with the same shades as her hair. When it spoke, it sounded feminine and strangely human.
"Welcome, daughter. I expect you can tell who I am?" Its voice boomed through the cage.
"Are you the demon sealed inside me? The Houyoku no Rokudou?" Shina said, a bit afraid and nervous in front of the demon.
"Yes, but there is no need to fear me, daughter. My actual name, however, is Hinagusami.
"Comforting Flame? Didn't expect a name like that for a destructive demon. Why are you calling me daughter anyway?"
"From in your mind, I have seen what has happened to you in your life, and I know that you do not deserve it, when it was my fault. I wanted to help you, but this seal has kept me from contacting you and helping you when you needed it. I am sorry for making your life so terrible, but I have also seen what has been happening to you since you have arrived. That Uzumaki boy has helped you a lot since you came I see."
With the last sentence, Shina was instantly reminded of what was happening at the time she ended up in this sewer. "Naruto-kun! Help me get out of here! He's about to be kidnapped! What do I do, what do I do?!"
"Calm down, daughter. I said I wanted to help how I can now, and protecting others is what I used my power for, I shall be glad to help you" Hinagusami said trying to calm her down.
"And how are you going to help me?" the red headed girl asked curiously, her eyes filled with hope. Instead of saying anything, the phoenix in front of her just wrapped her wings around her form. It was incredibly painful, and soon Shina was knocked out.
Real World:
Kisame saw their still forms and knew he had won. "Finally, chasing this guy lost its edge like a year ago." As he was walking up to the tree the two shinobi were laying at, he was about to grab Naruto when he a massive chakra spike from the girl who was laying on him.
Before he knew it, Kisame was taken by surprised when the girls eyes opened, revealing the same orange by what appeared to be living red flames from the edge of her eyes towards her black slits for pupils. They had a look of hate and pure determination on them. With his surprise, Shina was able to get a surprised uppercut on the shark man, sending him a few yards back before landing on his knees. Looking up, Kisame saw an orange red chakra surrounding the red headed girl. It soon began to take shape around her form, except it added two wings and two tails made completely out of chakra. She seemed to look a bit like a phoenix, the chakra around her moving around like a flame, yet it didn't seem to burn her it was obvious it could burn what it wanted badly.
"You will not harm Naruto-kun" the girl said in a more demonic voice, one that promised pain, before he was taken by surprise again at her speed when she appeared behind him and punched him away into a tree. Regaining his bearings, he drew his Samehada and charged towards the girl with a vertical slash.
"Like you can stop me brat" he mocked as she blocked the strike with her wings. They appeared to be in a stalemate, but Shina noticed how her wings seemed to be thinning before spotting the chakra being absorbed into the sword. Thinking fast, Shina grabbed the man's leg with her two tails and swung him away, a bit more exhausted from the amount of chakra he took.
As he stood back up, he flashed through some seals, then charging with his sword again. This time, Shina used one of her tails to impale him, although instead of blood it leaks out water. "Mizu Bunshin!" She thought before turning around and using her wings to block his sword just in time. Unlike in Naruto's fight, she then used her wings to push him away before he could do much. As he was getting up, Itachi appeared next to him, staring at the girl demon container without a hint of emotion.
"It appears as though we have another demon container to deal with, huh Itachi?" Kisame said quietly so Shina couldn't hear.
"It seems so, Kisame. We shall withdraw for now and report to Leader-sama with this new information." And with that, they each disappeared without a trace. Once they disappeared, Shina could feel the incredible feeling of the chakra withdrawing into her body, leaving her totally exhausted. When she looked normal again, she could feel the exhaustion kick in. The red headed phoenix container could feel a couple of chakra signatures coming this way, her last thought were "Naruto-kun…I did it…"
The first sight she could see was a bright light. Adjusting to the light, the red headed jinchuuriki saw a lot of white, which she could instantly recognize as the hospital's tiled ceiling. Looking down at her body, she could see her wearing the regular hospital gown, with some bandages wrapped around her midsection and around her left shoulder. When Shina observed the view outside her window, she could see Konoha and the night sky as people began to go back to their houses and out of the streets.
