Chapter 8: Back home and Training.
Sarutobi blinked in shock as Kakashi spun the whole tale of what happened on their supposedly simple C-rank mission.
"Wow." Sarutobi said, Iruka stared at them with his jaw slack. "Well, I'm glad none of you are hurt." he said and his sights lingered on Naru a little longer. "I'm going to give you all a full week off." he said, they nodded. "Kakashi-kun, I'll need the mission report no later than the day after tomorrow." he said, Kakashi nodded. "Dismissed." they bowed and walked out, Naru held Mamoru's collar since she still refused to get on him.
They walked outside and Sakura headed off pestering Sasuke for a date and the Uchiha walked away ignoring her. Naru turned with Mamoru and began to head to her apartment, Kakashi stared at her then sighed. "Naru?" he asked and jogged up to her, she paused and looked at him.
"Yeah?"
"Can we talk?" he asked.
"S...Sure." She said. He walked next to her and they continued down the road, Kakashi went silent trying to think about what exactly he was going to say so she couldn't duck out of the questions as they made it to the road that led to her apartment.
"Naru, I have to give a full detailed mission report." he said.
"Yeah." she shrugged.
"And you know I have to put how you acted and what you did."
"Acted?"
"When you thought Mamoru here... passed." he said, she looked down and held the snow leopard tighter. "You may get checked out because of what you tried to do." he said, Naru gulped and Mamoru cocked his head confused. "But I can help if you tell me what's going on." he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked, he stopped and looked at her.
"You are very dependent on Mamoru, when you thought he was gone you practically broke and tried to commit suicide!" he said, Naru gulped and heard Mamoru rumbled. "You said you couldn't be alone again, you couldn't go through this alone. You have nightmares so bad you won't sleep for the whole night after, you don't keep eye contact with anyone. You can't do simple missions but you can do advanced ones, and you always have to have someone with you." He said. She blinked in shock at everything he was saying and shook a little in slight fear. "Naru, I know you are hiding something, I'm not going to stand for it anymore. Either you explain what is going on with you or. .."
"Or what?" she asked, anger bubbled in her chest and she glared at the jounin.
"Or I'll have you dropped from the program." He said. Once she heard those words she froze. Naru froze in complete terror realizing that he could take away the only dream she had left in life. She was terrified because she could live with being blind, but being blind and having no goal in life was something that she knew she couldn't do.
She started to shake as her gaze went down to the ground. Mamoru knowing what was going on inside of her head sent Kakashi a glare that promised pain. His glare promised a very unpleasant neutering from razor sharp claws that MAY slip and remove a little…extra.
Naru then shot her head up, tears shining in her eyes. She brought a gaze to face Kakashi that belonged on the face of someone who had been through a lifetime of torture that caused him to freeze unsure of what was about to come out of the girls mouth.
"You want to know so damn bad?! Fine!" she said through gritted teeth. "I have been hated and treated like a disease in this village since the day I was born! Tortured for something I never did!" she barked. "I'm dependent on Mamoru because he is just about the only one to ever be here for Me." she said. "I have nightmares because of what I have been through in my life and I don't want to go through it again! Especially alone" she said and poked his chest. "So if I want to hide something from you or anyone it's because I don't like you!" she said and poked him. "I don't trust you! And I never will!" she said poking him a few times, he was in shock. "So go ahead drop me from the program I don't care!" she said and panted, Kakashi was silent, she glared at him then looked down and let out a small cry.
"Naru I didn't-"
"Shut up and leave me alone!" She yelled. Mamoru pulled her closer, she crawled on him and he ran to her apartment. They walked in and she slammed the door shut locking it behind her. Kakashi looked down then walked away slowly thinking about her, he sighed and looked up.
'There is one other person...' He thought and walked away.
~~0~~
Naru sat on the couch and slunk a little as Mamoru paced back and forward in front of her and rumbled a little.
"Suicide?!" He growled finally. She slunk more. "Naru!" he said.
