Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
This time, we'll see what shenanigans Kaoru's up to this time!
The next day, Kaoru thought about what she could add to her ninja uniform, since she had all the necessities, yet nothing to call her own. She went to a clothing store and looked around, the shopkeeper coming over to her as she browsed.
"Young man, is there something in particular you're looking for?"
She shook her head, running her finger along a shelf of various t-shirts.
"I think you should get a whole new outfit, yours is very dark for someone of your coloring—oh! My apologies, Uchiha-san!"
She looked up and raised her eyebrows.
"That's your clan clothing, so of course civilian clothing wouldn't suit you!"
Well, I did want a brighter color for my shorts or shirt, but if these are the clan colors… I guess I'll have to stick to accessories. Even in the civilian population the Uchiha Clan is well-known and respected. She turned to the shopkeeper and put her hands around her eyes.
"Some glasses? We don't—ah! You mean goggles, right?"
She nodded with a smile, pleased her gesture was understood.
"Hmm…let's see…our goggles selection is rather limited, but you can peruse to your heart's content! Come up to the register if you find something!"
Kaoru looked at the display of goggles, then picked up a bright yellow pair that had a pair of red circles with blue lightning curving from the center towards the back and between the lenses was an upside-down black triangle. These look cool. I wonder why some kid hasn't bought them. I guess these ones speak to me, so I'll buy them.
She went to the register and held out the goggles.
The shopkeeper took them and gave them a long look before scrutinizing Kaoru. "These seem a little childish for you, but if you like them, it's none of my business."
The teenage girl purchased the goggles and slipped them on, wearing them over her forehead, like she'd seen Naruto do even after he'd graduated as a ninja. Naruto-kun has his own style, that's for sure. I think he'll like that I bought a pair.
When she stepped out of the store, she heard Naruto calling out to her.
"Kaoru-kun!"
She turned and beamed, running to him and pouncing, knocking him over.
"Oof! Kaoru-kun, you're crushing me…"
With a cheeky grin, she got off him and helped him up as he brushed himself off.
"What's with the enthusiastic greeting?"
She shrugged and wrote, 'I was just happy to see you, Naruto-kun.'
"Really? You just saw me yesterday—that reminds me! What happened when Ebisu left?"
'He reported to the Hokage as promised and I was given a position within the ninja ranks.'
"That's awesome! That means you could be on my Genin team!"
She shook her head even as he said so. 'No, I won't be.'
"What? What do you mean? Are you gonna be given special training?"
'I was given the rank of Jonin and I'm not sure where I'm to be assigned.'
His eyes turned sad as he gave a smile. "Oh…so we'll probably not be seeing each other very much, will we?"
She shrugged and her return smile was full of hope. 'You never know, I might be assigned as your Jonin-sensei!'
"NO! That would be so cool!"
She grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. 'If it's meant to be, it'll happen. I'll see you during that time, anyways. So, how do you like my new accessory?'
He noticed the goggles and laughed. "I like 'em! They suit you! You like goggles too?"
She nodded.
"Well, why don't we see how well they work? You wanna go flying around the village?"
'That sounds like a plan.'
They pulled their goggles down over their eyes and she picked him up, taking wing. He laughed with glee as they soared through the air, spreading his arms as they dived, her wings effortlessly sweeping back before spreading to catch wind as they went back up.
"This is amazing! Woo hoo!"
Flying is something I'll always treasure. I don't care how much I do it.
They landed on the street, both pulling their goggles back up onto their foreheads. She smiled and stretched her wings behind her, then folded them against her back. She then heard a familiar voice mutter, "Finally they came down. It was really annoying trying to follow them from the ground."
Sasuke? What's he doing following us?
"What're they doing now? They're not even talking."
Naruto turned to her and hugged her. "That was one-in-a-million, Kaoru-kun! Thanks a bunch for letting me fly with you!"
She smiled and wrote, 'Of course, Naruto-kun. I'll do it anytime for you.'
His eyes shone in excitement. "Really? You're the greatest!"
Her ears picked up the scratching of a pen on paper, not her own. "Naruto idolizes Kaoru for some unknown reason. Maybe it's because Kaoru actually pays attention to that loser. He soaks up the attention like a sponge."
Kaoru rolled her eyes and took Naruto's hand, leading him away. She heard Sasuke's footsteps following them, even though Naruto heard nothing, her sharp ears picking up the tapping. The pair ended up hanging from a high branch of a tree from their knees, the position just as easy as standing upright for her.
"Kaoru-kun, you never complain if I do something crazy. Why?"
