The courtship of Naruto Uzumaki
XXXI. Konohamaru & friends?
Now that he had the perfect opportunity, Konohamaru brought his old friends to meet his new one.
He knew it had to be done sometime. He couldn't keep her to himself forever. Plus his old friends had been asking pointed questions—so pointed they were beginning to draw blood. Moegi in particular had been needling him about his new friend.
He knew she sensed a rival, but he didn't care. She'd become more and more annoying even before he'd met Naomi. She'd been acting extremely possessive and bossy. She thought she could make him jealous by lavishing Udon with all her attention, but it hadn't worked. He didn't feel in the least jealous of his best friend, and he wouldn't be manipulated by her tricks.
Why were girls so intense about staking out a boyfriend? He certainly didn't feel any particular need in attaching himself to one particular girl. He didn't want to get involved in all that boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Geez, they were only fourteen. They had plenty of time for all that. Why couldn't she just relax, and be friends? He was more interested in honing his ninja skills in preparation for one day becoming hokage to getting a girlfriend.
He'd tried to tell her that, but she didn't or wouldn't get it. Instead, she had to get all huffy and mad and mean about it. She had to show him. Only he still didn't see it. So basically, the only one who'd probably be getting hurt by this whole thing was Udon. He liked Moegi. He always had, but he'd kept it to himself until Moegi decided to use him against Konohamaru. She'd never shown him any particular interest until Konohamaru had started being difficult. Now they were practically a couple—as long as Moegi wanted them to be. Udon was wet clay in her hands.
Konohamaru couldn't care less about their pairing off, but he did find them annoying as a couple. Not only was Udon's fawning over Moegi nauseating, the whole thing was affecting their team. Udon had stopped looking on Konohamaru as the natural leader of their group, and was looking to Moegi for all his instructions. She seemed to be running things, and he didn't like it—not one bit. That fact made him glad that they were temporarily assigned to Neji's team. He didn't have to make an issue of the situation with Neji calling the shots. But when their team leader returned, he would definitely have it out with the two of them. He wouldn't have Moegi
ordering him around for no good reason, or pitting Udon against him. Her spiteful behavior wasn't good for the team.
He was glad Naomi had shown up when she did. It gave him more leverage against Moegi. It was her turn to be jealous if she wanted to be. He didn't care what she thought. He could have any friend he wanted, and he wanted Naomi as a friend. Moegi could just lump it.
No one had ever come between the three of them before, but he'd never met anyone like Naomi before. Of course, he might be influenced by her relationship to Naruto. He'd always liked, and admired Naruto, but Naomi did have interesting qualities of her own. She was pretty without being always conscious of it. She wasn't always staring at her reflection, and fluffing her hair. She was enthusiastic about being a ninja, and admiring of ninja skills. She was flattering without be obsequious. She was sweet without being cloying. Plus she was nice. He just liked her.
He wasn't sure if he wanted Moegi and Udon to dislike or like Naomi. Either way would probably be uncomfortable for him in some way. If they liked her then she and Moegi might become best friends which would be horrible. If they disliked her, he could easily keep her to himself, and not be involved in uncomfortable group stuff. He did not want to double date with Moegi and Udon—that's for sure. He didn't even want to think about dating yet—not with anyone. However, Naomi probably wouldn't want to be disliked, so he wouldn't be selfish. He'd hope Naomi was accepted. That would make her happy, and he wanted her to be happy. Girls were more fun when they were happy.
He led the way down to the records room. Moegi and Udon had never been in the far back of the building before. He felt a tinge of superiority that he was an insider to many more aspects of the ninja business than they were. It had helped greatly that he'd had the run of the place when his grandfather was alive. The honorable grandson had been allowed many liberties for which ordinary ninja children weren't given the opportunity. He'd never appreciated his special place in ninja society until it had been taken away. He was still the grandson of a hokage, just not the Hokage.
When he opened the door, he immediately observed Naomi with her head resting on her arm stretched across the only table in the room. At first she seemed asleep, but he knew she wasn't because of the slight swing of her crossed leg. She slowly turned her head when she heard the door open and close.
"Konohamaru!" she shrieked jumping up from her chair. "Thank you. Thank you. Please rescue me."
He gave Moegi and Udon a smirk. He was gratified by the reception he was receiving.
He held up his hands. "Hold on, Naomi, slow down. What's wrong?"
"I'm sooo bored! Please take me away from here!" she pleaded. With the appearance of Konohamaru, she knew that the big meeting was over, and Naruto was probably on guard duty so she couldn't sneak out to find him. If Konohamaru would take care of her for the afternoon, she'd be free of this tedious, boring, room for the rest of the day.
