Zack: Well, I managed to get some spare time to write some stuff down. I managed to include it within my regular routine during the week so it should be steady and longer chapters than the last arc.

Speaking of which, the First Arc; 'Corruption' is over so the new arc begins and there is no doubt that this will be my favorite arc to write since it will heavily focus on the NaruAmaru or NarutoXAmaru( expect some NaruTayu and NaruFemKyuu moments within too ;P) pairing. Lots of romance and whatnot will occur in this arc and since Sky's forte in writing is romance, this is turning out to be a traditional or nostalgic thing for me. It will be a learning experience since I'm somewhat more better with darker tones in writing so hopefully I get it right.

Q & A's
Thor94
What Happened to Konoha and Sakura?
-Well, if Chapter 2 was too vague, my apologies. Sakura had been possessed by the leftover Kyuubi chakra that was molding Naruto and had the same process repeated to her albeit, the chakra had altered her brain chemistry to the point it was maniacal, deranged or insane. Konoha wasn't attacked by any warring villages, it was simply the infected villager that had been 'kyuubified' and mind controlled by the deranged Sakura. Hopefully this clears up any confusion

TEXT STYLE:
Shits like you don't deserve to live – Regular
Memories never fade – Flashback
"…"- Character talking
'..shhh..'-Character thoughts.
'…' – Mental communication.
"…" – Demon talking/ shouting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Through A Demon's Eyes
Chapter 6
Sparks

Amaru loves the morning.

It was the only time of the day that she would never be pestered by Uragiri's advances since the 'Lightning Devil' typically woke in the afternoon.

This 'window of opportunity' was an escape she so desperately used that allowed her to avoid Uragiri for the whole afternoon but when night strikes, she had no choice but to go back and allow Uragiri to ravish her again.

Slipping into her white, long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants, the Angelic Rose had silently devoured some bread Uragiri had in storage, its bland taste and lack of flavor didn't bother her much; it was definitely better than the old, moldy and disgusting food she used to scrape off the bins back in her old village. Carefully making her way out of Uragiri's apartment, the abused redhead started to walk away, heading for the red-streaked ninja's apartment, a hopeful smile on her face as she recounted the events of the previous month.

After they (Naruto, Tayuya, Amaru, Sasuke and the blood thirsty Kyuubi) had slain the Queen of the Infected(this being Sakura Haruno), Konoha's forces had immediately took the city back, easily slaying what remained of the Infected upon Hokage's orders to purge the area of any of these creatures. After being discovered by the Konoha shinobi, Naruto and his group were taken to the Hokage for a debriefing where he had easily explained the events that took place. At first, Tsunade had been somewhat against Kyu after discovering the scarlet temptress' identity and had immediately ordered her sealing but after the scarlet temptress explained that she had been rendered incapable of her 'Fox' abilities and thus, was considered a jounin level shinobi in terms of prowess, the buxom blonde had reluctantly agreed to let her off the hook after Jiraiya( who had passed out from the sight of the curvaceous redhead) placed a suppression seal and a killing seal upon her which would allow Jiraiya to completely reduce Kyu to a chakra-void being or worse, a corpse. As for Tayuya, she had been filed into interrogation and had been placed under probation due to her actions during the 'Chakra Infection' event as they like to call it and her loyalty to the vermillion demon for giving her life back. The Crimson Beauty was to report to none other than Hatake Kakashi every week with Tsunade detailing as to why she chose the copycat nin for the job. One was that it was easy for Kakashi to keep watch over her since the crimson beauty had latched onto the red-streaked blonde ( It was a rare event that two would be apart since she lived with Naruto and also partly due to the fact she hardly knew anyone) and two, Kakashi could easily take her down, even with her 'pyre' abilities, should she try anything. Sasuke Uchiha had been commended for his actions during the 'Chakra Infection' event which caused his traitorous actions before hand to be void. He was placed into rehabilitation to fully regenerate from the wounds. The red-streaked blonde had been paid a hefty amount of money for his heroic actions and was awarded with a better apartment complex over at the East where it was practically untouched by the chaos. Naruto had been rather happy with the award and had moved his belongings there with the help of Sasuke and Tayuya whom had insisted he should deploy his shadow clones to do it for him but reluctantly agreed to help after Naruto offered to buy them lunch, avoiding the question. As for herself, Tsunade had awarded her with some money and had tried to get her into the hospital for a psychological testing but she had vehemently refused; she didn't exactly get affected by the events that badly. Reconstruction began shortly and many of the civilians and shinobi had steadily assisted each other, building their homes back up and restoring the area back to its glorious state.

