Not Alone, Not Anymore

by Cyb0rg67

Shintaro has made his fair share of choices all having consequences and his most recent one will be one that will impact everyone's life both in past, present, and future. That choice is to prevent the death of Naruto Uzumaki. Follow Shintaro in his quest as he puts everything on the line for one boy that'll change the world. Mainly focuses on OC then alternates to Naruto later

16. The Date

Chapter 16

Walking out of the dojo still furious the boy knew he had to calm down in order to face his sister again so long as that...woman was there as well, and if there is anything that calmed down his murderous intents it was the action of hunting down innocent animals and killing them for survival purposes. The boy knew he had to apologize to his sister for snapping at her like that, but he decided to only when that woman left them in peace. After sprinting for miles away from his home in order to put enought distance away from that woman the boy noticed he was now walking in the forest he usually hunts coming into bear territory. Wondering how much meat he should bring home he wondered what his sister was doing right now.

Back at home the girl was panting from the exercises her sensei just gave her.

"See, told you it be cool to teach you. That jutsu has it's uses doesn't it?"

"I never...thought you could...do that Sakura-sensei. When did you...learn how to do...that?"

"I picked it up from the records of another medical ninja I came across with. Although, he was an enemy through Sasuke-kun's...persuasion techniques he revealed everything he learned to me therefore increasing my medical knowledge. With that, and what I learned from Tsunade-sama I surpassed her as a medical ninja."

"Who was that Sakura-sensei?"

"A traitor to Konohagakure named Kabuto Yakushi. He worked under another traitor, and former teammate to Tsunade-sama. His name was Orochimaru, but we my Sasuke-kun took care of him when the time came. He was no match for my husband, but sadly this dreaded disease still got out thanks to that snake. Now half if not 3/4 of the world's population is dead by this point." Sakura said angrily

"S-Sakura-sensei?" the girl asked nervously

"Yes?" Sakura answered after calming down

"D-Do you think this plague will ever go away?" the girl said afraid of what her Sensei might say

"To be honest, it's not looking good. I've found treatments, antibiotics, and methods to slow down the process but it doesn't prevent it for long for the disease to kill someone. It's been nearly 7 or 8 years since this thing got out, and already were paying the price for it. Food is getting harder and harder to find, water is being polluted from the purest streams, and healthy ninjas are now on their deathbeds in agony waiting to die. I really hope I find a cure for this damn thing." Sakura said frustratingly to herself

"D-Don't worry Sakura-sensei, I believe in you. You're the best medical ninja in the world." the girl said trying to raise her teacher's spirit

"Thanks, but being the best right now isn't doing me a whole lot of good. I appreciate the thought though." Sakura said with a tired smile

"I guess I still can't visit the village anymore." the girl said depressed

"It's probably for the best. Now, enough of this depressing talk, I'm going to teach you a secret technique of mine?" Sakura said trying to lighten the mood working wonders on the girls spirits

"Really!? Really Sakura-sensei!?" the girl said excitedly with a bright smile on her face

"Yup, but you can't show it off until you master it ok?" Sakura said sternly causing the girl to stop jumping excitedly

"Not even Niichan?" the girl said sadly

"Nope." Sakura said not changing her tone

"Oh." the girl acknowledged as she sat down hugging her knees depressingly

As Sakura sighed she walked over to her depressed student because she didn't let her finish her sentence.

"If you'd let me finish. It's because you're going to show him this jutsu of yours on his birthday as a gift." Sakura crouched down whispering in her students ears who grew a surprised face

"How do you know Niichan's birthday? He's never told me about it." the girl asked confused looking at her teacher who was now hiding something behind her hand

"Don't ask me how, but I managed to get his actually birthday. I know I've done terrible things to him in the past, and I don't have the right to interfere with his life but that doesn't mean you can't. You're his sister, try to make him feel better even if it is a little bit." Sakura said with a sad smile

"Ok, Sakura-sensei, so what's this secret technique you're gonna teach me? And when's Niichan's birthday?" the girl asked urgently

"Well, to answer one of your questions it's in winter a few months from now. I don't want to give it away just yet in case he finds out about this, and to answer your other question well, look at this." Sakura said as she opened her hand revealing it to the girl who's jaw dropped to the floor.

"S-Sakura-sensei, i-is that..."

"It is, I'm going to teach how to use my secret technique called the...

---

Konohagakure, 9:32, Outside of the Hotel

Shintaro knew from all the positive reactions that his plan was going easier than he thought...too easy in fact, and if there's anything his psychotic grandmother/aunt told him is that when things get too easy something unimaginably difficult is bound to happen sooner or later. So, when all these happy smiles, and everyone getting what they want scenarios happening before his very eyes Shintaro knew to be on alert, but for now that had to wait why? Because it was only 10 minutes before he had to pick Ayano from their d...d..date. Shintaro had no idea why he didn't back out on this sooner.

After the meeting had ended Shintaro had everyone from his original group who wanted to live with their respective clans to head back to the hotel grab their stuff and get out. Of course there were some who overreacted to the kids leaving like say a certain Fangirl pleading her crush to stay with her when in reality the Uchiha compound was only a mile or two away from where she was. Another overly youthful individual vowed to visit them every day at their respective clan grounds otherwise a punishment of 2000 handstand push ups with her thumbs with 300 pound weights on her legs when they just settled for coming every so often for dinner.

Then when that was over Shintaro decided to let in on a little hint on where they were going for her birthday, but not before the biggest improvised birthday party ever! Everyone scoured the village for something to give to Ayano, who was told to wait in her room until told otherwise, for her birthday with their savings. Shou immediately went to the kitchen cursing himself for forgetting the sugar he saved up was actually for today. So he, and Momiji went on a food shopping spree of the ages quickly grabbing then paying what they needed for another cake only to Ayano's liking. That day multiple stores reported various ingredients missing with money being left on the counter with a note saying "Sorry for the rush, but we need this right now!"

Katsumi, Hiromi, Karin, and Ling were in charge of the decorations, and Jugo went with them as well, but as the giant of the resident group he was subjected to being the pack mule of this trip though he didn't mind.

Genyumaru, Haku, Kimimaro, and Suigetsu with Shintaro in charge were responsible for setting up the new furniture in the dining hall.

Finally Guren, Fu, Misaka, Honoka and Kushina as their guardian were in charge of finding a present for Ayano along with a proper dress to give her for tonight for Shintaro's birthday gift.

Ayano however was paired up with Shusuke to keep an eye out so that she couldn't interfere. The windows were locked, the vents sealed, and the only door had Shusuke on the other end to prevent her from leaving. Poor Ayano had no idea what was going on until about 4 hours later Shusuke finally spoke to her saying to come out, but with her eyes shut. Not wanting to ruin her chance of escape she did so without resistance. Shusuke lead her to the dining hall ignoring her questions of why she was trapped against her will, where everyone was, and why she had her eyes closed for this.

Her questions were answered in two phrases. The first was "Open your eyes." from Shusuke then the next was a very loud "SURPRISE!" from everyone in her group. Even Kushina who dragged Jiraiya, and Tsunade along with the Hokage to accompany them on her birthday.

To say Ayano was shocked was the understatement of the century. She knew it was her birthday, but everyone before all birthdays were just a quiet little celebration among friends with hardly any sweets or presents to accompany said birthday, but she was content. She was happy to spend another year with her friends, and those close to her even going so far as to lose their fair share of savings to grant her this much despite her protests.

Still, it bugged her to no end that whenever they did celebrate they agreed to take off their masks since it was just them save for Shintaro who always kept his on. Every time she had to see the small weak smiles or fake smiles from everyone tired from the journey afraid that today might be the day they die. Yet, the one time they get to celebrate a birthday without in hiding they still had to leave their masks on, but Ayano didn't mind. She knew that behind those masks were smiles, genuine happy smiles of relief, joy that everything might be ok now, she just wished she could've seen them. By now everyone, save for a certain raven haired emo, had perfected the eye smile technique each adding their own smile, but when Ayano did hers they could tell she was smiling happily behind her mask.

It took all Ayano had to not break into tears, but her efforts were foiled due to the amount of happiness she felt at the time. Then having to explain to the rest that she was crying tears of joy the party could officially begin.

After that a huge amount of joy was spread among the group of children, from the games, to eating the delicious giant vanilla cream filled cake with ice cream on the side, to opening the presents her friends had taken the effort to find for her. She loved all her gifts, but some of her favorites included a giant artists kit with everything from sketchbooks to oil painting from Shusuke of all people, some new clothes that had her favorite purple dye to it courtesy of Guren, some drawings of all of them together drawn from Hiromi, Karin, Fu, and even Suigetsu. The first two shyly gave theirs hoping it wasn't terrible, but smiled happily when Ayano said she loved it.

The latter however, were more eager to prove which of their artistic nightmares were the better of the two, but Ayano simply said they were both wonderful in their own right hopefully to end the fight and she was happy to accept them both. However, that just sparked another feud between the two into whose gift was better in said certain way.

Naruto, who had finally woken up after the meeting (and unintentional poisoning without Kushina's knowledge of course lest Shintaro face a mother's wrath), he decided he would give Ayano a most prized possession of his...a 50% coupon off at your next purchase at Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto was hesitant to say the least, but since Ayano was literally the first girl, save for Ayame the ramen goddess, who was nice to him treating him like a human being he felt she deserved something that showed his affection. Ayano sweat dropped at the gift, even more so when he went into detail of how important it was to him, but thought it was nice that he gave her something like this to her and decided to use it later with him while Naruto lept for joy. The gift that surprised her the most however, was a beautiful purple kimono that looked like it came out of her princess movies that Shintaro had force himself to watch.

