I'm back again, I'm still sick and I feel lightheaded but I got you with this chapter before i forget. But first, let me do these responses:
TheBearededAssHat: Deal with it champ. I don't open my ears to simply foul reviewers.
CainSanity2016: Seraph and I write quite a bit alike in terms of writing style in general, but length is dependent on what needs to happy in that specific chapter. Some will be longer than others, but usually the length will hover around the same lengths as some of these first few chapters.
bankai777: No, Yugao gonna be a team leader. She's remaining in the ANBU.
DeathDemonWolf: How Yugito got here and by what means is already set in stone by this chapter that was written by the author before me. So you'll find your answer below and I'll hope you like it or can deal with it, because I'm leaving these first six untouched.
Friaku & Guest: I'll keep up as good of work as I can and I hope you enjoy the following chapter.
All 6 reviews responded (check)
Chapter (check)
I'll let you guys get down to the refresher.
Worth Protecting
Chapter 3: Citizenship
Naruto drowsily opened his eyes only to be blinded by the morning rays of the rising sun that shown across the horizon. The radiance of the sun after the darkness of the night seemed to signal the awakening of the world as Naruto was instantly greeted by the sound of chirping and chattering wildlife, the rushing waters of a nearby river and the light sound of the wind sweeping across the barren streets of Konoha and through the trees surrounding the village.
A small smile of relaxation appeared on Naruto's face as he strew his arm over his eyes to shield them from the beams of light, feeling as it heated the fabric of his clothing. Naruto let out a content sigh only to feel it slightly restricted by a warm weight that he just realized was on his mid-chest. Naruto felt tempted to check what it was, but he weighed that the value of his relaxation was far greater than his curiosity.
Naruto would have been able to ignore this soft pressure on his chest, but then... it moved. Naruto's curiosity went from ignorable to unbearable as he could no longer contain himself. Naruto's eyes flew open as he bent his head towards his chest to get a good look at what had interrupted him from one of his more enjoyable hobbies. The somnolent blond instantly regretted this action as his eyes were left vulnerable to the unrelenting light rays of the sun. Naruto groaned in annoyance as he blinked rapidly, allowing his eyes time to adjust.
As Naruto's eyes adjusted, the preliminary blur he saw began to take shape. When Naruto finally got a clear picture, a deep, scarlet blush tainted his cheeks almost instantaneously. The warm weight that was laid out on his chest turned out to be, unexpectedly enough, Yugito.
Yugito was facing Naruto, giving the blond boy a view that showcased her beauty. Yugito was coated in an ethereal glow as the sun shown on her back, bringing out the natural shine to her hair, the creamy, peach color to her skin and her pink lips which were ever so slightly parted to reveal a small bit of her bright white teeth. Naruto's eyes then moved onto her body which he noticed was rather curvacious under her clothing for her age. Naruto noticed Yugito's toned muscles that came from training to be a kunoichi and as he looked at her arms, he trailed one of them up to the hand, only to see that it was entangled in his hair.
Naruto gulped as he realized their close proximity and the blush that stained his cheeks grew a few shades darker as his mind wandered. When he finally did manage to come to his senses, he found himself extremely confused about how he should feel about his predicament. A part of him said the he should just lay back and enjoy the moment, while another part told him to try and retreat as quickly as he could.
Naruto had just recently discovered how women reacted when they were put in an uncomfortable position and if Yugito was to wake up and found herself this close to him, she could possibly maim him. Even if Naruto desired to remove Yugito off of him, the last thing he wanted to do was suddenly wake her up from her peaceful slumber.
Judgment was already being passed before Naruto could come to a decision as Yugito's eyes fluttered open. Naruto's breathing hitched in fear as Yugito rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes, letting off a tired yawn before her gaze fell on Naruto. What happened next was unexpected by the both of them as Naruto found himself momentarily mesmerized by Yugito's cat-like, beautiful purple eyes while Yugito was hypnotized by Naruto's deep blue ones.
They remained in this stasis position for a good couple minutes before they finally snapped themselves out of it and finally brought their attention back to the position they were in. Yugito's body was still pressed on to Naruto's and their faces were only a couple inches apart, probably less.
Yugito hastily removed herself off of Naruto while Naruto scooted slightly away from her, both of them clearing their throats loudly and awkwardly. "Uhm, yeah. Good morning, Yugito," Naruto managed to say in a calm, steady voice that betrayed any sign of how erratically his heart was beating.
"G-good m-morning to you too, Naruto." Yugito mentally cursed herself for stuttering as it showed how affected she was by what had just occurred. An uncomfortable silence came upon the two soon after, neither knowing what to say.
"So... what do you want to do today?" Naruto spoke first, being the more confident and brash of the two. Yugito was mentally thankful that Naruto had decided to speak first, but his question left her with a complete blank as she shrugged in response, not yet trusting her voice to come through for her.
"I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Naruto commented just before his stomach growled, which only emphasized his point as he jumped to his feet. Naruto was so focused on the streets of Konoha below that he did not notice the surprised look that came upon Yugito's face.
Yugito knew that they had not technically eaten in awhile, having been asleep, but for someone to be hungry as soon as they woke up was weird frankly. Yugito had to admit that she had a rather large appetite, but unlike Naruto, hers took some time to set in after waking up. What Yugito heard next made her wonder about Naruto's diet.
"Ichiraku Ramen! Here I come!" Naruto shouted to the heavens upon seeing his favorite shop open up, using his keen, super-human sense of sight. The ecstatic blond boy began bounding down the back of the Hokage Monument and, in his happy, single-minded goal to get ramen, forgot about Yugito!
"Naruto! Wait for me!" Yugito whined with a surprised expression as she began to leap from ledge to ledge just as Naruto had, using their academy level training.
Teuchi took a deep breath of the crisp morning air as he unlatched the lock that kept the rusty iron curtain in place before lifting the curtain up. How long had he been in business? 'Far longer than I can remember,' Teuchi mused to himself as he stepped in and behind the counter, arranging the appliances for the new business day.
"Ichiraku Ramen! Here I come!"
A warm smile appeared on Teuchi's face as he instantly recognized the voice and traced it to the Hokage Monument where the old man's eyes settled on the Yondaime Hokage's head. A nostalgic smile came upon the old man's face as he remembered a young Minato Namikaze constantly visiting his store. Now the old chef had a similar looking blond as a regular customer. Maybe that was why he gave Naruto a chance when nobody else in the village would?
While Teuchi was in his silent contemplations, he nearly missed the entrance of Naruto and Yugito who took the same seats as yesterday and greeted the old man. Snapping himself back to the present, Teuchi greeted the blond duo, "Good morning, Naruto, Yugito. I assume it will be the same as yesterday?"
The inquiry was meant more for Yugito since Naruto was definitely going to order the same thing. Yugito's response came in the form of a nod and a small smile. "Good. One moment and I'll get started," the elderly shopkeeper stated as he retreated to the supply room in the back to retrieve the ingredients he would need to concoct fresh bowls of ramen.
Yugito remained silent until she was positive the owner of Ichiraku Ramen would be unable to hear her before she turned to Naruto and spoke in a whisper, "Is ramen all you ever eat?" Yugito found Naruto's eating habit extremely unhealthy and wanted to talk to him about it, but if Teuchi heard her, he might be falsely led into believing that she did not enjoy his food which was actually far from the truth. Ichiraku Ramen's ramen was the best ramen she had ever tasted in her life!
Naruto scarcely gave the question a moment's thought before he answered it with a huge grin and a cheerful tone, "Yep!"
