Opening his eyes Naruto had to blink several times as he saw the by now, familiar red eyes of Kyuubi staring at him. He opened his mouth but it took a moment for him to actually speak, "Morning Kyuubi…" he trailed off as he realized he had just greeted the woman whom mere days ago he had hated with a passion, and in some ways still felt resentment for what she had done to him.
Kyuubi saw the flickering emotion and lingering resentment in his eyes and felt the odd urge to flinch away from them. For a moment she was unsure what to do as this necessity of being nice was completely foreign waters to her and regardless of the fact that it would benefit her to be nice, it went against her nature. However she was able to pull herself back together and tried her best at making light of the situation, "Actually I think it's night right now. Though since you've been out of it for a while I can't be too sure."
"So how badly was I injured then?" asked Naruto, closing his eyes for a moment as he relaxed into the bed that Kyuubi had in the mindscape.
"Bad enough that you were unconscious when you first entered the mindscape," Kyuubi replied. "You have extensive damage to your body, aside from internal bleeding, you have several fractured ribs, several pieces of those fractured ribs stuck in your muscle and severe head trauma." Kyuubi gave him a cheeky grin and attempted another joke, "All together not very good."
"Yeah well, considering I was fighting another Jinchurikki, a psychotic one at that, I'll take a victory of attrition over death any day." Naruto looked up at her and favored her with a rare smile, "I have you to thank for that victory Kyuubi."
Kyuubi looked away from him as he thanked her, a light hint of pink on her cheeks; she had never had these kinds of interactions before and so it was leaving her rather flustered. Not that she would let Naruto in on that, "Actually that battle was almost all you. I just helped at the end… as well as re-grew your entire arm."
Naruto grimaced as phantom pain hit his arm, "I don't ever want to experience that again."
"Then you'll need to get stronger, because there are tons of people stronger then Gaara out there." She gave Naruto a pointed look,"To be honest you can consider yourself extremely lucky to have even beaten him at all. Had he used his Bijuu's chakra I doubt you would have won."
"I know," Naruto sighed, he could not deny that his win was a combination of luck and sheer stubborn determination. He looked at Kyuubi, "you still up for helping me?"
"I'd better be," Kyuubi replied with something akin to a half smirk/ half smile. "My continued survival depends on you, so if I don't make you as strong as possible than that leaves me in a dangerous situation."She looked away from Naruto with a small frown, "despite the fact that I am stuck in here I have no desire to die."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "well thanks I guess, even though your doing this for selfish reasons, it will at least still make me strong." He watched her eyes shift and noticed a small flicker of emotion, for a second she had looked oddly vulnerable. It was gone a moment later but he had managed to catch it and remembered that he had been going to at least try and make an attempt at being cordial.
"I do appreciate your help," Kyuubi looked back at him and he gave her a tired smile, "With your help I'll be kicking ass and taking names in no time…"
Kyuubi watched Naruto as his eyes closed, his breathing evened out and he eventually went back to sleep. She stared at him for several minutes before tentatively scooting closer to where the blond lay. It was several more minutes after that before she reached out with a hand and began to gently run it through the blonds hair.
It's surprisingly soft, Kyuubi thought with an odd sense of wonder. When she had said she never touched a human before, while it may have been an exageration, she had been partly truthful. Prior to the first several years of her life when she had first created the body she was in now, she had never allowed a human to touch her. However, his hair felt oddly different from that of other humans she had touched to sate her curiosity of the creatures when she had first awoken, it feels a lot like my fur…
She stopped for a moment and withdrew her hand, fearing she had woken him when Naruto sucked in a breath. However after several seconds he released it and his breathing evened out. Sighing in relief she went back to her ministration of gently combing her hand through his hair.
The Yondaime Kazekage stood at the designated meeting place where he listened to a report given by one of Orochimaru's henchmen. As much as it disgusted him to side with that snake, he knew that he could not beat Konoha on his own. And so he allied himself with Orochimaru, and suffered through the reports he received as well as the Snake Sannin himself constantly berating and insulting him with that silver tongue of his. However as he listened the last part of the report he became startled.
"You mean to tell me Gaara lost! To a Genin!"
The one who was speaking to him, a young teen with white hair, brown eyes and two red dots on his forehead nodded. "It seems this boy, one Uzumaki Naruto, managed to surprise your son and use a powerful Katon jutsu of some kind of turn his sand armor into glass. It trapped him inside and allowed the boy to win in the preliminaries."
The Kazekage scowled as he thought of what this would, "If Gaara lost then I doubt there is any hope for us to defeat Konoha, especially if he was defeated by a mere Genin."
The plan would also be ruined now the Kazekage realized. The whole plan had hindered on Gaara being in the finals and turning into his Shukaku form to give a surprise attack in the middle of the exams, smashing Konoha's main force before his and Orochimaru's men even got there, with Gaara no longer in the finals…
"Orochimaru-sama has insured me that your sons defeat was a mere fluke. A matter of surprise and luck, nothing more."
"And yet, without Gaara in the finals all of our plans are ruined," The Kazekage frowned. "There is no way for us to defeat Konoha without having Gaara in their walls to strike them by surprise."
The young teen bowed his head, "Orochimaru-sama has come up with another plan to defeat Konoha. One he believes is better than the previous one we had."
"And one that will no doubt lead to more of my shinobi's deaths," While the Kazekage saw everyone and everything as either a tool or worthless, he did understand the value of good soldiers and the need to keep them alive. And he knew that any plan that snake of a man created, would put his shinobi on the front to take more damage than the man's Oto forces.
"No, with our original plan null and void, I will not support a campaign against Konoha, unless I feel the time is right."
"I see." The teen said slowly, "That's too bad."
It happened too fast for the Kazekage to see. A flash of light and that was it before he, along with the four ANBU he had brought to guard him died.
"Kukuku…" Orochimaru chuckled as he appeared behind the fallen Kazekage, his hand holding onto the Kusanagi blade as it dripped with the blood of the Kazekage. "It's too bad he didn't agree to my new proposition, if he had, he may have lived. Still, I feel it's better this way," He looked over at his most fanatically loyal servant. "How are you holding up Kimimaro-kun?"
"I am feeling fine Orochimaru-sama," Kimimaro replied. "Kabuto-san has assured me that I will be able to take part in the coming battle."
