Chapter Two
Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who's left a like, follow, and review.
I genuinely appreciate it.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this story.
Page Break: =^.^=
High above a dark forest, a swirling, white portal appeared and released an angry and shouting Naruto, "Fuck you!" The blond teen glared at the shrinking portal, seeing it get further away from him. "Wait? Further? Why is it getting further, and why do I feel like I'm falling?" the blond thought as he looked over his shoulder and had his eyes nearly leave his skull at the rapidly approaching forest. "The hell?!"
Adrenaline rushed through the teen's body as he twisted around and faced the woods. He quickly placed his fingers into the cross-shaped hand seal for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) and surged his chakra; a white cloud of smoke appeared below the teen, clearing rapidly to reveal a doppelganger of the blond. The real Naruto then channeled chakra to his feet as he placed them on the clone's back before pushing off, leaping higher into the air and bleeding off some of his momenta. At the apex of his jump, Naruto looked up and saw the portal spit out a large scroll before winking out of existence.
"Fuck," Naruto growled as he felt himself begin to fall again. "When I get back, I'm gonna strangle that guy with his robe!" The blond then focused on the falling scroll, catching it in his arms and slinging it behind his back before he summoned more shadow clones and used them as stepping stones to safely descend toward a tall tree. When the tree was within reach, the blond latched onto its top like a monkey, clinging to it with his chakra as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Calm down. Remember shinobi rule number three: Control your body, don't let it control you," Naruto told himself as he felt his heart thump faster than an excited dog's tail. Taking a few more deep breaths, the blond felt his heart rate slow, and his adrenaline bleed off. When Naruto felt calmer, he opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings; he was at the top of a tall tree in a large forest that stretched beyond the horizon in all directions; the only thing that broke up the monotony was a stone tower a few kilometers to his left and a small collection of buildings in a clearing around a kilometer away.
"Buildings mean people. Though will they be friendly?" the blond asked himself, gauging the distance between him and the clearing and concluded he could be there in less than a minute if he sprinted, though it would be best if the blond went slower and got the lay of the land, just in case he had to retreat.
"Shinobi rule number five: When in an unfamiliar place, hide, gather info, and have a plan to run from or kill anyone you meet," Naruto muttered before snorting and rolling his eyes, "Guess Ero-sennin's lessons do come in handy." The blond then rolled his shoulders, bracing himself for this new journey, when he jostled the scroll on his back.
"Oh, yeah," Naruto blinked before he slipped the scroll from his back, held it in his hands, and examined it; the scroll was colored blue, was as large as the Scroll of Seals, and bore a golden spiral on its front; a spiral that looked similar in design to the white spiral that was on the shoulder of his jumpsuit. "So, I'm guessing you've got all the stuff from that caravan?" the blond asked aloud, not expecting an answer but receiving one anyway when the scroll shook once.
"Err?" Naruto felt his mind freeze as he stared at the scroll in his hands. "Did you just shake?"
The scroll shook once more.
"Ok, that's what I thought you did," Naruto stated, falling silent for a moment before asking, "You're not haunted, right?"
The scroll gave two shakes.
"…Is that a 'no?"
One shake.
"And one shake is 'yes?"
One shake.
"That's good," the blond breathed, relieved that he wasn't holding onto a possessed object. "At least that robed bastard kept his word," the blond thought before saying, "I'll go through you after I know where I am."
The scroll buzzed, sounding like a pissed-off hornet.
Naruto's face scrunched up. "Um, once 'we' know where we are?" the blond guessed.
The scroll purred.
"Alright," Naruto nodded as he slung the scroll onto his back. "Just great, I don't know where I am, and I'm stuck with a scroll that thinks it's people," the blond thought, eliciting another buzz from the scroll.
"You heard that?"
One shake.
"…Great," Naruto muttered before taking a deep breath and descending into the forest.
=^.^=
A few minutes later, as Naruto ghosted from shadow to shadow, mentally marking down areas that could serve as a fallback and ambush points, the blond teen heard someone speaking ahead of him past a thicket of trees. Curious but cautious, Naruto leaped into the nearest tree and swiftly jumped from branch to branch toward the source of the sound, displaying a nimbleness that would make a squirrel envious. Soon, the blond teen found himself overlooking a dirt path where he found a big wolf standing on its hind legs and speaking to a girl wearing a little red riding hood.
