A pleasant greeting to all of you. It's me again 12Ookami12, back again with a new story. Yes, I know, I know. I have been away for quite a long time and I have four stories that all need to be updated. Let's just say that work and life leave me with no time these days.
I do work on the other stories I have in the meager amount of time I get, but life is more than writing, so no promises of speedy updates. Also, do not be surprised if you see certain stories get rebooted. I re-read them some time ago and I can't say I'm 100% confident with how a few of them are going. So keep that in mind.
This is for anyone on Midnight Lost's discord server who may see this. Yes, I am alive and kicking! For the time being! XD. Life is keeping me too busy to check in with you guys, but I will when I get a chance. Hope y'all are doing well and are in good health and spirit. See y'all when I can.
Now without further ado, let the story commence.
"Regular Talking"
'Thoughts'
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights go to the respective owners
Chapter I
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
A chorus of cheers erupted from the students upon hearing the signal that their day of classes at the shinobi academy had come to an end. Just as they were about to stampede their way out of the classroom, the voice of their instructor called out.
"Hey! Hold it! Don't forget to practice for the test tomorrow." Their instructor, Iruka Umino, tried to inform them.
His words fell on deaf ears as the students just continued out of the room without any indication that they heard him.
Heaving a comedic sigh, the scarred man sat back at his desk and began organizing his documents. Looking up, he realized that not all of his students had fled the room in such a great hurry. Sitting at the front of the room was arguably his best student since the start of the school year.
Satomi Uchiha—the lone survivor of her clan's massacre that occurred just five months before the new academic year had begun.
The Chunin watched as she took her time to pack her things into her backpack. Every day it was the same. She'd come in and take her seat at the very front of the class. She'd pay close attention to everything that he taught. During lunch, she would get a myriad of offers to sit with others to eat. Being the sole survivor of a once great clan, with skills that already put her at the top of the class, plus the fact the she was growing up to be quite a beauty, left her with a rather sizeable fan club on both sides of the gender wall—so it's understandable why they'd want to sit with her. But like always, she would politely refuse their offers and sit by herself. Not wanting to potentially upset her, the students would always oblige in hopes of trying again the next day. After lunch she'd sit in class and once again focus her attention on the lesson as he taught. At the end of the day, she'd always be the last to leave the room; likely to avoid the stampede that always happened.
The heiress turned to look at him before giving a small bow and saying her goodbyes. Returning the gesture, he watched as she exited the room, leaving him alone in silence.
With a sigh, he sat back in his chair and entwined his hands in his lap while looking up at the ceiling—his eyes tracking the rotation of the wooden blade fan. He really wished that there was something he could do to help her, or at least get her to open up more to her peers. She was already on the road to becoming a splendid Kunoichi, but in his own opinion, that didn't matter much if she didn't grow as a person as well.
With that thought in mind, he turned his attention to the empty seat at the very back of the class. The seat that belonged to, regrettably to admit — his worst student: Naruto Uzumaki. For the past week that spot had been vacant. On the first day he didn't really pay much attention to it. Knowing the boy's situation and how the blonde wasn't exactly mister popular in the class, he could understand wanting to escape the ridicule that he normally faced. On the third day however, that was when he started to feel worried. Missing class was one thing, but not hearing anything about him for three days straight, that was something else.
Knowing how loud and rambunctious his student could be, as well as the boy's pension for pranks, it was unusual to not hear about the boy's latest victim that had fallen to one of his escapades.
It was like Naruto had just…vanished.
Iruka had brought his concerns to Hiruzen Sarutobi—The Sandaime Hokage, about the blonde's disappearance. The aged leader had quelled his worries by telling him that Naruto was fine…for the most part. He explained that the boy was just going through a rather tough time in his life and just needed some time to himself. He felt better knowing Naruto wasn't in any trouble, but he was still concerned none-the-less.
What happened to affect Naruto like that?
He wanted to go and find the boy, possibly lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on, but his leader had told him otherwise. The old man had told him that he understood his need to seek the boy out but Naruto had requested to be left alone, so he was fulfilling that request.