She looked up from a book she'd been reading and put it in her pouch, before pulling out her notepad, writing down her reply. 'I don't because I know what its like to be denied my existence. To be hated for a reason unknown to me. To never have a friend, no matter how much you try. That's why I befriended you, because we're birds of a feather, two of a kind. I didn't want either of us to be lonely anymore. Does that bother you?'
He shook his head. "You're the best friend I could ever have, Uchiha Kaoru."
She smiled and took her book back out.
"Hey, what is that book, anyways? I've never seen it before. That orange cover and…what does the back say? 'For eighteen and older'?"
She used her thumb to hold the place she was at and placed a finger to her lips. She smiled and wrote, 'It's just a piece of literature I was introduced to. I don't know why everyone says it's a bad book.'
He glanced at its cover and read, "Icha Icha Violence…Kaoru-kun, do you even know what 'icha icha' means?"
She shook her head.
"It means 'make out'. I'm sure it's a dirty book, but if you don't get it, I'm not the one who's gonna educate you."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. 'Itachi already tried, I didn't get it at all.'
"You're purer than any kid I've met, Kaoru-kun. Keep it up."
She nodded and kept reading her book.
"What would you do if you met the author of this series, if you like it so much?"
She shrugged. 'Probably gush over how good it was, but I might not, it all matters who this person is.'
"Kaoru-kun?"
She turned her head to look at him, tilting it in question.
"Did you know your parents?"
She closed her eyes and a mute sigh escaped her. Nowitgetstotheheavypart. She prepared herself, and then wrote, 'It might've been better if I hadn't.'
He winced and nodded. "That bad?"
'Worse than you could imagine.'
She began bobbing her head up and down, and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What're you doing? You're gonna hurt your neck while we're hanging like this."
She put her book away again and wrote, 'I'm singing in my head. This song came up in my mind and I just started moving with it. Don't worry, I won't get hurt doing this.'
"What song were you singing?"
'I'll write down the lyrics for you.'
It was a few minutes until she held out the pad to him. He stared at the letters for a few seconds before demanding, "What the hell is this? I've never seen writing like this in my whole life!"
She glanced at it and almost hit herself in the head. I forgot the song was in English. I'll have to translate for him as best I can. She took back the pad and tore the paper off, before beginning to translate the words into hiragana. When she was done (twenty minutes later), she handed the pad back to him. At least this time he won't call me out on writing something he can't understand.
(Insert Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day)
His eyes were filled with awe as he finished. "That's a cool song. Could you play it for me?"
She snorted and shook her head. 'It was from a country across the sea from where I came from before here. If I tried to imitate it from my head, I'd need the instruments that were played and a voice to sing with, and I don't think my voice would go well with it.'
"Why? Is it because you suck at singing?"
'I've never tried, and if I did, it would take a long time to record it and have it ready for you to listen to. Years, perhaps, until I was satisfied it sounded right to me compared to the original.'
"I say you try it!"
'Maybe, but I'm mute, so how would I be able to sing outside my head?'
That made him stumble in his encouragement. He heaved a massive sigh before scratching his head. "Well that killed my line of urging stone dead. I'm sorry, I forgot for a second that you weren't able to speak, because I imagine what your voice sounds like when I read your words. You forgive me?"
She nodded. Of course I forgive you, you knucklehead. If I ever called him that, I'm sure he'd be mad, so I'll keep it to myself.
"Thanks, you're the greatest, Kaoru-kun!"
He's always so honest and open. I can't help but admire that in him.
She heard Sasuke mutter, "He sure is weird when he hangs out with Naruto. First they flew around the village, now they're hanging upside-down from a tree branch discussing random crap. How can he stand being like that for an hour? The moron I understand, but Kaoru? He must be tougher than I thought."
"Kyaaaaaa!"
"Look, there he is!"
Both Naruto and Kaoru looked down to see a group of girls below, pointing at Kaoru.
"He looked at us!"
"Kyaaaaaa!"
"Hey gorgeous, over here!"
Kaoru facepalmed and shook her head. I now have fan girls. This is any normal girl's nightmare. I can't be that handsome, can I? I've always been told I'm hideous. She wrote down a question for her friend. 'Naruto-kun, am I…good looking?'
He nodded right away. "If you were in my class, you would've taken Sasuke's place as the class heartthrob. I think those girls are former fan girls of his."
"His wings made him more like an angel than Sasuke ever could!"
"He's so perfect! He makes even those dorky goggles look sexy!"
These goggles are dorky? Damn it, I thought they were cool.