Why couldn't she run around free in the village? It wasn't like she could get lost. Why was Lady Tsunade holding her prisoner in this awful room? What was she protecting her from? All the attacks seemed to have occurred at night. Who would hurt her during the day?
He smiled in sympathy. He'd sure hate to be stuck in this room all day. Why was the Hokage being so mean about Naomi? "Of course, I will. I'll make it right with the Fifth. Come and meet my friends first."
Naomi suddenly noticed the two people lagging behind Konohamaru. They hadn't even penetrated her consciousness when he'd walked into the room. Her eyes had been fixed solely on her savior from boredom. Now she watched as a confident, attractive girl with bushy, auburn hair sauntered towards her. She was followed by a thin, wiry guy with puppy-like brown eyes, and a shy smile.
"Naomi, this is Moegi and Udon. They're my team mates—and friends," Konohamaru introduced proudly. He had a good team. They'd been friends since ninja school. He and Udon had been best friends even before that. Moegi's addition to their twosome had only strengthened their bonds in the beginning. It was only recently that she'd gotten this boyfriend bug stuck in her craw. He wanted everything back the way it was. He didn't like this division in their team.
"Hi. I'm so happy to meet Konohamaru's friends," she told them happily. She barely noticed Moegi's quickly seen then hidden frown or Udon's hesitant look in her direction. She wanted Konohamaru's friends to like her. Her life had been so lonely until she'd come to Konoha. Now she had a cousin, and she wanted to add as many friends as possible to that positive beginning.
Moegi said, "Ummm," while Udon said, "Ahhh." Neither response was very positive.
It was Konohamaru's turn to frown, but at his friends for their lack of welcome. He stared pointedly at them for a moment. Getting no reaction except a shrug from Moegi, and a blush from Udon, he gave his head a shake, and turned away from them. He was greatly disappointed in them.
"I think Moegi and Udon may have someplace else to be, but you and I can hang out together, Naomi," he said dismissing them with a wave of his hand.
Moegi wasn't about to leave the field to her rival. She knew she was being a bitch, but all Konohamaru ever talked about these days was Naomi. Just because she was Naruto's cousin, didn't impress Moegi. And she couldn't see any other attraction. She was short, skinny, and dressed like a boy. All she had going for her were bright, blue eyes, and sunny, blonde hair. Big deal! She looked just like Naruto. How was that attractive?
She recovered quickly, and pasted a big, fake smile on her face. "Of course, we don't have to be any place. We'll be happy to hang out with the two of you. Won't we Udon?"
Udon was fooled by Moegi's smile, so he gave Naomi a genuine one. "That's right. I'm not even tired yet."
"Oh I forgot. You had guard duty last night. You haven't had any sleep yet. Are you tired, Konohamaru?" she asked in disappointment.
"Not really," he lied stifling a yawn. Once they were out of this dark, stuffy room, he'd wake up again. "We can keep you company until Naruto gets off duty. Want to go to lunch with us?"
"Oh yes, I'll go anywhere as long as it's out of this room," she said fervently.
He laughed. "That's not very flattering. You should have said 'I'll go anywhere with you.' Your way sounds really desperate," he teased.
"I am desperate. I'll go anywhere with anyone if they'll just get me out of here. You don't know how awful it is." She didn't take him up on his little bit of flirtation. She was too interested in escaping to think about flirting. Besides she was suddenly feeling self-conscious. She wasn't getting that welcoming feeling meeting new people usually gave her. Everyone was smiling, but Konohamaru's friends didn't seem as warm as most of the people she'd met in Konoha. Naruto's friends were a lot more genuine than Konohamaru's.
The three ninja looked around the room. It was crowded with bookshelves stuffed with binders, boxes of files, one table, and one chair. Closed in. No windows. Dim light. Airless
and cramped. It wasn't a room designed for anyone active. It definitely wasn't a room suited to a ninja. They all wondered who usually was forced to work in this dungeon-like room. What had Naomi done to deserve this cruel and unusual punishment?
"C'mon. Let's get out of here," Konohamaru said quickly, and waved everyone towards the door, where they were able to escape into the narrow hallway which led them to the lobby of the ninja complex.
"What about Lady Tsunade?" Naomi asked anxiously. She wasn't worried for herself. She was used to being scolded by Lady Tsunade, but she didn't want to get anyone else in trouble—especially not her new friend.
"She probably already knows we've got you with us. Nothing gets past the Hokage," he told her airily. As one of the insiders, he knew that the Hokage had her way of knowing everything that went on in the ninja complex. If she wanted to stop them, she'd already be at the door. "If you're worried, I'll go tell her now that we're taking care of you."
