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The Story of Us

'For those who never gave up'

Naruto x OC

Friendship, Adventure, Romance

Chapter 9

I don't consider myself a morning person by trade. In fact most of the time I found myself crying at the mere thought of having to get out of the comfort of a good snuggle with Naruto. His body temperature was always so warm, it was a glorious thing since I was always freezing. He also seemed to next to never get sick, which was good. I couldn't imagine the boy with a fever without also picturing him bursting into flames and trying to heat his ramen on his bare stomach. In my head I found it actually working too, which was more than a little concerning.

No, I wasn't a morning person. If it weren't for Kakashi-sensei making me get up at five six days per week to train I might've also considered sleeping as long as Naruto did. That boy…. Some days I would be back, have a shower and eat, and he still wouldn't have moved a single muscle.

It's a figure of speech though, considering the boy never stopped moving, even in his sleep. One time I had been peacefully curled into a ball facing away from him, and the next I was somehow on the other side of the boy and being used as a pillow. This did absolutely nothing for my self-esteem.

However, it would be a lie to deny that half the times I woke up Naruto, dodging his efforts to yank me back in bed for 'five more minutes' was what I wanted to do most days.

Most days I wanted to let him yank me back under the blankets for a good snuggle and a nap, but it never was a good idea.

One time I let it happen, and Naruto was snoring into my ear. I remedied this by shoving a pillow between our faces, but it was tossed away not five minutes later. Thankfully he curled his head to rest on my shoulder instead, which was much more comfortable. I eventually dozed off, just an hour or so, and was abruptly awoken by Naruto flipping us both out of bed and rushing for the door while crying how late we were.

I was not a happy person that day.

The point to this little tidbit, was that I really hated being woken up when I didn't have to move. In fact Naruto had described me as being positively murderous on more than one occasion. So imagine my surprised when on a day off with no school or training, with Naruto and I cuddled up and ready to sleep the day away, there's a knock at the door.

I was ready to kill someone.

However, when I swung the door open, I was definitely not expecting there to be a small herd of girls standing there.

Ino giggled at me before waving.

"Hey there sleepy head! We were looking for you!" She said. I felt caught off guard here, noticing Sakura trying to look into the apartment behind me.

"Um, hi there?" I quirked a brow, my eyes still half-lidded from sleep. What were they doing here? I noticed Hinata in the group as well.

"We decided it should be a girls day and wanted to make sure you were invited!" Ino said with a huge smile. I tilted my head, curious.

"A girls day? What are we doing?" I asked, wiping a cloudy eye. Ino opened her mouth to answer, but Naruto's voice called from behind me.

"Kari, who's there?" I looked over to see him walking to the entrance way, bleary eyes too. He stopped beside me, then saw the group of girls. With a yawn Naruto rested his head on my shoulder.

"Oh, hi there everyone. You going out Kari?" Naruto asked. I looked between the girls and Naruto once before giving a sleepy smile.

"Yeah, I guess so. Go back to bed lazy bones." I said, to which the Uzumaki muttered an agreement before turning around and slowly shuffling back to the bedroom. I turned to the girls, who all had mixed expressions, before giving them the same sleepy smile.

"I'll be right out. I just need to get dressed." I said, looking down at Naruto's shirt and shorts. I hadn't even gone to my apartment last night.

"O-Okay! We'll be right here!" Ino said before I shut the door.

Not ten minutes later and I was outside after waking myself up and dressing. Ino dragged us all to the shopping district. We ate breakfast at a small shop that was cutesy and pretty. I had seen it before, but dragging the boys in there was like pulling teeth unfortunately. It was nice to be able to go there with some girls.

It was a fun morning, and most of it was just us playing around joking. Still, I noted that Ino seemed intent on keeping the party moving along at a certain pace. The reason was beyond me, but I kept walking.

After a while, our group had fanned out walking do the street to get around vendors and civilians. I found myself walking with Hinata and Sakura, the later looking a bit uncomfortable with me all morning.

