7: Rumbling Hearts

Jiraiya watched as Naruto's hand moved the brush slowly over the paper, his smile growing. "That's good," Jiraiya said quietly, hoping not to disturb him, "You have the form down, now we just have to practice the Jutsu itself."

Naruto placed his brush down and sighed, "Do you really thing I'm ready for that?" He asked, "It's only been three days since I started."

Jiraiya chuckled, "What's this? And here I thought that you'd be all gun-ho about this?"

Naruto bit his lip, "Yeah, but you said this seal was really dangerous if I got it wrong, and it's not only gonna be me that's gonna get hurt, right?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "You know, it never ceases to amaze me how much like your father you actually are," the old man said, taking a seat next to his apprentice, "Minato was quite against hurting others as well, even when someone defected from the village, he was reluctant to harm a fellow Leaf shinobi, totally unlike your mother, who would have clobbered him, most likely."

Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "Well, I'd clobber anyone that hurt someone precious to me, so - "

"You're like both of them," he said, patting the boy on the head, "And now you're a Chunin, they'd be proud of you. But back to this seal, Naruto. It's going to rely on all that chakra you have tucked away inside of you. All you have to do is keep it activated. Believe it or not, the seal itself is pretty simple from an Uzumaki's point of view."

Naruto nodded whilst studying his seal, "Well, yeah, I get that, but I'm only a half-blood, and I hardly know anything about seals, at least not until we started this one."

"You don't need to worry about that, kid," Jiraiya assured him, "The seal itself is fairly simple. As you charge the seal with chakra, all you do is keep your hands in place to feed it the chakra needed to work, and the best things about it is that you don't need to worry about over charging it. The more chakra you put into it, the stronger the seal becomes. Really the only downside to this one is that it still takes time. And it'll cause the person you're using it on quite a lot of pain."

Naruto grimaced as he looked down at the seal he would later inscribe onto his skin. "I don't like that idea at all."

"From pain you'll be able to free three people from a horrible curse," the aging Sage said, smiling, "The trouble will be keeping them still during the process. If we can't do that, the seal won't be able to take effect. Anko's is probably gonna be easy, but Tayuya and Sasuke's are gonna be hell on them."

Naruto's thoughts turned to the fiery girl that had entered his life not so long ago. Along with Sakura, Tenten, and Ino, she now trained with Tsunade, and was well on her way to mastering her techniques given by the Godaime.

Sakura's strength was already mind blowing, considering she had excessive strength even before she had taken to Tsunade's teachings. While Ino would never have such strength, both girls were taking to the medical training with a clear competition between them. Tayuya and Tenten were doing their best to keep up with them, but as far as medical training went, it was clear that Sakura was leagues ahead of the pack. Tenten's strength levels were rising day by day, as were Tayuya's.

Thankfully, Tayuya had struck up a friendship between the other kunoichi, even after her failed attempt at pranking Naruto, leading said blond to replacing his front door.

Kurenai had taken a shine to the girl as well, seeing as how both of them were Genjutsu wielders. As for Naruto's Kerryugan, Kakashi and Kurenai had taken a hand in his training to control his Doujutsu, and his illusions. Naruto now had a small amount of control over his new eyes. At the very least he wouldn't be casting Genjutsu on anyone without knowing what was happening.

As far as controlling blood, however...Naruto shivered. There was no way he wanted a power like that! More was the pity that no one knew how to activate the bloodline limit. As far as the blond Uzumaki was concerned, he'd rather not learn how to use it, but sooner or later he'd have no choice, given that his Kerryugan and Blood Release worked hand in hand. With the activation of his eyes, his power over blood would soon follow.

Sasuke was another matter. With him being released, he was still unable to train as he wished. Most of the three days saw the last Uchiha roaming the village, a small group of civilians from the merchants' council following closely. And if they weren't following him, Anbu definitely were, that or the merchants' daughters.

Needless to say, the sooner Sasuke's mark was removed, the better for his daily sanity, or lack there of, all things considered. Meanwhile, even though the young Uchiha had his family's advanced Doujutsu, Naruto was the only one he'd told about it. Naruto found it funny that it was because he had technically died for a few minutes that had sent Sasuke over the edge mainly because the same thing could be said about his own Doujutsu.

"Finished wool gathering?" Jiraiya said, rapping the boy on the head, smirking, "Come on, Naruto, let's take a break."

