A/N: I did say that I would most likely hold off on this chapter, but after all the attention that chapter one got (150+ hits and two reviews) I thought that perhaps I should do chapter two (capitalize on the small amount of momentum).

Speaking of reviews, I recieved a query from The Unknown Alias as to whether this story would become a Naruto/Claire. I will admit that I was originally considering doing just that, but I decided against it. I had a couple of reasons for my decision, but two in particular stood out.

One, I believe that Claire doesn't have room in her heart for anyone other than Teresa and Raki. I truly believe that a romantic relationship with Naruto or any Konoha male is just not possible (especially for someone with my limited romance-writing capabilities).

Two, I happen to be a Naru/Hina booster (so sue me, I think they would make a cute couple). But I will say it right up front: Naruto and Hinata's relationship (friendship or otherwise) will NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT be the focus of this story. Any Kiba/Hina's or Naru/Saku's who might be reading this take note: Naruto and Hinata will not be doing the horizontal hula at any point in this story.

As a final note, if anyone is wondering where the hell I might actually going with this story, I request that you read the bottom A/N. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Claymore. The minute I own Naruto is the minute that Tenten and Shino get a story arc giving them some character development.

Raki knew that Claire had warned him to be on his best behavior. He interpreted that request as staying calm and trying not to draw attention to either of them. He understood Claire's reasoning behind it.

But the streets of Konohagakure were making it incredibly difficult to do that.

The shops along the sides of the street were incredibly tempting. The displays in the windows almost seemed to be calling to Raki, almost demanding that he stop and look in. But what they were selling was interesting enough. There were more shops than he had ever seen in one place selling just about every thing imaginable. Weapons, clothes, food. It was taking all of Raki's willpower to keep walking next to Claire. Of course, the people that Raki saw were able to keep his attention.

There were people everywhere. People of all different shapes and sizes. Quite a few of them wore the same metallic headband that the two guards at the gates wore. Some of them wore strange green vests over their clothing. But there were some people that stood out more than others did. There were some groups of headband wearers that received wide berths and respectful nods from passers by. Raki even saw people almost cringing away from certain people that were wearing green jackets that had high collars. Those walking by them would nod and then start rubbing their arms and brushing their clothes like they were scraping bugs off of themselves. It was rather strange.

Less strange was the general reaction that Claire and Raki were receiving from the villagers. People were looking at them curiously, and every now and then a person would see Claire's eyes and give her a seemingly respectful nod, almost like they recognized her. The Claymore sword strapped to Claire's back, however, was getting some rather intense stares. Perhaps the soldiers of this village didn't use weapons such as hers.

"Raki, lets quicken our pace."

"Why?"

"We are being followed."

Raki turned to look behind them, but he didn't see anyone. "What do you mean? I don't see anyone other than the people we have been passing."

"You aren't looking in the correct place. Our pursuers are on the rooftops."

"The rooftops?" Raki looked up but he still didn't see anything. "Are you sure that we are being followed?"

"Yes. It is likely that the guards at the front gates notified a few others and they decided that we are suspicious characters."

"What are we going to do?"

"Nothing. We have nothing to hide. We are here on official business with the Hokage and mean no harm to any of the villagers. They may follow us if they wish, but they are simply wasting their time."

Raki nodded. It was true. Claire was here to kill the Yoma and Raki was simply along for the ride. If the two guards wanted to send their friends on a wild goose chase, it was their choice.

"We're here."

Raki came out of his thoughts. Claire had stopped in front of a yellow tower with a red roof. Just like the guard had told them. "This is the Hokage's tower?"

"That's what it says on the sign, Raki. Let's head inside." Claire walked towards the door and Raki followed.

"But when do you think he will wake up, Hokage-sama?"

"I have told you before, Hinata, I don't know. He lost so much blood that he could be out for another week. For all we know, he could wake up now."

"He'd better wake up soon, because if he doesn't I knock his block off for making us worry."

