"Morning guys" Mieko mumbled as she shuffled downstairs and over to the table, she sat beside Sasuke who pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the cheek, much to her surprise, he was keen on public displays of affection.
"Morning Mieko" Kakashi greeted, she waved to his lazily and said 'morning papa' then promptly yawned squeakily.
"So where is Naruto?" Mieko asked the quiet group who still seemed to be waking up, normally Naruto would still be in bed but lately he has been getting up early to train.
"It looks like he was out all night again," said Tazuna as he two wondered where the hyperactive boy had gone off too.
"He's gone completely crazy, he's out climbing trees in the dark" Sakura was the first to reply, voice showing her annoyance "He could be dead by now, you know, from using up too much of his chakra" Mieko narrowed her eyes and glared at the pink haired girl, she better not continue to say such things or there would be trouble. She didn't even want to think about Naruto being dead.
"Well I certainly hope he's ok, a child spending the night in the woods alone" Tsunami placed a cup of tea with no milk down for Mieko who thanked her softly. She hated milk, it made her tea lose its flavour and since she hadn't drank it in a while it made her feel sick almost like she was lactose intolerant. How ironic, a cat that didn't like milk.
"There's nothing to worry about" Kakashi cut in "Naruto's a goofy kid but he's also a fully-fledged ninja so he can handle himself."
"Sakura is right" everyone turned their heads to Sasuke who had remained silent for most of the morning "Naruto's such a loser he's probably lying out there dead somewhere."
"That's enough!" Mieko roared, her fists slamming against the table "Don't you dare talk about Naruto being dead when I'm here, you may not care about him but I certainly do" she pushed away from Sasuke and stormed out of the house.
Sasuke glared at the door and stood away from the table "Huh Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
"I'm going for a walk" he muttered as he shoved his hands into his pocket and walked off, whether to look for Mieko or not he did not know. All he knew was that he pissed her off.
Mieko had returned to the house after cooling off her raging anger, she pretty much just ran around and punched some trees to let off a little steam. When she had entered the house she continued to ignore Sakura, more so than usual after how she talked about Naruto earlier. When it was dinner she was beginning to worry about the two boys but she didn't show it, instead, she sat on her chair and continued to read one of the many books Tazuna and Tsunami had in their house. After some time the front door opened and Naruto and Sasuke walked in, both carrying and supporting each other as they shuffled to the table "What have you both been up to? You look like something the cat dragged in" Tazuna drawled when he noticed how dirty the boys were.
Naruto looked up at the group with a triumphant smirk "We both made it, we climbed all the way to the top" he proudly stated.
"Good" complimented Kakashi "now we can move on, starting tomorrow you're both bodyguards for Tazuna."
Naruto laughed triumphantly "Alright!" he flailed his arms around and pulled Sasuke to the floor with him when he lost his balance.
"Ahh, you are such a loser!" Sasuke shouted angrily whilst he pushed Naruto off him, the others laughed and Mieko smiled softly to her book, her anger at Sasuke dissipating due to the joy she was feeling, both Naruto and Sasuke had worked so hard day in and day out to reach the top and now they did it and she was so proud of them.
"Yeah, let's eat!" Naruto shouted and ran to the table, Sasuke soon followed and sat beside Mieko as usual, he was worried that she would still be mad about this morning but when he saw the smile and the pride shining in her eyes he knew he was forgiven.
"So how is the bridge going Tazuna?" Mieko asked once all the food had been eaten, they were now all sitting at the table to allow their meals to settle.
"In a few more days the bridge will be finished, we have you to thank for that" he replied to the female Hatake, she had kept to her promise and had worked alongside Sakura with building the bridge, construction seemed to speed up and its completion was drawing closer and closer.
"You've all done great but you still have to be careful" scolded Tsunami, these kids were so sweet, she hated thought of them getting hurt.
"I've been meaning to ask you this but I haven't had the chance until now" the old man turned his eyes over to Kakashi who waited patiently "Why did you stay here to protect me even though I lied to bring you here?" Mieko perked up, Kakashi had briefly explained what happened and how the battle with Zabuza went, that was why they were training, Zabuza was most likely still alive and they needed to be prepared to face him again.
Kakashi looked at him before speaking "Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive" everyone looked at him curiously as he spoke those words "that was a quote from the first Hokage."
"But why…" Inari's small voice broke the silence that settled over the room after Kakashi had finished speaking, Naruto lifted his head from the table to look at the small child.
"Whadyou say?" he slurred to the boy.
"All his training is just a waste of time, Gato's got a whole army and they will beat you down and destroy you! These cool things you all say, they don't mean anything, no matter what you do the strong always win and weak always lose!" Inari shouted, his hands slamming on the desk in the hope of stopping the tears from leaking out.
"Speak for yourself, it won't be like that for me you got that" Naruto shot back, not liking how Inari was speaking, Mieko looked on with a worried expression, as did the others.
"Be quiet, just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country you're just butting in!" Inari screamed, "Always laughing and playing around you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!"
"Inari don't…" Mieko muttered when she saw the dark look on Naruto's face, this argument needed to be stopped before it got out of hand.
"Listen to yourself, whining and complaining like some sorry little victim" Inari looked at Naruto in shock "You can whimper all day for all I care, you're nothing but a coward!" the blonde haired ninja pierced him with an angered glare.
"Naruto, you went too far!" Sakura yelled at him, how could Naruto speak to a little boy like that?