"Good. I am pleased to see your disease is being kept in check for now. I have great need of you," Orochimaru licked his lips.
Naruto awoke to see the white tiled ceiling of a hospital. He blinked a few times as he registered where he was before scowling. "Great, I wake up only to find myself stuck in a nightmare of bland ceilings, white walls and that Kami damned smell of antiseptics."
"Well I do apologize Naruto-kun, however it was necessary for you to come here so you could be healed."
Hearing the familiar voice Naruto turned around to see Sarutobi sitting on a chair next to his bed. "I'm pleased to see you're awake, you gave us quite the scare with your performance you know."
"Ojisan…" Naruto yawned as he pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Be careful not to move too much. The doctors said you were extremely badly damaged," Sarutobi said.
Naruto looked up and grinned, "Aww! You worry too much Ojisan." The blond ignored the protests of Sarutobi as he stood up and began to stretch, "Hmmm… I'm definitely sore, it feels a lot like someone decided to smash me with the Hokage monument…" He looked over at the Hokage, "How long have I been out?"
"About two days." Sarutobi answered, watching as Naruto took off the bandages he had on, "Do you really have to take those off? You might still be injured."
Naruto chuckled, "Yeah I'm sure, I don't want to look like a mummy while I walk around Konoha. And I'm perfectly fine, a tad tender is all."
Sarutobisighed and shook his head in exasperation, but knew that trying to stop the blond was pointless and there were other things they needed to talk about. "Naruto-kun, I believe there are some things you and I need to discuss."
"Um…ok. What kind of things did you want to talk about Ojisan?" Naruto decided to play innocent. Though he had a fairly good idea on what this was about.
Sarutobi gave him a deadpan look, "I believe you know what I want to talk about Naruto-kun. I know you are more intelligent then you sometimes let on."
Naruto sighed as he sat back down on the bed, "You want to talk about me using Kyuubi's youki right?"
Sarutobi nodded, "Yes I would. I would like to know when you learned to use that chakra."
"Well, I wouldn't say I learned to use it," Naruto tapped his chin, wondering how best to broach this subject. In the end he just decided to be honest, the old Hokage had always been understanding and he was sure he would be with this too. "My beat down of Gaara was in fact the first time I had used it since Nami, er wait, that's not quite true since I had also used it against Orochimaru in the forest…Though this was the first time I used it willingly and stayed myself while using it."
"I see," Sarutobi wished he could smoke his pipe right now, but not even he could get away with smoking in a hospital. "And how were you able to channel its chakra?"
"Kyuubi gave it to me," Naruto shrugged, upon seeing the Hokage's incredulous expression Naruto blinked. "What? She did, Kyuubi and I are all cool now." He paused when he listened to that statement in his head, "well, we're not exactly cool, but were no longer at each others throats."
"Ah! I see.. Kyuubi and you are…" Sarutobi frowned as he registered the two things Naruto said. The first, Naruto said he and Kyuubi were friends now, the second… "Did you say she? As in the Kyuubi No Kitsune is a girl!"
Naruto winced and held his head for a moment as he heard Kyuubi start to yell out threats to Sarutobi, "Yes, she's a girl, and she wants me to tell you that if she hears one more sexist comment about her gender, she's going to make sure you suffer untold amounts of torment before the Shinigami comes to take you."
Sarutobi shivered a bit at the implied threat, despite the fact that there was no way for Kyuubi to do anything of the sort, "I-I see… now you said you and Kyuubi are on good terms?"
"Of course I did. We're on… cordial terms," Naruto thought of his statement for a second before nodding, "I think that's the best way of putting it."
"And how do you know Kyuubi is a she?" asked Sarutobi as he eyed the genin wearily.
Naruto chuckled, "if you had been in the seal you would not have had to ask me that. Trust me when I say that there is no way she can be anything but female. She has this human form, er, half human form that she introduced herself with when talking to me. I doubt I could find many if any woman who is more attractive than her."
As he registered his words his mind blanked for a second, despite what he had said being completely true he was surprised he had said them. Perhaps the damage from his battle with Gaara had caused a severe case of head trauma, or maybe Anko had rubbed off on him even more then he had initially thought since that sounded like something she would say.
Kyuubi, having heard what Naruto said from the seal smirked, 'why Naruto you truly know what to say to make a lady feel special…'
Naruto had to resist the rather large urge to snort, 'try not to get used to it… I doubt I'm in my right mind right now. And while I… while I won't deny that you are very physically attractive, it will take a long time before I would consider speaking of you in such an intimate manner were my currently screwed on right. It will take more the a pretty face for me to be friendly with you.'
Within the seal Kyuubi frowned for a moment. She supposed she should have expected him to give out that kind of response, it was a natural reaction people had to someone hurting them as much as she had hurt Naruto. But, 'you know I am trying to be nice to you…'
'… I know,' Naruto sighed, 'I do realize that, but you are also the cause of a lot of problems that I have no clue how to deal with right now.' He felt an odd fluctuation in his seal, it felt almost like a brief flicker of irritation and slight depression, only it was not his. However he put any thoughts on the odd sensation out of his mind for the moment.
The Hokage had to take a moment to register that new information, he decided to file it under the 'too troublesome to open' section of his brain. "How can you be sure that it's not just a trick? The Kyuubi is a malevolent and cunning being. One who nearly destroyed Konoha I might add."
Naruto shook his head, "I'm sure she's genuine." He looked over at his surrogate grandfather, "at the very least I do know that she cannot influence me due to the seal, she admitted herself, not in so many words and she was rather... erm angry at the time because of it, so I doubt she had a reason to lie. She also told me that her helping me is a matter of self-preservation, if I die she dies and she does not want to die right now… or ever for that matter."
"I see…" Sarutobi trailed off as he began to think on what he had just heard.
'Naruto…' Kyuubi's voice came in tentatively.
Naruto blinked at the odd tone she used, 'yes Kyuubi?'
'I… look, tell your Hokage that my attack…' Kyuubi paused and Naruto had a feeling she was trying to admit to something that she was either ashamed of or did not want getting out. His thoughts were confirmed a moment later when she spoke again, 'tell him that my attack was not of my own making.'
'Not of your own making?' asked Naruto in a tone laced with curiosity, 'what do you mean 'not of your own making'?'