"Little Red Riding Hood, just where does your grandmother live?" the wolf asked, its voice sounding like shifting gravel and carrying a growling undertone as its large, yellow eyes glinted. Naruto didn't like that glint as he sized up the beast, finding that its eyes weren't the only thing huge about it; the wolf was as large as Jiraiya and possessed thickly corded muscles that were poorly hidden by the wolf's black fur; it also had large ears, hands, and a mouth.
"Is this thing a summon?" the blond wondered as he reached into his kunai holster and removed one of his black blades. "And why does the girl's name sound familiar?" Naruto pondered as his eyes flicked to Little Red Riding Hood, observing the girl, and it was most certainly a girl underneath that hood. Naruto's face flushed as he eyed the curves of the girl's hips and how the bottom of her cloak flared out from her taut backside. Unnoticed by the teen, a pink light gathered weakly and shone from his eyes.
"I wish I could see her face," the blond thought, cursing his current vantage point that only offered the girl's back before shaking his head. "Damn you, Ero-sennin," Naruto lamented as he recalled making the mistake of informing his sensei of his first interaction with Zabuza's apprentice, Haku. After laughing himself hoarse for a few minutes, the last loyal Sannin then took it upon himself to teach his student how not to fall for a 'trap' and an in-depth discussion about the birds and the bees. Naruto shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts and focused on the girl as she began to speak.
"Her house is a few minutes from here in the woods, under the three large oak trees," the girl said to the wolf, her voice soft with a pleasant lilt that made the unseen blond want to hear more. The girl then lifted her arm and pointed behind the wolf and down the road, revealing to the blond her porcelain skin and dainty slender fingers, "It's just down the road behind you; it has a hedge of hazel bushes. You must have seen the place."
"I really want to see her face," Naruto thought, feeling his heart beat faster for some unknown reason as he looked at the girl, the pink light in his eyes shining brighter. The blond forced himself to drag his eyes away from the girl and focus on the more apparent threat, the wolf. The pink light dimmed to a barely noticeable glimmer.
"Listen, Little Red Riding Hood, haven't you seen the beautiful flowers blossoming in the woods?" the wolf asked as he pointed with his large, clawed hand off to his left to something Naruto couldn't see. "Why don't you go and take a look? And I don't believe that you can hear how beautifully the birds are singing. You are walking along as though you were on your way to school in the village," the wolf then grinned, stretching its mouth and flashing its sharp teeth, "It is very beautiful in the woods."
Naruto gripped his kunai tighter as he glared at the wolf. "Just give me a reason, asshole. Just one." Naruto's eyes flicked to the girl, and it appeared that she was seriously considering the wolf's suggestion if the way her head was turned toward where the wolf pointed was any indication. "Please don't do it. Can't you see that this guy is shady?!" the blond teen thought as he readied himself for combat.
A few seconds later, though they felt more like hours to the hidden Uzumaki, Little Red Riding Hood made her choice as she rushed off to where the wolf pointed, her sudden movements causing her hood to fall back and lay bare her face to the blond; "Beautiful," the blond thought, feeling time stand still and an arrow shooting through his heart as he drank in the girl's looks; her heart-shaped face, her cupid bow lips, her button nose, and her crimson colored eyes that were matched in color by her hair; hair that fell to her shoulders and waved wildly in the wind as she ran; red tresses that Naruto longed to run his fingers through. Naruto watched Little Red Riding Hood leave, the pink light brightening and shining like searchlights before it faded, dulling to a spark when the girl left his sight.
Naruto made to leap out of his hiding place and pursue Little Red Riding Hood when he heard something that chilled his blood; a chuckle. Naruto looked toward the source and found the wolf staring after the girl, licking its chops as it did so. The pink light in Naruto's eyes disappeared, returning them to their standard blue, a blue that was burning with fury. "You just gave me my reason, asshole," the blond thought as he channeled chakra to his feet and prepared to lunge when the wolf abruptly turned on its heel and took off down the road, looking like a blur.
"Fast! Where is he off to in a–the granny's house!" Naruto's eyes shot open in alarm as he quickly summoned a shadow clone, slipped his kunai back in its holster, and ordered the clone to protect Little Red Riding Hood. Naruto then kicked off the branch, denting the tree limb as he leaped to another tree, pursuing the wolf. The clone swiftly followed his creator's orders and left the branch as well.