"What is it?" I asked, using a skewer to clean my teeth. Sakura looked all parts awkward as she tried to say something.

"Does…. Does Naruto always…. Come over?" Sakura asked. I looked at her, then smiled.

"Well yeah, that's his apartment. Mine's next door." I explained, hearing a squeak from Hinata next to me.

"So wait, you sleep with a boy all the time?" I heard from behind me. Maya and Ino had come up to our little group. Ino looked surprised while Maya looked scandalized. What was the problem?

"Well yeah, I stay over every night." I said, not understanding the blush on Hinata or Sakura's face.

"Isn't that…. I dunno….. kind of an adult thing?" Ino asked. I frowned, stopped walking, and turned fully to them.

"What are are you getting at? I literally sleep there." I asked, not understanding what they were implying. Sakura was matching her hair now as she stuttered.

"W-Well, if we stayed at Sasuke's house…. That would be….."

Oh…

OH.

I burst out laughing, waving my hands in front of me.

"No no! It's not like that at all!" I insisted before calming down, figuring I should explain this little story away. "I …. I used to have nightmares all the time. And Naruto help me fall back asleep. And I just got so used to having him there…. So I stayed. And it's a bonus because in the winter it gets too cold in the apartment, and Naruto is practically a heater."

"N-Nightmares?" Hinata asked, I froze, before turning around.

"Why don't we go take a look at the dress shop over there?" I was about as smooth as a bull in a china shop with that transition, but Hinata supplemented it by stepping closer to tell me how she wanted to go see it too. I grinned, tossing the skewer like a senbon into a garbage can across the street.

It hit it's target, bouncing once up into the air before ducking right into the bin.

Kakashi-sensei was training me a bit harder again. We'd now worked up to actual sparring practices. I was by far not prepared for his true strength, but the slower meandering he did while reading his book was right up my alley.

"Stop giving me an opening. I realize you're learning, but I might actually take one of them if you don't clean up your act." Kakash-sensei said before making some hand-signs. The sheer speed at which he made them always caught me, but the was something else to it. It was a strange sensation I got during every jutsu, and in the back of my mind I knew he was about to use a fire style technique. My fingers quickly formed the sign of the tiger.

"Fire style! Phoenix flame jutsu!"

"Water clone jutsu!"

Since sensei wasn't actually trying to kill me, the water clone appearing in front of me was enough to cancel out the attack. I tensed up, preparing for another round, but Kakashi-sensei stood there for a moment. He was analyzing, thinking something over.

"How did you know it was the fire style technique? You couldn't possibly keep up with my hand signs." I fidgeted a bit under his scrutiny, it always amazed me how just the look of one eye could make me uncomfortable.

"Well…I kind of…. Have this sense, y'know? Whenever you make hand signs I get a weird feeling and can kind of understand what nature it will be." I explained, not entirely sure how to put it into clear words. Kakashi-sensei looked surprised, eager almost.

"So if I do this," Sensei made several hand-signs, but the moment he started I could see it was an Earth nature he was focusing.

"Earth." I replied swiftly. He did several other signs.

"Hmm, I think that's lightning, but I'm not sure." I said, though my voice was significantly less confident in my assumption. After all, I had only felt and sensed the lightning chakra twice when Kakashi-sensei was training with Raikiri. A lightning based attack that made the air around him crackle and sent mini-shocks through the air.

Kakashi-sensei looked very invested, and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

"Do you think….. it could be possible…" He was thinking out loud again, which was fine when it made any sense and he completed his sentences. Kakashi-sensei looked at the ground for a moment, before back up to me.

"I think we'll stop there for today. Tomorrow I might have a little surprise for you."

I was staring at the Uchiha today.

Hanging with all the girls on the weekend had me remembering how Sasuke had lost his entire clan a few years back. The sour attitude made sense now, the isolation.

"Nope, not happening."

