The Ichiraku Ramen stand had been steadily growing in business over the past month… probably because of one of the new customers, the 'last Uchiha', Uchiha Sasuke.
Since team 7 started their 'training' under Kakashi, they had started eating together, whether just to complain about how they could barely walk or to strategise for a 'practical examination' the next day. Of course, seeing the 'prince of Konoha' eating at a small stand like the Ichiraku's caused quite a stir within the civilian populace and in turn increased the small stands business.
"It's nice to know that we'll start doing missions tomorrow," Naruto stated as he took a mouthful of the noodle dish in front of him.
"Yeah… we'll finally be safe from Kakashi-sensei," Sakura replied as she decided to forgo manners and simply drain the bowl as quickly as she could… the training she had been forced to endure caused her to stop dieting simply from fatigue.
"I'm not going to bet on it," Sasuke muttered as his eyes shifted around the stand, subconsciously searching for the man that had made their lives a living hell over the past month.
"Of course you aren't, for one thing you're not a betting man," the spiky haired blond stated as he stated one of the things he had discovered about his teammate over the past month. Sasuke may have made the odd gamble but he never made one that was based purely on luck, if it could be altered by skill then he was prepared to try it but never if it wasn't something he could manipulate.
"There's nothing wrong with not taking stupid risks," the dark eyed boy stated as he ate his meal quicker than he would have before being made a genin.
"I'm not denying that, merely stating that you saying you wouldn't bet on something doesn't mean anything special," the black and grey eyed member of the group stated in a complete monotone.
"So what sort of mission do you think our first one will be?" Sakura asked out of the blue causing Naruto to turn to face her and tell her what he thought would be most likely.
"We'll probably be given a simple escort mission, despite our training we don't have much in the way of field experience and Kakashi-sensei said we would be restricted to C-ranks, the simplest of which are usually escort missions."
"Sounds simple enough, with all the training we've done something like that should be a walk in the park," Sasuke claimed upon hearing Naruto's theory… over the months he had learned that the blonds 'changes' not only effected his body and if anything, they effected his mind even more and instead of being a ramen and Sakura obsessed idiot he had actually grown to be a very intelligent individual… sure Sakura had more knowledge but Naruto was able to understand things faster and make theories that worked surprisingly well.
"Unless something goes seriously wrong, which is very possible outside the village walls," Naruto interjected, causing both to look at him with a look that said 'don't jinx it'.
"Seriously, what are the chances of something going wrong with a mission?" Sakura asked, wondering if the blond could work it out.
"That depends, there are some missions where the chance of it escalating are 100% simply because the client lied about the mission details to make it cheaper, while others simply have a lack of information," the spiky haired boy stated as he continued to eat his ramen.
"You're not making us feel any better ya know," the pinkette stated as she proceeded to order her second bowl… though she would be hard pressed to admit that she liked the noodles, unlike her blond teammate who despite his complete overhaul still considered them his favourite food and backed up his statement by happily eating over ten bowls every time he ate at the small stand.
"I'm not trying to make you feel better," came the blunt reply as he finished his eighth bowl of noodles and ordered another, "if I was I would be talking about Kakashi-sensei and how he's no longer going to be working us into the ground."
"Point taken," Sakura said in response to his statement.
"Is it just me or is this conversation going round in circles?" Sasuke suddenly asked causing Naruto to look at him blankly.
"Our conversation is going in circles," the white clad member of the team stated in a monotone.
"Good, I was beginning to think I was going mad."
"What says you aren't?" the jinchūriki asked, causing the raven haired boy to think for a few seconds.
"Nothing, but it's better to be mad and sound sane than be sane and sound mad," the young Uchiha said earning a couple of nods from his teammates.
"As long as you don't try and incinerate us it doesn't matter if you are mad or not," Naruto claimed earning a nod of agreement from their other teammate.
"Don't worry, if I was to try and incinerate anyone it would be Kakashi-sensei… anyway, I think I'll get an early night, don't want to be dead on my feet during our first mission," the dark eyed member of the team stated with a hint of mirth in his voice as he stood up.
"See you tomorrow Sasuke," the transcended human said calmly as the 'last' Uchiha put a tip on the counter for the family that ran the stand.
"Goodnight Sasuke-kun," Sakura said as she proceeded to finish her bowl just before the rookie of the year turned to leave.
"See you both tomorrow," and with that he was gone, leaving his pink haired teammate alone with the one person that had tried to understand him.
