"You've grown so much, Naruto-kun," Matatabi remarked with a delightful smile as she sat beside the blue-eyed youth who moved over to give her space. She nodded her thanks and made herself comfortable in her seat while sharply sending a quick glance at the kitchen to ensure that the other three – Chomei, Kurama and Shukaku – wouldn't be listening in to their conversation.
"How are you?"
Naruto laughed, the mere sound uncharacteristically quiet for someone as boisterous and exuberant as Naruto himself, slightly surprising the woman.
"I wouldn't really say that I'm… fine," he replied. Even the way he spoke was like his brother's way of speaking- calm, calculated and scarily unreadable at a certain extent. "But I will be."
Naruto slowly reached out to touch his hair, a bashful smile on his face. Shreds of black disrupted the vibrant blond, oddly reminding her of Shukaku's hair which was noticeably in the same state except for the fact that his hair was a light brown in color- just like the sand. Piercings adorned his right ear, heightening the resemblance between him and said man.
His smile grew, stretching the three neat lines that were present on each side of his cheeks. It wasn't just the hair, Matatabi mused. Five days into the week which Kurama conserved for his brother and himself, Naruto had changed. It must have been the fact that Naruto rarely visited, content with just leaving simple messages in his brother's mail, and now that he's in the presence of his brother once again, he has reverted back to what she supposed to be his previous habit- unintentionally imitating his brother.
"Kurama told me that you're looking after my apartment," Naruto said, dragging Matatabi out of her inner musings. "I'm sorry that you had to see it in that state."
"There's no need for you to apologize. I should be the one apologizing for intruding in your home without your knowledge."
"Well," Naruto laughed, "I'm just glad that it's you who is looking after it right now. I do hope that you're alright with it since you're probably busy with your own problems and stuff."
Matatabi raised an eyebrow.
"Do you doubt my abilities to manage my schedule and business, Naruto-kun?"
"No, no, of course not!" the blue-eyed youth hastily said, eyes wide at being apparently misunderstood. He was about to explain himself when Matatabi regarded him with a look of pure amusement.
"I was simply messing with you, Naruto-kun. There's no need to fret."
Naruto sighed, placing a hand over his chest. "Please don't tease me like that. I seriously thought you were angry."
"Shukaku must find it amusing to tell you stories when we used to be all together in high school, I presume?"
Naruto paled.
Laughing once more at the blue-eyed youth's lack of composure – because one could only be like his brother so much, especially when it was Kurama that they were talking about -, Matatabi finally thought that it was time to regard some certain issues that needs to be brought to Naruto's attention before she leaves. There's only two days left and by then, Naruto will have to go back to his apartment.
"Anyway, I came here to ask you and tell you about things you probably have no knowledge about," she uttered. "Believe it or not, Kurama and I have barely kept in touch in these past few days that I was responsible for looking after your apartment. He had given me the right of dealing with everything in a way that I suppose will be the best for you but before that, I thought that it was best to tell him in what condition your apartment was in."
Naruto straightened in his seat and nodded in understanding.
"After that, I was practically left to my own devices to do what I think I should. I barely touched your belongings and I did nothing to change its state. I believe Kurama took possession of your phone so that you have no way of knowing who was calling...?"
"Yeah, it bothered me at first but Kurama told me that Chomei was dealing with the calls and that I should just trust him," Naruto confirmed.
"And you did," Matatabi said more than asked, receiving a confirmative nod as a response. "As you have probably guessed, those who were left to deal with whatever Chomei has to say came to drop by for some confirmation and were quite surprised to see that instead of Uzumaki Naruto, they found some unknown woman instead. To add to the confusion, your apartment was untouched."
Realization was gradually beginning to settle within the blue-eyed youth's features.
"The very first who came to visit was Sakura Haruno. Chomei called to tell me that a girl – Sakura-chan, as your phone provided – had been calling him as soon as Kurama had handed him your phone. She was perplexed, worried, and most of all, livid at having some random man answer her best friend's phone."
Naruto winced. It was understandable.
"And so, Chomei said things that would buy me enough time to settle in your apartment. She dropped by the second day and unfortunately; I was in the middle of taking a brief shower when she had started banging on the door."
"…She misunderstood?" Naruto weakly asked, searching the woman's expression for denial. He stiffened when there was none.
"That, she did," Matatabi said with a nod, looking far too pleased. "She blushed, sputtered, and left without any questions."
"However," Matatabi said, her voice gaining a more dangerous tone, "As many as the people who had come to ask questions and left with the same reaction as Sakura Haruno, there were those who weren't deterred in the slightest to press me into letting them inside. Two of them were Neji Hyuuga and his cousin, Hinata Hyuuga."
Apprehension visibly crept into the blue-eyed youth's face at the mention of two of his closest friends.
"Wait, two of them?" Naruto repeated, terrified. "There's more?"
"Oh believe me, Naruto-kun," Matatabi snorted, "They don't compare to Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto didn't speak or move for a few moments. He just met Matatabi's gaze, his blue eyes mirroring just how horror-stricken he was beyond words.
A/N: After rereading the previous chapters, I noticed that I often describe Kurama as a 'red-haired teen' when, in fact, he should be a red-haired man. He's 5 years older than Naruto, making him 21 years old.
Also, to clear things up, Naruto hadn't seen Kurama in years. Despite the fact that Kurama's apartment isn't far (maybe an hour's worth of walking distance?), he never made it a thing to visit the man. Sure they talked over the net, but Naruto didn't want to bother his brother since he was busy managing his business. Of course, Kurama doesn't mind but that didn't stop Naruto from thinking it will.