I looked over to Kiba, who was standing beside Naruto. Both crossing their arms and shaking their heads. Part of me wanted to laugh because this was the first time they seemed to be agreeing on something.

"What?" I asked, taking another bite of my rice ball. Naruto jutted his lip, glaring in the direction of Sasuke.

"It's bad enough that you invite this guy," Naruto jammed a thumb in Kiba's direction. Kiba was nodding until he realized it was aimed at him before taking offence. "But there's no way you're inviting Sasuke to eat with us!"

"I gotta agree with Chuckles One and Two, the guy is a stone cold jerk most of the time." Shikamaru said while sprawled lazily over the bench. Hinata said nothing, but she was looking down at her own meal in contemplation.

"Wow, tough feelings here." I commented, looking to Choji. He was the only one who hadn't made a complaint, but that could've been because he was too busy eating. He did stop just to look at me.

"Didn't he kick you in the face?" Choji asked. I bristled, my cheeks turning pink at the memory.

"Yeah but…." I looked over to the boy who always sat completely alone. He walked home alone, ate alone, lived alone. Save for the gaggle always following from a distance there wasn't anyone who actually hung out with him. Now part of it was the fact that he was a royal jerk, but Kiba could be mean sometimes, and we hung with him.

I stood up, Naruto and Kiba complaining.

"Don't worry guys," I said, looking over and grinning. "I promise it's just a quick visit."

Kiba looked disarmed, not used to me giving such a charming smile. Good, if it worked on him I had a chance. Naruto of course was completely immune to it seeing as he and I spent most of our time together.

I walked over to Sasuke, stopped beside where he was casually leaning against one of the trees, eating his lunch.

"Rice balls, huh? I had that for lunch too." I said when coming to a stop. He glared up at me, but otherwise didn't greet me. I wasn't deterred though, and gave my best smile. "If you want, you can come sit with us. It might be fun."

Sasuke didn't say anything, didn't look at the group, just glared at me. Still, I wasn't expecting him to take the offer right away.

"Well, just thought I should let you know. Offer still stands. Enjoy your lunch!" I said before wandering back to my friends. Surprisingly, all four guys were eyeing the Uchiha up, watching him carefully.

"What?" I asked, looking back to see Sasuke staring off somewhere else. None of them would say anything, and I began to wonder if this was one of those macho manly things. I couldn't picture Shikamaru being in to that though. The guy got upset when he woke just before his alarm clock and would sit there not wanting to turn it off.

My eyes caught movement though, and across from us stood several of the girls that always watched Sasuke. Several of them glaring at me, probably for coming near their Sasuke. To my surprise, Sakura was one of them. I raised a brow, but none of them came near me with my friends around.

It would have to wait until later then.

Kakashi-sensei had a weird idea of the phrase 'surprise', because I was not expecting another man to be joining us.

"So, this is Hikari," the man took a step towards me, offering a small smile. "You can call me Tenzo."

"Uh, hi there… Mr Tenzo…." I held up a hand and gave a soft wave. Tenzo seemed please. I looked to my sensei then in curiosity. "So…. What's the surprise?"

Kakashi-sense stepped forward, placing a hand on Tenzo's shoulder.

"Well you see, I have a hunch. And I've asked Tenzo to join us in our training. He has something special he may be able to teach you." Kakashi-sensei explained. I raised a brow.

"Special? Why can't you teach me?" I asked, but sensei just chuckled.

"I'm afraid I can't do it. But Tenzo is a specialist. So here, let's get started shall we?" Kakashi-sensei stepped back then, Tenzo gaining my full attention as he started doing hand-signs. A weird sensation went through me then, a conflict in my head as to what nature was being used. It felt like water- but then it turned to earth- no it's…. It's a combination-

"Wood style! Four pillar prison jutsu!" Tenzo slammed his hands into the earth, and all around me sprang forth pillars of wood that intertwined and became a cage. It was amazing! I had never seen something like this before! A grin slipped onto my face as I watched Tenzo stand again, Kakashi-sensei was smiling as he watched me.

