A\N: I really don't have an A\N, should I? thanx to you if you commented. Enjoy the 4th chapter, it's a longer than usual but I guess if you've read so far you don't really mind. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's charictors, but I do own a cute chibi Naruto key-chain.

Eye of the wolf

"Here you go" he tossed over half an apple.

She caught it and smiled, half an apple became somewhat of a tradition.

He's been visiting her on a daily base, it's been like that for the last week and a half.

"I see your wound got much better," Naruto commented biting into the apple.

Ume smiled, "Yeah I….Ette!" she winced in pain due to lifting her left shoulder slightly.

"Hey watch it you're not completely healed yet" Naruto quickly said, staring at her nervously.

"Yeah, but I don't think it'll ever be like before" she said with a sad smile.

"Don't worry Oba-Sama can fix you up in no time! she's a great medical ninja" Naruto exclaimed jumping up out of excitement.

"Oba-Sama?" Ume repeated with confusion.

"Yeah, she's our big-breasted Hokage, she looks very young but she…."

"Naruto?"

"Sakura-Chan! Wha…"

"Hokage-Sama asked for you," then she turned to Ume and seemed like she just noticed her presence, "Oh Sorry, I didn't notice you, Sorry," she said with a smile.

But Ume only gave her a cold glare that made her quiver in her skin, she turned to Naruto, "Um well, she said it was important, you'd better go now" and right after she relayed her message she quickly ran out of the room, as if running from a demon.

"A-a Sakura-Chan I…." Naruto started but she was already gone. "What's her problem" he mumbled to himself with confusion.

Ume stared into her lap with a very weird look on her face, and she got very very quiet.

Knock-Knock, "Enter"

"Obaa-Chan, you called for me?"

"Tse, I told you not to call me that any more." She huffed, "But anyway, there is something I need to talk to you about…"

Naruto stepped closer to her desk, and opened his ears, 'cause from the look on her face it was serous.

Tsunade waited until Shizune closed the door then she took a deep breath, "The girl in the hospital, the one you're visiting everyday," Naruto looked at her with confusion, Tsunade peered at him as she continued, "What do you know about her?

Naruto scratched the back of his head then said, "Uh… Not much her name is Ume and….. Well actually that's about all I know about her," pause, "She's not much of a talker" he added with a smile.

Tsunade exchanged a brief look with Shizune, "I heard she was coming out of the hospital today" she said.

Naruto stared at her blankly, he actually didn't know that. "Well Naruto, I want you to keep a close eye on her," she ordered.

"O-Okay"he said trying to think about the reason.

"I mean don't let her out of your sight, understood?"

"H-Hai…. but"

"But what?"

"Well she's from another village, I think, where is she going to stay?"

Tsunade paused for a moment thinking it over, "I want her to stay with me" Naruto hesitantly suggested.

Tsunade paused, thinking over her possibilities; she stared at the hesitant boy in front of her. "Okay" she said followed by a sigh, as she closed her eyes.

"Tsunade-Sama?" Shizune yelled with a disapproving tone.

Tsunade glared at her, so she closed her lips reluctantly, and looked away uncomfortably. Tsunade turned back to Naruto, "Understood?"

Naruto nodded slightly, but his mind was racing like a horse, why did he suggest that? It had never crossed his mind before, and why did Tsunade accept? Wasn't she dead set against mixed compounds? Weird. He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him quietly.

The second Naruto was out of hearing range Shizune turned to Tsunade, "Tsunade-Sama how could you let that happen?" she yelled.

Tsunade didn't answer, she just closed her eyes and sighed. In her heart of hearts, she was against it too, but she knew that this would be the best way.

Shizune immediately felt guilty for yelling at her mentor, she should understand the difficulties for Tsunade, she doesn't need someone else to put pressure on her. "Gomennasia…" Shizune said looking down.

"It's okay" Tsunade grunted under her breath before sighing. "Naruto… please be carful" she said to her self.

Please.

Naruto slowly walked towards the hospital, he's going to host a strange girl in his apartment, in his apartment, in his apartment, in his apartment… in his apartment. He tossed the idea around in his head trying to think about it in as many ways as possible. There is going to be a girl in his apartment, she is going to see his lifestyle, she's going to use his bathroom, and maybe even sleep in his bed.