'Look I… that attack was not my handiwork. Remember what I told you, I may not like humans, but I don't care for bringing myself to kill them. It's simply beneath me to even bother with such a thing.'
'So you're saying someone else attacked Konoha?' Naruto asked incredulously, 'and what, you just happened to be there and knocked over a few buildings, killed a few hundred people?'
Kyuubi growled at the blond, 'look! It wasn't my fault! I was under a…' Naruto heard a sigh from the mindscape before the red head started in a softer voice, 'I was not in control of my actions at the time ok? There was… someone who was capable of casting a high level genjutsu that controlled my actions.'
Naruto put a thoughtful frown on his face as he listened to Kyuubi's defense about her actions. It took him a minute to formulate a response and when he did his answer surprised him, 'I believe you.'
'You do?' asked Kyuubi who was also surprised, even more so than the blond who said it.
'Yes,' Naruto thought about his reasoning before giving out more information, 'honestly your attack never really made sense. I mean, I sort of just assumed that Bijuu were simply mindless beasts, but your obvious not…' he paused and this time he could clearly feel Kyuubi's shock through the seal, he wondered on that for a moment before shaking his head and getting back on track. 'So given what you've told me it only makes sense.'
For a long moment Naruto did not hear anything from the vixen in his head. He was about to talk to Sarutobi and inform him of what he knew when, '…thank you.'
'You're welcome,' Naruto responded.
"Ojisan," Naruto said, getting the aging Hokage to shake his thoughts away and focus on the young blond before him.
"Yes Naruto-kun?"
"I believe this may help you come to better terms with what I told you already. Kyuubi was not responsible for the night of the attack; I guess you could say she was not herself."
"Wasn't herself?" Sarutobi questioned. "What do you mean wasn't herself?" He watched as Naruto's eyes glazed over for a moment. He must be speaking with the Kyuubi, the old Hokage reasoned.
"She said it's ok to tell you. During her attack on Konoha, someone had cast a high level genjutsu that even she couldn't break out of and controlled her." Naruto shrugged, "I don't know who since she won't tell me, but apparently that attack wasn't really her fault. Kyuubi is of the belief that slaughtering a village of humans is a task that is beneath her, something that she would not do simply because she is a being of higher power and not one who would give into their baser instincts."
What he says would make sense, Sarutobi's hand twitched as he wished for his pipe. I have always wondered what had happened that night. With Minato there, there should have been no issue with the Kyuubi breaking free. Which means someone had to have released the Kyuubi, and I doubt they would have done that unless they were sure they could control it… her. Still this new information of Kyuubi being a female and not evil, or at least as evil as we were all led to believe is a contradiction to what I had been told. Mito-sama always said the Kyuubi was a hateful creature. Then again, I can't really imagine a being like Kyuubi attacking for no reason, especially if what Naruto says about 'her' general countenance towards humans is true.
He looked over at Naruto, In any event Naruto does not seem to be under any influence from the Kyuubi and Jiraiya said the seal was working perfectly when he checked it yesterday. In the end I will need to trust Naruto's judgment in this matter, since there is really nothing else I can do.
"Ojisan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, waving a hand in front of the Hokage's face, "You're still there right?"
"Huh? Oh yes Naruto-kun. I apologize, I was thinking for a moment," Sarutobi said.
"Riiiight." Naruto drawled out as he gave the venerable old man a smirk, "You do know that spacing out like that is a sign of old age? You might want to be careful."
"This coming from the one who continuously calls me old man, I would think that it wouldn't matter since you'll just call me out on being old anyways,"Sarutobi shot back.
"Touché." Naruto grinned, "So can I go now. I really want to get back to my shitty ass apartment so I can lie in my own crap bed, rather than the hospital ones."
"I doubt I could keep you here even if I tried," Sarutobi replied in an amused tone. "Go on, you're free to leave. Oh! Before I forget!" Naruto stopped to changing into the clothes that had been set out for him to look at Sarutobi, "You will be facing Hyuuga Neji in the first round of the finals."
Naruto looked at Sarutobi and grinned, "Well that's nice. I wanted to kick that fate loving prick's ass anyway. I'll need to get in some good training then. Do you know where Kakashi-sensei is?"
Sarutobi shook his head, "I believe he went off to train Sasuke for the finals. However he did tell me to give you this." The Hokage took out a scroll from his robe and tossed it to him.
Naruto caught the scroll and looked at it for a second, before pocketing it, "Is there anything else I should know?"
The Sandaime Hokage smiled at him, "Yes there is. You had several visitors come to see you."
"Really? Who?" Naruto asked as he put on a large white shirt several sizes too large for him.
"Higarashi Tenten was one of them," Sarutobi rubbed his chin. "Most of the rookies who fought in the Preliminaries came to see you, and surprisingly you had a visitor from Kumo, a blond kunoichi by the name of Nii Yugito who made it to the finals." The old Hokage frowned thoughtfully at that, he could not help but wonder what Kumo's Jinchuuriki would want with Naruto, given that village's attempted kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata during the treaty signing he was feeling weary of letting that woman near the whiskered blond.
Naruto smiled at hearing all the people in his class had come to see him; however he was confused as to why Yugito had come.
Well she is a Jinchuuriki, so maybe she just wanted to talk, he shrugged the thought off for now. "Thanks for telling me Ojisan. Since I'm still kind of sore, I'll visit them today rather than start training."
"I think that's a good idea Naruto-kun." Sarutobi agreed, "Also you might want to check out the hot springs on one of your days off. I believe it would prove to be beneficial for you."
Naruto blinked for a moment as he sensed some kind of hidden meaning there, but shrugged it off quickly enough, "Thanks for the advice, maybe I will pay it a visit."
Sarutobi watched the blond go and shook his head, The things you get into Naruto-kun…I swear you're giving me more gray hairs than my grandson.
Walking into the Higarashi weapons store, Naruto plastered a grin on face. He looked around to see that Kaito was manning the shop today, meaning Tenten was probably out training. "Ohoyo Kaito-san!" he greeted.
Kaito looked up from the weapon designs his daughter had been making and smiled when he saw Naruto. "Ohoyo Naruto-san, I was wondering when you'd come into my shop," As the boy walked over he got a better look at him. "I guess Tenten wasn't exaggerating when she said you had quite the transformation, you look quite different."
"Yeah…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "As you can see I'm in need of some new clothes, my old ones no longer fit."
