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Chapter Text

Naru awoke with a start. She pulled her sleeping cap off her short blonde hair and yawned. She’d had that damn dream again. The same one as always.

She was some old man, and she was dying, and… she agreed to start over?

She shook her head clear. She wasn’t some old guy. She was a twelve year old girl. She was a Kunoichi, and she was a Genin. A totally kick ass one at that! She grinned at herself in the mirror, her blue eyes bright, even though she’d just woken up. She pulled on her orange tracksuit bottoms, a black tank, and her usual orange jacket over the top. she always left it unzipped nowadays, cause she wore her headband as a choker. it made more sense to her that way. Everyone always told her she had a thick skull, but no bones protected her veins in her neck. She pulled on her sandals and decided to go get some ramen for breakfast.

She’d barely made it halfway down the street before she was accosted by three kids. Konohamaru's little gang. She grinned.

“Naru-Sempai! Naru-Sempai! What are you gonna do today?” The honourable grandson asked, grabbing her arm and jumping up and down.

“Well I’m gonna grab some breakfast, then I have to meet with Kakashi-Sensei. Would you like to come get food with me?” she offered. All three looked thrilled.

“Yeah, duh!!” The kids exclaimed. Before they could go anywhere, however, Sakura came strutting up to them. She looked like she was already in a bad mood. Naru liked Sakura a lot, but Sakura didn’t seem to feel the same. She guessed they were rivals, but she didn’t feel pressure from her pink-haired comrade. Not like she did from Sasuke or Shikamaru.

“Oi! Sakura-Chan! Wanna get breakfast with us?” Naru asked, grinning at her teammate. Sakura frowned.

“Ugh, no. I was just looking for Sasuke-Kun, I thought you might be with him. we have to meet Kakashi-Sensei soon, and i thought-“ Sakura blushed, “I thought he and I could walk together,”

“Stupid!” Konohamaru spat, “Sasuke-Sama is Naru-Sempai’s boyfriend! He’d never wanna date a girl like you! Your forehead is too big!”

“Sasuke is NOT my boyfriend!” Naru shouted, the same time Sakura started giving the little kid a noogie.

“THATS WHAT YOU’RE MAD ABOUT?” Sakura bellowed.

“What? Was I supposed to say you don’t have a massive forehead?”

This was, clearly, the wrong thing to say. Sakura had gained an evil gleam in her eye as she scowled at them all. Naru held back a laugh at the shadow that crossed over her teammate’s face.

“C’mon guys! Run!” Naru shouted, and they all took off.

“No wonder Sasuke doesn’t like you!” Konohamaru spat over his shoulder. Naruto snorted, but screeched to a halt when The Hokage’s grandson crashed into a tall boy dressed in all black.

“I’m sorry-“ the little boy started, but before he could finish apologizing the other boy heaved the struggling child into the air. His face was painted in purple stripes, and a blonde girl stood beside him, exasperated.

“You’ll pay for that, Brat!” The stranger spat. He had an evil, angry look on his face, like he enjoyed the little boy’s pain.

“Hey!” Naru shouted, “Drop Konohamaru right now!”

The boy turned to Naru, and his eyes slid over her. He sneered. “Or you’ll do what? I’d love to see you try anything, twerp,” Naru blushed at the way he was looking at her, but stood her ground all the same.

“Put him down or I swear I’ll break you in half,” she threatened. He laughed humorlessly.

“Tell ya what, I’ll put him down for a kiss lil tomboy,” The girl next to him groaned and said something, but Naru couldn’t hear over the pounding of blood in her ears. She was about to spit in his face when her eyes landed on Konohamaru. He looked so scared and in pain. She sighed.

“Drop him and I will,”

“Sure thing,” The boy laughed, dropping Konohamaru and stepping forward. Just before Naru could move any closer a rock flew out of nowhere and struck the boy in the head. He flinched and spun around. Sasuke was perched in the tree, clutching another rock.

“No one is touching anyone,” He barked, glaring at the boy. The boy pulled the massive bandaged object from his back and set it down in front of him. The bandages began to unravel as the Sand ninja girl started to protest.

“Kankuro! You’re really gonna bring out Crow for this?”

“Stay out of it Temari,” the boy snarled, before looking back at Sasuke. “Who are you? her boyfriend?” The stranger, Kankuro, shouted. Both Sasuke and Naru turned red. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“He isn’t my boyfriend! Ew!” Naru snapped. The boy turned back to look at Naru, smiling.

“So then where’s my kiss? We had a deal little tomboy,”

“Kankuro, Stop,” came a new voice. A boy was in the tree, on the side away from Sasuke, hanging upside down with his arms crossed. His hair was red, like blood, with dull green eyes rimmed in black. He had a kanji tattooed on his forehead. Naruto couldn’t quite read it upside down in the shade. he was also carrying something on his back. A large gourd.

“G-Gaara! I wasn’t doing anything! I swear!” Kankuro yelped. Whoever he was, this new boy obviously terrified Kankuro.

The boy frowned. “You’re an embarrassment to our village,”

Something deep inside her stomach stirred at the sight of the boy, as he moved to stand by his team. He was a little taller than Naru, and now he was standing in front of her, she saw his tattoo clearly.

Love.

Her heart skipped a beat. This boy… there was something about him that made Naru need to know more.

“Don't forget what we’re here for,” He said to his teammates. They all turned to leave.

Before they could go, Sakura cried out.

“Wait! The leaf and the sand may be allies, but free passage between villages is forbidden unless you have permission! Why are you here?”

The girl, Temari? Answered. “Gosh, you don’t know?” she snorted. Naru felt anger well up again in her stomach. How dare this girl talk down to her teammate? Only she could do that! “We’re here to take the chunin exam. We have permission,” she held a passport aloft for them all to see. Naru panicked as they all turned to leave again.

“Wait! What’s your name?”

Kankuro turned around hopefully, “Me?”

Naru shook her head, “No, I know your name, I want to know his,” And she pointed at Gaara.

“Gaara, of the desert,” He looked at her, dismissively, obviously contemptuous. She felt her heart fall a little. He didn’t care who she was.

“I’m interested in you, who are you?” He asked, glaring up at Sasuke.

“Sasuke Uchiha, and you better be careful around here,” He gestured at Naru, sneering. “Psychos run wild,”

The red headed boy looked back at her. “Who are you, then?”

“Naru Uzamaki,” She said, her heart beating like a war drum. He had so much… power. she could feel it, like Kiba could smell pheromones, she could tell when someone was stronger than they looked.

“Stay out of my way, Naru,”

She looked straight into his eyes, and for a moment, neither of them blinked. Then he turned, and they all left. She waited until they were out of sight before turning back to her teammates.

“We have to get into those exams!” She shouted, clenching a fist in front of her face. Sakura sighed.

“You can’t just sign up to take them Naru, your Sensei needs to recommend you! You should have paid more attention in class,”

“Class smlash! I’m gonna get Kakashi-Sensei to recommend us!” Naru said, jumping up and down. Sakura rolled her eyes. Sasuke was still sulking in the tree.

“You weren’t really gonna kiss him, were you Naru?” Konohamaru asked, nervously. Naru looked down at him and smiled.

“To keep you safe I’d lay my life on the line, forget a measly kiss,”

“But your first kiss?” Asked Udon, looking up at her in wonder. Naru blushed.

“I… Maybe my first… Voluntary one,” She answered, glancing up at Sasuke, who was looking away, his ears pink, “But it’s a small price to pay for your safety,”

“Why not just fight him? You’re always charging into everything half cocked anyway!” Sasuke snapped, looking back at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Maybe i’m turning over a new leaf, Teme,” she wrinkled her nose, “and don’t call me psycho,”

“Whatever, Dobe,” He snapped, looking away again.

“C’mon,” Sakura growled, obviously upset about Sasuke’s first kiss being stolen by someone so ungrateful as Naru, “We’ll be late for Kakashi-sensei,”