=^.^=
Naruto swiftly bounced from tree to tree, staying upwind as he followed the path toward the grandmother's house and the wolf. The wolf had a head start, going faster than Kiba, but Naruto was faster and, within a few seconds, made up the lost ground, catching sight of the wolf's tail disappearing between some hedges.
"I've got you now," the blond growled as he quickened his pace and soon found himself standing on a high branch across from a small cottage built underneath three oak trees. Naruto's blue eyes narrowed as he saw the wolf knocking on the front of the door and speaking to someone through it. Naruto suspected that the someone was Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.
Naruto quickly formulated a plan, summoning four clones, dispatching three around the house, and keeping the last near him. The blond teen then drew a kunai with his left hand and held out his right to the clone. The fourth clone placed its hands over its creator's and began molding a Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere), the blue, swirling sphere growing rapidly in Naruto's palm until it was bigger than his hand and humming with power.
Ready, Naruto leaped at the wolf, kicking off his tree perch and scattering leaves.
The wolf's ears twitched at the sound, whipping toward the noise, and was surprised at the sight of a blond teen in an eye-watering orange jumpsuit swooping down on him with some type of blue orb in his hands. The wolf's yellow eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as the blond thrust the orb toward its head. The beast instantly raised its arms, blocking the orb with a grimace.
Naruto cursed as he felt his rasengan get stalled and start to destabilize. Naruto's blue eyes snapped towards the wolf's, glaring at the beast as his technique exploded and surrounded both in a flash of white light.
The explosion produced a loud boom and concussive force that ruffled the surrounding leaves and shattered the cottage's windows.
Naruto flipped through the air, landing on the ground with a skid and gritted teeth as he glowered at the wolf. The blond ignored the shrieking from within the cottage as he pulled up his kunai and waited for the wolf to move.
The wolf lowered its arms, wincing at the pain in his limbs and the smell of burnt fur. It glanced at its wounds and snarled as it saw its missing patches of fur and the spiraling mark seared into its skin. The wolf's eyes snapped towards the blond, snarling, "Who are you?"
"The guy who's gonna kick your ass!" Naruto shouted as he watched one of his clones move onto the cottage's roof.
The wolf blinked, then snorted. "I have no ass, boy. Run along and jest somewhere else before you become my meal."
"I'm not a jester, and what the hell do you mean?! I can see your ass right there?!" Naruto shouted, getting confused. "Did my rasengan scramble his brains?" the blond wondered.
"Enough of your foolishness!" the wolf snarled, turning its back on the blond and heading towards the cottage, "I've a meal to eat!"
"Oh no, you don't!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards the wolf's back, leaping up in the air and aiming to stab the wolf in the neck, not seeing the wolf's smirk.
Quick as a flash, the wolf turned around and swiped at the blond, grinning as it felt its claws rip through the blond's garish orange clothes and dig into his flesh. Only to be shocked when the blond exploded into a cloud of white smoke. "Wha?" the wolf uttered before its senses screamed at it to move, which it did at the cost of a deep stab wound to its shoulder. The wolf howled in pain, lashing out with a kick, only to be rewarded with another plume of smoke.
"Have enough yet?" the blond taunted, standing before the cottage door with his kunai ready.
"I care not for your tricks!" the wolf roared, charging at the blond as it opened its mouth wide enough for it to swallow an adult human whole.
"My, what big teeth you have!" Naruto mocked, preparing to Kawarimi (Replacement) with another clone, when the door behind him swung open and revealed an elderly lady with snow white hair and red eyes who screamed, "Rosie! Are you alright?!" Surprised, Naruto didn't get his technique off in time and was swallowed by the wolf.
"All the better to eat you with," the wolf remarked, licking its lips at the blond's taste before shifting its eyes toward the grandmother. "And now for you!" the wolf roared as it grabbed the shocked woman with its large hands and swallowed her whole too. The wolf belched, patting its belly as it walked inside the cottage. "Time to wait for dessert," the beast chuckled as it disguised itself with the grandmother's clothes.
=^.^=
Elsewhere, the clone guarding Little Red Riding Hood wondered how its creator was faring as it watched the pretty girl pick pink carnations.
