Chapter 3 The One with the Dusty Apartment

After leaving Tsunade's office with a promise from Kakashi to test out the results of Naruto and Sakura's training later, so he could read the Icha Icha Tactics Naruto gifted him, Naruto, Shizuka, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Temari all left the office together. Tokiwa stayed behind to discuss something with Tsunade while saying she would catch up with them shortly.

While Shikamaru and Temari trailed behind Shizuka, Naruto and Sakura were discussing strategy for their coming battle against Kakashi ahead of her, so Shizuka decided to observe them together while they weren't paying attention to her.

Naruto and Sakura got along a bit better than she expected, given what she had previously heard about her from Naruto. Perhaps the passage of time had something to do with that. Regardless, while she was still reluctant to push Naruto about their engagement given her own feelings on the matter, she knew that Sakura would be one of her biggest obstacles while she was staying in Konoha. As she was mulling over what to do about Sakura, Naruto disengaged himself from his discussion over strategy with her to pass her by to not-so-sneakily whisper a question to the trailing Shikamaru and Temari.

"So, are you guys on a date?" He asked with narrowed eyes and a cheshire cat grin while elbowing Shikamaru.

"No, it's not like that." He denied.

Temari frowned at Naruto's question, "You've got to be joking. Why would I be on a date with this guy?"

Shikamaru decided to turn the tables on him with a question of his own, "So, Naruto, care to explain this whole arranged marriage thing?"

Tokiwa caught up to the group as Shikamaru was asking his question.

Naruto answered him with a look of disgruntlement, "It's all Ero-sennin's fault! He made this ridiculous promise with Shizuka's mom and now I'm engaged to her!"

With a knowing look on her face, Tokiwa decided to interject, "But Naruto-dono, aren't you the one that consummated the promise with Shizuka-sama?"

Sakura, Temari, and Shikamaru's faces all turned bright red at her implication.

Naruto just gave her a look of confusion, "What does 'consummated' mean?"

Tokiwa was happy to clarify for him, "It means that you sealed the deal for the engagement yourself. Jiraiya-sama played no part in that, right?"

The trio of blushing teens could only stare in shock at Tokiwa bringing up Jiraiya into the conversation, with their faces somehow going to an even darker shade of red.

"I guess you're right," Naruto acknowledged.

Sakura, Shikamaru, and Temari started shifting their shocked gazes back and forth between Naruto and Shizuka at the admission, struggling to form words at this latest development.

Shizuka decided that she had had enough of Tokiwa's suggestive wordplay and spoke up while a confused Naruto looked on, "She means that when Naruto defeated me in a duel, he became engaged to me. My mother never promised Jiraiya-sama that I would marry Naruto."

While a look of understanding dawned on Sakura, Shikamaru and Temari just adopted confused looks at her response.

Sakura quickly turned to Shikamaru and Temari to briefly explain about the rules of Nadeshiko village, while Shizuka gave Tokiwa a stern look of admonishment.

Tokiwa didn't look apologetic in the least.

Naruto remained both confused and oblivious.

He decided to plow ahead with his previous line of questioning with Shikamaru and Temari, "Well, if you two aren't on a date, why are you hanging out together?"

Temari was grateful for the change of subject, "The Chunin exams are coming up and I'm going back and forth between our villages to coordinate their execution."

"While it's a pain, I've been put in charge of the exams. So, I have to meet with her as the Sand representative to plan out the exams," Shikamaru added.

"The Chunin exams, huh... That sure takes me back" Naruto muttered nostalgically.

"So, what're you going to do, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

"About what?" Naruto questioned

"About the Chunin exams. You're the only one from our class that hasn't become a Chunin yet." Shikamaru answered

"WHAT?! Th-Then, you're also a Chunin, Sakura-chan?" Naruto yelled.

"Heh-heh... That's right," Sakura held up her fingers in a V with a smile.

"And just for the record, Kankuro, this person here, and Neji are already Jonin." Shikamaru continued.

"Then what about Gaara?!" Naruto demanded.

"He's now the Kazekage," Temari admitted

After a brief look of disappointment upon learning that Gaara had already risen all the way to Kazekage, he adopted a smile and announced with a finger pointed towards the Hokage monument, "That's awesome for him! But I won't be outdone dattebayo! I'll become the Hokage, no matter what! Just you wait, Gaara!"