Yugito chuckled lightly at his response as she decided to simply drop it since, in the end, she was no better. Back in Kumogakure, there was a sushi bar that looked much like Ichiraku Ramen and she used to engorge in their tekkadon. Yugito giggled to herself when she thought about the insane levels of food she and Naruto ate and how little weight they put on, if any at all.
When Teuchi had finally made four dozen bowls of ramen, he proceeded to place the dish in front of the duo only to experience a feeling of deja vu as he watched the saucers disappear one by one as the blonds scarfed it down, hardly chewing between each mouthful.
In an unbelievably small amount of time, ramen bowls were once again piled high into the air, blocking Teuchi's view of his favorite customer and his new friend. Naruto and Yugito patted their stomachs with a content smile on their faces. "So, how much do I owe you, Jii-san?" Naruto repeated the same question he usually asked when he finished his meals at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Don't worry about it, Naruto. It's on the house today as well," Teuchi assured the blond who once again erupted into a loud series of thank yous that the old shopkeeper waved off until Naruto and Yugito left with a wave of good-byes. Yugito had to say that the generosity of the elderly cook was shocking to her, but it also gave her a warm feeling in her heart when she realized that some people really did care for Naruto.
Instead of asking Yugito where she wanted to go before planning a destination like what usually happened, Naruto seemed to have a place already in mind as he began walking in a predetermined direction without a word. Yugito followed close behind, curious of where Naruto was going as she questioned him about it, "So Naruto, where are we going?"
"I have to stop by my apartment to repair a sink and replace a door that a certain 'somebody' broke!" Naruto commented, stressing the second to last word in the sentence with a clear, undertone of annoyance. Yugito got the message as a blush formed on her cheeks, feeling embarrassed and a little bit ashamed of what she had done. She was not versed in the way of the handy-man, so she would not be able to help Naruto in his home improvements.
Naruto arrived in front of his apartment to find the battered sink embedded in the ground where he had left it. "You can wait inside, Yugito. I'll be right up after I get a few things I need," Naruto suggested, deciding not to make Yugito feel bad for putting him through this labor. Naruto had sensed her down mood since he had commented on the repairs and decided to stop after that.
Yugito nodded as she quietly walked up the stairs to the open entrance of the abode, deciding to stay out of Naruto's way until he had completed his task. Naruto sighed at Yugito's depressing mood, but decided to worry about it later as he pulled out a small set of keys and proceeded to go down a couple steps under the apartment where their was one rusty, metallic door that led to the basement.
Naruto inserted the key into the lock and with one turn and a resounding click, the creaky door flew open as Naruto flipped on the light switch. This basement contained a vast array of tools, pieces of wood in a variety of sizes, screws of different lengths, certain spare home features, a large collection of cleaning supplies and in the very back, an enormous amount of different color paint.
Naruto placed the keys back into his front pocket as he stepped into the medium-sized basement and began to scan the many shelves for what he would need. First, he retrieved a box that contained an assortment of tools from the bottom shelf and carried it by its convenient handle. Naruto than walked to the cluster of screws and took a couple boxes of different lengths and placed it within the tool box before delving deeper into the underground room. Naruto browsed through the different dimensions of wood until he found a spare door made for his apartment. Finally, carrying the replacement door under his free arm, Naruto retreated to the back of the basement and took a can of paint that had the same color as his walls and held it by clenching his teeth on the handle before grabbing a rolling brush and a tray.
Having collected everything he would need, Naruto stepped out of the basement and closed the door behind him, not bothering to lock it as he would have to return the remainders of the supplies later. Soon after stepping back onto the streets of Konohagakure after exiting the basement, Naruto walked over to the disassembled sink and using his foot, launched it into the air and caught it on his back. Now having completely everything on his person, Naruto tediously walked up the steps, straining himself not to drop anything since his arm span was not as long as he would have liked it to be.
In about a minute or so, Naruto walked back into his apartment and began to set down everything he needed on the ground one by one as Yugito watched in amazement, finding it surprising that Naruto could carry so much in one trip given his rather small stature. Although she did not say anything to him about it, Naruto was on the short-side, being shorter than even she was.
Before beginning the process of fixing the sink or door, Naruto stepped out of his apartment and grabbed the dented door before launching it, with accurate precision, into the decayed dumpster against the complex's side wall. Satisfied when he heard the sharp clang of wood hitting metal, Naruto strolled back inside and grabbed the tool box and detached sink as he walked into the kitchen area.
Naruto inserted the sink back into the slot in the counter that it had been ripped out of and using four screws and a hammer, fastened it back into the counter so it would not be easily ripped out again. Naruto proceeded to replace the hammer and screws back in the box before taking out a wrench and bending down to get under the sink where he aligned and attached the severed pipelines.
After about ten to twenty minutes of working on the pipes, Naruto exhaled deeply as he wiped a few droplets of sweat off his brow as he turned on the sink and watched with a sense of pride and achievement as watered streamed out of the faucet undisturbed. Naruto continued to place his hands under the flowing water as he splashed the cold liquid on his face, refreshing himself to begin repairing the door. An impressed expression came upon Yugito's face as she looked at the repaired sink, think to herself how capable of a person Naruto actually was.
Naruto, after rejuvenating himself with the cool tap water, returned to his work, replacing the wrench in the tool box before carrying it back to the other supplies. Leaving the tool box open, Naruto took the spare door and with some difficulty and a couple minutes, managed to place it perfectly within the opening and using a screwdriver, a hammer and a couple screws, fastened the hinges to the door.
Naruto tested the door by opening and closing it repeatedly. Seeing that the door had been properly situated, Naruto strode to the kitchen, grabbed a large roll of paper towels and began to cover the ground near the door with it so that the few droplet of paint that would drip to the ground would not hit the wooden floor.
Having prepared everything, Naruto finally decided that he should begin painting as he popped of the lid and began to pour the thick liquid into the tin tray. The blond handy-man followed to dab his brush into the dye before he began to coat the door. This paint would only require one layer, which was good as Naruto did not have the patience to repeat it several times.
The entire procedure only took a couple minutes, but, thankfully, by the time it was completed, the door matched the color of the walls and was fully functional. Naruto had finished packing up all the tools and left over paint and was carrying them downstairs as Yugito was once again left in awe at how Naruto had managed to make all the repairs on his own.
'I guess when you live alone, you have to know how to do these type of things. Seeing how the villagers treat him, he wouldn't be able to get help even if he wanted it... but he wouldn't have had to do it if I hadn't overreacted in the first place,' Yugito thought as her mood once again deteriorated and she felt like a burden to her kind host.
Arriving back at his apartment, after replacing the supplies back in the basement, Naruto closed the door, careful not to get paint on him, before turning around to feel more than notice Yugito's brooding. "Is something wrong, Yugito?" Naruto questioned worriedly. Yugito had been energetic and happy for pretty much the entire time he had met her, so seeing her like this was worrisome.
"I'm just a burden to you, aren't I?" Yugito said in a depressed tone, her eyes taking a darker tone as she refused to look Naruto in the eye. This also kept her from seeing the expression of sheer confusion that manifested on Naruto's face.
"A 'burden'! What the hell gave you that idea!" Naruto demanded more than asked for an answer, finding the reason for Yugito's sadness to be infuriating. Yugito was probably Naruto's closest friend despite only knowing her for two days and he had never been this happy before. How could somebody that made him this happy be a burden to him?