"So I noticed," Kaito said dryly as Naruto made a clone and had it start grabbing clothes. "You know, my daughter was awfully worried about you. She said you injured yourself pretty badly when you fought in the Preliminaries." Kaito watched the clone grab a bunch of clothes for Naruto to try on, "She's pretty mad at you too."
Naruto shivered a bit as his clone brought him some clothes, "I'll try to find some peace offering to appease her then. Maybe a really expensive kunai set."
Kaito laughed as Naruto made his way to the changing room, sighing the blond looked at the clothes he had set down and began to try on different kinds. Eventually he decided to go with a pair of black pants with white wrap around bandages, a black long sleeve shirt, a new pair black shinobi sandals and a black cloak like the one he had before, except this one had dark red flames lining the bottom. As he walked back out Naruto spotted something else he felt might be interesting to add to his attire and grabbed it as well.
He grabbed several more pairs of clothing before bringing them to the register, "Hey Kaito-san, I was wondering if you had any fingerless gloves in the color orange?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow at the odd request before nodding, "We do have a few…" He went into the back of the store before coming out with a box. "I had another customer who seemed to have the same fetish for orange as you, so I used to have these custom made for her."
Naruto looked at the orange fingerless gloves. They had a metal plate on the back as a guard, however, where most of the plates had a Konoha symbol, these ones didn't. Instead they had the swirl that was shown on the Chunin and Joninflak jackets. He picked one up before putting it on, clenching and un-clenching his fist to get a feel for the gloves.
"They're perfect," Naruto grinned as he squeezed and flexed his hand.
"I thought you might like them," Kaito smiled at the blond staring at the gloves in fascination and joy.
Your mother loved them after all; He shook the errant thought away as he rang Naruto up. "Your total comes to 5,000 yen."
Naruto unsealed Gama-chan and took out the necessary money, "Thanks for the clothes. If you see Tenten tell her I'm out of the hospital."
"Got it!" Kaito gave Naruto a wave as he left the store.
After getting a clone to send his clothes back home Naruto went to pick up some Ichiraku's where he had an interesting encounter with Ayame, who he had caught drooling when she was looking at him. When he finished the blond left and wandered around town trying to figure out what to do today, all the while dutifully ignoring the stares sent his way.
I can't train today since I'm still kind of sore, I suppose I could visit Tenten but I kind of want to hold off on her trying to turn me into a human pincushion for as long as I can.Naruto sighed, What to do, what to do…
'Naruto, why don't you go visit that Yugito girl,' Kyuubi suggested her vessel.
'You mean the Kumo Jinchuuriki?' Naruto asked. 'I suppose I could, though I have no clue where she is,' He sighed. That meant he would have to ask around.
He walked into an alley and created a few clones which immediately Henge'd into random villagers. Already knowing what Naruto wanted, they immediately set off and began searching the area. Hopping onto the roof, the blond took off towards his apartment where he could rest until his clones told him where Yugito was.
While Naruto was out searching for Kumo's Jinchuuriki, things were nowhere near as pleasant with one Rock Lee who was being used as target practice by a very angry weapons user.
"Tenten-san! Must you be so angry and un-youthful!" Lee squeaked out as he dodged more kunai that the bun haired girl sent at him.
It had been like this since the end to the preliminaries. After Naruto's battle with Gaara, Tenten had been doing one of two things, visiting Naruto at the hospital or using Lee and Neji for target practice.
"Grrr! That jerk! Does he even know how worried I was!" Tenten showered the area Lee was in with kunai and shuriken, forcing the bowl cut boy to dodge and run even more. "He keeps taking so many risks! Does he know how much it freaked me out when he lost that arm! Stupid men, and their pig headedness!"
"Tenten-san I know you *Dodges several dozen shuriken* are upset with our *back flips several times to avoid a dozen kunai* most youthful comrade Naruto. But *Ducks a kitchen sink that Tenten picked up from somewhere* if you keep up this un-youthful act then your flames of youth will diminish!"
Lee was forced to hide behind a rock as Tenten pulled out two of her scrolls and used her Soushouryuu (Twin Rising Dragons) to launch Kami-only knew how many weapons at Lee.
Over on the sidelines Neji watched Lee being used for target practice with a frown. His mind was on the battle Naruto had with Gaara and that strange chakra he had used. That was definitely not normal chakra the blond had used, he had seen it originate from the blonde's stomach, definitely not where normal chakra comes from. But then, I wonder what it was?
"Tenten-san you must cease this action before your flames of youth die out!"
Neji sighed as he stood up. He was fighting Naruto in the finals first, even if he did not want to admit it, he needed to start training.
Naruto walked down the hall of the hotel that he had heard Yugito was staying in, stopping at room 209 where he knocked on the door. He heard some feet shuffling as well as a bang and a muffled curse, causing him to snicker a bit. The door opened and Yugito stepped out wearing nothing but a set of robes, with her hair still wet from having obviously just come out of the shower a few minutes ago.
The two stared at each other for a second, and Naruto let his eyes wander up and down her form for a moment. Following the perfect curves and contours of Yugito's body that was lithe with a thin waist and toned stomach, yet managed to retain the full form of a woman, which was easily noticeable by her nice sized and firm hips as well as her C to D cup chest. Naruto was beginning to get the feeling that this body type was something all high level kunoichi possessed. It was then that he realized what he was doing, making him blush and look away, "I-is this a bad time?"
Yugito blinked before she recognized who was in the doorway. She noticed his eyes wandering her body and looked down to see she that her robe did little to hide her figure, yet to Naruto's surprise she just smiled and gestured for him to come in. "Not at all Naruto-kun, why don't you come on in. I was just about to make some tea."
Naruto-kun? The spiky haired blond asked himself in confusion, Didn't I like just meet her in the exams? Hell I don't even think I've spoken with her except that one time during the first test… Shaking the thought off the spiky haired blond walked into the hotel room and took a look around.
It was a standard two bed room living space, with a kitchen/living room combo and a single door leading to the bedroom. It was fairly bland but Naruto did not expect it to really have any kinds of home furnishings, since she did not really live there.
"Why don't you go sit on the couch while I finished getting dressed and make us some tea?" Yugito suggested, not at all bothered by the fact that she was in nothing more than a robe.
A robe that does so little to hide her figure…Naruto gulped as he responded with, "Y-yeah, ok."