"Sakura, I thought I taught you better than to kill a patient who just came out of a coma."

"You did, Tsunade-sama, but think I should be given a little leeway considering who it is."

Sakura's words managed to cut through the grogginess that Naruto was still feeling. He had only woken up a few minutes ago, but he had been awake long enough to hear all the "pleasant" things Sakura was saying about him.

"It's nice to know that you care, Sakura."

"Naruto!" Naruto's vision was suddenly filled with a mass of pink hair. And judging by the lack of air to Naruto's lungs, it was likely that Sakura was trying to hug the life out of him.

"Sakura, if you don't let go of him he will most likely pass out again."

Sakura let go of Naruto, albeit a tad slower than she normally would have. "Sorry Naruto, but we were all getting worried."

Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position. It took a large amount of effort due to the bandages wrapped tightly around his abdomen. He was lying in a hospital bed, and he was incredibly sore. Sakura was still standing next to the bed, and Tsunade and Hinata were standing at the foot of the bed watching him intently. "How long was I out?"

"Two days," Tsunade replied.

Naruto's eyes widened. Two days? That Yoma had really done a number on him if he had been unconscious for two whole days. Normally, Naruto would only need a day at the most to heal his injuries. The bastard fox made sure of that. "Two whole days?"

"Yes," Sakura said, "Naruto, there was something wrong when Hinata and the others saved you. Your wounds, they weren't healing like they usually do."

"You were bleeding so heavily," Hinata said, "We were starting to wonder if you were going to be all right. "

"Naruto, is it true that the Yoma did this to you?"

"Unfortunately, baa-chan, it was indeed the Yoma. It was Komura Shinji. He was the Yoma. I was walking with him, and then he… well, he became the Yoma. He just started changing. His skin turned gray, his teeth got sharper, and his eyes… his eyes turned a shade of yellow that would turn even your stomach."

There was silence until Hinata spoke up. "Naruto-kun, I'm sorry it took so long to find you. If we… if I had been quicker, this wouldn't have happened."

Naruto looked at the lavender-eyed kunoichi. "Hinata, if you had gotten there any quicker the Yoma would most likely have tried to attack you, too. The only reason that it was possible to keep me from being eaten was because the monster had been distracted by its dinner. If it hadn't been about to chow down, there would be no way in hell that it would have been hit. By anything."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto stared off into space. "I put a rasengan through that things stomach, and it laughed it off." Naruto paused again. "Obaa-chan, has that Claymore person arrived yet?"

"Claymore?" Sakura asked. She turned to Tsunade expectantly.

"Naruto, I haven't told them."

"Why the hell not?"

"I want as few people to know about this as possible. I don't want our visitor to be feared. The Claymore will have enough trouble trying to do their job without being stoned and called a monster."

"Wait. Tsunade-sama, what is a Claymore? And why would they be called a monster?" Sakura asked.

"A Claymore is someone who has the strength to defeat what is murdering Konoha citizens. Jiraiya found out what is responsible. The murderer is a monster known as a Yoma. A Yoma can take over a person's mind and body, but a Claymore can tell the difference between a Yoma and a regular person."

"Then why only tell Naruto?"

"Because he will be able to understand the Claymore better than any of us could ever hope to. Just as Naruto carries the Kyuubi and is hated for it, a Claymore is part Yoma and is feared for it."

Hinata and Sakura's eyes widened with understanding. Naruto truly would be able to understand the Claymore better than anyone else in Konoha could ever hope for.

"Oh, Naruto," Sakura said, "For some reason, Kyuubi wasn't healing you. Tsunade-sama and I had to heal you."

Naruto let this new information sink in. Kyuubi hadn't been healing him? That was odd. Unless… "Now that you mention it, I think I know why."

"You do?" Tsunade asked. Naruto was about to explain when there was a knock at the door and Shizune stuck her head in.