"Maybe you should," she said gnawing her finger in worry. "I don't want her to get mad at you."
"She won't, but okay. Wait here."
He started for the stairs when she stopped him. "Maybe I should go with you," she said looking doubtfully at Moegi and Udon. She really didn't want to wait alone with them. She already felt uncomfortable just standing beside them.
"No, wait here. It'll be quicker if I go alone. I won't be long."
He gave her no chance to argue, before hurrying off.
Naomi felt her shyness return as she waited with the others. She put her hands behind her back so they wouldn't see her nervously toying with them. She pursed her mouth, and looked down at the floor rather than at their dark, intense eyes.
After a few long minutes, Moegi finally spoke.
"Soooo Naomi—how long do you plan to stay in Konoha?" she asked not subtly at all.
She looked up into critical brown eyes. "I don't know," she said hesitantly. She wanted to stay forever, but she didn't know what the Hokage had planned for her or if Naruto wanted her to stay. She didn't have any place else to go, so she could only hope they wanted her to stay.
"Is that so? Then—why don't you go just back where you came from?"
Konohamaru returned from his errand to a very tense group. Maybe he should have taken Naomi with him. He'd been too trusting that Moegi would say nothing unpleasant while he was gone. He thought she'd at least be polite. But he'd forgotten that she was a very competitive girl. That made her a good kunoichi, but not always a good friend. She'd obviously decided to dislike Naomi on sight without getting to know her first. He was very disappointed that his trust in her had been misplaced.
"What's going on?" he confronted his old friends standing between them and Naomi. "Moegi?"
"Nothing," Moegi said quickly trying to look innocent with a careless shrug. "We've just been waiting for you."
He didn't buy that for a moment. "Naomi?"
"Nothing," she echoed softly with Moegi's 'Why don't you just go back where you came from?' still ringing in her ears. Why didn't Moegi like her? She'd love to have a girl friend her own age. What had she done wrong?
He stared at her unhappy, downcast face then turned swiftly to his other friend. "Do you agree with that, Udon? Nothing happened while I was gone?"
His was another unhappy face. "I—ah—I—don't—ah—"
Moegi put her hands on her hips, and stood up to Konohamaru. She stared him in the face not even looking at Udon. "Udon, you don't have to answer him! Konohamaru has no authority over you," Moegi ordered.
Konohamaru crossed his arms over his chest, and stared her down. "And I suppose you do? Fine. I guess I made a mistake introducing Naomi to the two of you. You've certainly given her a great impression of Konoha hospitality. I hope you're happy with yourselves. I don't know if I want to stay on the same team with either of you after this."
"What?" Moegi stared at him in shock. "You'd break up our team over her?" She gestured disparagingly at Naomi.
"No, I'm not breaking it up over Naomi. I'm breaking it up because of you. What happened to you Moegi? You used to be a much nicer person. I used to like you. I don't even recognize you anymore," his voice dripped with his disapproval.
"You—you—you—stupid, idiotic oaf!" she yelled turning around to stalk off. "Udon! Are you coming with me or not?" she threw over her shoulder.
"Konohamaru—" Udon gestured helplessly. He hated this. Why couldn't they be friends anymore?
"You'd better go after her," he said dismissively.
Udon couldn't just leave without saying something. He might like Moegi more than any girl he'd ever know, but Konohamaru was still his best friend. Besides, he wasn't proud of his passive role in this thing. He should have said something when Moegi had behaved so rudely. He just didn't know how to stand up to her. "I'm sorry, Naomi. She isn't usually like this. She's just—I don't know—she's been moody lately. Let me talk to her. Please give her another chance. She's really a very nice girl," Udon told her earnestly.
"Udon! If you don't come this instant, I'll never speak to you again!" Moegi yelled from a distance.
"If you don't talk some sense into her, I won't forgive her," Konohamaru told him adamantly. "I will quit our team if I have to."
"I'll try. I'm really sorry, Konohamaru, Naomi." He looked really unhappy.
She felt sorry for him. "It's okay. I'll try not to hold today against her," she told him with a weak smile. It would be difficult, but she'd try for Konohamaru's and Udon's sake.
He smiled with relief. "Great. I'd better go. It was nice meeting you, Naomi. I'll talk to you later, Konohamaru."
