Note: In canon, Yugito is 12-13 years older than Naruto, meaning that if this timeline was canon, she'd be an adult right now. In the Unityverse, she is three years older than Naruto.
Chapter 2 – The First Day
"Naruto-san, would you like dinner?" Yugito asked. "It's getting late." She could see the sunset, all pink and yellow and orange behind the Konoha rooftops. Although, come to think of it, she didn't have any food for him or anything. Meaning she would like dinner.
Naruto looked up from where he was refereeing an "epic" game of ninja battle between Underwear and Tabi. "No way! I'm not hungry, dattebayo! C'mon back, nee-chan! I wanna play some more!" Yugito heard his stomach give a growl of disagreement. "Aw, what the heck?!" Naruto complained.
"I can tell you're hungry," Yugito giggled. She headed toward the kitchen, only to be knocked down by a ball of hyperactive six-year-old energy that headed straight for the cupboards.
"I'm making dinner then, dattebayo!" Naruto decided with a stomp of his foot. He marched into the kitchen and headed to the cupboards. "Cuz' I can do it myself!" The irritated six-year-old ran over to the ramen cupboard, flung it open, and removed two packets of ramen. Yugito, with a resigned sigh, took a seat at the table, ready to jump if the kid injured himself. Only so much could go wrong when a little kid entered a kitchen. But, well, it was probably best to let him do it, since she didn't know how to make ramen.
In fact, most of the time in the orphanage, she had been served mushy vegetables and tough, dry meat that tasted like it had been freezer-burned. And she'd survived on Soldier Pills for the last month. So Yugito was eager to see what exactly "ramen" tasted like. It must be something nice for Naruto to have a cupboard full of it.
Carefully, Naruto filled his electric teakettle with water from the sink. Standing on tiptoes, he strained to turn it on. As the water inside began to heat, Naruto catapulted himself onto the couch, sending up a huge cloud of dust. Yugito sneezed violently. She still felt a bit uncomfortable in the apartment of somebody else, but…
A beep cut off her train of thought. The electric teakettle had finished heating the water, and Naruto ran to grab it. He peeled the lids off the cups and filled them with the warm water. "Now we jus' gotta wait for three minutes, an' then it'll be ready!" he declared.
Three minutes had never, ever passed so slowly, but then the ramen was finally done! Naruto proudly set the cups on the table. The smell was so delicious and warm…
"Wait, there's not anything spicy in this, right?" she asked.
"Iie, iie, nee-chan!" Naruto replied excitedly. "I hate spicy stuff, dattebayo!" He handed her a pair of chopsticks. "Now! It's time to eat, eat, eaaaaat!" he sang.
"Itadakimaaas!" the children chorused. Hesitantly, Yugito dipped her chopsticks into the ramen cup. She drew them out and took a bite of the noodles. Surprisingly enough, the instant food tasted…good! Certainly, better than unidentifiable vegetable mush. She quickly gobbled the rest of the broth-soaked noodles down.
"Oy, oy!" Naruto fumed. "Oy, nee-chan, you didn't just finish eating! I'm the fastest ramen-eater, dattebayo!" He waved his chopsticks in the air, stray noodles fluttering from the ends like pennants. Yugito smiled at the younger boy's antics as she got up from the table. She tossed her empty ramen cup in the trash can.
"Naruto-san, I'm going to take a bath, okay?" she called over her shoulder.
"Ne, ne, Yugito-nee!" Naruto begged, getting up after inhaling the last of his noodles. "Can you read me a bedtime story?" he asked, clasping his hands in a pleading gesture. "I don't know anything in the books you brought, like the Ridiculous Sennin, or- "
"Rikudo Sennin. The Sage of Six Paths," Yugito explained. "I'll do it, just let me take a bath first, okay?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Baths are for chumps."
Yugito laughed as she gathered the pajamas the Hokage's men had provided for her. She entered the bathroom, which was surprisingly clean. In the orphanage, there would be toilet paper stuck to the floors and toothpaste blobs on the sink. It was a nice change.
Setting her things down on the small vanity, she looked around the room. I'm finally gonna be able to take a bath! Yugito found the drain plug and turned the tub's faucet to "warm". Water began to pour out and fill the small tub. With interest, she watched for several minutes before finally beginning to peel her travel-worn clothes off her body.