“No we won’t,” Naru groaned, putting her hands behind her head, “He’s always at least twenty minutes late, we have plenty of time,”

~~~

Chapter Text

Why Gaara had warned the annoying girl to stay away from him, he had no idea. He knew that he couldn’t kill all of those people, not in broad daylight, not in public, but all the same, he couldn’t resist thinking about the blonde. He wanted… He wanted… her blood. Her dying groans, her pleading for mercy.

“If that dumb black haired kid hadn’t interrupted, I woulda got that girl’s first kiss,” He whined, re-sharpening a knife for the Crow. Temari rolled her eyes.

“Ew, Kankuro, you’re disgusting. She wasn’t even pretty,”

“She was cute!” Kankuro mused, “You’re just jealous cause she was burning up for me but the black haired kid didn’t look at you once!”

Temari whacked her brother over the head. Gaara left the room. His urge to kill his brother was stronger than usual today. He couldn’t jeopardize the mission by killing him. He wanted to kill more than just his annoying older siblings. To do that, he had to wait.

When he closed his eyes, and saw hers. Massive, blue, focused. He imagined them filled with terror. Yes, that’s what he wanted. Her fear, her blood. Mother wanted her blood. That’s why he felt such a pull to her. He wanted to throw her down, see fear in those big bright eyes, and crush her.

His mind showed him her face again, her laugh, her smile. He felt something thrum in his chest. He looked down, surprised. Was his heart beating… differently? Faster? How strange. He must be excited to kill this girl.

And so he stood there, in the dark, fantasising about how it would happen. He’d never had to wait like this before. He guessed that was why she was so stuck in his head.

Chapter Text

“How lucky is it that Kakashi-sensei already enrolled us in the chunin exams? I didn’t even need to beg!” Naru beamed. Sakura rolled her eyes.

“It’s not lucky. It’s a result of our hard work on missions. Kakashi-Sensei must have a lot of faith in us,” She glanced at Sasuke, who was walking ahead of them with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey Teme! I bet I pass and you don’t,” Naru teased, trying to goad a response from her best friend. He didn’t turn.

“Unlikely, Dobe, after all, you have to actually be a strong ninja to be a chunin,”

“Oh? You don’t think I’m strong? You’ll eat your words when I’m Hokage some day,”

“The day you become Hokage, I’ll eat my word and my headband,” Sasuke said, turning to look over his shoulder at Naru. Sakura rolled her eyes.

“Do you two ever stop bickering?”

“I sleep sometimes,” Naru joked, elbowing Sakura. Sakura laughed. Sasuke leapt upwards into the trees and left, toward the Uchiha compound.

“Oh really? I thought you were always just taking notes really close to your paper in class,”

“Me? Sleep in class? Me? Never!” Naru laughed, putting her hands behind her head. Her stomach grumbled. “Hey guys, I'm gonna go grab some ramen. Wanna come Sakura?”

“Nah, my mother is cooking stew tonight,” She said. Naru frowned.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you later,” she said, turning down a different path from her red-clad friend and waving. Sakura didn’t hesitate as long as Naru did.

Naru thrust her hands in her pockets and sighed. She turned, gravel crunching underfoot as she did so, and made her way to the ramen hut.

By the time her food had been set in front of her, she’d sensed someone just outside her range of sight, eyes on her back. She turned. She couldn’t see anyone, but she could feel a presence that was familiar.

“Who’s there?” She asked, bemusedly. There was a little shuffling and Sasuke entered the tent.

“Just me, Naru,”

“Oh, were you practicing your stealth? You’re not as good as you think you are,”

“You’re the only one who thinks so,” Sasuke sat next to her, “even Kiba can’t tell when I’m following him half the time,”

“Yeah, well, maybe those are the days when you shower, cause I can smell ya from a mile away,” she joked, wrinkling her nose. She could have sworn the corner of Sasuke’s mouth twitched.

“No, but, seriously, how do you always know when there are people around? Is it a jutsu or…”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been able to tell when people i know are near. It’s useless if I haven’t met the person who’s following me though,” Naru shrugged, “Maybe it’s like Akamaru, ya know how he can sense chakra levels or whatever?”

“That’s not likely Dobe, you’re too much of a knucklehead to have a skill like that,”

Naru laughed and snapped her chopsticks apart. “Hey, I’ll buy you dinner, order something!”

“No, I’ll buy my own dinner Naru,”

“No, seriously Teme, lemme buy you dinner,” Naru insisted. Sasuke shrugged, and She beamed. She ordered a beef ramen for him, forgetting that she’d told him to pick something, and waited for him to get his before starting her own. Sasuke had an odd look in his eyes as she happily slurped down her noodles.

“Hey, Dobe?”

“What?”

“Were you really gonna kiss that sand nin?”

Naru looked at him, surprised. She shrugged, scratching the back of her head. “Yeah, I mean, it’d be better than endangering the kids by fighting him, I didnt know how strong he was, he coulda really hurt Konohamaru,” she looked at the ceiling, “And kissing isn’t that big a deal. I mean, we kissed by accident before we were on team seven. I’d rather kiss someone I don’t like than get someone I love hurt, it wasn’t gonna cost me anything-“

Sasuke gripped his chopsticks so hard they broke. “You should have more respect for yourself as a Konoichi. You should have fought him. You’ve charged into battle foolishly before,”

“Huh?” Naru was bewildered by how angry Sasuke was about this. He seemed really upset.

“What makes that situation any different from the land of waves? When you charged into the mirror prison to try to help me without thinking it through?”

“Well, Haku wasn’t asking me to hold his hand in exchange for your freedom then, was he?” Naru snapped, pointing her chopsticks at him. He blushed. “Just because I act rashly sometimes doesn’t mean I always do, and if there’s a way to get everyone out of a bad situation without anyone getting hurt, that’s the first thing I’m gonna try. Don’t think for one second that if it came down to it I wouldn’t have pulverised that guy,” she turned back to her ramen. “you should ask for a new pair of chopsticks, your food will get cold if you leave it much longer,”

Chapter Text

Sasuke was relieved that Naru hadn’t caught on to why he was really following her. He didn’t want her to know he was making sure that guy didn’t come back. He couldn’t quite understand why, but the thought of that guy ever even so much as looking at Naru again made him want to incinerate him and his whole squad. Especially him though, with his stupid cat ear hood, and bandaged corpse-like thing on his back.

He couldn’t quite peg the reason why.

Naru was grinning, babbling on about her shuriken practice, and how she had been practicing her clones of other people.

“Of course I have myself down, but I tried to do Kakashi-Sensei the other day and it wasn’t even close! It’s so hard cause he hides his face, and I don’t know what the angles are like under there, you know?”

“Hnn,” Sasuke couldn’t help but keep his eyes fixed on her face. They were friends. Best friends. Not that he’d ever admit it. And Naru was a skilled konoichi, despite his teasing. He wasn’t blind. He knew how hard she practiced. He knew she wasn’t naturally talented. Every bit of skill she honed, she worked twice as hard for than anyone else. It was part of the reason she seemed to have so much trouble with the theoretical aspect of Ninjutsu. She just couldn’t practice theory until she passed out. That was the only training she was interested in- the kind that would grind her seemingly limitless energy into the ground.

“And since you’re so great at it, I thought you could give me some tips, I mean, how do you muffle your footsteps? is it heel-toe? or toe-heel? and what do you think of chakra as a cushion for the footfalls? I think that’s how Kakashi-sensei keeps his so deadly silent, by controlling the chakra and muffling the steps as he takes them. What do you think?”

“I think you’re just too clumsy to be quiet. anyone who would send you on stealth missions is a fool,”

“Sasuke-Kun! That’s a serious question!”

“What did you just call me?”

“Teme, I called you by your name,” Naru said, unabashed. She handed over some money to the Ramen vendor, and stood, “I have to go, I’m going to go practice my footstep theory,” she grinned mischievously, “if I figure it out I have the perfect prank to play on Kakashi-sensei,”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later Teme!”

And she left, leaving Sasuke staring into his cold noodles and wondering if he’d heard her right. her voice rang in his ears.

“Sasuke-Kun!”

Lots of girls called him that. Sakura always called him that. Why was it so shocking to hear it come from her?

Chapter Text

Naru spent the rest of the day in the woods, practicing her stealth. Kiba passed by walking Akamaru, and she couldn’t help but call out and scare him. He swore and fell out of the tree he was in, and she fell out of hers laughing.

“Naru-San you pain in the neck! what are you doing?”

“Training!” she laughed, grinning at him. she got up and offered him a hand. He took it and she heaved him to his feet.

“Hey, are you gonna take the chunin exam? Kuranai-Sensei entered us for it,” The boy said, looking down at Naru. He was more than a head taller than her. She grinned.

“Yeah! I’m gonna kick this exam’s ass!”

“You’ve never kicked an exam’s ass in your life knucklehead!” Kiba barked, laughing in earnest now. Naru blushed.

“Well this one is different! i’ve decided if i’m gonna be hokage then i’m gonna start actually studying,”

“Yeah, sure,” Kiba rolled his eyes, “Well, I’ll see you later Naru-San,”

“Bye Kiba-Chan!” She laughed, waving as he and Akamaru jumped away.

After that, she felt a familiar stirring in her stomach. She frowned. It always happened like this. She expended chakra, got self conscious or hurt and suddenly her stomach felt like something was moving in it. It was subtle, but it was there.

She pulled her tank top up, revealing her stomach, and…

A seal was burned into her skin, charred and black, angry and slightly raised on her skin. She gasped. What was that? When did it happen? Had it always been there?

Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. Her stomach dropped. How did she not know? She pulled her shirt down quickly, and looked around, dizzy. Why was it suddenly there? She’d never noticed it before.

There was only one person who she trusted enough to talk to about this. She had to find Iruka-Sensei.

Chapter Text

Gaara stood, quiet in the corner of the room as his siblings talked to their teacher. He looked out the window. This place was so cold compared to Suna. the breeze brought the smell of the forest, the trees offered their shade. This place was giving. The desert gave nothing to anyone. The wind there brought nothing but sandstorms and there was nothing that would give you shade save what you made yourself. Sand was all there was. The sand swallowed buildings and people alike, it would take without being bidden.

He gave nothing to anyone. He only took. No one gave anything to him. He was the desert. He was the sand. The blonde girl flashed into his vision again. She was this place. She gave her smiles and her laughs. She would give for that weak little runt in the blue scarf, she would shade him from harm.

People like that needed to die. Everyone on this earth should be forced to fend for themselves as he had. No one should be freely given anything. He was the desert, and he would take her like the desert, he would swallow her life whole. Her blood was as good as his.

Chapter Text

Naru crashed into the classroom where Iruka stood, lecturing a young girl about her homework. He turned, looking taken aback by the interruption. When he saw her standing there, surprise turned to irritation.

“Naru! You can’t just-“

“I’m sorry Iruka-Sensei! Please! It’s urgent, I really need to speak to you!” Naru shouted, surprising everyone in the room. Her face was red, she was breathless and dishevelled. Some students began to snicker.

“Uh, can’t it wait Naru-san?”

“No! I’m sorry Iruka-Sensei, but I really need your help!”

Iruka turned red and turned to his class at large. “Okay, uh, for homework practice the techniques we discussed today, and write two paragraphs on the importance of a well balanced team,”

The class groaned and Naru shifted so the children could pass her. She was still heaving for breath, staring at Iruka. He was trying to hide his concern as he called out to the passing students.

“And you! Mitsuki! Keep your handwriting neat this time! I could hardly make out your name on the last assignment!” He shouted as the last girl shuffled out. Naru shut the door behind her.

“Naru-San? What’s wrong? Is this about the Chunin exams? you know you don’t have to take them-“

“What?” Naru said, surprised, “No! i’m gonna ace that exam! I need to talk to you about this!” She lifted her shirt to reveal the quickly fading seal. The colour drained from Iruka’s face.

“Who told you?”

“No one told me anything! I just saw it! It’s on my stomach after all! What the hell is it?”

“Naru-“

“Did you know about this Iruka-Sensei?” Naru asked quietly, pulling her shirt back down. She was struggling to hold back the hurt in her voice. Iruka looked down.

“Naru, it was forbidden to talk about it, I couldn’t-“

“So you did know. I’m not stupid Iruka-Sensei, I know what a seal looks like. I’ve looked into my clan name,”

Iruka paused. Then, as though trying to get it over with before he could change his mind, “You’re the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox Naru. It happened when you were a baby,”

“Did.. Did everyone know?”

“Not kids your age, but everyone who was old enough to understand what was going on at the time knows. I’m sorry Naru-“

“So I’m a monster? That’s why everyone… That’s why they all treat me like that?” Tears were welling up in her eyes unbidden. She wiped them away angrily. “I always thought it was because i didn’t have parents that everyone hates me! It’s because I’m a monster! I’m evil!”

“Naru, you’re not a monster. You’re a Ninja of the Hidden Leaf village and you’re a damn good one at that. You aren’t evil just because you have evil in you. we all have evil in us. It’s what you do that makes you good or bad, not what you were born as,” Iruka stepped forward and rested his hand on Naru’s shoulder, “you’ve been given a gift of enormous strength. You can protect those around you. I’m proud of who you are despite everything stacked against you, and i’m excited to see who you’ll grow into. Naru, you’re precious to me, and i have faith in you,”

Naru looked tearfully into Iruka’s face, and he smiled down at her. She rushed forward to hug him.

“Iruka-Sensei! I’ll make you even more proud! I’m gonna be Hokage one day, and just you watch… I’m gonna save everyone! As many people as the Nine Tails ever hurt, I swear, I’ll save. And I always keep my word!”

Iruka patted her on the head, smiling. “You’re a good kid, Naru. Your heart is in the right place. Get stronger, and you’ll do incredible things,”

“Iruka-sensei, I have one more question…”

“Yes?”

“If Im a jinchuriki, then does that mean my ability to sense people coming and stuff… is that because of the demon?”

Iruka paused. He seemed thoughtful. The silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity to Naru, before he ventured an answer. “Yes, it’s more than possible you have certain ingrained skills from the Nine Tails, and that with practice you could certainly hone them into useful weapons,” He crossed his arms, leaning against the desk, “But i don’t know enough about Jinchuriki to offer more than that. I think there’s documentation in the library, if you mean to find out more. But i know uh,” Iruka paused to flash Naru a crooked smile, “You might not be up for much reading,” Naru blushed.

“Oh yeah? I betcha i can figure out this whole chakra sensing thing before the Chunin exams!”

“It’s not that i believe you incapable, Naru, it’s just…” Iruka laughed, “I thought you were allergic to books,”

“I’ll show you Iruka-Sensei! I’ll be the strongest Jinchuriki on the planet!” Naru exclaimed, rushing out of the classroom. Iruka shook his head as she left.

“That,” Iruka chuckled, “I have no doubt of,”

Chapter Text

Sakura almost dropped her books in surprise. She blinked, then rubbed her eyes. Was she actually seeing this? Naru, her knuckle headed teammate, bent over a massive tome in the Leaf village’s library.

“Naru?”

The small blonde looked up at her, surprised, then grinned. “Hey Sakura-chan! what’re you up to?”

“I’m just reading up on the history of the Chunin exams. What on earth are you doing in a library?”

“Kinda the same thing… well, i mean, in a way. i’m preparing for them. The exams, i mean. How do you do this all the time? I mean, i just keep reading the same lines over and over. It feels like i’ve been here all night!”

“It’s five in the afternoon,” Sakura said, laughing.

“What?! No way!” Naru groaned, slamming her forehead down in her book. Sakura set her books down next to her friend and took a seat.

“Okay, I can help you with this if you teach me some of that Shuriken stuff you do,” she offered, pushing her hair back. Naru raised her eyes hopefully and looked at Sakura.

“Really?! Yeah! That’d be totally awesome!” Her face darkened a little, “but you… you have to promise you won’t hate me or… or tell anyone,”

Sakura was taken aback by her teammate’s sudden seriousness, but agreed all the same. Naru brightened almost immediately.

“Okay! Here, i have to explain something first,” She took a deep breath, “so, i’m sure you know about the Nine Tailed Fox that attacked the village when we were just babies,”

“Yeah, of course, lots of skilled Ninja died that day,”

“Yeah, well,” Naru pointed at a drawing of a demon seal, “They defeated it by sealing it inside a person, a baby. Me, to be exact,”

Sakura’s heart dropped through her stomach as she stared at Naru. Naru bit her lip.

“Yeah, it was news to me too. Well, it’s not as bad as it sounds. My mum was a genius at seals, i’m possibly the most stable Jinchuriki ever,” Naru looked at her friend, chewing the words in her mouth before she spat them out, “my problem is that there are powers this gives me that i don’t know how to take advantage of. You know how i can always tell when people are coming?”

Sakura shook herself. “Y-yeah, sure,”

“Well turns out the nine tails makes it so i can do that, and a whole lot of other stuff. I heal like nothing else and I have massive chakra reserves,” Naru flipped the page, revealing a list of skills attributed to certain Jinchuriki, as well as personality traits they tended to develop. Aggression was one of them. Sakura felt sick.

“Sakura-Chan, are you okay?” Naru asked, looking nervous, “You promised you wouldn’t hate me,”

“I don’t hate you Naru,” Sakura said, looking full into those blue eyes, “this is just a lot to take in all at once,” Naru stared straight into her eyes and furrowed her brow.

“For you? This is a lot for you? I learned this all today too, you know. I’ve spent my whole life being treated differently, like a monster, and the real reason just got dropped on my head like a big ass water balloon. Sakura-chan, please just have some sympathy,”

Sakura blushed, embarrassed. This was her friend, after all, and she owed it to her to be level headed about this. Naru and she had been around each other for years. Naru had never once lost control. Naru was… Naru was her best friend. She looked down at the book.

“Here, i’ll take some notes for you if you open these to the right chapters. I want to know what to expect,” Sakura said, dragging Naru’s book toward her and replacing it with the small pile she’d brought to the table. Naru grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

“Sure thing Sakura-Chan!”

Chapter Text

Naru was picking her way home, flipping through Sakura’s notes on Jinchuriki. Most of them had been created as weapons, and raised as assassins. Naru was her own precedent.

None of this would really help her that much. a familiar electric buzz came to her attention.

“I know you’re there, Teme,” she said, turning around and scanning the trees. Sasuke dropped from one probably twenty metres behind her.

“Really? Even with me that far back?” Sasuke groused. Naru folded up her papers and put them in her pocket. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want Sasuke to know. Not yet.

“Like I said, you really should start showering every day, Teme,” She pinched her nose and laughed. Sasuke’s eyes were fixed on the pocket where she’d shoved Sakura’s notes. Not smooth then, Naru. He noticed.

“Were those from Sakura? I recognise her handwriting,”

“Yeah,” Naru laughed, seizing on an idea, “She was asking me to look over a love letter for her,”

“She wrote a love letter?”

“Yeah but i’m not telling you to who, she told me it’s a secret,”

“I can guess to who, Dobe,” Sasuke said, falling into step with her. She grinned.

“I don’t think you can. You’re too full of yourself,”

“Oh? C’mon, everyone knows about how she feels. I don’t even care and i know,”

“Well she’s moved on,” Naru teased. Might as well create some jealousy for Sakura, I owe her one anyway. Sasuke snorted.

“I’d be relieved if I believed it,”

“What? You really don’t like her at all? C’mon, She’s exactly the kinda girl everyone should like. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she has her heart in the right place. Hell, i even had a crush on her,”

Sasuke blanched. “You had a what? You… You’re-“

Naru shrugged. “C’mon, everyone gets crushes on girls. They’re magic,”

“No, most girls do not get crushes on other girls Naru,”

“You wouldn’t know, you don’t have any female friends,”

“Neither do you, in fact, you don’t have friends at all, Dobe,”