Speaking of the red-streaked blonde, Amaru had been visiting the Uzumaki as frequently as she could (which was whenever he was free and when Uragiri wasn't around; the self proclaimed 'Lightning Devil' wanted her away from the blonde as much as possible) since she had grown somewhat accustomed to around her. Not to mention that he was able to ward off Uragiri for the whole day if she was around him. A small part of her consciousness had been telling her that she was falling for him but she quickly dismissed it; how could you love someone you only knew for a week or two? Still, she had to admit that she did like him. How could you not after he had saved her, promised to free her and ultimately, gave her hope when she was drowning in darkness?

Finally reaching the district where Naruto resided, Amaru took a deep breath and entered the building.

Ring…
Ring…
CRUNCH…

Naruto grunted as he lazily displaced his fist from the newly crushed alarm clock, ignoring the shattered plastic and fragmented metal that littered on his bedside table. Satisfied with the silence, the sleepy ninja curled back into the covers, gently easing back into a comfortable position as the sleep slowly took him away.

SMACK…

The red-streaked blonde howled in pain as he scuttled away from the edge of the bed where an annoyed Tayuya stood, her hand poised to slap his face once more.

"What the hell Yaya-Chan?!" the ninja asked as he gently rubbed the whiskered cheek she had assaulted.

After the events of the 'Chakra Infection', Tayuya had been assigned to him and had been moved into his new apartment. According to what he could squeeze out of Shikamaru who was present during the interview, the redhead herself had specifically asked that she was to be assigned to him, claiming that she'll be more tolerant of the blonde than the other possible candidates to look after her. Naruto didn't particularly blame her since the other options were Ino, Hinata, Tenten or Shizune( which made him laugh at the thought of an irate Tayuya being taken care of by a cheeky Shizune, an overly talkative Yamanka or an incredibly shy Hyuuga) and he couldn't really picture any of those working out properly and besides, she seem to be more friendly( well as closest as he could get to friendly) with him than the others. The first few days were particularly weird for the red-streaked blonde since Tayuya had taken it upon herself to be strictly nice to him and him only which had caused many commotions with his other friends( especially Sasuke since he had peeked on her when she was changing clothes back at the Charka Infection event). However, that was only the surface as at night, Tayuya had been diagnosed with insomnia which was apparently caused by her fear of being taken advantage of, whether it is sexual or violent. To pass the time, the crimson beauty had decided to try and take up sketching which didn't really help the Uzumaki in terms of sleeping; it was surprising how loud it could be and coupled with her angry string of curses, he didn't get much sleep.

Fixing him one of her furious glares, the crimson beauty huffed indignantly as she crossed her arms, muttering some curses. It was only then that Naruto noticed her strange addition to her outfit; she wore a white apron over her regular black v-cut top and her blue, hip-hugging short shorts. Confused as to why she was wearing the apron, Naruto's head tilted sideways as a quizzical expression crossed his features.

"Um, Yaya-Chan, why are you wearing an apron?" The whiskered blonde inquired as she ducked her head a little lower, her long crimson hair hiding the blush that stained her cheeks.

"I…I made breakfast" The crimson beauty replied as she tentatively pointed to the table where two plates lay.

Naruto blinked at disbelief as he slid out of the bed before letting loose a wide grin as he spotted the cooked bacon and eggs.

"Did you seriously cook for me?" He asked as he directed his grin at Tayuya.

"Just eat the fucking thing before I beat the shit out of you for wasting my time!"

Naruto cackled as he slumped into the seat, digging into the plate full of food as Tayuya sighed.

God, living with the blonde was irritating as she figured it would be.

"Taya-chan, really lovin the food!"

A smile broke out from the crimson beauty's lips as she undid her apron and brushed a stand of her red hair off her face, a somewhat content feeling raining upon her.

She did figured that it would never be boring whenever the red-streaked Uzumaki was around.

Knock…
Knock…

The duo stopped, glancing at the door with an intrigued look before the Crimson Beauty walked over to the door.

Who the hell would be here at this hour?

Tentatively twisting the door knob, Tayuya was greeted by the shorter redhead , Amaru, who stood quietly, her teeth biting into her lips as she glanced up to meet the taller redhead's frown.