"No, Sakura" Mieko snapped to the pinkette who turned to her in shock at how harsh she spoke "they both went too far" she too stood from her chair "I'm going to make sure Naruto doesn't do something stupid" she patted Inari's head as he cried before leaving the house in search of her blonde haired friend "Naruto! Naruto where are you!?"
"I'm here Mieko!" she turned her head to the side, there Naruto stood, his body tensed and his fists clenched in anger.
"Naruto are you ok?" she hurried over to his side and grabbed both of his fists "please calm down, Inari didn't know."
"But he shouldn't have said anything at all!" he bit back harshly, all the pain he's felt through his entire life, the hate and hurt he's had to endure rushed through him.
"I understand but standing here being angry won't help anything" Mieko watched as Naruto took deep breaths to calm himself, she waited until his fists unclenched before speaking once more "you know what it is like to suffer and to be treated like dirt but do you know the different between you and Inari" he looked up at her "you got over it, you continued on with your life with a smile on your face, Inari had his family to help him but you…you had no one-"
"I had you" he interrupted, causing her to blink at him in surprise.
"Huh?"
"You helped me, you stayed as my friend even though everyone told you not to" he moved his hands so his fingers could intertwine with hers "you helped me to feel better and smile more than I usually would, you make me want to be a better person."
"Naruto…" she trailed off, the sincerity of his words hitting her hard "I guess we both helped each other get better huh?" they both smiled softly, their hands tightening around each other's. It was then that she realised her feelings for Naruto where not what she once thought they were, she thought that she had a crush on him because she cared for him deeply but no that wasn't it, she cared for him as a friend, as the greatest friend she could ever have. She decided that she would help Naruto get stronger so he could protect the ones he cared about, that he would become the greatest person he could be .
"Thanks, Mieko" Naruto spoke softly, afraid that if he spoke too loud he would ruin the moment "You don't know how much you mean to me" he moved forward and leant his forehead against hers "I know you don't see me like you do with Sasuke but…I still wanna be there for you, I still wanna get stronger so I can protect you."
"Thank you Naruto, that means more to me than you may ever know" she smiled at him brightly, her eyes shining with the joy that was only reserved for him and Sasuke "Why don't we head back, the others might get worried."
"Who cares about them, I like it out here."
"Of course you do" she pulled away with a chuckle "lets head back" Naruto pouted but followed her anyway.
The next day the others left Naruto in bed and headed outside, Mieko had rushed off earlier this morning, no one could understand a word she said but they were concerned when they saw how she was decked out in one of Sakura's ninja outfits, her Kunai's strapped on and her chakra flaring "Ok, I leave Naruto in your hands" Kakashi was speaking to Tsunami before they headed out to help Tazuna with the bridge "He's pushed his body to the limit overdoing it as usual, so you may not be able to move his body today at all."
"What about you, you're still recovering yourself," Tsunami asked with a concerned frown.
"Oh, do I look wobbly" joked Kakashi "I'll be ok."
"Come on, let's go" the others nodded to Tazuna and followed him to his work, what they saw when they arrived at the bridge made them all pause "hold on, what the heck is this!" all the bridge builders were lying on the floor, groaning in pain due to the various wounds littering their bodies "What happened!? Someone was here, someone got to them!"
"Mieko!" Sasuke screamed and raced off towards the lone figure that laid curled up on the floor "Mieko are you ok?" he rolled her over and brought her to his chest.
"Za…bu…za" she managed to force the words out of her mouth, she heard something raced past their house early in the morning and knew that only ninja moved that fast, when she arrived she was blindsided and attacked without being given a chance to fight back. When she managed to collect herself she pushed herself up on her feet with the help of Sasuke and headed over to the others, she took a moment to breathe so she could be ready for the oncoming attack.
"Oh no" Kakashi muttered when a heavy mist covered the bridge, obscuring their vision "This mist…Sasuke, Mieko, Sakura get ready" the trio nodded and pulled out their weapons, their bodies standing before Tazuna to protect him "I knew he was still alive, he just couldn't wait for round two."
"Hey sensei its Zabuza isn't it? This is his hidden mist Jutsu" Sakura spoke nervously, fear lacing her words.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi" a deep and evil voice spoke from the thick mist "I see you still got those brats with you, oh and you brought along another one, or is that your pet" Mieko tightened her hold on her Kunai and growled "oh, did I upset the kitten" he chuckled darkly and turned to Sasuke "That one's still trembling, pitiful" they all tensed up when they saw that they were surrounded by Zabuza's, Sasuke looked up at the intimidating man with a confident smirk.
"I'm trembling with…excitement" he spoke deeply.
"Go on Sasuke" Kakashi called over his shoulder, a smile showing through his ever-present mask, all seven Zabuza's moved into attack but Sasuke's sliced through them all, they all froze before turning into water.
"Is this the wrong time to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching that" Mieko breathed out, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I don't want to hear you say that Mieko" Kakashi said in annoyance, he did not want to know any details on her relationship with Sasuke…at all.
"Oh so you were able to see through my water clones, the brats improving" the real Zabuza spoke "It looks like you have a rival Haku."
"So it seems" Haku replied emotionlessly.
"This is going to be fun," said Mieko with a wicked fanged smile gracing her face, adrenaline was shooting through her veins at the prospect of destroying these two men that stood before her. She was going to enjoy this for as long as she could "let's get started shall we."