“Fair point,” Naru conceded. She looked away. She wasn’t sure about the way Sasuke was looking at her. It made her feel awkward when he stared.

“Do you like guys?” Sasuke asked, all at once, like he was trying to say it all before he could think better of it. Naru looked back at him.

“Yeah, i guess. I like everyone,”

“That’s not what i meant,” Sasuke stared at her, too intense. She looked away quickly.

“I’ve had crushes on guys and girls, I guess. Can you be both?”

“Maybe, No one ever really talks about… about liking the same as you,”

“I know, it’s almost like it’s a big secret nobody wants to own up to,” Naru shrugged. She met Sasuke’s eyes again. He was staring through her. She half expected to see Sharingan. “do you like both?”

Sasuke shook his head slowly. “I don’t like anyone at all,” Sasuke said. Naru knew it was true. Sasuke never interacted with anyone unless he couldn’t help it. Well, besides her, she guessed, but that was because they were rivals.

“I never really knew what all the fuss was about, you know, with girls and boys and dating. I guess I’ve just got other stuff on my mind,”

Naru laughed. Sasuke looked almost offended. “Well maybe if you weren’t so preoccupied then you’d like both. I mean, both guys and girls are… well. You wouldn’t get it. But really? You never even looked at someone like that?”

“No not really,”

“Henge!” Sasuke looked over and then stumbled back. Naru has done her specialty. Long blonde pigtails, and steam so thick it hid her… Sasuke turned bright red and looked away.

“Not even me Sasuke-kun?” She giggled, blowing a kiss at him. Sasuke blanched.

“Would you be serious?” He pleaded. Naru giggles again.

“If not this, what about… Henge!” Naru changes again. A tall, lean, muscular guy. Still fully naked, with spiky hair. She reached up and scratched the back of her neck, flexing these new muscles. Sasuke was really red now.

“Seriously, Dobe, quit it,”

“C’mon, you know you like what you see,” She laughed, her voice deep and gravelly. Sexy, she thought. Think sexy.

“No, I don’t,” Sasuke said, looking away. Naru groaned. It came out sounding more lewd than she meant it, and Sasuke twitched. She transformed back.

Chapter Text

What on earth was Naru trying to do? Kill him? Sasuke stuttered forward, looking away from Naru pointedly. “Both… I’ve had crushes on guys and girls, I like both…”

“C’mon Sasuke, I was just messing around, it’s cool you don’t like anyone, I wish I liked people less. It’s distracting,”

“You’re distracting, Dobe,” Sasuke snapped, glaring at her, “No matter what form you take, you’re nothing but some big annoying distraction,”

Naru stopped walking, staring at him. He saw anger begin to bubble over her features. This was more comfortable, this is how it should be. Sasuke glared at her.

“Yeah? Well at least I can take a joke. All you ever do is brood and sulk. you make me so damn angry sometimes. You think you’re better than everyone. Well, you’re not. You’re not anything special sasuke. Everyone has skills, there’s lots of great genin out here, and you’re not special just because you’re naturally talented. You’re not special because you’re alone either, because i’m alone, and not only am i alone, but i can’t ever stop being alone, because everyone in this village holds me at arms length. You refuse to let anyone in, but everyone refuses to let me in. I can’t ever stop being alone and that’s not my damn choice!”

“You think I chose to be alone?” Sasuke snapped, stepping up to her, glaring down at her. She returned his stare. “You think i chose to have my family murdered?”

“No, But you made your own choices after, and you choose to be alone now. You never let people into your life, and that’s on you,” She snarled up at him, “You decided to make yourself this damn isolated,” She grabbed his shirt, bunched it up in her fist, searching for words, “Alone… stupid… idiot. You decided to dwell on the past. I never chose this. I never wanted to be alone!” She buried her other fist into his shirt too, pulling him close to her fanged snarl, “You’re a selfish bastard and you’re so into your own head and your own suffering you refuse to see anyone else’s. You aren’t special and you aren’t as good as you think Uchiha,”

Sasuke just sneered, his heart trying to pound out of his chest and into Naru’s hands. Her face was so angry, and inches from his. They were in the middle of the empty street. No one was watching.

“Fight me,” He snapped, his voice came out surprisingly raspy and low. Naru thrust her fists forward, sending him staggering back, and she crouched, snarling back at him.

“You’re on, Teme,” she spat, fists clenched. he put his hands in his pockets.

“Come on then,” He sneered. She growled, rushing forward. he dodged all her first punches easily. She was too direct, too obvious. Much too slow.

Then she swept her leg under his, and he had to pull his hands from his pockets to catch himself. he flipped, landing on his feet in a crouch. She yelled, rushing forward and continuing to punch and kick. He dodged them, too easy, and then.

He put her in a headlock. she flailed, punching his back, but he stood firm.

“You’re no match for me Naru, you never have been,” he snarled. She screamed in frustration. It was almost laughable.

Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and yanked him into the air. he was suddenly thrown back, over her shoulder, and she suplexed him into the ground. It was too unexpected, he didn’t stop it in time. shocked, he just lay, in the dirt, on his back, staring up at his small teammate. She was panting for air, her jacket off her left shoulder, her eyes angry.

“You’re not as great as you think you are. You’re cocky. It doesn’t really matter how great you are if you leave yourself open to obvious attacks. There aren’t any shortcuts to getting stronger, and if anyone says there are, then they’re selling something,”

Naru held out a hand to him, frowning. He took it, and she heaved him to his feet. She dropped his hand quickly once he was standing.

“You need to stop underestimating people, Sasuke-kun. especially me,”

Then, she turned, and she walked away, leaving him standing there, with a sore neck and a bruise rising quickly on his head.

She’d called him Sasuke-kun again.

Why did it stick in his head so much? He didn’t care what she said, she was easy to underestimate. She was so short, her eyes were bright and her smile was disarming. She wasn’t pretty. Sakura was pretty. Naru was… Naru was something else entirely. Like a boy.

He remembered watching her on the playground when they were kids. she had run up to the boys, Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji.

“Hey! Can I play Ninja with you?” She’d asked. Shikamaru had snorted.

“You can’t play ninja, you’re a girl. You’d be too slow and cry if you broke a nail. Go play dolls!”

“Nuh-uh! I’m gonna be a great Ninja one day! I’m gonna be the best!”

“You can’t be the best. The Hokage is the best,” Kiba interjected, crossing his arms. Naru clenched her fists.

“Then I’ll just be Hokage!”

“Girls can’t be Hokage! look at the mountain! Do you see any girls? No. And that’s because girls suck, and they aren’t good Ninja,” Shikamaru sneered. Naru crosses her arms.

“Well I’m gonna be the first girl Hokage and you’re all gonna have to admit that girls are just as good as boys!” Naru shouted. The boys had all laughed, and run away, throwing paper shuriken back at Naru, who just stood, letting them bounce off of her.

She’d always surprised them. From that day, she’d trained harder than anyone. He knew why she slept in class. It was because she never stopped training outside of it. But he’d always thought…

He’d always thought he’d be stronger anyway. He always thought she’d never catch up.

Her laughing face flashed into his vision. There aren’t any shortcuts to getting stronger, and if anyone says there are, then they’re selling something.

Well Naru, he thought, bitterly, I’ll try it your way.

Chapter Text

Naru was tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. Her brain kept dragging forward thoughts like a cat bringing dead mice into the house. It brought her Konohamaru, hanging in the air, suspended by Kankuro, who was eyeing her. It brought her Sakura looking frightened as Naru told her what she was. Her mind brought her Iruka’s face, pale and shocked, and Sasuke, sneering and telling her she wasn’t as good as he was.

She turned over, feeling the seal on her stomach burn slightly. She frowned. Her life would have been different if only the Kyuubi had never come to Konohagakure. The boy, Gaara came into her vision.

Love.

She would have known what love was, had the Nine Tails never cursed her. She felt fury boil in her stomach. If she ever could speak to the demon, she’d have some shit to say, that’s for sure.

She wished she could. She really wished she could speak to him. And then she drifted off to sleep.

She was falling. Plummeting downward. She hit water, and sat up. A massive cage lay before her.

“CLOSER, CHILD, COME CLOSER,” a deep growl bade. She snorted.

“No, thanks. I’m not an idiot. I don’t just do what disembodied voices tell me to do,”

“DISEMBODIED?” The voice snarled, sounding offended. A demon came forth and snaked his claws through the bars, swiping at Naru. Naru stood, and barked out a laugh at the demon.

“Not so bad now, are you?” Naru sneered. She glared up into the demon’s snarling face and sneered. “It’s good I’m here, I was just thinking I wanted a word with you,”

“INSECT! HOW DARE YOU EVEN LOOK ME IN THE EYES! YOUR LIFE IS NOTHING! YOU ARE NOTHING!”

“Nothing except the body you’re hitching a ride on, if anyone here’s an insect, it’s you, you parasite,”

“SO YOU’RE THE PRISON I AM BOUND TO- BREAK THE SEAL AND SET ME FREE-“

“No thanks, I really don’t want to do that, I’m good. I just wanted to say a big Fuck You For Ruining My Life, Bud,”

The Kyuubi laughed, slamming one paw down on the ground.

“YOU HAVE SPIRIT, CHILD. SET ME FREE, AND I WILL SPARE YOUR LIFE,”

“I’m good, you dick,” Naru snarled. The Kyuubi lowered his face so they were closer to eye level.

“YOU ARE WEAK,”

“Compared to you, any human would be. But i’m strong enough to house you and stay sane, so there’s that,” She retorted, putting her hands on her hips and glaring. The Kyuubi nodded solemnly.

“THAT IS TRUE, CHILD,”

“Anyway, I’m kinda tired of your many-tailed ass freeloading. You owe me twelve years rent, bud, and pretty soon you’re gonna need to pay the hell up,”

The Kyuubi laughed. An evil, demonic sound. “BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU HUNGER FOR, CHILD,” He laughed, his voice booming, “POWER IS ALL CONSUMING,”

“Eat my ass, jerk,” Naru spat, flipping the fox off. He just laughed harder.

Naru awoke with a start. The morning sun shone through the window.

She shook her head. What a weird dream. She looked up at the ceiling. She had a feeling she was forgetting something.

She rolled out of bed, pulling on her trousers, and her tank top. before the could find her jacket, she realised.

The Chunin exams!

She scrambled to grab all her gear, forgetting her jacket, and tying her headband around her head for once, so it pulled her hair back from her face. She sprinted to the testing center, and ran straight into Sakura. She tangled her limbs with Sakura’s and they would have fallen over if Sasuke hadn’t caught them with an outstretched arm.

“Sakura-Chan! I haven’t missed anything, have I? Am I too late?” Naru asked, straightening up and blushing. She stepped back.

“No, you just made it,” Sakura beamed. Obviously she’s given it some thought and realised I’m no threat. Naru thought. “Where’s your jacket?”

“Oh!” Naru laughed, rubbing the back of her head, “I just woke up and rushed here, I forgot my coat!”

“Well you look good without it,” Sakura said, pinching her friend’s arm, “You can see those Biceps of yours!”

Naru blushed harder and grinned, flexing. Sasuke made a huffing noise and looked away.

“What’s wrong with you Teme?” Naru teased, “Still mad I kicked your ass last night?”

“You caught me off guard, Dobe”

“You let yourself off guard during a fight, that’s a fair win Teme,”

Sakura looked between the two of them in surprise. “You two fought last night?”

“Only a little. Sasuke-Kun is the worst stalker ever!” Naru stuck her tongue out at Sasuke, who deadpanned back.

“You’re stupid,” He said, shaking his head and looking away.

“Whatever,” Naru laughed. She grabbed Sakura’s hand, grinning, “Hey Sakura-Chan! Thanks for studying with me last night! You were a ton of help!”

“So were you! You had some really cool insights Naru-Chan!” she said, grinning back and walking into the building hand in hand with Naru. Naru felt pride swell in her chest at the compliment.

“You know, I feel really good going into this,” Sakura said, smiling up at the ceiling, “i feel prepared,”

“Me too! I feel ready for whatever they throw at me. What room are we supposed to go to?”

“301. But look…”

They’d only climbed two sets of stairs, but there was a large crowd in from of a room labeled 301. They approached it, and saw a young boy in a green spandex jumpsuit get thrown back from the door.

“None of you wimps are getting past us. I expected more from kids taking the Chunin Exams, but looks like it’ll be easy pickings,” A boy cackled. A girl walked forward, and he threw her back too. Naru charged forward.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

The boy turned, looking her up and down. He laughed. “Oh come on. This is just getting pathetic,”

“Well,” Sasuke interrupted, “I wouldn’t be inclined to disagree, considering how bad your illusion is. We all know this is the second floor,”

The boys blocking the door both sneered, and the illusion lifted. The door said 201. The first boy turned to Sasuke now.

“Oh so you think you’re hot shit, huh?” he sneered, gripping his hand into a fist. Sasuke moved to kick him, but the boy in green was suddenly between them, holding them apart.

Sasuke seemed shocked that he’d been blocked, but Naru was more concerned with how fast the boy had moved. It was less than half a second. A blink was slower. The boy’s team stepped forward.

“Rock. You were the one who wanted to blend in,” A tall, handsome boy said, looking unhappy. The girl seemed less disapproving. Rock said something to Sakura, but Naru had zeroed in on the handsome boy’s eyes. They looked just like Hinata’s. Were they related?

“Cmon! Sasuke! Let’s get going. We’ll be late otherwise,” Sakura called, stepping back from the green-clad boy, Rock. Her loud words drew the Hyuuga boy’s attention. He looked disdainful. Sakura grabbed both her teammates hand and led them down the hall.

“Okay, Sasuke, it’s time we catch you up on some stuff,” Naru said, looking past Sakura at her male teammate. Sasuke looked surprised.

“Huh?”

“We were doing research last night on these exams, and we kinda know what to expect. There’s gonna be two parts, and the-“

“Hey you! With the sharp eyes!” A voice called, echoing across the empty room. All three teammates turned to look up at where it came from. The boy, Rock, was glaring down at Sasuke.

He leapt down, landing nimbly in front of them, and moving to stand before Sasuke.

“I would like to fight you,” He stood, one hand out, one behind his back, “I challenge you, to see who is stronger,”

Sasuke was taken aback, but he smirked. “you want to fight me?” He asked, almost laughing. Rock lee didn’t move.

“Yes, i wish to prove that hard work is just as important as natural skill,” The boy said, sliding one foot back into a truly defensive stance.

“That sounds familiar, but you know, you’re on,” Sasuke said, preparing himself for the fight.

“Just HOLD ON A SEC,” Naru snapped, rushing between them, arms out. Both boys looked surprised. “Let’s just save ourselves the trouble, why don’t you both just go ahead and whip em out?”

Both boys turned bright red. Sakura snorted and hid her face in her hands. Sasuke blanched. “W-what?” Rock stuttered. Naru looked from one to the other, feigning innocence.

“What? That’s what you’re trying to do, right? This is all just a dick-measuring contest. Well, i’m not really interested in wasting time here and it’d be faster if you’d just get straight to comparing. If that wasn’t your goal, then,” She glared at Sasuke, “You’re coming with me,” And then glared at Rock, “And you’re going to go and find your team. So get to it,”

The four of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, when Rock Lee shook himself and stared straight at Naru’s face.

“Who are you?”

“Naru Uzamaki,”

“I am Rock Lee, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” He bowed stiffly, and turned back to Sasuke. “I suppose our fight is to be delayed,” He said, smiling, “But we will fight, you have my word!”

Naru didn’t wait for her teammate to reply before dragging Sasuke away by the collar of his shirt. Rock lee looked disappointed and surprised, but Sasuke looked downright shocked. Naru called on to Sakura,

“I need to have a word with Sasuke, go ahead Sakura, we’ll catch up,” She turned back to Sasuke, glaring at him.

“Since when do you interrupt a fight?” he hissed. Naru turned to him, furious.

“Since i was so rushed to get to this exam this morning that i forgot my jacket. If you remember, i’ve worn that jacket every day since i bought it. I feel bizarre without it, so god help me if i’ll let your dumbass make us late just so you can fight Bowl Cut McBig Brows. He’s stronger than you think he is, Teme, that fight would have lasted ages,”

Sasuke’s expression changed to something unreadable. “Well at least Sakura likes it,” he eyed her up and down, deliberately, trying to provoke her, “It shows off your biceps, god, your crush is so obvious,” he sneered, imitating Sakura’s voice. Naru grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him back. The muscles in her arms did jump at the action, drawing Sasuke’s attention.

“Listen bud,” She snarled, “You might think you’re the shit, and everything about you can be known by everyone, but there’s some stuff I’d like to keep private. I trusted you with a secret, and talking about it in a building packed with enemy ninja is a piece of shit move,” she dropped her grip on him. He angrily yanked his shirt back straight.

“Oh your girl crush on Sakura isn’t a secret. Everyone can see it all over your face when you look at her,” He snapped. She stepped back from him and crossed her arms, glaring at him.

Chapter Text

She was trying her best to burn holes in him with her eyes. Her arms were crossed, and her hair pulled back from her face. He wasn’t used to seeing so much skin. It was distracting. He hadn’t expected her to be tan on her arms too. He’d expected paler skin. Well. Turns out she was just naturally five shades darker than him. He frowned. Did she just carry the sun inside her? A constantly combusting star giving her all the energy and warmth and this brightness she was filled with?

“You’re terrible,” She snapped, turning to leave. Sasuke felt the urge to drag her back, to push her against the wall and tell her… something. He must have wanted to fight her. And make her change where she was wearing her headband back. And make her put a jacket on. Why’d she chosen today to change her look. It was distracting. No, not distracting… it just threw him off balance. That was it. He watched her begin climbing the stairs and rushed to follow her.

By the time they finally made it to the classroom, Sakura was waiting nervously outside the door.

“You guys weren’t fighting again, were you?” She asked nervously. Naru grinned at her.

“No! Don’t worry, I just wanted to talk to him about the exam,”

“Oh… okay. Well, let’s go in?” Sakura said. Naru nodded, reaching for the door handle. Sasuke rushed forward and opened the door before she could, stepping into the classroom before her. It was packed. everyone was staring at them. Naru shifted from foot to foot. Sasuke stood back, letting her converse quickly with some of the other rookies. Kiba seemed genuinely glad to see her, and so did Hinata. Shikamaru has always been conflicted about Naru. Sasuke guessed that if she had been born a boy he’d feel very differently, but as it was, she was the only person he seemed incapable of understanding.

Sasuke noticed the boy, Rock Lee, rejoining his team, and noticed the team from Suna were all staring Naru down. In fact, everyone in the room had seemed to zero in on her. She, as usual, stuck out like a sore thumb. Sakura seemed intimidated. Naru must have noticed too. The smaller girl seemed to be psyching herself up for something.

“Hey! All of you better watch out!” Naru shouted, stepping around the other rookies to address the room at large, “Listen up! My name is Naru Uzamaki and I’m gonna be Hokage one day! You’re right to stare! It’d do you all good to remember me!”

Sasuke sighed. Yeah Naru, just go ahead and paint a big damn target on your back while you’re at it. Genius. But then he looked back at Hinata and Sakura. They were both surprised, but much less nervous than they had been. It clicked into place.

She’s drawing attention away from weaker targets. He realised, as she grinned and adjusted her headband. He wasn’t sure if she was brave, stupid or both, but the whole room was really glaring at her in earnest now. His eyes flicked back to the team from Suna. The boy with the red hair looked ready to kill her on the spot. The boy in black was sizing her up again, smirking, and the girl looked bemused.

She’s digging a big hole for herself here… I should stop her. He moved forward, obscuring her from the view of most of the room, and grabbed her arm. Hard.

“Stop drawing attention to yourself,” he hissed. She glared up at him.

“Don’t tell me what to do, hypocrite. You’re the one who’s been jumping at every chance for a fight all day. I’m just not letting these fools play an intimidation game with me. I’m not gonna cower in the corner for a bunch of idiots who’s only credit is that they took longer to get here than we did,”