Kushina in particular gave a victorious grin at how Ayano was eyeing the dress, and even more so at the reaction Ayano gave when she found out the purpose of said dress. In record time Ayano fell unconscious from embarrassment in a matter of 2.5 seconds, pretty impressive for her. It was then that Shintaro was dragged against his will by Jiraiya to give him a few...pointers for his night with the lovely lady.

Embarrassed to no degree almost like Ayano Shintaro also decided to pass out from too much blood in his head only surpassing her record in a time of 2.1 seconds, a close call to say the least. It was soon after that Jiraiya was beaten senseless by two angry women holding back to leave any blood on the floor. Kushina then told Shintaro to forget what Jiraiya had said telling him only to be himself when in situations like this.

Shintaro repeated again and again to Kushina that this wasn't that kind of date, but Kushina stubbornness along with her eye for love simply refused to admit so. Even so, with that in mind Kushina went up to Shintaro to tell Ayano that firsthand so that the poor girl wouldn't get her heart crushed at such a young age. Shintaro didn't need that reminder since Misaka had already told-nay threatened him, but Kushina stressed it even more just to make sure Shintaro knew what he was getting into.

Shintaro nodded saying that he specifically told Ayano what tonight was really about before any confusion could be spread, and any unnecessary rumors spread amongst the kids could get ahead of themselves. After that even Shintaro, and Ayano had trouble being around each other blushing at the sight of one another thought it was hard to tell with the masks on. Blowing the candles was a bit of a challenge, but Ayano simply brought down her mask quickly using genjutsu to blow them all away.

After that the birthday went off normally without anything big happening. So after a few more hours of various partying activities and waiting Ayano began dressing herself in the dress Kushina gave her. Shintaro meanwhile was outside the hotel in a dark blue kimono with a skin tight mask on due to his butler suit was compromised from before in the Forest of Death. He considered wearing it, but decided against it since when he asked Ayano about it she just said it was a weird dream she had, and Shintaro thought it'd be best to leave it like that. However, even though he changed clothes he was sweating like a madman nervous beyond belief. He may have denied it the entire time, but eventually he succumbed to the fact that this was starting to turn into that kind of date.

"Let's see, hair's fine, clothe's are clean, body oder 'sniff' gah! I should've showered longer! Oh man Ayano's going to think I'm a slob...wait, what the hell am I freaking out for? I've infiltrated some of the most secure places on earth, taken out bandits in a blink of an eye, this...this is nothing! Yeah, nothing...right? Then why...why the hell am I so nervous?" Shintaro thought nervously to himself

"Because you're about to test you're friendship with that Ayano girl by telling her everything about you or did you forget that?" Uncle reminded bluntly

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. That was the whole purpose of tonight." Shintaro chuckled inwardly before going serious.

"Ayano-chan...she's been with me through thick and thin ever since I met her. I've yelled at her, insulted her, berated her, I even hit her once...yet still despite all that she's with me now, and how do I repay her? With distrust, orders, and lies...that all changes tonight. I just don't hope she hates after this, but I'll understand completely if she does." Shintaro thought solemnly

"Shintaro, after everything that girl has had put up with especially with you and still acts as your closest friend, I don't think it's possible for her to hate you." Uncle said sarcastically

"Uncle, I appreciate the positive thoughts, but I'm more worried what she'll do once she finds out about-"

"S-Shintaro-kun." Ayano said to get his attention

"Alright showtime!" Shintaro thought to himself as he turned around to see Ayano before really seeing Ayano

"Hey Aya...woah." Shintaro was all that he could say as he really saw Ayano in her kimono

As Shintaro turned his gaze to Ayano he felt obligated to keep his eyes on her. She had her hair tied like she always did in a low ponytail with her long bangs covering half her face, but was tied with the flower he recently obtained from the Forest of Death that radiated wonderfully against the moonlight.

"Weird, I coudl've sworn that thing had at least 10 petals when I picked it. Why is it reduced to 5? Actually all 5 petals make it look like that flower held 5 petals in the first place. It also did that the first time I gave it to her, I seriously need to find out why it does that." Shintaro thought to himself as he went back to observing Ayano's beauty

She still had her purple bandanna on her face covering most of her face much to Shintaro's displeasure considering he'd seen her face earlier today. Although, he was sure to see it again once they'd reach their destination. Her kimono looked wonderful on her as it should with it's dark shade or purple with a lavender flower design on her hip, upper chest, and back.

After about a minute of silence Ayano decided to break it by asking an important question to her.

"D-do you like it?" Ayano asked with a slight blush behind her mask

"Do I? Ayano-chan you look beautiful!" Shintaro said in wonder as Ayano blushed harder at the compliment

"T-Thank you...y-you look h-handsome as w-well Shintaro-kun." Ayano replied

"Me? Thanks Ayano-chan, but I just picked this up last minute. Mine's just a cheap rag compared to yours, and plus I'm not much to look at without this thing." Shintaro said pointing to his mask much to Ayano's protest

"I-I wouldn't be too sure Shintaro-kun, I'm sure you're not that bad looking. Not everyone is as ugly as they think they are, they are only as hideous they allow themselves to think." Ayano said sagely

"Wow, sage advice from a beautiful girl? Maybe I should call you my Ayano-hime instead right Ayano-chan?" Shintaro said nervously chuckling rubbing the behind of his head as Ayano was on the verge of passing out embarrassment

"Uh, Ayano-chan? You ok?" Shintaro said snapping his fingers

"I-I-I'm fine! J-Just p-please call me Ayano-chan l-like before please." Ayano stuttered embarrassed

"Guess not every girl wants to be called a princess." Shintaro thought to himself taking note to never call her that again

"He called me his princess! He called me his princess! I hope he calls me that again, but I hope I can take it." Ayano thought happily to herself

"Oh, ok then. Well want to leave then Ayano-chan? I doubt we can have a good time dressed like this just standing here, and it's a man's duty to escort a girl am I right?" Shintaro said extending his hand

"H-Hai." was all she could say as Ayano hesitantly took his hand, but once she did she never felt happier in her entire life

"I-I'm on a d-date with Shintaro-kun! It's finally happening!" Ayano thought to herself in glee as she did her best to hide a squeal of joy

"This is it...this is the day I find out how much I can trust Ayano-chan as a friend. But first, a little dinner would be nice." Shintaro thought to himself as the two children walked with each other.

---

Meanwhile inside the hotel events were taking place among the children...gambling events. Specifically Guren couldn't bear to wait to find out what'll happen so to deal with the waiting she raised a gambling pool on how well or bad the date will go. Kushina was with Honoka Sadao, Shinji, and Shusuke wanted no part in it the former having a Shogi match, and the latter spending the night with the Uchiha Clan to get comfortable.

Though he did have to tear off a crying fanatic begging him to stay, but with the promise of maybe coming back for dinner once in a while that was enough to stay the girl. The other kids wanting one last night together decided to stay until tonight before they move on with their clansmen. Right now Guren was on top of a table with a board standing up straight blank with the kids taking interest discussing amongst themselves their own opinion.

"Alright, Alright! Place your bets! Place your bets! How do you think this date's going to go? Will it end in disaster? Will new love blossom between the two? Will it end as them just staying friends? Do you think they'll kiss? How far will they go!" Guren said loudly banging a huge white board with scenarios on it as the commotion between the children was getting louder

"Uh, can someone explain to me what's going on?" Rei asked in confusion

"Simple! This is the first time anyone of us has asked each other to date...and has accepted willingly." Guren said looking to Misaka

"Hey!" Misaka yelled in annoyance

"Like I said, since Shintaro asked Ayano out for a date even though it's a birthday gift this may or may not bloom into a relationship. We do not know what will happen when the two potential lovebirds return whether or not things will be different. This Rei my dear is merely speculation on what will happen, and the results of said speculation between the two. Anyone has a say in what they think might happen tonight."

"For instance, I say the two get down to smooch town the second they get some alone time!" Guren said giggling like a maniac writing her thoughts on the board

"Ok? So what about the betting part?" Rei asked for classification

"That's solely depends on what, and how much you want to bet. Some of us are betting favors for each other, duties that we're supposed to do for the day, but could make others do it, possessions such as clothes, trinkets, or whatever else you have. You may even bet some or all of your allowance given to you by Shintaro if he's given you one."

"So Rei, are you in or are you merely going to be an observer?" Guren asked with a sly smile

"I'll just watch this time. I only have a few thousand ryo from what Shintaro gave me, and I'm not about to use it on something I have no experience in."

"Then think of this as an learning experience then!" Guren said

"Huh?" Rei said in confusion

"Think about it, you're here because your mom wanted you to learn about the world right?" Guren asked

"Right?" Rei said uneasy of where this is going

"Then gambling is one of the major things you'll want experience in. Whether it's with your money or your life you're bound to bet on something sooner or later. I'm not telling you to bet with your money, you can just...I know, you can bet those clothes of yours, it looks fashionable to me to the point I can sell it at the market. I'm a good negotiator when it comes to that sort of thing so if you lose I'll give you some spare clothes, but what you're wearing now will be mine. Well, it all depends on if you want to still partake in or not."

"I don't know." Rei said unsure looking at her clothes

What Rei was wearing was a simple black t-shirt with a golden/white bee design on the back that Momiji found in a store, plus over her heart and white shorts along with some simple sandals.