She stepped into the tub, feeling the hot water on her ankles. Slowly, Yugito sank into the warm bath. All the dirt and grime of her month-long journey seemed to melt away under the soap. Her sore muscles relaxed. She rubbed some of the lavender-scented shampoo into her hair and watched all the leaves that had been caught in it drift down the drain.
Eventually, though, she had to hop out of the bathtub and pull on her pajamas. As her hand touched the handle of the door, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror – for the first time in a month! Her hair had grown longer and… was she taller? Hmm, maybe it's just my imagination.
She opened the door and was tackled by a ball of hyperactive blond child. "Nee-chan! You're finally done! I thought you were never going to get out so I could hear my story!" Naruto hugged her legs. He'd dressed himself in – you guessed it – flaming orange flannel. As she was dragged into the bedroom, Yugito couldn't help but smile.
"I set us up a spot, dattebayo!" Naruto explained. He had stacked up the pillows on his bed and arranged their stuffed animals around them. Grabbing a soft orange comforter, the little boy jumped up onto the bed. "Nee-chan, sit here!" He pulled the blanket over his knees and patted the bed. Yugito settled herself in after retrieving the book Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. Naruto grabbed Underwear and scooted closer to her.
Yugito opened the book to the first page. "Once upon a time, there was a young man who lived in a country far, far away. His name was Naruto, and he – "
"Hey, that's me, I say!" Naruto interrupted. "Isn't that great? Nee-chan, nee-chan! I'm in a book! I'm in a book, dattebayo! See, that's my name, right there!" He excitedly tapped the book's pages.
Yugito grinned. "That is cool. All right. Naruto was young and poor, but he had a goal – to become the world's greatest shinobi…" She kept reading, pausing to define some of the words that Naruto didn't know, like "vigilant" and "strategic".
By the end of the chapter, Naruto was starry-eyed at the daring exploits of his name-fellow. He begged for more, but his eyelids were beginning to droop, and his head was starting to nod. Yugito patted him on the head. "I think it's time to go to sleep." She picked up the book and started to move towards her bed.
Tiny feet padded towards her, and she felt arms wrap around her waist. Craning her neck to look over her shoulder, Yugito saw Naruto hugging her. "Arigato…nee-chan…" he yawned. "I love you."
Then he toddled off to bed, dragging Underwear the plush fox behind him.
Yugito stretched her arms and blinked, rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. At first, she thought she was still in the forest – the faded ceiling above her looked like a cloudy gray sky. But soon she was wide awake, and the memories of yesterday were fresh in her mind. She was in Konoha. In Naruto's apartment.
She was safe, and she was free.
Rolling over, she beheld Naruto still fast asleep. The thumb in his mouth had been replaced with Underwear's ear sometime during the night. Cute. She picked up an outfit that she'd laid out last night and tiptoed to the bathroom with light cat feet.
While she was washing her face, she heard a loud shout that made her jump and splash water all over her shirt. "Hi-YAH!" Naruto's voice yelled shrilly. The shouting continued as Yugito started to brush her teeth. "Ha! Yah! Take this! Naruto Uzumaki Ultimate Kick!"
Yugito entered the bedroom to find Naruto doing karate in his pajamas. The little boy wildly kicked and punched at invisible opponents, whirling around and posing as if he was in a play. "Naruto-san, what in Kami's green earth are you doing?" she asked hesitantly.
"I'm practicing my taijutsu!" the six-year-old responded gleefully. "I gotta have awesome taijutsu if I'm gonna be the Hokage someday!" Yugito smiled. "And I will be the Hokage. Dattebayo!"
After a lot of shouting and playacting, Naruto finally exited his bedroom wearing a black t-shirt with an orange spiral on it and some orange shorts. Yugito had the feeling that Naruto's favorite color was orange. The two kids were just sitting down to a breakfast of cup ramen when there was a knock on the door.
"Naruto?" a young man's voice called. "Naruto, are you awake?"
"Aw crumbs! Kotetsu-nii's here!" Naruto shrieked. Nearly upsetting his ramen, he leapt out of his chair and sprinted towards the door. The door banged open, and Naruto scowled up at a teenage boy wearing a green flak jacket. Kotetsu's hair was black and spiky. A white bandage stretched across his nose. "Hey, where's Izumo-nii?"