=^.^=
"Shit! Piss! Fuck!" Naruto cursed as he slid down the wolf's throat, "Two times I've been swallowed! First by a snake, now by a wolf; what's next?! A fucking whale?!" the blond shouted, struggling to move his arms, but they were pinned to his sides by the wet, writhing pink muscles of the wolf's esophagus.
A few seconds later, though it might as well have been hours to Naruto, the blond teen saw a light at the end of the damp tunnel; a literal light coming from a dark opening a few feet in front of him. The light was a sickly green, but the blond would take anything at this point, given he would soon be able to move his arms and give this wolf more than he could digest. However, a wrench was placed in the boy's plans when his head exited the opening, and a bubbling lake of liquid greeted him.
"That's not good," the teen thought, expelled from the esophagus toward the green liquid the blond suspected was stomach acid. In a move similar to when he got dragged into this crazy land, Naruto summoned shadow clones, using them as stepping stones as he lowered himself down to the green lake, landing on the gurgling gastric juices and standing on it with his chakra. As soon as his feet touched, the blond could feel his sandals start to dissolve.
"Great," Naruto muttered, pacing as he tried to think of a way to escape his mess. "I can't just summon a bunch of clones because the acid will pop them. Which also means no rasengan because I can't use it without a clone helping me." Naruto pulled at his hair, "Gah! Ero-sennin was right! I do suck!" Before Naruto could continue his self-recrimination, the teen heard a scream from above him.
Naruto snapped his head towards the sound; his blue eyes were agog as they watched Rosie's grandmother exit from the esophagus and toward the acid lake. Naruto leaped into action, dashing across the stomach acid, clearing the distance in seconds. "I got you!" the teen shouted as he leaped and caught the elderly lady in his arms just feet before she splashed down, flipping through the air and landing on the stomach acid with a splash.
Naruto hissed as drops of acid landed on his exposed toes and wrists. "Are you alright?" the teen asked, looking down at the elderly lady who looked around with her mouth agape.
Naruto's question seemed to bring her back to her senses as she looked up and saw a blond teen's concerned, whiskered face. "I'm, I'm alright," the elderly lady stammered, "Who are you? And where are we?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I think that we're in the wolf's stomach," Naruto replied, getting a strange look from the elderly lady as her face scrunched up.
"Uzumaki?' That's a strange first name," the elderly lady commented.
"Hmm?" Naruto's eyebrow raised. "Uzumaki's not my first name; it's my family name. My first name is Naruto."
"Then why did you say your first name last?" the elderly lady asked, wincing as she heard a bubble of acid pop as she tried to burrow herself into the folds of her thick, red housecoat.
Naruto shrugged. "Don't know. It's what I was taught to do where I come from."
The elderly lady's red eyes lit up. "Ah! So you're a foreigner. That explains your strange clothing." She added, recalling her manners, "Forgive me, my name is Rose, though everyone calls me 'Granny."
Naruto sweatdropped. "Why must everyone diss my clothes? Orange is awesome, damn it!" the blond thought before saying, "Nice to meet ya, Granny, and yes, I'm a foreigner, though we can talk more after we get out of here."
"Agreed, though how will we get out of here?" Granny asked as she glanced around, not seeing any exit other than the one they both came from.
Naruto hummed in thought as he, too, glanced around. "I could try climbing us back up the wolf's throat or-" Naruto was interrupted by his shaking scroll.
"Huh?" Naruto uttered, looking over his shoulder at his scroll. "Do you have a plan?"
One shake.
"Who are you speaking with?" Granny asked as she peered around and saw no one.
"My scroll," Naruto answered absentmindedly, not noticing her confused look as he addressed his scroll, "What's your plan?"
The scroll said nothing as it stilled, then a poof of smoke accompanied by a small pop occurred over Granny's stomach, followed by a small black object landing there.
"Wha?" Granny gasped, too surprised to scream as she plucked the object between her thumb and forefinger. "Is this a needle?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Nope," Naruto grinned as his eyes focused on the black object, his mind racing a mile a minute as he thought of an escape plan, "It's something bigger."
"Is it magic?" Granny asked, holding the needle closer to her face.
"Yup," Naruto confirmed, "Now hold on to that while I shift you to my back."