He walked further into the apartment and sat down on the leather sofa while Yugito left to get dressed. He closed his eyes for a while and attempted to work on some breathing exercises while he waited, in the hopes that it would help keep away his hormone induced thoughts.
"Here you go."
Naruto opened his eyes several minutes later to see Yugito wearing a pair of loose fitting pants and a shirt, holding a cup of hot tea out to him with a small smile. He gave her a smile in return as he accepted the drink, "Thank you." He took a sip of the tea, knowing that even if it was poisoned it wouldn't work on him.
"So how are you feeling?" Yugito asked as she sat down on the sofa next to him, surprising Naruto when she sat close enough that their arms were lightly touching. "You were pretty injured from your battle with Gaara."
Naruto grinned as he set the cup down, "It will take far more then something like that to bring me down!" He paused for a moment and grimaced, "Though I really hope I don't lose an arm like that again…" He paused when he heard Yugito giggle, "I heard you visited me in the hospital."
Yugito blushed a tad but nodded, "Hai, I did. After seeing your battle I wanted to make sure you were alright, especially after you helped my friend Ayako after her battle. Had you not, that Hyuga Genin would have probably killed her."
"There's no need to thank me for something like that," Naruto gave an off handed shrug. "I could never really stand Neji, or his attitude, or those ten foot metal poles he has shoved up his ass." He grinned when Yugito let out a soft giggle, "And seeing him willing to go so far to injure another person in what should be a friendly competition really set me off. I could never stand people who were willing to hold some kind of prejudice against others just because they come from another village, even if it's one that we had been enemies with at one point."
Yugito smiled at him, "Well I thank you all the same. You strike me as a very kind person."
"I guess…" Naruto shrugged, he had never really thought himself as kind. He just did what he thought was right. He looked at her for a moment, "So was that the only reason you visited me? Because I helped your friend?"
Yugito shook her head as her smile widened, "Not at all. Actually I wanted to get to know you better, especially after seeing your fight with Gaara."
Naruto blinked for a few seconds as he processed what she was saying, "You want to get to know me?" At her nod he said, "I don't think you'll find anything very interesting about me. And I've never been that good with people."
"That wasn't the first impression I got of you," Yugito gave him an amused grin. "Not many people I know are willing to make an enemy out of everyone by threatening to beat them up in the first stage of such an important exam. Nor would they so blatantly insult one of said exam's proctors."
"Hehehe," Naruto scratched the back of his head as he grinned, "I suppose that's true. But…"
Yugito shook her head, "You know, despite that over confident attitude of yours, you're actually very modest. I can tell just from your battle with Gaara that you're fairly strong, especially for your age. Not only that but you're a very kind person, not many people would protect a complete stranger from another village like you did just because it's the right thing to do. Plus the fact that you're a Jinchuuriki makes you even more interesting. I think it's only natural that I want to get to know you better."
Naruto chuckled, "I should have figured you'd know I was a Jinchuuriki, seeing as you hold the Nibi." He noticed Yugito grin, "So…what did you want to know?"
"I really just want to know more about you," Yugito replied with a soft smile. "It's never easy growing up as a Jinchuuriki. Even in Kumo where we're now held in reverence as guardians it has been and in some ways still is hard."
Naruto's smile faded a bit as he tilted his head at the blond woman, "That's true. I suppose I can tell you a bit about myself." A mischievous smile came to his face, "However you have to tell me about yourself as well."
Yugito returned his grin with a smile, "I was planning on it."
Naruto had spent nearly the rest of the day with Yugito, just sitting and conversing with her about their lives. Turned out his original assumption was correct, Yugito was four years older than he was. Naruto was pleasantly surprised to find out that Yugito could relate to him on some levels. Like him she had not been trusted very much in Kumo until Kirabi, the other Jinchuuriki who also happened to be the current Raikage's younger brother, had managed to earn the village's trust. It was after that, that Kirabi and by proxy her, started to become looked upon as Kumo's protectors; the village had even gone so far as to give Kirabi the title of 'Guardian of Kumo.'
It also helped that Yugito held onto the firm belief that loyalty towards your friends and village were the most important things for a ninja to have. She was also supremely confident in her own abilities, not in an arrogant way that most of the genin in exams had been, but in the kind gained from hard work and experience.
He also could not help but smile when Yugito told him not to give up on the village, believing that he could change the people's minds and hearts about him the same way Kirabi did. It was rather heartfelt and kind of reminded him of when Haku had told him she believed he could do it.
He felt it odd that, even though being with Yugito actually reminded him a bit about his time with Haku, that he did not feel the small flash of pain that normally accompanied the times he would speak with women. Sometimes when he was with Tenten and even Anko he had felt kind of like he was betraying Haku. He did not act on those feelings of course, he was tryingto move on, but he still could not help but feel that way. That he did not feel like this with Yugito, whom he had just met and only spoke with on one occasion not counting today was odd, though he chalked it up to the similarities the blond woman had to him.
"So you were a prankster when you were younger?" Yugito asked, amused but not too surprised to hear that bit of information. Jinchuuriki lived fairly lonely existences, it was natural they would find a coping mechanism, lest they become like that Gaara character and go insane. Kirabi had found his in his rapping, and she had found hers in her work and a few other hobbies; so hearing another found them in pranks and goofing off was not a surprise.
Naruto chuckled, "I wasn't just a prankster Yugito, I was an absolute horror and complete menace to society. I remember causing so many problems around the village, most of the time I would prank the people who would deny me at their stores, or overcharge me for food. Which, to be honest, is like ninety nine percent of the stores, shops and restaurants in the village. I would do things like put scents that attracted cockroaches into the restaurants, or dye a clothing store's entire stock hot pink or bright orange. And then when the ANBU came running to find out what the cause was I would reveal myself and take them on a merry little chase all around the village, running down areas that I had loaded with traps beforehand. I guess it was my way of trying to gain the villagers' attention, because even bad attention is better than none at all."
Yugito smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You'll get their acknowledgement soon Naruto-kun. You just have to believe you can do it." She looked at Naruto for a few seconds before speaking again, "Kirabi had it pretty rough too. I wasn't even around when it was really bad for him, but I remember him telling me about some of it. How he could not buy in stores without being overpriced, how people would often insult and spit at him as he passed. I even remember hearing about an incident where his best friend tried to kill him. He got through all of that and is now Kumo most loved individual." The blond woman gave Naruto a grin, "and trust me, if he can do it than I'm positive you can."
