Author's Notes: Amazingly, I don't have much to say. I'll say this like I always have: Thanx for the reviews & support. You guys don't know how much that means to me. Oh yeah, I plan to reveal Kaede's past in this chapter, so yeah. But that's pretty much all I have to say. Well, since it's like that, then why not recap a little?

Recap: In the last chapter, the Konoha team and Kaede were on their way back to Konoha. On the way, Sakura and Kakashi discover (or point out, really) that Naruto has a crush on Kaede. After which, they stop at a hot springs. In the hot springs, Kaede and Naruto are left alone in their room and with their time together, decide to get a little closer. But just how close?

Chapter 5 - So Soon?

(Naruto's P.O.V.)

"Naruto, what the HELL are you doing?"

Kaede and I slowly move our heads in their direction. I quickly look at her. Her face turned red and she kicked me off of her. She kicks pretty hard, too. I flew to one side of the room while she scooted to another.

"Well," Sakura-chan kept screaming."What happened in here?"

My voice got shaky as I tried to reassure her. "Look, Sakura-chan, this isn't what it looks like. It's not what you think it is."

"Dumbass, what the hell could it be if it's not that?"

I honestly couldn't answer that. Because of that, she punched me into another wall. I could tell my face was gonna be swollen for a while. I slowly get up from where I landed after five minutes. I could tell Kaede was trying to calm Sakura down.

"Haruno-san," she said. "Even though it may not seem that way, but honestly, what you think happened did not happen."

"Then what did happen?"

"Well you see, we were talking for a little bit and he happened to have found out that I'm extremely ticklish so he kept tickling me and-" Sakura cut her off.

"You know what...I don't want to know anymore!" We all got quiet. I approached the others. Sakura glared at me, hard. Kaede gave me an apologetic expression. I put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that said, 'It's ok. It's not your fault.'

After a few minutes, Sakura-chan stormed out and Kaede decided to go for a walk, leaving only Kakashi-sensei and I in the room. Oh Kami! I'm definitely not a fan of your twisted, cruel jokes. I braced myself for the torment that lied ahead.

"So Naruto," Kakashi-sensei starts. "You move pretty fast, don't you?" I was just waiting for that. I still start blushing.

"What-what are y-you talking about?" He laughs.

"Nothing. I'm just saying. You met the girl not too long ago, and the minute you get her alone, you're on top of her. You must really want her."

"Kakashi-sensei! It's not even like that. I mean, she's pretty and she's nice, but I don't-" I trail off. I couldn't finish my sentence. I got so confused. I don't think I like her. I mean, I barely know her and I did just meet her. But at the same time, I do like being around her and there are a lot of things I was beginning to like about her-like her smile, her laugh, her eyes, a lot. But there was no way I could like her that much so soon.

I snap out of my train of thoughts when Kakashi asks, "Do you think Sakura's jealous?" That shocked me to the point where I uncontrollably cough.

"HUH? What kind of question is THAT?"

"Relax, Naruto, I'm joking. But I'll leave it alone for now since your lover's coming back. I would leave you two alone, but I now know what'll happen if I do."

I ignore his comments as Kaede walks back in the room.

"Hey, Hatake-san, Naruto," she said, sitting in front of us. "Hey," I said back. I could tell she felt a weird atmosphere in the room.

"Did something happen while I was gone?"

"Don't worry about it," I told her.

"O-kay."

"Did you happen to find Sakura while you were out, Kaede," Kakashi asked.

"No. Besides, I don't think she would want to see me anyway." We paused. She glances at my face and gives me a concerned look. She reaches into her robe pocket and pulls out a pack of ice.

"Here, Naruto," she said. "I got this for you while I was out." She came up next to me and gently placed it on my cheek. She's a lot more caring than I would have ever thought. Kakashi raises an eyebrow at us. I ignored him. I was only focused on her for the time being.

"So, I've noticed you've stopped calling Naruto 'Uzumaki-kun,' Kaede," Kakashi stated. "Why is that exactly?"

She picked up my hand and put it on the ice pack. "Well, Naruto insisted stop calling him that. He just wanted me to call him Naruto, so I did."

"I see." There was a quick silence.

"And no, Hatake-san," Kaede starts. "He didn't mean that in the way you're thinking of. [1]" I glare at him. Nasty perverted prick. We stayed quiet.

Ten minutes later, Sakura-chan came back. She still looked mad. I try talking to her.

"Uh, hey Sakura-cha-" She slapped me in the back of the head. I really shouldn't have said anything. She was clearly still mad at me. I let it go and rubbed my head while she went into the back room.

"O-kay. I guess we should let her be for the night," Kaede said. Now that I think about it, it was getting kind of late. We paused.

"I guess I should go check on Sakura," Kakashi said getting up. "And Naruto..."
"Hmm?"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't approve of."

"SHUT UP SENSEI!" He left, leaving me and Kaede alone. She laughed at me. I guess I still must have been blushing.

"Naruto," she said a little more seriously. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I felt like I should apologize anyway."

"You know, you apologize a lot. Almost too much. Why is that?"