"Well, I'm betting my dish duty tomorrow on the fact that Shintaro is gonna screw up big time." Genyumaru said cockily

"Oh, how so? Please elaborate." Guren said with interest

"I bet something'll happen with dinner, and Ayano's kimono will get dirty beyond belief. That'll cause them to leave early, and the date ruined." Genyumaru explained

"I see...dirty dress, leave early, date ruined. Ok anyone else?" Guren said writing said scenario on the board

"OH! And add some guy hits on Ayano, I'm sure that'll happen, but Shintaro will kick his ass to kingdom come." Genyumaru added

"Ok, is that before or after ruined dress?" Guren asked for clarification

"Um...I'm gonna go with...af-nope! Before, definitely before." Genyumaru said snapping his fingers

"Ok, white knight scenario before ruined dress. Remember, since you bet dish duty that means when you win you get to skip it, but if you lose you get dish duty the rest of the week. Next?" Guren asked

"I think the date will go off without a hitch, but nothing special will happen. So they'll probably just stay friends. Oh, and I'm betting my guard duty tonight." Hideki said as he finished a bag of chips

"Ok, normal date, stay as friends. Next?" Guren asked

"Yosh! Even though I think it's unyouthful to take such actions behind my dear friends back I cannot, but hope that the youthful flames of love will surely blossom between the two! They'll surely fall in love with each other due to the flawless date filled activities they will partake in, and expand their relationship to the next level! And if it doesn't happen that way I'll do 3,000 laps around the village." Ling said excitedly

"Uh? Translation please?" Guren asked sweat dropping

"Ling feels bad about this, but she thinks they'll fall in love with each other becoming boyfriend and girlfriend due to a perfect date. Oh, and put that one for me too, but the date will be a disaster. Romance doesn't always happened due to perfection." Momiji explained dreamily

"Oh, thank you then. Ok, become boyfriend, and girlfriend due to a perfect date. And you said the opposite date wise. Alright anyone else?"

"Oh oh! I think the two will get it on like you said when given the chance! Hehehehe, I have no doubt that lip contact will be made." Suigetsu said mischievously as Guren giggled in agreement

"Heh, same here if anything I'm sure they'll go off the deep end if ya know what i mean." Katsumi said suggestively raising her eyebrows

"Oooh, sexy time eh? How bold, how far will he go?" Guren asked blushing a bit

"He'll end up either hitting a home run or a the very least third base." Katsumi said snickering as Guren continued to blush

"The same applies to me. I have no doubt that Shintaro will pounce on her like a predator with that Ayano girl his prey. I'm willing to bet my allowance Shintaro gave me because he seems like the type to do that. Don't you think so as well?" Akihiko said to Katsumi giving a sinister grin

"Yeah! If anything I'm sure this'll end in a love hotel." Katsumi said giving Guren a thumbs up who sweat dropped

"Ok then. Shintaro turns out to be a sexual predator with Ayano as his prey with a possibility of ending in an love hotel." Guren sighed writing it down

"Tch! You're all wrong, Shintaro's not like that. He's gonna treat Ayano with chivalry, kindness, and the utmost respect, and Ayano is gonna love it therefore a lovely date." Fu said dreamily

"Oh? Alrighty then, Shintaro act like gentleman, Ayano loves it equals lovely date." Guren said writing down what Fu said

"Fantasizing a bit are we?" Suigetsu teased only to be knocked upside the head by Fu

"S-Shut up! Better than being a pervert like you!" Fu said embarrassed

"Hey! It's a man's duty to go as far as he can on the first date!" Suigetsu retorted with pride

"Yeah, and if he gets any farther than a simple hello, I'm gonna kill him!" Misaka yelled annoyed in rage waving her sheathed sword like some trophy scaring Suigetsu

"Besides, I'm sure he's just gonna spill some personal stuff on her then Ayano will gush over him even more then the perverted baka will finally realize he was an idiot, and think about Ayano's feelings due to an accidental case of her spilling her own beans. Then the two will act awkward around each other, but more enlightened about each other." Misaka said nodding her head in surety

"Oh? Confident are we? Ok, sharing personal info, realize he's an idiot, accidental love confession, awkwardness ensues, leading to enlightenment about each other. Man, you guys are good at this, ok who's next?" Guren asked excitedly

"What are you kids doing here?" Kushina asked everyone entering the room

"Hey, I thought the party was over? What gives!?" Naruto asked feeling left out

"Well, since you went to change Ayano giving her advice, and you Naruto who went to the bathroom after drinking away all the punch you jerk we've decided since this might be the first sign of a relationship between us. I thought we'd make it interesting for all of us, and bet on how good or bad this date goes. As you can see we already have a few ideas on how this'll play out." Guren said smacking the board for Kushina to see.

"Geez, betting on how a simple date will go. How bored can you guys get, don't you guys have any self respect?" Honoka said coming in after Kushina

"Oh? Come on miss stickler, have a little fun. It's not like they're gonna know about this, and besides you can't deny the fact you're wondering how this date's gonna go too. After all, you got someone you're crushing on Shintaro as well." Guren said calling out Honoka

"I-I do not! A-Absurd, the thought of me dating that-that...jerk." Honoka muttered to herself

"Yosh! It seems that Shintaro's youthful flames have reached beyond that of you Honoka-san! How scandalous!" Ling said with hearts in her eyes

"S-Shintaro's youthful...whatever you just said didn't reach anyone! Especially me!" Honoka yelled before turning away out of the room

"Uh huh." Momiji said to the flustered Honoka leaving the room

"Someone's in denial." Katsumi snickered

"Oh just let her be, besides I want to have a few words with you kids." Kushina said raising her voice in a motherly way along with her aura

"You kids mind telling me what inspired you do this?" Kushina asked pointing to the gambling board

"Boredom." Sadao said lazily in a corner

"The excitement of predicting the future?" Guren said nervously

"It's fun not knowing the outcome of things like this." Genyumaru added

"Wanting the best out of our friends?" Momiji said with a nervous smile

"There's nothing else to do." Akihiko added boringly

"Plus this is the first date any of us have ever gone on. So we can use this as a reference if any of us have any romantic interest in the future." Guren said defending her position

"Some of us need it more than others though...a lot more." Katsumi chuckled looking at Misaka

"Hey! Speak for yourself you damn bi-OW! Who the hell hi-OW!" Misaka said after rubbing her head from being hit twice

"I won't tolerate foul language from a young lady like you Misaka. Especially in front of my son." Kushina lectured Misaka

Misaka didn't liked being talked down seeing as it was rarely done to her to so she decided to defend herself.

"Grr, but Katsumi-"

"Needs to learn how to hold her tongue sometimes, but you also need to learn how to hold in your temper. I know I'm not one to talk, but even still there's no need for language like that. Understand?" Kushina said with her motherly stare

"Fine." Misaka grumbled

"I'm sorry what was that?" Kushina asked in a sweet tone that didn't match the aura giving Misaka the shivers

"Y-Yes, Ms. Uzumaki!" Misaka said straightening up

"Good, now tell me why I shouldn't discipline you all for gambling in such at such a small age?" Kushina asked in a tone that demanded an answer

"Because we got adult permission." Katsumi said nervously

"From who?" Kushina asked when suddenly the door was kicked open loudly

"Alright kiddies let get this show on the road! I'm drunk, I got money, I'm gonna start out my recovery with success, and I'm gonna show you why I'm a gambling legend!" a roaring drunken female voice said crashing into the room

"Her." Katsumi pointed as Kushina sighed face palming herself knowing who "her" was

"Lady Tsunade please, it's only been a day since you're recovery you shouldn't be drinking." a pleading teenager said as her pig oinked in agreement

"Should've figured." Kushina said quietly as she walked to Tsunade

As Kushina walked up to Tsunade Guren decided to take this as an opportunity to quietly continue the bets while Kushina chastised Tsunade on getting the kids involved with gambling.

"So, whose next?" Guren whispered as the kids one by one listed their bets, and wagers to each other.

---

Back with Shintaro and Ayano

Walking hand in hand with each other Shintaro did his best to make small talk on the way with Ayano only responding quickly with one word answers. Not because she didn't want to, far from it. She was just having trouble of thinking of something to say other than one word, and too embarrassed to admit it.

"Man, this is going horrible. She's barely saying a word to me, I wonder if it's because I practically ordered her to hold my hand, and the fact I haven't let go at all. But it's so soft I kind of don't want to." Shintaro thought to himself doubting his decision

"Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no! This is going horribly! I can barely say one word in front of Shintaro-kun, he's obviously trying to make me comfortable, but I can't return the favor to him. What do I do, what do I do?" Ayano thought to herself in a panic before the two shared a thought

"I'll just have to make up for it at dinner." the two kids thought to each other with equal amount of determination as the restaurant came into view

Said restaurant was a two story traditional Japanese palace that looked like a place for nobles to eat. The name of the restaurant was held by it's mascot that held itself by the pillars...The Golden Dragon.

"We're here." Shintaro said as the two stopped

"T-This i-is where we're e-eating!?" Ayano asked surprised at the fancy restaurant they stopped at

"Yup, I know you have a thing for atmosphere when it comes to restaurants so I thought why not here?" Shintaro said happily

"Despite the fact I'm gonna order the least expensive thing here. I just hope Ayano-chan doesn't do the opposite." Shintaro thought to himself fearing for his wallet

"Well, let's go in then." Shintaro said as he escorted Ayano through the door

"S-Sure." Ayano said following

"Welcome to the Golden Dragon. How may we be of service to you?" a well dressed greeter said politely bowing his head

"Uh yeah, I have a reservation for tonight. Would you mind finding us a table please?" Shintaro said politely

"Certainly, can you please tell me the name?" the greeter asked politely

"It's for Shintaro, Shintaro Senpu." Shintaro answered

"Senpu...ah yes, you came here yesterday requesting quite a lot for someone of your age. Then you surprised the manager by providing the money necessary for your requests. Yes, a private booth secluded from everyone, a table for two, and you even asked for the birthday special for someone." the greeter said repeating the arrangements making Shintaro blush a bit

"He he, yeah that'd be for her." Shintaro said pointing to Ayano who 'eeped!' at the mention of her hiding behind Shintaro

"Oh? You never said it was for a lady friend, but to each his own." the greeter asked

"She's a bit shy so that's why I asked that of you guys. So, may we be escorted?"