"Thanks…" Naruto said, he was not one hundred percent sure if he believed that, but he knew it was something he would never stop striving for, if for no other reason than to spite those who did not believe he could. "Its kind odd to hear someone I just met encouraging me, but it really does make me feel better, especially since you can relate."
"Your most welcome," Yugito replied, her smile never leaving her face. "And you don't need to thank me, I'm always willing to help someone as cute as you."
Naruto sputtered a bit as he blushed, "I-I'm not cute! New born puppies are cute. Kittens are cute. I'm a guy, guys are not cute!"
Yugito just gave him a feral grin, "Oh, don't be like that. It was a compliment."
Naruto crossed his arms and gave her a petulant pout, "It would be a compliment if I wasn't a dude. Can't you say I'm sexy or devilishly handsome, or perhaps make a comment on my charm and roguish good looks? Anything along those lines would be fine, just not cute."
"Well I could…" Yugito shrugged as she continued to smile at him, "But then I'd be lying."
Naruto sniffed as he wiped a fake tear out of his eyes, "That's harsh Yugi-chan, very harsh."
Yugito's smile just increased; pleased to hear the new nickname she had received so soon after meeting Naruto, especially since she doubted he even realized he had given her the nickname. She had a feeling that he would bond with her quickly. Naruto, she had realized was not only a nice person, but was also lonely and so he would always want to make new friends. It also helped that they were both Jinchuuriki and she could understand him better than most people.
Naruto looked over at the clock and saw that it was getting late, "Looks like I'd better go." He stood up and Yugito followed suit, walking him towards the door.
Looking over at the blond woman Naruto gave her a smile, "You know I had pretty good time tonight."
"Likewise," Yugito smiled softly at him, "If you would like, perhaps when we have a break from our respective training we can do something a little more active."
Naruto blushed as his mind immediately went down the gutter and held his nose to keep from passing out. Yugito noticed this and laughed, "I didn't mean it like that! Really Naruto-kun, you're such a pervert."
"I'm not a pervert." Naruto defended, "I just…have a healthy amount of…admiration for the female figure…" He sighed as he could tell she was not buying it, "I blame Anko…"
In a small dango stand Anko sneezed all over her dango, and began to swear and curse, promising to castrate who ever made her sneeze on her precious dango.
All of the men who were near the women began to back away in fear as they held onto their junk.
Naruto shivered as he felt the desire to run and hide in a corner somewhere.
"Anko? Wasn't that the proctor of the second stage for the Chunin Exams?" Yugito placed a face to the name, "You did seem awfully close to her. But I don't see how you can blame being a pervert on her?"
"You don't know her like I do," Naruto shuddered. "Besides, you should have figured out from her general lack of clothing that she's rather open about her sexuality. I remember she was the one who gave me the 'birds and the bees' talk."
Yugito raised an eyebrow as Naruto began shivering uncontrollably, "Was it really that bad?"
"You ever hear of the Icha Icha series?" asked Naruto, getting a nod from Yugito. "I remember when I mentioned that I didn't know about sex or reproduction she had taken it upon herself to teach me. Really all she did was kidnap me in the middle of the night, tie me to a chair, and then she read the first three books from the Icha Icha series as well as forced me to look at the picture illustrations…I haven't been able to look at women the same since."
Not entirely sure what to say to Naruto 'tragic' experience, Yugito felt it would be wiser to simply avoid the subject in the future.
"So you were saying something about spending some time together this month?" Naruto queried, deciding he had unintentionally gave away too much information about his life issues with women.
Yugito nodded as she switched mental gears due to the change in topic, "I usually take Sundays off from any training I do so that I can rest my body. I was wondering if you would like to spend some time with me this Sunday. You could meet me here sometime during the afternoon, or perhaps I could meet you at your place."
"That sounds fun actually," Naruto said, thinking for a minute. "I'll meet you here around 12:00. Is that alright?"
"Yes that's perfect," Yugito smiled at him.
Naruto could not help but return her smile, "So what are we gonna do?"
Yugito just gave him a wink, "That is a secret."
Naruto pouted for a moment, making Yugito giggle before relenting as he knew if she was anything like the other women in his life he would never get it out of her.
"Alright. See ya Yugi-chan," Naruto waved to her as he started walking down the hall.
Yugito smiled one last time before she closed the door.
'See kitten, I told he was quite the catch.'
'Yes well, even you have to be right once in a blue moon,' Yugito could almost feel Nibi pouting, though the pout on its face would probably be more terrifying than anything.
'Now that's not very nice. When have I ever steered you wrong before?'
'How about that time you told me Jushiro was a nice catch?'
'Hey, I was just saying he was attractive!'
'What about the time you wanted me to be all over Taro?'
'I can't always know when someone's nothing more than a lecher."
'Ok then, what about the time you told me Kiza would be a nice match for me?'
'How was I supposed to know he had crabs!'
Yugito rolled her eyes, 'Whatever, I believe I've made my point, your honor, I rest my case.'
'But that's not fair kitten, you can't blame me for everything!'
'…'
'Kitten? Kitten! Are you listening to me!'
Once he had left the apartment complex, Naruto walked back home with a perplexed look on his face. Did she just ask me out on a date? I don't think I've really been doing anything differently than what I used to do. In fact, now that I think about it, I may be even more obnoxious than I was before.Naruto huffed in frustration, ignoring the looks he received. I just don't get it…
It was the oddest thing to him. Before when he was at the academy he could never have gotten a date, with anyone. Now he had just had an extremely hot older blond ask him out this Sunday. Really it was the most perplexing thing.
Of course, he had only ever asked Sakura out, so maybe that had something to do with it. Though he was not sure any of the other girls would have gone out with him either, they had all been completely stuck on Sasuke even though he had never shown any interest in them. Maybe it was just the girls in Konoha who he could not get, after all he and Haku had gotten together pretty fast.
He winced a moment as he thought of Haku, and then this date he was going to be going on Sunday. For a brief moment he felt like he was betraying her. However he ruthlessly squashed the feeling before it could take hold. He knew for a fact that she would beat the crap out of him if he let her death get the best of him, so he would do his best move on; move on but never forget.