That was four days ago and he still hadn't seen hide nor hair from the boy. Now that he was thinking about it, the week prior to Naruto's disappearance, he had noticed that he wasn't his usual loud and chipper self. He sat at the back of the class as he always did, but he was unusually quiet. No in-class pranks, no yelling about his dream, just quiet. Also, there was this look on his face—his eyes were somber and seemed to be looking farther than the edges of the classroom. It was like he was in his own world.
Rubbing his temples and letting out a breath through his nose, the scarred man wished he had acted when he had first noticed. He had thought that Naruto was probably doing some introspection, as people tended to do from time to time. He thought it good for the boy to assess himself, that it'd probably lead him to take his lessons more seriously. Looking at it now, whatever the boy had been thinking about was likely what led to him going into isolation.
'Nothing is ever easy with you, is it Naruto?'
"Hey, Iruka. You gonna sit there all evening? We got somewhere to be, remember?"
Looking to his left, he saw who spoke. A white-haired man with a bandana styled Hitai-ate on his head. Donned in the standard uniform for a Chunin was his assistant, Mizuki.
"Yeah. I'll be with you in a sec. Just gimme a few minutes to get these documents in order."
The white-haired man waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Just hurry it up will ya. I wanna get to the bar sometime this year."
Deciding not to answer his impatient friend, Iruka took his time to properly place his documents in perfect alignment before packing them into his single strap backpack. Getting up, he walked through the door before taking his sweet time to lock up. Looking over his shoulder as he twisted the key in the final lock, he could see the annoyed expression on the man's face. Allowing a smirk to adorn his face for the small, petty victory, he checked to make sure that everything was locked properly before looking at his assistant.
"Now I'm ready. Let's go, I wanna get there sometime this year."
Falling into step with his superior, Mizuki let his annoyance be known. "You can be a petty asshole sometimes, you know that?"
Snorting, Iuka gave the man a side-glance with a smug smile on his face. "Be a little more patient and I won't have to be a petty asshole."
With a roll of his eyes, Mizuki responded. "Whatever. So, what was on your mind back there?"
Bidding the night-guard goodbye, Iruka turned to look at his assistant. Knowing that his friend didn't share the same outlook he had for Naruto, he decided to lie. "Nothing really. Was just getting a head-start on what to put on the lesson plan for next week."
"Ok, now I know your lying. You always plan lessons for an entire month before you need to plan again, and it ain't the end of the month yet. So, try again. The truth this time." The white haired Chunin said with a slightly narrowed gaze.
Doing his best to avoid answering. "It's nothing, really."
"Aww c'mon." The white-haired man paused for a moment and pondered. "Hey, if it's that hot piece of ass that you've got waiting back at home for you, I can understand not wanting to talk about it." Holding up his hands, Mizuki surrendered.
His cheeks flushing red at the mention of his girlfriend, Iruka couldn't stop the image of the purple haired T&I specialist from surfacing in his mind. Wiping away a trickle of blood running down his nose, the scarred Chunin took the out given to him. "Y-yeah. Let's just say my birthday is coming up and she promised me a day and night I won't forget."
"Ho, ho, hooo. If you had a collar, I'd pop it for ya. You lucky dog." Iruka listened as his assistant went on and on about how lucky he was to land a catch like Anko and how he wished he had gotten a chance to knock boots with her before she went and got attached.
Though he was a little ticked about some of the stuff the man was saying about his girlfriend, he was just glad to avoid answering truthfully.
Tuning out his friend's incessant commentary about his love life, Iruka allowed his mind to wander back to his missing student.
'Where are you, Naruto?'
Walking along the dirt road toward her home, Satomi kept her head straight to avoid looking at any of the passing villagers. Tuning out each and every one of their greetings, she had to bite her lip to avoid showing how annoyed she was.