Naruto nodded, smiling as he rose from the table he was sitting at and followed the man out. As they left the house, Tayuya, alongside Sakura, was making her way onto the compound. Both girls were looking more than a little upset.

"What's got you two so mad?" Naruto asked, grinning widely.

Tayuya spat, and crossed her arms, "Someone grafittied the compound walls!" She snapped, "The fucktards spray painted a bunch of bullshit all across the walls, and even painted that stupid flea bag you've got locked away on the wall!"

"They did what?!" Jiraiya roared, surging forward, and passing through the gate, Naruto chasing after him. As Jiraiya skidded onto the streets, it was to see someone dropping a can of paint to the ground, and running down the street. Jiraiya growled and shot after him like a thrown shuriken and grabbed the man by the collar, dragging him back just as quickly.

Naruto waited, looking at the walls of his clan's compound. It was nothing he wasn't used to. Only, the words "Demon Whore" had been added. That's what made the blond angry.

Jiraiya slammed the man against the wall, growling, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot!?" The man roared, "This is a compound dedicated to the Uzumaki Clan, and you've just defaced it!"

"What does it matter?!" The man growled, "It's just the home of a demon, now! The Uzumaki are dead!" He spate, looking down at the blond, "You're nothing more than that monster trapped in human form! You're the reason my wife and child are dead!"

"He's the son of the Fourth!" Jiraiya roared, "You disgrace his sacrifice!"

The man just sneered at him, "He disgraced this village for allowing that monster to survive!" He yelled, "He should have been strangled the day he was born!"

That did it. Jiraiya reared his arm back to smash the man's head into oblivion...until the small palm of Naruto's hand landed on his wrist. Jiraiya looked down at the blond boy, and saw the anger in his eyes that flashed between blue and red, but he also something else; pity.

Jiraiya dropped the man to the ground and Naruto stepped in front of him. "I don't know what it's like to lose someone I love," the blond began, shaking his head, "I've been lucky that way so far. But I do know what it's like to be completely and utterly alone." The man flinched, "Even the Nine-Tails wants that for me, to make me hate." Naruto said, smiling sadly, "Did you know he likes to taunt me? Show me things that make me want to hate the world?" Naruto asked, looking the man in the eyes, "He showed me images of my parents the night they died, and how he killed my mother as she tried to defend me from him. He did it with a smile on his face." Jiraiya looked at the boy in shock as well as Sakura and the man sitting on the ground, "Yet here I am, still keeping him locked away inside, and keeping the village I grew up in safe."

"Why defend a village that does nothing but hate you for what you are?" The man asked in sinful curiosity, "How could you possibly fight for us?"

Naruto smiled beamingly at that, "Because I found people that know about him, and don't hate me. I have friends that accept the fact that he's a part of me." Naruto said, smiling warmly at Jiraiya, Sakura and Tayuya, who blushed lightly upon seeing that smile turned on her. He then turned his attention back to the man, "This village has my loyalties...but it will never have my hate."

With that, the young Uzumaki turned toward the stone walls of his compound, "Ah, looks like it needed a new paint job anyway." He said, looking over at Tayuya and Sakura, "I'm gonna go down and get some paint to cover this. Orange and red look like the best choice since it was kind of the Uzumaki's color."

Jiraiya watched the boy walk down the street as merry as a lark before Tayuya ran after him, "Oi, wait up! You're lousy at picking out the best colors!"

"Get real, it's my wall," Naruto said.

"I live there, too, ya jackass!"

"Only because Granny says so." Naruto grinned.

As the pair moved off, Jiraiya couldn't help but smirk, "You know, you're lucky," he said to the man, "If it were left up to me, you'd be dead for hurting my godson so much." He turned and glared at the man, "That being said, spread the word that if anyone decides to try this or any other stunts like this again, I won't be as nice as I was today...understand?"

=x=

Some time later found the two resident Uzumaki, brushes in hand and painting the walls of the compound crimson, the traditional color of Uzumaki armor. In some spots, Naruto planned to paint the clan symbol when the previous coat dried. "You know you don't have to help me if you don't want to," he said to his housemate as the girl swiped her brush across the stone walls, "I could put this up in a few minutes with my shadow clones."

Tayuya shrugged, "Hey, I already said that if things needed to be done around here, then I'd help out, no questions." She said, not looking at the blond for a moment, before something in her gave, "Naruto...how do you do it?"