And perhaps going on a date with Yugito would actually help with that, after all she was nice, understood where he was coming from and she extremely attractive, easily drool worthy in his humble opinion.
'You just haven't noticed how much you've changed Naruto,' Kyuubi commented from within his mind as she brushed her tails. She saw the memory and the brief flash of pain from his memory and in the interested of keeping her vessel from becoming weak, felt it best if she steer his thoughts away from where they had been going.
'Your personality might not have shifted too much from who you were originally, but you're a lot more mature now than you had been. You also don't go screaming about ramen and Hokage every chance you get, and can have a serious discussion when needed.' Kyuubi paused for a second before adding another comment almost as an after thought, 'It also helps that you've become quite fetching.'
Naruto paused in his thoughts as he heard Kyuubi, and had to resist laughing when he heard the word she had used, 'Did you just say fetching? Seriously? What kind ass backwards word is that?'
'Oh shut up!' Kyuubi hmphed, blushing a bit as she used a word she had not heard in nearly a thousand years. A part of her could not believe she had actually used a word that had not been used in such a way in so long, 'So I sometimes talk old school…'
'You mean really old school. I don't think I've ever heard someone say someone else is 'fetching'. And considering that I've had to spend years listening to the ramblings of the Uchiha Sasuke fan club go on about how great the teme is all throughout the academy, that's quite the accomplishment.' Naruto chuckled a bit, 'it's also kind of interesting since if didn't know any better, I would say you just called told me I'm handsome… or something like that.'
Kyuubi took a long moment to register the blond's words, and when she did she felt pale as she realized she had just complimented him. However just because she may have said something like that does not mean he could get away with mentioning it, 'Naruto, am I going to have to cut off the circulation to your male anatomy?'
Naruto paled, 'N-no Kyuubi, s-sorry. I was just joking.' He still did not know if she could do that, but considering she lived inside of him… sort of, he did not want to take the chance that it was real.
'Remember, think before you speak Naruto,' Kyuubi admonished in a somewhat ominous tone.
Naruto sweatdropped, 'Right…' the blond walked up the stairs to his apartment building and over to his room number, however when he found his door he also found a surprise waiting for him.
"Ten-chan?" Naruto questioned as he saw Tenten standing on his doorway, hands on her hips and what he had come to recognize as a bad look for any female to have, especially when it's directed at you. "Uhh…is there a problem Ten-chan?"
"Is there a problem?" Tenten asked with a sweet smile that screamed danger. "Oh no, there's no problem, only that you got your arm cut off and nearly killed!" She finished in a yell as she stalked towards him.
Naruto immediately began to back up in fear, "Damn it Naruto! Do you know how incredibly reckless that fight of yours was! I nearly had a heart attack from half the shit you pulled! Getting yourself smacked around like that! Not stopping the fight after your whole ARM IS RIPPED OFF! If you ever and I mean ever do something like that again I will nail you to a wall and shove a rusty kunai so far up your ass you won't be able to sit for a week!"
By this point Naruto was cowering from the bun haired girl who seemed to have fire surrounding her, and several demonic figures standing behind her, glowering at him. "T-Ten-chan, I-I couldn't just back down from a fight!"
"So you battle until you get your arm ripped off!" Tenten's eyes twitched, "Do you know how stupid that sounds! You nearly died!"
"Yeah but I didn't," Naruto defended himself. "Look, I know you were worried about me, and I am sorry for worrying you. But you can't just tell me to quit when shit hits the fan. I'm not the kind of person to do that."
"I know that but…" Tenten bit her lower lip, "I can't help but worry about you Naruto-kun. You were so reckless back there. The next time you might not be as lucky and just lose an arm, you could die."
"Wow you're calling losing an arm lucky," Naruto grinned as he tried to lighten the situation. It dropped a second later when he saw that she looked ready to actually follow through with her threat, "I doubt losing an arm could be considered lucky. I don't think anyone else would have been able to survive after something like that…at least not with their shinobi career still intact."
"That's definitely true." Tenten snorted, before looking at him curiously, "Just how did you re-grow your arm anyway?"
"Uh, uh, uh." Naruto wagged a finger back and forth chidingly, "That's a trade secret my dear. Can't have other shinobi taking my special techniques now can I?"
'Not that they'd be able to even if they knew how it was done.' Kyuubi piped up, 'And it's my technique not yours.'
'Yeah, but she doesn't know about you. You can't expect me to just come out and say 'well you see it's all because I have the most powerful demon sealed in my gut, you know, the one who nearly destroyed Konoha. But don't worry she's actually not half bad, in fact you might like her.' can you?'
Kyuubi hmphed, 'Well I suppose you do have a valid point.'
'Of course I do.' Then he remembered that Kyuubi was trying to get along with him and added, 'But don't worry, I know just how much you do for me, and you know I appreciate it.'
Naruto felt an odd warmth originating from his seal, 'You're such a charmer Naruto-kun.'
The odd thing about her statement was she was actually being somewhat honest, even if she spoke in the same flirty way she had used to enthrall other males. It was odd because they were so different from any thoughts she held previously about the blond or anyone else, and it was still taking some time for her to understand and come to terms with the changes she was feeling.
Feeling the desire to get the last word in Naruto said, 'I aim to please.'
Tenten pouted at not being told how he could grow an arm back like it was nothing. She was sure that not even Tsunade knew how to do that! Though it did not seem like a medical jutsu.
She shook her head, "Whatever, just promise me you'll be more careful?"
Naruto grinned, "I'll do my best." She narrowed her eyes at him and he immediately sought to placate her, "Look, I can't make that promise, sometimes risks have to be taken to accomplish goals or complete missions. However I promise to do my best not to take too many risks."
"I suppose that's all I can hope for…" Tenten sighed.
"Sorry," Naruto apologized, not liking seeing one of his precious people hurt, but knowing it was better than making a promise he could not keep. "I know it's not what you wanted," He gave her a smile. "Though I am grateful to know that you care about me so much."
Tenten blushed, "O-of course I care about you baka. If I didn't who would?"
"Of course," Naruto chuckled; he stopped and looked at her. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about…you know besides chewing my ass out for being a danger to myself and an in general ass for not taking the feelings of you and others into consideration."
Tenten glared at him for chewing out comment before shaking her head, "No…that's all I wanted to talk to you about…"
Naruto frowned for a moment before smiling, "Ok then, it's getting pretty late so I'll see you later 'kay Ten-chan?"