"It's my fault you had to fix the door and the sink! If I hadn't overreacted, you wouldn't have had to waste your energy at all! Me being here is just causing problems for you!" Yugito commented, looking Naruto straight in the eye before finishing and instantly looking away, not feeling like she could look Naruto in the eye anymore than she already had.
Naruto sighed in disbelief. Was that really all there was to it? Did she think a broken sink and door was a big deal? Naruto never really socialized with girls as they did their best to avoid him, but were they really this emotional about absolutely everything?
"Geez, and I thought, I was the stupid one!" Naruto began Yugito looking up as she was wondering where Naruto was going with this, only to see a bright smile on his face that seemed to spontaneously fill her with warmth and encouragement.
"You being here isn't causing problems from me! You being here is making me happier than I have ever been my entire life!" Naruto told sincerely, despite how anti-social that made himself sound. Naruto was rather blunt with his way of speaking, rarely ever beating around the bush.
A deep blush appeared on Yugito's cheeks as Naruto told her how important she was in his life. Her insecure feeling of remaining in Naruto's abode seemed to have been washed away as a small smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Naruto."
"Anytime..." was Naruto's response, waving off Yugito's thank you as he didn't do anything special other than stating what was obvious to him.
Naruto gave a moment's pause before continuing, "It doesn't get dark for a couple more hours, so where do you want to go?" Yugito looked outside to see that Naruto was in fact correct. They had woken up rather early, ate at Ichiraku Ramen for a good hour before Naruto made the repairs in about two hours. They still had a lot of time left, the question was how they would spend it.
Yugito thought about it for a good couple minutes since it seemed Naruto didn't have anywhere special in mind and she finally came up with her answer upon looking down at her worn-out clothes. She had been on the road an extremely long time, so it was guaranteed that her clothes would get worn down.
"Can we go shopping for some new clothes?" Yugito inquired innocently, watching Naruto flinch ever so slightly in surprise before looking at her like a deer stuck in the headlights.
"Is something wrong?" Yugito asked worriedly, putting a hand on Naruto's arm, only to be given no response. Naruto's mind was trapped at the idea of going clothes shopping with Yugito.
Although Naruto may not have had the experience directly, he had seen many males dragged to the clothing stores by women and Naruto wouldn't see them again for a couple hours. Naruto learned that day that there was a difference between how males shop and how females shop.
Males walked into a store, scanned it for something they wanted to buy, found what they were looking for in little to no time, bought it and left. Females on the other hand went rack by rack, selected thousands of different types of clothing and tried every single one of them out before buying them. The worst part about it was that some times, the female would leave the store empty handed, meaning all that time had been for nothing. Naruto did not want to waste his day shopping for clothes.
"Naruto! Is something the matter?" Yugito shouted, shaking Naruto more vigorously, finally getting a response from the blond.
"There is no way in hell I'm going shopping for clothes!" Naruto vehemently stated, causing Yugito to pout as she didn't understand why.
"C'mon! Please Naruto! If I'm going to live hear, I'm going to need clothes! Please, please, please, please!" Yugito pleaded with the blond-haired man who turned his back to her, his arms folded across his chest, eyes closed, showing how against it he was.
"Nope. I will not cave, Yugito! You can say 'please' all you want!"
"Damn... I caved," Naruto muttered as he leaned against a wooden wall, watching as Yugito browsed through the many racks of the department stores at a snail's pace. Naruto regretted ever giving Yugito a tour of Konoha as this experience proved to be a lot more boring than he could have ever imagined. Naruto's observation of a girl shopping had been spot on: They did take forever!
The blond duo had taken a break from their shopping trip to get some food at the nearby food court which allowed them to waste about a hour or two worth of time. Yugito than spent another hour trying to get Naruto to buy some new clothes soon after, although with no results as Naruto refused, not seeing anything wrong with the clothes he currently had.
Naruto looked down at about twenty or so bags, packed tight with different types of clothing, some of which he was embarrassed to be holding. On the plus side, Naruto had to say that the clothing weren't that expensive, but they were abundant. Naruto was thankful that he hadn't paid for Ichiraku Ramen the last two time he went or he may have run out a lot faster than he would have expected.
Naruto watched as Yugito picked another article of clothing from the rack and hooked it to her arm, Naruto already feeling his money pouch getting smaller causing him to groan in self-pity. Naruto was so preoccupied in his own contemplation that he didn't notice another man leaning against the same wall as him in the exact same position as Naruto was in.
The man was far taller than Naruto, had brown hair and had a hardened expression about him that made him look experienced, most likely a shinobi although by his village clothing, it was hard to tell. "You caved too," the man spoke, acquiring Naruto's attention who sighed, nodding his head in a defeated expression.
"You know. I used to feel the same way as you did when I first had to come hear back when my wife was a friend of mine. I used to think that it was the most boring and pointless thing that I have ever done and it was costing me money, but looking back on it, I feel stupid for ever thinking about it like that," the man spoke with a soft smile as he looked at his wife who was currently looking through the racks as well.
Naruto was curious now, "What made you change your mind?" The brown-haired man closed his eyes as he thought about his approach to his point.
"Tell me something, kid. You're with the blond-haired girl, correct?" the brown-haired man inquired, opening his eyes as he pointed at Yugito.
Naruto nodded as the shinobi-villager continued, "Look at her, look at her expression. Do you see that smile on her face?" Naruto looked over at Yugito to indeed notice a small smile of happiness on her face. Naruto received a feeling of contentment that he was able to cause that by accompanying Yugito here and paying for things that she quite literally needed.
The brown-haired villager saw the smile that came upon Naruto's face and assumed that his point came across as he spoke, "Now you know what I mean. I was ignorant back than, but that feeling is why I come here whenever she needs me to. Besides, if you're lucky, she might reward you at the end of the day."
The kind man gave Naruto a knowing smile and wink as he lightly pushed off the wall, getting ready to leave when he saw his wife motion to him that she was finished. A small blush came upon Naruto's face when he realized what the man was implying with his ending comment, but said his 'good-bye's to the pleasant man.
It was only when the kind man had left that Naruto thought back and grasped the fact that a villager from Konohagakure had not been hostile towards him. This feeling was new to the blond-haired boy since at times it seemed that the entirety of Konoha hated him for no apparent reason, except for a select few individuals.
'Maybe there are a lot of nice villagers and I just haven't met them yet... or maybe that guy was a retired shinobi. The shinobi have always been a lot more nicer to me than the villagers,' Naruto thought to himself as he shrugged, deciding to just drop the thought and be happy that he managed to hold a pleasant conversation with someone.
When Naruto finally snapped out of this contemplation, he suddenly became aware of Yugito calling his name repetitively, "Naruto! Naruto! I'm done!"
It took a moment for Naruto to process those few relieving words, but Naruto felt kinda conflicted after his talk with the brown-haired man. Naruto was bored out of his mind, but at the same time, the feeling of contentment that he got from seeing Yugito's smile was nice as well.
"Are you sure? There's no need to rush if you don't have everything, but if you're done..." Naruto trailed off, a curious expression coming upon Yugito's face as she wondered what could have created this change of behavior towards his idea of shopping.
"I'm positive. I have everything I wanted and besides, it'll get dark soon," Yugito pointed out, Naruto looking outside through the glass doors of the entrance to see that the sun had indeed begun to set. Naruto nodded, seeing that Yugito was sure of her decision, proceeding to the cashier where Yugito's items were quickly scanned and Naruto handed the kind lady the money that was required.
