Hello all! Here's another chapter! Hope you like it. :3
And cookies, hugs and carnivals to the lovely cherry blossom haiku, she was the only one who reviewed.
It hurts my feelings, y'know? I mean, even if you think it sucks, at least say so, so I can change!
Anyhow, good news! The doctors say that my arm will be better by the end of this month! Yayness! X3
HOWEVER! If you guys don't review, I'll hunt you down and go on a killing spree with a POGO-STICK!!!!!
REVIEW DAMMIT!!!
Oh yeah, I don't own Naruto! :3
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'Arrangements'
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I was currently in class. This one actually wasn't that bad, it wasn't like the other classes we had had today; like charm, how to talk cutely, and other ghastly subjects. Well, no, now I'm not completely honest. One subject wasn't as bad as those, but it wasn't exactly fun either. We had to clean for three hours. It's a part of our daily routine, so we would 'keep our homes neat and tidy in the future' as the teachers had told us.
Anyway, right now we were just dancing, and all my wounds had healed, so I felt fine. Well, truth to be told, I was more than fine. I felt magnificent. The movements were easy for me to follow, and every inch of me felt alive and pulsing with energy. I closed my eyes, having already memorised the choreography, and simply allowed myself to be engulfed by the gentle music from the koto. The fans in my hands were black, just like the yukatas we all were wearing. I really didn't see why I should hold them, but I supposed it looked prettier.
Touki had earlier pointed out that learning traditional Japanese dances was incredibly stupid, since most people would just think you're weird if you suddenly began to dance in front of them. I couldn't help but to agree. The purpose of us learning this was so that we could attract men in the future, wasn't it? How the hell was this supposed to help? Not that I minded. I liked to dance. It helped me to put my mind off other things.
As soon as the music stopped and Sone-sensei told us that classed was dismissed, I hurried out. I was going to see Naruto today!
'Ne, nii-chan? What do think we'll play today?'
'Well, I wouldn't know, I'm not inside his head, now am I?'
I didn't mind his grumpiness; he usually was like that after all. But he could be really annoying during cleaning, because he was constantly saying things like 'HAH! You missed a spot!' and 'Come on! Only two hours and 59 minutes left now!'
See what I'm talking about?
By the time I reached the Academy (Naruto told me) they were still practising that kata, so I sat down and watched. But after a while, it got boring. And found myself being annoyed at some of the students. The movements were so simple! It wasn't more complicated than the dance lessons! So how the hell were they able to mess it up so many times?!
'Ne, Yuri-chan. If you think it's so easy, why don't you do it?' Touki huffed.
'Maybe I will!'
'Fine! Do it!'
'Fine! I'll do it!'
'Fine!'
'Fine!'
I got up on my feet and settled in the same stance as the others. And then I simply mimicked the adult's movements. Two steps forward, high kick, sink to the ground and make a sweeping kick, get up and punch three times, elbow jabs.....
Soon I was trapped in the movements; they were fluid yet full of energy, full of life. I was enjoying it just as much as enjoyed dancing, if not more. My mind went bank and misty, and I was only movement. Just a dancer.
A thought appeared in my cloudy mind. Why not do it faster? Why not do it faster than fast? Yes why indeed? No one was going to get upset or anything, right?
And soon I moved as fast as I could, my arms and legs went in a flurry of movements, adrenalin pumping through my veins. The feeling was addictive, like a drug. I was in my personal bubble now, my eyes closed, enjoying every drop of sweat, every rush of adrenalin, every tiny little bit of energy. How I wished this feeling would last forever, to always feel like this....
"YURI-CHAN 'TTEBAYO!!!!!" Naruto yelled in my ear. I hadn't even noticed him standing there.
I groaned. So much for forever...
"Yuuuuri!!! No faaaair, dattebayo!!!!! Why didn't you tell me you could do that!?' Naruto whined.
His expression made me laugh.
"Ano, never mind that. What do you want to play today, Naruto?" I tried to change the subject, but Naruto was stubborn.
"Oi! I wanna know dattebayo! Where'd you learn how to do that?"
"Well, I came here to see you, got bored waiting and imitated your class's moves." I simply said.
"Hmmmm..?" Naruto had gone into thinking mode, which basically meant he scrounged up his face into a grimace that made him look like a fox. His scars on his cheeks looked like whiskers. I would have asked about how he got them, and about his extremely blue eyes, but I figured shouldn't be the one to ask such questions. After all, I didn't like it when people in nee-chan's village looked strange at me because of my eyes. So I kept quiet and waited for him to be done thinking.