"Tsunade-sama, there are two people outside your office, a girl of about seventeen and a boy of about twelve. The girl says that they have business with you."

"Business? Tell them that I'm busy and I will get to them when I am done."

"She said that if you were busy I was to tell you that she had come from the west on life and death business."

"The west?" Tsunade asked. She looked at Naruto, as if he would know any better than her who the visitors were. Her eyes widened in realization and she turned back to Shizune. "Tell her that I will…no, tell her to come here."

"Here?" Shizune asked.

"Yes, here. I think I know who she is. If I'm right, she will most likely need to talk to Naruto." Shizune nodded and closed the door.

"Tsunade-sama? What…?"

"I believe that reinforcements may have arrived."

"What the hell does that mean, baa-chan?"

"Hokage-sama, you are speaking in riddles."

"Yes, I am. But if we wait for them to get here, I'll stop."

The three younger shinobi exchanged confused looks before deciding to wait. A few minutes passed before the door to the hospital room slid open.

Two people walked in. First in was the girl that looked to be in her late teens and she was followed by a younger boy. The two of them were an oddly matched pair. The boy was about a head shorter than the girl but looked like he was about to hit a growth spurt. He had light brown hair and was wearing a gray shirt, tan pants, and boots. He seemed a little nervous by the new surroundings, and he was standing very closely to the girl.

It was easy to understand why. The girl was thin and, quite frankly, looked rather frail, but she was wearing metal torso armor and a metal armor skirt. She had pale skin, white hair, and silver eyes that shone brightly as she looked around the hospital room. The girl's appearance vaguely reminded Naruto of either a ghost or a white haired Hinata. In fact, if either the girl or Hinata were to change their hair color to match, they could pass for twins. But what truly made the new girl's form unique was the long sword that was strapped to her back. The blade itself was almost as long as she was. Naruto vaguely recalled Tenten telling him about western swords, but he couldn't remember what this particular sword was called.

There was a moment of silence before the girl spoke. "Which one of you in the Hokage?"

"I am," Tsunade said. "Are you the one sent to kill the Yoma?"

"Yes, I am." The girl turned to the boy standing next to her. "Raki, if you want, you can go explore the village. I will have to talk to the Hokage."

The boy hesitated. "Are you sure it's ok, Claire-ne-chan? You said we were being followed."

"If they question you, tell them to come here. Everything will be explained. You seemed interested in the shops we passed; go inside them if you want."

The boy nodded slowly and started to head towards the door.

"Wait." Tsunade had been watching the exchange between the two newcomers with great interest. The boy seemed reluctant to leave the girl's side. But she had an idea. "Hinata, do you have anything important to do today?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Then perhaps you can guide the boy around the village. Make sure he doesn't miss anything."

Hinata looked like she would rather stay with Naruto, but she understood the Hokage's request. She walked over to the door and looked back at the boy. He glanced backat the girl that he had called "Claire" before nervously walking over to Hinata. She smiled reassuringly and the two of them left the room.

"Sakura, I am sure that you have other rounds that you need to complete. Perhaps you should attend to them."

If Sakura felt put off by Tsunade's polite request to get the hell out, she didn't show it. She bowed both to the Hokage and to the newcomer and said goodbye to Naruto before heading out the door.

Tsunade took a long look at the Claymore. "I must admit, you aren't exactly what I had been expecting. I suppose I was expecting a man, or at least someone scarier looking."

The Claymore didn't reply. Naruto and Tsunade shared a look before Naruto spoke up. "If I may ask, who was that boy that was with you?"

"My cook. I received a request from the Hokage of Konoha because she believed a Yoma was killing and eating the insides of her villagers. If I am to slay the Yoma, I need to know more."

"Very well," Tsunade replied. "The attacks started about three weeks ago, and they have started to come more quickly in the recent week and a half. So far, eight people have been killed, including one chuunin level ninja."

"Eight? Obaa-chan, unless circumstances have changed since the last time I checked, I wasn't killed by the Yoma. Came close, but I am still among the living, meaning there are only seven dead."

