Hello there! I'm back and better than ever! That's the last time I buy shrimp out of the back of someone's car...Well, Anyway now that I'm here I think I should address a few subjects;
neko-kougal- Kitai/Danger, interesting name for and interesting bird....hmm...
Narutosbrat- Thanks, I thought it was a decent name too. You may have a point about Tsume though...
WINDxNINJA- Fukurou/Owl...Simple yet it suits!
(Mulls over decision.)
Before I announce it, I would like to apologize, to the reviewers that voted for Tsume, I decided not to recycle another name. Mayo-chan envelope please. And the Winner is.... WINDxNINJA and Fukurou. Since I was swayed by the simplicity of the name, you won. Good fight, all! Kudos to neko-kougal for looking underneath, and to Narutosbrat for looking underneath the underneath.
Iron Reprieve proudly presents:
\(o)7(o)/
((****))
(l)'''''''(R)
The Owl Award to WINDxNINJA.
Now then...
Important Note: I do not own Naruto.
Important Note II: Fukurou!! Name's really grown on me, lol.
Recap: Sumaru abuse, card games, icecream, collisions-----Oh the sexual tension!!
XD
A cool breeze played with the bangs that framed the young brunette's face. Tossing the strands to and froth, back and forth, it was all most as if they had gained a life of their own. For a moment or two the rhythmic beating in her chest stayed insync with the teasing follicles, before rapidly accelerating; breaking all speed records before it. Her cheeks reddened as indigo orbs locked on to the blue eyes of the blonde below her. Slowly the bond's hands moved to the back of her....
'This can't be happening!!'
'.....Ba-bum...Ba-bum...Ba-bum...Ba-bum..Ba-bum..babumbabumbabumbabum....'
"Hokuto are you coming down with something?" He asked undoing her headband, and rested the palm of his hand against her heated forehead. "You look awfully red, dattebayo."
"Naruto-sa.. I'm well...you see um.."
The blonde raised an eyebrow before responding. "You think I'm Naruto? I'm just a clone, that silly dude is over there." Hokuto's eyes followed the direction of the clone's finger until she met the true Naruto's gaze.
Naruto blinked for a few seconds. "Uh..Hi?"
"Hi..."
A long silence followed just before she remembered herself, clambered to her feet, and bowed to the clone before muttering out a quick 'I'm sorry'. The clone just shrugged and kicked himself up, landing on his feet. "Daijōbu." He said as he handed the girl her headband back. "At least I wasn't kicked in the gut this time. The clone narrowed his eyes slightly, making Hokuto sweat.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Wait, you don't remember?" The clone inquired.
"Remember what?"
"Well, after the figh---" The clone was silenced with a quick chop to the neck courtesy of Hokuto.
Naruto blinked once more, as Hokuto made her way over to the blonde. "Soo...?"
"It's not important..."
Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his head at her. "No, not that. Are you wearing my jacket?"
Hokuto froze, 'I was hoping he wouldn't notice...'
"Well, you see...After you ran off, you left this at the hospital. So...I thought I'd give it back to you, Naruto-san....But you weren't in the village so--"
'I guess somebody was looking for me after all...' Naruto thought with a smile.
"I see...That still doesn't explain why your wearing it, ne?" The brunette's face flushed prettily.
She spoke honestly, carefully avoiding certain little details. "...Well with the wind and all it was a bit nippy...and it kinda took a bit longer to track you than I thought....I hope you don't mind." Hokuto looked downward at her feet.
"Heh, it's alright, I'd probably would've done the same thing if it was me." Naruto said leaning back on his arms.
Hokuto felt alleviated by Naruto's answer, he wasn't mad after all. "Thanks for being so understanding about this I mean..." For the first time that night Hokuto noticed something was amiss, as she fought back a huge nosebleed. "Naruto-san?"
"Yes, Hokuto?"
"Where are your clothes?"
"Somebody--" Hokuto quickly glanced about the campsite, her eyes landing on the unconscious, grinning, form of Tenten.
"Tenten-san! What happened to her?"
"Well sh--"
"Oh-hu!"
"Eek! An owl? Where did it..." Hokuto crossed her arms focused all attention back on Naruto, all the while trying to swoon at the sight of him. "Care to explain, Naruto-san?"