"I wasn't thinking! I thought I lost you and didn't want to be alone. I couldn't be alone…" She said and looked down. He walked up and put his head in her lap.
"Don't ever try to kill yourself Naru." He said. She nodded with a small smile. "I'll swat you one if you do." He said. She giggled and he purred as she hugged him.
He crawled up on the couch with her and laid down, she frowned a little. "I wonder if I made a mistake." she said.
"About Kakashi?" he asked, she nodded.
"I shouldn't of said those things to him, if he wants to -"
"Naru you have a right to privacy, just because he's your sensei doesn't mean he has the right to know everything about you." he said, she frowned then nodded. "There is only so much you can take." he said, she nodded then felt the bandages he still wore.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." he chuckled. "I'm a fast healer." he said, she smiled and nodded.
They perked up when there was a knock on the door, Naru got up and walked to it. "Yes?" she asked.
"Naru?" Sarutobi's voice sounded, she opened the door, he sighed and came in, she shut the door and followed him into the dining room and they sat down. "I wanted to check on you." he said, she nodded. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so..." she said.
"What's got you down?" he asked.
"I snapped at Kakashi today." she said, he looked at her shocked. "He said he would have me dropped from the program if I didn't tell him what was going on, and I just couldn't stop it, I snapped." she said. "Maybe... Maybe I'm not ready for...-"
"You are." Sarutobi said and touched her hand. "Kakashi couldn't have you dropped for not telling him something." he said. "You had a breakdown because of Mamoru's apparent death." he said.
"I didn't have a breakdown, well I mean I did! But I mean, I... I tried to kill myself." She said trying to shrink away from him. Sarutobi stared at her in shock. "I wasn't thinking straight and I thought he was gone and the thought of being alone again, I just…I…I couldn't do it again." she said and blinked tears fell from her eyes, Sarutobi squeezed her hand.
"Naru, it's understandable with what you've been through." he said, she nodded and wiped her tears. "I'll tell Kakashi to back off." he said, she nodded with a shrug. "Will you be alright?"
"Yeah." she nodded. "I just, the more he asks the more I guess the guilt, builds to where I want to tell them! But I don't want to." she said. "They call me stupid already, if they knew I was... like this? It would be worse. I wouldn't be dealing them being angry at me for being incompetent. I would have to deal with their pity for me. Always thinking that I need help." she said. "But still every time they yell at me for messing up or something, I just feel like I'm cracking." she said and looked down. "I want to get stronger so this isn't such a handicap…" she said.
"You are strong Naru." he said, she sighed and nodded a little. "But I do understand what you're saying." he said, she nodded. "Which is why I'm glad to announce that I have some brand new jutsu's and weapons." he said, she lit up. "I want to test a few things with your chakra, so on Friday, I want you to meet me in the training room." he said, she nodded, he stood up. "I have to get home now." he said and kissed her head, she smiled. "Rest up." he said, she nodded and waved as he left. She then crawled into bed and curled up with Mamoru and fell asleep.
~o0o~
The next day Naru headed to the training grounds with Mamoru so she could work on her chakra sensing some more.
"Naru." she stopped and looked back towards her former sensei Iruka.
"Hey Iruka-sensei." she said, he smiled.
"What are you up to?"
"Gonna practice a little." she said.
"Can I join?" he asked, she nodded with a shrug.
"Sure." she said, he smiled and walked next to her. Mamoru focused his chakra and made sure that it really was Iruka, and it was.
They arrived at the training grounds and Naru went into a clearing in the woods. "So why did you wanna come sensei?" she asked.
"Well, you see." he said and sighed and started to think.
Flashback
Iruka walked out of the Hokage tower with a stretch and a sigh. He was getting two days off for all of his hard work and since he had no academy students to teach at the moment he was free as a bird.
He walked down the street heading to his apartment with a small smile on his face nodding at the villagers.
"Iruka." he turned and saw Kakashi standing there, he beckoned him over.
