Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Naruto or any characters in this story; it all belongs to masashi kishimoto.
Chapter 7: A Day at the Nara's
"Ugh." Naruto groaned as he stood up from the cold ground after he received a roundhouse kick from Lee right in his ribs.
"Come on, Bushy Brows, let's wrap it up for today. It's freezing out here, and it's already dark." He complained. The winter in Konoha had begun as they found themselves in the first week of December. Although it seemed that Hi no Kuni wouldn't be getting any snow this year, the temperature was still low, and combined with the fact the sun had long since set, Naruto was cold.
"Please Naruto, just three more rounds, and then we can leave."
Naruto just grunted to Lee, not too pleased but decided to grant Lee's request. He wasn't that tired. In fact, Lee seemed to be more tired than him, but now, Naruto just wanted to curl up under a warm blanket and go to sleep. He had to give Lee some credit, though. The few times he didn't feel like training that hard, Lee would motivate him by kicking his ass. Training with Lee had proved beneficial for his taijutsu, and they had been training together every day since Lee suggested the idea. Well, not every day. One night when they were walking towards their home, and decided to strike up a conversation. During that conversation, he realized that Lee was not only an orphan like him but that his parents had also died in the Kyubi attack and now lived with his grandfather.
He didn't know why, but it made him slightly guilty, and besides, in his mind, it was only a matter of time before Lee found out the truth. He had come to the conclusion that only adults knew about the Kyubi being sealed inside him and that they weren't allowed to talk about it in public, at least. No one ever referred to him as a jinchuriki or never insinuated anything that would suggest that he was one. It was bizarre, but he assumed it would only be a matter of time before Lee found out something.
So, after that day, Naruto stopped going training with Lee. He only returned when he found Lee waiting for him at the academy's exit after missing two training sessions. Lee had gone into a speech that Naruto should never give up and needed to continue training hard. Naruto couldn't really refuse Lee after that, so he just followed him to their training spot.
They did the last three rounds, with Lee winning two and Naruto one, bringing the total for the day to 13 rounds for Naruto and 22 for Lee. After catching their breath for a while and cooling down, they started to make their way out of their training spot.
"So, Bushy Brows, are you ready to graduate? There is only a week left of classes!"
Lee nodded excitedly. "I'm ready! I can't wait to be a genin and to start to prove to people that I can be a splendid ninja even though I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu!"
Naruto nodded before what Lee said could sink in. It took him a moment for him to realize what Lee just said, and when he did, he exploded. "You can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu?! How in the hell are you going to graduate?!"
Naruto's outburst didn't surprise Lee, so he calmly explained the situation. "It's not that I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu really. It's just that I have no talent for either of them, so I focused solely on my taijutsu skills."
"But how are you going to graduate?!" Naruto interrupted.
"Hokage-Sama called me into his office some days ago saying that there was a jonin willing to take me as his genin as long as I pass an exam he has set up for me, and Hokage-Sama approved. Hokage-Sama and that jonin-san are truly kind people, and I can't wait to show them how much I appreciate their belief in me!"
Naruto frowned at the mention of the Hokage. He had only seen him once since he learned the truth about everything, and when he saw him, he was so conflicted about what to do that he barely spoke. He was sad, angry, and disappointed with the Hokage. He had known all along, he just had to, and he never once talked to him about it. Why couldn't he know? Did he even realize how many nights filled with pain would have gone away just with the knowledge of him being loved? Still, he had always been kind to him, but he just couldn't see him like he always had after being lied to. If it only was that he thought that maybe, he could have forgiven the old man for it, but the fact that there was zero information about the Uzumaki clan made his blood boil. The chunin and jonin paraded the village with his clan insignia without having a clue of what it meant. He had been the Hokage during the fall of Uzushio in the second shinobi world war. Why didn't they teach in the academy about his clan?
"Naruto... is something wrong?" The voice of Lee
"Oh, it's nothing." He tried to dismiss it, not really wanting to explain everything to Lee.
"Are you sure Naruto?"
Naruto knew that Lee wouldn't just drop it so. He decided to come up with a reasonable answer. "It is just that I'm going to miss training with you. I feel that I have improved a lot."