After a while his expression lit up like light bulb.
"I've got it dattebayo!" he exclaimed happily. Then he began to fire questions at me.
"Yuri-chan, do you like to do katas? He asked eagerly.
"Well, yes I do, it's ..."
"Great!" he interrupted me to fire the next question. "Do you like to play ninja with me?"
"Hai, it's fun..."
"Great!" he interrupted me yet again. "Do you like the Hokage?"
"Ano, who's that?"
His jaw dropped to the ground, and his eyes looked like they would jump out of their sockets.
"NANI!?!?!?! You mean you don't know who that IS!?!?!?"
"Err, no...?"There it was again! Mentioning that strange hokage person, whoever that was. I hoped Naruto would tell me more about him. But before I could ask, Naruto began to rant.
"He's the most skilled ninja in the village! Well, Sandaime is more like an old geezer who always smokes, but Yondaime was amazing! He even defeated Kyuubi!! And he's a freaking demon! And since I'm so great I'm gonna be the next Hokage and make everyone acknowledge me dattebayo!!!" he said all this in one breath. I was astonished at the fact that he didn't suffocate.
"So, basically he's a strong person that people respect...?" I tried to summarize.
"Yeah, but when I, Uzumaki Naruto, become Hokage I'll be a billion times better 'ttebayo!!" he announced proudly and puffed out his chest.
"Woow." I stared at him in awe. He was going to be the next Hokage? "You must be so skilled! You must be a genius!"
He blushed and looked at with me disbelief. "You mean… you believe I can do it? You're not going to … make fun of me?"
"Why shouldn't I believe you? You're not a liar. But what do you mean, making fun of you? Does that mean that people make fun of you?" I could feel that I began to become angry. People in this village actually made fun of their future Hokage! They actually dared to make fun of her best and only friend!
I think Naruto saw my growing anger, because he quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, I think you should go to the Academy with me!" he said cheerfully.
"But aren't we at the Academy right now...?"
"That's not what I meant! As a student!"
I stared at him. Me? Become a ninja? I wasn't sure that was such a good idea. What if my sadistic traits awakened? Maybe I'd hurt a student without meaning to? But then again, they must be able to defend themselves. But what would Naruto think of me if he saw me like that? Would he be afraid of me? Would he hate me? Would he stop being my friend? I couldn't lose him. He was the only friend I had. He was the only one who didn't know what I had done. How ironic, oka-san managed to trouble me even though she was dead...
But when I thought about oka-san, I remembered the way she had been; just like the girls at the Camellia, just like I was trained to become. The thought made me shudder. I wanted to be like nee-chan, not like her. Nee-chan... she was always so strong. I smiled a little as I remembered her whack-people-in-the-head frying pan. I wanted to be like that. Whack people in the head to protect someone I cared for.
"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to..." Naruto said nervously. His sad and uncertain face stomped down my inner objections. Naruto couldn't be sad! He was always bright, happy and orange! I'd do anything to keep him bright, happy and orange!
"Ano, I'd like to become a ninja with you, Naruto."
And just like that, he was all bright, happy and orange again. I smiled. Go me!
"Yatta dattebayo!! Let's go to the old geezer and make him put you in the academy!"
-0-0-0-0-0-
I'm not a person to judge from peoples appearances. If I had done that, I would have thought aka-san was lovely. But the minute I saw Hokage-sama, I knew immediately why he was so respected by so many people. It took one look for me to determine that I could trust him. If I had ever had a grandfather, I would have wanted him to be like Hokage-sama.
I didn't talk much, because once Naruto begins to rant, there's no stopping him. He began to tell Hokage-sama in a much exaggerated manner how skilled I was, adding details to the story that I was quite sure didn't happen. This puzzled me at first. But then I thought that maybe he really wanted me to become a student at the academy. The thought made me smile. He really was a good friend.
"Naruto, it's good that you have strong faith in your friend," Hokage-sama, or Sandaime, as he wanted us to call him, (though Naruto kept calling him 'old geezer') interrupted Naruto's seemingly endless rant. "But how about letting her speak, hm?"
