Well hello! Here's a new chapter of Naruko's secret-fanfiction inspired by When Marnie Was There-movie, Mahou no Chocolate-manga, Sakurahime no Kaden-manga, The Lion King 2-movie, Echo From the Past-audio book, Codename Sailor V-manga, Otoyomegatari-manga, Umi ga Kikoeru-movie, Zodiac.P.I.-manga, and Detective Conan-series, whose rights I do not own.
The morning was quiet, and sunny, as the sun slowly rose to illuminate the palace of Shura Yuugenden, where the three ninja were sleeping.
Gradually the sunlight moved inside through the cracks in the bamboo curtains in Naruko's bedroom.
When the sunlight hit Naruko's eyes, Naruko woke up, and saw Sasuke sleeping next to her blushing a little. Naruko slowly began to remember the events of yesterday, causing her to blush a little.
"Was it really true?" Naruko thought, and pinched her left arm to notice, that he didn't dream.
Naruko decided not to wake Sasuke, and was content to just look at Sasuke's face instead, as Sasuke looked peaceful as her slept. Sasuke didn't usually look broody like that, or a worried expression. Sasuke just happened to be like that, but Naruko had seen Sasuke smile a couple of times since the war, so it felt refreshing to see Sasuke sleeping peacefully. Naruko remembered a couple of times that her had seen Sasuke sleeping, looking restless, during the tasks. Naruko could now be happy about that, that apparently Sasuke could even sleep peacefully.
A part of Naruko wanted revenge on Sasuke for, that Sasuke, and Sakura had lied to Naruko that they were dating to see, how real Naruko's feelings for Sasuke had been, but the other part was glad that, that Sasuke hadn't rejected Naruko, and had accepted Naruko's feelings, echoing Naruko's feelings, and that Sakura wasn't mad at Naruko for it either.
Naruko stood up, and walked over to the chair in front of the dressing table in the room, and sat down on it, beginning to brush her hair with the comb on the dressing table, which had pictures of flowers.
"You resent them for, that they lied to you about dating to test your feelings for Sasuke," Kurama said.
"Stop it, Kurama," Naruko thought knowing Kurama was right.
"You should thank the hairball for me about, that the hairball let me go, and Sakura to your own world to correct this misunderstanding," Sasuke said, as he woke up, and walking next to Naruko.
"Just good morning to you too," Naruko said continuing to brush her hair.
"Naru-chan, i know, that you're a little mad at me for that lie, and that you can't forgive me right away, but I want to see you smile again," Sasuke said.
Naruko's indignant expression reminded Sasuke a bit of that younger Naruko, whose exasperated expression Sasuke had sometimes even found amusing. It was true, that Naruko was sometimes childish, but after the war, some of that spark had disappeared. However, the now resentful Naruko reminded Sasuke of Naruko's younger self. Spontaneous, childish, and overall...Cute. Even Sasuke had once thought Naruko was cute, though Sasuke had never said it out loud.
Stubbornly true to her own nature, Naruko looked away.
"Fortunately you have stubbornness, my little fox, because it makes your company more fun," Sasuke said.
Naruko blushed more:
"Sasuke, i really thought you two were dating, when you pretended to be dating, and it hurt me so much, that I can't forgive you right away".
"You really are stubborn. Why didn't you just say that sometime, if you wanted a moonstone bracelet from me? I actually bought Sakura's bracelet at the shop after, when agreeing with her about the play we put on for you," Sasuke said.
"Because the gift I asked for myself would not have been the right one, a pleasant surprise," Naruko said.
"You're being a bit overdramatic now, right?" Sasuke asked.
"DON'T MOCK ME!" Naruko shouted angrily.
"I said, that her wouldn't forgive you immediately after hearing about our plan to test his feelings for you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, as she entered the room.
Sakura walked in front of Naruko, and took the comb from Naruko's hands, and began combing Naruko's hair.
"Thank you. Sakura, how did you find out about my feelings for Sasuke?" Naruko asked straightening her kimono.
"I couldn't help but notice that, that how you looked at him after the war after he rejected me after getting that new hand right after you, when you had received a new hand after your other arms were destroyed in your battle of Shumatsu no Tani. After getting his new hand, I tried to talk to Sasuke again about my feelings, but he rebuffed me by saying, that he is not the boyfriend I wish for, and that you are the only woman, who he wants by his side," Sakura said.
Naruko nodded:
"Sakura, how did you feel, when your parents welcomed you home after an errand?"
"From the warmth. Why did you ask, Naru?" Sakura asked curiously.
Sasuke also looked at Naruko.
"Because after a mission I tried to feel such a feeling when I returned home, so I just yelled like this:
"I'm at home!" The only answer was my quiet apartment. The only sound there, apart from me, was the sometimes dripping tap, which sometimes leaked in silent drops to the bottom of the sink. I know. Pretty pathetic to think about that, right?" Naruko asked.