This was true. Naruto's taijutsu had improved considerably by sparing daily with Lee, but that wasn't where the benefits ended. He had come up with the idea of practicing his taijutsu and his chakra control at the same time. He tried to balance a leaf on his head. He could only do it while practicing katas or hitting the log since sparring Lee tended to take most of his concentration away. Regardless of being unable to spar whilst balancing the leaf on his head, his training had helped him get the hang of the Kawarimi no jutsu: (Substitution jutsu) and Henge no jutsu: (Transformation jutsu). He hadn't mastered them yet, but more often than not he could do them.
"But when you graduate, you will go on exciting missions and train with your team and your Sensei, and we won't really have time to train together. That's all." The answer he gave was true enough. He will certainly miss training with Lee. He didn't know if Lee considered him a friend, but Naruto sure did, his first real friend.
Lee nodded in understanding and contemplated what to say. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure I can always find time to see a friend." He finished with a smile.
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes widened. "Y-you consider me a friend?"
Lee just nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't you?"
A huge grin filled Naruto's head as he nodded. "Say, I was planning on having ramen tonight. Wanna join me?" Lee just nodded excitedly, and both made their way to Ichiraku's.
The bell rang, and Naruto started to get his lunch out. He eyed it with misery clear in his eyes. It was just some plain Onigiri that were barely holding themselves together.
"I would also be sad if that was my lunch." Naruto looked to his left only to see Chōji looking at him with pity in his eyes. They had been sitting together during the class with Shikamaru. "What's with that lunch? You usually bring chips or something less sad."
Naruto just let out a huge sigh. "I know, but I promised someone I would start eating better and well... I don't really know how to cook, and no one can teach me. This is the only thing I kind of know how to make at home." Naruto had asked Teuchi if he could teach him how to cook, but funnily enough, he was a disaster in the kitchen if he wasn't cooking ramen. He almost burned Naruto's apartment to the ground by accident. The old man had profusely apologized to Naruto, but Naruto just laughed it off. He actually found it pretty hilarious looking back at the memory.
"I could ask my mother to teach you, although my parents are out of town dealing with some clan business and won't come back until the Rinne festival. In the meantime, I can share what I brought today with me. It's just barbeque left over from yesterday's dinner. That's healthy enough, right?" Offered Chōji.
"Thanks a ton, Chōji! I really didn't want to eat this... and are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?" he asked skeptically.
Chōji was about to respond, but a yawn followed by a third voice interrupted him to it. "I can ask my mother; she always says my father and I don't appreciate her cooking enough. I'm sure she will be fine with it."
"I thought you were sleeping, Shikamaru." Chōji said.
"The troublesome bell woke me up in time to listen to your conversation. Anyway, what do you say Naruto?" Shikamaru actually had a reason for this invitation besides helping the blonde orphan. Not that it was the whole reason for his invitation, but he saw it as a way to kill two birds with one stone. He had long since noticed that adults had a special distaste for Naruto and was curious about it. Sure, the blonde could be extremely troublesome in his own words, but he never did anything too bad. The prank of dyeing Kiba's and Akamaru's hair orange and releasing cats on the Inuzuka compound had been hilarious. It did cause a bunch of problems, but it was the only time he felt that Naruto might have crossed a line, but the adults had always disliked Naruto way before that prank. He was curious to see how his parents would react to the blonde's presence. He also took notice of Naruto's reaction and hesitance. 'It seems that he knows that adults don't like him that much.'
"Ehh... sure, thanks Shika." Answered a still doubtful Naruto.
"Cool, let's go today after class."
"T-today? But you haven't even asked your mother if she is fine with helping me."
"I'm sure she won't mind Naruto, and maybe that way you don't have to eat something so depressing tomorrow or share lunch with Chōji." He was sure that Chōji would have shared his lunch again no matter how hard it would have been for him; it was just who he was. As for his parents, well, he wasn't really sure, but he hoped this didn't backfire on Naruto. Naruto simply nodded to Shikamaru and started sharing lunch with Chōji. The amount of food would have normally been enough for two children but not for an Akimichi and Uzumaki Naruto.
