Disclaimer: Naruto x Tsugumomo - I own neither
Story Start!

Happiness.

Shinobu was a Tsugumogami, a type of youkai who came to life when an object was treated with great love and care. She was not a person in the way that many people considered, and though she had a human form she was not a human. She needed a human though to give her life and keep her in a human form. Whenver she didn't have a master, her owner, she had to conserve her strength and wait.

Her master.

-50 Years Ago-

"Shinobu... if you want, you can go find another owner."

Shinobu listened to her owner talk as she sewed clothes together, her fingers working gently. She smiled gently when he spoke to her. She was a short woman, and though many praised her as rather attractive, she knew that her face was many times painted in a down light. She didn't have the same curves as other women, and her breasts were small. As a Tsugumomo, a intelligent Tsugumogami with a rational mind, she was born in her adult body.

She was shorter than a 15 year old boy was, being below the average height for even women, and her green hair was so dark it was almost black hair and was shiny and beautiful, but her bangs revealed her large forehead and depressed eyes.

She smiled though.

"I have a owner."

"Don't you want an owner who can put you to good use?"

"You're my owner, and you'll always be my owner... I've only ever had one owner who wasn't you... and she was my worst owner." Shinobu spoke the truth as she looked at her current owner with love in her eyes.

-90 Years Previously-

An old man held her hand.

"I'm sorry Shinobu... it seems I'm leaving you again."

The old man had white spiked hair and wrinkled skin, he was a man who was well into his 120s in age and had managed to be the owner of hers who had lived the longest. His cheeks were adorned with 3 whisker marks, and his blue eyes were one of his most defining characteristics.

Her owner.

"I'll wait for you again. When you are reborn, I'll be by your side again, no matter how long it takes." Shinobu had watched him die many times before in her long life. This was one of her longest lasting versions of her owner. She had an owner who didn't die.

Her owner... was not normal.

When he died, his soul didn't go to the afterlife, instead it reincarnated into his bloodline. It started when she learned that her owner wasn't even from their world, he had ended up in their world from a far off universe that didn't play by the same rules. When his body died, his soul was unable to enter their afterlife, and it was unable to go to his own afterlife. His soul instead reincarnated into a new body, that was related to his bloodline.

The blue eyes, the blond hair, and the whisker marks were the key features.

His hair was white now, but she remembered vividly when it was a wonderful blond that radiated like the sun.

-150 Years Previously-

"Shinobu, take a look at this... think she will like it?"

"She'll love it... because you made it for her." Shinobu smiled and praised him. Her owner had found himself a love interest, and she wanted to do her best to support him. So she taught him how to sew, and he made a nice kimono for the woman he was trying to woe.

He was a wonderful person.

It didn't matter if he reincarnated as a man or a woman, this was her master, her owner. She had watched her owner fall in love many times before, and she had watched and assisted him in his many lifetimes that he had been able to live. She loved watching him, because there was no greater torture for her than the years she was forced to exist without him by her side.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure... you're a very charming man. Any woman would be lucky to have you." Shinobu spoke with a gentle smile.

Her owner gave her so much love, but he never gave her romantic love before. No matter how much she loved him, she had never been able to be honest and confess her feelings. Instead, she would forever do her duty and be useful to her master.

-Countless Years Previously-

"Hey, that was a beautiful kimono I saw you carrying... do you think you could fix this for me?"

"Oh... you're oddly dressed... what is your name stranger." Shinobu was sad, but curious, when she looked at the man who approached her. She had just come back from being dismissed by her owner, a cruel woman who never praised her for her hard work, and insisted on using her to make money. She would be happy to talk to a stranger if it meant that she could get at least a little praise.

He praised her kimono, which alone made her want to talk to him.

He was tall, very tall.

She was used to seeing human men being no taller than 5 shaku tall (1 shaku is about 30 centimeters), but this man was 6 shaku tall. She had also never seen a human with such brightly colored hair, and his eyes were a rather dazzling blue color... and then there were the whisker marks on his cheeks that denoted him as some kind of kitsune... but he was human, she could tell.

"Uzumaki Naruto... and... I need help... do you think you could sew the remains of these scarfs together?" The man known as Naruto presented her with the torn and broken remains of scarfs of different colors. One was a green and white scarf, and the other were the remains of a red scarf.

His hands were so gentle.

Shinobu placed her hands on the remains of the scarf, and she saw just how gently he treated the remains. His fingers touched them with a sense of love, care, and tenderness that she didn't know a man's hands were capable of. She looked up into his eyes, which had such a deep and profound sadness and loss behind them.

"... Did your lover who made this die?" Shinobu asked him out of a gentle curiousity.

He smiled.

"My mother made one of them, and a girl who loved me... who died... made the other. I want to cherish their feelings... I have no home, and no money... so if you do this for me, I'll trade whatever you want... and I'll work myself to the bone to fulfill any wish you have." Naruto promised her.

She took the remains from him.

"... Your treat a mere object with so much affection and love... your feelings have reached my heart."

-The Present Day-

That was the day she murdered her 1st Owner.

The day that she murdered her owner and then requested that the man who treated a mere scarf with such love become her new owner. She never told him that she killed her previous owner, it was a secret she would take to her grave one day. Since that day, she had experienced the happiness of a loyal and loving owner, who treated her with respect and care.

He was not a talented sewing artist, but he tried.

He went on to get married and had a child, and when he died one day... she expected to just allow her energy to run out and die as well. She wanted her sewing needle to be buried with his grave, but instead... by the time she was near the end of her life, her owner had reincarnated. Those same whisker marks, blond hair, and blue eyes had become part of the world once more when his soul reincarnated into a new body.

Now, it was time again.

Shinobu looked down in the cradle at a baby.

"Uzumaki Naruto, reborn once more... welcome home master." Shinobu reached down into the cradle and touched his hand, a sense of deep relief filled her when she felt his soul. It was the same soul that she had grown so fond of. The bond that she never allowed to break, even when she had her owner's descendants give her life energy to keep her awake. She never gave up her connection to him.

Her droopy eyes lit up in joy.

'This time... this time I'll confess... during this life I'll swear my undying love to you, and I'll make you understand.' Shinobu felt such a strong love for her owner, that if ever the day came he stopped reincarnating, that would be the day she died as well. She had lived by his side during every life he had lived, and stayed with him with loyalty.

She was a shy, gloomy, dark, depressing, and easily shamed woman... but he had always been the light of her life that made her want to be better for him.

Now that she was holding his hand, she felt the feeling once more.

She felt complete again.

Chapter End!
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