Naruto took the bags from the counter to add to the collection he was already carrying and continued to walk out of the department store with Yugito. Naruto looked both ways of the street, determining the fastest route to his apartment before he was unexpectedly given a hug by Yugito. The blush on his cheeks and the feeling of surprise he experienced only increased ten-fold when Yugito planted a small kiss on his cheek.
"That was for keeping me company here even though you didn't want to. Thank you," Yugito thanked the blond-haired boy, hiding her own blush from kissing him. Naruto also attempted to hide his own blush and waved off her thank you, saying that it was 'no big deal'. Yugito smiled at Naruto's modesty as she followed him to his apartment.
Through the corner of his eyes, Naruto spotted the brown-haired man from before and turned his head slightly, acknowledging the villager's presence. The brown-haired man gave Naruto a silent thumbs up and a smile causing Naruto to look away and chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Yugito asked Naruto, curious about his seemingly abrupt laughter and smile.
"It's nothing. I just remember something a kind guy told me."
The blonds soon arrived at their destination as they quietly walked up the stairs, simply enjoying each others' presence. Naruto removed a set of keys he carried from his pocket in preparation to open the door that he had just recently repaired. Thankfully, Naruto did not need to make a different key for this door as it used the same lock.
Naruto halted his progress to his home when he took note of a middle-aged man leaning against his door, a shinobi by the looks of it. The man had long blond hair reaching down to his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong facial features, which included a well defined jaw line. The man was wearing the standard Konohagakure flack jacket over a black outfit, complete with hand-guards, forehead protector and a sleeveless red coat. The man reminded Naruto of his classmates, Ino Yamanaka.
"Can I help you?" Naruto question in a more aggressive way than he actually wanted it to sound, not liking the fact that this stranger was waiting in front of his apartment for him and his new friend.
"I assure you I mean no harm. My name is Inoichi Yamanaka and I was sent here by Hokage-sama to interview Yugito Nii," Inoichi introduced himself with a small formal bow, causing Naruto to relax as he remembered Jii-chan mentioning this interview.
"Nice to meet you, Yamanaka-san. My name is Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto greeted the man, extending his hand towards the Yamanaka head who shook it firmly.
"I am well aware. You are infamous among the shinobi ranks due to your consistent shenanigans," Inoichi remarked, although there was one other more prominent reason for Naruto's fame. The young blond male only smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head and chuckled lightly.
"How about we go inside and you and Yugito can get this over with?" Naruto offered, trying to divert the attention away from him, walking past Inoichi before inserting the key into the lock and pushing open the door after an audible click.
Yugito entered the small apartment after Naruto, followed by Inoichi. Naruto flicked the light switch, illuminating the room as he looked over at Inoichi. The blond man was here to interview Yugito, so Naruto was just spectating, waiting for this whole thing to be over so that he could spend more time with Yugito.
"I know this is your apartment, but I'm going to have to ask you to step outside. This interview is to be done privately," Inoichi ordered, just in case this Yugito Nii was indeed a Kumogakure spy.
Naruto scowled at the fact that he was yet again being sent out of his apartment. This was the second time in the past two days! Naruto sighed, bowing his head in defeat as he made his way to the door. It was just an interview, how long could asking a couple questions take.
Inoichi watched as the door of the apartment closed before he retrieved a clipboard from inside his flack jacket and a pen from one of his pockets. Inoichi took a seat in one of the spare chairs in the square room while Yugito took a seat on the bed.
Inoichi clicked his pen and jotted her name at the top of the form as he cleared his throat. "I am going to begin by asking you for some basic information. Please attempt to answer the questions to the best of your ability," Inoichi began in a professional manner. The last part was not necessary as the information was basic, but he was just following protocol.
Yugito nodded, signaling that she was prepared to answer Inoichi's series of questions. The young blond female was asked about her age, date of birth, any illness she might have or may have contracted in places outside of the village, if she had any family within the village and plenty of other questions of sort, Yugito rapidly answering them as best as she could. Upon the completion of the form, Inoichi clicked his pen and set it and the clipboard off to the side.
"We are making outstanding process, there is just one final check-up to this process. I trust that you have not been untruthful, but my superiors demand that I use a jutsu to check if you have lied on any of the questions I've asked you. I'm going to have to ask you to close your eyes and clear your mind, I will only be a second," Inoichi explained to the other blond in the room who looked unsure about doing as the man asked, not feeling safe doing what this stranger told her even if he did look like a pleasant enough man.
Inoichi sensed the uncertainty coming for Yugito as he spoke, "I assure you that I mean no harm to you." Yugito didn't look the least bit more certain with just that simple simple sentence, if anything, it made her more nervous. Inoichi sighed, not really blaming Yugito for how she was feeling, but there was still a chance that she could be an enemy spy and he couldn't risk his village for the discomfort of one girl.
"If it will bring you peace of mind, I will allow Naruto Uzumaki to spectate. Given his nature, should anything seem wrong, he will doubtingly act," Inoichi offered the young girl who smiled and nodded in the affirmative.
Inoichi rose from the wooden chair and strolled over to the door and turned the handle, which just happened to be enough to cause the eavesdropping Naruto to tumble in. Naruto groaned as he placed a hand on his injured head and slowly stood up, only to be dwarfed by Inoichi who was looking straight down at him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto turned a deep red in embarrassment, scratching his head as he looked down and away.
"Seeing as you were eavesdropping this entire time, I don't believe I need to inform you of anything," Inoichi pointed out, shaking his head as he retook his seat and Naruto took a spot leaning against the wall adjacent to the bed. Naruto gave Yugito a warm smile before continuing to watch the actions that would soon transpire.
"Well then. If everybody is prepared. Let us begin," Inoichi spoke once more, Yugito nodding as she closed her eyes and emptied her mind like she was ordered, feeling the hand of Inoichi Yamanaka placed lightly on her forehead.
(Yugito's Inner World)
Inoichi slowly opened his eyes to find himself in his new surroundings, just outside the mind of Yugito Nii. Inoichi Yamanaka was in the center of a large, spherical empty room, only occupied by a huge brain. The mind-reader floated over to the large brain and placed his hand on the brain.
"Here we go," Inoichi muttered to himself as he closed his eyes, concentrating on the information he would receive from Yugito's mind.
Kaminari No Kuni(Land of Lightning) was a peninsula, scarred by vast amounts of mountain from which rivers flowed downstream into the sea, giving the land a beautiful oceanic view despite its rough terrain. Down below the mountains, at the outskirts of Kumogakure, grew a rare forest that only increased the variety of wildlife located within the land.
It was a tranquil night in the forest bordering Kumogakure down below, the full moon above and scattered stars illuminating the land below. The air was filled with the chirping, chattering and hooting of wildlife, the sound of rushing rivers and crashing waterfalls which was amplified as it echoed through the mountain chains which encircled everything.
In these woods below, Yugito could be seen, stealthily leaping from tree to tree in a blur, trying to hide the tears in her eyes and stifling any cry that passed her lips. Her mind was a completely mess as she tried to focus on what was in front of her and her ultimate goal. It appeared that she was making great, unhindered progress when a massive figure a couple times her size appeared in front of her, cutting off her steady progress away from Kumogakure.
"Where do you think your running off to?" the large man spoke in an angry tone as he took a step forward, right into the moonlight. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a highly muscular build, white combed-back hair, a small mustache and a beard. The man wore the yellow and white robes of the Raikage, gold bracelets on each wrist and a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the center. Black fuma shurikens were tattooed on both his shoulders underneath the garb which he wore not shirt underneath. All these aspects gave the Raikage the appearance of a professional wrestler.