While the three conversed, a pale-eyed girl with blue midnight hair listened to the conversation with a frown. She only hoped she could do something to help Naruto. After thinking for a while, she got an idea, and it was perfect since he would be busy most of the afternoon.
Once the day was finished, Naruto told Shikamaru and Chōji to wait for him. Naruto just went to tell Lee that he would be learning how to cook, and Lee just said that a good diet is important to see results in training. After that, Naruto met up with Shikamaru and Chōji, and they went their way towards Shikamaru's house.
Naruto was nervous to say the least. He was quiet and fidgeting. 'Oh man! Why did I agree to this? If something goes wrong Shikamaru will stop talking to me and probably Chōji too.'
His nerves didn't go unnoticed by Shikamaru. "Naruto, stop worrying. My mother is a troublesome woman, but she is pretty nice to our guests."
"Shikamaru is right, Yoshino Oba-san has always been nice to me." Said Chōji trying to calm down Naruto.
Naruto just nodded but still remained rather nervous, although slightly less so.
As they entered the Nara compound, the looks some of his clansmen threw at Naruto didn't escape Shikamaru, and a frown developed on his face. 'Even people from my clan seem to have some sort of problem with Naruto. I'm pretty sure I would recall if he ever played some sort of prank on my clan.'
The few glares and skeptical looks also didn't escape Naruto, but not wanting to mess with Shikamaru's clan, he decided to concentrate on the compound itself. The compound was located at the south edges of the village, and it held an air of tranquility and peace that Naruto wasn't really known for. The compound was on the outskirts of a forest. It didn't quite compare to the jungle surrounding the Senju compound, and the feeling of virgin Nature wasn't there, but it was a nice place.
Shikamaru slid the door to his home open. "Tadaima, Kaa-san." He said lazily.
"Okaeri Shikamaru."
Naruto wasn't a jealous person, but that simple exchange of words hit Naruto like a sledgehammer to the gut. He saw how Shikamaru barely reacted with a grunt, and he couldn't help that his hand balled up into a fist. 'Must be nice.' He thought as he studied the floor.
"Oh, hi Chōji-kun and... who is this?" A curious voice that Naruto never had heard brought him back from his thoughts. His eyes met the brown ones of the woman with fair skin, dark brown hair made into a ponytail with three strands framing her face, and she wore a dark pink shirt under an apron.
A few seconds of silence went by as Naruto had been caught off guard, and his nerves suddenly returned, making his mouth dry. Shikamaru and Chōji just eyed Naruto, a little bewildered by Naruto's shyness, while the woman just stood expectantly.
"Well... Shikamaru aren't you going to introduce us?" she said scoldingly.
Shikamaru was careful and bit his tongue to avoid muttering his signature word in front of his mom. He may give his dad a hard time for being whipped, but he was also careful not to trigger the woman. "This is Uzumaki Naruto; he is in my year at the academy. Naruto, this is my mom Yoshino."
Yoshino instantly recognized the name. Almost everyone above a specific age knew of Naruto by name and his status as Konoha's jinchuriki. She just eyed the blonde with curiosity. "Nice to meet you Naruto-kun. Welcome to our home." She said with a small smile.
"T-thanks, it's nice to meet you too, Yoshino-san -ttebayo." Stammered Naruto. Yoshino felt the whispers of familiarity but didn't know what caused it, so she brushed it off.
Shikamaru studied his mom carefully to look for any sort of reaction, but other than curiosity, he didn't find anything.
"I'll bring you something to eat while you guys hang out." Said Yoshino
"Actually, Kaa-san, Naruto here wanted to learn how to cook and told him you wouldn't have any problems teaching him. You don't, right?"
Yoshino was actually surprised by the request and a little glad. "Sure, I don't mind." She said before, and an idea developed in her head. "Actually, I think you should also learn how to cook as well. That way you can help prepare dinner."
Shikamaru almost fell over after hearing his mother's words. Leave it to his mother to spin his plans around and turn the situation into a troublesome one. Still, he knew better than to complain. Even through his mental complaining it didn't escape his mind how Naruto behaved... it was strange, to say the least. He half expected Naruto to call his mother old or something.