"Well, nice to know I'm not dead, seeing as I'm in pain. Wait, what about Naruto-kun?! Where is he?!"
Full with worry, Shina tries to get up from her bed, but still feels a pain in her back and shoulder, including a feeling of exhaustion wash over her features. On the table next to her bed, Shina found an assortment of flowers and cards addressed to her. When she took a look at the grandest bouquet, the red head saw on the card it red From Naruto.
"That's pretty nice of them all, didn't think they cared that much" she thought not being able to help with the slight blush from how grand Naruto's flower bouquet was. While stuck in her thoughts, she could see a familiar face come into the room. Looking at the door, she saw Shizune coming in with a clipboard.
"O, Shina, it looks like you're finally awake" she said with a happy smile on.
"Hello, Shizune, how long have I been out?" Shina asked curiously.
Shizune replied "You've been out for a while, maybe around 5 days; you had some major blood loss from your back and shoulder, not to mention some broken bones. There was even some internal bleeding and a bad case of chakra exhaustion. You guys were lucky people found you in time, otherwise you could have died. That chakra spike in the forest alerted some ANBU units and found your team all unconscious."
"All right Hina helped me protect Naruto; I'll have to thank her later."
Shina could hear a feminine voice in her head "That's alright, and you're welcome."
"Whoa, who said that? Am I going crazy?!"
"No, you are not crazy, it's me, remember? I'll tell you why you can hear me later." Seeing Shina still in a bit of a daze, Shizune waved a hand in front of her face a little worried "Shina, you still there?"
"Huh, o, sorry, guess I sort of spaced out. What about Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-kun? Are they alright?"
"Well, Kakashi is still unconscious, we still don't know for sure what Itachi did to him, but we are guessing it was the Mangekyo."
"Mangekyo?" Shina asked curiously (AN: She's new here, she doesn't know much about the Uchiha).
"I'll let Naruto tell you that later" Shizune replied.
"Naruto-kun is all right, isn't he?" the red head worriedly asked Shizune, though it just left her with a small smile. "It's nice to see somebody care about you now, Naruto."
"Don't worry, he's fine. In fact, he's the first of you three to recover; he's been up for about three days. He's been an extra pain trying to get him to leave so he'll go eat and stuff. If you'll excuse me for a second" and with that Tsunade's apprentice left the room, leaving Shina alone. She wasn't able to think for very long, however, before she could hear some shouting in the hallway. Listening closely she could hear sounds that resembled "Is she alright?" and "I'm gonna see her now". Shortly afterwards, the red headed nin saw the door open again to see her blonde haired teammate.
Seeing her awake and looking at him with those orange eyes, he felt a wave of relief over his facial features. Walking towards her bed, he grabbed a chair and sat down next to his bed. What he did next gave Shina a notice able blush.
He hugged her. Not sure what to do to respond, she snaked her arms around his back, giving more to feed her already glowing blush. Naruto also had to hold down his own blush, remembering this warm feeling that first night.
"I'm sorry" Shina could barely make out from the sound of blood rushing in her face.
"Sorry, what for?" She asked curiously.
"I was too weak; you could have died fighting them. I woke up on the way back, you had so much blood on you; I thought you were dead. When I saw that, I knew it was my fault. They were after me, not you; I should have told you to run. Instead I just told you to stay back and play the hero. It's my fault you could have died" he said on the verge of tears.
Shina however was in a bit of shock. "He really cares, I can't believe it."
"Of course, looking back on your memories he seems like a great kid."
"Hey, who said you could look at my memories."
"I didn't look at everything, just wanted to get caught up with your life here in Konoha. He is a real friend to me. Oh, and you might want to say something to him right now."
"Yea, you're right." "Naruto-kun" Shina started, still holding Naruto, "you didn't do anything wrong. I'm fine right now, and besides I'm just glad I could help."
"Really Shina-chan?" Naruto said calming back down.
"Of course, you're my first and best friend. When those men said they were taking you, I was so worried you'd be gone. There is no way they I could let them take you without a fight" "Not like my brother" the red head added silently.
Naruto was dealing with his own thoughts at the time. "Even none of my friends have cared this much about me. Why would she of all people?"