"Do what?" Naruto asked curiously, looking over at her once more, and saw that her hand which held the paint brush was shaking violently. "Tayuya-chan?"

She turned toward him, her face flushed with anger, and tears brimming in her eyes. "I mean how can you put up with shit like that!" She pointed at the wall that was still vandalized. "How could you just give that guy a slap on the wrist for saying all of that!? He insulted you, your dad, and pretty much said you never should'a been born!" She yelled, "Even when I was being trained by Orochimaru, I never saw anything so horrible! The way the people look at you! How can you just smile like that all the time!"

A brush clattered to the ground and Tayuya found herself wrapped in the blond's arms as her frame shook with barely contained rage. She stiffened from the contact at once. No one, at least none that she remembered, had ever held her before the blond shinobi. Being held by him calmed her for some reason, as it had not so long ago when he'd saved her from falling. But now it was completely different.

"It's not easy," Naruto said against her hair, which made the girl shiver, "all of their hate, the staring, the whispers...for so long I never knew why they looked at me like that," he said, drawing back and wiping something away from her cheek. She hadn't realized it until then that she was crying.

What the hell's wrong with me,Tayuya thought, I haven't cried since...

She was brought out of her thoughts when Naruto started speaking again. "Even when I found out, I still didn't really understand it." He went on, shaking his head, "If I had the fox inside me, then why did everyone want me to fail, and not become a shinobi? Shouldn't I become stronger to keep myself under control?" He shook his head, "It wasn't until a little later that I figured it out. Just like Sasuke, I was a reminder of something horrible. Sasuke reminds people that one man destroyed an entire clan in a single evening, and nothing could stop him. I remind everyone that more than half the village was destroyed, hundreds were killed, and that my father, the Fourth Hokage, died in battle when he'd just single-handedly destroyed Iwa's attacking army during the last war."

He drew back, letting Tayuya settle herself down from the contact between the two of them. "I wanted so much to hate them," He went on again, "But I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of being right about me. So I pushed it all away, and went out of my way to make friends with my classmates. I wanted to make people see me for me, not the Nine-tails, but Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm glad you're here, though," he said before she could respond, "Until you came along, I lived alone, and had no one to really call close to me, not even my sensei until Pervy Sage, and old man Teuchi and big sis Ayame. They're all I had."

"And me?" Tayuya found herself asking.

Naruto grinned at her, "You're way different than they are," he told her, scratching the back of his head, "You're...well, not like any girl I've ever met before. Not like Sakura, that's for sure, and you're way different than Hinata - "

"I don't know her." Tayuya deadpanned whilst crossing her arms, "And comparing me to other girls ain't the best way to make me feel special, ya know?"

"But I like that you're different," Naruto said hurriedly, hoping he hand't upset her. "I mean, Sakura was always going on about Sasuke, and Hinata's so shy that she barely talks, but you're...well, nice...really nice."

Tayuya uncrossed her arms, and placed her hands on her hips, "Nice how? I'm not exactly a model citizen, Shithead. Remember I was trained by a manic pedophile with a fetish for weird ass eyeballs."

"I mean you help me when you don't have to," Naruto clarified, "And you comforted me when I was arguing with the Nine-tails...I'll always remember that," he said truthfully, blushing slightly at the memory as she did. "I can laugh with you like no one else, and talk with you so easily." He said, listing off what he liked about her, "and you're really pretty - "

"P-p-pretty!" Tayuya shrieked, turning as red as her hair, "Are you nuts!" She swiped at him with her paint brush before she realized what she was doing, and left a large red streak down Naruto's face, a dumbfounded expression across his features. "Uh..." Tayuya looked from the blond to the brush before hiding the offending item behind her back, "Sorry?"

"Uh-huh," Naruto said, before a deviously little smile crossed his face, and dipped his hand into the paint bucket. Tayuya knew exactly what was coming, and backed away from the blond.

"Don't even fucking think about it!" She snarled, but, quick as you please, Naruto lunged and planted his hand smack-dab on her face, leaving a handprint in his wake. Tayuya blinked owlishly before a snarl came to her face, "YOU. ARE. FUCKING. DEAD!"

Naruto laughed and danced out of range as she swiped at him with her brush again, his tongue out at her. "Gotta e quicker than that, Tayuya-chi!"