"Sounds good to me!" Said Chōji, a little excited at the prospect of food.
"Good, follow me to the kitchen." Responded Yoshino, and the three little shinobi in training followed her.
As they walked silently to the kitchen, they passed a hallway with pictures hanging from the wall. Naruto's eyes fixated on a particular frame. It was a picture of four people. A white-haired man standing next to a chubby-looking kid, a girl with brown hair tied in some sort of knot, and... a blonde with spiky hair and blue eyes. Naruto stopped abruptly to analyze the picture, and unless he was mistaken, he was pretty sure that it was his father, although looking much younger than in the picture he had. He wore an unzipped grey tracksuit with three blue stripes that went down the sleeves. Underneath, he wore mesh armor and finished his outfit with deep blue pants and black shinobi boots.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" said an annoyed Shikamaru after nearly bumping into Naruto.
Naruto didn't turn his head to address Shikamaru. "Is that the Yondaime Hokage?"
Yoshino stopped in her tracks when she heard those words and peered over her shoulder only to see the three kids staring at the picture that she thought they would be looking at. She approached them as she smiled at the old photo. "He is... you have a good eye to be able to recognize him when he looks like a kid. We actually were on the same genin team when we graduated from the academy. That was Minato, he was Hiroto, and he is Jiraiya-Sensei, and that was me when I was your age." She pointed at the members of team Jiraiya one by one.
"Jiraiya?" That name got Naruto's attention.
Yoshino nodded. "Jiraiya of the sannin, he was our Sensei."
"The sannin?"
"That was one of his monikers. He earned it while fighting alongside Tsunade-Sama in the second shinobi world war with that Orochimaru traitor."
'It must be him! He is my godfather! It makes sense. If he was Tou-chan's Sensei, they must have been close enough to make him my godfather, and he is also alive!'
Yoshino's smile became a little melancholic. "I haven't seen Jiraiya-Sensei in years. We are all that's left of our team. Hiroto died during the third war, and Minato... well, you know what happened." She said, trying not to touch the subject of Kyubi.
"Where is he? Jiraiya, I mean." Naruto asked suddenly.
Yoshino went deep in thought. "I don't really know. Jiraiya-Sensei was never the type to stay in the village for too long. He enjoyed long missions that would let him meet new places and faces. I think the last time I saw him was more than eleven years ago." A frown then came to her face. "The last I heard was that he was writing some books."
"And the rest of the sannin? I remember hearing about them, but aren't they supposed to be famous? I heard of them being in the village." Said a curious Shikamaru.
"Tsunade-Sama left the village when the Third Shinobi world war ended and hasn't returned back, at least to my knowledge, but I didn't know her that much. As for Orochimaru... well, he is a nukenin. He defected some years ago, it was a huge scandal, and they haven't caught him yet."
"I didn't know you were in the same team as the Yondaime when you were a genin. You never told me about it." Said Shikamaru.
"It was a long time ago, and well there are some things I rather not remember." It was true. In the shinobi world, if someone doesn't share information that they aren't prohibited from sharing they either don't trust you, are ashamed of what happened, it's too painful to remember, or it is not your business. Sometimes all four were factored in. "Anyway, let's go to the kitchen and start your lessons." And they started walking again.
"What was he like?" asked Naruto.
"Hm?" said Yoshino.
"The Yondaime Hokage, what was he like?
"Oh, well... hm. Minato was brilliant and driven. He always had great aspirations, even when he was just a child. He always dreamed about being Hokage. He was certainly a genius; although he never referred to himself as one, he picked things faster than anyone did. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, tactical analysis, leadership, even fūinjutsu. But for all his talent, he never slacked off." She threw a not-so-subtle glance at her son. "He believed that his talent was only a reason to work harder. Also, despite his innate talent, he was humble, although he did acquire some flashiness from Jiraiya-Sensei. Above all, Minato was loyal and kind but would show no mercy when someone endangered those close to him. That's part of the reason he made a great Hokage. He loved the village to a fault."
Naruto seemed to absorb all the knowledge Yoshino was giving out; his concentration on her words never waived.
"Why the interest in him in particular?" asked Yoshino.