"Certainly young sir." the greeter said as he rung a bell prompting a female waiter to appear

The female waiter was wearing a beautiful black kimono with a gold dragon design on it, and her hair was put up high in a pin. Black hair, black eyes, and a smooth creamy skin to compliment it she was a sight to behold...a sight that Shintaro had seen only much more pissed off.

"Please, follow m...y-you?" the waiter said in unison with Shintaro who was equally surprised

"Oh, you know are young guest Izumi-san?" the greeter asked

"S-Sort of. Please, follow me." Izumi said politely with nervousness in her tone

"Sure, lead the way. Come on Ayano-chan." Shintaro said uneasy as the trio walked to their booth

As the three made into their booth it was clear there was an unpleasant awkwardness between the three. It was when Shintaro, and Ayano took their seats that Shintaro decided to talk.

"So uh, didn't think you worked in a place like this. Not that I'm saying you can't I'm just surprised that's all." Shintaro said quickly

"Well, my mom is good friends with the owner, and convinced him to give me a part-time job here. Even though I work part time I make good money here." Izumi replied as she set up the table before another awkward silence was had.

"So...how are things with Itachi?" Shintaro said breaking the silence

"Good, good, considering everything that happened I guess,. I mean it's only been one day, but Itachi-kun is busy enough with his Anbu work alone not including whenever Fugaku-sama calls him for a meeting so I can't complain about how much time we spend together. Although, it's not like he hasn't treated me since we started dating. I mean just this morning he came with flowers to apologize for last night." Izumi said giggling at the memory

"Oh really? Well, I wouldn't know much about relationships in general, but I hope the best for you two." Shintaro said sincerely

"Thanks. So, what do you guys w-er I mean...ahem, what would like for dinner young masters?" Izumi said taking out a pen and paper

"I'll just have a small bowl of udon noodles with some water, not really hungry at the moment. What about you Ayano-chan?" Shintaro asked

"I-I'll just have some Sashimi, and some jasmine tea if you please." Ayano said politely

"Su-I mean, I'll be sure to tell the chefs right away. I'll have your water, and tea in a moment." Izumi said casually before saying with a fake smile

"Oh, and thank you for choosing to dine with us. I really need to remember that." Izumi muttered to herself as she closed the paper door to the booth

"S-So Shintaro-kun, h-how do you k-know that girl?" Ayano asked nervously

"Oh Izumi-san? I ran into her when infiltrating the Uchiha District last night. Turns out she's Itachi's girlfriend or became so as of last night."

"The Uchiha District? What were you doing there?" Ayano asked

"I was...running an errand. One that can have an effect on us in the future, but above all else I was also gathering information." Shintaro said carefully

"Information?" Ayano asked curiously

"That I can use against the teme later on." Shintaro added in a mock evil tone

"Shintaro-kun." Ayano chided

"I'm not planning anything drastic Ayano-chan. You know well as I do how much the teme plans to devote his life you his...your father." Shintaro said as Ayano's eyes dropped down in sadness

"Look, I know your...lineage is a touchy subject, but I've...sigh, it's not necessarily good news Ayano-chan, but I guess it all depends on your perspective." Shintaro muttered to himself

"Shintaro-kun, what're you talking about?" Ayano said confused

"I'll explain everything once we get our food." Shintaro said neutrally looking away

"Shintaro-kun..."

"Hey cheer up, you are turning 11 today after all." Shintaro joked kindheartedly

"Thank you Shintaro-kun." Ayano said smiling underneath her mask

"Hey, I got yo-dammit. Ahem, you're drinks are here young master, young mistress." Izumi said as she knocked on the door

"Please come in." Shintaro said

"Here you are, one water, and one jasmine tea with some pints in case you want a refill. The food'll be ready in just a few minutes." Izumi said placing a pitcher of water, and a pot of tea next to their respective beverages

"That's fine. I have a feeling we'll be here a while." Shintaro said looking at Ayano

"Very well then, thank you for your patience. If you need anything just ring that bell, and I'll be here as soon as I can." Izumi said in pleasant tone as her eye twitched

"Will do." Shintaro said as Izumi bowed before leaving

"She obviously doesn't like doing that sort of thing, poor girl." Shintaro said in sympathy

"What do you mean Shintaro-kun?" Ayano asked

"I'm just talking about all the politeness, mannerisms, and etiquette she obviously has to do with this job. From what I saw of her yesterday she's like the equivalent to Ms. Uzumaki just as a teenager, but I could be wrong. After all I only saw her for a few minutes yesterday, and when I did she went to being pissed, to embarrassed then happy, and finally passed out on me. She seems nice, but she's seems stressed about this job. She's good at hiding it, but I suppose she is an Uchiha." Shintaro noted

"Shintaro-kun, you shouldn't discriminate." Ayano said sternly

"I'm not, even though the teme is...well, the teme. That doesn't mean that whole clan of his is like it. Itachi is...mysterious, well a blank slate to be more accurate from what little time I've interacted with him, and his mother Mikoto Uchiha seems ok. A bit mellow compared to Ms. Uzumaki, but more stern than Mrs. Hyuuga who seems more kindhearted than the others though that's all in perspective." Shintaro observed

"Shintaro-kun, can you please tell me something?" Ayano asked sincerely

"Uh, sure what is it?" Shintaro replied

"You know as well as I do about Shusuke-kun's, and I...relationship between each other. Do you think that Shusuke-kun will..." Ayano said nervously

"Rat you out to Fugaku?" Shintaro finished with Ayano nodding

"I'm not sure to be honest...no actually I don't think he won't. You know his mentality, only power matters, and if you don't have it you're worthless. I thinking he tolerates it with you, but recently that seems to be fading a bit." Shintaro said with actual concern

"He's just stressed is all." Ayano said defending her half-brother

"Ayano-chan come on, half-brother or not you don't deserve to be treated like that. I know that you're nice, really nice, but there has to be a limit. He hasn't even apologized for that incident when we first got here." Shintaro pressed

"There wasn't a limit with you Shintaro-kun." Ayano said flatly catching Shintaro off guard

"Ayano-chan come on that's not fair." Shintaro said a little hurt

"You've told me numerous times that life isn't fair, and I should learn to adapt." Ayano said still her flat tone

"I guess you have a point there. Still, Shusuke-"

"Is still my relative Shintaro-kun, he's family. You know far more than anyone else what it means to protect your family, Hiromi-chan is living proof of that." Ayano said trying to prove her point

"Yes, but all the others are proof of my failures, including Aiko, she's also living proof of that." Shintaro muttered bitterly without paying attention

"Shintaro-kun I..." Ayano said softly

"Forget it, it's fine..." Shintaro said waving his hand before a light smile formed on his face

"To be honest it's talks like these that put my mind at ease. That's why tonight...tonight will clear up a lot of things between us, including this." Shintaro said pointing to his mask as Ayano's eyes widen

"Shintaro-kun, I told you that's not necessary. You have your reasons for hiding your face as do I yet you went through all the trouble of getting a private booth for us." Ayano said looking around the room

"Well, I wouldn't do this anywhere else otherwise. Besides, haven't you noticed by now?" Shintaro said shifting his eyes to corners of the room

"You mean the subtle seals you've placed throughout this area?" Ayano said calmly with a smile

"Yes, exactly. I'm a little surprised you caught on." Shintaro said slightly raising an eyebrow

"Well, I did have a good teacher." Ayano said with a gentle smile

"You always caught on to little things, that's why your attention to detail put you this far. It's why you're as good as noticing things almost as I am, not that I want to toot my own horn or anything." Shintaro said with mild pride puffing his chest

"Whatever you say Shintaro-kun." Ayano giggled as she heard a knock

"Foods her-wait uh...The food has arrived young master, mistress." Izumi grumbled through the door while Shintaro gave Ayano a "I told you so" look while Ayano simply giggled again

"Please come in." Shintaro said as Izumi opened a door struggling to keep a smile on her face

"You know, you don't have to act that way around us. I'm sure we'll feel more comfortable around the real you other than the fancy waitress you're trying to portray." Shintaro chuckled

"Are you sure young master? I don't want to seem rude to you or your friend." Izumi said carefully

"Please, by all means relax." Shintaro said chuckled

"Oh thank Kami!" Izumi said with a sigh of relief walking with the food

"Man, I cannot believe all the curtsy crap I have to shove inside my mind. Thanks for waiting so long, we're kinda busy tonight." Izumi said as she put down the food

"I can only imagine. You guys are well known in Konoha, and with pretty waitress's to boot I'm sure it's a winning combo. Though I'm sure you're capable of handling yourself." Shintaro said

"Thanks, I hope I get more guests like you in the future, but knowing my luck I'm sure to get one of those fat pig bastards of nobles. I'm sure more than a few will be leering at me." Izumi said shivering at the thought

"Well, if that does happen I'm sure a complaint to the Anbu will straighten things up. Who knows where that information might reach or who to be precise." Shintaro said passively

"I'm sure if I did I would be worrying about his job more than mine." Izumi said chuckling

"Well, at times it's not too bad to let in on your problems to those you trust." Shintaro said receiving a quiet nod from Ayano

"True, unless that person overreacts to said information, and acts totally different because of it." Izumi replied

"You have a point there. Sometimes silence is the best possible answer to your problems." Shintaro admitted as Ayano had a sad look in her eyes

"It can also lead to distrust among close friends, alienating yourself from those close to you in the process." Shintaro added much to Ayano's surprise

"Yes, that's true as well, but what if people act on their own once they learn the information? Like spread it even with the best intentions or carrying out actions that would put themselves along with everyone they care about. They never would've done so if they haven't learned it the problem in the first place."