"Now, Hikari, do you know how he did that?" Sensei asked. I paused, remembering the sensations.

"He overlaid the earth style with water style to create the wood." I explained. Tenzo looked impressed.

"So it's true, you can sense the natures." He said, looking to Kakashi-sensei. Sensei looked a little bit smug, leading me to believe Tenzo didn't think Kakashi-sensei was telling him the truth. Tenzo looked back at me. "Now then, your sensei thinks that there's a chance you could do this jutsu too."

I raised a brow.

"But overlaying chakra natures… that's usually a kekkei genkai, right?"

"Usually, but there are skill ninja who can use one after the other to create similar jutsu to the kekkei genkai." Sensei explained, before smiling. "And I think you might be able to do something similar. Who knows?"

Tenzo looked doubtful, but Kakashi-sensei hid behind his make out paradise book so I couldn't quite tell what he was thinking.

"Alright, we'll start with the basics of water and earth chakras. Can you use either?" Tenzo asked. I nodded.

"Yes, I've learned the head hunter jutsu, and the water clone jutsu." Tenzo looked mildly surprised.

"Interesting. Then I think we'll start on more advanced water and earth style jutsu before heading into the wood release technique. Sound good?" I nodded, fully intent on what he was saying.

Tenzo ended up being much more patient with me than Kakashi-sensei was. If I made a mistake I didn't have to run laps for it, and instead was told to refocus and keep going. It was a good break from sensei, to be quite frank, as the man could be a total slave driver when he wanted to be.

It was decided that Tenzo would meet with me every Monday for the time being, barring any missions, and I was given a list of things to accomplish by the next week. Small goals, considering I also had academy studies and my regular training on top of it.

After training I returned home, poked Naruto with a stick, and carried on making breakfast. I had a lot more energy considering Tenzo barley had me doing anything save for practicing molding my chakra to prepare for the Earth Wall jutsu. It was a chuunin level jutsu, one that would definitely zap most of my chakra, which was why Tenzo wanted me to practice using it correctly. He explained wood release was difficult to start, but once you understand how to combine the chakras properly it quickly became the easiest element to understand.

Again at the academy, I said hello to Sasuke and invited him for lunch. He, again, ignored me. Kiba and Naruto again agreed that it was a godsend that Sasuke ignored me and stayed alone. I, however, was completely undeterred still.

In kunoichi studies, Hinata and I were separated due to the teach pairing us with others. Sakura was pared with me, and oh boy did that girl look like she wanted to say something.

"Spill it." Was all I offered while trying to plait my hair in the Iwagakure style. It was a bit frustrating to do to yourself, but I had a nervous feeling Sakura might purposefully yank my hair a bit.

"So…. Do you have a thing for Sasuke now?" Sakura asked. I looked at her, then sighed.

"Not everything is about crushes Sakura. I just…. Well you guys said it yourself, he looks lonely. So I offered for him to sit with me and my friends at lunch." Why was I even explaining myself? This should've been a straight forward thing. "I promise I don't have a thing for Sasuke. Quite frankly, I think he's not that good looking."

Well, partial lie. I wasn't an idiot, Sasuke was physically quite attractive, but I didn't think he was 'hot' as the girls kept ranting about.

Sakura didn't seem quelled by this, so I decided to change the subject and talked about the pretty sakura blossoms on her shirt. It matched her name, and her hair. She liked the compliments and let everything slide. I thought that would be the end of it.

Apparently not.

While walking home with Naruto, I came across Sasuke at the docks. He was alone, or so it seemed. No gaggle around him, and no one tried to talk to him. Naruto, again, was nonplussed when I began to waddle on down to the docks.

"Hey," I said when my feet hit the wood. "You come out here a lot?"

"Go away." So he could talk.