Naruto was about to respond with the truth but closed his mouth before he could speak.
"He is Naruto's idol." Supplied Chōji. "He has always admired him as far as I can remember."
"Really?' she turned to look at Naruto and smiled. "He is a good idol to have. Do you want to be Hokage just like him?" Yoshino said as they arrived at the kitchen.
Naruto went deep in thought. What did it mean to be Hokage? To love the village? Sure, he thought the village was beautiful, but he knew it wasn't just about loving the village itself; it also meant the villagers. To be willing to sacrifice everything and anything for the good of the village... to love the villagers. He was grateful to the Ichiraku's, but they were just two people in a village of nearly one hundred thousand habitants. He didn't have to ask himself if he loved the villagers. The answer was clear as day. Now, as for Yoshino's question. Did he want to be Hokage? Seeing the decisions his father had to make and what the third had hidden from him was the slap that woke him up to stare at the meaning of what it truly was to be Hokage. And although he didn't think he could do it, he still respected the position because it was something he didn't know he could ever do. It wasn't just about being skilled, working hard, and strong. If it were, his confidence would have let him say yes, but it just wasn't the case. He couldn't just work hard to love the village; that much he understood.
"No, I don't think I want to be Hokage." The words felt weird coming out of his mouth but not necessarily wrong.
Shikamaru's and Chōji's jaws nearly hit the floor as they spoke in unison. "What?!"
"But I do want to surpass him as shinobi, dattebayo!"
Again, Yoshino felt the whispers of a memory in the recesses of her mind but put it off for later.
"It's good that you also have high goals and expectations." She said with a smile before throwing Shikamaru another one of her looks.
Shikamaru and Chōji were about to question him on why the lifelong dream he would shout for everyone to hear was no longer his ambition, but Naruto cut them off before they could even finish a word and asked Yoshino to start the lesson. Shikamaru and Chōji were left with a doubt in their minds. It didn't sit well with him to say out loud that he didn't love the villagers, and it would raise questions he definitely didn't want to answer.
Yoshino began teaching the three of them. One of the kids was really motivated to learn, another just went along with it, and the last one found the situation extremely troublesome.
After a couple of hours, Shikamaru took advantage of how Naruto was his mother's main focus and decided to take a nap on the dining table, and Chōji didn't really advance because he kept eating everything. Yoshino chose to put the scolding Shikamaru would receive on hold and focused on teaching Naruto.
"You are really motivated to learn, aren't you? It's good to see someone motivated in this home for a change." She joked with him as she showed him how to cut some vegetables. Naruto was a truly alright kid, in her opinion. Initially, he was a little nervous and shy, but he quickly overcame it. Sure, she could see the energy that had gotten him in trouble in the past, and he might have lacked some manners. Still, considering his situation, it wasn't completely unexpected. He was a good kid in her book.
Naruto laughed and then answered. "I am; I made a promise to someone to start eating better, and I kind of need to learn how to cook to keep that promise, you know."
Yoshino raised a questioning eyebrow as she cut a fish. "You are doing all this for a promise?"
Naruto nodded fervently. "Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word -ttebayo!"
'Uzumaki... never goes back on his word...' she mentally repeated before her eyes widened, and he turned her head fast enough to make her neck crack. She almost thought she could see two ghosts standing behind Naruto.
The ghost of her blonde teammate and a rough-tempered Kunoichi with long silky red hair.
The only thing that brought her out of her stupor was the sudden and sharp pain she felt in her left hand. Looking down, she saw that she had accidentally cut herself. The cut was deep and bleeding.
Naruto saw her bleeding hand. "Are you okay?" he asked, slightly worried.
"I'm sorry for distracting you." Naruto said, a little afraid.
Yoshino just smiled sweetly. "It was my fault, don't worry about it. I'll just get something for this and be right back."
Yoshino did just that, and she passed the hallway that led to the bathroom when she saw her old genin team's picture, and her eyes bored into Minato. '
They are identical b-but he can't be.' She knew Kushina had been pregnant, but she thought the baby had died with her, and now it all made sense. Minato had sealed the Kyubi in his son. Her heart instantly went out to Naruto as she realized how bad a hand he truly had been dealt right from the day he was born.