"Another point to you Izumi-san. I have to admit your more than just a pretty face, there's a particular thinking brain working in that head of yours." Shintaro said receiving a satisfied grin from Izumi and a disapproving look from Ayano

"Well, aren't you the little charmer? If you were a bit older, and I had time to know you I'm sure you'd be in Itachi's situation right now. But alas things did not turn that way, for I have not only the son of the Clan Head as my boyfriend, but a loving, caring albeit stoic faced man. He's the man I fell in love with, and I plan to stick with him through the good, and the bad." Izumi said dramatically as if she was in a play

"Thanks, but I have this to say about your earlier statement. While there is a risk of that happening, it'll all depend on how much you trust that person to not act. It's not their reaction you need to worry most about, it's your reaction to their reaction that determines the sturdiness of the relationship two share between each other. Whether it be lovers, or close friends, how you react to each other will determine how much you value your relationship." Shintaro said lightening Ayano's mood

"Hm, you're a strange kid you know that?" Izumi said observed

"Only as strange as you perceive me, thank you for the conversation Izumi-san, but I'd appreciate it if you give us some privacy. Here, a present for all your trouble." Shintaro said handing out a tip to Izumi who accepted it gratefully after counting the money

"Wow, never thought a kid like you would be able to hand out this as a tip, but I'll leave now if that's what you want. Like I said, if you need me just ring." Izumi said with a bow before closing the door.

"Alright then, let's get some real privacy." Shintaro said getting up performing a few hand seals

"Ninja Art: Space Encasement Jutsu!" Shintaro said as the room became encased in darkness leaving not even a single light seen or sound to be heard

"S-Shintaro-kun!" Ayano yelled out as she noticed that she couldn't even hear her own voice.

She screamed and screamed yet her voice could not be heard nor see anything but darkness. Fearing of losing herself in madness she felt a hand reach her shoulder, and out of reaction she elbowed the source of said hand that didn't lose it's grip. It was then that Ayano began to began to see the light of the room only dimmer than before with the corners of then room being covered in darkness still with the table itself barely lit.

"Calm down Ayano-chan. It's fine, everything's alright." Shintaro said as he came into view as Ayano reflexively elbowed Shintaro in the gut

"S-Shintaro-kun! Don't scare me like that!" Ayano said as Shintaro tried to recover from the reflex jab she gave Shintaro

"Nice...to know you're...always on guard Ayano-chan." Shintaro muttered as he lay on the floor as Ayano realized what she had done.

"Shintaro-kun! Oh I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" Ayano said in a panic

"It's 'cough' fine Ayano-chan. I'm glad that you're still on guard even in times like this." Shintaro said as he got up

"Still, you should've warned me before using a jutsu like that. What is this jutsu anyways? Is it a genjutsu?" Ayano asked

"No, no I can't do genjutsu, I can't do it even if I trained for years on end. It's not like the Infinite Darkness Genjutsu where all your senses are taken from you though there are similarities. This is actually a separate space altogether where only you and I truly know what's going on. If anyone does happen to come up on us, all they'll just see an illusion of us eating our food. Which by the way is going to get cold if we don't eat it." Shintaro said as he took his seat getting some chopsticks

"Oh, right. Well, I guess I don't need this then, but it'll feel strange to eat without it." Ayano said as she sat down taking off her bandanna revealing her face to Shintaro again who was dumbstruck of how much that piece of cloth hid her true beauty

"Man, I'm really having a hard time believing you were this pretty all along." Shintaro sighed as Ayano blushed

"S-S-Shintaro-kun stop it, you're making me blush." Ayano said as she did so

"Well, I'm not one to lie to someone like you Ayano-chan." Shintaro laughed nervously

"I'm having trouble believing that Shintaro-kun." Ayano said casually causing Shintaro to flinch

"Ayano-chan, come on." Shintaro sighed

"Shintaro-kun, I know you have your reasons for doing so, but I'm not a ignorant blond girl anymore." Ayano said with a pouting face

"You're never going to let that go are you? Come on, you knew I was only saying so because you kept going the same route of getting groceries despite the danger of doing so. I told you numerous times about other suitable routes, but you kept going the same damn way facing the same damn looters. It's almost like you wan...you chose that route on purpose just so I could get you out trouble on a regular basis didn't you?" Shintaro asked

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ayano said casually turning her head to hide a smile on her face

"Uh huh, you know there was a risk I wouldn't come back to that same route don't you?" Shintaro said with a raised eyebrow

"Well, it worked out in the end didn't it?" Ayano said sugesstively

"So you did do it!" Shintaro said annoyed

"I didn't say I did or didn't, I only said it worked out in the end." Ayano said turning around sticking out her tongue

"When did you get so playful?" Shintaro said with an amusing smirk underneath his mask

"There some things that you don't know about me Shintaro-kun." Ayano replied giggling a bit

"I see...well, I suppose it's my turn to turn the tables isn't it? After all, I am a man of my word." Shintaro said neutrally dropping Ayano's mood

"Shintaro-kun, I told you don't have to-"

"I'm not doing it because I have to, I do it because I want to...besides, I can't remember a time when I ate without this thing on." Shintaro said sadly as he raised his arms

"Am I really going to do this? Can I really trust her? No, I promised myself that I'd go through this, she needs to know...I need to know if she's the one...the one who can help me learn to trust others. If she stills want to be around me after this... still my friend then I'll consider telling some of the others. If she...doesn't take it well, I'll have her swore secrecy...and never trust anyone again, not even Hiromi." Shintaro thought to himself as he hesitantly kept raising his hands

"Ayano-chan." Shintaro said getting her attention

"I...I want you to know that...no matter what happens I'll still consider you a friend, and won't think less of you for your reaction." Shintaro said his hands reaching the skin of the cloth

"The same goes for me Shintaro-kun." Ayano said calmly with a smile

"I hope so." Shintaro thought to himself

"Ok then..." Shintaro said as slowly pulled down his mask

"This is it, Shintaro-kun's face! Oh, I just know he's gonna be handsome, but what if he's ugly? Would it even matt-no no no, I shouldn't things like that right now. This is important to Shintaro-kun, and it's obvious that he chose me for a reason. If Shintaro-kun is going to treat this seriously then I should too." Ayano thought to herself paying attention

Even though Shintaro kept pulling down his mask he did so in the shadows. Slowly ever so slowly he kept pulling it down sometimes stopping midway thinking of backing down, but shook himself of those thoughts keeping his promise. Eventually he did take it down completely revealing his face to the shadows, but Ayano was still unable to see his face which was clear to Shintaro.

"Ayano-chan." Shintaro said quietly

"Y-Yes, Shintaro-kun?" Ayano responded jumping back a bit

"C-Can you...can you see?" Shintaro said nervously

"The light isn't bright enough to cover the whole room, I can still see your head, but your face is still hidden." Ayano said calmly trying to ease Shintaro

"O-Oh...c-can I tell y-you something? B-Before I uh..." Shintaro continued to say nervously eyes shifting towards the ground

"Yes, please do whatever you want to Shintaro-kun. If it makes you comfortable then by all means talk whenever you're ready." Ayano replied softly

"I never seen him so nervous before, granted I can't see him at all, but that's beside the point." Ayano thought to himself

"T-Thanks...(inhale and exhale). Y-You know that I'm a victim of the war between our villages right?" Shintaro asked

"I need to make him feel comfortable, he's obviously trying to tell me something important, this is him opening up to me. I need to take this seriously." Ayano thought to herself as she took in a deep breath

"Yes, I figured that much." Ayano said calmly

"W-Well, I was born on the side that...that lost. D-Did you know that?"

"My mother told me that as well." Ayano said slowly

"Oh, should've figured (inhale and exhale)...I was uh, born from two clans. I won't say what they are, because you'll already know them when I show you my face. Before I do that however, the story of my parents is something you need to know as well in order to understand who I am." Shintaro said with Ayano nodding

"The two clans that I'm born from, one of them actually was from your village, and the other...well, they weren't around. My father was a pariah unaware of his heritage to your village, and my mother was actually a clan heir. Dad was alone, Mother was always protected yet looked down upon for admiring my Dad, for what I don't know. Mother was in love with him from the start, and dad...well, dad was an idiot, but came around eventually. The two eventually left together to elope causing a stir in the village, at age 7 no less. A couple of kids sneaking out of the village together out of the love they shared for each other." Shintaro said laughing weakly as Ayano's eyes widen

"I know right? Cheesy civilian, and royalty who share forbidden love scenario. Not the greatest of origin stories I know. I wish I could say they'd lived happily ever after...but I'd be lying. I would be telling a terrible, terrible lie." Shintaro said sadly

"Once the two left the village they were hunted down mercilessly with the consequences being total isolation from each other. There was no way in hell dad would let that happen. From what my Uncle told me dad still wanted to return to the village, he still loved it with all his heart, and the same applies to my mother. The two wanted to go back, lead their clans, lead their village with each other for support, but they were too weak. No one was going to listen a few kids probably struck with puppy love, and nothing more." Shintaro said sadly shaking his head

"So, my parents ran, ran, ran and ran hiding endlessly from their pursuers deciding to return to the village when they're strong enough to protect each other, and to prove that their love was the real thing. Eventually, my dad got the idea to fake their deaths to finally get them off their backs. Somehow it worked, and they were no longer chased with the presumption of them being dead. It was then that they traveled the world together in order to become stronger, and smarter for it." Shintaro said with with mild wonder

"As the years went by they met others like them, orphans, outsiders, pariah's, people mistreated for the stupidest reasons possible by man, most were their age, but there were times they found some younger than them or older than them. My parents decided to take them with them knowing what they had gone through, and surprisingly enough they had enough with them to look like a travelling caravan."