"Kakashi-san." he said and walked up to the older and sometimes intimidating man. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
"I wanted to talk to you." he said, Iruka blinked. "It's about Naru." instantly Iruka's "maternal instincts" kicked in.
"What about Naru?" he asked giving the jounin a small glare.
"Well, it's just, I'm wondering if you've ever noticed anything... Strange about Naru." he said.
'Strange? We are talking about Naru right. That girl does a lot of strange things…' He thought.
"Strange how Kakashi-san?" He asked getting a small tick above his eye. Kakashi flinched slightly knowing he was pushing the "mother-hen" and when you pushed Iruka especially about his little Naru he was downright scary.
"Well, I mean has she ever been unable to do something? Or move normally?" he asked, Iruka frowned. "Or did she have problems in class with things or people?" he asked.
"Well, in her second year of classes she was loud and silly but then she pulled out of the academy for about a year. Then she was brought back to class, she became really quiet and reserved." he said and shrugged. "She grew really close to Hinata-chan and Shikamaru-kun." he said and shrugged.
"What about problems in class?" he asked.
"Problems how?" he asked.
"I mean with moving? Like in taijutsu class? Or...did she have a problem learning?" he asked.
"Yeah, she's always had a problem, she's more of hands on learner." he said.
"So, she always failed her tests?"
"No, for a time she did, then she would make them up and pass easily." he said. "What is this all about Kakashi-san?"
"Well, I know Naru has been hiding something from me- well everyone actually." he said looking down.
"Well can you blame her?" he asked. "I'm even ashamed to say I felt that way for a time, but once you get to know her and she trusts you, you'll see she's a sweet girl who wants nothing but to be accepted." he said and smiled gently, Kakashi smirked.
"Well, I don't think that will happen now..." Kakashi muttered.
"What!? What did you do to her Kakashi-san" Iruka said fixing him with a glare, Kakashi sweat dropped.
"It's not like that! I just- well I've been trying to find out what's going on with her and she snapped at me..." he said and rubbed his hair. "One more question, was Mamoru with her in class?"
"He showed up a few times, only when they were the first to arrive, then she would show up alone but I saw him outside watching her all the time. Sandiame-sama just said he was her companion, so I figured it was like an Akamaru and Kiba case." he said and shrugged, Kakashi sighed.
"Alright, well, if you think of anything let me know." he said.
"Why do you want to know?"
"If she has a disability it could hinder her in the future and put the others' lives at stake."
"Are you trying to say you'd drop her from being a ninja?" Iruka said stepping forward, Kakashi stepped back and gulped. 'Shit.'
"No! I mean yes! No! Ugh! Iruka think!" he said looking at the steaming mother hen. "If Naru does have something that's going to hinder her from certain things on missions she becomes a danger to herself and others." he said.
"Kakashi-san, Naru is nothing but capable to be a ninja, even if she had a disability or whatever she could still do it! Not everyone has to be a little prodigy!" he said, Kakashi flinched a little. "I suggest you leave her alone." he growled and stormed off leaving Kakashi there.
End Flashback
Iruka scratched his cheek with a blush, Naru cocked her eyebrow. "It's just, well... Kakashi-san came and talked to me yesterday." he said, Naru sighed and slunk a little. "And he said something and I was just ….. Well I've been wondering about it..." he said, she blinked. "Are you okay? I mean do you have something wrong with you?" he asked.
"I'm fine Iruka-sensei." she said and looked down. "I gotta practice." she said and walked forward. "Mamoru." she said, he nodded and jumped into the trees, Iruka backed up out of the way and Naru stood there focusing.
Naru poured her chakra out in waves and searched for Mamoru's location in the trees, she found Iruka still there. She heard a whistling and dodged quickly and moved around.
Mamoru ran out and charged her, Naru dodged it and smiled. 'It's working, I can see...' she thought and bit her lip.
Mamoru moved quickly and Naru was able to keep up with him dodging his swats, they stopped finally and Mamoru smiled as Naru panted but sent him a smile.
