Chapter 16: Sort of Sleepover
A/N: Sorry it's taken me a while to update this story. I suffered a case of writers block and focused on my other stories. But since I finally managed to get an idea, I decided to write it out before I forget.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or Naruto; I just own my oc's while Bakuto Masaki owns his.
Enjoy!
/
When everyone went on a mission, it was really hard for Naruto. That meant that no one was in the house and he was all by himself. He didn't mind being alone, but after living with a huge family lately it really bothered him. He always felt happy that there were people out there who cared about him because he was himself. They didn't mind that he had a demon sealed up inside of him. They made him feel loved.
So when he heard that everyone was out on a mission today, he couldn't help but feel sad. He would have to be alone. He would have to feel the negative energy that everyone in the village gave off when they saw him. He would feel like the monster that he was.
And that was something he didn't like feeling.
/
Mikomi was practically a wreak as she gushed over Naruto. She felt so guilty for leaving Naruto alone while she and Cloud had to go on a mission.
She pressed her face against his and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so, so sorry about this!" she cried.
"We'll be home as soon as possible!"
Naruto gave her a weak smile. He knew that his sister hated being away from him for so long. If she had it her way, she would take missions that were around the village, rather than other nations. But Tsunade's word was law, so she had to follow orders.
Cloud ruffled his hair when Mikomi let him go.
"Are you sure you'll be ok by yourself?" he asked.
"You can always head back to the bar and be with Denzel and Marlene"
Naruto shook his head.
"I'm fine" he said.
"Plus I need to clean my apartment. I should be alright"
Mikomi and Cloud cringed. They hated leaving Naruto by himself. Every time they did, he would go to his apartment and feel miserable for the rest of the day. He really knew how to play the guilt trip on them.
"Do you need cash for dinner tonight?" Cloud asked.
Naruto shook his head.
"Nah, I have instant ramen in my fridge" he said.
"I should be good for the night"
Cloud and Mikomi looked at each other for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"Ok. If you say so"
They both hugged him tightly to the point that Naruto thought that his eyes would pop out.
"We'll hurry back home, we promise" Mikomi said.
"In the meantime, just stay out of trouble and call us if you need us"
Naruto nodded.
"I will" he said.
"Be safe"
He watched as they quickly ran out of the house and headed for their mission.
Naruto looked around at the now empty house. He sighed sadly and picked up his overnight bag before leaving the house himself.
He didn't want to stay in that empty house anymore than he did now.
/
Naruto's mind was in a blur as he walked down the streets. He tried to think of ways to keep himself occupied while he waited for his brother and sister came back from their mission.
"I guess I can clean my apartment out" he thought.
"Who knows how long it's been messy. And I guess I can play a few video games or watch TV. And to top it all off, eat tons of instant ramen until I throw up"
As he was walking, he failed to notice that he bumped into someone until he did.
He staggered a bit from the impact, but managed to stay on his feet.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Yuffie cried.
Naruto looked up at the Wutai ninja in surprise.
"Yuffie?"
Yuffie blinked a bit before laughing nervously.
"Oh, it's you Naruto" she said.
"Sorry about that. I thought you were just some random guy"
Naruto laughed a little. He always considered Yuffie as his partner in crime. She always knew when to pull a prank of someone and was always successful with it.
He stopped laughing when he noticed Yuffie carrying a traveling pack.
That could only mean one thing.
"Yuffie? Are you going on a mission?"
The Wutai ninja nodded.
"Yep! I just got my orders from Granny Tsunade!"
She too, picked up Naruto's nickname for Tsunade.
"What about you? Aren't you going on a mission?"
Naruto frowned and shook his head.
"Nah. I'm heading for my apartment" he said.
"Ni-san and Nee-chan are on a mission and I don't want to stay in the house alone"
Yuffie raised an eyebrow.
"Alone?" she asked.
"But I thought someone was at the house"
Naruto shook his head.
"Nope. Everyone is on missions" he said.
Yuffie's face fell as she heard that.
Naruto quickly put on a fake smile.
"But don't worry about it!" he said.