'Does he even know?' He doesn't seem to know. Why would something like this be kept from him?' she questioned herself before she realized that it must have been for Naruto's safety. She thought about telling him, but it could spring up trouble. If she told him and it turned out that they weren't his parents, she would have just given hope to an orphan that wasn't true, or if it was true, it probably was a village secret, and she could get in all sorts of problems. Also, If word got out that he was indeed the last remaining Uzumaki and son of the Yondaime Hokage, there was no telling how many people would be attempting to get to him. Either way, she felt it wasn't her place to tell him. She barely knew him but thought she couldn't act like the boy didn't exist.
While Yoshino was tending to her wound and dealing with a mental storm, the lazy head of the Nara clan arrived at his home. As usual, he didn't even bother to make his presence known. He smelled food in the air and lazily made his way to the kitchen, only to be extremely surprised by what he saw.
Shikaku's eyes traveled from his equally lazy son to Chōji, finally resting on Naruto. It was quite bizarre to find Konoha's resident Jinchuriki and number one prankster cooking in his house of all places. His mind instantly started to go through all the possible reasons why Naruto was cooking in his home before he arrived at a conclusion.
"Troublesome."
"Like you wouldn't believe." Shikamaru didn't bother to lift his head from the table or open his eyes.
Naruto just turned his head to see a man he assumed was Shikamaru's dad standing in the middle of the kitchen. He was quite at a loss for words on what to do at the moment. Luckily, Shikaku seemed to read his mind.
"Nara Shikaku, nice to meet you and that sort of thing; carry on." He said before leisurely sitting beside his son and greeting Chōji.
This time Shikamaru did lift his head. "Naruto wanted to learn how to cook, and I told him mom would be willing to teach him, and now we are here."
Shikaku lazily nodded as Yoshino entered the kitchen again and greeted his lazy husband. He noticed Yoshino looked paler than usual and seemed to be eyeing Naruto out of the corner of her eye every few seconds. He locked eyes with her and raised an eyebrow, but Yoshino wordlessly made him understand that she would tell him later.
After a while, they finished cooking, and dinner was ready. Yoshino set the table up before taking a seat.
Naruto just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. "Thank you for teaching me, Yoshino Oba-chan." Naruto mentally cursed after accidentally calling Yoshino auntie. "G-good night."
Yoshino turned to look at him oddly. "Don't be silly. You helped me cook dinner; you are eating with us." her tone was gentle enough but left no room for discussion.
Naruto's eyes widened, and he didn't know what to do. Yoshino smiled reassuredly at him and signaled to sit beside Shikamaru with her hand. Naruto did so, and his nerves started creeping up, but once again, he calmed himself and started showing his more outgoing personality making Yoshino and Chōji laugh, and both Nara man to crack several smiles. The fish turned out great, and Naruto ate just about anything that wasn't green. Once dinner was done, Naruto and Chōji said their goodbyes, and only the three Nara remained.
Shikamaru was deep in thought as he remained at the table with his parents.
"Is something wrong, Shikamaru?" Asked the Nara clan head.
"Can I ask you something?" a frown was clearly evident on his face.
"What is it?"
"Why do adults avoid Naruto like the plague? He is not very popular with kids my age, but adults seem to have it bad for him, although it seemed that neither of you had a problem with him.
Yoshino was surprised by the question and her son's perceptiveness. At the same time, Shikaku just thought about an answer to give without relaying more information than he had to.
"He has done a lot of pranks, but only one was a little over the line, and adults already seemed to have a problem with him before. Did he do anything wrong that I don't know?"
"No." his mother's voice stated firmly. "He hasn't done anything wrong."
"But why don't people like him?"
Shikaku threw a look at Yoshino that said to let him handle this one. "How do you feel about Naruto?"
"How do I feel about Naruto? Well, to be honest, I never thought about it. He can be troublesome and act like an idiot sometimes, but he is funny and seems different lately.
"Different? How so?"