"…Ok." Tenten watched as Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment and bit her lip, "Wait!"
Naruto turned around to see Tenten staring at him, her face extremely red, "Yes? Are you ok Ten-chan? Your face is really red?" Tenten 'eeped' as Naruto leaned in to look at her face, coming so close their noses were almost touching.
"I-I'm fine," She backed away a bit.
"If you say so," Naruto shrugged after looking at her for a few moments, "So you had something else you wanted to say"
"Well I…I um…was just wondering if…" Naruto frowned as Tenten began to stutter, he had never seen her look so unsure of herself before.
"Are you sure you're ok? You seem really out of it," Naruto said as he looked at her with concern.
Tenten couldn't but squirm a bit under Naruto's gaze, "Yes, I'm fine. I-I just wanted to…to ask you something…"
"Oh, well ask away." Naruto gave the bun haired girl a smile, "You know you can always talk to me about stuff. So what did you want to ask me?"
"I wanted to ask…" Tenten sighed as she worked up her courage. She had never done what she was about to do before, so it was rather difficult. It also didn't help that she had first thought she would be asking Neji to do this with her, not someone she had met six months ago. Taking a deep breath she plunged on, "I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out to dinner with me?"
"Dinner? As in a date?" asked Naruto, blinking a few times as he tried to understand what she was saying.
"O-of course not. I-I mean, I-it doesn't have to be." Tenten hurried to say, "I mean it can just be a dinner between two friends! I mean dating is uh…uh…"
"Tenten," Naruto interrupted the girl. Seriously how did this happen? This is like two dates in one night! Am I really that much more desirable now than I was in the academy?
He frowned for a moment as he thought about what he should do. It's not that he didn't want to go on a date with her, but there were a few things that prevented him from outright accepting. The first excuse was Haku of course, but he could keep thoughts of her from interfering with his daily life and knew if it was just that he would not have a problem. No the main problem was that he was unsure if any of the restaurants would let him eat at their establishment.
However as he looked at her worried face he knew that he would not be able to turn her down. "I would be more than happy to take you out to dinner," He gave her a soft smile.
"Really?"Tenten's relief became obvious when she suddenly gave him a brilliant smile and all the tension seemed to melt away. "Ok then, does this Friday sound good to you?"
Naruto thought for a moment, it wouldn't really cut into his training since by that point he would really just meditate while his clones dispersed. He gave her a smile, "Friday would work perfectly, what time would you like me to pick you up? And do you have a specific place you would like to go?"
"7:00 is a good time for me, that way I can get washed up after my training. I know this small time restaurant that just opened up a little over a month ago that I wanted to check out."
"Well alright then! It's a date!" Naruto gave her a grin so large his eyes squinted, making him look like a fox.
"Ok…a date," Tenten smiled, before her eyes widened. "Oh No! I left the shop unmanned! Oh! Tou-san's gonna kill me! I'll see you later Naruto-kun!"
Naruto watched as the bunhairedgirl ran off. He shook his head a few times before he smiled, Things are definitely getting interesting around here. Two dates in one day…what the fuck?
Entering his house Naruto got ready for bed, brushing his teeth, getting out of the hospital clothes before finally passing out on his bed, knowing he would need all the rest he could get for the coming month.
Omake: The Birds and the Bees with Anko
Anko snickered as she picked the lock for Naruto's apartment, grinning in satisfaction when she heard it click open. Using the stealth skills only a kunoichi at her level had, she snuck into the blonde's bedroom.
Anko made her way over to the bed, where Naruto was sleeping, mumbling about swimming in a pool of ramen. The snake mistress shook her head; this kid had the oddest dreams. She leaned down to pick him up however Naruto must have heard her, because his eyes suddenly opened.
"What the…hel…" He couldn't finish his sentence since Anko hit him in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.
Grinning like a mad woman she hefted him over her shoulder and left the apartment.
Naruto awoke with a slight groan; smacking his lips he lifted his arms over his head to stretch the odd soreness out of his neck.
Or at least he tried to.
When he felt his arms being strained against something he snapped his eyes open, Naruto looked down and saw that he was tied to a chair. "No wonder I've got this friggin creak in my neck!" He looked around and noticed the unfamiliar room. "How the hell did I get here?"
His wonderings were cut off when the door to his left opened. "Good morning gaki!" Anko greeted with a cheerful smile as she walked in, munching on some dango with one hand while holding a small orange book in the other.
"Anko-nee-chan?" Naruto questioned, "What the hell! You're the one who tied me up!"
"Oh don't be like that gaki," Anko pouted a bit. "I'm only doing this to help you."
"How does tying me up help me!" Naruto shouted as he struggled and tried to escape.
Anko grinned as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him, "Well, I figured I would give you a special lesson today, and I don't want you running away from me."
Naruto stopped and looked at her wearily, anything that she called special was usually something to be avoided at all costs; it was simply safer that way…less painful too. "A special lesson?"
"That's right!" The Tokabetsu Jonin chirped, "Today you're going to learn about the Birds and the Bees, Anko-style!"
"Birds? Bees?" Naruto tilted his head to the side with a frown. "Why the hell would I want to learn about a couple of animals?"
Anko groaned, "You really are clueless gaki. I mean sex!"
"S-sex!" Naruto squeaked, his face taking on the hue of a tomato.
"Yup! Sex, I even brought a special book to help me! Well several…but we'll be going through this one first!" Anko opened the book, which Naruto now recognized as the perverted literature that Kakashi and Sarutobi read. He immediately began to struggled, trying to free himself from his bonds. Anko noticed this and grinned as she stuffed his mouth with a sock so he could not speak, and then turned to her favorite scene.
"'Oh Nimako we can't do this! It's forbidden!' cried Kunisha.
'I know its forbidden Kunisha-chan, but that just makes me want you even more!' Nimako said as he pressed her against the wall. Kunisha tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but stopped when one of her breasts was snuggled firmly between Nimako's hands as he began to kneed her flesh. Soon her restraints crashed down and she began to moan as…'"
For the next ten hours, Naruto was subject to all of Anko's favorite sex scenes in the Icha Icha novels, irrevocably changing and corrupting Naruto's perspective on women.
It would be a month before he could look Anko in the eyes after that.