"They laughed together, cried together, lived together, fought together. Sure they had squabbles with each other, they argued, and had their differences no doubt, but they never hated each other. How could they? They were comrades, friends...family." Shintaro said with a sense of nostalgia only he knows

"A decade went by, and after training from various masters from around the world gathering many skills, jutsu, and experience to help them understand the world. They resolved conflicts, united nations, ended civil wars, and did many other wondrous things. One of which was marrying each other in secret with love that was real to everyone. My uncle was there from the beginning with my dad, and from all the stories he told me about him each one sounded like out of some fairy tale book. But deep down I knew they were true, but one of them was one that I had hoped was a lie when in reality it was the truth." Shintaro said bitterly before calming himself down

"By age 19, my parents decided it was long enough, and decided to return to their village...their home. They had hoped that twelve years was enough for the village to forgive them, for my mother's clan to accept her, to accept my father, and most importantly to them...their love. What they found was...what they found was..." Shintaro said raising his voice clenching his fist, gritting his teeth in anger trying his best to calm himself which after about a few minutes of silence he did so

"They found the complete opposite." Shintaro said coldly with a mix of venom, and rage in his voice

"My parents, who loved the village still with all their hearts, who wanted their respect, permission, acceptance above all else...when all they got was ignorance, opposition, and rejection in return." Shintaro growled as he slammed his fist onto the table causing his KI to reflexively raise itself like his clone did earlier in the day

"S-Shintaro-kun." Ayano said nervously as Shintaro realized what he was doing

"Sorry." was all he said as his KI dropped to nonexistent levels

"As I was saying their return to the village was not what they had expected. When they first entered the village again they did so under disguises under the pretense that hostility was still present which like I said was. Turns out on the day they found out my old man was killed they decided to hold a festival on a yearly basis celebrating "The day the demon truly died" or so they thought. My parents had come in on that festival, and weren't pleased to say the least. My dad had expected they weren't going to take his death like something tragic had happened, he even knew that some or hell the whole village would be glad that he'd be gone, but he could never imagine they would celebrate it to this degree." Shintaro said with disgust

"Turns out the last leader of your village didn't approve of this, but was killed due to an invasion they managed to fend off. The new leader of the village was a man with morals opposite to the last one, he didn't care if the villagers celebrated the death of my father. Though he was displeased as well waiting for another opportunity to replace my father's duty to the village. My mother had hopes that her clan was a different story, but it was more or less the same thing." Shintaro said coldly

"My mother set an appointment with the clan head of the time which was her father to talk, but the man she saw was completely different from the one who raised her. I never met him so I don't have the right to flat out hate him, he was another casualty in the war, but he was on my mother's side. Turns out in the beginning my grandfather loved his family along his clan, but since he was the first born he had duties as his clan head which required changes of him. When appointed clan head my grandfather had soon appointed his wife A.K.A my grandmother who loved each other like no one's business. Everything was fine, sure the relationship between my grandfather, and grand uncle was strained a bit but they managed."

"Then one thing after the other my grandfather was succumbing to the pressures of clan head, it didn't help that his brother died soon after being clan head with my grandmother following after in less than two years. That was the final straw in my grandfather's heart which grew cold leading to an unpleasant parenthood for my mother. After learning of his first born's death which reminded him so much of his wife whom he loved so much brought down him into a deeper pit of despair than he thought capable of." Shintaro said with little sympathy in his voice

"It took the death of his firstborn to realize the mistakes he had made in his life so he devoted himself to raising the next clan head, my aunt as best as he could as a father, not as a clan head like he did with my mother. The Clan Elders disapproved of this, but my grandfather told them to go to hell since this was his daughter not theirs." Shintaro said as he laughed weakly

"T-Then what did he think of when your mother..." Ayano asked

"Return?" Shintaro asked neutrally as Ayano nodded as Shintaro took a deep breath

"Well...when finding out he had an appointment with some stranger out of nowhere put him on edge. When finally meeting my mom she was very cautious about this not wanting to cause a scene on the second day back. She went under a ploy to talk about an alliance between a nation that was once enemies with her clan. What put her on more edge was in preparation for being clan head he brought his daughter along as well. It took all my mother had to not burst into tears right then and there for leaving her younger sister behind, but she held it in."

"When she revealed that the appointment was false my grandfather didn't take it too well thinking his time had been wasted when my mother suddenly told him that she did know my grandfather. When he asked my mother who she was immediately my aunt had told grandfather to calm down due to a familiar presence she felt about her. All it took was one sentence to cause my grandfather to stop himself from having my mother kicked out." Shintaro said with a small smile

"I'm glad to you again as well, Father." Shintaro said in a bitter tone that his mother used as well

"That caused my grandfather to stop dead in his tracks as well as confusing both my aunt, and grandfather. It didn't help once my mother kept complementing my aunt on how much she had grown, and it also didn't help that she had claimed to know the true fate of what really happened to my grandfather's first born."

"Finally having enough my grandfather demanded to know the identity of the one to claim such a thing. My mother had agreed, but only if the two of them knew her secret no one else. After convincing the two to agree my mother indeed revealed herself to them with my grandfather having to repeatedly check again and again to see if he was looking at a ghost. Once he had finally realized who it was he broke into tears hugging her in a death grip intending to never let go."

"A lot of emotions were spread amongst the three. Happiness, joy, anger, pride, sadness, jealousy, and many more once my mother had explained where she was, why she didn't come back, what she did in her absence, and who she was with."

"However, an incident occurred that caused the identities of my parents to be revealed to the village. My parents were immediately recognized, and by order of the new leader an all out hunt was ordered upon them. They were once again treated with treatment less than they deserved like when they were children. Despite all the talking my father had done to try and convince them, the ignorant bastards refused to see my father as anything else than a monster. They barely escaped with their lives with the knowledge that the village wasn't ready to accept them. Despite my grandfather's protest along with my aunt who just got reunited with her sister desperately wanted my mother to stay, but had settled for some letters that would be sent in secret from time to time."

"Even though they were still being treated with hatred, they never lost their love for the village only this time they weren't going to fake their deaths again. Instead they decided to rely on a plan in case something like this should happen."

"What plan was that Shintaro-kun?" Ayano asked invested in the story

"Hmph, they sadly knew that this might happen, and they wanted to start family which was a reality for them though they didn't know at the time." Shintaro said with a small chuckle as Ayano's eyes began to widen

"You don't mean..." Ayano asked blushing slightly

"Yup, just because they were in enemy territory didn't mean they stopped loving each other through...physical means." Shintaro said uncomfortable while Ayano blushed at the thought of Shintaro being conceived in an enemy village, her village.

"Yeah, I don't want to get into that subject matter if you don't mind." Shintaro said uncomfortable shifting around his seat

"I-I would also appreciate that." Ayano agreed still embarrassed at the thought

"Good, now where was I? Oh yeah, me. Well, not only me there was...never mind, I'm getting ahead of myself." Shintaro said abruptly he shook his head

"Anyways, the plan was to live out a life peacefully away from their village in another one far away in hopes of showing those bastards that they're capable of so much more. They chose to live high up in the mountains deep in a valley far from civilization. However, it was on that day that they left was that damn leader's campaign to drag my father back to the village due to him being an asset. The campaign to "Take back what's ours" began." Shintaro said coldly

"He sent dozens upon dozens of hunter-nin after them telling them to never return until they found them. Meanwhile my parents were living out the best lives possible, and soon enough I was born...along with my twin brother. However, due to my father's...duty to the village of being a vessel there were...complications with our birth. My body isn't normal like a human should be...well, that's not completely true. I know the changes aren't that obvious, but there are changes no doubt." Shintaro said as he put his hand into the light for Ayano to see before retracting it

"I have a chakra network, heart, lungs, two eyes, two ears, all the limbs I need along with everything that makes me look, and function as a human being. However, the changes in my body are in it's durability, longevity, stamina, physical abilities, senses, and chakra reserves. With the body I have now along with...my duty as a vessel, I'm bound to live a long time, a very long time even for someone in my clan." Shintaro said in a fake pleasant tone

"Shintaro-kun, I know your body isn't medically normal, even when your body is that of a child you're capable of things that shouldn't be possible, and your chakra reserves are beyond human I dare even say you have an infinite amount of chakra." Ayano said in wonder

"Thank you, but you're wrong Ayano-chan. Although I have a very very large amount of chakra within me that's not the only thing that's special about my chakra. To be honest, I don't have one singular chakra reserve within me, but three." Shintaro said seriously

"T-THREE!? How is that even possible? How are you sure that you even possess that much chakra much less THREE reserves?" Ayano asked in disbelief

"I'll explain, you know my status as a jinchuuriki correct?" Shintaro asked while Ayano slowly nodded with a sad look in her eyes

"That alone, gives me two chakra reserves. One containing my own chakra, and the other containing my tailed beast chakra. However, with me being born from a male jinchuuriki the first to ever born there were things unknown to my father, and mother with this pregnancy. My father mastered his other chakra to the point of a "linkage" between his chakra and the other one. What he didn't know was the more he linked his chakra the more his regular chakra changed."