"Oh. Sorry 'ttebayo." He smiled sheepishly. Then he turned to me, looking at me expectantly. To my utter horror, so did Sandaime. What was I supposed to say?! According to Naruto's story, I was some super-talented genius! What if Sandaime didn't think I was good enough? Would Naruto be disappointed in me? Would I be forced to go back to the camellia? I began to feel nervous. Really nervous. If Touki hadn't kicked in, I don't know what would have happened. He simply took over my body.
"Sandaime." He said with my mouth. "I'd love to become a student at the academy. I want to become a good kunoichi and protect this village. That's the least I can do in return."
Sandaime looked surprised but pleased. Of course, Naruto didn't know what "I" was referring to, he didn't know that I had been saved and taken care of because of Sandaime. But to my surprise, he didn't ask.
"Well, I'm glad that you're so motivated, uh... what's your name?"
"Oh!" I never got the chance to introduce myself earlier, Naruto began to rant. "Yuri. Fuyuno Yuri."
"Yuri. It's good that you're motivated, but I need to see if you really are as talented as Naruto here says you are."
"NANI!? Jiji, are you calling me a liar, dattebayo!?" Naruto sulked.
"I'm not calling you a liar Naruto." Sandaime calmed him. "I just want to see her do a kata, try to mould chakra and that's all."
'Touki, let go of my body.' I thought firmly. 'I want to prove that I'm good on my own.'
'Meh, suit yourself. But you do owe me a 'thank you'!'
'Hai, hai. Thank you, onii-chan.'
'Aw, it's nothing, you don't have to thank me!'
'But you told me to...?'
But Touki had disappeared by then, so I got no response from him. Well, I don't think he actually disappeared, he was inside me after all. But he acted as if he really had disappeared.
"Sandaime, what kata should I do?" I asked. I didn't want him to know that I only knew one, the one that Naruto's class had been practising earlier. Which I had basically forgotten by now.
"Well, what katas do you know?"
'So much for that plan...' I thought. I could hear Touki giggle at me.
"Well, I only done one, but I don't remember it..." I said sheepishly.
Sandaime chuckled. "In that case I have a better idea. Why don't you spar with Naruto?"
"But he's my friend!" I wanted to say. But something told me that it wasn't a question. So I simply turned to Naruto and asked him if he was alright with it. He wasn't. And his protests were far from quiet. They didn't stop until I kicked in.
"Naruto. Don't you want me to get in to the academy?" I asked.
"Of course I do!" he exclaimed. "But I don't want to hurt you!"
"But Naruto, if get in to the academy, I'll practice fighting right? And I'll spar with other students, and then I might get hurt, won't I?"
"..hai..." he admitted.
"Then let's spar, ne?" I smiled.
"Yosha dattebayo!" he yelled happily and charged at me. But before he could get two metres forward, Sandaime had stopped him.
"Mou, what now 'ttebayo?!" he said irritably.
"Naruto, I don't want my office ruined. We're going to one of the training areas." Sandaime smiled.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The training area we were at was really nice. Since it wasn't as cold in Konoha as it was wherever I was from, the snow had already melted, even though it was only January. Here and there some flowers had popped out of the ground. But even though spring was in the air, the yukata I had gotten at the camellia wasn't too warm at all.
"Now, can we spar?" Naruto asked grumpily.
"Whenever Yuri says she's ready." Sandaime replied. Naruto turned to me expectantly.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Okay. Here goes. I cleared my mind and let my body be in charge. I immediately slipped into a defensive stance. Deep breath in. Focus. Deep breath out. I opened my eyes.
"I'm ready, Naruto."
"Okay! Here I come, dattebayo!" he shouted as he charged at me.
I sidestepped his punch and dropped in to a low kick which he jumped over. I jumped up and aimed a high kick to his shoulder. He blocked it with his forearm and threw a punch at my chin. I avoided it by doing a backflip, to Naruto's and my own utter surprise. How did I know how to do that?! Touki hadn't taken over my body again, had he...? No, I would have noticed. But how..?
Naruto's kick to my ribs brought my head out of the blue. Focus. Concentrate or get hurt. I grit my teeth not to gasp as I lost my breath. I glanced at Sandaime. He didn't look too impressed. I had to be better than this! I had to! I was not going back to the camellia were no one even spoke to me! So I had to be good! I had to be better than good! I had to!