"Morning Tayuya-san, is Naruto-kun here?" Amaru asked as she tried to peek inside, ignoring the frown on Tayuya's face.

"Is that Ama-chan?" Naruto's voice bellowed from their living room which had cut in between the conversation; distracting Tayuya as Amaru easily slipped past her, a smile directed to the blonde.

"Yes, It's me Naruto-kun!" Amaru replied.

"Come in, come in!" Naruto spoke as Amaru complied; entering as the Crimson Beauty begrudgingly shut the door, glaring intently at the Angelic Rose who took a seat by red-streaked blonde.

"Ama-chan?!" Tayuya growled under her breath as she made her way back to the dining room, keeping a steady, subtle glare at Amaru.

"How much racket can you make in the fucking morning?!" A voice roared which caused all three of them to freeze, the mood murdered by the sharp, commanding voice that penetrated the hearts of her enemies.

Being the bravest ( or more specifically, the dumbest out of the three), Naruto had the first to break the ice as Kyu emerged from the hallway, frustrated and annoyed.

"You really wanna test that Kyu?" Naruto shot back, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Would you like me to rearrange your fuckin face during our next training session?!" Kyu grunted, managing to pull off a glare which was rather impressive since that she had really looked somewhat drowsy.

Kyu had been training Naruto, Tayuya and Amaru over the past days (with heavy disapproval from the buxom blonde Hokage and the ever perverted but easily dangerous Sennin due to Kyu being the Nine Tail Fox). Despite being inquired as to what her ulterior motive was, Kyu simply shrugged and responded with a steady 'anything to make my jinchuuriki stronger and well protected' which neither implied or suggested any real reason as to why she was assisting them. Personally, the red-streaked blonde figured that it was only to have a somewhat safer area for her to rest her head but mostly he figured that if they ever got into a battle scenario, she would have him or the other redheads fight it out since she would deem their opponents 'unworthy' of her power. However, the scarlet temptress loved violence and bloodshed too much to even turn away or avoid a conflict with an enemy that was below her. Either way, it didn't matter much to Naruto, at least not yet; he was too busy focusing on trying to master the so dubiously dubbed 'Demon Eyes' (Kyu had vehemently refused to call it that, referring to it as the Akuma fokkusubijon which was utterly lost to the Uzumaki since he deemed 'Demon Eyes' title a lot faster to say). The 'Akuma Fokkusubijon' (Or Demon eyes as Naruto labeled) was the ability that Kyu and Naruto possessed which allowed him/her to completely control him/her chakra with her eyes. Not only did it empower Naruto with the ability to shape the chakra to whatever he pleases, he could completely control it. Tayuya( being present when Kyu was elaborating) had asked what was the difference between that and the normal chakra control of a shinobi and was countered by a very informative answer. According to Kyu, the chakra control that the 'Akuma Fokkusubijon' offered was advanced than the normal shinobi; the user was granted the ability to pool his chakra from his body, invade another's body, shape it to whatever he wished it, change its structure(whether it be a solid, liquid or gas) and even increase its acidic properties. To sum up, he could do anything to the chakra, whether it be forming it into makeshift chakra cloak or even creating extra, chakra appendage to tangle someone with, it had allowed him to complete control over the chakra he possessed. However, he would need to slowly be able to master these newly found ocular powers. From what Kyu has told him, there was three stages to mastering the Akuma Fokkusubijon which corresponded as to what level his eyes were. Stage one was to learn how to shape the chakra which would generally be the 'Tier 1' eyes (where he currently was) which was capable of shaping the chakra and forcing it into jutsu's and basic weaponry. Stage two was to be able to expand and oversize the chakra to massive proportions which grant him the 'Tier 2' eyes which would grant him the capabilities of the chakra cloak (like the one he used during his Demon state at the 'Chakra Corruption' event) and control the chakra to shape large scale jutsus or coat a weapon and increase its sharpness (Kyu had elaborated here and explained that he could implement this ability with his talons). Stage 3 was the most ultimate stage; it was to learn how to channel his chakra into someone else's body, change its form(Solid, Liquid or Gas), manipulate someone else's charka, control the chakra within jutsu's (whether it be his or someone else's) and ultimately, increase certain aspects about the chakra like for example, boosting its acidic properties. Completing Stage 3 would unlock 'Tier 3' eyes which would grant him complete control with this ocular ability and is illustrated as a prime example of mastery of the ability.