"Nice job Naru." He said. Naru smiled and straightened. Iruka frowned and watched as Naru glance around and rubbed her eyes quickly. Mamoru walked around her and his tail came up and tickled her cheek making her giggle. He sighed.
"Sensei did you still need something?" she asked.
"You wanna go for some lunch?" He asked. "I'll buy." he added. She smiled and nodded. He waited and she walked next to Mamoru but was sending her chakra out continually 'seeing' that way. 'I'm getting better...' She thought.
Iruka took them to Ichiraku's and they ordered lunch. Iruka looked at her. "Naru, I don't want to upset you or pester you in anyway..." he said, she looked at him and nodded. "But, if something was wrong, you'd tell me... right?" he asked, she heard the slight plea in his voice, she smiled.
"Of course I would sensei." she said and smiled. "It's just complicated." she said, he nodded a little and sighed. "And just ignore Kakashi-sensei..." she said. "He doesn't know what he's talking about." she said, Iruka smiled at her and ruffled her hair, she chuckled.
~o0o~
Friday came quickly and Naru headed to the Hokage tower with Mamoru. She followed the hall down to the stairs well below the Hokage tower and came to a familiar door that was unlocked. She slid it open and walked into the familiar room. It was a large room with a couple set of shelves on one wall and they were filled with books and scrolls, sparring supplies, a small table sat in the corner and had pillows around it. Naru pulled her shoes off and smiled as the smells in the room brought back a bunch of memories for her.
Flashback
9 Year old Naru walked down a set of stairs with her hand tightly gripping that of Sarutobi as he led her to a large training room. "This is a secret room that is supposed to be for the Hokage, but I had it turned into a secret training room. No one is allowed in here without my permission, it has a lock on the door that will only be unlocked when I unlock It." he said, she nodded a little, he paused and let her pull her shoes off.
He led her around the room letting her 'see' the room and everything. "This is where I'll have you trained. When you are in here and I am not the door will be locked and only I can unlock it, I'll work it out so you can let me know when you want to go." he said, she nodded slightly. "I was searching around and found a summoning scroll that should be perfect for you." he said, she cocked her head. "Do you remember your hand signs?" She nodded. He sighed in sadness, ever since she was told she would never see again, she had barely said two words, he tried everything but she just was silent, she didn't cry or whimper. She just did nothing. "Okay, then I'll need your blood for this." He told her. She held her hand out palm up, he nicked her thumb and opened the scroll, he spelled her name for her with her thumb on the scroll and pressed it down. "Now, focus your chakra and do these signs in order... Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram then touch the ground." he said, she nodded and made the signs and touched the ground, Sarutobi watched as the smoke shot up.
'Let's see who she'll have the best control over.' He thought. The smoke cleared and a snow leopard sat there, he was still growing but was slightly larger than a normal snow leopard. He wore a leather collar, an orange vest with the Uzumaki clan symbol on the back, he had bright blue eyes.
The summoning scroll Sarutobi had Naru sign was her own clan's summoning scroll, since the Uzumaki clan was experts in seals they had a summoning contract with all types of animals and depending on your chakra that is what would determine your summon.
He blinked at Sarutobi, he stood up and stretched with a small yowl and purr.
'Mamoru huh?' Sarutobi thought and smirked.
"Sarutobi-sama." he said and sat again. "What is it?" he asked.
"I have someone who needs a companion." he said and motioned to her. He turned and looked at Naru standing there then back to Sarutobi who nodded. Mamoru blinked in shock then stood up with a smile.
"Hello Naru-sama." He said with a small bow. She kept perfectly still not knowing what he had done.
"H…Hi." She mumbled. He looked at her confused, she wasn't looking at him. He sent a confused look to Sarutobi.
"There was a…incident just recently. Naru was attacked and was left blind after a damaging attack struck her eyes." he said, Mamoru growled his lips curled up showing his sharp teeth. "I would like you to stay with her and be her companion. Guard her and help her." He said, Mamoru nodded and walked closer to Naru and circled her. She followed his movements a little, albeit only when he made a loud thump on purpose causing her head to snap in the direction of the sound. He hit head to her arm gently. Naru taking the hint started to softly pet his head. He brought himself around so that he was directly in front of the girl before finally speaking to her.