"Alright, I will, just thought I should check in. You look so lonely down here by yourself." I turned, ready to walk off, but words kept coming out. "It hurts, doesn't it? The loneliness."

"What would you know about it!" Sasuke spun and snapped at me. I was surprised by the animosity behind his gaze, but there was more. The longer he looked at me, the more I could see it. I felt a sad smile slip onto my lips, which took Sasuke aback.

"I know that it hurts. And I know that losing someone hurts so much because you loved them but… I also know, if you linger like that, you miss out on so many good things."

Good things like friends, and people who want to help you. Maybe that was the reason I wanted to help him, because I knew he didn't have Naruto next to him, holding him strong. Sasuke had to do all of this completely alone, and I felt for him. Not pity, no, but it was sadness.

"A-Anyway, I just…. Thought I should say hi…." I turned to leave up the dock quickly, embarrassed. Naruto was waiting at the top of the slope, but he glared down at Sasuke the entire time.

"Naruto," I began, getting his attention. It always amazed me how his glare could drop in an instant. I smiled, taking his hand in mine. "I… I'm really lucky to have you, y'know?"

Naruto turned pink, his eyes looking off to the side before his fingers squeezed mine slightly.

"I'm the lucky one," he said under his breath. After a moment it was too much for him, so he aggressively cleared his throat before dragging me away from the docks. "I think we're eating at Ichiraku's tonight!"

That sounded like a plan.

The next day at school, however, things were starting to go sideways.

When I arrived, the whole class stared at me as I made it to my usual seat. On the desk in front of it was an envelope this time. Naruto was losing it as he attempted to tear the note out of my hands to read. I however, was not having any of it, and was attempting to play keep away once again. Naruto was bigger than me though, and soon I was on the floor and the Uzumaki was pawing his way to the note in my hand.

The note was taken from me by Kiba. Of all people….

"What's this? A love letter?" Kiba ripped it open before I could flail out from under Naruto.

"Kiba!" I scolded, trying my best to shove off the blonde. He kneed me in the gut while trying to stand up, and started apologizing as he helped me up. Kiba started laughing.

"Ah! Someone wants to confess!" Kiba practically barked out. I got to my feet, swiping the note back to read it myself.

Hikari,

Please come to training grounds 4 after class. I want to talk to you.

That was all it said. I clocked Kiba in the head, he whined, but I rolled my eyes.

"Dummy, all it says is someone wants to meet up." I said, going to take my seat again. Hinata walked in, looking curiously at me. Naruto plopped himself between us, making Hinata turn beat red as she fainted against the desk. I made a move to help her, but she looked fine so I let it go. This happened way too often not to feel the least bit normal.

Still, the note made me a bit confused. Why would this person suddenly want to meet up? Judging by the writing, it was a girl or very clean written boy. Training grounds 4 was usually empty after class, but it was also a bit further away from the village. My guess was this person wanted to deter others from being interested in coming to find out for themselves what was happening. Or maybe just didn't want to have someone else stumble upon us talking.

Was this really a confession? My face turned pink at the idea of any of the boys saying it. I couldn't really picture many of them actually going through with a confession actually. I was beginning to think this was all an elaborate prank.

Class finished at a painstakingly slow pace. I was surprisingly eager go to the grounds and find out if it was true or not.

So I headed to training grounds 4 as fast as I could. Even with the weights I had a pretty decent handle on the body flicker technique and could get there before Naruto or anyone could follow me. Granted, they probably could follow since they knew where to go.

I stood there for a little while, maybe twenty minutes, before I started doubting that anyone would show. This would be a really stupid prank, considering I cam prepared. After twenty five minutes I sat down in the grass and pulled out a book from my bag to read.

Thirty minutes had passed, and finally someone came. I looked up, surprised to see Sasuke Uchiha.

"Oh, hi there." I said before aiming to finish up my chapter. The Uchiha came closer until he stopped in front of me.