Granny did as commanded. The excitement and hope in the boy's voice were tangible as he swiftly shifted her to his back with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms curled around his shoulders. The blond then held open his hand, a silent signal to hand over the needle, which she did.
Naruto was trembling with excitement as he walked so that he was directly under the esophagus opening, an excitement matched by the object in his hand as it hummed with power in his palm, eager to carry out its master's bidding. In fact, Naruto sensed that the object, Ruyi Jingu Bang, already knew his plan as he held it over the stomach acid lake and was simply waiting for the word "Grow."
"Wha?" Granny gasped, tightening her grip around Naruto's neck as she watched the tiny 'needle' expand into a black iron, gold banded staff that was as wide as a man and around two meters tall. The staff's butt then extended into the bottom of the acid lake, diving into the depths, the gold bands blurring together as they plunged ever deeper until they suddenly stopped, signaling that the staff hit pay dirt.
"Hold on tight," Naruto said as he looked at the top of his staff and watched as it rocketed towards the esophagus. The blond waited for his staff to enter the opening before leaping onto the growing staff, wrapping his arms and legs around it as he and Granny shot up and out of the stomach.
=^.^=
The wolf was lying in Granny's bed with the covers pulled up and over its snout so that only its large yellow eyes were visible. The beast was salivating at the thought of swallowing Little Red Riding Hood whole when it felt something dig into his stomach. The wolf growled as it held its gut, wondering what was wrong when it shot up from the bed, hacking, coughing, and retching as it held its throat; it felt like something was shooting out of its stomach, up its throat, and towards its mouth. Just as that thought crossed the wolf's mind, the creature's head snapped back as a long, black staff shot out of its mouth, shattering some of its teeth and bringing it to its knees as the staff extended ever upwards through the roof and into the sky. Confused and terrified, the wolf wondered if things could get any worse when it felt a huge bulge in its throat that moved its way up and out its mouth, revealing the teen and Granny clinging to the pole.
"Yes, we're out!" Naruto cheered before his blue eyes fell on the approaching ceiling, and he yelled, "Stop!"
Suddenly, the extending staff halted, leaving Naruto and Granny's faces mere inches from the roof.
The blond breathed a sigh of relief as he looked over his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Granny said before she looked over her shoulder and winced at the disgusting sight of the wolf's open mouth with its broken teeth and bleeding gums. When Granny's red eyes trailed up from the wolf's broken maw and to its glaring yellow eyes, she shivered and buried her face into Naruto's back. "The wolf still lives."
"What?!" Naruto shouted as he twisted around his staff and saw that the wolf was still glaring at them, releasing choked growls as it weakly tried to grasp at the staff. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he summoned a clone below him, his double appearing in a poof of smoke near the dining table; its appearance drew a gasp of surprise from Granny. Naruto motioned toward the clone, "Granny, drop down; my clone will catch you. I'll take care of this."
Hearing his tone, Granny silently complied, dropping into the clone's open arms. The clone took the elderly lady and walked over to the door.
As soon as Granny was clear, Naruto jumped off the staff, landing with a soft thud well outside the wolf's claws. The blond teen wordlessly pulled out a kunai and approached the wolf, dodging a weak swipe from the creature as he stared deep into the beast's eyes. Its yellow orbs shined with malice and hunger. Naruto nodded before thrusting his kunai into the wolf's throat and slashing the beast's windpipe, splattering his face with flecks of blood. Naruto watched the life leave the wolf's eyes. When the beast fell limp, Naruto grasped his staff and said, "Shrink." The staff obeyed the command, shrinking rapidly, its golden bands blurry.
"Is it dead?" Granny asked from behind the clone's shoulder as they slowly approached.
"Yes," Naruto responded as the top of the staff finished shortening first, while the butt of the staff was taking a bit longer, though he could feel that it was in the wolf's throat now.
"That's good," Granny sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging as she looked ready to collapse until she noticed her cottage's mess. "This will take a while to fix."
Naruto glanced around and saw the damage, focusing on the shattered windows and broken roof, which were his fault. "Hehe, um, give me a sec, and I'll make some clones to help clean up."
"If you'd be so kind," Granny said with a smile before walking to her kitchen. "I'll make us some tea and a snack.