'How annoying. When my clan was alive, I was nothing but another face to these people. Just another Uchiha. Now that I'm the only one left, they treat like I'm some tragic heroine for surviving my brother's rampage. Really shows how fake and shallow people can be when they believe they have something to gain.'
Chancing a glance out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few of them stop to smile and wave at her.
'Hn. Despicable creatures.'
Continuing her walk toward home, she kept tuning out the annoying villagers whilst keeping an eye on her path. Something, or rather someone up aheadwith bright blonde hair caught her eye. This person was walking with his head down and his hands stuffed in his pockets. He seemed to be taking extra care not to draw any attention to himself with how seamlessly he was weaving through the crowd, not once bumping into anyone, despite the fact that she could tell that he wasn't really looking where he was going.
On second thought, it would have been better to say that he was taking care to not draw extraattention to himself. From the glances she took at the villagers, she could see tell that they did notice him, but something was off. Everyone was looking everywhere else except in the direction of the blonde. Conversations suddenly got a little louder, people started leaving the area, business doors abruptly closed when he got close, kids were not-so subtly being pulled out of his way. It was as if they were doing everything to not acknowledge his presence. Despite that, there was something present that she saw in all of their eyes. It was just a glimpse but she saw it.
Absolute Hatred!
'Certainly, pranks wouldn't have brought this level of hate for him.'
While she would never openly admit it, she was interested in this blonde boy. Something about his character intrigued her.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Just who was he? From the little that she knew about him, he was an orphan that lost his parents on the night the Kyuubi attacked. Given how old she knew him to be, and how long ago that disaster was, she could deduce that he lost his parents when he was still a baby. With that knowledge she could logically assume that he never knew them.
As messed up as it sounds, and this was something she was well aware of, she took some amount of comfort in knowing that there was someone her age that could partially understand what she was going through.
She said partially because unlike her, he didn't know what it was like to have a family and lose it. He didn't know what it was like to have everyone who ever meant anything to you be ripped away by the person you looked up to, the person you idolized.
Then again…
Was that so bad? Comparing what happened to her and what she knew about him, which situation was worse?
Having loved and lost?
Or
Not having it at all?
Sticking a pin on that question, she allowed her eyes to follow him as he continued to weave through the crowd like an expertly guided needle through thick fabric. Where had he been this whole time? Unlike the rest of her classmates, she had taken notice of his absence from the very first day. Being the only person that she would consider making friends with—despite his loud and brash tendencies—she developed a habit of keeping an eye on him whenever he was around.
She noticed that while he was very boisterous—borderline obnoxious, that part of him never came off as genuine. She didn't understand why, but to her it felt forced, as if he were only doing it so that others would have to acknowledge that he was there.
Other times she'd see him on the swing outside the academy, or on the roof of the academy, just sitting with a faraway look in his blue eyes. Seeing him like that, was a stark contrast to the person he portrayed himself to be the vast majority of the time.
Don't get her wrong. She knew that he wasn't popular with…anyone really. Kids both younger and older made fun of him, adults were always annoyed with him, even the instructors, sans Iruka-Sensei, didn't like him and would often pick on him.
But this…
Taking another look at the villagers, she once again saw it. Loathing, Distaste.
…this was different.
Seeing this side of his life only made her interest in him grow.
Watching him walk off the street and onto a path that led away from the public area and into a nearby forest, she decided to follow him.
It wasn't like she had anyone waiting at home for her anyway.
After being certain that no one was watching her, she slipped off the road and onto the same path Naruto had taken. It only took a few minutes into the walk for the sky to be blocked out by the numerous trees. This worked in her favor though—with the thick forest, came a multitude of shadows she could use as cover, add in the sparse number of leaves on the forest floor and by staying at a safe distance, she could be as discrete as possible without alerting him to her presence.
Satomi noticed that there was a change in his posture. Whereas he had been noticeably tensed in the village: head down, back slouched, hands in pocket, avoiding both eye and physical contact, here in the forest, he looked relaxed. His head was up, posture erect, hands behind his head in a laidback fashion and a notable bounce in his steps.