"Don't fucking call me Tayuya-chi!" The red-head roared and chased after him, only to watch as he tripped over one of the buckets. The paint can sailed over their heads, spilling its contents all over the pair. Naruto sat on the ground, completely drenched in paint, just as Tayuya was, the girl's nose wrinkling in disgust. "Ugh! Dammit, I'm never gonna get this shit outta my fucking hair!"

Grinning, Naruto couldn't help the snicker that rose up before he burst into full blown laughter while Tayuya scowled at him.

"It's not funny, asshole!" She snapped, her hands on her hips, "How are we gonna finish the wall!?"

Naruto just continued laughing. Tayuya shook her head, a smile of her own coming to her lips as her own laughter started bubbling up as she burst into giggles.

=x=

Tsunade sat back in her chair, smiling at the bit of news she'd just heard. "So you think there might be something between them?" She asked of her old comrade, "I'll admit that it'd do the boy a world of good to be interested in someone besides Sakura-chan, but it hasn't been that long since she was brought to the village?"

Jiraiya just shrugged, his arms crossed as he recalled the events he'd looked upon from the rooftops as the pair painted over the compound walls. "Stranger things have happened," he reminded her, "Remember how Kakashi and Shizune-chan started up?"

Tsunade blushed, "I honestly try to forget that."

Jiraiya snickered over that bit of information, because, in all honesty, he had been surprised that Kakashi even liked women. Rin was one thing, but the man hadn't shown any interest in women since his former teammate. Of course, a few rounds of strong Sake, Jiraiya's own personal stock of Fire Toad Sake, no less, and the two had literally opened up like flood gates. Jiraiya had gotten just enough research out of it to publish his next book.

Tsunade, needless to say, was horrified when she found the two, but was nonetheless happy for them...only wishing she hadn't caught them in the act.

"Laying all jokes aside," Jiraiya said, "I think that there might be something there. Naruto-kun surely seems to be growing attached to her, and I can't say Tayuya-chan liked the fact that this village still views Naruto as the Kyuubi." He looked the woman in the eyes, "She cried for him, Tsunade. How many people have you seen do that aside from yourself?"

Tsunade sat back, frowning, "I just don't want to get my hopes up." She admitted, "Tayuya-chan doesn't seem to be much for signs of affections, let alone shows of emotions."

Jiraiya nodded, "That's true, but even the hardest stone can crack with enough pressure. The hatred the civilians have towards Naruto-kun is almost enough for me to demand him be taken to Mount. Myoboku so that I can make him into a force to be reckoned with. No one would dare harm him after I was through with him."

"Yet he wants to stay in the village and train alongside his team." Tsunade said, smiling, "They're his family, Jiraiya. You can't take that away from him, as much as you want him to be strong."

Jiraiya just chuckled, "He'd pitch a fit if I tried to take him away from Tayuya-chan, that's for sure," he said, smiling fondly, "I know you think it's too soon for something like this to happen, but it has. If they aren't crushing on each other, then I'm the Sage of Six Paths."

Tsunade actually giggled at this, and smiled at the man, "I'm not making any bets with you on this one, you old goat. We'll just have to wait and see where all of this goes." She said, hoping that, for once, her old comrade was right. "How long until Naruto is ready to perform the sealing Jutsu?"

"Any day, honestly," Jiraiya said with a shrug, "I was planning to test it out on something simple tomorrow so he could get a feel for the Jutsu, but I get the feeling that he'll want to do something physical soon. So it's gonna be some nose to the ground sparring and team building exercises tomorrow with Tayuya and Sasuke back on the team, and hopefully Sakura will be there as well. I'd like to see how well they all work together. She didn't seem to have a problem with the other two, or them her, but we need to see how they fit together as a team."

"I agree with you there," she said, nodding, "She gets along well with Sakura and Ino when they train in the healing arts, and she's quite well off as far as our combat training goes. She's all but mastered the Body Flicker technique. And the Crows have accepted her completely. As far as all that goes, she's right up there with Sakura, even though she doesn't have the natural physical strength Sakura seems to possess, she is fast, and has incredible chakra control."

"So was her father," Jiraiya said, gaining a surprised look from Tsunade, "Oh, come on, Hime, I'm the spymaster of Konoha! How could I not find this out!?"

=x=

"Dammit, this stuff just won't come out!" Naruto growled as he scrubbed at his scalp furiously, "Tayuya was right, this sucks!"