"That was the other thing I needed to tell you. Another victim was found earlier today. Meaning there are indeed eight dead."

"You had a battle with the Yoma?"

Naruto and Tsunade looked back over at the Claymore. She had been so quiet that they had almost forgotten about her. "Yes, I did."

"Were you able to identify the Yoma's human form before it attacked you?"

"Yes, I did. Matter of fact, I had a nice conversation with it before it tried to gut me."

"Then there has most likely been a ninth victim as well. If the attacks have been happening with increasing frequency, the Yoma may be starting to become a Voracious Eater. If that is true, it will be smart enough to realize that its disguise has been compromised and that it will have most likely taken another form."

"Hold on," Tsunade cut in, "What do you mean by 'Voracious Eater'?"

"Normally, a Yoma does not need to feed more than once every week or two. But the longer the monster lives, the hungrier it gets. They are then called Voracious Eaters."

"Oh. Well then, I must ask you if the Yoma will be easy to find."

"Sure it will," Naruto quipped, "Just follow the scent of blood and organs."

The Claymore raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "If the Yoma has suppressed it aura enough, it will be difficult to find. But don't worry. I will try my best to find it." She turned around and walked to the door but stopped and turned around before she opened it. "Keep the payment money. When the job is done, someone will be sent to collect it. You will give it to him then. If I get killed, there will be no reason to pay."

"If you get killed?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you Claymores were supposed to be experts at killing those things."

The girl stared at Naruto. "Even experts can encounter unforeseen circumstances. Just because I am specially trained does not mean that I am infallible. You ninja are trained to combat as many threats as possible, but there was still only one who was even marginally prepared to battle the Nine-Tailed Fox demon." She turned to Tsunade. "I am going to inspect the village. I will report back any new information." With that, the Claymore soldier turned around and left the hospital room.

Naruto looked at where the silver-eyed girl had been standing just moments before. "Not overly friendly, is she?"

"She deals with death on an equally consistent basis as your average ANBU. She is allowed to be distant."

"Maybe so," Naruto replied. He swung his legs out from under the bedsheets and put his feet down on the floor. With a push off the bed he stood up. "But I have dealt with enough cold, unemotional bastards for one lifetime. I don't need a foreign girl in the same mold."

Tsunade tilted her head at the reference, but didn't plan on making anything of it. Instead she looked at Naruto, who was now stretching. "Are you sure you're strong enough to be up and about? Hinata wasn't lying when she said that you had lost a lot of blood. You should lie down and rest a bit more."

"Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm more stiff than anything. Gimme a few minutes to work out the kinks and I'll be up and chasing after a Yoma."

"No, you won't. Sorry, Naruto, but you will not be joining in on this monster hunt." Tsunade picked Naruto up by the shoulders and tossed him back into bed. When he tried to sit up again, she jabbed a finger into his chest. "We almost lost you two days ago, and I don't want you doing something like chasing a monster for another couple of days. Leave the monster hunting to the person being paid to do so."

Naruto grumbled, but he kept his mouth shut. Tsunade hadn't moved her finger from where she was poking him in the chest, and even he wasn't about to try her patience when she was within easy punching distance with him not in a very good dodging position.

"Speaking of professionals," Tsunade began, "If that girl and her cook are to be staying here for any length of time, they will most likely need a place to stay. Since they are our guests, would you be willing to let them stay at your place? You do have a rather large apartment, and I know you have a guest room."

Since Tsunade still hadn't moved her finger, Naruto nodded, causing Tsunade to finally take her finger away. "Might as well be hospitable. I'll need to ask my roommate, but that's probably just a formality. I mean, hey, my roommate is the one showing that girl's cook around Konoha. She probably won't mind."

"Very well then." Tsunade walked towards the door, before stopping. "And remember: Stay in bed."

"Yeah, yeah…" And Tsunade walked out the door.