Including the Akuma Fokkusubijon, the red-streaked blonde was also required to learn how to master the 'Akuma Toriga' (Or Demon state as labeled by the Uzumaki) which was to learn how to trigger, control and maintain this state of power. From what Kyu had told him, the 'Akuma Toriga' was a state where the user has an overload of demonic chakra and releases it all in a single burst which temporarily increases the abilities (strength, speed, senses, reaction time, etc…) of the user to its full extent and incredibly, have access to a special ability called 'Akuma No Ikari' which, within a certain area around the user(area can also be extended with hard work), temporarily disable gravity within it and momentarily launch everything within its range into the air, open for attack. However, the chakra that is released during the burst vanishes with every passing second and uses up more chakra when performing a jutsu or the Akuma No Ikari and thus, the state is lost quickly due to the immediate loss of power source. Currently, Kyu and him are trying to extend the period of time he can maintain the Akuma Toriga via trying to decrease the amount of chakra that is wasted within a second and decrease the amount of chakra needed for the jutsu.

Besides the Akuma Fokkusubijon and Akuma Toriga training, the red-streaked blond also had taken up Kenjutsu training, utilizing the demonic crafted sword 'Chaos' to its full extent as he learned, practiced and memorized the styles that were taught to him by Kyu. The style he was learning was simply titled 'Maken Fokkususutairu' which involved a variety of low, high and mid attacks that varied in power and speed with consistent flips(whether it be front, back or side) and spinning which made the style flow seamlessly. The style had been perfect for Naruto; it was specifically designed to enable the user to move lightning fast, strike brutally hard and react quickly to attacks made it quite a useful style to know. The most notable thing about this style that Kyu pointed out was that it allowed the user full creativity to mix and mash the attacks and create combos due to all of its attacks leaving a perfect opening at the end to easily and fluently follow up with any other move from the style. With well over a thousand moves to master, that gave the user a lot of leeway to create unique and incredibly powerful combos from a string of free-flowing moves that were methodically timed and perfected. Its main drawback was its requirement of lots of stamina since majority of the moves are very fast and require a lot of force which uses a lot of energy that can quickly tire out the user should they be reckless or should the fight drag out which is void on the Uzumaki since he had more than enough stamina to maintain the style for well over an hour but either way, Naruto is still trying to increase his stamina so he could perform this style for longer periods of time. The exact origin of the style was lost to the Uzumaki, Kyu had refused to answer where it originate from and had simply shrugged it off and gave him 'None of your business' dialogue he had heard from the movies and books. Despite this, the Vermillion Demon had easily picked up the art of sword fighting and was improving by leaps and bounds with every passing hour at training which had impressed the scarlet temptress since several humans( and a million demons, though she wouldn't tell Naruto that) had a lot of difficulty to learn and master the style since it was too physically taxing for the body to keep up to the seamless flow, the lighting fast movements and steps, the quick change weak swings to incredibly powerful swipes and the random but athletic flips and spins that accompanied it.

"I think I'd like to see you try!" Naruto challenged, shooting the scarlet temptress a confident look, accompanied with a somewhat small but cocky smirk which slightly peeved her as to how increasingly confident (or, if she was to put it in more aggressive terms, an overly cocky asshole) the red-streaked blonde of his fighting capabilities.

There was no doubt that Kyu would need to knock him down a peg or two during their next spar.

"Oi, don't you fucking cocksuckers start a goddamn brawl here, I just fucking cleaned this dump yesterday from your fucking pointless fight! If you're gonna fucking fight, do it outside you fucking cocksucking, cuntlicking dickheads!" Tayuya roared, preventing the oncoming brawl as Kyu and Naruto reluctantly stopped their bantering and resumed their usual routine; eating breakfast.

Graciously slumping down onto the table, Kyu crossed her arms in frustration as Naruto reluctantly slid a plate towards her who grudgingly accepted it, slowly munching away at the food presented towards her. Tayuya let out a sigh as she scratched the back of her head, an annoyed look on her face as Amaru shrunk into the chair, fear distinctly within her eyes.

"So when exactly are we training?" The Crimson Beauty inquired, glancing at the scarlet temptress who stopped nibbling on her food.