"I don't know, but I'll go anywhere than back there!" Yugito shouted, tears still in her eyes as she pointed in the direction of Kumogakure. Although it was completely pointless, Yugito stood her ground against her pursuer, despite the fact that he was the Yondaime Raikage, A. The one considered to be the fastest man alive after the passing of the Yondaime Hokage.
"You don't have a choice in this matter, Yugito! You are too valuable to the village for me to let you go and I will forcefully take you back if I must!" A threatened, taking one step towards Yugito who did not move from her position, but pulled a kunai from her holster and held it to her own throat. The Raikage stopped his progress towards Yugito and even took a step back, his eyes widened in surprise.
"If your going to make me go back there, than I might as well die here!" Yugito yelled, new tears streaming down her cheeks as she put more pressure on the kunai, drawing a small amount of blood as proof that she was completely serious with going through suicide if need be.
"Yugito?" was the only words that left the Raikage's mouth, too stunned to say anything else. The Raikage was a man who would stand behind his beliefs no matter what happened and he believed that a jinchūriki was nothing more than a weapon to be used by the village, but Yugito was family, he couldn't just let her die, let alone commit suicide.
"Ever since Mom and Dad died, everything went straight to hell! When Mom and Dad was around, everything was easier to bare, but since they left, the villagers have been treating me worse and worse! I barely have any friends and anybody that's not my friend either completely ignores me or hates me from the deepest parts of their hearts! I can't take it anymore! I know Kirabi is the same as me and the villagers like him, but I'm not like him! He's the perfect host, I'm not!" Yugito vented with tears flowing down her cheeks, off her chin and on to the kunai blade, mixing with the droplets of blood from her throat.
Yugito slowly began to get herself under control as she spoke almost inaudibly, sniffling in the middle of her sentence, "So please... step aside and let me go." A million thoughts and questions ran through A's mind and he did not have the time to think them through. He couldn't let one of Kumogakure's greatest assets leave the village, but he did not want his niece to die.
On one hand, he couldn't let one of Kumogakure's greatest assets in the making leave the village, but he also did not wish to have somebody so close to him die so suddenly. A had always hoped to be there to watch Yugito become a proud kunoichi and possibly even settle down with somebody and have a family.
'I'm the Raikage first goddammit,' A cursed himself, annoyed that his own bleeding heart was keeping him from doing what was best for his village.
With his new mind set, A thought through his options. He could attempt to take Yugito back to Kumogakure, but she would soon find and opening to kill herself and if he kept her on lock-down, she would no longer be an asset to Kumogakure. The other option was to let her go, maybe let her cool down and get her back on another day.
'Why am I lying to myself? There is another option... I could kill her and reseal the Nibi in a different person,' the Raikage thought, sighing at the idea of having her killed. Even if it wasn't by his own hand, it was by his orders and that still left him with blood on his hands.
'But if I was to kill her, I wouldn't know when the Nibi would appear again and if it was to appear it would cause mass destruction in my village. I can't let that happen. My best bet is to let her go and hopefully get her back another day. In terms of military power, we still have B,' the Raikage finally decided, once again returning back to the situation at hand, noticing that Yugito was waiting for his decision.
A had to give persuading Yugito another try, "So your just going to leave everything behind. You're going to leave Kirabi, Darui, C, Samui, Omoi, Kurai and me too! What are you going to do on the run by yourself? You think somebody will just pick you off the streets and make your life happy? That's not how it's going to work! If you run, you could die out there!"
"I know it's not going to be easy and I'm going to miss everybody a lot. I really will, but this is something I have to do," Yugito assured him, her voice nearly failing her as she would deeply miss everybody the Raikage had just mentioned.
"Very well then. If this is your decision, I will not stop you... You will be missed," A finished, turning away from Yugito as one manly tear fell from his right eye. Yugito felt her heart drop, as this would be the last time she would see the Raikage for a extended period of time, maybe even forever.
Yugito, acting on impulse, gave the Raikage a quick hug from behind as she spoke softly, "Thank you, Ji-san." After delivering her final thank you to the man she called her uncle, Yugito bolted past him, not looking back.
Meanwhile, Inoichi was hovering above the scene in an astral state, spectating the memory, his eyes wide at who Yugito Nii actually was and how she had ended up coming here. The memory itself was enough to bring a grown man to tears and it nearly made Inoichi tear up had he not been experienced at this sort of thing. This memory also brought up a huge question to the forefront of his mind and he was determined to get his answer before he left.
Inoichi was going to move on to the next memory when suddenly, a dark hole just tore open in the sky and blue, flame-like chakra shot through and ensnared him. Inoichi futilely struggled against the vile chakra, but was unable to break away or stop his telepathic link with Yugito as he was pulled into the hole from which the chakra came.
In a bright flash of light, Inoichi opened his eyes to find himself in front of a huge gate, face to face with a giant, two tailed cat made up of black and blue flame-like chakra. It had one green eye and one yellow eye and its teeth were bared angrily, showing off its razor sharp canines. Inoichi nearly had a heart attack upon seeing the bakeneko and it took all his willpower not to pass out when it actually spoke!
"I shall warn you once and once only, human! If you dare return to the mind of my container, I will show you a hell that you could not imagine. I will burn your flesh, tear your body to pieces and crush it into fine powder. And since you are in the mind of my container, I will return you back into your original form and repeat the process over and over again! Watch yourself, human!" the Nibi finished with a bestial roar that made Inoichi's heart want to exploded. In an instant, Inoichi was thrown back into his own body and out of Yugito's mind.
Naruto watched in silent boredom, having grown tired of seeing no movement for the past several minutes. It looked like both Inoichi and Yugito were both in some sort of deep trance, so when Inoichi suddenly screamed and fell back in the chair he was sitting in, Naruto was completely shocked and surprised.
Naruto hurried over to Inoichi and helped him to his feet as Yugito began to regain her consciousness after being put in that trance, finding it odd that Naruto was helping Inoichi to his feet, feeling like she had missed something.
"Are you okay, Yamanaka-san?" Naruto inquired, seeing that man was still trying to regain his breath as if he had been holding his breath underwater for an extended period of time.
Inoichi took a couple deep breaths, calming his racing heart, shocked at what he had just discovered about this young girl. Not only was she the niece of the Raikage, but she was the jinchūriki of the Nibi!
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that the technique that I used to interview Yugito-san takes a lot out of me," Inoichi lied, not telling that his technique involved reading the mind of his target. Yugito didn't see any issue with it, having missed Inoichi's scream just a moment ago, but Naruto was not fooled, his suspicions rising.
'If the technique gets you tired, than why did you scream and fall out of the chair? There's something your hiding,' Naruto thought to himself, but put on an understanding expression to hide how suspicious he actually was. Naruto was extremely skilled when it came to hiding his real emotions and it came in handy in situations like this one.
"I have everything I need and I'm pleased to inform that you passed with flying colors, Nii-san! Please come to the Hokage's office in forty-five minutes where the final steps will be completed," Inoichi instructed as he said his good-bye's and exited Naruto's apartment in a silent hurry that also did not escape Naruto's attention who narrowed his eyes, trying to understand what was going on.
It took a moment before Naruto realized that Yugito was still in the room, removing the deducing look on his face and put a big ol' happy grin, "Great job, Yugito! All we have to do now is see Jii-chan and you can stay here! I can't wait!"
Although that was what Naruto verbally stated, in his mind he thought, 'I don't know what he's hiding, but I'm going to find out.'