“You’re making yourself into a mark,”

“You literally paint a big ass red fan on all your clothes, Teme! You have no right to lecture me about shit!”

“Why are you swearing so much all of a sudden?” he snapped, squeezing her arm hard enough to bruise. She didn’t flinch.

“I’ll say what I want, do what I want, and wear what I want. You’re not my father, older brother or teacher so what you want me to do is irrelevant,” She growled. He stepped a fraction of an inch closer, glaring daggers down at her.

“I’m glad I’m not any of those things, but I’m your teammate and I’m responsible for your safety, so you should listen to me,”

“You’re not responsible for anything to do with me. I’m responsible for my own well being. I don’t need you to babysit me,”

Before the conversation could continue, a grey haired older boy strode up to them and introduced himself. He said he had information, and that he’d share it with them as a favour. Naru’s eyes spelled distrust, but Sasuke had a point to prove.

“Gaara?” Sasuke inquired. Kabuto sneered.

“Oh, you know their names? Too easy!” He pulled out the card. He didn’t have much on him, as he was from Suna, but what he did have alluded to power.

Sasuke was unhappy at how intrigued Naru looked. He was trying to show her she was out of her league, that she’d be relying on his help, not get her excited to fight people she had no hope against.

“What about Rock Lee?” He snapped, his irritation bubbling just below the surface. He didn’t like this smug boy, Kabuto. He didn’t like him at all.

He pulled the corresponding card from his deck. Sasuke was surprised. the boy was only a year older than they were. He remembered the way his Hyuuga teammate had looked down at them. He’d thought they were older. he wondered if the extra year had done them any good. If the experience had changed them much. He looked at Naru, who was staring straight at the Suna team again. It probably had.

Chapter Text

So, Gaara continued to be a mystery. She looked him over, he was only a little taller than her. He had, like his female teammate, and so many people of her village, embraced fishnets. She smiled to herself absentmindedly. Fashion was weird. Suddenly the girl, Temari, leaned in and whispered something to Kankuro, the bully. All three of them looked at her. She grinned, putting her hand on her hip. Kankuro seemed amused, and whispered something back to Temari. Gaara just glared sullenly at Naru. And that eyeliner...

Commotion broke out. The weird boy, Kabuto, was bleeding on the floor. A sound village shinobi was standing over him. Naru rushed to help, but they’d already broken away. She helped Kabuto to his feet. the second their skin touched, she felt a shiver run along her whole body. Every fight or flight reflex she had was rioting under her skin. Her stomach stirred.

This boy wasn’t to be trusted.

“Thanks, Naruto,”

“Naru,” She wrinkled her nose, “I go by Naru,” she snarled, propping him against the wall and looking him in the eyes. He smirked.

“Is it cause you’re named after a food?”

“You have no right to make fun of anyone’s name, Kabuto ,”

Kabuto sneered again, a response brewing behind his stupid smirk, but then the proctor came into the room.

He was badly scarred, and sullen. He explained the rules of the exam. He warned against cheating. Actually, he talked very little about anything else. Naru furrowed her brow. They really want us to do our own work. But a written exam? most of us in this room have been focusing purely on field missions. Only people like Sakura are gonna do well. And if I get a zero everyone fails? Well, she smirked, Guess I’m gonna have to do my best then.

But when they flipped their papers over, the test was impossible, the proctors terrifying, and Naru was separated from her teammates. Its okay, they’re definitely gonna do fine. They’re both such smart asses that they’ll do great, I just know it. Naru stared down at her test. There wasn’t a single question on this damn sheet that she could answer. Hinata was nudging her, offering her her paper. But Scar Face up front had said that could get Hinata in trouble too? No . people were getting dragged out in droves. Naru wouldn’t risk it. She’d wager it all on that last question he’d mentioned. Come on! You’ve gotta know one of these… Just one...

It lasted an eternity, but then, the man spoke again.

“I will now give you the tenth question. If you leave now, you’ll get a zero, and your teammates will fail. however, if you stay, and get the question wrong, you’ll never be able to take the Chunin exams again. you’ll be a Genin forever,”

A silence followed these words. then suddenly, people began excusing themselves, dragging their teammates out with them. Naru stared in shock at the proctor. none of this made sense. She glanced back at her closest teammate, Sakura, who had a sad little smile on her face. her hand was twitching.

No. This guy couldn’t scare Sakura, the smartest Genin of the leaf, out of her chance. Naru slammed her hand on the desk and stood, glaring around at the proctors.

“LISTEN! I’M NOT SCARED OF YOU OR YOUR EVER-CHANGING AND SELF-CONTRADICTING RULES. YOU CAN’T INTIMIDATE ME INTO DROPPING OUT. SO WHAT IF I CAN'T TAKE THIS EXAM AGAIN? ONE WAY OR ANOTHER I’LL BE HOKAGE, EVEN IF I’M A GENIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE,” She yelled, shaking her head. Everyone seemed shocked.

“I’ll give you one more chance, kid. This isn’t something to take lightly,” the guy said, staring back at her.

She sat down again. “Spit it out then, scarface. What’s the question?”

The proctor smirked. “The final question of the first part of the chunin exams… You’ve all already answered it, just by staying. You all pass,”

Several people gasped. Naru dropped her pencil. It was deafening as it rolled to the floor. “What?”

Chapter Text

Gaara stared at the idiot blonde girl. She really didn’t get it, did she? It was all stupid. All child’s play. Obvious from the start. Her outbursts, her voice. He wanted more than anything to kill her. Drawing attention to herself, shouting like she needed everyone to hear her. Her Face, her hair, her eyes. Blue and filled with hope.

He wanted her blood. She was staring at the proctor, mesmerised as he spoke. Wasn’t it obvious? Wasn’t it all so clear? How stupid was this girl? She had made herself a target from the moment she walked into the room, screaming about how she’d be the hokage. Foolish little girl. Idiot child. She didn’t know what it was like to fight for her existence. She wasted her time on silly little dreams like gaining respect, getting stronger. She was pathetic. They were all pathetic.

His eyes landed on the Uchiha boy. His head was turned to the blonde girl too, smirking like he knew a secret. Gaara felt a familiar tug in his chest. He needed to kill him. Even more than the stupid blonde girl. His smug face, the way he was looking at his teammate, like he understood a private joke between them. The girl shifted, looking at the pink haired girl from before and then at Uchiha. Gaara watched their eyes meet.

Uchiha smirked at her.

Naru grinned back.

Gaara almost leapt from his chair. He clenched his fists at his sides, feeling sand run down over his skin. God, he needed to get a hold on himself. If he wanted to kill everyone in this village, he’d have to be patient. And he truly, truly wanted to kill them all.

But Gaara was not a patient man. And he wanted to kill now. Starting with the Uchiha.

Suddenly, a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass rang through the room. knives shot out, and a purple haired woman stood in front of a banner.

“Hope you’re all ready for part two!” She shouted, one hand in the air, and an irritating grin on her face. God, she was like the blonde. She looked around, the grin slipping off her face.

“God, this many? They all passed? Ibiki, your test was too easy!”

The man, Ibiki, smiled at the annoying woman. “Or this is just a stronger group than usual,”

“Either way, more than half of them will fail my test,” She laughed, turning to the class at large. “Follow me!”

Chapter Text

They were all standing outside the forest of death, staring at the gates. Sasuke had their scroll, despite the protests of Naru. Naru felt jumpy, nervous. Something wasn’t right, her stomach was roiling, her fight reflexes buzzing. Sasuke was his usual cocky self, Sakura looked nervous, but ready. Naru had too much pride to admit it, but she was nervous. They rushed into the forest.

Sakura turned to them. “Hey, we should come up with a code, so that none of us can be imitated,”

“Okay, what should it be?” Naru asked, staring around. oddly, she felt slightly safer in the forest. Like they were a little further from a threat.

Sasuke looked at them both. “When does a ninja strike?”

Sakura looked at him. She smiled, softly. “In the dead of night, when he is least expected. As his enemy sleeps, that is when a ninja strikes,”

“Guys! Can’t it be something easier? like… Ramen with beef or Hold the Spice?” Naru whined. Both her teammates glared at her.

“No, that’s the code. We should all say it together,” Sakura snapped. They all repeated it, Naru one word behind the other two, struggling to commit it to memory.

“You guys…” Naru whined, looking at them. I gotta tell them about this feeling I’ve got…

“What? Are you scared or something, Dobe?” Sasuke sneered. Naru turned bright red.

“No!” she snapped, looking around, coming up with an excuse, “I uh… i just gotta go take a leak,”

“Why didn’t you go before the exam started?” Sakura snapped. Naru frowned at her.

“Uh, cause, I didn’t need to go then. I need to go now. I’ll be right back!” And she dashed off. She could hear the other two start to talk the second she left, but she brushed the thoughts that slunk toward her aside. They’re talking about you. Sakura is telling Sasuke all about how you’re a monster. You should have kept it a secret, stupid.

“Shut up,” she snarled, picking through the underbrush. That feeling of foreboding intensified suddenly. she looked around. Shit… I don’t know where I am.

She turned around, nervous, and looked for her footprints. It took her a moment, but she found them and followed them back to the clearing again. There sasuke was standing, looking angrily at her.

“Well are you actually Naru?”

“Yeah, I only just left,”

“When does a ninja strike?”

“When… it’s… Dark out?” She screwed up her face, trying to remember. Sasuke sneered.

“That’s a pretty good impression,” Sasuke hurled a kunai at her that she barely leapt out of the way of, “but Naru wouldn’t find her way back this fast. She’d get lost,”

“I did get lost, but I followed my footprints. Shit, guys! I really don’t remember the code! Please, you gotta believe me!”

“Prove you’re Naru!” Sasuke snapped, readying himself with another kunai. Naru hesitated.

“Okay… how?”

“Tell me something only Naru would know!”

“I won the fight last night!”

“Nice try! She was shouting about that before we went into the testing building! What did you do with her?” He barked, charging forward with the kunai. Naru backed up to the tree and gripped his arm, keeping the knife from her throat.

“I won by flipping you over my shoulder and dropping you on your dumb pin cushion looking ass head, Teme! Get off me!”

Sasuke’s eyes grew wide, and he dropped his arm. Naru stayed there, leaned against the tree, glaring up at him.

“Sorry I forgot the password,”

“Frankly, I’d have been more suspicious if you’d remembered it,” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Naru frowned.

“Fuck you,”

“Fuck you too,” Sasuke replied, smirking at her. She wrinkled her nose at him and kicked off the tree, so they were standing toe to toe. He looked down his nose at her, about to say something, when Sakura suddenly screamed. They both turned to see a man in a tan jumpsuit gripping her by her hair, laughing.

“Looks like they don’t need you at all, sugar. I might as well just kill you now to get you out of these lovebird’s way!”

“We aren’t lovebirds!” Naru shouted, turning red. Sakura and Sasuke both whipped around to glare at her.

“THAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY HERE, YOU KNUCKLEHEADED BIMBO?” Sakura screamed, flailing in her captor’s grip. Naru clenched her fists.

“Oh yeah! And let her go!” She snarled, leaning into an offensive pose.

“Only if you hand over your scroll, kid,” The man snarled, yanking Sakura’s hair. Sakura looked furious, and she saw her teammate’s eyes flick up to her own short blonde hair.

It was sudden, all at once. Sakura pulled out a knife and cut through her hair, dropping to her knees, just as the man’s teammates appeared. Naru saw Sakura turn, knife in hand, just as a man came through the trees toward herself. Naru punched through him, but he was just an illusion. She barrelled through it, toward her friend, but was knocked back by a knife grazing her left arm, spraying blood across the clearing. she snarled, turning, trying to see where it had come from, when Sasuke called out suddenly.

“Naru! Get to Sakura!”

Naru turned again, seeing Sakura, clutching her knife, covered in blood, shaking, staring down at the body of the man she’d just killed. He was covered in stab wounds, his chest, his face, his arms, where he’d tried to block the Konoichi’s blows. Sakura’s pink hair was scattered around them, mixing with the red blood. Naru rushed forward, pulling her friend off the man’s body, checking the trees around them for wherever the attacks were coming from.

“Teme! I can’t see them! Use those stupid eyes of yours!” Naru screamed, pushing Sakura to the ground and shielding her from an incoming knife, which lodged itself in the shorter girl’s right shoulder.

“That’s not how Sharingan work, moron!” Sasuke yelled back, but seconds later he sent a knife into the trees and a yell told them all it hit its mark. Another man fell from his tree. Naru turned and rushed him, grabbing the front of his jumpsuit. It was solid. He was real.

“Do you have the scroll?” She snarled in his face. She dragged him to face his dead friend. “I suggest you hand it over now if you do,”

“My other teammate has it! I don’t wanna die! Please!”

“Then your other teammate better toss it down here if he doesn’t want you to go the same way as your buddy over there, huh?” Naru bluffed, shaking her captive slightly.

A thud echoed through the clearing.

A scroll, the one they needed. Sasuke scooped it up, and Naru held back a sigh of relief. She punched the man she was holding unconscious, and ran back to Sakura, who was just staring at the corpse in the clearing and shaking in horror.

“Come on…” Naru whispered, “We’ve been too loud, people might be coming, we gotta go, now,”

She scooped her friend up, pulling her arm over her shoulder and propping her up, and they leapt into the trees and away.

Chapter Text

They sat in the shade of a large tree, Naru was wrapping a bandage around her left arm. She cut it with her kunai and tied it off, holding one end between her teeth. Sakura watched this, but every time she closed her eyes, there was the image of the man, her knife running through his face, his arms, his chest, the images flicked by like slides every time her eyelids fell, like curtains, over the scene of her friend cleaning her own wounds. She sat, staring, and unsure of the feeling in her chest.

She killed that man, without hesitating, she’d had to do it. But… was it adrenaline that had kept her running her knife into his body after he’d stopped moving?

Had it been shock that made her face split into a smile as she drove the kunai past his arms and into his chest? It was like the other Sakura had taken control. Like she’d been the one along for the ride.

It had been proof she was as useful as Naru. She had proved that she could fight too. She stared at her friend, and her hand travelled up to her butchered hair. Other Sakura had made that decision for her. Other Sakura never makes decisions.

Sasuke likes girls with long hair, she thought, but he loses to girls with their hair cropped short.

She glanced at him. He was staring into the forest, teeth gritted. He looked over at her, their eyes locking briefly, but continued to turn toward Naru.

“Do you need help bandaging your shoulder? You were stabbed there too, right?” he asked, his voice was surprisingly soft.

“Eh, I’m good. Just pass me some of that yarrow, I need to chew up some more,” Naru grunted, knitting the bandage again and pulling it tight with her teeth.

“You can just mash it up you know,” Sakura said, watching Naru place more of the leaves into her mouth. Naru laughed, spraying little green shards in front of her.

“Yeah, I didn't think of that,” She said, her voice muffled, but she kept chewing the leaves anyway. She spat them into her hand after a minute and slapped them over her right shoulder, then started wrapping bandages over the joint. Sasuke and Sakura watched her, but she seemed oblivious to this. She was completely focussed on the bandage she was fumbling with. after a few minutes of watching her struggle, Sasuke sighed and moved behind her, pulling the roll from her fist.

“You’re too stupid even to do this right, Dobe,” He snarled, starting to wrap her up. Naru jerked away, whipping her head around to glare at him.

“I can do it myself,” she groused, reaching out for the bandage, still trailing from her shoulder, taut and preventing her from scooting away any further.

“Obviously not, so stop fidgeting and sit still,” he snapped, palming the top of her head and jerking it back to face Sakura. Naru grunted, but let him continue to wrap her shoulder. He pulled the bandage tight, and Sakura thought it must have been painful on Naru’s fresh wound, but Naru didn’t flinch. Instead, she looked unabashed at Sakura, letting Sasuke jerk her arm around as he roughly tended to her. Sakura watched the progress of an ant across the floor between them. He was carrying a small piece of a leaf.

“You stabbed that guy a lot,” Naru said, her voice sounded strange around those words, like they didn’t belong together, “Are you okay Sakura-Chan?”

Sakura’s eyes snapped up to her teammates face. Naru looked earnest.

“I’m not hurt. That guy was a pushover,” Who was speaking? Was it really her? Or was it her other half?

“That’s not what I meant. Are you okay, Sakura?” Naru asked, A very faint flush appearing on her cheeks. Or was it just Sakura’s imagination? “Ya know, like, emotionally or whatever?”

“I’m fine,” Sakura said, picking the ant up and crushing it between her fingers. The little leaf shard dropped to the ground. She hadn’t meant to do that. It hadn’t been her. The other Sakura was laughing loudly as she struggled against her.

“If you say so,” Naru said, turning over her injured shoulder to glare at Sasuke, “How far down are you planning on wrapping me up exactly, Teme?”

Sakura looked down at Naru’s arm, which was covered to the elbow. Sasuke knocked Naru upside the head, then began weaving the end of the bandage in.

“I’m just making sure it’s secure, Dobe,” he snapped, “Don’t want it coming undone in a fight,”

“Yeah, but you wasted so much bandage!” The blonde girl whined, looking at the little ball left over. Sasuke picked it back up.

“I’m gonna go over your other arm to make sure that’s secure too,” He snapped, pulling her left arm toward him. She snatched it away, snarling at him.

“I did fine! It’s fine! I don’t need more gauze!”

“You knucklehead! You barely even tied it off! It’ll come undone any second! Let me fix it!”

“No! get off me!”

Sakura watched her teammates grapple briefly. Sasuke took advantage of the injuries on Naru’s arms to pin her, and he knelt on her chest, ignoring her flailing as he wrapped her entire upper arm, shoulder to elbow, using her entire ball of bandages. Naru grunted and kicked as he did. Sakura kept seeing the man she’d killed. The look in his eyes as her knife went through his cheek, clicking against his teeth, probably going through his tongue. Blood had bubbled from his mouth as he had yelled.

Naru lay panting, flat on her back, upper arms both bandaged beyond necessity. Sasuke had shifted his knees to her sides, and kneeled over her, hands on his hips, smirking. He wasn’t out of breath at all. Sakura rose to her feet.

“We should go,” She said, looking down at the pair of them. Naru propped herself up on her elbows, looking up at Sakura. Sasuke glanced at her and then returned to staring at Naru.

“Why the rush Sakura-Chan?”

“I just wanna get to the tower, that’s all,”

She turned away from her teammates, hearing Sasuke get up gracefully, and Naru stumble to her feet. It’s strange, this feeling… Sakura thought, closing her eyes and allowing the image of the dead to take over her senses, smelling the metallic scent of blood, like… like some sort of… drug. It’s like it woke her up.

Chapter Text

Naru pulled a stray thread from a bandage on her left arm. This test just keeps getting weirder. First Sakura cuts her hair off and goes full on stab-happy, then Sasuke decides to play nurse and bandage my whole body. Am I asleep?

She pinched her forearm, bruising herself. No, I’m awake. She'd just been stabbed twice and h er stomach hadn’t stopped burning the whole time they were in this dumb forest, so maybe she was dumb for pinching herself. Maybe she was dumb in general.

They were making their way toward a tower when Naru held her arms out, signaling them all to stop. It was faint, but someone… Someone was near. A chakra signature that sent her skin crawling… she’d felt it before.

“Guys get down!” She whispered, dropping and hanging underneath the tree by her hands and feet. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and frowned.

“What is she talking about?” Sakura asked, looking around her. Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked around at the surrounding trees.

Suddenly, the grass ninja from before appeared, stepping out onto a branch and grinning at them.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” She hissed, her face splitting into a wide smile.