Kyu had been training the Crimson Beauty on controlling the 'Pyre' which is an elemental control over fire. The user is granted incredible control over fire and he/she is able to directly ignite an ember in open air, shape it to whatever they wish it to be, manipulate it the point she would be able to direct fire to anything she wished and ultimately, control how scorching hot the fire would be. Despite several setbacks, the redhead was slowly getting the hang of controlling the Pyre. Coupling the Pyre, Tayuya is also learning taijutsu to transition from long range to short range expertise since the abilities provided by the 'Pyre' would be more useful point blank than long range. Despite not having any real expertise in taijutsu, Tayuya had mastered some of the fighting styles very quickly, capable of employing and mixing the attacks from both styles to defeat the red-streaked ninja in a taijutsu match. However, since she transitioned heavily into close range combat, her skills in genjutsu had decreased drastically, to the point that she could only cast B-Rank genjutsu's and not the traditional A-Rank Genjutsu's she usually employed. However, being taught several forms of fighting styles and martial arts by Kyu, the crimson beauty was no doubt stronger than her previous, genjutsu using, self. Besides the Pyre and the range of fighting styles, the crimson beauty had taken up to learning how to use a scythe in combat. With that, Kyu had given her a weapon she had in storage called 'Eviscerator' which was a demonic, combat scythe that the scarlet temptress had collected during her reign. The Eviscerator was lightweight but incredibly durable with a long reach that would no doubt be a great asset to Tayuya's close range fighting style.

"We're not training, at least not today" Kyu replied, ignoring the blatant look of surprise on Tayuya's face.

"Why?" the redhead asked, her face composing into a look of curiosity.

"I've been training all three of you non-stop for the past two weeks, I need a fucking break"

Tayuya sweatdropped at the response as Kyu continued eating, ignoring the amused stare that the red-streaked blonde directed at her.

"So what are we going to do today?" Amaru spoke up, catching all three ninjas attention.

"I don't know about you but I'm heading back to bed to rest" Kyu replied as she finished her meal, leaving the plate on the table.

"I'm probably gonna head down to the district to visit Ayame-chan and Teuchi-jiji; see if I can help them rebuild the stand" Naruto said as he stood up, heading for the door.

"I'm going with the fucker, I need to replenish my ink for sketching anyway" Tayuya seconded as she and Amaru followed after the red-streaked blonde, leaving the scarlet temptress alone in the apartment complex.

Making certain that the trio had left the apartment, Kyu jogged over to the hallway and into her room, ignoring the squeak of the planks underneath her. Locking the door behind her, the redhead sat down as she brandished a small, black scroll from the pockets of her black dress with red accents.

Scrawling a series of letters onto the scroll, a small sinister smirk slowly and ever so deviously grew on the scarlet temptress lips.

Stage One of her plan is ready.

"You're a fucking idiot you know that?"

"Hehehe…"

"Of all the fuckin things you forget, it has to be that!"

"Hey, I was really, really tired when I last visited okay"

"So you completely forgot they had already, I repeat, already built the fucking stand?!"

"Hey, I was tired that day so I don't recollect much from that day"

"YOU WERE FUCKIN TIRED COZ YOU BUILT THE STAND THAT DAY YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Amaru rolled her eyes at the bantering between Naruto and Tayuya after their visit to the recently constructed Ichariku Ramen Stand which had been build the other day by the slightly sheepish Uzumaki next to her.

"At least we all got to eat Taya-chan" Naruto pointed out as Tayuya pondered it pensively before a small smile grew on her face.

Naruto really did pay for the food, even though it was counting well over his budget due to the crimson beauty's unexpected stomach. The crimson beauty had eaten more than he had expected, downing well over ten bowls in quick succession which had blindsided the red-streaked blonde since he assumed she would only finish six bowls. Despite the hefty bill, Naruto hadn't really minded it since Tayuya had really enjoyed the food.

"Speaking of which, thanks for paying; the food really did taste great" the crimson beauty replied, shooting the Uzumaki one of her rare and dazzling smiles which he didn't think he would get.

"Anyway, what do you guys want to do now?" the red-streaked blonde asked, sending a glance at both the Crimson Beauty and the Angelic Rose.

Amaru shrugged; she really didn't have much to offer as some sort of an activity since she rarely indulged in any sort of activity due to Uragiri's sex drive taking majority of her free time. She didn't really know what would be fun and what would be boring and thus, she kept her mouth shut and merely shrugged.

"What about a picnic?" Tayuya replied, eliciting a look of confusion from the Uzumaki.