"Tell me Ayano-chan, when a child is born does it have chakra?"

"Of course, all living creatures possess chakra, even animals possess it. If that weren't the case the child would be dead. Whenever a child is born it's chakra is a combination from it's...parent's chakra making it's own unique combination." Ayano said slowly as she figured out what Shintaro was trying to say

"Yup, so tell me when a jinchuuriki links his chakra to that of the tailed beast constantly changing his own chakra, and has a kid with someone. What do you think will happen to the child's chakra along with the mother's?"

"A very unique, and powerful chakra would be made." Ayano answered slowly

"Exactly. However, my dad wasn't the only jinchuuriki in his village...due to problems at the time, and even though my dad protested immensely. Much to his dismay another jinchuuriki was made in order to prevent something horrible from happening...that jinchuuriki was my mother." Shintaro said as Ayano's eyes widen even more

"S-Shintaro-kun, y-your mother was a..."

"Jinchuuriki? Yes, she was. I won't say which one because it hardly matters, but my dad also taught my mother to link her chakra like he did. This all happened before I was born obviously so both my father, and mother have been linking their chakra with their tailed beasts before I was even a twinkle in their eyes. So tell me, after learning all that information then applying it to my birth what do you think happened to my chakra?" Shintaro said as Ayano thought it over before coming to her shocking conclusion

"Your chakra must've been combined from the powerful chakra your parents possessed, but that doesn't explain the medical impracticalities your body possess." Ayano said confused

"In order for strong chakra to survive, a strong vessel or body in my case is required to contain such chakra. My body evolved to contain the chakra within me so much so to the point where the my chakra was applied into my body itself. Ayano-chan, I just don't have chakra within me, I have it constantly leaking out me into my body. My bones, my muscles, my skin all of it has chakra flowing throughout it constantly to the point where it can kill me." Shintaro said seriously as Ayano's eyes got larger in concern than they had been in the past revelations

"S-Shintaro-kun! T-This can kill you!? How-No why haven't you told me, or anyone else!?" Ayano asked furiously

"First, having a lot of chakra isn't always a good thing just like having too much water in a cup, there's only so much it can handle no matter the size. If you keep pouring in more than it can handle it'll be drowned in the thing it was supposed to contain, and crack under pressure with the vessel eventually destroying it. Secondly, because I don't need them constantly worrying about me, especially Hiromi." Shintaro said seriously

"This isn't something you just hide from us, from me. Is there a way to treat it? Please tell me there's a cure or something for this." Ayano said desperately fighting back tears as Shintaro merely shook his head

"No, there isn't a cure for this Ayano. This is something I'm going to have to live with for the rest of life." Shintaro said solemnly as Ayano's eyes gave into the tears she fought against

Deciding to explain himself further Shintaro decided to talk about his condition more.

"The reason why it's deadly to me is like I explain with the water and the cup. Normally when someone's chakra reserves are full their chakra stops refilling itself automatically. However, my chakra reserves don't do that, my chakra keeps regenerating itself to the point where excessive chakra builds up where if I don't use it it'll cause my body's chakra veins to internally combust. There's no way to reverse this, and it's a drawback to having this much chakra in me." Shintaro explained

Still choked up Ayano stood up in protest against this "No, it can't be...it just can't. I refuse to believe this, maybe Lady Tsunade can-"

"Ayano, calm down." Shintaro said calmly grabbing Ayano's hand as he stood up as well

"Calm down? Calm down! How can I be calm about this? Your life is in danger Shintaro-kun! I can't just sit by and accept the fact you can die from this." Ayano protested getting in Shintaro's face still in shadows

"I won't die from this. I merely said it could, and it is a possibility for me. However, I'm not going to die from this, not now, not ever." Shintaro said calm yet determined

"How? How Shintaro-kun? And please don't lie to me just to make me feel better, show me how you plan to deal with this. I don't want to you to say I have a theory or I'm working on it or Kami-forbid you copy Ling, and say through sheer will power I am dragging you to see Lady Tsunade in the process. Damn anyone who get's in my way. I want clear physical proof, and evidence that you have some way to combat this." Ayano said not backing down while merely chuckling a bit

"You know, most girls usually just accept the boy's word if he asks for it. Then sometimes it turns out that the boy is right, or terribly wrong to the point where if backfires on him." Shintaro sighed rolling his eyes

"You're not going to do that are you?" Ayano asked with a flat look on her face

"Nah, that only works on girls that rely on blind trust. You on the other hand want proof that I know what I'm talking about, which I'll show you right now That is, if you'll calm down, and sit down Ayano-chan." Shintaro said politely as Ayano retreated her arm from Shintaro's grasp and took her seat.

"Very well, show me. What do you have to combat this...condition of yours?" Ayano said uneasy

"These." Shintaro said as he turned around and lowered his kimono exposing his bare back to the shadows unable for Ayano to see. That is until she saw a glowing blue light in the form 5 blue circles covering his lower back each about 3 inches in diameter. The seals were set in a square fashion with the 5th one in the center all interconnected through lines. The seals themselves consisted of a two spiral's going against each other, one clockwise the other counterclockwise, with a tiny diamond in the very center of each seal. The 4 corner seals were fully glowing blue, but the center was about 3/4 of the way complete with the diamond remaining black.

"What are those Shintaro-kun? Are those...seals?" Ayano asked

"Correct." Shintaro said as he picked up his kimono to turn to face Ayano

"What type of seals are they? What do they do?" Ayano asked for clarity

"They're chakra containment seals that constantly absorb my chakra into them. You know that giant scroll I occasionally bring out with me?" Shintaro asked

"Yes, what about it Shintaro-kun? You never explained what that was for." Ayano said

"Well, that scroll is used to contain any excessive chakra that I want to be rid of to the point of emptying seals completely along with my regular chakra reserves just to be safe. This way I can't die from chakra build up, " Shintaro explained

"Shintaro-kun, that scroll is twice if not three times your size both in length and width, and you bring it out every other week. How much of your chakra is in that scroll?" Ayano asked curiously

"A lot, and to be honest that's an understatement compared to Hideki liking food." Shintaro said in comparison

"That much?" Ayano said in disbelief

"Yes, and to be honest I'm going to use that scroll for later use. So long as I regularly channel my excess chakra into that scroll there is no danger to me dying from this, and if something were to happen to me I have that scroll to act as a...contingency plan." Shintaro said carefully

"Shintaro-kun, what are you plotting? What are you planning to do with that much of your own chakra?" Ayano asked suspiciously

"Something that I hope that never happens, but...I fear it will happen no matter what I do. However, I can prepare for when that day comes, and ensure those I care about won't be caught in the crossfire...not for long anyways." Shintaro said to himself

"Shintaro-kun. Are you still trying to keep things from me?" Ayano said flatly as Shintaro had a hurt look in his eyes immediately caught by Ayano

"Actually never mind. I shouldn't have said that when you're doing all this for me. Please forgive me Shintaro-kun." Ayano apologized quickly as Shintaro merely sighed and chuckled before getting serious

"It's alright Ayano-chan. You're right about that. I am aware that I have held back a lot about me, and my plans, but what I'm planning is something that depends on "the less people know the better" idea. What I am talking about is me, not about my plans. I'm risking a lot just telling you this Ayano-chan...can you please accept that for now? I promise if what I'm planning really gets out of hand I will ask you for help. Will that do for now, and please drop this subject?" Shintaro asked Ayano sincerely

"Of course Shintaro-kun, but only if you please at least talk to Lady Tsunade about this. If she says there is something we can do about then you'll do it no if's ands or buts about it. However if...if that's not the case then...I'll accept it, and help however I can." Ayano said sighing in defeat but had a determined look on her face

Also sighing in defeat Shintaro agreed. "Fine, but don't expect much."

"Shintaro-kun, you're asking the impossible for me. You're telling me to not hope that there is something that can help you. So no, I won't expect much, but I will expect some sort of answer for this. Be it good or bad I will get an answer for this." Ayano said not backing down

"Ok, ok. Jeez, after all this time I still have no idea why you're more concerned about my well-being than...well me." Shintaro muttered to himself as Ayano blushed a bit before shaking her head

"Someone has to watch over you Shintaro-kun. You may heal fast, but I'm the one who patches you up when your healing factor doesn't cut it. Which thankfully isn't often." Ayano said to herself in relief

"Well, at least I can count on you for when I'm bleeding to death Ayano-chan." Shintaro said lightly causing Ayano to pale at the thought

"Please don't put that image in my head Shintaro-kun." Ayano said putting a hand to her heart

"I would prefer it if you would not constantly place yourself in danger Shintaro-kun." Ayano said cynically

"Now you're asking the impossible of me." Shintaro chuckled as Ayano sighed

Anyways, putting this matter aside if you have the byakugan like Shou, and Momiji you'd understand a bit better since you'll be able to see the excess chakra flowing outside my chakra veins." Shintaro said bringing a thought to Ayano

"So, you, and your brother were both blessed or cursed I should say with unnatural amounts of chakra that no doubt caused your mother great stress giving birth to you. But, if you two were born with that much chakra then how did your mother..."