The door to the bath slid opened and said ginger walked in, "Still scrubbing?" She asked as Naruto yelped and ducked under the water, "What the fuck's up with you?"

Naruto came back up and scowled at the girl, blushing brightly as he saw her, clad in only a towel, "What the hell are you even doing in here!?" Naruto snapped, "I told you I was gonna get cleaned up!"

"Yeah, and I wanted to get this shit outta my hair," Tayuya said nonchalantly striding into the room and stepping into the water, sinking up to her shoulders with a tired sigh, "What? You gonna tell me you've never seen a naked girl?"

"Of course I have!" Naruto snapped, "I just didn't expect you to just waltz in here while I was in here!"

Tayuya just crossed her arms behind her head, "It's not something to get upset about. Orochimaru didn't exactly care about our bathing habits. We all pretty much bathed whenever we had the time, and didn't care who was already in the bath or not." She said, shrugging, "I've seen loads of naked guys and girls, and it's nothing that I find offending if that's what you're worried about...or are you just shy about being seen naked?" She grinned mischievously at him.

Naruto growled, and sank low into the water, not rising to the bait. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He said, looking over at her for a moment.

"Sure, what?" Tayuya asked.

"Well, Sasuke's curse mark made him look...different," he said, looking at her a little easier now, "Did yours do something like that?"

Tayuya grew a somber look across her face, "You mean did it make me look like a monster?"

Naruto gulped, "I...I guess so?"

Clasping the towel around her tighter, she rose from the water, making Naruto look away as it clung to her developing body, "Wanna see?"

Naruto was more concerned over his own body than his curiosity at the moment, even as he raised his eyes up to her. Her brown eyes were on him just as his were on her, a hint of fear hidden within them. Slowly, his head bobbed up and down in answer.

Tayuya gave a small smile as she began to draw on the seal's power, the black and red marking spreading across her skin. Naruto watched in fascination as the pattern blackened her skin for a moment as it covered her body, and gave way to a dark, caramel-colored skin beneath. The whites of her eyes had become black as pitch, the irises having become the color of molten gold surrounding her pupils. Her hair had become a pale pink in color, and two long horns had sprouted from her scalp.

A small blush darkened her cheeks as she felt his eyes on her. He rose from the water, coming closer to her. "I know," she said quietly, "I look horrible don't I?"

"No," was the answer she received, "You look...b-beautiful."

The girl's head snapped around, finding the blond standing right next to her, his eyes wide with wonder as he took in her transformed state. Beautiful...? No one's ever called me that. She thought, the blush deepening. If it were someone she knew from Orochimaru's ranks telling her such a thing, she knew it would have been a ploy to get her into bed with them, a trick she had seen too many times with the other kunoichi in their ranks. But it was different with the blond.

When he said it, she actually believed it.

She looked down at his chest, away from those eyes of his that always seemed to fascinate her, and her gaze fell upon the large scar on his chest. She reached out a hand and placed it against the ruined flesh, making him shiver as he covered her hand with his own, the color draining from her skin as she began to return to normal.

His touch felt far warmer than the water, sending a pleasant heat up through her arm. So focused on each other as they were, they hadn't noticed how close they had moved until they stood but a few inches away, a fact that startled the girl. "I-I think I've been in here a little too long," she said, fanning herself with her fingers, "I'll see you later, Naruto!" She hurried out of the water and made a dash for the door. All the while the blond watched her go, a confused look across his face as he placed his hand over the spot where her fingers had been.

Meanwhile, Tayuya had snatched up her clothes, and made a mad dash to her bedroom, leaning against the door as she tried to catch her breath. "Wh-what the hell was that!?" She asked herself as she slid to the floor, her heart pounding. She placed her hand over her chest, trying to calm herself, "What's gotten into me? I've never..." the redness in her cheeks returned full force as she recalled what had happened only moments ago. "No one's ever looked at me like that."

This took a while to get out, for two reasons, one of them being a bad bout of writer's block, and the other being a whole lot of family drama BS. Anyway, the romance has officially begun for our favorite blond and ginger, but the next chapter is going to be focused on this story's #2 couple of Sasuke and Sakura, but don't worry, as our #1 couple will have plenty of spot light because our dear little Tayuya has no idea what the hell's going on!"

Don't forget to review!