"He used to be more troublesome a couple of months ago, but now he is a little calmer and pays attention in the academy. He had always been the dead last, but he is improving slowly. He had always dreamt about being Hokage and would never shut up about it, but today he said he no longer wanted to be one. I don't think he gave up on being Hokage or thinks he can't be one because then he wouldn't say he wants to surpass the Yondaime Hokage. I guess we aren't really friends right now, but he is alright."
"I see... then you should do what you want to do. If you want to be his friend, go right ahead." Shikamaru nodded, not noticing how his father had avoided the question.
"I think you should invite him more often; I like him." She said in a faraway voice. "Maybe he can pass some of his drive on to you." she spoke again in her usual tone.
"I doubt it." Said Shikamaru. Shikaku also doubted but refrained from expressing his opinion.
"What was that?!" Yoshino was glaring at Shikamaru.
"N-nothing."
"That's what I thought."
After a while, Shikamaru went to bed and left Yoshino and Shikaku at the dinner table. Yoshino just sat with her hands crossed as she bore a hole through the table. Shikaku let her be momentarily before asking what thoughts were going through her mind.
"Do your thoughts have anything to do with our blonde guest?"
Yoshino looked up to her husband, stood up, and signaled for him to follow her, and he did. She led him towards the hall, where several pictures hung from the wall. Wordlessly she pointed to a specific image.
Shikaku was finding her behavior odd, to say the least. His eyes zeroed in on the picture until they landed on Minato's face. He started for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened a fraction.
"It makes sense now. All this time, I thought the baby had died. Of course, Minato wouldn't have chosen a random kid to hold it. No, he was too noble for that. He would never ask you to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself." Said Yoshino in a sad voice.
"We can't be sure." For the first time in years, Yoshino gave her husband a look that asked him if he was stupid.
Shikaku just sighed. "Even if he is, there is a reason this information isn't public, and we should act under the pretense that we aren't sure and that it may be a village secret."
Yoshino wanted to do the exact opposite, but there wasn't much she could do, so she just nodded for now.
"Achoo! I guess it's freezing outside." Naruto kept sneezing all the way home. Besides the constant sneezing, Naruto had a smile on his. He had enjoyed his time in Shikamaru's house. The familiar ambient that was so alien to Naruto had captivated him from the moment they all sat at the table.
Once Naruto arrived at his apartment, he saw a small package waiting for him at the door. He looked around to see if someone had dropped it off by accident. He thought he saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye, but it was desolate when he turned to look in that direction.
Shrugging, Naruto opened the package only to find a small lavender-colored book with no title. After studying it for a few seconds, he opened the first page, only to find a barely legible text. The first words of the text seemed to have not been able to withstand the test of time and were no longer there. The only words he could make out were...
"Hikari's cooking recipes." He read out loud.
"This is just what I needed!" he said before taking a last look around the street before opening the door to his apartment and entering.
Hinata let out a huge sigh of relief as she hid under the moonlight behind the corner of the street. 'He almost saw me!' she thought as her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Having "overhead" Naruto's plight during the academy, she wanted to help him. Unfortunately, she didn't think too much of her cooking skills; even if she had, she was too shy to do it. Still, she wanted to do something for him as he did for her every day without even knowing. She admired Naruto for his ability to keep a smile on his face despite his situation. She regretted the few times he had been sad and had done nothing to cheer him up. Her admiration for the blonde started to grow as of late. She knew that he had been trying really hard, and no matter how long it took and how many times he failed, he would never give up and continue with his unshaken confidence.
So, to help a little, she gave Naruto her mother's old recipe book. It was a plain book with a lavender-colored cover and many recipes that had been part of her childhood. It had pained her to gift the book, not because of the recipes; she knew them by memory at this point, but because it was a possession that used to belong to her deceased mother.
'I just hope he likes it.' She apprehensively thought before she heard Naruto's voice.
"This is just what I needed!"
Having heard Naruto's exclamation, Hinata smiled to herself and left for her home, not dropping that smile for a second.
Authors Notes:
Well, there were a few things I wanted to flesh out before Naruto graduated so here it is. I want to give MN306 for offering to be the beta of the story and giving back feedback, you are the man. Also, thanks to Thelow and Juno MeNu for the comments and reviews. Please comment and review, it motivates me to know that you guys are enjoying the story.