"My name is Mamoru, I will stay by your side Naru-chan." He said and she nodded. He bumped her, causing her to stutter but followed his nudges until she came to the pillows and he pushed her a little. She sat down and he curled his body around her, nuzzling her some more. She stroked him a little more causing a small smile to finally break on her face in what seemed like ages to Sarutobi.
Soon her lip quivered and she wrapped her arms around Mamoru's neck and began to sob into his fur. He purred and licked her arm gently. Sarutobi sighed and slipped out leaving them in there so they could get to know each other.
End Flashback
Sarutobi opened the door and smiled as he saw Naru sitting with Mamoru, she perked up and stood up and smiled at him.
"How are you Naru?"
"Good." she said and smiled.
"Good! Now I said I wanted to work on your chakra." he said, she nodded. "I want to find out your affinity." he said. "But I also have some jutsu's for whatever chakra nature you have." he said. "We'll use this special paper to test your nature, whatever it is the paper will react a certain way."
"React?"
"Yes, if you have fire nature it will burn, water it will become wet, earth it will crumble, lightning it will crinkle and wind it will rip in half." he said, she nodded and took the paper and focused, Sarutobi and Mamoru smirked as they watched the paper rip in half, she felt it gently.
"You have wind chakra." he said.
"Cool..." she said.
"Wind is very tricky to master, but once it's done, it can slice through virtually anything... and is pretty much unstoppable." he said.
"Wow!" Naru said with a smile.
"Well, I'm glad I went for this weapon." he said and walked back out and came back with a medium size rectangle. "Here." He said handing the object to her. She took it and felt it, she looked confused. He chuckled and helped her hand hold it then pulled it open.
"A folding fan." she said and smirked.
"It's specially made to react with your chakra. You could use this to knock someone off their feet if need be, to get someone away from you and much more." he said. "And when it's closed it becomes a good defense object, it's made of special materials. It will take a lot for this casing to be broken." he said, she nodded and felt the fan gently.
"This is amazing." she said with a smile.
"Now, I had this made in Suna and they sent a series of jutsu's for you to work on. We'll start you with C ranks." he said, she nodded, he opened a scroll. "This first one is Kamaitachi." he said, she nodded. "What you have to do, is swing the fan while pouring chakra into it, it will send a blast of wind out and when your chakra is mixed with the gust, it will cause much more damage and it can keep someone from you." he said, she nodded. "And if you want to hold the person you can make it like a tornado and it will slice at them." he said, she nodded.
"We'll practice that one in the woods." he said, she nodded. "What I do want you to work on is called Gokan Sakusou."
"What does that do?" she asked.
"It's a special odorless powder, once it hits the air it dulls all of the senses of your opponent." he said.
"How does that help me?"
"Even if they think they dodge the attack, it will still hit, they will see you moving really slow when it's really them who are moving slow." he said.
"Wow... but won't they see the powder?"
"You use it with an exploding tag." he said, she nodded.
"Cool! And I wanted to tell you, I got the idea on this mission, that I can send chakra waves out and it helps me see." she said and smiled.
"Really?" he said, she nodded. "Good!" he said, she smiled.
"Is that all you wanted to teach me?" she asked.
"No, I am giving you one more." he said. "It's Kuchiyose Kenka." he said.
"Summoning?"
"It's summoning weapons, without the use of blood."
"How then?" she asked.
"We create some summoning seals on like a wrist band or something, and with a simple touch of your chakra you can summon weapons with It." he said, she nodded. "We'll see if you can wear the fan on your back and still move easily and ride on Mamoru easily still." he said, she nodded, he gave her the strap for the fan and helped her snap it on and slide the fan in the holder on her back, she tested to pull it out quickly then walked around, she got on Mamoru's back and he walked around.
"Alright it seems you should be fine." he said.
"What about this powder?"