Silence reigned between the two as they both simply continued to eat, Naruto because he loved the noodles and Sakura because she was making up for her years of dieting so she wouldn't be a hindrance on any missions.
After several minutes of a calm silence, Naruto decided to break it.
"Sakura, how do you feel about going on missions right now?" it was a very simple question but the reason for asking it was even simpler and Sakura understood right away.
"I don't know… if we do C-ranks then I'm confident we'll all be fine, but if it escalates…" she didn't have to finish, her silence told her teammate everything he needed to know.
"I see, well I doubt it will escalate and even if it does, the only thing we'd need to worry about is if it becomes an A-rank, which is a very rare occasion from what I've heard from my sources," the spiky haired boy told her in a tone she rarely heard him use anymore, a comforting one.
Despite his regular lack of emotional displays now, he was still capable of feeling and showing emotion, he just didn't do it often, instead preferring to take a step back and look at a situation objectively instead of rushing in headfirst like he used to.
If Sakura was honest, she liked this new Naruto more than many people she knew, despite his generally cold persona he was still prepared to give her emotional support if she needed it and unlike before, he respected her privacy and didn't try to get her to date him every time they talked.
"Well, I guess I should be going home now, see ya later Naruto," the pink haired konoichi said as she proceeded to get out of her seat and make her way to the exit.
"Goodnight Sakura," and once again the child was alone.
XXX XXX XXX
Sasuke may have been known as the 'prince of Konoha' but that in itself had its own problems. Wherever he went he was always treated like he was special just for being spared during a senseless bloodbath. It was something that he didn't enjoy, he didn't want to be special because of his heritage, he wanted to be special because he did something to make him stand out.
The Shodaime Hokage founded Konoha and defeated Uchiha Madara in a battle that reshaped the very earth they fought on, the Nidaime possessed an immense talent in the field of Suiton ninjutsu, he created one of the few Kinjutsu with no known weaknesses except it's requirement to sacrifice human lives to use it and last but not least, he made several contributions in the area of Jikūkan ninjutsu. The Sandaime Hokage was known for mastering all shinobi arts, possessing a knowledge of jutsu that put an encyclopaedia to shame, being the strongest known ninja in history and for training the Sannin. And then the Yondaime was known for his infamous Jikūkan ninjutsu that allowed him to kill entire armies in minutes.
There were many others that were considered hero's, others that people considered special not because of some twisted decision made by their big brother when he decided to kill his entire family. He wanted to be special for reasons like the Hokages, not just because he was the last of his clan.
The Ichiraku's weren't like the rest. They treated him like any other customer… well except Naruto but that was because he kept them in business with his monstrous Ramen consumption so of course they were going to treat him differently, more like an extension of their family as opposed to a customer. It was this that made him go to the stand as often as he did, it simply felt good to be treated like a normal person, which is one of the reason's he decided to leave them tips, he didn't like spending money but he was happy to use it to show his appreciation… plus the noodles were the best he'd ever tasted.
Suddenly his mind focused on a memory unlocked by his teammate. It was a tiny alteration, barely noticeable but it stood out purely because of the significance it changed the certainty of what he knew. A single tear. Itachi had shed a single tear as he left the scene of the massacre. Did that mean he was regretting what he did? If so then why did he do it in the first place? His previous picture of the cold blooded monster that had slaughtered his family for no reason had been cracked. It was for that reason that he had decided to start exploring more of his home, hoping that somewhere he would find the answers he was looking for.
XXX XXX XXX
Later that night Naruto could be seen walking along a corridor, it's walls were painted red with white flowers scattered throughout, while simple candles lit what would have been a dark area. The floor was simple as well, wooden floorboards could be seen to the sides of a large crimson rug that stretched the entirety of the corridor.
He had to admit, he liked the new décor, he hadn't expected Kyūbi to be one for a warm and friendly colour scheme. He had decided that he would leave the décor of his mindscape to his tenants after all they were the ones that spent the most time there, he hadn't expected Hōgyoku to turn down the offer, he thought she would like some form of scenery but was quickly told that what she cared about was the heart's warmth, not the minds appearance.
So Kyūbi had been given full reign for decorating the area and despite his initial reservations he was pleasantly surprised at the foxes decisions. Since then however he had quickly grown to discover that the vixen wasn't all she was cracked up to be. She liked her naps, liked warm and bright colours, the sight of nature and especially liked getting massages… though he had only started giving the bijū them after they began to open up to each other.