"Damn it, Obaa-chan. I'm fine." Naruto hated staying in bed. It was just so boring. He looked out the window and lost himself in his thoughts. "So that was a Claymore, huh?"

Hinata was not overly happy. She had understood Tsunade-sama's request to keep an eye on Raki, as she had found him to be so named, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Hinata hadn't wanted to leave Naruto, and here she was playing baby-sitter. Sure, it was rather funny to watch the reaction on Raki's face to every new thing that he saw, but surely someone else could have been counted on to give Raki the tour.

Hinata found Raki himself to be rather polite and a bit nervous around some of the more intimidating members of the Konoha citizenship. But he seemed comfortable enough around Hinata, which Hinata herself had yet to figure out why. Hinata made a mental note to figure a way to ask him that.

A quiet grumbling from Raki's stomach gave Hinata an idea for something else to show him. "Raki-kun, are you hungry?"

"Yes. Well, a little…"

"Well, then. I have an idea of where we can get lunch. Tell me, have you ever had ramen before?"

Raki turned his head to look up at Hinata. He shook his head slowly. "No, I haven't. I don't think I have ever even heard of it."

Hinata stopped cold. Never heard of ramen? It was a good thing Naruto was still in bed, or he might scare the poor kid witless. "I know of a place that makes great ramen. Let's go there."

Raki nodded, seemingly overjoyed that he was getting anything to eat, even if the food in question was something he had never tried before. When the two of them reached Ichiraku's, he seemed amazed by the setting. But sitting down at the bar, he seemed a little unsure of what to get.

"Raki-kun, I am paying, so don't worry about the price. Get whatever sounds good to you."

Raki still seemed a bit pensive, but eventually settled on a bowl of beef ramen, while Hinata ordered a bowl of pork ramen. When their orders arrived, Raki slowly stirred the ramen around in his bowl before taking a small taste. He chewed a bit, took another, larger bite, and then seemed to want to take a nose-dive into the bowl. Hinata could only watch in amazement as Raki finished the bowl in record time and then ordered another, larger bowl. After the fourth bowl, with Hinata's own bowl cooling rapidly, Hinata looked up to see Ichiraku-san with an ear to ear grin. Apparently he had just found a second favorite customer.

"Hungry, Raki-kun?"

"Claire-ne-chan doesn't eat much," Raki said between bites, "I try not to slow us down too much when we are traveling, so I usually only have time to really sit and enjoy meals at breakfast and dinner. Otherwise, I usually snack while we are walking."

Hinata saw an opportunity. "Raki-kun, I have been wondering something. You call her ne-chan. Is she really your sister?"

Raki shook his head. "She is the closest thing I have to family I have right now, but we are not truly related to each other."

"Then why do you travel with her?"

Raki seemed thoughtful. He even stopped eating for a moment. "She saved my life. And I have no one else that I can trust."

"How did she save your life?" Hinata asked.

"The first time I met Claire was when a Yoma was killing the people in my village. She was the one that was sent to kill it. When I saw her, I didn't think that she would be strong enough to kill a Yoma. So I followed her around and eventually got to talk to her. The first two to be killed by the Yoma had been my parents, and I told Claire that she would be the one to grant my wish of the Yoma being killed. When I got home that day, I found my uncle dead. The Yoma had killed him. I also found that my older brother Zaki was the Yoma."

"Your brother?"

"Yes. It was strange. When the Yoma was about to attack me, it was crying. It was like the part of Zaki that had been taken over was pushing its way through. But before the Yoma killed me, Claire crashed through the roof of our home and saved me. She killed the Yoma."

"So you started following her out of gratitude?"

"No. About a week after she had left to go to another job, the village chief came and told me that I was no longer allowed to stay in the village."

"They threw you out of the village? But why? What did you do?"

Raki frowned at the memory. "They said that the people you had to be worried about if they were a Yoma or not were the people that were closest to the victims. Since I was related to four of them, they told me to leave."