Before Naruto could respond, the door opened to reveal both Shizune and Tsunade coming in, and saw the little 'moment' the two having. Wearing a mischievous smirk, Tsunade interrupted with a cough, alerting both the teens to her presence. Seeing the situation, they both detached, Naruto jumping away a few feet like each just caught fire. The shades of red on each face resembled each other well, but made a shade Hinata would be jealous of (AN: if she could be jealous of anything, I say it's her ability to make new shades of blushes jk).
Saving this as ammo for later, Tsunade began what she came in here to do. Get some answers. "Shina, I need you to answer some questions about what happened in that forest. Naruto, I don't think you need to be in here, please leave" the Hokage said, sure to put the authority of her office in it.
"Do I have to Tsu-" Naruto was interrupted before he could whine, however.
"Yes you do, now go" she replied firmly.
"Fine, see you in a bit Shina-chan, bye Tsunade-baa-chan." Before he could walk out on his own, Shizune had to sidestep a flying Naruto from Tsunade's venting her frustration again.
"There, now can you tell me what happened to you two after Naruto was unconscious?"
Nodding her head, Shina told Tsunade about how she was beat by Kisame, but then used her demon's power to hold him off before Itachi showed up and they disappeared.
"Tsunade-sama, why were they after Naruto-kun?" Shina asked curiously. She wanted to know why such powerful people wanted to do with Naruto.
"I'm not allowed to tell you that, Shina. It is a very important secret." Although she wasn't satisfied with the answer, the demon container was sure she would not be able to get anything else from her. Shina decided to just ask Naruto later for some answers.
"You're still a bit banged up, Shina, so you will have to spend the rest of the day here, just to be sure" Tsunade said, which Shina agreed, beginning to feel a little tired again. As the two nurses walked out, Naruto quickly came back in, taking a seat on a chair by her bed.
"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, Naruto-kun" Shina told him in a comforting voice.
"Yea, but I want to stay here, by your side" he said happily and flashing his signature fox grin, unknowingly giving Shina a new blush. Thanking him, Shina decides it would be a good time to get to know her tenant. With that in mind, she loses her grip on her conscious form as she is called into the back of her mind.
Shina's mind:
As Shina was walking through her mind, she noticed one huge difference about the place. Instead of a sewer like last time, now she had a giant field with wide open sky with a few trees.
"What the hell happened here? Why is it so different?" Before Shina could even call for the phoenix, she could already see a flaming object in the sky that looked like a bird. She was able to recognize it immediately as Hinagusami. Calling her name into the sky, the flaming object flew down quite quickly, landing a few feet away from the red head.
"There you are child, what do you want?" the phoenix said in a firm yet slightly comforting voice.
"Well, I think it's about time you answered some questions of mine. First of all, what happened to this place?"
"Well, that is simple. Basically, when you used my power in the forest, your seal broke a bit. Not too much, just enough to give me more access to you mind so I could do things like change your mindscape a bit. I truly think that this is a better improvement."
"Okay, that makes sense, but just how broken is my seal? You're not gonna be freed or anything right?" Shina asked worriedly.
Hinagusami gave what sounded like a soft chuckle before she replied. "Let me say, its first line of suppressing me was strong, but now that it is gone the seal is pretty fragile. It is not anything fatal, mind you, but another use of my chakra could prove too much for you. It could overflow your chakra systems."
"And what then Hina?"
"You'd die" she stated bluntly. Seeing the shock on her face inspired another round of laughter from the phoenix demon.
"Hey, it's not funny! If I die, you would too!" Shina yelled at the phoenix mocking her fear.
"Hmmmm, guess that's true. Now, any other questions?" Hina said looking back down at her vessel.
"Well" Shina began looking into the phoenix's eyes "Why are you so kind to me? Aren't you demon lords bloodthirsty savages, uh no offense" she added quickly.
"None taken. In reality, not all of us demons are like that. True, some of us are like that, but I prefer protecting others. Other demons, like the Kyuubi for example (Ironic no?), like to destroy things. It's kind of like a hobby for them. I told Kami the most powerful demon should not like to destroy things, but he never listens to me. Should have made me the nine tails." At this point, Hinagusami was mainly talking to herself, leaving Shina to sweatdrop at her tenant's behavior.