While everyone else smiled at his exuberance, Shizuka adopted a thoughtful expression, and Tokiwa had a small frown briefly on her face before returning to a neutral look.

XXXXX

Naruto left with Sakura shortly after his declaration to prepare for their match against Kakashi, leaving Tokiwa, Shizuka, Temari, and Shikamaru together.

While Shikamaru was notoriously lazy, he didn't get to be as smart as he was without asking questions about things he didn't understand, and this whole engagement business with Naruto qualified. While Sakura's brief explanation filled in some holes in his understanding, it also left him with more questions too. With Naruto leaving with Sakura, that left Tokiwa and Shizuka as his best sources of information to explain what was going on.

He turned to face both with a casual tone and neutral expression to ask, "What exactly did Naruto do to get engaged to Shizuka? And what does a promise with Jiraiya have to do with it?"

After sharing a brief look between them Tokiwa took it upon herself to answer, "Since our village is matrilineal, we only bear female children, we thus must find husbands from outside our village to maintain our way of life. From there, it only makes sense to find strong men to add to our village to both increase our current strength now as well as for future generations."

At Shikamaru's nod of understanding she continued, "While regular kunoichi in our village have more freedom to take their time finding a husband, candidates to lead our village are required to find one before they can take up the mantle for leadership. In essence, the stronger their husband, the better it reflects on their candidacy to lead the village."

Shikamaru was starting to understand how things worked in their village, although he still didn't yet see how this connected to Naruto or Jiraiya, "So, what is Jiraiya-sama's role in this?"

At his question, Tokiwa smiled, "As you heard from Sakura-san earlier, we challenge strong men through duels, and if they defeat us, we take them back to our village to marry them. Jiraiya-sama dueled Shizuka-sama's mother many years ago but their battle ended in a draw. As a result, they promised each other that should they be unable to continue their battle again in the future that it would fall to their students to finish the duel. Many years later, Shizuka-sama's mother, Kimiko-sama, was no longer able to take up the duel so it was left to Shizuka-sama to do so in her stead. When Naruto-dono arrived at our village during his training trip, Shizuka-sama challenged him to a duel. After a hard-fought battle, Naruto-dono emerged victorious leading to their current engagement."

Shikamaru couldn't help himself, "Troublesome."

Tokiwa continued, "I must confess, it is very rare for an offer of marriage not to be immediately accepted from a Nadeshiko village kunoichi, particularly a kunoichi that is destined to lead the village such as Shizuka-sama. In fact, it is quite common for strong shinobi to seek out a Nadeshiko kunoichi simply for the opportunity for marriage it offers."

Without realizing he was doing so, Shikamaru gave Shizuka a quick once over and had to admit she was very beautiful. It did make a twisted kind of sense why a strong male ninja would seek out a Nadeshiko village kunoichi when you could essentially force your way into a marriage with a woman that way. He quickly realized his error though after Shizuka arched an eyebrow at how obvious he was behaving in looking her over and Temari elbowed him at his side with a sharp, "Creep," added for good measure.

With a slight flush of embarrassment Shikamaru decided to quickly ask another question to distract from his eyeing up of Shizuka, "Since Naruto hasn't married Shizuka yet, does that mean she can still be challenged to negate his claim?"

While he asked it in an attempt to free Naruto from an engagement he clearly wasn't interested in, he belatedly realized it could be treated as him expressing further interest in Shizuka after looking her over as Temari dug her elbow even further into his side with a harsh whisper, "Are you planning to defeat her now pineapple head?"

Realizing his mistake, he quickly clarified, "I'm not saying I would challenge her myself or anything, I was just curious about how the rules work for your village..."

Shizuka and Tokiwa shared knowing looks regarding the interactions they were watching unfold before Shizuka decided to speak up, "I would first need to be challenged and defeated and then he would need to defeat Uzumaki-san after that. I will also add there needs to be a witness from our village for each battle too to ensure these challenges are being executed fairly. For example, we won't acknowledge victories where a battle is clearly being thrown to game our rules," the last part was added with particular emphasis towards Shikamaru given his line of questioning.