"Neither can I! Konoha is such a great place, I can't wait to be allowed to stay here!" Yugito remarked, feeling a pang of guilt when a small thought of Kumogakure came back to her. Naruto was extremely happy for her and would have loved to stay and celebrate a little longer, but he needed to leave quickly.
"It's been awhile since we ate anything and I'm starving! I'll go grab some food to eat and I'll be right back as quick as a flash!" Naruto rushed, waving a quick good-bye and darting out of the apartment before Yugito could argue that she wanted to come too. Yugito sighed at Naruto's rambunctious disposition and laid down on Naruto's bed, deciding to wait for her spontaneous friend.
Naruto was hopping from rooftop to rooftop building more and more speed as he rocketed towards the Hokage Residence. Inoichi was just barely visible in the distance as he was also moving at high speed as if he had found some urgent information. That speed that Inoichi was moving at only heightened Naruto's interest as he continued his pursuit. Inoichi, in his single-minded thought of delivering his Intel, Inoichi did not notice Naruto tailing him which was a rookie mistake for someone of Inoichi's caliber.
Naruto, using his heightened senses, watched as Inoichi entered the Hokage Residence. Knowing that he would be discovered if he got too close, Naruto hid in a fast food restaurant just far away enough for him to be able to hear the goings within the Hokage's office. Naruto never paid attention to his heightened senses much, but at the moment, he was thankful that he was gifted with the perceptive senses.
"Hokage-sama!" Inoichi called loudly as he came bursting through the door without knocking as he normally would, immediately falling to one knee and bowing his head in a sign of respect. This sudden entrance peaked the elderly Hokage's interests at what Inoichi had to say that was so urgent.
"What is it, Inoichi?" the Hokage inquired calmly, despite the fact that he was actually very curious rather than indifferent. Hiruzen was well aware that Inoichi had been interviewing Yugito and since Yugito wasn't with him the old Hokage was almost certain that Yugito was not an enemy spy. So the question was: what else could have come up?
"I apologize for the disturbance, Hokage-sama, but there is something urgent you must know about the newcomer, Yugito Nii-," Inoichi began with an apology before continuing with the main point of his arrival, but was then stopped by the firm, raised hand of the elderly shinobi.
"Before you continue, Inoichi. If it truly is as important as you are making it sound, please, make sure that there is nobody eavesdropping," the Hokage ordered of Inoichi politely as he dismissed his ANBU personal guard with a flick of the wrist. Inoichi nodded dutifully as he made one hand seal and closed his eyes, scanning the area around the office for anyone nearby while also checking for any hidden chakra signals or chakra signals that hinted the use of a jutsu. Inoichi, however, did not find such chakra signatures and gave a firm nod to the Hokage, showing that hey were safe to speak without being overheard.
The Sandaime Hokage understood the gesture before motioning for Inoichi to continue. Obeying the order, Inoichi spoke, "Yugito Nii is not just any ordinary citizen from Kumogakure. In fact, she is the niece of the current Raikage!" Inoichi paused as he gave the Hokage time to digest the information being fed to him while also regaining his own composure, feeling as if he nearly degraded himself into a gossiping school girl rather than an intelligence shinobi.
Meanwhile, the Hokage was in complete and absolute shock at hearing this. It was not rare for somebody to come to Konohagakure to settle down, but they were usual just another common person. So then, why in the world would the niece of the Yondaime Raikage come to Konohagakure if she was not a spy? Wanting to know more, the Raikage saved his questioned and gestured for Inoichi to proceed.
"But that is not the most important piece of information that I have derived, Hokage-sama... Yugito Nii, is also the jinchūriki of the Nibi!" Inoichi exclaimed in a whisper, watching as the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi widened to lengths that they have never opened up to before. This was completely unexpected and this only made Hiruzen more curious about how Yugito managed to get away. Was Kumogakure... incompetent?
"This surely won't sit will with the Raikage," the Hokage commented with an anxious feeling building within him. It was worse enough that Yugito Nii was the niece of the current Raikage, but to also be a jinchūriki made the situation that much more worse and complicated.
The Hokage knew that the Raikage would not start a war with Konohagakure in order to obtain just one person, but they could send a couple shinobi in a rescue attempt or possibly demand back what was theirs first. The Hokage was not sure if Yugito was followed by Kumogakure shinobi, but depending on whether or not she was or wasn't would decide the amount of time before they would have to make a confrontation with the other hidden village.
Hiruzen was then surprised to hear what Inoichi had to say in response to his comment, "That is what I would have believed as well, Hokage-sama, but while I was looking through her mind, I came across the memory of the night she left Kumogakure," Inoichi began, setting up the stage for the rest, taking a brief pause before continuing, "Like all jinchūriki, she was treated horribly in her village to the point where she would rather commit suicide rather than return to her village. The night she left, the Raikage himself stopper, but she demands that she was let go or she would kill herself right than and there. The Raikage looked conflicted but had a soft spot for his niece like we all would and allowed her to leave. This concludes my report."
The Hokage remained silent after Inoichi's report, think over what he should do from this point on. Konohagakure now had two of the nine bijū, but would the Raikage sit well knowing this. The relationships between Konoha and Kumo were strained as they were and this could only degrade those ties even further. Much was unknown at this point, but the Hokage decided to set it aside for later contemplation.
"Although the situation is complicated. We will allow Yugito citizenship and deal with Kumogakure when the day comes. I will take precautionary measures for the time being. Thank you for all your work Inoichi and I expect to see I full report of your findings hand delivered to me soon. Also, all that has been learned about Yugito Nii as of today is to be labeled an S-rank secret and not be shared with anyone unless given my direct approval. Are we understood?" Hiruzen finished the nights discussion as Inoichi nodded in the affirmative, understanding the importance of the intelligence as he was dismissed by the Hokage, leaving the clipboard with Yugito's basic information written on the elderly man's desk just before exiting the office.
'The simple-minded desire to blame somebody for something that happens is causing the loss of innocence in such pure children. If only people could look past the Kyūbi and see that Naruto is actually a good boy. The only reason he pulls those pranks is to get recognized by the people of Konoha. At least he'll have somebody that's lived through the same thing close by from now on,' Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself with a sigh, but yet a small smile as if the future looked bright for the blond-haired boy. The Sandaime Hokage once again went to contemplating the chance outcomes of their encounter with Kumogakure and what should be done as a precaution.
Naruto was bounding from building to building back to his apartment with a rather content look on his face. Naruto had left after hearing the Hokage say that Yugito would be granted citizenship since that was all that really mattered to him and even more so to Yugito. The young blond male however was not completely ignorant to the rest of the conversation and although he didn't understand certain parts, what he did understand caused some conflicting emotions to rise from him.
Naruto had not the slightest idea of what a 'jinchūriki' was and who exactly the 'Raikage' was, but decided not to dwell on the words for too long. He wouldn't be able to figure out the meaning of the words anyways with the knowledge that he was currently limited to and he decided that he would be more advantageous to remember the words for another day.
Something Naruto had not been at all pleased by was the fact that Yugito privacy had been violated without her consent. It turned out that Naruto's suspicions were correct and this so called 'Lie Detector Jutsu' was actually a 'Mind-Reading Jutsu'. Naruto had half-mind to tell Yugito about it, but the only thing that stopped him from telling her was because the Hokage was just being cautious like any good leader would. Also, if he did actually decide to tell Yugito, how would he go about telling her in such away that she wouldn't feel like Konohagakure wasn't exactly the place she thought it was.