"Wait; if you like to protect others, than why did you attack my village?"
"Good question. Well, you remember the tall mountain not too far away from your hidden village, correct? (Shina nods) Well, near the top area, there was a large cave that leads deep into the mountain. In that cave, I had made a nest for my young ones to grow up with. One day, maybe a week before I attacked, there were a group of ninja that came to my cave. One distinct feature I saw was that two of them, a man and a woman, wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. They kept me from going to my nest, and were somehow powerful enough to knock me out, although I gave the man a serious injury on his face. Anyway, when I woke up, I went straight to my nest to make sure my children were all right. When I got there, I found all of my kids dead, and a headband that had your village's symbol on it. Needless to say I went into a righteous fury, which led to all the events of you being inside me."
"Did you say black cloaks with red clouds?" She asked suddenly.
"Yes, why?"
"Those are the people I fought against when I used your power."
"WHAAAAT" the phoenix screeched, hurting Shina's ears. "Listen, if there is one thing I ever want to ask of you, it's this. Please help me kill all those people and avenge my family."
"Of course I will, you are one of the few people who care for me. I will help you kill those bastards" Shina said with a look of determination that would make Naruto proud.
"I've never seen such determination in your eyes, except when protecting that Uzumaki kid. You must really like him huh?" the phoenix asked mischievously. The response she got was exactly what she wanted. A blushing girl stumbling for the right words to say.
"W-wh-what?" She asked taken aback from the change of subject. "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about."
"You know I am a powerful demon. I have seen most of your memories already, especially the ones here in Konoha. I can feel your happiness around him, and let me say it's more than you have probably ever felt before. It sounds like love to me" She added in a slightly mocking tone.
Although Shina wanted to deny it, there was no denying that she did feel so much more carefree and happy around Naruto. He was always just so kind and caring to her, always seemed to protect her. She remembered all the time they spent together, and how he went so far to protect her from Kisame. Shina also remembers how she felt when she thought he would be gone from her life, and how far she went to protect him.
"And let's not forget those times you felt when hugging him" Hina added, eliciting another blush from the girl jinchuuriki and a laugh from the phoenix.
Though Shina would not ever admit it to anyone, just those short few seconds of memories were some of her happiest. She could still remember how safe and secure she felt with his form right up to hers, wrapped around her like a protective blanket from the world that hated her.
"So, when do you plan on telling him, because it would be a good idea to tell me at that time too" Hina piped in, if possible making Shina resemble a tomato seeing at what she was thinking that whole time."
"I can't tell him. If I do he'll just hate me like everyone else, and I can't say I like him without telling him about you, it wouldn't be right. If I can only stay as his friend, then that is how it has to be" and with that Shina left the plain to her field of dreams.
"Hmmm, I wonder if I should tell her Naruto has Kyuubi. On second thought, she needs to decide this on her own, it is for the best" were Shina's final thoughts before going to sleep herself.
While Shina was having her conversation with her tenant, Naruto's own demon was having his own conversation with him.
"So, kit looks like your girlfriend is fine for someone who fought those bastards" Kyuubi said.
"I already told you fox, she's not my girlfriend!"
"You keep telling yourself that. I mean look at it, you guys do everything together. You spent all day with her the past few weeks, you even live together."
"Hey! That was baa-chan's idea not me!"
"Not like you objected though" he added mockingly.
"Shut it baka-fox!"
"Look, I can see your memories. I see what you see, hear what you hear, heck I can feel what you feel. If you didn't love her, than don't you think I would have told you to kill her or something by now."
Despite how strange that statement was, Naruto did have to agree that Kyuubi hasn't said anything mean or anything at all about her since she's been here.
"I'm no specialist on this mushy stuff, but it doesn't mean I don't know how to spot it. I already know how you feel around her."
"And that's love?" the blonde shinobi asked, resulting in a rare demon facefault.
"Yes you baka!" he roared "so I'm gonna give you some advice. Tell her about me and your feelings sometime soon, before she realizes how stupid she is to hang out with an idiot like you (Hey)."