He held up his hands in mock surrender at being caught trying to scheme an easy out for Naruto of his engagement. The best option he could think of on the spot was to simply have a stronger ninja defeat both Shizuka and Naruto, but all that would do is transfer the engagement to someone else. He would need to find a strong enough ninja willing to take up the engagement for Naruto to solve this issue for him. While there were a few options he could think of, he figured they would be just as reticent to leave the village as Naruto himself...The whole issue was so stupid and troublesome he finally decided to stop thinking about it for now. Ultimately, it wasn't any of his business, so unless Naruto asked him for help, he would leave it to him. He needed to focus on the upcoming Chunin exams anyways. With that thought in mind, he turned to leave Tokiwa and Shizuka behind with a quick "thank you" and wave goodbye while motioning Temari to join him. No sense risking further physical aggravation by staying with them any longer.

After Shikamaru and Temari left them behind, Shizuka and Tokiwa decided to go look for a place to stay for a while in Konoha.

XXXXX

It was dusk by the time Tokiwa and Shizuka had found an inn to stay at, unpacked their belongings, and done a little exploring of Konoha. It was quite staggering the differences in both size and scope of one of the 5 great villages compared to their own. With dinnertime fast approaching they decided to seek out the one restaurant they knew of and heard so much about from traveling with Naruto, Ichiraku Ramen, for a meal.

As luck would have it, Naruto was already there when they arrived, sulking about something regarding Sakura to himself.

"Naruto-dono, how went your examination?" Tokiwa asked him.

Naruto visibly brightened at her question, "We passed!" He smiled back at her while answering.

"As expected of Shizuka-sama's betrothed," She added with a small smirk.

After a moment of stunned silence, the ramen cooks Teuchi and his daughter Ayame screamed out in response, "BETROTHED?!" with their eyes wide open in shock.

Naruto waved his hands around in denial as he told them, "It's not what you think!"

Tokiwa gave a small bow towards them saying, "I have heard much about you both and your ramen while traveling with Naruto-dono and Jiraiya-sama. I would be honored to try some of your food. And yes, by the laws of our village, Naruto is engaged to Shizuka-sama." She gestured towards her companion at the end of her response.

As she was speaking, a pineapple haired Konoha Chunin with a slash mark across his nose entered and looked quite shocked at her announcement, "NARUTO IS ENGAGED?!"

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto wailed back despondently.

Shizuka decided to interject herself into the conversation at this point, "For a Hidden Village, Konoha is quite the loud, isn't it Tokiwa?" She quietly joked.

"Agreed, Shizuka-sama." Tokiwa replied with a teasing smile.

After accepting an offer from Iruka to pay for his ramen to celebrate his return, Naruto gave Iruka, Teuchi, and Ayame the same explanation he had given earlier in the Hokage's office. After he was done, the trio had varying looks of concern for their favorite unpredictable knuckle-headed ninja. While arranged marriages were common among the nobility for their political utility, among ninjas and commoners alike it was quite rare. They didn't want to see Naruto pressured into something he didn't want, but could at least appreciate the Nadeshiko village kunoichi giving him time to figure this out later. While he had made progress with gaining acceptance with the village since he began his ninja career, his pariah status had hardly disappeared altogether either. Could he find happiness elsewhere with a fresh start? It was a tempting thought, although one they all hoped wouldn't come to pass. They would miss him terribly if he left. Nonetheless, they loved him and just wanted the best for him.

Once the explanation was complete, Teuchi shared his thoughts on the matter, "Well Naruto, I can't lie, I would hate to lose my #1 customer, but if going to another village ends up being best for you and your happiness, I'm all for it."

Ayame chimed in with a smile alongside her father, "Yeah Naruto, we just want you to be happy."

"Same here Naruto. If you ever have any questions about anything, or just need to talk to someone, my door is always open," Iruka offered.

Shizuka couldn't help a small smile at their show of support for Naruto.

"Thanks guys, but I still want to stay in Konoha. How can I achieve my dream of becoming Hokage if I'm living in another village?" He said to them with a smile.

As his trio of loved ones smiled back at his statement, Tokiwa had a frown on her face again. Shizuka noticed her frown this time and shook her head at Tokiwa to avoid any kind of confrontation during their meal.

XXXXX

After they finished eating together, Naruto, Shizuka, and Tokiwa left together towards Naruto's apartment so the Nadeshiko kunoichi would know where he was staying. Once they were far enough away from Ichiraku Ramen to avoid being overheard, Tokiwa decided to share her previous concerns with Naruto, "Naruto-dono, while some accommodations can be made, there is only so much flexibility we can allow for in regards to your engagement to Shizuka-sama."