"I've got plans made already! I'll be so busy, that I won't know when Nee-chan and Ni-san will come back"
He walked off and waved to her.
"See you later, Yuffie!" he said.
"Good luck on your mission!"
Yuffie sluggishly waved back as she saw Naruto walk away.
Naruto sighed as he faced the street in front of him. Even Yuffie was on a mission. It seemed that nobody would be stuck at the house for a while. Which meant he would have to stay at his apartment a lot.
This was going to be a long night.
/
Naruto closed the door when he stepped into his apartment. It had been such a long time since he had been here that dust coated the floor.
Looks like he was going to spend a long time cleaning.
"Home, sweet home" he said sarcastically.
He went over to the window and opened it up. It was so stuffy in here that a little fresh air did the trick.
He leaned against his window sill and looked at his apartment. He almost forgot how tiny it really was. His bed too most of the space in here and there was barely any room for the little table that was in his little kitchen. And he was surprised that he even managed to have a bathroom squeezed into the space.
The village really went out to make him feel welcomed here. They gave him one of the crappiest apartments in the village.
He went over to his bed and flopped onto the mattress. Dust rose up from not being used in a long time. It was still as uncomfortable as he remembered and was as bulky as ever.
Turning to his side, he looked over at his side table where it was littered with pictures. He had his usual Squad 7 pictures with his sensei and teammates as well as a few of Yuri and Mikomi. But the ones that littered the tiny table were of him with AVALANCHE. Ever since they became a part of his life, he took as many pictures with him as he could. He had pictures of when he stayed at Edge. Pictures of him riding with Cloud on his motorcycle. Pictures of them celebrating his birthday. Pictures of him with the whole gang. And of course, pictures of him with his brother and sister.
He picked up a picture frame that contained a picture of him with Cloud and Mikomi. They wanted to take a nice family picture, but Naruto had to be rebellious and painted his face in tribal markings and made funny faces.
He chuckled when he looked at the annoyed faces of Cloud and Mikomi. They were so pissed that he did that. They chewed him out after Yuri took the picture.
Yep, those were the good old days. Sure, his brother and sister tended to be bossy with him and treated him like a child. But at least he knew that they loved him enough that they just wanted to protect him.
He closed his eyes as he thought of them.
He knew that they would be back from their mission soon, but what if they didn't? What if something bad happened to them and they would never come back? Then he would really be alone. Even if Yuri and the others were there for him; his brother and sister wouldn't. He wouldn't have his family anymore.
He clenched his eyes tightly.
"Nee-chan, Ni-san" he thought.
"I don't care how long it takes you, but please come back. Please don't leave me alone"
His eyes snapped open when he heard someone knocking at his door.
He never got visitors, so who would be bothering him?
Secretly pulling out a Kunai, he tip toes towards the door. He didn't know who was on the other side, but he wasn't going to take his chances.
Gripping the blade tightly, he swung the door open and prepared himself to face his attacker.
However, the person that he saw at the door threw him off completely.
Yuffie smiled brightly as she waved.
"Hey, Naruto!" she said.
She stepped inside and dropped her bag on the floor.
Walking into the apartment, she admired the view.
"So this is what your apartment looks like" she said.
"It's way messier than my room"
Naruto stared at her dumbfounded.
"Yuffie?"
The Wutai ninja giggled.
"The one and only!" she cheered.
Naruto closed the door and looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Yuffie smiled.
"I'm crashing at your place!" she said.
Naruto blinked.
Crashing over here?
"But what about your mission?" he asked.
"I thought you had to go on one?"
Yuffie snorted and waved her hand at him.
"I gave it to Reno" she said.
"I've been given missions all week and I needed a break. So, I decided to stay over here!"
Naruto just looked at her stupidly.
She gave up a mission, just so she could stay here?
"But you could have gone to the house" he said.
Yuffie rolled her eyes.
"As if" she said.
"You know the rules. The first person who comes back from a mission has to clean the whole house up. I'm not cleaning that joint all by myself. It'll take me hours! So, instead of heading back to the house where I would have to clean, I decided to crash here at your apartment"
She gave him the puppy eyes.