"Yeah, right." He waved Udon on his way. He didn't turn to look after them until he was certain they were gone. What a disappointment! What was wrong with that girl? There had to be more to it than just his refusal to date her. Maybe Moegi was mad because she' been stuck on the front gate last night with him instead of being a part of the action. He'd been a little put out himself until he'd heard that Udon hadn't been included either, but Moegi hadn't been satisfied with that. She was such an ambitious girl. She didn't like being left out of anything. Like most of the kunoichi, she'd taken the Fifth seriously as her role model. She was even determined to follow Sakura's lead in developing medical skills.
"Did you really mean that?" Naomi asked worriedly as they slowly left the ninja complex.
"What?"
"That you'd quit your team?"
He stared off in the distance where his team mates had disappeared. "I don't know. Maybe. Moegi's just been so hard to deal with lately. I don't know what's gotten into her. She hasn't been acting like herself."
"Hormones."
"What?!" He looked at her startled by her response.
She slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Aunt Yukari used to say that about me whenever I contradicted her. She blamed my bad behavior on hormones as soon as I turned 13."
"You have an aunt? Where is she? Why didn't she come with you?" He was immediately distracted from talk of hormones. He knew what thoughts his own hormone development caused, and that wasn't something he wanted to discuss with Naomi.
"She died before I came here. She was very old. She'd been sick for a while. It wasn't exactly unexpected, but she left me completely alone."
"Is that why you came to Konoha? To find your other relatives?"
"Yes, but I didn't know I had any relatives until Aunt Yukari told me to come here when she was dying. I didn't know this was where my family came from. I didn't even know Aunt Yukari wasn't related to me until Lady Tsunade told me who she really was. She was very surprised that the wife of a hokage would end up in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere taking care of me all alone."
"The wife of a hokage? She must have been old. Which hokage?"
"Sarutobi. The Third Hokage," she answered absently.
"What?!" Konohamaru stared at her. His grandmother, Yukari Sarutobi, a grandmother he'd never met, had been alive, and taking care of Naomi Uzumaki all of his life. Why? Why hadn't she been taking care of him?
"Konohamaru? What is it?" She didn't like the way his face had paled.
"Yukari Sarutobi was my grandmother," he said in a flat, cold voice.
"Oh, no! I'm so sorry. I forgot. I wasn't supposed to tell you or anyone," she told him in a stricken voice. She'd totally forgotten that Konohamaru was a Sarutobi. She'd known him only as Konohamaru since the day she met him. Lady Tsunade's strictures on keeping the
information secret only now registered. She hadn't even known Konohamaru then. How was she supposed to remember that at a time like this?
"The Fifth knows all about it?" He frowned.
"No! No, not really. She didn't know anything until I told her about my life," she assured him. "She had no idea Aunt Yukari was still alive."
"Did my grandfather know where she was all this time? I wonder if my uncle knew. No one told me anything," he said bitterly. After the two of them had died he'd thought his only living relative was the almost three year old cousin Kurenai had given birth to. If he'd known about his grandmother he would have sought her out no matter what her reason for leaving the village. He would have wanted to meet her. He would have wanted her to be a part of his life. "Did she tell you anything? Anything about her family? About why she left Konoha? Why she was taking care of you?"
She shook her head regretfully. "I had no idea until I came here that she wasn't really my aunt. She told me nothing until she had no choice. She didn't want to leave me alone in Kuzu without her. She sent me here, but she only told me to go immediately to the Hokage. I don't even know the names of my parents. She always told me I'd learn about them when I was older."
"I don't understand this. What was she doing? I've got to talk to the Fifth."
"Now?" she asked in dismay.
"Yeah, now." His voice sounded harsh in his determination.
She shook her head. "Not me. I don't want to go back inside."
He frowned impatiently. "I shouldn't leave you alone. The Fifth might not like it."
"I'm not going back to that building. I hate it there. I'll go to the front gate, and wait for Naruto to get off duty," she told him stubbornly. In this mood, he was likely to just rush off, and leave her with Lady Tsunade. She wasn't about to get stuck in there again today.
"I should walk you there," he said hesitantly torn between duty and need.
"You don't have to. I know where it is. It's the way I got into Konoha when I first arrived. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Despite his distraction, he did worry a little. He felt guilty that he seemed to backing out of his promise to keep her company until Naruto was off duty. "I'll come back, and take you to lunch when I finish with the Fifth."
"You don't have to."
"I promised I would. I want to. I just need some answers from the Fifth first."
"Okay," she agreed, and waved him on his way. "Hurry back."
They hadn't gotten too far away from the ninja complex, but still he took off at a run. He wanted to catch the Hokage as soon as possible. She had a tendency to make herself scarce when she wanted to.
Naomi sighed.