Naruto scowled back at her, "It's been my dream to become Hokage since I was little. Am I supposed to just give that up now because I beat Shizuka in a fight?"

"You must marry Shizuka-sama once the Akatsuki have been dealt with," Tokiwa returned.

Having heard this argument repeated many times before on their trip to Konoha, Shizuka quickly interjected to cut it off before it devolved further, "Which means we can address this issue AFTER the Akatsuki are eliminated, no sense arguing about it further right now."

While Naruto remained visibly agitated over Tokiwa's pronouncement, Tokiwa calmed down in the face of the wisdom of her village's future leader. Before long they arrived at Naruto's apartment, with Naruto unlocking it to enter and announce to the empty room, "I'm home!"

After a brief confused glance between themselves, Shizuka and Tokiwa followed in after him. With hands covering their crinkled noses, they both inwardly shared the same sentiment; this place was disgustingly dusty.

Naruto also noticed it immediately, coughing a couple times from all the dust in the air, and after turning towards the disgusted faces of his traveling companions, he offered a brief apology with his hand nervously scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about all the dust..."

With that, he quickly turned and flung open the window to allow the dust an avenue of escape as he pushed his head out to cough up any dust he inhaled.

"Looks like I need to do some cleaning before going to bed," he mumbled to himself.

Despite his low volume, it was still loud enough for his companions to hear, and Tokiwa brightened with the idea she just had.

"Naruto-dono, allow us to assist you with cleaning up your apartment." She offered.

Naruto turned back to them with a shake of his head, "Nah, you guys go ahead and head back and leave this to me."

"Nonsense," Tokiwa replied. "The cleaning will go faster with more people."

While Shizuka was silent at Tokiwa's suggestion, her face betrayed some irritation at being conscripted without permission.

Naruto continued shaking his head with a small smile while forming his familiar cross shaped seal, "You're right! Good thing I can easily add more people to help!"

With that, nearly a dozen clones popped into existence before methodically working together to clean up the entire apartment.

Shizuka couldn't help a small smirk as she observed Naruto's clones clean up the small apartment after just a few minutes of work. Better them than me...

Meanwhile, Tokiwa observed everything with a critical eye, wondering not for the first time how a ninja could possess so much chakra to allow him to create so many clones. "Well Naruto-dono, I'm going to head back to our hotel now, but why don't you let Shizuka-sama stay a while longer to talk with you? It's a rare chance to get to know each other better without anyone else around."

"Sure, I guess it couldn't hurt," Naruto shrugged back indifferently. No sense being rude kicking them out after the offer to help.

Shizuka's expression remained outwardly neutral, but inwardly she was apprehensive about Tokiwa's suggestion. What is she scheming...?

Her question was quickly answered as Tokiwa smirked back at the pair while exiting through the door, "Feel free to spend the night with your fiancée Shizuka-sama. I won't wait up for you."

With that, she left with nothing more but a quick knowing wink, leaving a sputtering Naruto and a sighing Shizuka.

The sound of the door closing behind Tokiwa prompted Naruto into action, "Uh, Shizuka, not that I mind talking with you... but..."

Forestalling any further of Naruto's stuttered rambling, Shizuka quickly interjected, "Uzumaki-san, it's been a long day of traveling and meeting with so many people, and I know you must also be tired from your test too, so let's call it a night now."

Naruto exhaled in relief. "Ok, good night, Shizuka," he offered with a smile as she made to leave.

Shizuka couldn't help smiling back at him and his sunny disposition, even as it slowly melted away as her thoughts made a dark turn to the last person who could so easily bring a smile to her face.

"Good night, Uzumaki-san," she offered back wanly.

With that, she softly closed the door behind her to join Tokiwa at the inn they were staying at, sadness swirling around her thoughts as she whispered to herself, "Sagiri..."

A/N:

Nothing like a past partner to complicate a new engagement, eh?

This last month plus has been rough as I injured my fingers on both hands and am still recovering. It's been pretty painful, especially to type, and progress has been so slow that I barely managed to get this single chapter out this month despite most of it already being completed last month. I even replaced my old keyboard with a mechanical one in order to mitigate the pain a bit.

Hopefully I get better soon, but I'm not planning on more than a chapter a month until I've recovered. Terrible timing to come right after I finally decided to publish this story but that's life for you.

Kimiko (ki = valuable, mi = beautiful, ko = child)