"Sounds great!" Naruto said as his staff finished shrinking, exiting the wolf's mouth with a wet, slick sound as it reverted to its needle form; the wolf's corpse fell backward with nothing to hold it up. "Ew," Naruto uttered, crouching down and wiping his weapon on the wolf's fur to clean it before he hid it in his hair. Naruto summoned a dozen clones, dispatching them to help clean up the cottage and patch its roof.
"Do you want us to help with that, boss?" a voice asked from the broken window as it watched a few clones pick up a broom and a dustpan while others began righting furniture.
"Huh?" Naruto uttered as he turned towards the sound and saw two clones giving him an awkward wave. Naruto squinted at the two, muttering, "When did I…" He wracked his brain for the answer when, suddenly, his eyes popped open, "Oh, yeah, I summoned you guys during my fight—why didn't you two try and help us get out?"
The two clones traded a look before one answered, "Well, we knew you weren't dead 'cause we didn't pop, and we didn't want to risk getting dispelled by the wolf."
The original Naruto thought about their reasons momentarily before accepting them with a shrug. "Well, all's well that ends well. Help patch the roof, then dispel."
"With what?" one of the window clones asked.
"There's a small shed behind my cottage with some spare boards and tools," Granny said as she walked over, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
"Great!" one of the window clones chirped before leaving to complete its task, while the other poked its head through the window and pointed at the wolf's corpse. "What are you gonna do with that thing?"
"Huh?" Naruto followed the clone's finger and saw the corpse of the wolf. "Ah, I don't know." The blond teen rubbed his chin as he pondered what to do with the body. "I suppose I should bury it, though the first thing to do is to get it out of the house.
"I would appreciate that, though I suggest skinning the beast and saving its pelt. It may come in handy someday," Granny recommended.
"I think I'll do that, thanks," Naruto said as he sized up the beast, thinking back to his survival training in the academy where they taught them how to skin game. It was one of the few courses in the academy that the blond excelled in.
"Think nothing of it," Granny waved off his thanks as she approached a square, wooden table with four chairs. She plopped down into an empty chair with a groan and watched Naruto motion to the remaining window clone to come inside and help him carry the corpse out. Today had been the most dangerous, exciting, and exhausting day of her life, and all she wanted to do was curl up and fall asleep, but she knew she couldn't until she had rewarded this foreign blond teen for his good deeds, which reminded her, "Naruto?"
"Yes?" Naruto asked, his arms hooked underneath the wolf's armpits, trying to avoid getting more blood on his jumpsuit while his clone was holding the body up by its legs.
"After disposing of the wolf, can you tell me more about yourself?" Granny requested.
"I will," Naruto nodded before carrying the wolf out of the cottage.
=^.^=
Around a half-hour later, the clones had finished cleaning the cottage and mending the hole in the roof. Sadly, they couldn't do anything for the windows, but Granny assured the downtrodden clones that a glassmaker in the village could supply replacements. The clones grinned before dispelling themselves, filling the room with the sounds of multiple pops and a hefty amount of white smoke that quickly dissipated. Granny's eyebrow raised before she decided to add the strange scene to the growing list of questions for when Naruto returned.
A sharp whistling interrupted her thoughts. "Ah, the tea," Granny mumbled as she rose from her chair and walked over to the fireplace. She grabbed a metal hook hanging on a rack near the hearth and used it to pick up the tea kettle from above the fire. The elderly lady then carried it to the table and placed it on a wooden trivet. "There we go," she muttered as she withdrew the hook and looked over the table, three wooden mugs placed in front of three chairs next to three plates filled with meats, cheeses, and bread. Granny nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips as she turned on her heel and returned the hook to its place next to the fire. "Hopefully, Rosie will be here before the tea gets cold," Granny said as she walked over to her seat and sat down.
"Granny!" Rosie shouted from outside the cottage, her voice sounding panicked.
"Speak of the devil," Granny mumbled as she turned in her seat towards the cottage door, just in time to see it flung open to reveal her granddaughter.
"Granny!" Rosie shouted again, her heart beating furiously, her eyes wide and wild as they darted about the cottage in a frantic search until they landed upon a similar set of crimson orbs. "Granny," Rosie gasped, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, taking a small step into the house as she watched her grandmother stand up from her chair and flash her the warm, matronly grin that Granny reserved for Rosie alone. Granny opened her mouth to say something, but Rosie didn't see it as she rushed forward.