"It's being made still." he said, she nodded, he showed her all the weapons he got her then helped her seal them and they put them on some wrist bands and she pulled them on and nodded.
"Thanks for this Jiji." she said, he smiled and kissed her head.
"Well, you wanna practice these new jutsu's?" he said, she nodded with a smile, he chuckled and began to help her practice a little.
After practice Sarutobi had some tea and dango brought and they sat down. "Hey, Jiji, do you think I should... Should tell-" she stopped.
"Who?"
"Iruka-sensei, was asking me earlier, Kakashi came and talked to him..." she said. "He was asking and I kinda feel bad for hiding this from him." she said. "I mean he helped me so much and let me in and now I feel like a total backstabber for not telling him..." she said.
"Naru, it's your call, do you want to tell him?" he asked. "Do you think it will be okay." he said, she sighed.
"I want to, but I don't want him to tell Kakashi-sensei." she said and looked down.
"Well, if you do and he truly cares for your well-being, you ask him not to tell anyone." he said, she nodded a little. "So?"
"I think I'm going to tell him tomorrow." she said and bit her lip, Sarutobi nodded. "Will you be there?"
"If you want me to."
"Yes." she said.
"We'll do it in the evening, I have meetings all day." he said, she nodded. "I am going to keep searching for new wind style jutsu's... but I do have one person that you can go to for training..." he said. "And he can be trusted." he said, she cocked her head.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"He's my son." he said, Naru blinked a few times. "Asuma Sarutobi."
"Oh, he came on the mission didn't he." she said, he nodded. "So, you think he'd teach me?"
"I can talk to him..." he said.
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course." he said, she smiled and nodded.
~o0o~
Naru bit her nail as she sat on her couch, Mamoru walked from her room and looked at her. "Calm down."
"How can I? What if he gets mad and leaves me? What if he tells and then I'm kicked off the team? What if... if..." Naru said while starting to work herself into a panic.
"What if? Naru, calm down!" he said and put his large paw her leg, she smiled and nodded. There was a knock and Naru opened it and Sarutobi came in.
"Are you ready?"
"No..." she said and chuckled, there was a knock on the door.
"Naru?" he said, she opened the door and smiled. "I got your note. Is everything alright?" he asked, she gulped.
"Well, I... I wanted to talk to you." she said and sighed, he tilted his head and sat on the couch and looked between Naru, Sarutobi and Mamoru.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Sensei, you remember how you asked me, if there was anything wrong I'd tell ya?" she said.
"Yeah." he said with a nod.
"Well, there is, and I haven't told anyone but... I- I feel bad not telling you, because of how much you've been here for me, I don't like hiding stuff from you..." she said, Iruka sat forward.
"Naru what's going on?" he asked.
"You just have to swear you won't tell Kakashi, or anyone!" she said and gulped and shook.
"Okay?" Iruka said with a chuckle.
"Iruka, this is serious, this is a big secret." Sarutobi said. "Bigger than the other." He said, Iruka looked at him shocked.
"Okay, I promise." he said. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Okay, um, Kakashi is sorta – well is right that I have something wrong with me..." she said and gulped. "I – um, when I turned 9, I kinda got... hurt…" she said.
"What do you mean? I took you out for your birthday dinner..." Iruka said.
"And I walked home alone..." she said. "See the villager's always pick on me and everything but, on my birthday they escalate it, and on my 9th birthday they went really far..." she said, Iruka looked at Naru then at Sarutobi, he motioned for the man to pay attention. "They snatched me while I was on my way to my apartment and I blacked out for a few minutes." she said and let out a shaky breath. "I woke up in this old building, it was dark and cold, I looked up to see the group that snatched me there and they started to beat me." she said, Iruka looked at her in horror, his breathing began to pick up a little. "I couldn't do anything, I ended up just curling up taking it trying to protect myself the best that I could." she said. "After a while they stopped and I made a mistake and thought they were done. I had looked up and there was one standing there, he brought his hand up." she said and did the same with her hand a little. "I remember it was glowing with chakra and he swiped it across my face over my eyes." she said and touched her cheek and gulped, she looked down. "I... - after I … I couldn't open my eyes…" she said and swallowed hard, she sat down on the table in front of the couch. "I was able to crawl out of the building and into the alley, but that's as far as I made it, I was there for almost two days." she said and stopped blinking hard from tears, Iruka looked confused, his breathing was picking up.