About ten more minutes into the walk, Naruto suddenly stopped in the middle of the path and began looking around.
Taking extra care to stay out of sight, just in case he looked in her direction, she peeked out from behind the boulder she was using as cover and saw a little red fox kit run out of the bushes towards him. The little ball of fur stopped in front of him before yipping excitedly. The ravenette watched as he reached down to take the fox up in his arms. Excited, the little vulpine wagged its tail and licked the boy's face affectionately before hopping up to the boy's head. It pointed its snout in the direction of the path and yipped as if telling him to go.
He laughed. It sounded different from the other times she heard him laugh. It wasn't loud, obnoxious and screamed 'Look at me, I'm here!' It was low, innocent and child-like. It sounded like he was actually happy.
The blonde reached up and petted the little furry critter before continuing his walk. Behind him, she could see two more red foxes following. One was reddish orange with a strip of white fur going down the middle of the back. Like its bushy tail, the ears were mostly red with white tips. The other was a darker red with patches of black fur going along its side and down its back. Like his ears, its bushy tail was mostly red with the tips being black. This one was larger, so she could logically assume that this was the male and the other was the female. They were adults, so she guessed they were the kit's parents.
The walk on the path through the forest ended and soon became a hike up a steep incline. If Satomi were a lesser person, she'd have given up and turned back as soon as she caught sight of the hill. It was steep. To put it into perspective, it reminded her of trails that you'd usually use to scale a mountain.
Whilst walking, she noticed one of the foxes lifting its head and sniffing the air. Without stopping its trek, the vulpine turned its head slightly, and from her position behind a tree, she could see that its cyan eyes were looking directly at her. Satomi didn't even notice that her breath was caught in her throat until the fox stopped looking at her and continued following the blonde.
Stopping for a few minutes to recompose herself, the heiress leaned back on the tree; feeling the rough bark pressing against her back. 'I should've figured that at least one of the foxes would notice I was there, having good senses and all.'
'Should I be doing this?' She questioned herself on whether or not she should continue following. At first it was just to sate her curiosity about her blonde classmate, but now it was starting to feel like stalking. Pondering on it for a few more minutes, she shrugged and ultimately decided to continue.
'I've already come this far, might as well see where it leads.'
Moving from behind the tree, she briskly made her way up the path. Hopefully she hadn't totally lost him.
Almost ten minutes had passed before she caught up. She found him in a clearing overlooking a cliff-face which had a protective railing installed. He hopped over the railing and took a seat on what looked like a giant boulder with hair-like spikes. The foxes followed suit, each taking up a space on either side of him while the one on his head laid down in the blonde mane.
Shifting her gaze from the little group, she moved it to what they were looking at. A silent gasp escaped her mouth. From the Uchiha Clan Compound all the way to the main gate, she could see it all—the entirety of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She had to admit that while she wasn't fond of the people within its walls, the village itself was a beautiful sight to behold. Add in the orange sun that was bathing the village in its andesine illumination, and the scenery changed from being beautiful to absolutely majestic.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
The response left her mouth before she noticed that she said it.
'Crap!'
"Ya' know. If you wanted to come up here and watch the sunset with me, you could've just asked." The blonde stated with a small smirk on his face—turning around in his seat so that he was looking directly at where she was, daring her to come out.
With no reason to continue hiding, the heiress walked out from behind the tree and into plain view.
Not ready to take its leave over the horizon, the searing, celestial body in the sky provided the monument with one last ray of light; just enough for Naruto and the foxes to get a good look at their company.
Satomi Uchiha—Pale, flawless skin. Cat shaped eyes with onyx irises. A heart shaped face with shoulder length, thick, curly hair, bleeding colors from midnight black at the top into navy blue towards the end. On her torso she was wearing a red hoodie jacket that was zipped up halfway, giving a view of her white t-shirt. If he could see the back, he would have seen the Uchiha emblem imprinted on there. Slung around her shoulder was a black, single-strapped backpack. Around her neck was a silver chained necklace with an Uchiha emblem shaped locket. Moving downward, she was wearing black training pants with white stripes on the sides and on her feet were black, high-top shinobi sandals. Offhandedly, he noted how her toenails were painted navy-blue just like her fingernails. 'Guess now I know her favorite color.'