"That is, if you don't want me to" she said.
Naruto quickly shook his head.
"No, no, no! It's fine!" he said.
"I'm just surprised that you wanted to stay here"
Yuffie smiled again.
"Ok, good" she said.
"I wasn't going to leave even if you told me too"
She pulled out a sleeping bag and unrolled it.
"Man, I never expected your place to be so small" she said.
"You hardly have room to walk around"
Naruto laughed nervously.
"Yeah, well now you understand why I don't stay here as much" he said.
"I still have to clean here"
Yuffie pumped her fist.
"Well, I guess I can help" she said.
"This place isn't as nearly as big as the house, so this should be done quickly"
Naruto smiled a little. It was nice that Yuffie wanted to stay here with him. Heck; she even offered to help clean up the place.
There was no way that he would let that offer go to waste.
"Alright! Let's get to work!"
They spent the next half hour cleaning up the place. Naruto was glad that he had someone to help him tidy up him apartment. Now he wouldn't have to spend half of the day fixing everything up.
By the time that they were done, it was already dusk.
Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead. He smiled when he saw how clean the apartment was. Not a single speck of dust was seen and the floors were so shiny that you could see your reflection on it.
Yuffie smiled.
"Now this places looks a lot better" she said.
Naruto nodded and put a dirty rag in the basket of dirty clothes.
"This should stay clean for about a month or two" he said.
Yuffie snickered at that.
"My room stays this clean for only a week" she said.
The two of them laughed for a bit until their stomachs growled.
"Looks like its dinner time" Yuffie said.
Naruto went into his little kitchen and pulled out several cartons of instant ramen.
"I was going to save this for a special occasion, but since I have company, I guess now's the best time for it"
Yuffie laughed when she saw how much ramen he had.
"Wow, 'Komi-chan was right. You are nuts about ramen"
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.
"Hey! Ramen is good!" he said.
"If you don't like it, then don't eat it"
Yuffie held her hands up in mock surrender.
"Sorry, sorry" she said.
"Didn't know you were so into your ramen. But then again, your name is Naruto" (A/N: for those of you who don't know, 'Naruto' are little fish cake like pieces that they put in ramen. Or at least that's what I've heard.
Naruto just opened up the containers and poured hot water into them.
"Ramen is easy to make and doesn't make a big mess" he said.
"Plus, it's really tasty"
Yuffie laughed as she sat near the tiny table. She was surprised that two chairs could fit in the tiny kitchen.
"This place is way too tiny for someone as hyper as Naruto" she thought.
Naruto brought the ramen over when it was ready and handed Yuffie a cup while he took the other.
"As much as I prefer freshly cooked ramen, there's nothing wrong with the ones in the cup" he said.
"Even if they taste like Styrofoam"
Yuffie laughed and broke her chopsticks in half before devouring half of the noodles in the cup. Naruto did the same and finished his first cup in less than a minute. The two of them laughed and enjoyed their meal. Yuffie would make funny faces using her chopsticks while Naruto would just laugh at her.
Naruto smiled as he opened his tenth ramen cup. He had expected spending the day all by himself, but instead, he spent it with Yuffie. He didn't know why she suddenly decided to skip her mission, but he was grateful of her.
"Thanks for this, Yuffie" he said.
Yuffie raised an eyebrow at him.
"What do you mean?" she asked between mouthfuls.
Naruto chuckled a little.
"I meant staying here with me" he said.
"I know you had a mission, but it made me happy that you skipped it just so you could be with me. You didn't have to, but it means a lot to me. Thanks"
Yuffie swallowed the noodles and gave him a goofy smile.
"Aw, don't be like that" she said.
"You're one of my best friends. Of course I would hang out with you. Who else would help me pull pranks on Cid?"
She smiled softly for a moment.
"And besides, I owe your sister a lot" she said.
"She was the first person to tolerate me, even though I tend to be obnoxious. She showed me that it's alright to be me, so long as it makes me happy. She was my best ninja buddy"
She smiled brightly.