Naruto let out a sigh, 'This may take awhile....'
"You know something Lee, perhaps I was wrong in my past assumptions; this is fairly good." Neji said taking another bite of his icecream, as Lee and Mizura tucked into their own bowls.
"I'm glad you think so, seems like the rumors that the best dairy treats come from Hoshigakure....I wonder why that's is." Lee said with a thoughtful expression.
"I can answer that."
"Hmm Mizura-san?"
"While Bear country is rather small, we do have quite a few dairies."
Lee raised an eyebrow. "Dairies? I don't recall passing by any farmlands on the way here, do you Neji-kun?
"None at all, Lee."
"Well as you guys probably know, Fire country has a vast amount of land, which is why most farmers use grazing animals such as cows to produce your dairy go--"
"That is correct, but what does that have t---"
"Lee!! It is rude to interrupt, please continue Mizura-san."
"Anyways, since we don't really have a lot of land to work with, we take advantage of the natural wildlife."
"Is that so?" Neji asked as both he and Lee took in another spoonful.
"Yeah, I guess you can say, it's where, our country got its namesake from."
Both Neji and Lee's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Neji swallowed hard and looked down sputtering; mouth contorting in horror.
"Neji-san?"
"There is a hair in my icecream..."
".....and so that's basically what happened." Naruto let out a breath as soon as he finished explaining his situation to Hokuto and gave her a moment to process the information. A few minutes had passed before he glanced over in her direction.
He knew that it was a lot for any one person to absorb in such a short amount of time. He also realized that his story probably came off as something that had formed from the confines of his own imagination, or even worse; fanfiction. But still..."Hokuto?" No response. "Hokuto!"
The girl shook herself awake and wiped a bit of blood away from her nose, "Yes?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not sick or something? You seem to spacing out a bit-ttebayo."
"O-oh, It's nothing I was just... She looked around the campsite for a scapegoat, and found one in Naruto's avian companion "Does the owl have a name?"
"Heke!?"
"I mean...I just noticed that you didn't give a name in your explanation....So well does he?"
"Ah, well......Hmm I had a name in my head earlier but I can't remember it now for some reason..."
The freckled girl scratched her chin, before she got an idea. "How about Fukurou?"
"Fu..ku..rou mmm....I like it! How did ya think of an awesome name like that, Hokuto?"
Hokuto blushed slightly at the compliment, and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well...It just sorta came to me..." The raptor flew from Naruto's head and landed on Hokuto's shoulder. "What do you think?" The owl looked at the girl before twisting its head in a clockwise rotation.
"I guess that settles it then." Naruto nodded as he got up.
"Hm?"
"To the right is 'yes', to the left is 'no'."
"Oh!"
"There is a hair in my icecream..."
"Neji-kun..."
"There is a hair in my icecream..."
"Neji-san..."
"There is a hair in my icecream!!!!"
"Neji-san...I think that's one of your hairs, it fell in while you were talking..."
'Oh.'
"So, Tenten-san was out training?" Hokuto asked as she lowered her body to the forest floor; beside her fellow brunette. "How long has she been out?"
Naruto glanced up at the sky and shrugged, "It's been about twenty minutes give or take. Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, bad really." Hokuto said checking her vitals. "Her pulse is a bit high, other than that she's fine. She just needs some rest, preferably in a bed though."
"Alright then!" Naruto said as he lifted Tenten's lithe body onto his back. "Let's head back."
"W-wait are you sure, I mean, I could..."
"You've been searching for me for hours, while I've been resting, it's only fair that I carry Tenten." Naruto said with a wink, making the girl blush on sight. "Ready to go?"
"Y-yeah." With that the two took off towards the village with Hokuto leading the way. "What's wrong with me?" She whispered to Fukurou. The owl only tilted his head at the question making the girl sigh.
'Hopefully I can figure this out.'
And so chapter 10 draws to a close. For the record bear milk's awesome there's like 20% milk fat compared to a cows 4%. It's pretty sweet in taste, so don't knock it till you try it. Well Naruto's been found but questions still remain, how will this play out? Tune in next time for answers.
Later...