If only she'd learned to keep her mouth shut. She should have known how to do that from having only her aunt for the first 14 years of her life to talk to, but apparently when given the opportunity she was a real chatterbox. Her aunt had never liked excessive chatter. Maybe that's why Naomi had talked aloud to herself whenever she was alone, and now found it so easy to talk to everyone. She wasn't meant to be a reclusive type. She was meant to be around people, to laugh and to talk—and not keep secrets. Did that mean she wouldn't make a good ninja? Ninja had to keep secrets. Maybe it was just one more skill she had to practice.
She gave this some thought as she made her way slowly towards the front gate, looking at everything around her as if with new eyes. She could actually look at things without Lady Tsunade rushing her into work every morning. If Konohamaru took his time, she'd be able to explore a little on her own since Lady Tsunade never gave her the opportunity.
She hoped Konohamaru wasn't too mad at Lady Tsunade. She didn't want him to get into trouble. It seemed like he could hold his own just like Naruto did, but she couldn't be certain of that. He was younger than Naruto, and not as experienced. And he seemed a little angry at being kept in the dark about his grandmother. Angry people said and did stupid things sometimes. She hoped Konohamaru wouldn't say or do anything stupid.
She worried about him intermittently in her exploration of the village.
Konohamaru left the ninja complex feeling frustrated, angry, unsatisfied, and sad.
The Hokage had apologized for not telling him about his grandmother sooner. She'd been hoping to find more information before letting him know. She'd been scouring old files left by his grandfather, but so far had found nothing to explain Yukari's existence in a remote village for the last 18 years instead of lying dead in her grave where everyone had thought her to be.
She'd turned his misplaced anger into more productive lines by asking him to search through his grandfather's papers at home for information. He'd asked about Naomi, but she had nothing to tell him on that front either. All she told him was that Naomi was conclusively a relative of Naruto's. Any other information regarding Naomi was none of his business unless it involved something he needed to know about his grandmother.
He had to be satisfied with those unsatisfactory answers, because she wouldn't divulge anything else. He finally left her office just barely containing himself from slamming the door shut to vent his anger. He did take some pleasure from kicking it out of his way as he left the room.
He wasn't normally given to dwelling in melancholy or anger so he'd shaken off this mood by the time he reached the front gate. He was looking forward to pumping Naomi for information about the grandmother he never knew. Only she could tell him what Yukari Sarutobi was like, because his grandfather never mentioned her, and Konohamaru had been too young when he'd died to think about long dead relatives.
When he reached the front gate, Botan was practicing his chakra control while Naruto was abstractedly watching his temporary apprentice as well as the front gate.
"Hey, Naruto, where's Naomi?" he greeted after Naruto grinned, and waved at him.
"Naomi? Isn't she at the ninja complex under the Hokage's eagle eye?"
"No. She was supposed to meet me here. We were going to lunch after I talked to the Fifth. She was afraid the Fifth would make her go back to work so she said she'd wait here."
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in alarm. "You left her alone! She isn't supposed to be alone. What were you thinking?"
He got defensive. "What do you mean? Why can't she be alone? She's as old as I am. She's perfectly capable of walking around the village in broad daylight."
"The Fifth doesn't want her wandering around by herself especially when we've got a killer on the loose. Damn it, Konohamaru! You aren't supposed to be alone with her anyway."
"What do you mean by that?" he demanded scowling at Naruto.
"You shouldn't be flirting with her. She's too young."
Konohamaru turned red. "What are you talking about? I was just being friendly. What do you think I'd do—run off with her?"
"No! No! Of course not!" he sputtered, but that was exactly what he'd thought somewhere in the back of his mind, and the Hokage had only reinforced that idea.
"What do you think I am—some kind of playboy? I haven't even been on a date yet!" he insisted, but didn't reveal that it wasn't because he hadn't been asked.
"Damn it, Konohamaru! She's my cousin. I have to watch out for her. What am I supposed to do stuck here at the gate?" Naruto demanded angry and anxious, and trying to change the subject."
"I don't believe you don't trust me," he said angrily.
"I do. It's just I've never been responsible for a kid before let alone a girl. It makes me think weird things. Sorry, if I misjudged you."
Konohamaru stared at him a moment. For two ryous, he'd stalk off, and leave Naruto to figure out what to do—but he was worried about her, too. And he felt responsible for her disappearance. "I'll go find her. Don't worry."
"You better," he said gruffly. "Bring her back here when you find her. If I don't hear from you in 20 minutes, I'm contacting the Hokage. Your ass will be grass then."
"Okay, okay. I'll find her." He said then took off. He'd thought her safe enough to find her way to the front gate. Why wasn't she here? Naruto's worry suddenly made him more anxious.
Where are you, Naomi?