"And since you're her brother, that makes you my second ninja buddy!" she cheered.
"I'm able to be myself around you and I don't have to get a lecture about it. That's what makes me happy"
Naruto looked stunned. He didn't know Yuffie could be so compassionate.
He laughed a little and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, if hanging with me makes you happy, then feel free to do it" he said.
Yuffie pumped her fist.
"You damn right I will!" she said.
"Now let's kick this night off with some TV!"
Naruto cheered and turned on his TV so they could watch some movies.
/
"Sorry you have to sleep on the floor, Yuffie"
Yuffie just waved it off and she got into her sleeping bag.
"It's cool" she said.
"I always slept on an air mattress back at Seventh Heaven. This is nothing"
Naruto adjusted his sleeping cap and lay on his side.
It had gotten pretty late and the two of them became really tired. They wore themselves out by eating loads of ramen and watching comedy films.
Yuffie yawned and flopped down in her sleeping bag.
"If skipping missions are going to be like this, then I have to do this more often" she said.
Naruto laughed a little before he yawned.
He looked at his clock to see that it was one in the morning.
"I wonder where Nee-chan and Ni-san are?"
Despite all of the fun he had, he was still worried about his brother and sister. They still didn't come back from their mission, so he wondered if they were ok.
Yuffie waved her hand at him.
"They're fine" she said.
"Cloud is stubborn like a mule. He won't let anything happen to Mikomi or himself. We'll see them in the morning"
Just then, a knock came from the door.
"Who the hell could that be at this time?" Yuffie asked.
She pulled out her giant shuriken and crept to the door. Peering through the eye hole, she gasped when she saw who was on the other side and quickly opened it.
Cloud and Mikomi stumbled into the room looking tired and worn out. They looked like they ran a marathon to get here.
Naruto jumped out of his bed and ran to them.
"Nee-chan! Ni-san!"
He hugged them tightly which they returned with equal force.
Mikomi rubbed her face against his while Cloud ruffled his hair.
"We're so sorry we took so long" Mikomi said.
"We came back as soon as we could"
Naruto lead them to the kitchen where they sat at the table.
Cloud rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked like he was fighting to stay awake.
"Were you ok by yourself?" he asked.
Naruto smiled and nodded.
"I was fine, but I wasn't alone" he said.
"Yuffie is staying over"
That was when the two of them finally noticed the Wutai ninja.
Yuffie smiled and waved to them.
"Hi!" she said.
"Boy, you two look like crap"
Mikomi blinked a little.
"Yuffie? What are you doing here?" she asked.
Yuffie giggled.
"I came to keep Naruto company" she said.
"I just couldn't leave him alone, so I decided to sleepover here"
Mikomi and Cloud looked at each other for a moment before looking at Yuffie.
"You would really do that?" Mikomi asked.
Yuffie nodded.
"Of course!" she said.
"Naruto is my friend too! I'm willing to hang out with him"
Mikomi smiled tiredly. It made her happy that her friends thought so highly of Naruto.
Cloud stifled a yawn and rest his head on the table.
"That's good" he said.
Next thing they knew, he was out like a light.
Mikomi soon followed after and was snoring like a long on the kitchen table.
Naruto sweat dropped when he saw his siblings passed out in his kitchen.
Yuffie pulled out a few blankets and covered them with it.
"We'll leave them alone for now" she said.
"I'm getting tired anyway"
Naruto nodded and yawn. It was a long day, even though he just hung out with Yuffie.
Yuffie climbed into her sleeping bag while Naruto hoped into bed.
The ninja looked at Yuffie for a moment.
"Thanks for today, Yuffie" he said.
Yuffie smiled and pumped fists with him.
"Hey, we're friends" she said.
"We can do this all of the time"
Naruto smiled and closed his eyes.
He thought that he would spend his day being alone. But Yuffie fixed it by staying over at his place.
It made him feel great that he had such awesome friends.
/
A/N: I figured since we don't see a lot of Yuffie, why not do a chapter with her in it.
I hoped you guys liked this.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Ja ne!