I backflipped a few times to distance myself from Naruto. Then I let my body slip into an offensive stance. Then I searched within myself. Searched for the wonderful feeling of power. Searched for the black fire, my chakra.
When I found it, Naruto was already in front of me throwing a punch at my solar plexus. I smirked. Too late. My left hand caught his fist. Lightning fast I sent chakra into my right hand, turned it into a fist and punched him the hardest I could in the solar plexus. He went flying into a tree with a sickening sound.
"NARUTO!!" I frantically ran over to him. "Naruto, I'm so sorry, are you alright?!" I was close to tears. I had hurt him! This proved my fears to be correct; I had no control whatsoever over myself!
"POOF!" 'Naruto' disappeared and turned into a log. I watched with mixed feelings as the smoke settled. I was glad that Naruto was alright, but I had seen this before. Oka-san ad used it. Come to think of it, hadn't she mentioned an academy when I fought her? I smiled at the irony of it all. I was trying so hard not to become like her, when I actually was following her footsteps…
I sensed Naruto behind me and spun around to block his kick with my own. I caught his foot and twisted it sharply, making him lose his balance and fall flat on his butt. Before he could get up, I promptly sat down on his chest, holding his arms above his head with one hand, the other turned into a fist two centimetres from his face.
At first Naruto looked dumbfounded, but then he grinned broadly.
"I told you you should go to the academy with me dattebayo!"
I stared at him. " …aren't you angry?" I asked.
"Nah, not really. I mean, you said it yourself; it's natural to get hurt when you spar."
"Thank you. For not being angry."
I looked up as I heard someone clapping. It was Sandaime! I blushed. I had completely forgotten that he was there!
"Well done, Yuri, well done. You even know how to mould chakra at such a level! Very impressive. Who taught you?"
He was impressed! Could that mean that I actually had a chance?
"Ano, no one has taught me this. It just… I don't know… comes. It feels good." I tried to explain.
"Hmm." Sandaime looked thoughtful. "Well, could you try to mould as much chakra as you can?"
I nodded and closed my eyes. This time I felt the intense black fire immediately. I didn't just pull it out to my hands this time; I spread it all over my body. I kept drawing out more and more and more, the black fire swirling around me was like a drug. I opened my eyes and gasped at the sight.
I was surrounded by the fire, I was in the centre of a huge sphere of it and unable to see clearly outside of it, as if I was under water. It made a crackling noise, not quite like fire, not quite like a storm, but something in between…
The more I drew out, the faster it swirled around me. Soon my hair and yukata whipped around me, as if I was in the middle of a storm. But it was a pleasant feeling. I felt powerful.
I felt something moving around my neck. It was the pendant! It began to play on its own! As I listened to the melody, it began to float up in the air. When it was in front of my face, it opened, but it was completely empty! But were did the music come from? But these thoughts soon left my head as I for the first time could hear the words of the lullaby. It was in a foreign language, but for some reason I understood perfectly.
Search within, search within.
Your true strength lies within.
Trust the fox
Others might fear him
But you mustn't leave him
Fear not the cherry blossoms
Lilies are stronger
Lilies live longer
Save the lonely one
For you are like him
Embrace the darkness within
Well, I understood the words perfectly, but not the meaning. Trust the fox? Fear not the cherry blossoms? I was beyond confused.
A sharp pain in my chest brought me out of the blue. I doubled over and gasped for air. Apparently it was taking a toll on me to draw out so much chakra at once. I just released my concentration and the sphere was gone in a heartbeat. I panted hard. Sweat was running down my body and I was shaking like a leaf. But it was all worth it when I saw Sandaime's expression.
"Yuri. You are more than welcome to the Academy."
"Arigatou, Sandaime." I grinned.
My new life starts now.
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A/N: helllooooooouu!! Phew! That was a long one! Eight pages!!!!!! :3
And guess what…?
MY ARM IS HEALED!!!!!!!!!! YAYNESS!!!
So, if you would please review?
Oh, btw, for the next chapter, I'm open for requests! Like for example, if you want something adorably cute to happen between yuri and naruto, or you want Touki to be centric and find out more about his secret plan or whatever! It's up to you, I'm all ears. :3
Hugs and cookies to cherry blossom haiku again, cuz she's really worth it! She has reviewed to EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER!! You guys should learn from her! Hmpf!
the story i'm going to recommend this time is called 'The Obsession' by
Bye!
/Izuru-sama