"I… I'm sorry."

Raki looked up at Hinata. She was almost close to tears. "Don't be. After I had wandered around a bit, I found Claire. As a matter of fact, I found her when she rescued me from another Yoma. She said that if I was willing to cook for her, I could travel with her until we found a place where I wanted to live. And…well, here I am."

Hinata was quiet for a moment. "Raki-kun, I have never had any in my family killed by monsters, but I do have an idea of what it feels like to not have anyone to care for you."

Raki looked at Hinata curiously. "You do?"

"Yes. I come from the Hyuuga clan, one of the oldest and strongest clans in Konoha. In fact, I am the daughter of the clan head. When I was born, I was named the clan heir. But after my younger sister was born and my mother died, my father said that the winner of a fight between his two daughters would decide who would be clan heir."

"So you lost the fight?" Raki asked.

"There was no fight. At first, I kept putting off the fight. I didn't want to fight my sister. But when my father wouldn't allow the fight to be postponed any longer, I told everyone the truth: I could not truly fight my own sister. When he ordered me to fight, I refused. That was the first time I had ever stood up to my father, and it cost me my place in the clan. My father decided thatby refusing to fight, I had dishonored the clan. He disowned me. That was when he placed the caged-bird seal on me and made me a member of the branch family."

"Caged-bird seal?"

Hinata nodded and shifted her hitai-ate from its place on her forehead, exposing the seal to the open air. Raki stared wide-eyed at the seal. He hesitantly reached out a hand and, at Hinata's nod of permission, lightly touched the spot on her forehead, feeling where the seal rose up on her forehead. When Raki pulled his hand back, Hinata shifted the headband back into its usual place.

"So you were thrown out of your home, too?"

"Yes," Hinata said with a sad smile. "At first I didn't know what to do. But when Naruto-kun found out what had happened, he offered me the chance to come live with him."

"Naruto?"

"You met him. He was the one in the hospital bed."

"The blonde guy?"

"Yes, him. In the beginning, I was a little unsure. But Naruto was very patient and said that if I decided that I was willing to become his roommate, I was free to move in at any time. I moved in the day after he asked me."

"So you found someone that would take care of you, too?"

Hinata looked at Raki and smiled, a genuinely happy one. "Yes. I found someone who has become as much family to me as anyone I am blood related to."

Raki smiled and the two of them went back to eating their now cold ramen. When they were both finished, Hinata paid the bill and the two of them left the ramen bar.

"Hinata?"

"Yes, Raki-kun?"

"Um, Claire-ne-chan told me that the soldiers that live here use a type of magic in their battles. Do you know anyone that could show me?"

Hinata smiled at her companion. "I'll do something better. My cousin and one of his old teammates are probably training right now. If you want, they would probably let you watch them spar."

Raki's eyes lit up. "Really? That would be great!"

"Then follow me to the training grounds." Hinata set off to where Neji and Lee would be training with Raki falling into step next to her.

Hinata glanced down at the boy walking next to her. She had only one thought. "Perhaps playing baby-sitter wasn't such a bad idea after all."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter features Raki being introduced to the world of the Shinobi, Claire scouting the village, and Naruto finally being let out of bed (once Tsunade and Shizune look the other way).

For those who read the top note and are wondering about my "Read the Bottom" request, I have an announcement to make. I am making this an audience participation fic. I don't want to end the story any time soon, but I need ideas for story arcs. I already have a few ideas (Sasuke, Akatsuki, Orochimaru and Hidden Sound, and most likely something involving Raki getting into mischief with the Konohamaru Corps) but I don't want to use them immediately. So what I am requesting is ideas for story arcs. No restrictions on what character plays the large role in the arc. Hell, if you want, Claire, Raki, and Naruto can be background characters. If you come up with any ideas, drop me a line in a review or e-mail and let me know. If I choose your idea, I'll make sure you get credit for it.