"Picnic would be a good idea, I've heard that Konoha has some very enticing sights from a few green hills around the area" Amaru seconded, agreeing with the fellow redhead as the red-streaked blonde nonchalantly shrugged.

"Might as well. Yaya-chan, get the basket, cloth and some food from the apartment and once done, meet us at the Leaflet Hills" Naruto commanded as Tayuya froze, a twitch developing on her right eyebrow at the sudden command.

"Why are you ordering me to get the damn basket you fuck?" Tayuya shot back, a glare directed not on the Uzumaki but the other redhead next to the Uzumaki who immediately shuffled behind him upon realizing that the Crimson Beauty was glaring at her.

"Uh…coz you can get there faster?"

Naruto never liked to admit it out loud but he was damn certain that he would be easily outpaced by the taller redhead in any form of race; whether it be through tree climbing or a flat out foot race, she would easily leave him in the dust. He could only figure that the only reason as to how was due to her spending half of her training on water, keeping her legs constantly pumped to allow her to walk on water while engaging in an intense spar with Kyu.

An amused look crossed the crimson beauty's face as her arm lightly clocked the red-streaked ninja's shoulder.

"That's the first time I've heard you admit that I'm faster than you" Tayuya pointed out, a somewhat smug tone laced within her voice as Naruto pouted at her.

"Rub it in all you want later. We're burning daylight so just get the basket already!" Naruto responded, an annoyed expression on his face as Tayuya let out a laugh before leaping away, heading to the apartment complex she shared with the blonde.

Turning to the remaining redhead next to him, Naruto flashed her a smirk which caused a pink tint to stain itself across the angelic rose's cheeks.

"So..shall we?" Naruto asked as he gestured for her to take the lead.

"What are we even buying anyway?" Amaru replied as she complied with Naruto's gesture; walking down the path to the Markets.

"Probably something all three of us like. Maybe some sandwiches, cupcakes or dango" Naruto responded somewhat nonchalantly as he trailed next to her, his eyes glancing around at the selection of stores that lay around them.

"How would we keep the dango warm?" Amaru asked, her eyes landing on the cerulean orbs that belonged to the red-streaked blonde.

"I could just store it in a scroll and the scroll will maintain their property until it's unsealed" the last Uzumaki answered, waving the small scroll in front of her.

Amaru pondered it, seeing the problem easily handled with the simple scroll...but...

"Wait a minute, if you can just store it in a scroll, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the basket in the first place?"

"Basically, yeah"

"So why did you sent Tayuya-san to get the basket?"

Naruto sent her a small, somewhat sheepish smile as he ever so casually threw his arm around her, prompting butterflies to tickle her sensitive stomach and her heart raced as if she was running a marathon which was accompanied by the crimson tint that painted her cheeks.

"Well…I guess I just wanted it to be just us two for a bit"

Her breath hitched in her throat as she realized what he was implying.

Amaru was certain of her emotions and as such, was acutely aware that she really liked the red-streaked blonde next to her, there was no doubt or denial within that feeling when it hit her, she simply accepted it. But either way, there was no way that Naruto, her savior, be interested in her especially if there was Tayuya and Kyu latching on to him like Tsunade with a bottle of sake.

Still, what if Naruto really did like her?

Realizing that her pondering was just gonna end up leading up looping repeatedly about what if's and why's, Amaru sent a somewhat shy glance at the slightly blushing Uzumaki who glanced back at her orbs.

"W-why?"

A somewhat embarrassed expression crossed the red-streaked ninja's face as his blushed intensified his gaze upon her dark blue eyes suddenly intensifying, driving the butterflies within her stomach to flutter wildly as her heart thundered loudly in her chest.

"I…I ki-kinda…dammit, why is this so hard to say?"

Suddenly, the brief thought that Naruto did liker her was more and more likely.

"D-do y-you l-like me?" The Angelic Rose stuttered out, her body pushing away from him and took several steps away from him.

She noted that a brief flash of pain crossed his face as she stood her ground, eyeing the red-streaked ninja with an equal amount of intensity that the blonde was giving her. Despite pain that crossed his features, Amaru maintained her position.