"The Sandaime Hokage always treated me like his own grandchild, even though he wasn't my grandfather. I always envied those, who knew their own relatives".
"Well, you don't have to feel that way anymore. And why didn't you get a pet, so you wouldn't have to be home alone so often?" Sakura asked.
"I once considered it, but I was afraid the villagers would abuse my pet to get revenge on me for Kurama's attack on Konoha," Naruko said.
"I thought something like that just now," Sakura said hugging Naruko. He knew his friend quite well. "Why did you want to be friends with a girl your age anyway?"
"The Sandaime Hokage once told me that, that it is easier for a man to talk about some things to a man, like a woman, and that the same could be true for women. I wanted to see, is it true. That's why I hoped to make friends with a girl my age someday," Naruko said.
"I see. It's easier for me to talk about some things too mom, like with my father" Sakura said. "From now on you can always talk to me about anything you want".
"Thank you. I sometimes think about that, that what it would have been like, if I had been adopted. Would my adoptive-parents have been really good to me? I might not have been their own child, but they could have raised me. But, what if I had found out, that they would have been paid adoption allowance for it? While traveling with Jiraiya-sensei, I met a girl, whose parents, and grandmother died in a fire, when the girl was little. None of the girl's relatives were willing to raise that girl, give, so her had been sent to an orphanage, where her had lived for 5 years, until he was adopted. Like her, before I found out my parents's names, I suspected, that I can forgive them for, that they left me alone. Anna's adoptive-parents were very good to Anna. Her was not their own child, but they had raised her. But then Anna found out, that they were paid adoption-allowance for it. After all, Anna had found a letter from the authorities regarding the matter in the dresser drawer of her living room, and having read that letter, thus finding out about the adoption-grant, which her adoptive parents get for raising Anna. They hadn't told Anna about it. Anna reportedly later presented that, that her did not know about the matter. I told Anna, that my parents left me too. I do not know why, but I wanted to believe they loved me. I even said so, that there must be a reason for that, that why Anna's adoptive-parents have not told Anna, that they will receive money from the state for raising Anna. Anna said, that it doesn't interest him. They say you don't get compensation for your own child. Anna's adoptive-parents are paid, because Anna is an adopted-child. What's worse, her adoptive parents hide it from her. I tried to tell Anna that it doesn't necessarily mean that, lest Anna's adoptive-parents love Anna. Anna said I don't understand, and that other families don't get money for raising a child either. Anna's adoptive- parents were afraid of it, that Anna would find out that they were getting money for raising Anna. That's why they reportedly hid it from Anna. Anna felt bad, even think about it. Frankly, Anna doubted so, that her adoptive-parents only pretended to love Anna for the money they got from raising Anna. If I had been in Anna's position, and got you about that money thing, so I might have suspected something like that myself. Later I heard Anna talking to her adoptive-parents, and they said they loved Anna, even if they get money for raising Anna. That's, when Anna was able to let go of her bitterness towards her adoptive-parents," Naruko said.
"I can't imagine, that what her felt, but i'm sure, that if you were adopted, and you would have gotten your adoptive-parents to accept you, then they would have definitely grown to love you," Sakura said hugging Naruko.
"Thank you," Naruko said.
"Looks like you can be cute," Sakura said.
"Really?" Naruko asked.
Sakura nodded.
"Thank you. Tsunade-sama said sometime after the war that, that I resemble my mother more in character, and that I'm said to be like the manifested Uzumaki Kushina. It is said that my mother was such a talkative person by nature, red haired boy girl, who, however, became a beauty. But my hair, and my eyes are said to have been inherited from my father, Namikaze from Minato. That's why Jiraiya-sensei kept seeing me, as my father, and Jiraiya-sensei had often felt like looking at me, as if he were looking at his own grandchild. He had never been a father, but a boy like Minato would surely have made Jiraiya-sensei proud. While teaching me the Rasengan, he was said to have suddenly remembered those times, when he taught my dad," Naruko said. "Thankfully I learned to control myself, and to speak more politely in recent months, because I'm not sure, that it would be Konoha survived with another Akai Chicio no Habanero".
"Maybe. We are ninjas after all, but ninjas are not emotionless either. However, you have learned to control your emotions, what is good. I know, we made a mistake in pretending we were dating, so that Sasuke-kun could find out the strength of your feelings. As a result, you probably feel humiliated now, if you once had to distance yourself from us," Sakura said. "Yes you have the right to show us your feelings too. I promise, that I always try to help you, when there are difficulties. No more secrets".