He shivered at the last thought, but then shooed it away. He wondered what she's going to think when she sees the mess his room is, empty ramen cups, week old laundry, teddy bear P.J's , cockroaches, dirt, dust, you name it. Any thing that can make a girl turn around and run away screaming, he's got it in his room.

He realized that he reached the hospital, he gulped as he walked though the gates, maybe he should turn back, and ask Tsunade if he could change his mind, Nah, with the mood she was in when he left, he'd rather not.

He walked through the front doors of the hospital and stopped, he looked at the people walk about, doing their work. He waited for a few moments then continued in his way.

He walked down the hallway leading to Ume's room; he noticed that his heart was pounding like Tsunade would on Jeriya when they were kids…. And grownup.

He tapped on the door then pushed it open a crack, Ume was getting out of her bed and making sure that she didn't leave any belongings in the room.

"Ah Naruto" she greeted him with a pale gentle smile.

He gulped; facing Tsunade now, doesn't seem so bad after all. "I uh.. I see you're leaving the hospital."

"Aah, I just heard" Ume smiled delighted.

Naruto gulped, he has to tell her soon, too soon. "So uh, where are you planning on staying?" Naruto asked trying to sound as casual as possible.

Ume twirled a strand of hair around her finger and smiled, "Actually I didn't really think about that yet, my plan is to get out of the hospital first then figure things out later." She said.

He has to tell her, now, "I… uh.. umm… wh…." He steutered.

She turned to him questioning, it made him even more nervous, "C'mon just spit it out you coward, you've defeated Gaara's Shikaku one of the Beijos, faced off with Itachi, fought Orochimaru, and dealt with Tsunade's anger and lived to tell the tale, so how hard can this be?" he thought to himself.

"I uh… well.. do you want me to walk you out?" he said, then almost slapped himself, that isn't even close!

"Sure" Ume shrugged.

Naruto sighed as he walked next to her; he is in some serious trouble.

*Sound of a stomach grumbling* Naruto turned to Ume surprised, she blushed, "Sorry, I uh… I'm kinda hungry, 'cause you know… I really don't like hospital food"

Naruto smilled, "Well I have the solution for that"

Ume turned to him, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Ramen!" Naruto said with a smile, waving a finger.

"Arigato Ayame-Chan" Naruto said smiling, as Ayame set the two bowls of ramen for the two new costumers for the day.

Ayame returned the smile, "Cute couple," she thought to herself then she mentally sighed, "I wish I can have a cute boyfriend, like maybe Itachi?"

Ume stared at the bowl cautiously, she turned to look for permission from Naruto, he was smiling encouragingly. She turned back to the soup, "Itadakimasu?" she said hesitantly.

She lifted the noodles to her lips, and finally swallowed. "Mmm this IS good!" she said contently.

"I told you so," Naruto winked, "Ichiraku ramen is the best, you find anything like it in any other village"

Teuchi chuckled delighted, and Ume just responded with a slight nod and a small smile. 'Cause she REALLY liked ramen.

*Outside* "Uh Naruto, can you show me where the inns are? I think I should check them out before dark?" Ume said, looking at the sky.

Naruto gulped, "Uh well… Konoha is kind of expensive" he lied, "Are you sure you have enough money for an inn?"

Ume's eyes suddenly widened, she quickly fumbled through her pockets then frowned, "As I expected, I lost all the money I had" she said, "Now what am I going to do? I have no place to stay"

Naruto felt sorry for the girl, then he remembered that she is supposed to stay with him, this is actually perfect for him. "Well… uh… hey you can stay with me!" he yelled with a -I-Got-It- tone of voice.

Ume looked at him for a moment with a blank look in her eyes, Naruto felt uneasy, but he didn't know what to do.

"Stay with you?" she repeated in a low voice, which gave him the impression that she was thinking out loud and nothing else.

"Are you sure? That wouldn't bother you?" she added, the blank look disappearing, and the Ume he knew coming back.