That was another thing he had been surprised about, when she wasn't tired or having a bad day, the Kyūbi was actual quite talkative, able to converse about whatever subject popped up… that is as long as humans weren't a part of the conversation.
One thing he learned concerning the fox tied in with his mother. The previous seal it had been confined within was nothing like the one placed on him. Instead of being held in a cage, she had been pinned to his mothers chakra, kept in a position where she couldn't sleep even if she tried and had her chakra ripped from her whenever it was wanted.
If he was perfectly honest, Naruto didn't like the idea that his mother would do that, even if the victim was technically nothing more than a giant chunk of chakra. Of course all he had was the Kyūbi's word to take on that but then again, he didn't have any reason to not believe her, she wasn't particularly liked by Konoha ever since Uchiha Madara had used her to fight Senju Hashirama.
He quickly brought his mind back to the present as he entered the area where the foxes cage used to be. He had eventually decided to change the form of the seal, allowing the entity more freedom once he had grown to trust her more. Her power was still sealed, however now it was simply contained by a simple bracelet that could not be removed by her.
As he entered the area, he wasn't at all surprised to see the room lit by hundreds of candles, their light almost giving a starry feel to the ceiling as it stretched upwards. The rest of the decoration was similar to the hallway, scarlet walls decorated with flowers while a wooden floor was decorated with crimson rugs. The biggest difference outside of the shape of the room was the fact that unlike the halls, there was furniture, a large white corner group sofa, soft to even the most insensitive of touches, and pair of king size beds, each decorated with crimson blankets and pillows, while a white sheet covered the mattresses and each possessed a hint of privacy in the form of curtains suspended from balconies above them… currently one of them was closed.
"Hello Yoku-chan, I take it Kyūbi is sleeping," he stated as he looked at the sofa and saw the one responsible for his new life.
"I assume that is what she is doing, though we may be wrong," the orb told him in a warmer voice than she had back when he first merged with her. Over the month he had worked tirelessly to try and install a sense of value for herself, whether that was by calling her Yoku-chan, or by conversing with her, never once demanding anything from her and rarely asking for anything. It may have been slow but he was beginning to see results.
Little did he realise that the most important part of his attempts was something he couldn't control. His heart had quickly grown to accept her as precious to him, deep down he was prepared to die to protect her and although it was taking some time, that feeling was slowly being absorbed by the ancient orb and slowly but surely, she was beginning to feel like she may be more than just an object.
Naruto moved quietly, in full view of the inversed eyed woman, before he slipped behind her, slightly confusing her by the action before she felt a feeling she had only felt a few times before, though every time it had happened was with the blond.
Her body may have been non-existent however that did not mean her mental projection in his mind was without feeling and the feeling that coursed through her fake body was pleasing to say the least. Firm but gentle hands griped the back of her shoulders, the thumbs slowly caressing the false muscles as the hands began to move, taking the muscles it them, causing their normal tension to ease as they simply began to go with the flow.
Hōgyoku couldn't help but admit that her new host was gifted when it came to the art of giving a shoulder massage and was beginning to wonder if he would ever try giving a full body massage to anyone except Kyūbi… then again Kyūbi was a completely different scenario, since he was giving a full body massage to a fox as opposed to a human.
It was something that confused Hōgyoku about the vixen, despite her apparent acceptance of the blond she would still only show him her fox form, even if she did decrease her size dramatically from when they had first met, changing from the threatening monstrosity she had originally shown herself to him as, to what could essentially be called cute… especially when she decided to rest on the boy's shoulders.
That fact made the orb wonder to itself, did the fox have something to hide? Or was it merely shyer than it made itself out to be?
"Are you enjoying this Yoku-chan?" Naruto asked rhetorically, he could tell by her body language that she did.
"Indeed, thank you Naruto, it is very relaxing," the response was simple and gave him a sense of satisfaction as he continued to caress the ancient beings shoulders.
The woman however suddenly felt a greater warmth from the blonds heart when she answered his question, a warmth that flooded her body and increased the bliss she was feeling as his heart touched her more than it normally did… it helped cement a feeling she had had for awhile now, she truly liked to be near the boys warmth and didn't want to leave… she just hoped he would accept her as a permanent resident instead of just a temporary worker… and if so, would he give her what she wanted when his realm of control was unlocked?