"You waited this whole time for me?" Sasuke asked. I froze, then looked up at him, completely and utterly baffled.

"F-For you?" This had to be a bad joke. There was no way Uchiha would write a confessional to me. Unless it wasn't a confessional, and he just wanted to talk like I had offered.

Sasuke looked away, then turned a bit pink- nope no way, I wasn't some lovestruck moron, someone was playing a prank on me. I had never seen Sasuke turn pink, and certainly not because of me.

"I wanted to talk to you," Sasuke said as he looked down at me. "You said we could talk, right?"

Okay, so if this was an impersonation, then who was it really? I could call them out on it, but then it would be a bit awkward to make them transform back. So, what to do? Perhaps play along?

"Alright, come sit." I patted the ground next to me and Sasuke took a seat. "So, what should we talk about?"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment before looking over at me. He grabbed my fishtail braid and pulled it over my shoulder, holding it gently in his hand.

"This is new. Why did you start doing this?" Sasuke asked. I thought of how the girls had braided my hair for me, and how pretty it looked. It ended up being a staple in my style now, along with the body suit.

"Oh, a friend did it for me." I said, giving a soft smile. Sasuke hummed in thought.

"You've got a talented friend, it makes you look cute." Sasuke said in a matter of fact tone.

Ok, I can't do this.

I sighed before glancing over at Sasuke.

"Y'know, if you're going to impersonate someone, you should at least try to act somewhat the same." I deadpanned. Sasuke jumped up, looking upset.

"What?! How did you know?" They burst into a puff of smoke, revealing Maya standing there.

"Well for starters, most boys don't notice things like that. I once stuffed all my hair under a hat and the guys never even realized something was different. And don't get me started on the cutesy stuff. Uchiha is anything but sweet." I said, shrugging to the girl. Maya glared, ready to fight, but I did nothing as she yanked my collar so that I was standing.

"You really wanna pick a fight with me?" I asked, though still made no move to attack.

"Hey! Whoa, this got out of hand really quick!" Ino shouted as she, Sakura and a few other girls came from the bushes. "Maya! Put her down!"

I dusted myself off as Maya let me go and readjusted my clothing. Maya huffed, turning red from anger and embarrassment. I raised a brow, wondering if she really thought her transformation was all that great.

"Seriously? You dragged me out here just to see if I like Sasuke? Guys, you gotta stop. I don't like Sasuke, he's just some kid in my class. That's all." I said, crossing my arms. When were they going to just let this go? Gosh they were ridiculous…..

"Then why do you talk to him all the time? You've been trying to get closer to him. We've all seen it. Don't play innocent." One of the girls pointed out. I frowned.

"I-" Maya cut me off.

"You might not know it, but Sasuke is all alone right now, and he needs someone to comfort him. And that's going to be me." Maya exclaimed. I watched as these girls broke out in a fight over who would actually be the one to take care of Sasuke.

It was Sakura- no Ino- no way Sakura! No Ino- Maya was the one! Again and again they fought, and I felt my whole body tense up. My tiny hands became fists.

They didn't actually care about Sasuke, they wanted his attention. They didn't actually give a damn that he had lost his entire family.

"You…." I started, the girls slowly stopped arguing to look at me. Sakura looked surprised, so maybe my face was a fierce as my thoughts.

"Hey, Kari you-" This time I cut Maya off.

"It's Hikari. And don't you dare try to call me that again. Only my friends can call me Kari." I snapped, surprising the girls. Maya grabbed my collar again.

"You listen here-" I slapped her hand away.

"How dare you act like you have a shred of understanding what that kid's going through!" I shouted, making Maya take a step back.

"How dare you treat his loneliness as a means to get closer to him! How dare you talk about him like he's a trophy! You have no idea what it's like! To know your family is dead and by some god damn fluke you're still alive. Then why couldn't you protect them? Why couldn't you do better?"