Naruto felt relieved, he thought that he had offended her or something. "Yeah, it wouldn't be a problem" he quickly answered with a smile.

"Well, then okay" Ume answered simply with a shrug. "Huh" she mumbled as she looked up.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"I think it's starting to rain" she answered continuing to gaze up into the sky.

And just as she finished her sentence, more and more drops of rain started to fall, and in no time it was pouring like a waterfall.

"Ah" Ume screamed playfully as she shielded her head with her hands without any use.

Naruto quickly unzipped his orange jacket, and lifted it over their heads. The two ran through the quickly emptying streets of Konoha. Naruto led her to his apartment, it was relatively far, and so by the time they reached it, they were both soaking wet.

Ume giggled as they barged into Naruto's apartment, "That was fun" she laughed sitting on his bed.

Naruto smiled in agreement, as he wiped his face on a cloth.

"That's a nice picture," Ume said picking up the fraimed picture on his night table, "Is that you? I hope you don't mind me saying, but you look kind of goofy" she smiled, "Who's the other people in the picture?"

"The white haired guy is Kakashi-Sensei , the girl is Sakura Haruno…" Naruto answered leaning back.

"How about this guy?" she said pointing to the last person.

Naruto paused, "That's Sasuke Uchiha" he said with a slight frown.

Ume stopped, it seemed to her that she had touched a sensitive issue . but then he smiled, "that picture was taken along long time ago," he said.

She felt glad that he wasn't mad at her. She waited for a moment, "Hey Naruto, do you have a towel?"

He tossed over a green towel; she dried her hair and some of her body with it. "Um Naruto?" Ume said smiling shyly.

"Huh?"

"Do you…. do you have some dry clothes that I can change into? Mine are soaking wet, and I don't want to catch a cold" she said blushing.

Naruto paused, then walked over to his drawer and pulled out a black T-shirt and tossed it to her. She caught it then her blush darkened.

"Um where can I change?" she asked, too shy even to lift her eyes.

Naruto froze for a moment, he could say in the bathroom, but that would just be rude. "Well I uh…" he stuttered not knowing what to answer.

Ume hesitated, "Naruto… you're a gentleman, right?"

He didn't answer, so he wouldn't sound cocky.

"You promise that you wouldn't peek right?" she slowly said, "So uh.. Would you please look away?"

Naruto quickly did as she said blushing; she zipped her vest open revealing a black cropped tank-top, she quickly slipped Naruto's Black T-shirt on. "Okay Naruto" Ume said.

He turned around, his T-shirt was very wide on her, and reached about 5 inches over her knees.

"Ume?"

"Uh?"

"Now your turn"

"Oh Sorry" she turned away blushing.

She stared at her hands as she waited for him to finish, in her whole life she had never been in such an awkward situation.

"Okay.. I'm done"

She turned around to see that he was wearing a pair of navy blue sweat pants, but he still didn't have his shirt on yet!

"Naruto!" she squeaked turning away again, "I thought you said you were done" she added feeling her cheeks burning.

"Sorry, I didn't think it was that big of a deal" he said slipping on a wide white T-shirt.

Ume breathed in deeply, it wasn't that big of a deal, but for some reason when it comes to Naruto… Something's deferent.

"Why is your face so red?" Naruto asked stepping towards her, "Are you sick or something?" he added putting his hand on her forehead, and leaning towards her.

"Why is he so close? Why is he so close?" she thought in a panic as her heart leapt into her throat.

But he didn't back away he just continued staring at her stupidly. "Eeep" she squealed pushing him in the chest.

He fell back onto a bunch of empty ramen bowls. "What did you do that for?" he moaned, getting up.

"Haven't you ever heard of personal space? You were too close!" she yelled at him.

"I was just trying to help you, I thought you were sick, or something" he frowned.

….

"Hey that's a cool necklace" she said pointing at the green stone wrapped around Naruto's neck with a black string.

Naruto looked down at it with a smile, "It's a gift," he said then paused, "It's a long story, but you can say it's dear to me." He added.