“Back off!” Sakura yelled, whipping a Kunai at her. The grass woman flicked it out of the air with her bare hand.

“Not you, little girl,” The woman sneered, “I’ve been looking for you, Sasuke,”

“Oh?” Sasuke sneered, “Why’s that?”

“Oh, I just wanted to test your abilities. See where you’re at,” The woman grinned. It was unnatural, there was something so wrong here. This creepy woman emanated power.

Suddenly Naru saw both her teammates drop to their knees, terrified. She shifted her grip, making to rush towards them, but something stopped her. They weren’t physically hurt, it was some kind on Genjutsu.

So she waited it out. She watched her teammates shaking in fear, eyes wide in unadulterated horror. Soon Sasuke struggled to his feet and positively yelped at the woman.

“You can have our scroll! Here! Take it!” He rooted in his pockets, but couldn’t find them. Naru couldn’t help herself. She smirked. If all it took was some shitty Genjutsu to have Sasuke whimpering for help, she was glad she took the scrolls from him.

“I don’t care about the scroll!” The woman laughed, “And even if I did, it looks like you’ve got none at all!” She laughed, throwing her head back. "No, I want you," Sakura was shaking like a leaf. Naru ached to reach out for her but…

it’s just like the land of waves. I spoiled the strategy by charging in half cocked. Save it for the right moment. It seems like this woman can’t tell I’m hiding or she’d have cast the Genjutsu on me too.

So she waited, watched as this woman started fighting, until she stretched out her neck like a snake and came toward Sasuke…

Naru leapt out and launched herself at the woman, catching her by surprise as she was just biting Sasuke’s neck. Naru punched her dead in the middle of her face, Sending her creepy neck snapping back like a whip. The woman staggered, and Sasuke fell to his knees, shaking. Naru crouched before him, feeling her rage bubble to the surface along with… something else. Something… red.

TWELVE YEAR’S RENT! a voice screamed in her mind. The woman was laughing, her neck snaking back into her body. Sasuke has his hand over his neck. Naru turned to look at him.

“You’re not hurt, are ya, kid?” she sneered. Sasuke looked up at her, something in his eyes. No time. she thought, whipping back to face the Grass lady, gotta fight this hag.

“You must be the fox child. Yes, Kabuto said something about you,”

“Shut up you ugly freak!” Naru screamed, crouching onto all fours and charging at the woman. The woman seemed surprised at her speed. Caught off guard, she was thrown back by Naru’s next punch, slamming her against the tree trunk. The woman quickly bit her thumb, and summoned…

A massive snake came out of nowhere, its body sliding to the forest floor, its head, which the woman was standing on, leveled with Naru. It’s mouth opened, and it swallowed her whole.

It was dark, and slimy. Naru pulled out a knife and tried hacking at the neck around her, but it didn’t budge. Don’t panic, what would Sakura say? Stay calm, think it through… She closed her eyes. How can you break something if you can’t cut it? Her eyes flew open. You stretch it! She summoned as many shadow clones as she could, focusing her chakra as much as possible. The dark helped in a way. It was less distracting. The strange, red chakra built up in her, around her, and…

The throat around her burst, ripping through the snake’s skin and leaving it keeling backward, bringing the grass woman back with it. Naru’s clones poured out of the gaping hole, dozens at a time, clambering out of the snake’s warm corpse. Naru, emerging with the rest, looked around. Sasuke and Sakura were still in the trees, safe, for now. If she could set the clones on this woman, it might distract her long enough that they could get away and treat whatever creepy hickey she’d given Sasuke. If they got enough of a head start they might even be able to make it to the tower before nightfall.

But that was only if she’d made enough clones. She looked around. Twenty, thirty, forty…. how many where there? There’s no time for a head count, idiot! She sent her intent through her clones, who all focussed on the Grass nin, lying there, taking in the small army surrounding her.

“Well well… I didn’t expect this…” She mused, climbing back to her feet. Naru snarled, so did her clones.

“Oh, you didn’t?” a clone snapped, across the clearing from Naru, another, closer, laughed.

“You probably should have taken it to heart when I warned you not to underestimate me,”

“Somehow, though, people never do,” another clone laughed. They all drew kunai at once. The grass nin smiled.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve really got,” She sneered, looking around at the army of clones. Naru sent them in, holding two clones back as decoys. The crowd engulfed her, all screaming at the top of her lungs. As soon as she could guarantee the other Nin was overwhelmed, she leapt away and found Sakura, who was propping Sasuke up. He was unconscious, and there was a single black dot next to the shallow bite mark on his neck.

“I don’t know what that woman did to him,” Sakura yelped, clutching her crushes chest. Naru pulled him away from her and lifted him over her shoulders.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s alive, we’ll figure it out later. I don’t know how much time I bought, we have to move NOW,”

Sakura nodded and they both stood, Naru carrying the unconscious Sasuke. They fled as fast as they could, Naru receiving flashing memories as clones dispersed by the dozen. This woman was insanely powerful. Naru had produced a lot of clones, but it wouldn’t be long with how strong that lady was.

“Hurry up, Sakura!” She snapped, rushing forward. She felt the last few clones disperse. The grass nin was definitely following them now.

“We’re going to have to go straight to the tower. We can’t stop,” Naru gasped, flashes of the clones memories running through her head. The skin had begun to peel off one side that grass nin’s face, revealing… was that… another face?

“It’s miles, Naru!”

“Well? We’ve made it further in a day before,”

“Not flat out in a forest full of enemy nin! We’ll have to break!”

“That’d be great if we had that option, but we don’t,” Naru snapped, glaring at her teammate, “You’re not the one carrying this gangly loser. I get it Sakura, but if we stop, we’ll die, and if we die, I’ll find you in the afterlife and kick your ass for eternity, got it?”

“It’s impossible!”

“Lots of things are impossible, till someone does it,” Naru said, using her chakra to increase her speed. Even with her massive reserves, and the Kyuubi, she was beginning to feel the drain. Miles to go, nowhere to rest. Naru told herself. She heard Sakura grunt and try to match her strides.

Miles to go.

Chapter Text

When Sasuke came to, he was in a bed that was most certainly not his own. He jerked up, feeling like his whole body was screaming in protest. He heard a shift in the corner.

Sakura was sitting there, looking at him expectantly, worried. She rushed to stand, staggering on stiff limbs to his side.

“Sasuke! It’s been two days! Are you okay?”

It was slowly coming back, he looked around, taking in his surroundings.

“Where are we? Where’s Naru?” he moved to leap out of bed, but Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders, keeping him perched on the side of the mattress, “Oh god! Is she dead? Did that woman kill her? WHERE IS SHE?” he felt a burning at his neck and slapped his hand over it, his fingers finding a bandage there. Then suddenly his sharingan activated, and a burning spreading over his skin. He gasped in pain, and stood, pushing past Sakura’s gentle pressure. At that moment, the door burst open, revealing Naru, bandages wrapped more sparingly than before, and unharmed. She was running a towel back and forth over her wet hair and grinning, her headband around her neck where it usually sat. Sasuke felt his skin cooling, and his sharingan disengage. She was okay. She was safe.

“Man a hot shower does a lot of good to- Whoa!” Naru froze, looking at her teammates and turning red, “Am I interrupting something?” Sasuke looked back at Sakura, realising just how close they were, with her hands up on his shoulders. She was bright red, staring back up at him.

He pulled her hands off his shoulders, and gently urged her to step back. She looked down at the ground, still red in the face.

“No, I just woke up,” he said, turning away from Sakura to face Naru.

“What? Did Sakura give you mouth to mouth or something?” Naru teased, wrapping her towel up and snapping it at him. He grabbed it and pulled it out of her grip, casually throwing it to the ground and striding toward her. She backed up two steps, but he got to her before she could get further. He grabbed her left arm and pulled it forward.

“Who did these? They’re actually tied well, so it wasn’t you,”

“I did,” Sakura squeaked, still locked in a staring contest with her toes. Sasuke glanced at her and then back at Naru, pulling her other shoulder toward him.

“I would have wrapped them thicker, she’ll bleed through this in a few hours,” He said, “But they’re neat, I’ll give you that,”

Naru suddenly shoved him back, away from her, glaring up at him.

“Why dontcha go join the medical corps if you’re so good, huh?” the small girl snapped, crossing her arms. He scowled at her, stepping back up to her and leaning in. His temper was short, it always had been, but somehow he’d already burned through it.

“I don’t need training to know you take damage like it won’t affect you and don’t take care of yourself afterward. When you get hurt it drags the whole team down,”

“I still managed to carry your ass out of that fight,” She spat, snarling up at him. Was it just his imagination or did she look… feral? “When you were out like a light, Sakura and I dragged your ass through that forest, through traps and shit, and got you here. Shoulder and all,” she slapped herself over her bandages. He slammed his hand beside her head, trying to get her to flinch. She didn’t. She just crossed her arms and glared at him.

“I didn’t do much,” Sakura snapped. They both turned their glares on her. She had her hands on her hips, staring Sasuke down, though without the same conviction as Naru, “I just tried to keep up. It was Naru-chan who carried you. You should thank her, and stop being a jerk,”

Sasuke was taken aback. His mind flicked back to what Naru had said on the night they’d fought. Well, she’s moved on. And here she was, coming to Naru’s defence, going so far as to insult him. He returned his glare at Naru, who was frowning up at him.

“Okay, so I was the one who carried you, but I didn’t do it for you Teme, I did it so I could keep going in this test. All three of us had to make it, remember? So don’t bother thanking me. Just back off,” She snarled, punching him in the chest, under his extended arm, and stamping on his foot, “And take a shower, you gross bastard,”

He rubbed his chest where she’d punched him, and watched her as she marched across the room and pulled a towel from a previously unnoticed cupboard. she threw it at him, and he caught it, striding out of the room, and slamming the door behind himself.

He threw the towel over his shoulder, and looked up and down the curving hallway. he turned to his right, and strode along, looking for the shower block. Something was bothering him about Sakura. She was her usual annoying self, but… To defend Naru? His mind jumped to the love letter. Naru had hurriedly shoved it into her pocket when she realised he was following. Why would she hide it from him if it didn’t have anything to do with him? More specifically, why would Sakura ask Naru for romantic advice? Why was it bothering him so much? He located the shower block and turned into it, hanging his towel up and then shrugging his clothes off. He peeled away the bandage on his neck, looking down at the two little spots of blood that marked it. he remembered Naru, flying in and punching the grass ninja back, away from him. Keeping him safe. He imagined how hard it must have been to carry him all the way to the tower. How had she gotten in?

Then he realised. She must have stolen the scrolls from him while he was preoccupied with wrapping her arms. He scrubbed his own arms roughly. She really never gives up. He should have been worried about the ease at which she had stolen from him. He should have been worried about the grass nin who had attacked them, not for the scrolls, but for him. He should have been worried about where his brother was, but the only thing on his mind, at that moment, with water running over fresh wounds and sore muscles, was a love letter without a recipient, and Naru’s bandages not being wound thickly enough to do her any good.

You’re not as good as you think you are. Her voice echoed through his head. You’re not as good as you think you are.

You need to stop underestimating people, Sasuke-kun, especially me.

Every time. Every time he thought he’d seen the best she could do, she surprised him. She was sloppy, she had no mind for strategy and her attacks were too direct. She took damage like she was disposable. Yet she won. She always seemed to win. She’d push herself to the limits of her endurance. Like she wasn’t scared to die, like every fight was the fight she’d been training for her whole life. She left nothing to bring her home.

How could he help it? She was far too easy to underestimate. But even so, why could his mind not let her go? Why did it always swing back to her, like it had once done Itachi? Was she truly his rival? He had never thought of her as such, but how could it be helped now? Now she’d defeated enemies that had driven him to the ground, now that she’d carried him from a battle he could not have possibly won if she’d not been there, how could he continue to feel himself superior to her when she so consistently exceeded his expectations?

How could he get strong enough to avenge his family if he continued to fail acknowledging such an obvious proof that he was lagging behind in his training? That he was being surpassed by a teammate that had only become his teammate due to her incompetence compared to how he had excelled stung. He had allowed himself to plateau, to be satisfied with himself. He had been vain.

He turned the water off, his mind made up. If he had had such a large head start on Naru, and he had trained as hard as she had, there was no telling how strong he could have been by now. It was an opportunity lost. He towelled himself off and got dressed. He draped the towel over his shoulders to catch the drips coming from his hair, and he moved for the door. Before he could reach it, it opened, and the bully, Kankuro, strode in. He froze when he saw Sasuke, and narrowed his eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Sasuke snapped, pulling on either side of the towel. The boy straightened his back and looked down at the younger ninja.

“Nothing. Just surprised you twerps made it this far, that’s all,” He sneered, walking past him and hanging his towel up. Sasuke didn’t bother responding, and made for the door. He heard the this of the boy setting down his bandaged backpack, but before Sasuke could leave, the boy laughed and turned to him. “Does that mean my little blondie is here too?”

Sasuke froze, a shiver running up his spine. Anticipation. He turned, slowly, facing the boy. He pulled the towel off his shoulders slowly, letting it fall to the floor. Kankuro had taken off this hoodie to reveal a black tshirt, which he now pulled off. He was older and it showed, his muscles were more developed than Sasuke’s, physically, at least. The sand nin sneered. Sasuke knew he was egging him on, knew his continuing to undress was supposed to be a power move.

Sasuke smirked. He stepped forward and…

Someone kicked the door in, startling both of them. Naru stood, fists at her side, glaring around.

“Teme, you sluggish loser, what's taking you so long?” She barked, her fanged teeth bared as she glared up at him. She stomped into the boy’s shower block, unabashed. She’d pushed her headband back up to her head, pushing her hair back. Sasuke disliked the sight of it. He wanted his bumbling friend back, not this soldier that could beat people more powerful than even him.

“Nothing. Let’s go,” He said, turning around and grabbing Naru’s arm, making to drag her out. He looked back at Kankuro, who was smirking at Naru.

“Hey tomboy!” Kankuro laughed, trudging to the door, shirtless, and leaning out into the hallway, “You still haven’t made good on our deal!” He slammed the door back up into its place, and they could hear him chuckling to himself as Sasuke dragged her down the hall. Naru yanked her arm from Sasuke’s grip.

“Were you gonna fight that guy? He wasn’t even dressed!”

“That was his choice,” Sasuke snapped, making to grab her arm again, but she slapped his hand away, and then his face. Sasuke reached up in shock and held the place her hand had struck.

“If you’re going to act like this then go back to sleep!” She shouted, “You behave like a spoiled brat. I don’t know what that lady did to you but if this is what you’re like after your first hickey then I’m glad you won’t ever have a girlfriend!”

He grabbed her around the throat and slammed her into the wall. She grasped his arm and made to break his grip, but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand and pinned it to the wall. He leaned in to her, putting his face close to hers, keeping his expression as blank as possible as he stared her down. her face was slowly turning red as he crushed down on her neck, but her gaze never wavered. She stared right back into his eyes like she was searching for something.

“You need to learn when to keep your big mouth shut, I’m pissed off and now is not the time to test me,” He whispered, drawing even closer to her, their noses almost touching.

Naru suddenly brought her legs up, wrapping them around his arm and snapping her body straight again like a bowstring, throwing him to the ground and into the wall with so much force that the drywall broke, sending out a puff of gritty white dust that stuck to his wet hair.

She dislocated his thumb and pulled his hand off her neck, looking down as his pained face disdainfully. “You think too much of yourself,” She hissed, stomping on his chest, “You still underestimate me and you still don’t realise. I don’t fucking care if you’re mad at me, Teme. I’m gonna always be right behind you, either keeping you safe or kicking your ass, depending on what the situation calls for, and until you get your big boy pants on and realise what the hell I’m about, you’re gonna deal with whatever I give you,”

“Who’s… cocky… now?” He grunted, yanking on one of her legs. She buckled, but recovered, bringing her knee down on his chest with her full weight. All the air rushed from his body.

She stood, popped his thumb back into its joint, and picked him up, leaning him against the wall and looking into his eyes.

“You need to realise I’m not your enemy. We’re a team,” She looked up at him as he stood, rubbing his chest, “I like fighting you as practice, not for real,”

Chapter Text

She had been so happy to see him awake, to see Sakura and Sasuke breaking away from a hug, almost sad that she’d interrupted. But he wasn’t… the same. She looked into his eyes, searching in them for her cocky, smirking, sullen best friend.

He’s getting distant, She thought, wanting to grab him, shake him, how do I get him back?

Hue stared down at her, blank, empty, in pain. She shook her head. He’s just woke up, he’s been out for two days. Cut the guy some slack. You gotta stop beating him up for twenty minutes and let him get his bearings.

He looked back up the hallway, as though he wanted to go back and jump that Kankuro kid. She wanted to grab him, shake him, make him talk to her. She knew he wouldn’t but she wanted to try. He was her best friend. There was no reason for him to shut her out. Her frustration bubbled, low in her stomach. He was so insolent. So insistent on being alone. Never letting anyone in.

“Let’s go get food. You haven’t eaten,” She stepped back and turned the opposite direction from the shower block, leading Sasuke down the spiralling hallway. it must have been sloped, because they climbed no stairs, but somehow they never circled back. after about five minutes, they came across a mess hall. Naru went straight for the kitchen, and opened the fridge. She grabbed a milk carton and pulled it out, setting it on the counter. she paused, draping her arm over the door, and then pulled out some random fruits and vegetables, which she threw into the sink. she slammed the door and reached into a cupboard for some cereal. then she turned the tap on, water rushing over the apples, red peppers and broccoli she’d thrown in.

She pulled out a bowl, a spoon, and some paper towel. Naru could feel Sasuke staring at her. She dried the fruit and peppers, and set the broccoli on the towel. She broke it in half down the stalk and handed him one side of it. She poured herself a bowl of cereal, then looked over her shoulder at him. He was holding the broccoli in a loose grip, and staring at it like it was some alien plant, possibly poisonous.

“Do you want some?” She offered. He looked dumbfounded.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, pointing at the pile of red fruit.

“Getting food ready? For eating? Thought it was obvious,”

“All of this? Raw? Together?” He pointed at the mixture of food, the bowl, the broccoli, and the fruit. She blinked. Maybe he has brain damage.

“It’s food, you eat it, right?” She mimed putting food into her mouth, staring at him. He just stared back, the corner of his mouth twitching as though he was expecting her to burst out laughing at him. Was he annoyed? At food? Definitely brain damaged. Oh god, he doesn’t know what food is anymore!

“Here, look,” she said, slowly, picking up a pepper and showing it to him. He stared at it. She brought it to her mouth and took a bite, shifting the mouthful to her cheek, “See? Just eat it,”