Naruto wanted Yugito to think of this place as a type of heaven and that feeling was mostly due to his eavesdropping a few minutes ago. Naruto had been allowed some insight into Yugito's past through his spying and what he had learned just didn't sit right with him.
Naruto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he thought about Yugito being treated horribly in her village just like he himself was, but it didn't even end there! She was pushed to suicide of all things and had nearly killed herself if she hadn't left that village when he did. The thought of Yugito taking her life just because she was being bullied by her village left him sick and momentarily hating the people that accused her and to a certain extent, those that treated him the same way.
Naruto had a small desire to talk to Yugito about her past, but had decided against it since she would than follow to ask about how he came to know what he did and it would just cause trouble for everyone. Besides, it wasn't any of his business and if Yugito wanted him to know, then she would have told him. He would have to wait until she felt comfortable enough with him to tell him of her past. Basically, if he deserved to hear it, then he would hear it.
'Even if she doesn't want to tell me, I'm not just gonna sit by and pretend that I didn't hear anything. I'm gonna make sure that she has such a great time here that she forgets all about Kumogakure,' Naruto confidently thought to himself, the fires of determination kindling in his eyes.
Naruto's eyes wandered down to the plain white plastic bag that he was carrying in his right hand which contained the food that he had purchased from the store he had used to eavesdrop. Naruto wondered if it tasted any good since it had been the first time he had ever bought anything from there. Naruto couldn't even remember the name of the restaurant!
Their were only too small, white, foam containers so Naruto knew that it wasn't going to be as filling as he had hopped, but if it tasted any good, than it probably would matter about the quantity. Quality over quantity, as some people would say.
Naruto couldn't even remember the name of the dish but knew it had something to do with rice and chicken. Naruto hadn't really been paying attention to what he had ordered since he was so focused on listening in on the Hokage's conversation, but at the moment, he had wished he had been more aware. Than again, he didn't have much money left on him anyways, so he did do the best he could with what little he had left.
"It doesn't matter if I don't like it, I just hope Yugito does," Naruto quietly murmured to himself with a sigh as he increased his speed, realizing that he had unintentionally kept Yugito waiting a lot longer than he had should have.
Yugito, who had been patiently waiting for Naruto to return with their dinner was now pacing in circles in the small apartment, silently wondering what was taking him so long to return. Could it be possible that he got into some sort of trouble along the way? Nah, Naruto knew this village too well to just fall into any trouble. He just probably got distracted by something or there might be a long line at the place he went to.
Calming down her overacting imagination, Yugito looked around the room to find something to do. The apartment was rather scarce since Naruto didn't look like the type of person to spend much time indoors, but Yugito's eyes soon fell on the multiple shopping bags Naruto had put down off to the side when they had entered with Inoichi Yamanaka.
Looking down at her worn-out clothes and then back at the shopping bags, it only took her mind a second to process what she would do next as she pranced over to the bags and inspected the contents of each bag, looking for which one contained what she was looking for. What Yugito was looking for exactly, was the attire she had selected that she would be wearing pretty much daily upon becoming a kunoichi. Just like Naruto had his orange jumpsuit, she also needed her own style.
Finding the bag she required to make her new shinobi attire possible, Yugito retreated into the bathroom to get training and see how it looked on her, although she had tried it on once before in the changing room. She hadn't shown Naruto yet in hopes of surprising him later on. This was her chance!
Yugito quickly began undressing herself, eager to try on her new clothing. Hastily pulling her old shirt off her body, Yugito reach down and dropped both her pants and pantie in one swift movement. Now completely bare, Yugito rummaged through the shopping bag till she removed a black short-sleeved undershirt and a sleeveless, light-purple zip-up over shirt. Along with the upper part of her attire, Yugito retrieved a pair of standard shinobi pants, preferring the pants over a kunoichi skirt or shinobi shorts. Yugito also followed to fetch out a plain black bra and black panties that would be worn under.
Yugito pulled on her panties and slipped into her bra before stepping into the black shinobi pants. Yugito then picked up the black shirt and threw it on, before putting on the sleeveless over-shirt, zipping it all way up. Finally being fully clothed, Yugito looked herself over in the mirror, her eyes falling on her long blond hair that reached down to her mid-back with two strands going over each shoulder and down to her chest.
Yugito was well aware that leaving her hair alone while being a kunoichi was out of the question as it would only get in the way. Yugito gathered her hair up as if preparing to make a ponytail but instead, tying it into a messy, yet stylish bun. The strands that went over her shoulder were left as was, Yugito deciding that it looked better that way.
The blond-haired teen looked herself over in the mirror, viewing herself from the front, her left side, her right side and finally her back. If anything, Yugito felt that she liked her attire more now than when she had actually purchased it. Yugito offhandedly wondered what Naruto would think of her new appearance, but she wasn't given the chance to think about it as she heard the door of the apartment open and close with an audible 'BANG'.
"Foods here, Yugito! Where'd you go?" Naruto called for her as he placed the plastic bag with their dinner on the small table that was encircled by only two chairs.
"I'm right over here," Naruto heard Yugito voice coming from the bathroom behind him, causing him to instantly freeze up. Hell if he wanted a repeat of the bathroom incident. Seeing him go stiff, a confused look came upon Yugito's face.
Naruto slowly turned his head, his shoulders tensing just in case. Not hearing a halting command, Naruto felt a little more comfortable and turned all the way around until Yugito came into view. Naruto's eyes widened at Yugito's appearance as a light blush stained his cheeks.
Was this a girl really the same age as he was? She was something on an entirely different level of beauty compared to the other girls in his class? Naruto was completely breath taken as he began stammering incoherent words of praise.
"Y-you look... wow," Naruto remarked, taking in her figure which was akin to that of an hourglass with an expression of awe. Yugito blushed at his expression, giggling a little as she held her hands behind her back, feeling a little bit shy.
"So... what did you get us?" Yugito diverted Naruto's fixed attention as he snapped out of his stupor, looking at the plastic bag that he had left on the table.
"It's not ramen. I'll tell you that," Naruto responded, realizing that Yugito had eaten pretty much nothing but ramen since it was his favorite thing to eat. He had hardly given it a thought of whether or not Ichiraku Ramen had been to her liking.
"That's new," Yugito replied, taking one of the seats around the small wooden table before pulling two foam containers out of the bag. As Naruto took the remaining seat, Yugito placed one of the packages on his side of the table. Opening up the their dinner, they were immediately greeted by a warm, great-smelling aroma.
The fragrance caused a deep rumbling noise to sound from both of the blonds' stomachs as they took the complimentary chopsticks and called out in unison, "Itadakimasu!"
Putting in the first chopstick full of the rice and chicken, Naruto realized that it tasted unexpectedly great, but was more worried if the food was to Yugito's liking. Naruto's knew his answer when he saw Yugito's eyes glitter in childlike happiness and satisfaction as the speed in which she was eating instantly increased. Naruto smiled as he too began eating at an accelerated rate, not wanting to be left behind.
The meal itself wasn't exceptionally filling as it was not in the same quantity as any of their previous meals, but it was enough to get them through the rest of the night till they went to sleep. Besides, they had eaten a big breakfast and a relatively large lunch.
Naruto decided to clean up which wasn't all too difficult as he discarded the foam boxes in the garbage bin. Yugito, meanwhile, look outside and seem to go through some small mental calculations. "Isn't it about time we met the Hokage?" Yugito inquired of Naruto who also thought about it for a moment.