Naruto patted her shoulder. "Ignore 'em. They can't get—"
"Let's get 'im!"
"On second thought, run."
Kaoru flipped as she fell, landing on her feet before catching Naruto. The fan girls stared in awe before screaming and rushing them. She ran faster than she ever had before. I have a feeling something bad will happen if I let them catch me. So I won't let them get even ten feet of me. What a strange ending to this afternoon.
Kaoru sighed as she shook the fan girls off, Naruto over her shoulder and looking like he was dead.
"Those fan girls sure are persistent."
She nodded, even though she wasn't even breathing hard. I suppose I've dug my own grave. A quarry so elusive is all the more attractive. This sucks.
"Are you sure you wanna hide here? If I'm caught here I'm toast…"
She looked to find they were hiding within the confines of the Uchiha Compound. She heaved a silent sigh and held out a hand to him, putting a finger to her lips as they crept back out of the walls, and he breathed easier when they'd gotten out. He grinned and hugged her, patting her on the back firmly as he said, "I need to go or else I'll sleep in and miss the meeting where I'll meet my new mentor! Bye, Kaoru-kun."
He ran off, and she waved as he disappeared.
"Hey! Hey you!"
She turned and saw a man older than Itachi come up to her, his black hair mussed up to the point there wasn't any real hairstyle, shorn short so the chaos was contained slightly, his eyes dark like the rest of the Uchiha, wearing a light blue high-necked t-shirt and tan slacks which were tucked into white wrappings around his lower legs and black ninja sandals. He wore a hitae-ate on the forehead, it tied like a bandanna. He smiled as he stopped, greeting, "I was told about you by my best friend, Itachi. Are you his younger brother, Kaoru?"
She nodded and took out her pad of paper. 'Are you Uchiha Shisui?'
"Yeah, I am! Did he mention me?"
'You're the one who leant him the Icha Icha Paradise book.'
His face turned dark red and he tore the paper off the pad, it catching on fire as he used a minor fire technique. "I don't know what you're talking about, I never did such a thing."
So he's afraid he'll get in trouble because of that book. This ought to be fun. She grinned and wrote, 'It would be so easy to tell Otou-san about this, I could even do so now if I wished.'
He grabbed her around the shoulders and pleaded, "Please, don't! I'll do anything! Just don't tell him, PLEASE!"
She pretended to consider and loved to watch him squirm. It's so funny seeing a full grown man plead with a teenager. 'I'm listening. What can you do for me that I can't for myself?'
"I've heard you've never left the village before, I could show you around Hi no Kuni and perhaps other countries if I have time!"
'I've become a ninja, so unless you were partnered with me, I doubt you'd get that chance. Not good enough.' Her eyes lit up as she thought of something truly devious.
"If you can think of something, I'll do it, no questions asked!"
'All right, but you must swear you will never tell another soul.'
"I swear, Kaoru-sama!"
Her grin was so wide it almost split her face in half.
That night, the pair slipped into Sasuke's room, wearing rubber gloves and jumpsuits, Shisui nodding to her as he went to the boy's closet. She then went to work, painting all his nails hot pink, putting a clear finish on, then putting light pink jewels in well-executed swirls stuck with extra strong glue, then painted a pair of beautiful pink tattoos on his thighs, one a heart with the kanji "love" in it, and the other a rainbow with the name "Uchiha Sasuke-chan" with a heart after it.
She giggled inside as she let it dry before replacing his blanket. Everyone in class will have no choice but to think you're gay now. I'll be there this time to watch your humiliated face. It'll be like a cherry for sure.
Shisui had gotten a peek at her prank and as they landed like feathers on the top of the house, he mouthed, "What's the point of all this?"
She smirked and wrote, 'Payback. Plus he has to be knocked down a few rungs on the social ladder, as per the pleadings of Itachi-onii-san.'
He shook in silent laughter as he gave her a thumbs-up and breathed, "You sure are evil under that angel face, Uchiha Kaoru. I like you better and better. I thought this prank would be stupid, but you have to get pictures. Sasuke-chan walking into class like that and his pants dropping as he stands up to show hot pink briefs and those tattoos…he's gonna be traumatized."
'That's the whole point. He shouldn't sleep so deep, I didn't even try to be gentle as I did all that, yet he didn't even stir. He's far too cocky as a ninja if he can sleep like that and not even notice someone's in the room with him.'
"I agree. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
'Agreed. See you, Shisui-kun.'
Prank #2! The results next week!
Did anyone get what her goggles were fashioned after? I'd like a few guesses! Mad props to who gets it! And cake to those who get it on the first try!
Please review!