Chapter Text

He stared at her, then it clicked. She’d never had anyone cook for her. The hokage sent a ninja to drop off food every now and again, but no one had ever made sure she knew how to eat it. He watched as she crunched into the bell pepper like an apple. No wonder she liked Ramen so much, when she went out to eat, her food was actually cooked. Once she’d eaten the entire pepper, she flicked the stem at him and began eating the apple… Bottom up, core and all. Once she’d finished, she crunched away at the cereal she’d poured herself.

“You just gonna stare? Eat!” She gestured at the broccoli in his hand. He stared down at it, and took a bite out of the head. It was entirely unappetising, but he was starving. He kept stealing glances at her as she dipped her broccoli into her left over milk and ate it like that.

She’s a psychopath. It’s the only way that would make sense. Or she’s an alien. When he was finished with the broccoli, she passed him a pepper, which he held in both hands, as though to hide it, and bit into. It actually wasn’t bad. It was all just so surprising.

“I’ve been training in an abandoned room I found at the top. If you want to come with me and get some of your aggression out, you’re welcome to. But I’m not in the mood to spar, so don’t bother trying to convince me,” she said, starting on another pepper.

Sasuke rotated his own pepper. “Hnn,” He looked up at her. She was bullshitting. She was always in the mood to spar. He’d never known her to turn down a fight. Except with that idiot, Kankuro. Anger flared in his stomach at the thought of that guy’s smug face. How he’d called Naru ‘his blondie’. Sasuke wanted to beat that expression off his face and then burn him to a crisp.

“So? Are you coming?” She asked, eyebrows raised. He nodded, tossing his stem aside. She passed him an apple, and began washing her bowl. He stood, and walked around the dining hall. There had to be more nin than just their team and the sand who had gotten through.

“Who else is here?”

“So far? Uh,” she squinted at the ceiling as she rinsed the dishes, “Shikamaru, Choji and Ino are here,” She said, beginning to dry the bowl, “Some of those Sound Village Clowns, and of course you’ve seen that the Sand made it,”

“Is that all?” He was surprised. He’d expected more. Naru shrugged.

“There’s a few more days. We got really lucky those guys who ambushed us in the beginning had the scroll we needed. It could have been a lot harder. When you think about it, you could have to fight a couple of teams before you get the right scroll, and if you get hurt, then you have to recover a little before you keep going,” she shot him a sharp look as she began drying the spoon, “We’d still be out there for sure if you’d kept those stupid scrolls. You were ready to whip them at that Grass hag the second she cast a Genjutsu,”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you have no idea-“

“Either way, I’m glad I took them. The way some of these guys are acting… Those grass people, the Sound…” A dark look passed over her face, “there’s something wrong here,” she put the dishes away and turned back to him with a grin.

“Let’s go train, yeah?”

Chapter Text

Naru had her eyes closed and was throwing kunai at a target she had smeared on the wall with mud. They were clustering fine, but she occasionally had an outlier. Sasuke was doing pushups in the corner, clapping between every other one. Naru looked over at him after her ninth Kunai in a row clustered.

“Hey, come over here,”

Sasuke looked up at her, throwing himself into the air, bringing his hands together and slamming them back onto the ground before he fell. “What?” He gasped, lowering himself to the ground again. Naru beckoned to him, and he got up, striding over.

“You’re better at this than me, how do you do that thing where you make the kunai glance off of each other to hit two targets at once?”

“Uh,” Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck, squinting at her, “you have to throw them really fast, you might not be-“

“I didn’t ask you if you thought I could,” She snapped, throwing a kunai between them, without looking. It clustered. She heard the metal clink against other knives, “I asked you how you do it,”

Sasuke shrugged and pulled two knives from the table where Naru had stabbed her spares. Naru stood back, and he twirled them around his fingers.

“You have to understand the weight of the knife, and throw the second kinda… harder? I guess? So it catches up with the first one. And when they hit each other, if they hit each other at the right angle…” He threw the knives, one a half second after the other. Naru watched them meet in mid air, one hitting the other, and both diverting the other. One hit the target in front of Sasuke, right in the middle of her cluster, and the other stuck in the wall next to them. Naru looked over at the second one and…

“Is that… Did you just kill a fly with that knife?” She said, striding over and staring at it.

“It was bothering me,” He said, shrugging. Naru looked back at him, eyes glowing, face split in an impossibly wide grin.

“Teme! That’s amazing. Can you throw them one more time? I wanna see where you put your fingers!”

Sasuke nodded curtly and did it again, but the knives fell to the floor after glancing off the last ones he’d buried into the walls. Naru stood, her mouth open, staring at them. Sasuke stood.

“Less impressive, I know, but…”

“Less impressive? I thought I was good for clustering consistently! You just mirrored the previous throw exactly! Damn, I have even more work to do than I thought!” Naru grinned, grabbing the knives out of the wall and off the floor, then stabbing them all into the table. She pulled two out, stood next to Sasuke, and showed him her grip.

“Like that?”

“No, move your thumb up a little,” He said, gesturing vaguely. She looked down and shifted her thumb a little further up the knife’s handle. Sasuke shook his head. “No… like…” he reached out and prodded her thumb a little to the right. She accommodated his nudge, but he only frowned and shook his head.

“Up a little?” Naru asked, shifting her grip higher. Sasuke glanced up at her face and back down at the knife in her hand.

“You… Have tiny hands… and they’re kinda… broad, I guess? I think your grip is gonna just be different than mine,”

Naru stabbed a knife into the table and stared at her hand. Her hand was square, and her fingers were blunt looking, given how short her nails were. She held it out next to Sasuke’s and it did look small. He had long, thin fingers and slim palms, they looked… smart, somehow. Both his and her hands were calloused and scarred, but her hands looked like little battering rams compared to his.

Sasuke shook his head. “Naru, you probably can’t do this. Leave knives to Sakura and I, you’re more a brute strength type of ninja,”

Naru smirked up at him. “You scared I’m gonna get better than you at your own game?” She yanked a knife out of the table.

“No, I just don’t want you to get discouraged,” He admitted, shrugging. She turned, putting her back toward him. She whipped one after the other, they clashed in mid-air, but went flying in random directions. One lodged in the ceiling, one in the floor. Naru sent another pair. They wound up in the walls this time, but nowhere near the targets.

“Breathe, before you throw them. You forget, I have Sharingan, You don’t have it,”

“I don’t need Sharingan,” Naru hissed, whipping more knives. They both wound up in the floor this time. Sasuke shook his head, and set a table on its side to catch any stray knives before resuming his pushups.

She threw more. One after another, she threw them. They stuck into the walls, the ceiling, the floor. One even lodged itself in the toe of her sandal, millimeters from her foot. She lost track of time, and the sun had begun to decline in the sky. She could hear Sasuke occasionally switch his workouts. She wasn’t clustering, not even close, but when she turned her hand slightly, and flicked her wrist on the second throw…

She yelled, jumping on the spot and punching the air. Sasuke peeked his head over the side of his makeshift barricade.

“Did you stab yourself?”

“No! I got it! I actually hit them! Look!”

Sasuke stood, hopping over his table and coming to look. He raised his eyebrows.

“Do it again,” he said. She crouched a little and…

They clustered. His eyebrows shot even higher.

“Again,” He said, stepping closer. She grabbed four knives, and threw them in quick succession. It wasn’t perfect, but there they were, stuck deep into the wall. Four loosely clustered kunai.

“Try…” Sasuke came closer, stood behind her, placed his arm alongside hers. “When you follow through, keep going, and if you lift your pinkie, you’ll take that drag off,”

She tried again, following his directions. Her kunai glanced off those already buried in the wall and she whipped around, grinning at Sasuke. He blinked, his arms still out slightly. She leapt on him, yelling incoherently.

“Ahhhhh! I can’t even with this, dude, oh my gods! This is the sickest shit on the planet-did you see that!” She said, bouncing up and down, her hands gripping his arms tightly as she beamed.

“Yeah,” he smiled, nodding at her, “yeah, I saw,”

“I can’t believe I did it! Look!,” she turned and did it again. More knives on the ground. She squealed and hugged him.

Sasuke laughed, pulling away from her, holding her forearms in his hands, “Let’s go grab some food to celebrate, its past lunch by a long shot,”

“Okay! I noticed a few green peppers and there’s a lot more broccoli-“

“Uh, how about I cook something?” He offered. She looked at him, surprised.

“You know how to cook?”

“Well my mom left behind some family recipes, so I kinda felt like I should learn them… you know, as a way of keeping tradition alive,” He mumbled, stretching as they made their way down the hall. Naru nodded thoughtfully.

“I…” she stopped, and looked out, away from Sasuke. He turned his head slightly and elbowed her.

“You what?”

She shook her head, smiling sadly at him. “It’s lame, forget it,”

“Tell me,” he said, elbowing her again.

She hesitated, eyeing him. He looked earnest, but she wasn’t sure if he’d judge her for the words buzzing behind her teeth. It was a minute before she swallowed and said, quickly, before she could change her mind, “I really wish my parents had… left me something, I mean… I don’t even know who my dad was, and I only know about my mom cause of my family name,”

Sasuke looked at her, a peculiar expression marking his sharp features. She looked away, feeling her face heat up. It was a few minutes this time before he responded.

“That… really sucks, Naru,” He muttered, looking up at the ceiling, putting his hands behind his head. “I’m sorry,”

She shrugged, still not looking at him. He punched her in the arm. “Wanna race down to the mess hall?”

She grinned at him. “You’re on, Teme,”

Chapter Text

Sasuke made it into the mess hall first, and it was empty. He turned, grinning smugly as Naru burst in after him, but she didn’t stop, she reached out her arms and full-body tackled him. They toppled over, hitting the ground with a thud that shook the room. Sasuke’s muscles screamed in protest. Naru rolled off him and laughed, throwing her arms to the sides, one traipsing over him. he reached down and tightened up the knot of her bandage. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

“Will you stop with that?” She groaned, slowly lifting her arm away and spreading her hand wide in midair, looking at it with a faint smile on her face. Sasuke looked at it too, unsure of the feelings churning in his stomach. Pride and jealousy? and something else?

“I’m surprised you haven’t bled through those yet. You didn’t already scab, did you?”

“Uh…” Naru hesitated, looking away, “I think Sakura put something on them,”

Sasuke shrugged and got up, walking into the tower’s kitchen. Naru propped herself up on her elbows and watched him, but he put in effort not to look at her. He had started feeling uncomfortable again, like he was in an unfamiliar danger.

Like he was paying Naru too much attention.

Still, he felt her watching him, her body against cold tile, her legs straight out with her feet pointed in opposite directions. Awkward and strange in a body too small for her flaming disaster of a personality.

He felt her get up, and he heard her walk over, picking up an apple off the counter and biting into the bottom of it, her eyes burning holes in the side of his face as he washed vegetables. She didn’t say anything, which made it worse, because she wasn’t ever quiet like this. Never.

“What?” He snapped, staring back at her after another full minute of silence. She was smiling at him, leaning over the counter, like she was laughing to herself at a joke she remembered. Her bright blue eyes were dancing with that light that she always seemed to carry with her.

“I was just thinking about you and Sakura,” She laughed, turning her back on the counter and looking over the room, biting into her apple, core and all, and chewing it slowly.

“Sakura and I? What about us?”

“I’m just… I’m glad we’re on a team together. The three of us. I’m just…” She laughed a little, covering her mouth so she didn’t spit her apple out, “It’s just funny you guys think you have to hide it from me,”

“Hide what?” He asked, staring at her as he set out the chopping board. She looked over at him, surprised.

“That you, ya know, like each other, and stuff,” She laughed again at the expression that took over Sasuke’s face.

“What?!” he yelped, the knife stilling in his hand. His stomach dropped. She actually thinks…?

Naru rolled her eyes and made to flick his shoulder, but he leaned away. She jumped up to sit on the counter.

“Oh come on, how dumb do you think I am? You’re super jealous over her all the time, and I saw how close you guys were after you woke up. If you’re keeping it a secret cause you think I’ll be upset about Sakura, don’t worry, I’m pretty much over her and… well, I want you guys to be happy!”

“Sakura and I aren’t… we aren’t like that,” He said, continuing to cut the vegetables in front of him. Naru shook her head, slouching against the cabinets behind her. Something inside Sasuke purred, however, at what Naru had just said. He was glad, he guessed, that he had been wrong in thinking something was between his teammates, and that the group’s dynamic wasn’t going to be ruined by two of its members dating.

“You don’t have to lie, you know, you can tell me the truth,” She said, smiling, leaning forward. He wished she’d stop fidgeting and just stay still.

“It is the truth, really,” he said, tossing the vegetables into the boiling water along with some salt and garlic.

“Okay, okay, I get it, ya don’t wanna talk about it with me, but just so ya know, I love you both, and I just want you to know you totally have my blessing, go nuts,” She laughed, throwing her hands up and shaking her head. Sasuke glared at her.

“I don’t-“ Sasuke started, but Naru slid off the counter.

“I have to go to the bathroom, be right back,” She said, punching his arm and striding off. He sighed, and turned back to the beef he was slicing.

Once he had fried the beef and added it to the stew, he left it to cook on a low heat and sat down, considering everything that had happened. He had noticed his temper seemed almost… artificially short. And that his protective instinct for Naru had doubled. He thought briefly of Kankuro, shirtless, talking to Naru, and broke a fork that he had been holding.

He thought of Naru’s grin as she had talked about he and Sakura together and felt a twinge of sadness, but he didn’t understand why.

There was a small crash as the door to the cafeteria swung open. Instantlu, he was on his feet, fists clenched, ready for a fight.

Standing in the doorway was the kid from before, Rock Lee, and his team. He was looking over his shoulder, talking to the girl. He hadn’t seen Sasuke yet, but the girl had. She froze and grabbed Rock’s wrist, whispering something, her lips barely moving. Both the Hyuuga boy and Rock turned and glared at Sasuke, who smirked.

“It looks like we will have our fight after all,” Rock said, striding forward and snapping into his combat pose from before. Sasuke moved into his and nodded.

“Let’s do this, it should be quick enough,” He sneered, not caring that a voice in the back of his head (that sounded like Naru) was screaming at him for being cocky. Rock Lee grinned, and Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

Sasuke threw a punch, but Rock dodged it easily. He went to punch again, faster, and swept his left leg at the back of Rock’s knees, but he avoided those blows too, easily, leaping into the air and flipping backward.

Then Rock struck. He was fast. Too fast. Sasuke couldn’t keep up, and before he knew what was happening he had been kicked into the air. He could sense Rock behind him, suspended as if in slow motion. He heard him mutter something that sounded like ‘sorry Sensei’ And knew he had lost, his neck was burning, the sensation spreading, a strange energy thrumming through his veins, he closed his eyes.

Then there was a familiar deafening shout. His eyes flew open and he tried to turn his head.

“I can’t even take a piss without you getting into trouble!”

A hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him out of the air, whipping him straight into the ground. He grunted, staring up at a red-faced and furious Naru.

“You fucking idiot, how long did you think I’d be gone? You really thought you’d be able to get into a fight and finish it before I came back, you cocky dickhead?” She bent down and yanked him off the broken tiles beneath him by his collar.

“Get off me Naru, I was handling it,”

“Yeah handling it by getting your ass kicked by Bushy Brows over here,”

“Naru-San! Please allow this fight to continue!” Rock said, standing behind her and clenching his fists, looking ready to give some impassioned speech. Naru turned to him and smiled, dropping Sasuke on his feet and stepping away from him, and she punched Rock gently in the shoulder.

“I told ya, Caterpillar head, you don’t have to prove yourself against anyone,” She pointed over her shoulder at Sasuke, who was drawing closer, glaring at the back of her head, “Especially not this guy, he uses chakra for his pushups,”

Sasuke hissed, indignant. He could hear the other girl, Tenten?, trying to smother her laughter behind her hand. Rock stared down at Naru in amazement, But then smiled.

“You are right, I suppose,” He said, holding out his hand for her to shake, but she looked down, closed his hand, and fist bumped him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and strode into the kitchen. He stirred the stew and put some rice on. Tenten followed him and began raiding the refrigerator. She started to wash up vegetables and shooting pointed glances his way. He ignored her.

“You know, she just saved your life,” She whispered. He just kept ignoring her. She pressed on anyway. “That was a kill move,” she said, placing a cucumber and some tomatoes aside. “I was shocked he was using it, that move… our sensei forbade it. It could have really killed you,”

“She’s still annoying,” He said, “and I wouldn’t have died,” He glanced over his shoulder at Naru and Rock, who were laughing together, Naru wiping tears from her eyes. The Hyuuga boy had his arms crossed, and was watching them with a weird mixture of boredom and disapproval on his face.

“You should be glad there is someone who’ll look out for you like her,” She said, “Listen, I’m not in the business of dispensing advice, it doesn’t matter to me if you appreciate your teammate or not, I don’t actually care at all, but if someone had just yanked me out of the air and slammed me into the ground to save my ass? I’d be real honest with myself about why they had to do that in the first place,”

Sasuke looked at Tenten, who was smiling at him, knife flashing as she chopped salad vegetables without looking. “You don’t know anything about Naru and I,” he snapped.

“In your case, you’re right, I don’t know you. But listen, Rock has an inferiority complex, it’s cute sometimes, but mainly it’s just what makes him so eager to get so strong. Naru has that same look in her eyes. She’s gonna prove herself, and watch out when she decides to, cause, well... Like I said. Rock was about to kill you,” she grinned and put the salad into a massive bowl, grabbed enough plates and chopsticks for her team, and walked by him.

“He wouldn’t have killed me,” Sasuke said again, annoyance in every syllable. Tenten just waved the plates and left the kitchen. He strained the rice and doled out some on two plates. He had cooked too much. He always did. He glanced over his shoulder, at Naru, talking to Tenten and Rock eagerly. The Hyuuga boy was staring at his plate.

He split the food up onto five plates.

“Hey Naru, come help me with these,” He shouted. Naru came bounding over, and when she saw the five heaping plates, she grinned like a maniac. He scowled at her.

“Shut up,”

“I didn’t say anything,” She laughed, grabbing forks and spoons enough for everyone.

Chapter Text

Naru, Tenten and Rock were all talking animatedly, shoveling food into their mouths. Neji was eating slowly, looking directly ahead of him, and Sasuke was watching them, deadpanning.

“This is so good Teme!” Naru squealed, her mouth full, her legs kicking. He nodded and looked down at his plate. Naru grinned and turned back to Rock.

“So anyway, that’s what happened in the land of waves, and Sasuke-kun was pretty good, but I was really sad that Haku died, he didn’t deserve what he got,”

“That sounds very distressing, Naru-san,” Rock said, stuffing some salad that Tenten made into his mouth as he spoke. Naru nodded solemnly.

“I feel sad about him sometimes. Sometimes I think about what he said to me,” her voice drifted off, looking away, toward the ceiling. Tenten clapped her hands and rubbed them together.

“Well this was good. I’m glad we all made it through okay, I mean, I bet some people died during this test,”