It should have been about forty-five minutes since Inoichi had left. Naruto had taken a little longer than suspected to return to the apartment and they did take some time eating their dinner, so it should be time to leave. Although, even if it hasn't been forty-five minutes, Naruto was sure the Hokage wouldn't mind if they arrived a little earlier than expected.
"Yea, let's get going," Naruto answered with a nod, stepping out of his house after Yugito, closing the door behind him. With one more nod, they jumped to the nearest rooftop and with Yugito right next to him, they sped away to the Hokage Residence.
Upon arriving at the Hokage's Residence, Naruto and Yugito were immediately allowed up since they already had an appointment and the Hokage was free at the moment. Making their way up the stairs and through the hallways, they arrived to the Hokage's door fairly quickly. Naruto was reaching over for the knob at the door when he noticed that Yugito was lightly trembling. Naruto slowly moved his hand away from the knob and placed it on her shoulder, grabbing her attention.
"Is something wrong?" Naruto asked curiously, not seeing what there was to be scared about, but determined to make her feel more comfortable before moving any further.
"It's just... I'm a little nervous," Yugito answered feeling kind of embarrassed about it, since in her opinion, it was completely misplaced. Naruto didn't know what exactly was making her nervous since she didn't specify, but did his best to cover all the bases.
"There's nothing to be nervous about, Yugito. Jii-chan is really nice and you're already allowed to stay here. Jii-chan just wants to see you to congratulate you!" Naruto assured, fully knowing that what he spoke was the truth. Yugito felt relieved by Naruto's response which always seemed to settle all of her unreasonable worries. Seeing that she was ready, Naruto knocked on the door a couple of times, rather than simply waltzing in.
Naruto would not believe the relief that came upon the elderly Hokage's face when he heard a knock at his door. Hiruzen had been in the middle of doing the endless Hokage paperwork so he was extremely relieved to get this little break. The Sandaime Hokage gladly put down his pen and paperwork as he called to the visitor, "Enter."
As expected by the Hokage, Naruto and Yugito stepped into the room, greeting the elderly man. Yugito's greeting was far more formal than Naruto's had been or probably ever was. Seeing the two youthful faces full of anticipation, the Hokage had to let a grandfatherly smile escape him. Naruto let a small smile appear on his face, enjoying the familiar warmth that came from the Hokage while Yugito was completely new to the feeling.
"I'm sure you two don't want to spend too much time here so how about we finish up quickly since this is merely a formality," Hiruzen began seeing an increasingly larger smile appear on Yugito's face when she heard the word 'formality' while Naruto was trying to decipher what the word meant.
"Congratulations, Yugito Nii. As of today you have been realized as a citizen of Konohagakure," Hiruzen congratulated Yugito who grinned in happiness bowing as she thanked the Hokage from the bottom of her heart for letting her start anew. Naruto, who was right beside Yugito, jumped high into the air pumping his fist in the air in celebration.
"But there is however one last thing that we have to go over before you two can leave," Hiruzen continued with the meeting, Naruto moving to the back of the room and laying against the wall. Yugito merely looked at the Hokage curiously, wondering what was coming next.
Seeing the questioning look on Yugito's faces, the Sandaime Hokage proceeded with a dutiful tone of voice. "We have to discuss your living arrangements," Hiruzen told the blond girl, taking a brief pause before finishing, "I can refer you to a list of open apartments that I can offer you. Of course, you may take the list and look it over before deciding on one of them."
Yugito had stopped listening after she heard the words 'living arrangements'. Not once had the thought of moving into an apartment ever crossed her mind. Since she had woken up in Konohagakure, there had always been: Naruto. A young boy so energetic and childish yet calm and mature and yet knew how to make her feel safe and happy. Having been with Naruto this long, even if it was a couple days, gave her a feeling of belonging in Naruto's small, cozy apartment.
Yugito looked at the list of addresses on the Hokage's desk and back at Naruto who looking down and away. Yugito didn't want to be separated from Naruto since she felt so comfortable, but she didn't want to impose on his generosity. Yugito was extremely conflicted and had no idea what to do or say at the moment and it showed on her face.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he began to take apart the situation in front of him. Naruto looked up, having avoided eye contact with Yugito and was now looking at the unsure expression on her face. Despite not being very knowledgeable on the things that most people his age knew, Naruto was very good at deciphering the thoughts and emotions of other people in certain situations. This skill was obviously more a lot more handy, but Naruto was not sure when he had even begun to develop this skill. He had gotten increasingly better at doing to so with time, to the point where he did it without thinking.
Deciding that it was time to act, Naruto pushed himself off the wall and put on a smirk as he interrupted, "That won't be necessary, Jii-chan since Yugito's going to be staying with me." The Hokage raised an eyebrow at Naruto's interjection while Yugito blushed at how embarrassing Naruto's claim sounded.
"That is," Naruto paused, Yugito looking up and making eye contact with Naruto as he finished, "if she wants to stay." Yugito actually felt her heart flutter within her chest as she smiled at Naruto.
"I'd like that very much," Yugito responded, Naruto giving a close-eyed grin as he placed both his hands on the back of his head, feeling rather relaxed at the moment.
The Hokage eyed the two blonds with a smile that was hidden by his hands. The Hokage felt like he had watched Naruto mature right before his eyes. Yugito was something not completely unexpected but not at all unwanted. Hopefully she would continue to be a positive influence on him. 'Makes you wonder how much he'll change,' Hiruzen mused to himself.
The elderly man cleared his thought audibly, getting the attention of the two blonds. "Although I don't want to interrupt your celebration. There are two things that I must inform you of," the 'God of Shinobi' explained, Yugito nodding in understanding while Naruto lightly sighed at his moment dieing as he went to lay on the wall again.
"The first thing I need to talk to you about is extremely important since you came to this village alone. Since you have no means of an income, I will be supplying you with... an allowance like I do with Naruto. You will continue be given so weekly and it will end once you become a shinobi and are paid through your missions," the elucidated. Yugito was rather happy as she thanked the elderly Hokage. Now she wouldn't have to solely look to Naruto when it came to money.
"And the last thing?" Naruto probed, not knowing what else the Hokage would need to discuss. That was the only benefit Naruto was pretty much given that was of any real importance.
"Your first day at the academy is tomorrow, so make sure to wake up seven o'clock sharp and immediately go to the main office. Tell them your name and they should put you in the right classroom... or you could just follow Naruto since he'll be in the same class as you," the Hokage informed with a smile. Naruto's eyes practically shined at the thought of him and Yugito being in the same class. Come to think of it, there was a seat open right next to him. That meant Yugito would be seated right next to him! What a stroke of luck!
"That's awesome! Thanks for everything, Jii-chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a huge smile on his face that mirrored the one that was on Yugito's. Opening the door after he and Yugito gave their good-byes, Naruto ran out with a spring in his step, Yugito right behind as they moved to return to 'their' home.
'The young ones these days grow so fast. Naruto, how much will you grow till the next time you visit me?' Hiruzen pondered with a chuckle as he rotated his chair to look out at the starry, night sky outside. Taking his pipe from within his desk, Hiruzen took a short break as he overlooked his village.
Don't have anything else to say other than I'll have the next one out I hope tomorrow if nothing comes up.
Other than that, I never knew "I Am Number Four" was a series and it actually isn't that bad as I'm going, just finished the first two books and there are two more to catch up with.
Including that I got to finish up the seventh chapter so I can release it soon after i finish these first six, but anyways. I'll see you guys the next time I update.
-Reprise