"I had been searching for her." Sarutobi said, Iruka looked at him. "I found her in the alley just before she- well, anyways, I brought her to my place and patched her up some and that's when she told me..."
"Told you what?"
"When that guy hit me with chakra, I couldn't open my eyes, at all." she said, Iruka looked at her worried. "I stayed with Ojii-san, then he took me to Suna with him."
"I couldn't get a hold of Tsunade so I took her with me to Suna to see a doctor and that's when he gave us the news."
"What are you talking about?!" Iruka said.
"I can't see." Naru said, he looked at shocked.
"Wh...What?" he said in shock.
"I'm blind." She said in almost a whisper. "Ever since that night, I haven't been able to see anything." she said. "That's why Mamoru stays with me, and I always took my tests after school and why I wasn't even in school for that time." she said.
"Blind? But Naru – you – I..." he stopped and looked down.
"I was going to just give up but, you and Ojii-san snapped me out of it and I continued to train and get stronger." she said.
"But I don't understand! You were able to get Mizuki no problem!" he said.
"I know, at first I didn't understand but then I found out everything, if I use his chakra, it seems I can see a little, more blurry shapes then anything." she said, Sarutobi looked at her shocked, not even knowing this himself. "I've been training myself to sorta see? With chakra waves." she said.
"Naru – I – I'm so sorry." he said.
"It's not your fault."
"But I should have walked you home and hung around till the day was over! I should have known that that day was the worst day of the whole year for you."
"Sensei, you couldn't of known." she said. "Who's to know they still could of done it, even after you left." she said. "So..." she shrugged slightly.
Iruka got up and cupped her face, she blinked and a tear fell from her eye, he wiped it away then hugged her, she smiled and returned it.
Mamoru smirked and Sarutobi sighed with a smile, Iruka pulled back. "I just couldn't stand hiding this from you anymore." she said, Iruka smiled.
"Thank you."
"But you have to promise not to tell Kakashi-sensei." she said. "I don't want him or anyone to know, I'm just not ready yet." she said, he nodded.
"I promise Naru, your secret is safe with Me." he said, she smiled and nodded. "If you need me to do anything I can-"
"Sensei... please, I don't like being babied." she said, he paused with a blush.
"Right..." he said and chuckled. "I just want you to know, that if you need me to do anything, I will." he said, she smiled and nodded.
Iruka walked away from Naru's apartment silently thinking about everything he had just learned, he got to his apartment building and stopped, he looked around at the people walking, glaring at the ground upset that these people hurt Naru so badly.
"Iruka?" he turned and saw Kakashi standing there. How does he always know where to find me? He thought with a frown. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"F…Fine Kakashi-san." he said.
"Hey, um, have you been able to find out anything or figure anything out about Naru?" he asked, Iruka gritted his teeth, anger bubbled in his chest thinking about Naru and Kakashi's persistence.
"Kakashi-san why don't you just leave her alone?" he said, Kakashi blinked in shock.
"What?"
"So what if she's hiding something from you!? She doesn't have to tell you anything!" he barked, Kakashi looked at him confused. "Just because you are her sensei now doesn't mean you have rights over her! Or you have to know everything that's happened to her!" he barked.
"Iruka I was just-"
"Just nothing! You leave Naru alone!" he said. "If she wants to hide something then you better get over it and deal with it!" he barked, Kakashi looked at him his jaw slack. "Now you leave Naru alone or we'll have a problem!" he said and snorted and stomped away leaving the jounin to stand there in shock.
"Huh!?" Kakashi said and sighed shaking his head and decided to head home before he made anyone else mad.