"No more secrets. I don't feel humiliated. I just needed some time to myself to sort out my feelings,
and to meet my friends living in other countries. And in Konoha, I couldn't come up with very good names for my baby at first. And I really wanted to see the ruins of Uzuchiogakure for myself. No one except Orochimaru has probably gone to explore those ruins since my clan was destroyed. Granted, that I could not help but feel hatred towards them, who destroyed my clan after hearing about it from my mother, but revenge will not bring my clan back. I've even tried to imagine what Uzuchiogakure might have looked like in its golden days," Naruko said.
"That's what I should say, for I used to be an avenger," Sasuke said.
Naruko stood up, and walked in front of Sasuke, and hit Sasuke lightly on the head with the palm of his hand:
"If you let me think so, that you are seeing other women behind my back, I don't hold back."
"Are you going to let all the members of 7-Mei attack me?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm even considering that," Naruko said. "After the war, I sometimes thought like this:
"Even though the whole village now thinks of me as a hero, i still feel lonely. I want love".
"Well, Sasuke-kun is the right person for that, for you succeeded in converting him. You've found the best in many people," Sakura directed Naruko to sit back in the chair, continuing to brush Naruko's hair.
"But I didn't do anything special. I just wanted to see, that he had a touch of that Sasuke in him, which he was before that Cha no Kuni-mission of ours," Naruko said.
"You seem to even have a modest side," Sasuke stated. "By the way, while we're looking for you, we'll explore all those places, where you found the members of 7-Mei. Even the people living in those countries wondered about it, that why your hair was black. You've clearly made friends. But where did you get those Chilli-scented smoke bombs?"
"Genjutsu from the Three Village. Jiraiya-sama took me there once to learn Genjutsu skills. The trees in that village cause Genjutsu with their mist. Tanishi, who lives there gave me those Chili Pepper Bombs. They can dispel Genjutsu," Naruko said. "They can be used like smoke bombs".
"He mentioned about those Amegakure ninjas, which you fought there with Jiraiya-sama, then developing the Odama Rasengan. You've always taken things one step at a time," Sakura said.
"The Amegakure leader, who was terrorizing Tanishi village back then resembled Gato," Naruko said.
"I couldn't help, but think so after hearing from Tanishi, that his father was killed by those Amegakure ninjas," Sasuke said.
"I don't like those, who use fear to control others, because that's, how Gato worked. That's, when I really thought you were dead. When I found out you were alive, I made a decision. I will become, as strong, as possible to protect them, whom i love, however long it takes," Naruko said.
"It's very kind of you to say that," Sakura said. "After noticing that side of you, I started to admire you, and I envied you, because I myself was then too weak to fight for others".
"You're blushing right here," Naruko said, blushing flattered.
"I think Sasuke-kun wants to ask you something," Sakura said, as her remembered the fortune teller her saw in Naruko's memories, who had somehow hurt Naruko's feelings.
Naruko looked at Sasuke.
"What is your question about?"
"Before that, I'll ask you another thing," Sasuke said. "Do you remember, when we became Team 7?"
"Of course I remember. Kakashi-sensei asked us to tell about our dreams, about our hobbies, and about, what we hate. You said, that you didn't like some things. You even said, that there is no point in talking about dreams. You said you intended to restore your clan to its former glory, and kill a man".
"Yes. That was before, I knew the truth about Itachi," Sasuke said:
"Yes. There is no hatred in that part of my goal, but loyalty, and love. I want a family, that could proudly be a part of Konoha. Itachi wanted it too. I'd like you by my side in that. And now I'll ask you something. What did that fortune teller tell you? It had to be something nasty, that you cried as a result," Sasuke said.
"Well. My dream has been to be Hokage, that could surpass the previous Hokages, and help make the world a more peaceful place. I got the latter part of my dream after seeing some people suffering, because that their powers are feared, for great power sometimes inspires great fear. People fear, and hate, what they don't understand. I want to create a new Ninja-world. Such a, where the powers of some people are not feared. Before I decided to become Hokage, so I had a dream even before that," Naruko said.
Sasuke, and Sakura looked at Naruko curiously. They had always assumed, that becoming Hokage was Naruko's only dream, for as Hokage her could be noticed, help her fellows, and her friends, and even save the enemy from himself. What had happened before that?
"I'm sure, that you have heard what my life was like, before I joined the academy, and before i became a ninja? Well, that was hard. There weren't just angry looks, stares, hate, and fear. What was most difficult, was lonely," Naruko said.
Sasuke froze upon hearing that matter. He knew all too well, what it entailed. It had driven him to extremes in the worst ways possible.
"One day, when I was walking down the street with the Sandaime Hokage, I saw something, which I didn't really understand. It was something foreign, and incomprehensible, and I realized it only after joining the academy. After all, it was family," Naruko said.
Sasuke, and Sakura were unable to say anything. They were well aware of Naruko's past. And Sasuke understood Naruko's feelings considering that, that what had happened to Sasuke's own clan.
Naruko smiled slightly.