"How did you know I was following you?"
Re-focusing his eyes on her face, he noted that she looked both curious and a little irked. 'Must have stung her pride that I found her out so easily.' The blonde smiled and tapped his nose. "Camellia by Keiko Mecheri. You're the only person I know which such an expensive taste in perfume. So, when I smelt it back in village, I knew that it was you following me."
Her expression changed from curious and irked to being embarrassed, if the red tint on her face was to be believed. It was funny to Naruto—seeing someone usually so monotone getting embarrassed over something as simple as perfume.
"Wait, I was a good twenty feet behind you, plus I was mixed in with the crowd. My perfume is strong, but not that strong. So how did you notice?"
Again, he smiled. "Let's just say my senses are stronger than the average person's. That includes my sense of smell." Once again tapping his nose as he said that.
Making a mental note to use less perfume come the following day, the heiress zipped her hoodie all the way up to keep any more of the fragrance from escaping. The smile the blonde was giving her only made her feel more embarrassed. 'Definitely using less tomorrow.'
Satisfied that she's concealed her scent a little better, she noticed that the adult foxes had gotten up from their resting positions and were now standing tall beside the blonde. They weren't displaying any aggression but she could tell from their posture and how they subtly moved in front of Naruto that they were being protective.
Her gaze shifted from them and toward the ball of fur on the boy's head. Its head tilted to the side and its cyan eyes staring right at her. If she weren't use to always having eyes on her, she might have felt uncomfortable under the fox's stare. The little vulpine jumped off Naruto's head and started walking toward her. Not once taking her eyes off the red fox kit, she watched the little critter stop right in front of her and sat down with its head up looking at her.
Confused, Satomi stood there looking at the fox, wondering what it wanted.
"Kiara wants you to pet her."
Looking up, she saw Naruto pointing to the kit.
"Kiara. That's her name. She wants you to pet her."
"Oh." Slowly stooping down, Satomi put her hand out to touch the kit but pulled back when she heard growling.
Teeth bared and hackles raised, the two foxes were obviously not pleased with her being so close to their kit. About to back away, she heard Naruto speak.
"Simba, Nala."
The foxes stopped growling and simultaneously turned to look at the boy.
"I know that you want to protect Kiara, but you know as well as I do that, she's not a threat. If you did, you'd have chased her away the moment she started following us. So, behave, alright. Everything's gonna be okay."
The two foxes looked at each other before looking back at their kit. The little vulpine was still sitting there and looking at the girl, a little wag on its tail. Letting out a short growl, as if begrudgingly agreeing, they sat down.
Satomi would be lying if she said wasn't a little impressed with how he dealt with the foxes. She could see that they trusted him and apparently that was enough for them to be at ease.
Hearing a yip, she was reminded of the little bundle of joy at her feet. Reaching down, she rubbed the little kit's head and listened as she mewled and purred in response to her ministrations. She started to feel the kit pushing against her hand. Getting the hint, she took her up and held her in her arms.
The mini fox yipped before settling in the girl's arms and lifting its head expectantly.
She looked back at the little critter—its small, cyan eyes boring into her, conveying a sense of curiosity and excitement. Its small, black muzzle twitching every other second. Numerous thin, black strands of hair protruding from the sides of its snout—swaying every now and then in the evening breeze.
With each passing second, small layers began disappearing from the veil that the last Uchiha wore, and bit by bit, particles of her true self began to shine through. With the small smile that was now adorning her face, she leaned her face down and nuzzled the little kit's head with her own. The low audible vibration she heard in response only made her smile that much brighter.
Still seated on the Yondaime's monument, Naruto, Nala and Simba watched the interaction between Satomi and Kiara.