Ume nodded and paused, trying to think of something to say. She heard a clap of thunder, so she turned to look out the window, it was pouring rain, "I guess we're not going to get out until tomorrow" she said with a slight frown, "Got anything to do in here?" she asked turning to face Naruto.

He scratched his head in thought, "Well I can heat two cups of ramen for now, are you hungry?"

Ume shrugged it's not like they have anything better to do.

*A loud clap of thunder*

"Man. It's been pouring rain for hours" Ume said shivering.

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah it's weird, if I was superstitious I'd say it's a bad omen" he laughed lightly.

Ume got very quiet, "What's the matter? You're not superstitious, are you?" Naruto said peering at her.

"Uh? Iie, it's just.. You sounded like my friend there for a moment." She smiled, "he was always talking about how silly omens are." She tilted her head and giggled.

Naruto smiled, and was about to ask about this friend of hers, but then he changed his mind, Ume seemed to be unwilling to continue about that subject.

Ume yawned and stretched, "You seem very tired" Naruto said looking at her red eyes.

Ume yawned again, "Yeah, and I don't even know why" she said, crossing her legs on his bed.

"We can go to sleep now, if you want to" Naruto said standing up and stretching.

Ume didn't say anything, then Naruto figured why, he paused, "You can sleep on the bed, I'll just sleep on the floor" he said kicking some clothes out of the way.

Ume thought about it for a second, she shook her head, "No, you'll freeze to death that way"

"Well then where should I go?"

Ume hesitated, "You can… sleep in the bed with me" she said blushing, "We'll keep each other warm, and…."

Naruto thought about it wide eyed, he doesn't know what to say. "Okay" he answered quietly without even realizing that he actually answered. His eyes widened again, that was an accident, he didn't mean to accept.

But Ume shrugged and climbed under the covers, Naruto hesitated then did the same. Ume lied there facing the window, while Naruto closed the lights, and then sunk into the bed next to her.

Naruto lied there, not believing the situation he was in, he had always dreamt of climbing into the bed, and finding it warm. He closed his eyes and smiled, silently enjoying the warmth to his back, the sound of raindrops hitting the window, and the steady sound of Ume's breathe.

"Good night" he whispered to himself out of habit.

"Good night" Ume answered in a low sleepy voice.

Naruto paused, then smiled, he was happy, he didn't feel so lonely anymore.

Naruto was awakened by the annoying sound of birds chirping. He felt around the bed with his eyes closed, it was cold.

"Sakura-Chan why'd you get out of bed? Sakura-Chan?"

But then he realized that he was just dreaming, Sakura was never here, he was asleep alone.. Agai…

"Ah Naruto, you're awake" he heard a voice call.

"Huh?" he sat up in bed, his eyes shooting open.

He saw Ume standing in the corner he calls his kitchen. She was frying something. She turned to him and smiled, "I'm making omelets, 'cause I all I found in your fridge is: eggs, milk, and lots and lots of cup ramen…. I guess you don't cook much, do ya'?"

Naruto nodded slightly, still puzzled by the unusual sight, he wasn't used to wake up to find someone cooking breakfast for him, it made him feel kind of funny.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ume asked with a smile, slipping a second omelet onto another plate.

Ume had already changed back into her vest, she was acting so confidant, in his apartment!

"I thought I'd thank you for letting me stay at your place, so I cleaned it up a bit, 'cause frankly, it was a mess." Ume said, putting the two plates on the low table.

As she said that, his eyes widened, he just noticed that the apartment was clean; everything was just too weird for him.

"What's the matter?" Ume asked, pulling a cushion to the table and kneeling on it.

"Huh? Uh nothing" he quickly answered, realizing the awkward position he was putting Ume in.

"Arigato" he smiled sitting at the table, "Everything looks good." he said about to start eating.

Ume smiled with content, "Itadakimasu" she said as her smile widened.

A\N: I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter, if you did please comment or criticize and make me happy. No questions. actually scratch that, I'm wondering if any of you think that it was unnasacery to do the part when the two were changing. I know nothing happened, they were never skin naked but I didn't really like it. How 'bout you?

Please answer my question, and if you don't feel like it. Then just comment.. pleaaaaase.