“Yeah,” Naru said, turning her spoon over itself in her hand and biting her cheek, “Sakura killed a guy,”

“What?” Rock gasped, setting his utensils down and staring at Naru. Naru looked up at him, frowning.

“She had to. It was life or death,” Naru lied. She knew there was probably a way that she could have played the game so that they wouldn’t have had to kill anyone, but she didn’t regret the man’s death.

“I am just… I am surprised. That is all,” he said, frowning. Naru shrugged.

“Sakura is a tough cookie when it comes down to it, it just doesn’t come down to it that often,” Naru looked down at her plate again, prodding a lump of meat through her rice. She glanced up at Lee, then her eyes flicked, almost involuntarily, toward Sasuke, who was focusing on a point a few inches above her head. She looked over her shoulder, at the door, and then back at Lee. “Listen, Bushy Brows, I get that you like Sakura and stuff, but she’s kinda… taken? Or at least, in her head she is. Best to move on,”

Rock looked at her, chewing as he considered her words. After a little while, he swallowed and said,. “I will not give up on Sakura, Naru-San, but I understand what you are trying to do and appreciate the effort,”

“Whatever man, no skin off my back either way,” Naru shrugged again, glancing at Sasuke, trying to gauge a reaction. Her stomach dropped when she realised he was staring straight into her face, still deadpanning. She had to bite back a laugh at her own reaction. She’d actually let Sasuke intimidate her for a second.

“Sakura is your teammate isn’t she? Where is she now?” Tenten asked, looking at the door as if she’d suddenly walk in. Naru smiled.

“Yeah, she’s probably reading up on some stuff. She zones out and studies for hours. We’ll bring her some food after this,”

“She brought books? To the exam?” Tenten asked, incredulous. Naru nodded, grinning now.

“Only stuff she thought would be useful, she’s the real brains of the operation, she isn’t really a hardcore fighter,”

“What? Is she weak or something?” Tenten asked, wrinkling her nose. Naru jumped as a solid kick landed on her shin. She looked up at Sasuke, who was glaring intensely at her. She looked innocently back, trying to figure out what he meant.

“Sakura-san is very skilled at chakra control and strategy,” Sasuke interjected, not breaking eye contact with Naru, “And is incredibly intelligent, which makes her invaluable on a team with a knucklehead like Dobe, see, teams are about balance,” he shifted his gaze over Tenten, Rock and Neji, who, for the first time, was looking away from his plate and straight at Sasuke. “I’m surprised you don’t understand the value of teammates with different sets of skills,”

“Of course I know that!” Tenten snarled, flattening her hand out on the table, her fork snapping against the wood. “I just can’t stand the idea of having to carry a weak teammate,”

“Well. Rock, Neji, be sure to never get injured on a mission, because you heard it here first,” Sasuke sneered, “Tenten will not carry a teammate,”

“That’s not what I-“ Tenten started, but Neji cleared his throat and they all fell silent, staring down the table at him. He stood, and held out a hand.

“Thank you for the food,” He said, diplomatically, “if you’d like, I’ll take any plates you have finished with,” He looked down his nose at Naru, who hadn’t touched her food in a good few minutes. She got up too, shaking her head.

“No, that’s okay, I’ll get the dishes. You all just got here-“

“I am not tired,” He said, pulling Tenten’s salad bowl toward himself and collecting Rock’s plate. Naru grabbed Sasuke’s and Tenten’s and the utensils littering the table.

“I’ll help you then,” She bit out, glaring at him. There was something about him that just set her off. Like Sasuke but worse somehow. Something about his silent, self satisfied demeanour.

He pissed her off.

They both strode into the kitchen and set the dishes in the sink, but Neji nudged her firmly out of the way, standing squarely in front of the sink, wordlessly turning it on and starting to wash the dishes. Naru stared at him, running her tongue along her teeth, and then grabbed kitchen roll, laying some out on the counter and then waiting for Neji to finish the first dish. When he did, she pulled it out of his grip and dried it, then she put it away and yanked another plate from his hands. She stared straight at his face while she did it. He just continued to stare at the dishes, but he never passed her a dish, she had to pull each one from him. When it became a little too routine, Naru broke the silence.

“You’re related to Hinata, aren’t you?”

The handsome boy didn’t respond, but his knuckles went white around the fork in his grip. Naru smiled. So you are here with me, you stuck up…

“I love Hinata! She’s the cutest lil thing. She’s a real sweetheart. Are you her big brother or…?” Naru trailed off, leaning in as she yanked the fork out of his hand and dried it, eyes fixed on his face. He still didn’t look at her, but…

“Cousin,” He growled, “Hinata is my cousin,” He made no more effort to further the conversation. Naru, however, felt her face split into a wide grin.

“Oh cool! You guys look alike, I mean, obviously the…” She waved her hand in front of her face, “eyes, but you have the same cheekbones, and the chin,” Naru reached up and poked him in the cheek. He twitched, but didn’t acknowledge her further. Naru narrowed her eyes for a split second, but then she pulled another plate from his hands, and when she put it away, she grabbed the pots and pans Sasuke had used, and the cutting board and knife Tenten had used, and came back, setting them at his other side. She wrested a spoon from his grip, and waved it in his face.

“While you're being so helpful, we can do this stuff too,”

He glanced at the pile, his eyes widening slightly. Naru just kept grinning at him. “So the eyeballs, are like, part of your Kekkei Genkai right? Can’t you do some crazy stuff like Sasuke with his Sharingan?”

“It is a Kekkei Genkai, yes,” He responded shortly. He didn’t elaborate. She pulled a fork out of his hands and ran the towel over it. He glanced at her when he thought she wouldn’t see. She waltzed to the side of the sink she'd originally been on and grinned at him.

“Cool! Ya know, I wish I had a big clan like you,” She said. He stiffened, his hands slowing. Bad move if you were trying to loosen him up, but as far as reactions go, there’s one for sure. She thought, putting the fork down and jumping to sit on the counter.

“I always imagined a big family, but ya know, I’m sure it’s just like any big group of people. Sometimes you like each other, sometimes you don’t,” She glanced at him. He was still like a little dishwashing statue. She frowned.

“It’s okay though,” She said, leaning over and yanking a knife out of his hands. He dragged the heaviest pot into the sink as she dried it. “I think you can build your own kind of family, and that’s what I’m gonna do,”

He looked up at her, gaze unwavering, the hot water pouring out of the tap filling the pot.

“That’s ridiculous,” He said, fixing her eyes. Her heart stuttered strangely. He was dead cold. “You can’t change families. You are born into one, and that’s it,”

Naru set the knife down, leaning forward a little, smiling at him, less because she wanted to smile and more because she wanted to show him she didn’t care what he thought. “I wasn’t born into a family,”

His eyes looped around her face and back to her eyes, then narrowed. His mouth thinned, and she could see his mind working behind those transparent eyes.

“So you will never have anyone at all, and that’s why you are still so alone,” He didn’t flinch as he said it. He truly believed it. He made her sad, this boy, who believed so wholly in what was prescribed for person at birth. As though your path was laid out for you from the second you begin to be. This young soul who wholly believed that he had no control over his own destiny, that he thought everyone else was a fool for holding theirs in their own hands. She leaned all her weight on one arm and looked back at him for a moment, measuring his features, like she was committing them to memory.

“I’m not alone now.” She smiled, tilting her head as the pot overflowed with steaming water, the sound of it splashing against the sink filling all the space not occupied by her voice, “I’m with you, and there’s a whole bunch of people out there who we both just had a nice dinner with, and you were born in a big clan and I was born all alone,”

“That changes nothing, you can’t escape your fate,” He said, turning the tap off and beginning to scrub the pot. Naru sighed, and slid off the counter. She pushed him away from the sink and smirked up at him.

“Go check that Sasuke hasn’t killed your team, will you?” She said, scrubbing the pot in his place. He said nothing, he just turned around and left.

He didn’t come back. She hadn’t really expected him to.

Chapter Text

Sakura looked up from the book on curses she had been reading and straight at the plate of rice and stew that Naru was holding out to her, grinning. She smiled as she took it and the fork she was offered, closing her book with her other hand and pushing her notes away. Naru sat down, cross legged, in front of her. Sakura pushed the food around her plate a little, then looked around for Sasuke. He was standing, arms crossed, by the door, staring out the window, looking pensive. She could just see what she now knew was a curse mark on his neck.

She wasn’t sure if she should tell her teammates what it meant. The truth was heavy on her tongue, down her throat. She felt suffocated by it. She watched Naru laughing, pretended to listen as she talked animatedly about something, miming kunai being thrown and swinging something. She smiled and nodded and chewed. Every few seconds, looking over at Sasuke, whose sharp features were set into relief by a sun that was drawing low into the horizon. There were days left before they’d see Kakashi again, and she was convinced he’d be the only way this would get fixed. From what she read it wasn’t removable, just containable. But it could be contained. She was sure. It had to be.

Sasuke’s eyes met hers, and for the first time in a long time, held them. He was looking for something, she knew the expression. It was the same way Ino used to look at her, the same way Naru looked at her. It was the look of a person who wanted to find something that wasn’t there.

Answers. They wanted answers. And more than once, Sakura had had them.

More than once, Sakura hadn’t shared them.

Sakura had the truth in her throat, and knew she’d say nothing. Just like she always did.

She was the one who turned away from him this time. She looked back at Naru, and laughed at what she was saying. She smiled, and touched Naru’s arm, and joked about her hair. She could feel those sharp eyes poking holes in her facade. She knew he saw through her. She did it anyway, hoping she could fool Naru, at least, and wishing she could fool herself.

The other Sakura stirred, but was quiet.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Naru got up, ate a pepper, scrambled an egg, and started some strength training. She began by scooting under her bed and using her legs to lift it off the ground, keeping it steady with her arms. She did fifty reps of the bed. Then she went to her training room and, using kunai she had stabbed into the doorframe, she did forty pull ups.

After that she did a hundred squats holding a table, and she did lunges up the entire length of the spiral. She did a hundred pushups, she did tricep dips until failure, and bicycle kicks until failure.

After which, she took a shower.

She was in the kitchen, scrambling more eggs, when Shikamaru came into the mess hall. He walked into the kitchen and groaned when he saw her there. She grinned up at him.

“Hey Grumpy!”

“Ugh, of course you’re here,” he groaned, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. She didn’t reply, she just doled out her eggs onto a plate and smothered them in ketchup, leaning against the counter and shovelling them into her mouth.

“Do you mind moving? You’re blocking the silverware drawer,” He snapped, standing in front of her, arms crossed. She stood up, and stepped toward him, reaching behind her and extracting a spoon. She handed it to him, smiling around her mouthful of egg. He took it, rolling his eyes, and moved to walk away. Naru stuck out her leg.

He spun, twisting to avoid her foot, and walking backward, pointing his spoon at her.

“If you’d made me spill my cereal, I swear-”

“Shikamaru-chan you wouldn’t have done anything,” Naru laughed, “I’ve been trying to get you to fight me for years and you always spout the same old-“

“Oh that’s what you’ve been doing?” He asked, stirring his cereal. She lowered her plate, staring at him.

“Duh,” She said, wiping her mouth on her arm, “what did you think I was doing?”

Shikamaru shrugged, spooning a mouthful of cereal into his mouth and chewing it loudly. “Thought you just liked disturbing the peace,”

“Well, I do, but I don’t just do it for fun,” She laughed, leaning against the counter again. Shikamaru shook his head.

“Women,” He muttered, turning to leave. Naru narrowed her eyes.

“Not women! Just me! Hey!” She barked, throwing her fork at him. It bounced off his shoulder and he turned, one foot in the doorway and his mouth full of cereal, to look at her again.

“Wha?” He struggled around his food. Naru set her plate down.

“Fight me,” She said, walking a little forward and staring up at him. He swallowed, before his face split into a reluctant smile.

“No,” he laughed, “Never, you loser,” He reached out and flicked her temple. She practically screamed in frustration as he walked out of the kitchen, and away, out of the mess hall, with his bowl.

She was fuming the whole time she ate her eggs, and was trying to come up with a prank that would get him mad enough to fight her when the door of the mess hall opened again, and Ino came in with Sakura, who had obviously just had her hair fixed. Ino was eyeing it critically in a way that told Naru who, exactly, had touched it up.

She froze, sliding her plate into the sink. Ino was busy looking at Sakura’s hair, and Sakura had her eyes screwed shut in frustration over something she was telling Ino. Naru ducked down instinctively and tried to think of a way out. She heard the girls stop in the middle of the hall.

“I don’t know, I just can’t stop thinking about killing that guy,” Sakura said. Naru bit back a panicked squeak. If she kept hiding, it’d be worse. The longer she hid, the worse it’d be if they found out she was there, but if she could sneak away...

“We’re gonna have to kill a lot more people Sakura, you know that. We’re Ninja, we signed up for this,”

“Yeah but… I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s almost like… like I enjoyed it?” Naru froze. She liked it?

Ino laughed, “Well that’s good, you’re gonna do a lot of it after all,”

Naru could hear the smile in Sakura’s voice as she replied. “Yeah, I guess I am,”

Naru exhaled a shaky breath and stood.

“Hey!” she grinned, waving at the two girls, pretending not to notice their shocked and angry faces.

“Naru, you knucklehead! Were you here eavesdropping?”

“What? No! I dropped all my kunai on the ground and was picking them up!” She quickly drew a handful of knives out and waved them above her head. Ino narrowed her eyes.

“You’re such a weirdo, Naru,” She snapped, putting one hand on her hip and tilting her head. That’s her bullying stance.

“Guess so, Anyway,” She pushed her Kunai back into her pouch and made to leave, but Ino called her back.

“Why did you stop wearing a jacket? And you pushed your hair back,”

No wonder Shikamaru doesn’t like women, I wouldn’t either if this chick was on my team.

“I was running late and it just happened. Now it’s a habit I guess,” Naru shrugged, and shot a look at Sakura. Sakura wasn’t doing anything. She was giving no indication of wanting to stop what was about to happen. Naru’s stomach sank.

“Huh, well, that’s interesting, well, it’s brave of you.” She smirked, “to show your face, I mean. If I were you I’d grow my hair out over my face for sure. Or wear a paper bag. I mean, you look like a boy, your face is as wide as a building,” Ino laughed, holding her hands out at the sides of her face and puffing her cheeks out.

Naru just looked at Sakura, feeling all the progress they’d made slip through her fingers. In the end Sakura would always choose Ino. Ino was her rival. It was as easy a choice for her as if Naru had had to choose between siding with Choji or Sasuke.

She was kidding herself. It wasn’t even a choice at all.

They weren’t friends. Sakura wasn’t ever going to think of her as her friend. The realisation hurt more than Ino’s lame insults ever could. Naru shook her head and grinned.

“Well I guess it’s a good thing that I’m the one with my face, and you have yours Ino. I mean, I’d never be able to cope with your confidence issues or being unable to use any Jutsu besides a possession that was damn near useless besides for data collection or hostage negotiations. And you can’t imagine being ugly, so let’s just be glad I’m the one who’s ugly and you’re the one who’s completely fucking useless,” She forced herself to laugh. Both Ino and Sakura glared at her, but Naru just kept grinning as she walked out of the kitchen, past the girls, and toward the door.

A chair hit her in the back, shattering against her, and she paused for a moment, considering a fight. The urge passed, however, and she didn’t even look behind her as she walked out of the room and up the hallway.

She was proud of herself, really, deep down, that she made it to her training room before she slid down the wall and cried. Not from pain from the chair, or humiliation from Ino’s insults. No. She cried because she knew she’d been an idiot, and she’d actually tricked herself into thinking Sakura was more than just an assigned teammate. That she’d made progress. That she’d finally made a friend.

Chapter Text

Sakura hadn’t been able to sit with Ino for long. She never talked about anything but Sasuke. It used to make her jealous, but now she just felt bad for her. Sasuke wasn’t interested. The only thing he cared about was getting stronger and competing with Naru. She’d walked away after a little while, excusing herself and thanking Ino for the haircut. Other Sakura started shouting the second they left the room.

You’re so weak just letting Ino push a teammate around like that. I’m taking the body!

No, you aren’t. It’s my body.

Come on, you were just talking about how you liked it when I was in charge. I’m so much stronger than you.

No, you aren’t. If you were, you’d be the main personality. Instead you’re just the passenger. I’m not letting you out again.

Sakura passed by her bedroom, but just kept walking. She didn’t want to sit there and read. She couldn’t even begin to focus when Other Sakura got like this.

I’ll get out again and you know it .

Sakura did know it, but she didn’t tell the other Sakura that. she had a feeling that now she’d let her out, the other Sakura would definitely not be going away.

Sakura climbed the incline of the tower for so long that she realised she must have been near the top, and was about to turn around when she heard a grunt that definitely belonged to Naru. She turned and stared at the door, and then when she heard her grunt again, she swung it open. There she was, Her blonde teammate, alone in a room with holes in its walls, furniture and a table kicked over on its side, doing push-ups. She was sweating, it made the light slide across her strangely, brightness collecting on her tensed muscles, shadows pooling behind them. The sweat was dripping from the tip of her nose, onto the floor, and she moved like every twitch was painful. Sakura put her hand against the doorway and watched as Naru pushed upward, gasping as she did so, and grunting as she slowly lowered herself again.

“Naru-chan…” Sakura said, softly, as though a word might make her teammate topple to the ground. Naru glanced up at her, but said nothing. she just inches away at another push-up. Sakura exhaled shakily, watching as sweat ran down Naru’s partially exposed back, hitting the edge of her tank top and disappearing.

“I’m sorry about that… What Ino said,”

Naru didn’t even look at her, but her next push-up came faster, and she barely breathed before lowering herself down again.

“You didn’t mean what you said, right?”

No reply. Only another push-up.

“Naru-chan, you’re not ugly,” Sakura said, her voice tender, her hand tightening against the doorframe.

Naru shot up, standing quickly, and stepping toward Sakura, her face a perfect imitation of Sasuke’s deadpan. Sakura shifted, as though unsure if she wanted to step back or not.

“Sakura-chan, you know I’m ugly. I know I’m ugly. It’s okay for you and Ino, you don’t have to worry about it, it’s easy for you, but it doesn’t matter. Looks are the last thing on my list,” Naru spread her arms, as though to show Sakura the room around them, smiling bitterly, “I’m glad I’m not pretty, it means I don’t have to worry about it, I don’t have to diet, I don’t have to be dainty and cute and unintimidating. Everyone treats me like I’m a boy, and that's great! Because if I was pretty they’d treat me like they treat you and Ino, and…”

Naru stopped, looking up at Sakura. Sakura stepped forward, crossing her arms.

“No Naru-chan, finish what you were saying,” She snapped, staring down at the shorter girl. Naru wiped the sweat out of her eyes, and looked back up at Sakura.

“If I weren’t ugly, people would treat me like I was weak, and I’d rather be hideous than be weak,” She whispered, her voice harsh, like the words scratched her throat on the way out. She swallowed afterward too, as though trying to pull them back out of the air. Sakura turned away from her, running her hands through her hair and letting out a little growl in frustration. She whipped back around, glaring down at Naru, whose face was getting stony, setting with the intention of deflecting whatever Sakura was about to throw at her.