The Angelic Rose was cautious and wary when it came to the matters of the heart; she considered love being the most important emotion that a human can possess and as such, taken steps to avoid heartache as she could. She had already loved in the past but the Lightning Devil had taken extreme measures to make sure she was his. She certainly didn't want to add this heroic, kind and caring ninja to that roster, especially if there is someone out there that loves him(*cough*Hinata*cough*Tayuya*). Granted that the red-streaked ninja had proven to her that he was able to defend not just himself but her as well from any kind of threat, there was no real reason for her to doubt his skills, especially since he was Konoha ninja, albeit a Genin. Despite being a strong ninja, she was absolute that if Naruto were to have a match to the death, the Uzumaki would flat out lose. Not that she didn't think that Naruto was an incompetent ninja, she was just stating that Uragiri was simply better. She had already seen Uragiri in combat, more than enough to know that the man would nearly kill Naruto within the first hit that connects. Still, Naruto has become stronger since the 'Chakra Infection' event so the red-streaked blonde might have a chance at winning against the Lightning Devil.

"A-and w-what if the answers yes?" Naruto spoke, knocking her out of her thoughts and back into the scenario at hand.

Her heart thudded rapidly in her chest as a lukewarm sensation drenched her insides, intensifying the butterflies that fluttered within her sensitive stomach before a sudden coldness tightened itself around her heart, recalling the heartbreaking feeling that poisoned her in the past.

What if Uragiri killed Naruto?

Amaru's heart wrenched, she wouldn't be able to take that, not when she started to hoping again.

But could she really deny the emotions that were clearly pooling from the blond or better yet, deny herself from hoping, living and loving again?

Finally settling on a decision, the angelic rose let out an annoyed sigh, catching the blushing Uzumaki's attention.

"Well, I hope you can admit it to me better than that!" Amaru spoke, her face turned away in a condescending manner, slightly stunning the blonde that was infront of her.

Realizing that she was waiting for a response, Naruto sprung into action, easily closing the distance between the two as he raised his hand, cupping the redhead's cheek as he leaned in, his blue orbs flashing with adoration while he maintained his stare at her as he stopped, his nose brushing against hers.

"I like you Ama-chan" The red-streaked blonde uttered, drawing out every word slowly as to make sure she didn't miss it.

Her cheeks warmed up, her crimson blush intensifying at the affection that was pooling from the blonde in waves.

"T-that's better" She uttered, a small sincere smile growing on her lips as Naruto flashed a tiny grin.

"S-so is that a yes or am I gonna have to cry my eyes out when I get home?"

A grin broke out from Amaru's lips as she embraced him, digging her head into his chest, slightly stunning the red-streaked blonde who momentarily froze up before his arms wrapped around her; returning the hug.

"U-unless the hug wasn't enough to get the point across, it's a yes Naru-kun" Amaru replied, casting her dark blue eyes to look up at his cerulean eyes.

"And to think I went to the trouble of sound-proofing my room and stocking it up with tissues…" Naruto commented offhandedly which caused the redhead in his arms to let out a soft, content giggle.

"B-baka, as if I could turn you down" The Angelic Rose replied as her arms tightened around him, an act that caused a small, content grin on the whiskered ninja.

"It must be my smoldering good looks ne?"

"Hush, you're ruining the moment"

"Whaddya know?! Naruto actually scored!" A voice cut in, destroying the moment as Naruto and Amaru turned to look at the source.

It was Kiba Inuzuka with a teary eyed Hinata and the ever so stoic Shino accompanied by the lazy Shikamaru, the hungry Chouji and of course, Konoha's gossip Queen, Ino who immediately rushed up to the duo, blasting away all sorts of questions, trying to pry information to no doubt spread across the village.

"How long have you guys been there exactly?" Naruto asked, an abashed expression crossed his face as Amaru dug her head deeper into his chest, not exactly wanting to see the set of eyes watching them.

"Long enough to know you got no pick up skills whatsoever" Shikamaru replied nonchalantly.

Naruto sweat dropped at his friends comment before Ino had dragged Amaru off him, blasting questions left and right as Amaru sent a desperate 'save-me' look to which Naruto face palmed , realizing that they were going to be here for awhile.

Zack: Okay so this was my first attempt at romance for awhile now so I hope it's good or atleast at standard level in comparison to my brother's romance writing. It's not as fluff or lovey-dovey as his since my writing is more realistic based and tend to gravitate to more down to earth scenarios but I think it got the job done. Anyway, it's probably gonna be awhile before I post another chapter but keep a look out in case I get some time to write down some.

As always, comments, criticism, questions are all welcomed; a writer likes to hear feedback on his work so please feel free to drop some review before you go.

S.O.S
(Signing Out Suckers)
Zackary Summers