None of the girls said anything as felt the tears well up in my eyes. My parents were dead, and they died because I had started some stupid fight with them. It was the wrong place at the wrong time, and nothing I said could make it better. By some fluke I lived, he spared me, and it killed me a little bit every single day.

"Instead of fawning over him, why don't you ask him how he's feeling? Do you even care? Or is just because he's got a nice face and ignores you? Why don't you show that kind of attention to Naruto? Or Kiba? Or Choji when they were alone?"

Maya made a fist, I turned to her and prepared to actually kick her this time. However, Sakura grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"We…. We should just go." Sakura said, looking something between scared and concerned when she made eye contact again. It was brief, mostly because my eyes were getting bleary and I couldn't really see her now.

The girls all started to leave, Sakura looked back once before leaving, so I let out the waterworks.

It wasn't fair, I was doing so good and then they had to remind me. Was this what Sasuke went through? People throwing themselves at him but not actually looking at Sasuke? If this was what being attractive was like, I hoped to remain an ugly little duck my whole life.

I wiped the tears furiously as a twig to my right snapped. Looking over, I saw none other than Uchiha himself.

"What do you want?" I snapped, tying furiously to clean up my eyes. He said nothing, typical, and walked off after a short amount of time.

I sat in the grass, and tried to calm myself down.

A few months passed, winter was in full swing.

I had to motivate myself pretty hard to get up most mornings, especially the ones when Naruto decided to actually lay still and be a good little furnace.

When it came to training I was chugging along at a nice speed. My Body Flicker technique was getting there, I was only four feet off the target now, which was a huge improvement. I also managed to do the Earth Wall jutsu it was small, barely big enough for me to crouch behind, but it was a wall. I wasn't expected to make leaps and bounds in my training at this point. So long as I made steady progress Tenzo seemed pleased. He complimented that I was hard working for someone so young.

Tenzo then started teaching me the Water Prison jutsu, and that one was surprisingly easier to get than the Earth Wall. It only took three weeks to successfully perform it, and a week for me to learn to maintain it beyond a minute.

Now came the real fun.

In theory, understanding the nature of the wood release was simply. One simply took earth and overlaid the water chakra into it in order to give it life. Much like when gardening, to give a plant life you needed to first place a seed in the earth and then water it.

So to do the wood release, in theory, was simple. That is, if one could use those two natures in conjunction. I had my doubts about being able to do it, but Kakashi-sensei seemed more than eager for me to try, so I did.

This part took about five weeks of mostly me trying to learn and figure out for myself how to combine the natures, and not just in my usual sessions either. I spent extra hours each day trying to figure this out, considering the hype Kakashi-sensei put on me learning this, and the doubtful expression Tenzo had when sensei said I would be able to learn, I just had to try my best.

So imagine the surprise, and the utmost glee I felt, when I was able to succeed.

Tiger, dog, snake…

"Wood Style! Wood Clone Jutsu!"

I could feel it, it was working! I could feel the jutsu taking affect as my own body was mimicking and creating a copy that landed in a heap next to me. I stared down at the wooden dummy that looked somewhat like me and freaked out.

"I-I did it! I actually did it!" This was such a built up moment for me that I actually started to squeal like a love struck teen. I waved my arms at sensei before pointing to the doll. "Sensei! Did you see that?! Did you see?! I actually did it!"

Tenzo looked stunned that it had actually worked, but I didn't care one bit about what he thought.

I was just so darn proud of myself.

"So she actually can combine natures." Tenzo said with a hint of disbelief. Kakashi chuckled, shutting his book.

"You sound surprised. I told you she could." Kakashi stood up from leaning against the tree. He couldn't help but smile at his student who was still jumping up and down, shaking the wooden doll and practically screeching with joy. It was quite an impressive technique to learn, and as such Kakashi himself couldn't help the mild disbelief that passed through him as well.

"You know something," Tenzo began. Kakashi let a half lidded eye wander over to the shorter man. "You knew she could do that. There should be no way that she can- not unless she's…."