The adult foxes found the apprehensiveness they were feeling slowly dissipating the more they watched their daughter interact with this other human. Seems they found another one they could trust.
Naruto watched the scene unfolding in front of him with interest. He may have found it funny earlier when the heiress got flustered over her perfume, but this…this was different. Watching her nuzzle Kiara with such a bright smile on her face—she didn't look like the drone he saw every day at the academy, she actually looked like a human being.
A thoughtful expression took over his face. 'Satomi Uchiha, huh? Just who are you?'
So lost in the moment with Kiara, Satomi almost forgot that she was still in the company of someone else.
"Hey."
Looking up she saw her classmate waving at her.
"Come over and have a seat." The boy said, patting the area beside him.
Satomi looked a bit unsure and so asked. "Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't. Besides, it would be a waste for you to stalk me all the way up here and not get something out of it."
The girl looked flustered at that last part. Pouting, she steadily walked over to them. "I wasn't stalking you." She grumbled.
Naruto heard her and chuckled to himself but decided not to respond.
With Nala and Simba giving her some space, Satomi sat beside Naruto, Kiara now sleeping in her arms.
No more words were spoken afterwards, only silence as they watch the sun descend below the horizon.
The opening act of the sun showering the land with its heat and light was finally coming to a close. As if turning a page, the once bright sky darkened, making it easier to see the numerous glowing heavenly bodies decorating the atmosphere like pepper-lights on a Christmas tree.
High-pitched, continuous, loud, soft—a myriad of chirps and buzzes alike could be heard blending into one, as the earth's natural orchestra came out for their nightly performance. Wind sweeping through the forest, leaves and branches swaying back and forth, as if dancing to the tune of the nocturnal critters.
The chorus of the forest's nightlife only served as background music as the reflection of the sun's light ascended into the sky and began bathing the nocturnal land in its white glow.
Satomi couldn't stop the small, serene smile that appeared on her face. It had been a long time since she stopped to admire…well, anything. Ever since the massacre, her life had been flipped on its head. When she wasn't battling night terrors and PTSD about what happened, she was busy improving herself for when she would inevitably confront her brother. So, this…
Taking another moment to admire the peaceful environment, she let out a small sigh.
…an escape from her reality, was exactly what she needed.
"You have a pretty smile."
Satomi looked at Naruto, a little flustered and taken aback by the sudden compliment. "Uh…um, thanks."
He smiled. "I should compliment you more often if I get to see such a cute blush."
Satomi huffed and turned away; partially out of embarrassment and because she didn't want him to see that she was still flustered.
Naruto chuckled to himself before lying on his back with his arms behind his head acting as cushions, his gaze toward the moonlit sky.
"I come up here almost every day ya know."
Satomi's interest was piqued. "Really? How Come?"
"It's the only place where I can feel at ease, where I can free my mind and just enjoy the moment, ya know." He patted Simba's head, who in turn purred. "I even met these guys up here a few months ago."
Satomi nodded while continuing to stroke the sleeping kit's fur. "They seem really taken with you."
Naruto smiled as the memory of how he met them came back to him. "Yeah. I was on my way up here when Kiara came running out of the forest and jumped on my head. Next thing I know I'm wrestling to get her off of me." He chuckled at that. "Simba and Nala came running out after that and they almost bit my head off because they thought I was gonna hurt Kiara. After I got her off me, I resumed my walk and they followed me. It continued like that every day where they'd follow me and I just got used to it."
"Did they come with those names or did you name them?"
"I named them. There was this old cartoon I was watching about lions. It was really cool, so I decided to name them after my favorite characters."
"Oh. I'm guessing Simba and Nala were parents in the cartoon and Kiara was their cub."
Naruto looked at Satomi. "Yeah. It's a long story that has Simba's father getting killed by his uncle and Simba running away cause his uncle blamed the death on him. It's too much to get into, but if you want to, we could watch it sometime."
Satomi thought about it for a few moments before agreeing. "Yeah, sure. Just tell me when."
Naruto, still lying down gave her a nod. "Will do. So how about you. Any cartoons you like to watch?"