"Ros-'' Granny began to say, only to be interrupted by a red bullet burrowing into her chest. The elderly lady let out a small 'oof' as she felt her granddaughter's slim arms wrap around her.
"Are you ok? I saw the broken windows. Were you cut? You're not cut, are you? What happened?" Rosie rapidly rattled off as she hugged her grandmother.
"I'm alright," Granny assured as she returned the hug, raising one of her hands and stroking her granddaughter's red tresses, feeling the girl slightly relax. "I wasn't cut, though I was quite frightened when they broke."
"What happened?" Rosie asked, slightly pulling back as she looked up at her grandmother.
Granny frowned, recalling the events, "A wolf came by-"
"-A wolf?" Rosie squeaked, her eyes widening as she remembered the wolf she had run across earlier. "It wasn't black and stood on two legs, was it?"
"It was," Granny nodded, unaware of her granddaughter's growing guilt as she continued her story, "It came by intending to swallow me whole, and it was even mimicking your voice–" Granny paused, her eyes widening in realization as she looked down at Rosie who was trying to bury herself inside her red hood with tears pricking her eyes. Granny sighed, her tone laced with disappointment, "Oh, Rosie, you spoke with that wolf, didn't you?"
"...yes," Rosie weakly nodded, tears beginning to stream down her eyes, "I'm sorry." The redheaded teen began to pull away, only to be pulled back into a tighter embrace.
"My sweet flower," Granny soothed as she stroked Rosie's hair. "I'm relieved you're alright. Am I happy you spoke with that wolf when your mother and I told you to come straight here? No, but I am grateful that the beast didn't decide to gobble you up right there." Granny shuddered, "It was not a pleasant experience being in that wolf's stomach."
"You were what?!" Rosie shouted, pulling back and cupping her grandmother's cheeks as she closely examined her for injuries. "The wolf ate you?! How did you get out?!"
Granny reached up, gently but firmly pulled Rosie's hands off her cheeks, and held them. "If you'd stop examining me like a prize horse, I'll tell you." Granny gave Rosie's hand a gentle squeeze, "The wolf did swallow me after it swallowed Naruto-"
"-Who's Nar-ut-toe?" Rosie asked, her face scrunched up as she sounded out the foreign name.
"He's the young man who saved me from the wolf's stomach, my dear," Granny said with an indulgent smile as her eyebrow raised, "Now, may I continue without further interruptions?"
"Sorry," Rosie squeaked, successfully chided.
Granny nodded before continuing, "Where was I? Oh, yes, Naruto and I were swallowed-"
"-Oi! Granny! I'm back!" shouted a voice Rosie had never heard before. It sounded bright and cheerful; the second Rosie heard it, her heartbeat quickened, and her face heated up. It took her less than a second to recognize her symptoms before a thrill of excitement rushed through her being.
"Is this?" Rosie eagerly wondered as she turned towards the opening door, her eyes glowing pink. The redheaded teen watched with bated breath as the wooden door slowly opened, revealing a blond teen who stood in the doorway.
The blond looked about a head taller than her, wearing a pair of bright orange pants that were speckled with holes and paired with an orange jacket that was equally dotted. Rosie bit her lip, her heart beating faster than a galloping horse as she noted that he wore the jacket unzipped, giving her a prime view of his sweaty, black undershirt that clung to his peach-colored skin and outlined his muscled frame. Rosie's red eyes trailed up to his body, drinking in his rounded face with its strong jawline and cutely whiskered cheeks, spying a drop of sweat running down the bridge of his nose from his bright, blond hair that was a wonderful mixture of spiky and shaggy that Rosie wished to run her fingers through; he was the most handsome man that Rosie had ever seen, and when her crimson orbs locked onto his sapphire ones, she knew who he was; "Beloved," Rosie whispered, not hearing her grandmother's gasp, nor registering Granny's presence until Rosie's red eyes got covered by a wrinkly hand as she got pulled into the elderly lady's chest.
Granny's eyes flicked to Naruto, his eyes shining with a dim pink light as the blond rapidly blinked, looking as if he was waking from a daze. Granny sighed, knowing that her life's most dangerous, exciting, and exhaustive day had just been extended.