"I guess it's because of the way I was raised. You see, my father always made a point to tell my otouto and me that we should always take responsibility for our screw-ups. Like any other kid, it was just one of those things I never really listened to or cared about. But now, I guess I do that because it reminds me of him."

"Hm. How did he-" I stop. I felt like I was going too far. We stayed quiet for a while. I think I might have made her sad.

"Naruto, you don't have to worry about me. I promise you I'm ok." At that moment, without my consent, my body moved on its own. Next thing I know, I was holding her so tightly. I would've let go, but it felt so nice and she didn't seem to mind. She looked up at me.

"You know, Naruto," she started. "I don't know why, but I just want to let you know that you don't have to be afraid to ask me anything. I like your questions, for some reason. I guess I just want you to trust me and I want to trust you, Naruto." She had the biggest, cutest smile on her face. That really warmed my heart. We stayed quiet for a while, it was so comfortable.

"Kaede," I asked. "How did you become an assasin? I mean, you don't look or act like one, so how did that even happen?"

She sighed. "It's a long story, but I'll sum it up as much as possible. You see, when I was twelve, my father and mother were killed in a fire caused by a few rogue-nins. For a while, it was my otouto [2], Kyohei, and me. Luckily for us though, a good friend of my father, Sayu, took care of us. However, another rogue-nin killed Sayu-san and took my otouto when I was 14. I went everywhere looking for him-and a place to stay. Eventually, I found a family of assasins. They saw much potential in me and they wanted me to join their family. They made a deal with me that if I took out some of the people on their hit list, then they'd give me food, clothes, shelter and even help me find my otouto. I know it may have sounded shady, but at the time, but it seemed fair to me. I didn't care about anything but finding Kyohei. But there was only one thing to the agreement I didn't know about."

"What was it," I asked her.

"See, the people they wanted me to kill had absolute nothing to do with assasins. Hell, even some had nothing to do with shinobi! But I didn't know that, so I did as I was told to do. Apparently, some shinobi found out what they were doing and wanted to stop them. At the first chance they got, they pointed the finger at me, calling me a 'troublemaker', 'insane', 'psychotic' and 'no good.' They pretty much would have left me for dead if that meant they got away with what they did. It sucked because not only did they not help find my otouto, but they nearly got me killed. And I actually thought of them as family, because I'd do anything for them in a heartbeat. I mean, they took me in and took care of me. I did their dirty work for them, for at least three years. But, they lied to me and wanted me dead." She sighed. "That's why there's nothing in the world I hate more than a liar!" She looked downright furious towards the end of her story. Even her eyes were red. I hold her even tighter to calm her down. Luckily it did.

She sighed and then smiled. "Naruto," she started. "I'm glad you listened to my story. It's been so long since someone actually listened to what I had to say. I really appreciate that." I smile. I can tell that she has a really good heart. Unconsciously, I kiss her on the forehead. I pull away from her a little and looked in her eyes. They were filled with shock.

"What is it," I asked her, taken by surprise.

"You just kissed me. I'm just a little surprised."

I look at her in disbelief. "I did?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I'm not mad, if you think that's why I'm saying that, Naruto. I'm just surprised, is all."

We both start blushing and pull away from each other. We sat in a somewhat comfortable, yet somewhat awkward silence.

"Well, I guess that's for earlier then," I said.

"What," she asked.

"You kissed me on my forehead, before punching me square in the face and knocking me out, earlier. I guess that's why I did it. To get even I guess." I tried to make it sound as convincing as possible. I really did that just because I truly couldn't help it.

"No, you didn't." She saw right through me.

"Damn, I had a feeling you wouldn't fall for that. At least I tried."

"Yeah, you did. But not hard enough," she laughed.

"You know, Kaede. I just wanted to tell that I really like your laugh. It's pretty."

"You do?"

I nod with a big smile.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"I think I'm also starting to trust you now, too, Kaede."

She looks at me with a shocked expression. She then relaxes and smiles. "I trust you, too, Naruto." She stopped, looking like she obviously had something else to say. "I also think that..." she stopped.

"What?"

"I think that someday..." she pauses. She reaches up to my lips and kisses me. "I just wanted to tell you that I think you're going to a make a woman really happy one day." She said that with a nice, warm smile. I blink at her, unsure of what to think or say. Is that a hint that she likes me?

Author's Notes: Well, does Kaede like Naruto? Can this be the beginning of a beautiful relationship? Stick around to find out! Anywho, thanx again for your reviews and support! I appreciate it a lot. And please keep doing that. It keeps me motivated. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It might be longest up-to-date.

Special Notes: Due to projects and other school related stuff, I doubt I'll be able to update as frequently as I have been. I will try to update ASAP, but there really aren't any promises that it'll be as soon as it has been. But anyways, I think in the next chapter, they should be getting back to Konoha, finally. Only chaos will unravel when they do get there, so I just wanted to let you guys know that.

The Numbers:

[1] I apologize for writing it in a very vague way, but what I meant was sexually. (You know, like moaning and screaming his name.) I only say that if you didn't initially get it.

[2] Otouto, if you didn't know, means 'little brother' in Japanese.

Anyways, TTFN (tah tah for now!)