Once again, Naruto could not help but agree with Kyuubi, well except for him being an idiot of course. "Hey wait, why are you helping me?"
"Because, if I've learned anything about how you fight, you fight better when there's a precious person to protect. Don't know, don't care it just happens. So, if you have this girl with you, you fight better, and I live longer. It's win-win for everyone."
"Maybe I can tell her, I mean she didn't live here, so she has nothing against Kyuubi. But still, what if she still thinks I'm a demon and what if she doesn't feel the same?"
"Well, hurry up and deal with your self doubt bastard. You try my patience on enough stuff. O yea, remember what I said about the seal too."
"What about not using your powers?" he asked.
"No, about how Shina would love your ears and tails" he responded causing Naruto to facefault and Kyuubi roaring with laughter.
"Damn it Kyuubi, you baka fox!" He yelled before returning to the land of consciousness. As he was coming back to the world of the living, Naruto looked outside to see that night had arrived and most people were in their houses already. Looking down at Shina, the blonde saw Shina visibly shaking and tossing in the bed and muttering, but he could tell she was having a nightmare. A bit worried he whispered her name a couple of times to try and wake her up.
"Shina, shina get up" he whispered but got no response from the red head. When that didn't work, he nudged her a little bit.
"Shina, get up it's just a nightmare." However, Shina started moving more and beginning to yell, tears starting to roll down her face.
"Shina, wake up, shina" Naruto said adding a bit more force into his speech and nudges. With one final yell Shina woke up breathing quickly, a couple more tears still going down her smooth cheeks. He put one hand on her shoulder, while the other was on her cheek, the thumb pad wiping off her tears. Shina could see pools of blue filled with concern.
"Hey Shina, are you okay?" he asked, not able to move his eyes anywhere other than hers. Seeing where his hand was, she couldn't help but blush from the rough but comfortable feel of his hand on her face.
"Yes, I think so. It was just a nightmare" she said a bit quietly.
"Okay then, but get back to sleep, I think it would be best if I head back home now" he said getting off his chair. As he was turning around however, he could feel something smooth and soft take a hold of his hand. When he took a look, he saw it was Shina's hand, with her sporting a small blush though it was a bit too dark in the room to see.
"Um, well, Naruto-kun, could you, um, sleep here with me tonight? I'm a bit shaken from that nightmare" she asked shyly, the blush growing considerably so that even Naruto could see it. Naruto's face felt like it was on fire from the request. Still, he felt incapable to say no to her cute face despite what it might imply.
Although a bit nervous, he slowly climbed into the bed right next to Shina, though now his face felt like it had been in an oven someone forgot to turn off. As he got comfortable on the hospital bed, he put a protective arm around her waist, allowing her to lean somewhat on top of him. Her head was leaning on his muscular chest, listening to his speeding heartbeat from the contact. Though already a bit embarrassed, she wrapped her own arms around Naruto's torso, relishing in his protective and comforting aura. Naruto was combing her long, fire red hair with his other hand hoping to calm her down enough to sleep.
"Goodnight, Shina-chan" he said, the lack of sleep from the past days of waiting finally catching up to him, the last thing he sees is a wave of red to orange-yellow hair like he was sitting in front of a fireplace.
"Thank you, Naru-kun" she said, too sleepy to even comprehend the self conceived nickname, though it gave Naruto a feeling of being accepted and liked instead of hated he's felt for so long. Together in each others arms they slept soundly with dreams of the other (though neither would admit it).
De-raz: Alright, another chapter done, sorry about all the delays, just enjoying my first days of summer. What I am saying next is some personal information on Shina, good to read.
Name: Shina Morgoshi
Age: 15 (Naruto is 15 too)
Birthday: November 4
Height: 5'8"
Weight: I made her, and I still don't know!
Description: Red, wavy, long hair that reaches mid back, blends into orange-yellow. Smooth, slightly lean, elegant face. Toned body with body most girls would kill for. Breasts a bit smaller than Tsunade (The least pervish way I could describe them). Orange, slightly red tinted eyes.
Right now, I made the time around mid August, and he has been back in Konoha for about three months since the training mission.
Now that might hopefully clear up a couple of things for the later chapters.
Please R&R and have an awesome summer.