"Um… may I come in, Naruto?" the ninja asked.
"Sure, Kotetsu-nii." Naruto groaned. "C'mon, c'mon! You can meet my nee-chan!" He tugged Kotetsu into the small apartment. "Nee-chan! This's Kotetsu-nii! He's super nice, except for when he isn't, cuz' he always busts me when I'm tryna hide!" The little boy gave him a shove.
"Whoa there Naruto!" the teen protested. "I'm not here to get you in trouble. Sorry." He pushed the boy away from him. "Hey. You must be Naruto's new roommate, Ni'i Yugito. Hokage-sama sent me to go over your new identity and schedule."
"Schedule?" Yugito asked slowly.
"Yeah, we've got lots to do," Kotetsu replied. "We'll talk about the identity first, then the schedule. And then do you want to enter the Ninja Academy in the fall?"
Yugito nodded energetically. "I do! Very much!"
"Okay! First your new identity." Kotetsu walked over to the table and sat down. He pulled a sheaf of paper out of his vest pocket. "If you truly, truly want to stay here, you'll need a new name, acceptable reason to be here, etc. So, your name?"
"Ni'i Yugito?" the girl said slowly. She wasn't sure what he meant.
Kotetsu smacked his forehead. "If you want to stay in this village, you need a different name. Your name cannot be Ni'i Yugito. Otherwise, if any spy breaks into the census, Kumo will find out that you're here, and then you'll have to go back. Do you want to go back?"
"Oh…" Yugito realized. "Can…can I still be Yugito, though?" She really liked her name.
"I suppose…" the chunin sighed. "It's a common enough name. There are three or four kids in the village also called Yugito. But you'll need a different surname."
"Tsukihi?" Yugito suggested. "Fire of the Moon" sounded so poetic and cool.
"All right. Tsukihi Yugito," Kotetsu said, scratching out the name. "Your birthdate will be July 24. Hokage-sama has written you a backstory. You were born in a small village and moved to Konoha after your parents died of disease. The Hokage decided to place you with Naruto because you are both too headstrong for the orphanage to take care of. If anyone asks, tell them that, okay?"
Yugito nodded seriously. "I'm Tsukihi Yugito, I'm nine, and my parents got sick and died so I came here. The orphanage said I was too stubborn, and they kicked me out," she recited.
Kotetsu gave her a thumbs up. "Perfect. I'll notify Hokage-sama and he'll send your papers to the Academy. Now for your schedule.
"Monday's shopping day. Usually, Izumo and I will take inventory of Naruto's fridge, help him throw away anything gross or expired. Then we'll take him to the Leaf-Mart down the road." He pulled a stack of ryō from his pocket. "Naruto-kun, your weekly allowance."
In a flash, Naruto snagged the bills from Kotetsu's hand. He dug under a couch cushion and removed a green froggy wallet. "Haha! Gama-chan, you're getting nice an' fat!" he cheered.
"Anyway," continued the chunin, "we'll go shopping today. Hopefully you'll learn the ropes pretty quickly. Tuesday is tidying, and Wednesday is … Wednesday." His face melted into an unenthused look.
"What's so bad about Wednesdays?" Yugito asked lightly. Whatever it was, she could handle it. Probably. Unless it was the end of the world.
"Wednesdays are Naruto's bath days." Kotetsu sighed once more. "And getting Naruto to take a bath is about as easy as making a cat obey you. For some reason, he hates baths. I don't know why."
"That's cuz baths are for chumps, dattebayo!" Naruto retorted gleefully, skipping around on his tiptoes. "And nobody's gonna make me take a bath!"
"On the good days, it's a C-rank mission, so they let the genin take care of it. On bad days, the ANBU black ops have to wrestle him into the bath," Kotetsu complained. "So, expect a genin squad on Wednesdays. On Thursday, you can do the trash, and on Friday, Naruto's supposed to do the laundry. Saturday's dusting day, and you have Sunday off."
"We're going shopping, then?" Yugito asked.
"Yep." Kotetsu stood up. "Get your shoes on, kids. We're leaving in five minutes."