"She is," Kakashi confirmed. Tenzo was surprised. Kakashi watched the girl, watched as she grinned over at them before promptly passing out in the snow. Kakashi slowly wandered over to the girl who had completely and utterly exhausted herself. Tenzo stepped closer, watching as Kakashi gently held the passed out girl.

"Kakashi, she… Do they know?" Tenzo asked, trying to put the pieces together in his head. Kakashi looked to him.

"No, and neither does she," he looked down to the sleeping girl in his arms. "And it would be safer for her to remain anonymous, for the time being."

"Ah," Tenzo caught on. "So this is between us three then?"

Kakashi hefted Hikari onto his shoulder.

"For now, at least until she has a better handle on it." Kakashi looked over at Tenzo, and that single eye was all the shorter man needed to know he had to keep his mouth shut. "You should know, there's a reason I want her to learn the wood release."

"I imagine it's because of Naruto Uzumaki?" Tenzo asked, surprising Kakashi. "Everyone knows about those two. Everyone has an opinion on the nine-tailed fox. So… you're training her to be his keeper then."

Kakashi was quiet as he recalled the young child Hikari called best friend.

"There's a chance that seal could loosen. It's been in place for ten years already, and if it breaks then there needs to be more than one person that ca perform the wood release to stop it." Kakashi thought of the way Hikari grinned every time she talked about Naruto. The kid was neck deep already.

"Besides, I have no doubt that she would take care of him without attempting to kill the kid."

Tenzo nodded, getting a better understanding now.

"I'll keep teach her, but it'll have to be once per month now that I'm back on active duty. It should be easy for her to start learning now that she understands the fundamentals." Tenzo looked at the sleeping girl. It still amazed him that the tiny kid could perform the wood release.

Kakashi smiled.

"Thank you."

With that, the two jonin left the clearing. Kakashi easily leaped through the trees then buildings to bring Hikari back to her apartment. He was no fool though, he knew she spent every night next to what she called the human furnace that was Naruto. So he slipped into the window and gently laid on into the bed. As if sensing each other, both children turned to curl up. Naruto throwing an arm protectively over Hikari as she nestled into his shoulder.

The Hatake watched, observing closely what was happening in front of him. He had never been one to believe in destiny or fate, but seeing those two, knowing the lives the had lived up until now, and the fact that their pasts brought them to this moment….

Maybe… just a little, he could believe they were destined to meet.

What's up my dudes? Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Well, I'm super happy this chapter is complete. I really really wanted to move on the the Genin phase of TSOU so badly, and by gosh I was an eager beaver to get to it! I cut out a few scenes from this chapter because of that, but they will get woven back in at later dates.

So... Hikari can use special jutsu... like the wood release... I have a feeling I'm getting flack for it, but honestly this was what I imagined when I created Hikari. This was the end goal, to be able to sense chakras and as such weave them together to combine natures. Yes I'm aware that's a kekkei genkai, yes there is a reason for it.

Also, I have to say, I always really hated the whole teen girls going crazy over Sasuke thing. I mean, they didn't even actually care about the guy, they just wanted his attention, which was so ridiculous.

And I'm going to say this RIGHT NOW. There is absolutely no way this is turning into a Sasuke romance, or even one sided. I just wanna make it clear, because sometimes it's hard to portray. If they do get closer it is not in any way shape or form romantic. This is strictly a Naruto x Hikari fanfic. She ain't pairing with anyone else!

Also, if you guys suddenly find titles in the chapters, no worries. I may or may not title each chapter and give a song of choice at the top for a mood setter, normally whatever I listened to to write that chapter.

AND! Hikari is a genin next chapter! Whose team do you think she should be on? I'm curious actually, if people want her on Kakashi's team, or if she should go on someone else's? I mean, I know the answer, but I'm actually curious what people think of swapping Sakura out.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well! Wash your hands, and stay safe!

Iland Girl