"Give birth to my brother, and I? Simple, she did so almost at the cost of her life. All that power, all that change going on inside her not only for one child, but for two constantly growing needing nutrition from her. Not to mention the sealing formula used to contain my mother's tailed beast going to give my brother, and I the energy we needed to survive. All of this put a major strain on mother so much so she almost died giving birth to me." Shintaro said sadly as Ayano got quiet changing the mood entirely

"She spent weeks in intensive care almost months, but she slowly recovered fully. My brother, and I were the reasons for condition, her pain, her suffering yet my mother still loved us with all her heart. I guess I shouldn't be surprise, my mother loved everyone, and she'd hardly if ever found someone she truly hated. My father was also relieved for my mother's recovery, yet my brother, and I were now guinea pigs in an experiment none of us knew was going on at the time. Not me, nor my brother, not their fellow villagers, not even my parents knew what they had gotten themselves into." Shintaro said quietly

"This would only be the start of their troubles, because soon after we were born the hunter nin found us...and the events that led up to the war that took it's toll on the world began." Shintaro said darkly with empty eyes staring at the ground

"I won't bother to tell you the rest of what happened in the war because you were taught so by victor, and as always history is written by the victor." Shintaro said coldly clenching his fist angrily before calming himself

"But I will say this...now you my parents history because it'll explain a few things, and now...it's time you know who I am." Shintaro said as he shifted his figure towards the light before stopping as the shadow lit only a part of his face with only his right eye showing which was as calm as it could be with a hint of worry.

"Ayano-chan, I know this is stupid of me to ask but...will you hate me once you know who I am? Who my parents are? I...I'll understand if you-"

'SLAP!'

"Forgive me Shintaro-kun but, that was stupid of you to ask. I may not know who you are, or who your parents are, but none of that will change how I feel about you. I know you're being cautious, and I know you hardly trust anyone with personal stuff like this not even with Hiromi-chan your sister. You are sitting here right in front of me with your face completely bare with only the shadows covering who you are, you came here telling me of your parents past which was something I'll treasure the rest of my life." Ayano said sincerely

"I can tell you are afraid to trust me, to see if you'll lose another friend probably because of this secret, or think that I'll hate you once I know the truth. To be honest, I have always wondered what your mask has been hiding, and I'm not talking about the cloth one. From the moment I met you I could tell that you hid behind a mask of hatred, rage, distrust to hide all the pain, and sadness you harbored withing yourself. However, to this day I was content to not knowing what you looked like so long as you were happy, or at least starting to lose all that hatred of yours." Ayano said sadly with a smile

"Yet here you are, so close to me showing me things you'd never consider showing our friends. All because you trust me that much, and I'm truly honored that you feel that way about me." Ayano said as she reached out her hand to the part where she slapped only gently rubbing it this time

"It's ok, you can trust me. I will never leave your side because I don't abandon my friends, especially one that's reaching out to me." Ayano said gently with a smile as Shintaro grabbed onto her hand quivering

"Ayano-chan...thank you." Shintaro said quietly holding back tears as his grip grew stronger

"Sometimes I forget that you can be stronger than me if I'm like this." Shintaro said warmly

"You're the one who's stronger than me Shintaro-kun. I'm just here to remind you that you're not alone." Ayano said

"Not anymore huh?" Shintaro said with nostalgia that they shared with each other

"Exactly." Ayano said as the two smiled

"The same phrase you told me after our...chat that time. Talk me down to my core, give me a intense hug to boot, and I was putty in your hands." Shintaro chuckled remembering that day

"I never thought I'd see the day when you cried so much." Ayano giggled playfully

"Hey, it was your fault for bringing up those feelings in the first place." Shintaro pouted

"Well then I'll gladly take the blame." Ayano said in playful pride

"As you always do Ayano-chan. Kind of like when a thief stole some cinnamon buns of mine, but I could never find said thief. Yet, when a certain smell hit my nose, and a sugar comatose child laid at my feet who do I find?" Shintaro said mischievously as Ayano sweat bullets

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ayano said not looking at Shintaro

"Uh huh, or when Misaka-chan was missing her make-up kit? I wonder, who was it that came up front about it?" Shintaro asked in fake wonder

"Can we please change the subject?" Ayano pouted frustratingly

"Gladly, but first I feel as if I should introduce myself." Shintaro said as he took out his eye contacts putting them on the table shifting forward fully into the light.

As he did so Ayano couldn't believe what she was seeing. She hadn't prepared herself for what she saw as the light adjusted to Shintaro's face. He had his father's face along with his markings, his mother's blue hair and eyes a light lavender in color reflecting off each other naturally. Were it not for the scar on his eye that reached to the bridge of his nose he'd undoubtedly be handsome not that he wasn't any less so in Ayano's eyes, but Ayano didn't care about that right now. This was Shintaro's face, the face she longed to see, the face he hid from everyone he met not one knowing his identity. Because if they saw what Ayano was looking at, it was no question of knowing who his parents were. Ayano thought the story of his parents was to help put him at ease, but really it was to explain what had really happened before the war started.

All this time she was told that Shintaro's parents were nothing, but traitors to their village that deserved to be brought to justice. However, she always had trouble believing that story because they never went into detail why, and Shintaro had explained it all to her which connected the dots in her mind. She was speechless to say the least, and then realized something else. She remembered the conversation he had earlier in the tub about Aiko, and how the connection was impossible between the two. Now seeing his face there was no doubt in her mind that the two were related.

Seeing him now he looked like any other normal kid save for the scar on his eye, and that was including the strange markings on his face. He was smiling weakly looking a bit nervous rubbing the back of his head as if he was truly meeting a new person which to be honest in Ayano's case it is.

"H-Hello, my n-name is uh...Shintaro, Shintaro...

---

Meanwhile back at the hotel.

After Kushina having to lecture Tsunade for teaching the children about gambling then having to lecture everyone else for gambling on a date between two friends before sending them to bed she was currently resting on her bed with Naruto, and Hiromi next to each other sleeping. Since Hiromi always slept with Shintaro or Ayano she felt scared about sleeping on her own which didn't go unnoticed by Kushina, and decided to let her sleep with them.

Meanwhile, Kushina was talking with her old girl friends Mikoto, and Hitomi to catch up for lost time of the 5 years Kushina missed. They were also whom Kushina told about what was transpiring so far with Shintaro and Ayano. Kushina was currently laying on the bed with her arm propping her head up overlooking the two children that were sleeping together with a smile. Mikoto was on a plain chair while Hitomi was on a pullout couch.

"So, how do you think it's going so far?" Kushina asked

"You mean with Shintaro, and this Ayano girl?" Mikoto asked

"I think it's going wonderfully between the two. Young love is amazing don't you think?" Hiroko asked with hearts in her eyes

"Hey, were not old crows yet ya know?" Kushina retorted playfully

"But were not the young teenage girls we used to be either." Mikoto replied

"Speak for yourself, I'm as young as they come! I'm gonna look like this even when in my 40's suckers." Kushina said with pride with a cheesy grin

"Which are going to come faster than you think." Hiroko giggled while Kushina grimaced at the thought of being an old prune

"Geez, you girls haven't changed at all have you?" Kushina muttered

"We could say the same about you Kushina." Mikoto said casually

"Yes, it seems that the spirit of the Red Hot Habenero hasn't died down." Hiroko said happily

"You bet your ass it hasn't! It ain't going down till I'm dead, and that ain't happening for a very long time. You can count on that!" Kushina said with a cheesy grin giving the two mothers a thumbs up.

"You really haven't changed have you?" Mikoto asked sweat dropping

"Well, I'm bound to change a little due to Naruto here. That much is guaranteed." Kushina said in a somewhat serious voice with a sad look on her child

"Kushina." Hiroko said softly

"It's gonna be hard raising Naruto on my own like this...without Minato." Kushina said as a few tears leaked from her face onto Naruto trying not to outright cry in front of her friends until she felt a hand on her shoulder

"Hey, it's alright. You've been reawakened from a 5 year coma, just found out about Naruto's treatment, learning about Minato's fate, and have been trying to keep yourself sane through all this. Knowing you you've no doubt been holding it in this entire time keeping that facade of yours hiding behind smiles or your other persona as the Red Hot Habenero. I know you're not to keen on showing this side of yourself, but you could at least give yourself a break. There's no need to hold it in anymore." Hiroko said gently

"Just cry Kushina. You know you want to." Mikoto said bluntly as Hiroko sighed

"Blunt as ever." Kushina said with a choked chuckle and a weak smile

"And you're still stubborn." Mikoto said with a friendly smile

"I know I know. Its just..." Kushina failed to finish as her voice failed her

"You don't want to look weak in front of us or Naruto in case he wakes up we know. But that's the thing about friends, we're here to support you when you're strong."

"Or to bring you back up when you've fallen down weak. That's what friend's like us are for." Mikoto said with a smile putting her hand on Kushina's hand

"You guys...thank you." Kushina said as she busted into tears while hugging her friends for comfort.

This continued on for about an hour, but Kushina wasn't the only one crying her eyes out hugging someone for comfort. Little did she know that another girl was weeping in someone's arms far away in a restaurant. That girl was Ayano. Why? Because there was nothing else she could do after she had learned everything up till now about Shintaro about himself. After she had calmed down they had talked for what it seemed hours about each other growing a bond of friendship stronger than what they had before putting Shintaro's mind to rest as well as a few other things. One other thing happened that night that involved the two friends. After walking Ayano back to her room when the date was over he felt as if he should thank Ayano for tonight. So, in the heat of the moment he grabbed Ayano's attention pulled down his mask, swept Ayano off her feet, stared into her eyes, and kissed her passionately for a full minute only to whisper gently in her ear "Sleep tight my Hime." to make up for their accidental kiss earlier today. Utterly shocked yet pleased at the same time, Ayano passed out from sheer pleasure having Shintaro to lay her down in her bed with a smile.

He had no idea why, but this kiss felt different from the one before. If felt...right, as if something sparked inside of him, he couldn't quite explain it, but one thing was for sure, he liked it...a lot.

So now, there was only one other person in the entire world besides Shintaro that truly knew who he was, and that person was Ayano Yamanaka.