"After joining the academy, I didn't feel so bad anymore, because I started making friends. I met people then, and made friends, and Iruka-sensei treated me like his little sister. It felt good. But I knew deep down that, I was still lonely. No one made me snacks, when I went to the academy, unlike parents of other children. That's why I couldn't help, but envy other children for the care they received from their parents. Nobody greeted me when I came home, and then I didn't remember my parents. At that time, I didn't even know the meaning of the Uzumaki-clan yet. It was the essence of all my dreams. I wanted to be accepted, so that someday I would have my own family. I wanted to be Hokage, for they are strong enough to protect their families. My companions and my friends already became a family to me, but it mostly felt forced, and artificial," Naruko said.
Although Sakura tried, so he couldn't imagine it, that how Naruko must have felt. Sakura had always had parents, in support of which, and safety he could count on. Sakura started to cry.
Sasuke also had happy memories of his parents, and of his family before the destruction of his clan, but Naru had none of those memories.
"I thought about these things for a long time, and I finally came up with the answer. If I couldn't get my family back, then I would get one of my own," Naruko said. "I realized that, when I was traveling with Jiraiya-sensei. I started doing research on that matter. I knew, that parents are needed, and children to start a family".
Sakura, and Sasuke looked at Naruko.
"I asked Jiraiya-sensei the other day about family interactions, but I got the wrong impression from his words, which I quickly realized, when he said he could try to set me up on a date, or a possible Omiai-meeting," Naruko said. "I hadn't explained the gist of it to him, which I did later. He just said, that because of Akatsuki, it's not yet appropriate to think about those things".
"He didn't really set up an Omiai-meeting for you did he?!" Sakura asked in shock.
Sasuke couldn't help, but feel jealous, as he imagined Naruko dating someone, with an agreed dating partner.
"Of course not. He explained, how do people have children after I told him, I wanted a family one day. I knew, that there was more to it. 24-7 hours of training, and traveling took up most of my time. Therefore, I had to wait, until I returned to Konoha to investigate further. When I had returned home, and reunited with Team 7, so I continued researching in the Konoha library, finding out about women's contribution to having children," Naruko said.
"But I never saw you do that. We were sent almost immediately to Sunagakure to rescue Gaara, after being kidnapped by the Akatsuki," Sakura said.
"I did that research right after, when Kakashi-sensei had tested our skills in the bell-test, Sakura. "After the mission you just mentioned, you had to spend a lot of time training, tasks, and in attempts to get Sasuke to return to Konoha.
"Hmm," Sasuke smirked a little.
"Time passed trying to save Sasuke, i made friends, I won enemies,...and lost some friends. After the war ended, and after sealing Kaguya into the moon we created in another dimension, we returned home. When things had calmed down, I did some detailed research to make sure, that I had everything I needed to fulfill my dream of having a child. After all, I had heard about fertility treatments, and I didn't think I could just be in a situation like that, where I was with you that night, when i got pregnant, or in relation to, for I was afraid of being rejected. But then I ended up in a situation where, where I woke up next to you. When the signs during pregnancy, which I had read manifested, so I took a pregnancy test in front of Shizune-neechan, which was positive. I was grateful to you for, that my dream had come true, Sasuke. You made that dream come true. But I wanted you to know about my child too, so i decided to tell you after that, after I told you my feelings. When you said you wanted to meet me the next day after thinking it over, so I decided to wait until the next day," Naruko said.
"What about that fortune teller, who hurt you?" Sasuke asked.
"I met him on a mission, which I completed with Sakura after the war ended, and before you returned to Konoha. I did it out of embarrassment. When I spoke to that fortune teller, so i asked him, that my love affairs will ever go well. The soothsayer told me so, that I have a crush on a man, but that I might lose the man I love to my best friend, if I don't hold back, and that those people are lying to me about something, before I find out the truth," Naruko said. "I remembered the prediction he made after that, when I saw you kiss for the first time".
"Is that what he told you?" Sasuke asked.
"Well, no wonder, that you seemed so down then! If I ever see that fortune teller, then I'll make him regret the prediction he made to you then!" Sakura yelled angrily.
"Thank you for your concern. There were other benefits to me from this trip. I found some of my clan's scrolls, that I've been researching during my vacation," Naruko said
Sasuke looked at Naruko curiously:
"What do those scrolls contain?"
"My clan's techniques. One of them is Kongo Fusa, with which I bound Sakura while, we were in the landscape of my mind. My mother used it to bind Kurama, before I became Kurama's third jinchuriki," Naruko said. "Sorry, Sakura, but i had to tie you up, so that you would not have interrupted my speech".
"I see. I won't let that fortune teller get away though, if I ever see him. He is guilty of, that you distanced yourself from us," Sakura said.
"Thank you. But divination comforts many at the same time. When people have a hard time, or they don't know, how to move forward, so many resort to prophecy, to be able to keep pushing forward," Naruko said.