"Yeah. There was this one about Dragons and Vikings that I really loved watching." Without realizing it, Satomi found herself really getting into the conversation. "I can't remember what it was called but it had this little shrimp of a Viking wanting to prove himself to his father by killing a dragon. I don't remember much of it but I do remember that at the end he ended up losing one of his legs and had to get a prosthetic. It was really cool."
"No way!" Naruto sat up facing Satomi. "I know that one. What was it again." He began thinking. "C'mon, c'mon, I know this one." He started comically hitting his head before a light bulb appeared above it. "Ah-hah! How to Train Your Dragon. That's what it's called."
"Yeah. I never could remember all of that." Satomi laughed.
The two spent the next few hours just talking, joking and getting to know each other. All the while Simba and Nala were watching them while Kiara continued to snooze and snuggle in Satomi's arms.
"So, the prick figured out it was me who stink-bombed his store the day before and chased me. I led him into an alley, and just as he thought he had me. BOOM!" The blonde was using his hands to dramatize his words. "Smoke-bombs go off and he's buried up to his neck in dog-crap."
Satomi had to cover her mouth to avoid waking up the kit still sleeping in her arms. "How did you manage that one?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head while chuckling, a little embarrassed by the memory. "You don't wanna know. But let's just say the Inuzuka dogs weren't too fond of me after that."
The two kids had a good laugh at that. It didn't take long for them to calm down and once again silence overtook. They looked around and noticed how dark everything was. Even the lights in the village were sparse, with only the few night-time establishments being open.
"Woah. Time really does fly when you have fun." Naruto joked.
"Yeah, and seeing as how I have a test tomorrow, I'm gonna need all the rest I can get." Satomi stated before lightly tapping Kiara. "Hey, Kiara. It's time to wake up."
The kit stirred in response before getting up and stretching with a cute yawn. Shaking her head, she looked up and saw the new human. Yipping, she jumped up and licked Satomi's face.
Giggling in response, Satomi held off the little critter. "Okay, okay. Glad you like me too. But I'm going to have to go now."
Kiara looked sad to hear that until Satomi told her that she'd be seeing her again soon.
"So, you have a test tomorrow, huh?" Naruto asked.
Satomi nodded. "It would've been we have a test tomorrow, but something tells me you're not going to show up, same as you've been doing for the whole week." The Uchiha said while raising a critical eyebrow.
"He-he." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with a smile on his face. "Yeah, about that. I was kinda going through a rough patch and needed some time away from everything."
Even though asking him about his disappearance was her initial goal, hearing him say that with his synthetic smile plastered on his face, made her reconsider it for the time being. It was obvious that he was hiding something and even though they had made some headway in becoming friends, she didn't want to push it.
Getting up, she dusted off her pants and stretched out her sore legs from sitting so long. "Alright. So, when will you be back?"
Naruto also got up and stretched his legs. "Give me until next week. I should be back by then."
"Okay." She then turned and started walking. "I guess I'll see you around then."
Naruto and the foxes quickly fell in step with her, with the kit quickly jumping atop the girl's head and making herself comfortable. "Seems she found her new favorite bed."
Satomi reached up and rubbed one of Kiara's ears. "Seems so, but I don't mind. So why are you following me?"
"Well for one: this is the quickest path down the mountain, and two: You stalked me up here. So, it's only fair that I know where you live. A little counter-stalking, if you will."
Satomi hung her head in resignation. "You're not gonna let up on that, are you?"
"Only when you give me a reason to." The boy teased.
The girl groaned in annoyance before accepting her faith. Though she was rightfully irked by her blonde friend, the fact that she could call him a friend was enough to make it worth it.
"So, Tomato-chan. What's your house like?"
Almost worth it.
Well, there it is. The start of the new story. I love reading reviews cause it gives me an incite into what you guys think, so if you don't mind, leave me a review or ten. I don't know when I'll be able to update this, so just be patient with me, a'ight. Have a blessed day and stay healthy.