“You’re not ugly, you idiot! You’re just stupid,” Sakura shouted, “You’re so dumb! People don’t treat you like Ino and I because you’re a Jinchuriki! Not because you’re ugly! I swear you have cement for a skull, you’re impossible. Hell, look at that Kankuro kid! He wouldn’t have picked on you like that if you were ugly! Boys do that because it makes girls uncomfortable, but he wasn’t doing it to me,”

“His behaviour is NOT a compliment and we both know it’s not because he likes me,” Naru snapped, pointing at the door. Sakura screamed, stamping her foot.

“You really are dumb! It’s not a compliment, but look at how other boys act around you!”

“Most boys treat me like I’m a boy!” Naru barked.

“No! They don’t! Agh!” Sakura slapped her hands over her face, “That’s why Ino-san is like that to you! She’s jealous boys like you and get along with you! Especially Sasuke-kun!”

“Sasuke-Kun and I are rivals! It’s not like that!”

“Yeah, but Ino doesn’t understand that! Ino thinks any time a boy talks to you when he isn’t being forced to, they’re flirting,” Sakura paused, “That’s probably because for her, it is, because no boy talks to her trying to be her friend,”

“No boy talks to you trying to be your friend either, Sakura-Chan,” Naru pointed out, “They all want to date you. And boys don’t want to date me, they just wanted me on their team for dodgeball cause I could whip the ball harder than most of them,”

“And because they could jump in front of the ball and ‘save’ you,”

“One, they did that because I’m a valuable player, two, usually it was irrelevant anyway because I could dodge by myself,”

Sakura really did scream this time, balling her hands up in her hair and jumping up and down, probably looking absolutely deranged.

“You’re so damn stupid Naru-chan!” She grabbed Naru’s arm and yanked her out of the room. Naru yelped, her muscles were likely still sore, but Sakura didn’t care. They all heard it, the crash of a door as another team entered the Tower.

Perfect.

Sakura dragged Naru the whole way down the spiral, Naru complaining the whole time, and ran straight into Kiba, Shino and Hinata, who had just come in.

“Hinata-san!” Sakura shouted, startling all three genin into defensive poses. Hinata looked so surprised Sakura was surprised that she hadn’t yelped.

“Oh! Sakura-san, Naru-chan… You cut your hair,” she mumbled, relaxing. The two boys relaxed too, Kiba moving to pet Akamaru, tucked in his hoodie.

“Hinata-san, I need you for something, Boys, sorry, I’m stealing her, I promise to bring her back,” Sakura said, grabbing Hinata and pulling her with. Kiba waved, and Shino stared.

“Bye guys,” Naru grumbled, being yanked along with Hinata behind Sakura.

“Bye, Naru-chan, I guess,” Kiba said, looking at Shino questioningly. Shino just shrugged.

Sakura explained nothing as she yanked the two girls back up to her room and slammed the door behind her. She sat Naru down on the bed and turned to Hinata.

“Naru-chan thinks she’s ugly,” She explained. Hinata’s eyes widened, staring between Sakura and Naru, who had groaned and put her head in her hands.

“No!” Hinata gasped, shifting awkwardly, “Naru-chan! You’re not ugly! You’re really cute!”

“Yeah, I know right? So we gotta do something!”

“Wait, What?” Naru snapped, glaring up at Sakura, “do what?”

“Hinata-chan, I know this is probably not your thing, but I can’t do this alone, are you in?”

Hinata looked up at Sakura, then at Naru, and  nodded bravely. Sakura grinned.

“Do what?!” Naru yelped as Sakura grabbed her bag and dragged it forward.

“We’re gonna show you how to put on war paint,” Sakura said, pulling out some eyeliner and a hairbrush. Naru yelped, and moved to scramble away across the bed, but Hinata quickly sat down next to her and put her arm around her shoulders, a small smile on her face.

“Don’t worry Naru-chan,” She said sweetly, tucking her hair behind her ear, “If you don’t like it you can just wash it off,”

“Well, not the clothes,” Sakura said, passing Hinata the hairbrush. Naru made to leap up, but both the other girls held her down.

“Clothes?” She gulped, staring at the pair of them. Sakura laughed, an evil glint in her eyes as she sharpened the eyeliner.

“Ooh yes,” she said, leaning forward, “This is gonna be good.

God, she loved makeovers.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t that bad, really. Well, the eyebrows had been, but Hinata had said that she had naturally nice brows, and that she only needed to shape them from the bottom. Sakura had struggled with her hair for a good ten minutes before deciding that it looked good spiked, but she re-tied Naru’s headband so that it held her hair a little differently, with a weird pouf in the front that Naru didn’t hate. Her eyes looked kinda good with eyeliner, even she had to admit she liked it. The change she liked the most, however, were the earrings Hinata had put in.

“They make you look tough,” She had said, smiling as she fixed four along her right ear.

She didn’t, however, like the black capris they had put her in, or the spiked bracelet they’d strapped around her left wrist. The black nail polish had chipped almost immediately, and she suspected it wouldn’t last a whole day. Hinata and Sakura had stood back after they finished and grinned.

“You look pretty!” Hinata exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Naru, as usual, had the urge to pick her up. Sakura had smirked.

“You look tough,” She had said, holding up a mirror for Naru to see her face in. Largely, she did look the same. She doubted most people would even notice. Beyond the absence of neon orange, that is.

“So, what do you think? Painless?” Sakura asked,

“I don’t know about painless but, I’m alive. And this is… I’m in all black,”

“You look good in all black,” Sakura said, brushing her hair back. She obviously still wasn’t used to it being so short.

“You really do,” Hinata said, blushing a little.

“Thanks guys, but I don’t know,”

“Well, let’s go eat and then we’ll see you you feel. You can always change back, we didn’t tattoo you,”

“Yeah,” Naru laughed, looking at the ground. Sakura hauled her to her feet and they all walked back down to the mess hall, quizzing Hinata on how her team had gotten to the tower. She refused to talk much about it, only describing how they got their scroll and admitting that they’d gotten a little turned around on the way to the tower. Naru guessed it was for the same reasons Sasuke had kicked her last night. Speaking of Sasuke…

“Hey Sakura-chan have you seen Teme at all today?” Naru asked, leaning forward to look Sakura in the face.

“No, Sasuke-kun hasn’t been around at all this morning,” Sakura said, shaking her head, “I thought he was training with you again, but obviously he wasn’t,”

“Huh,” Naru said, straightening up, looking at the ceiling, “Wonder where he is,”

When they reached the mess hall, they pushed the doors open, and Sasuke was there, eating and talking seriously with Shino and Kiba, the latter of whom glanced up at the door and grinned at the sight of the three girls. Naru grinned back and tangled her fingers in her hair. Shino glanced up, and beckoned to Hinata, who strode over and sat next to him. Sasuke looked up at that point, taking a swig of his water glass in front of him as he turned.

When he saw Naru, he spat it out, spluttering and slamming the glass down. Naru doubled over laughing, as he shook the water droplets off his hands and glared at her, face red.

“What the hell happened to you?” Kiba laughed, standing up and indicating the seat next to him. Naru walked over and sat down, leaving Sakura to wipe off the chair next to Sasuke and sit there.

“Sakura-chan attacked me. It was weird, but look!” She pointed at her ear, the row of stainless steel hoops shining in the light. Kiba grinned his fanged grin and punched her in the arm.

“Looks hardcore,” He laughed, “Who did those?”

“Hinata-chan!” She said, grinning. Kiba turned to Hinata with a look of surprise.

“Since when can you do stuff like that?” He asked, leaning forward. Hinata was a brilliant shade of red.

“I’ve wanted earrings for a long time, but I don’t think my father would approve, so I’ve just been carrying them around trying to work up the nerve… I think they look good on Naru,”

“No,” Kiba laughed, “He probably wouldn’t approve.You should do it anyway though Hinata,” he turned back to Naru and looked at her with a grin. “Dang, Sakura-chan should attack you more often, it suits you,”

“You look weird, where’s your orange pants? Those ones don’t fit you, they’re too tight,” Sasuke snapped, finally drying his face off. Naru couldn’t help but feel a little put out about his reaction. She did miss her orange jumpsuit, but her jacket wasn’t in the tower and Sakura had begged her to put these weird legging-things on. Sakura turned and glared at Sasuke.

“They fit her perfectly, you’re joking, right? She looks amazing!” Sakura grinned at Naru, who grinned back.

“I mean it’s nice that they don’t bunch up around my holster,” Naru admitted, sticking her leg out and showing them all, “and they are comfortable. I’m just not used to how… tight they are,”

“Well, don’t get used to them. Put your sweatpants back on,” Sasuke snapped. Naru put her leg down and scowled at him, getting ready to snap back, but Kiba was faster.

“What? You can’t handle other people changing clothes cause you’ve been wearing the same shirt for four years?” Kiba snapped, Akamaru poking his head out of his hoodie and snarling at Sasuke. Sasuke folded his hands in front of his mouth and glared at Kiba.

“Mind your own business, dog boy,” he said, his voice low and threatening. Kiba sneered, his fangs showing as he did so. Naru cleared her throat.

“It is my business if you’re ragging on the girl right in front of me,” he spat. Naru choked on her own spit and started coughing violently, spinning sideways in her chair to face away from the rest of them. Both boys ignored her, but Sakura was just smirking, sat back, her arms folded. Naru wanted to yell at her, but couldn’t think of a way to do it without embarrassing herself. Finally, when she could breathe again, she turned back to the five of them and cleared her throat again.

“I like these trousers and these trousers are also none of anyone’s concern, thanks,” She said, her hand on her chest as she struggled for air. Sasuke glared at her and sat back, his arms crossed. Kiba glanced at her then sat back too, but he didn’t cross his arms. He propped one elbow up on the back of Shino’s chair, and the other on the back of Naru’s. Sasuke glared at him, and he glared back.

“Okay! Naru! Lets go make some food!” Sakura said, clapping her hands together and standing up. Naru got up so quickly the chair threatened to fall over, until Kiba caught it, still glaring at Sasuke.

Naru tried her best not to sprint to the Kitchen, but wasn’t sure she managed to make her walk look natural. Once they were in the kitchen, Sakura pulled the divider down, blocking the other’s view. She grinned down at Naru.

“Whoa, I didn’t know Kiba liked you!” She laughed. Naru shook her head.

“Kiba doesn’t like me. What the hell was that!” She said, as quiet as she could manage. Sakura just grinned and shook her head.

“That,” Sakura hissed, pulling out some Tofu and pressing it, “Was the way boys act when they’re jealous over a girl,” She bit her lips together. Naru blinked.

“Neither Sasuke or Kiba like me like that,” she asserted, pouring herself a glass of water and then filling up a soup pot, at Sakura’s indication.

“Uh,” Sakura said, stirring in a large spoonful of Miso paste as the tofu sat, “yeah, or at least, Kiba does. As far as Sasuke goes none of us have any hope of understanding the inner workings of his brain, he might just be mad you look like a real ninja now,”

Naru glared at her, “I always looked like a real ninja!” she said, holding her arms out, “All we did is change my trousers!”

“Yeah, from neon sweatpants, which, despite your fondness for them… well, all I’ll say is, you’ll be better at stealth missions now,”

Naru crossed her arms and leant hard against the counter. “I’m still not sure I’m gonna keep these,”

“Naru, if you go back to wearing those damn sweats I’ll start pantsing you in public,”

“I wear boxers longer than your shorts, pants me all you want,” Naru laughed. She felt a strange mix of emotions in her chest. They were overwhelming. She wasn’t sure if it was just her or if Sakura was actually trying to make up for Ino, if Kiba was just being nice or if Sakura was right, why Sasuke was being so rude.

None of it made sense. And the fact that it all had been triggered by her putting on a different pair of trousers made her want to scream. People were confusing, and why on earth they’d all decided at once to interact with her, she couldn’t begin to fathom.

She watched Sakura make soup, and helped her carry it out to everyone. Kiba and Sasuke seemed to have locked themselves into a staring contest, and Naru felt a twang of jealousy. She was Sasuke’s rival. She was the one who glared at him. She kicked his ass and she threatened him. She told him when he was being too pushy with Sakura and when he was being cocky. She almost felt annoyed at Kiba now, as she sat next to him, passing him a bowl and grinning up at his face. He grinned back.

“Thanks Sakura-chan, Naru-chan,” He said, pulling the bowl toward himself and starting to eat. Naru nodded and started eating too. She looked down the table at Hinata and Shino, who seemed to have been talking until they were given food. Hinata ate quickly, as though she wanted to avoid anyone seeing her do it, but Shino was who Naru really wanted to see. His face was covered so much of the time by his jacket she was hoping for a glimpse of his mouth. He however, must have seen her looking from behind those glasses of his, and turned away, toward Hinata, before unzipping his jacket slightly and starting to eat. Sasuke just stirred his soup and watched Naru twisting around in her chair, trying to catch a glimpse of Shino’s face.

Kiba nudged her knee with his own, catching her attention. She looked up at him, and he shook his head. She settled wordlessly back into her chair. He turned to Sakura again, hiking a smile up onto his face.

“So Sakura-chan, what's with the hair?”

She leaned her chin in her hand and stirred her soup. “Well it was pretty inconvenient out in the woods, too much to handle. I cut it off out there, and Ino fixed it up when I got here,”

“Huh. You girls are switching it up too much for me, I’ll start mixing names up. At least Hinata-chan always stays the same,” he turned and grinned at her, “Right Hinata-chan?”

When Hinata looked up and saw everyone looking at her, she turned red. “W-what?”

“Nah,” Naru laughed, putting her spoon down, “Hinata-chan likes to fly under the radar but, I can tell she’s gonna do something pretty crazy soon, right Hinata-chan?”

“I’ll never do anything ‘crazy’,” She mumbled, stirring her soup and bringing a spoonful to her mouth, “but sometimes I do want to do something… different,”

“Always go with your gut!” Naru said, putting her elbow next to her bowl on the table and her other hand on her knee, leaning across Kiba to stare at her, “if you wanna do something then do it! Make a change, cause the world isn’t just gonna change for you!”

Kiba leaned back, away from where Naru had invaded his personal space, and smiled again. “Hinata-chan whatever you do, don’t change your pants, Sasuke might have an aneurysm,”

Everyone besides Shino and Sasuke burst out laughing, Naru even smacked her hand down on the table, rattling all their bowls. Sasuke scowled at her. Kiba was beaming.

“Oh my god,” She laughed, wiping a tear out of her eye and punching Kiba’s shoulder. Kiba pulled Akamaru out of his hoodie and set him on the ground, then, after he emptied his bowl of soup, he filled it with some kibble from his bag and set it down for the puppy. Naru got up.

“Okay guys, this has been cool, but I’m gonna go train a little more, I was in the middle of a set when Sakura-chan kidnapped me,” She stretched her arms and then waved to Hinata and Sakura, who both looked a little disappointed, but neither of them made a move to leave the table. Sasuke sprung up, however, and kept on her heels as she walked up the spiral back to her training room.

“Will you stop breathing down my neck, Teme?” She snapped. She spun around, walking backward so she could face him. He looked furious.

“What’s with you? You were clambering all over Kiba,”

“I was not! Anyway, who cares? Kiba is my friend!”

“You don’t have friends, you idiot!” He snapped. She glared at him, half expecting him to attack her again, but he didn’t. They just kept moving up the spiral, staring daggers at each other.

“You don’t know shit about me, Teme,” She growled, turning back around and picking up her pace. He picked up his stride too.

“I know you better than you know yourself,” He snapped. She felt his arm twitch, as if to grab her shoulder, and sidestepped him. They were on a level now, half running along the never-ending hallway, glaring at each other.

“You’re the stupid one here! You can’t keep control of your emotions. It’s like you can’t tell them apart so you lash out whenever you feel anything at all!”

“What exactly was I supposed to feel when you came into the hall dressed in someone else’s clothes? And then Kiba-”

“Whose clothes do you want me to wear?”

“Your own! There wasn’t anything wrong with that stupid neon jumpsuit!”

“You literally just called it stupid!”

They burst into the training room, and Naru immediately dropped and started doing push-ups. Sasuke mirrored her, maintaining their furious eye contact.

“You look stupid in everything because you are stupid,”  he snapped. She scowled at him.

“Do I really have to reiterate my feelings on your outfit?” She growled, pumping her arms, grunting with pain as she felt her muscles shred. Sasuke matched her.

“Go ahead if you think it’ll make you feel better,”

“Your arm-guards look like sleeves you put on cause you couldn’t find a clean undershirt,” she snapped, “Your high collar makes you look like a lame turtle and your family crest looks like a badly drawn ice cream cone,”

“It’s a fan,” He snarled. She looked at her hands and spread them further apart, putting more weight on her shoulders.

“I know, you’ve told me. More than once,” she snarled. Sweat was starting to bead on her forehead. She could see it on Sasuke’s too.

“Oh? Well then why’d you say it was an ice cream cone,” he spat through gritted teeth.

“I said it looked like one, you idiot, not that I thought it was one,” she felt her limbs start to shake. She was still exhausted from earlier.

He just grunted in response, spreading his hands apart to match her stance. His eyes widened slightly, and she sneered.

“Too tough for you?” she laughed breathlessly. He smirked back at her.

“Nah, I was just surprised you could even do push-ups like this, loser,” He snapped. She just laughed again. He was bluffing, she just knew it.

They kept going, Naru had told herself to keep going until failure, but with Sasuke across from her she couldn’t let herself give out. Every time her arms started to shake, she looked over at him, shaking just as much, and thought… I only have to keep going until he stops.

But he didn’t stop, and she was torn up from that morning, and the bones in her arms felt like they were just controlled by string. Like a bad puppet, her joints clicked and for a moment, she shook, her whole body teetering, She stared at the ground for a split second, and then her arms gave out. she hit the ground with a thud, and seconds later Sasuke sat back on his haunches, wrapping his shaking arms around his knees and looking so smug that if she could have, she would have slapped him. But she couldn’t. Her arms were cooked noodles and she had no control over them.

Sasuke said nothing, he just stood and walked out of the room. Naru rolled over, staring at the holes she’d put in the ceiling and frowning. The shadows on the walls grew, and eventually she got up, and started doing jump squats, her aching arms behind her head. She did two hundred, then slowly walked back down to the kitchen. It was empty, and she drank three glasses of water and ate a block of the firmest tofu in the fridge. She ate an apple to wash down the taste, then turned to the sink to wash her glass. There was a weird… magnet-click in the back of her head as she put the clean glass away and turned around.

She held back a yelp. She wasn’t used to anyone being able to sneak up on her, but there he was…

Gaara.

He was standing in the doorway, glaring at her, pure, unadulterated hatred written across his face. He walked, stiffly, past her, and opened the fridge. She watched him, her heart threatening to crack her ribs. He just grabbed an apple and bit into it, slamming the fridge, glaring at her again, and leaving.

She leaned against the counter, her arm trembling from more than overexertion.

Chapter Text

He needed to kill her.

He needed it like air. When they had been alone… in that kitchen. The surprise in her eyes, so close to fear he mistook it at first. But it wasn’t. It faded too quickly to be fear. He needed her terror. He wanted her to scream and die.

She was occupying too many of his thoughts. Her face kept popping into his head at odd moments, like when he’d crushed those men in the forest. He hadn’t even been able to focus on the blood. It had been wasted. And he couldn’t even get more. And it was her fault.

And still, he couldn’t help thinking about those lines across her face. How he’d seen them shift when she’d smiled at her friends.

Friends. He struck out at his wall with his sand, cracking it floor to ceiling.

A weakness. He wondered how she’d react if he killed her friends before her. If he kept her alive for a little and murdered everyone around her first.

Yes… He thought, I’ll show her her weaknesses before she dies.

And the Uchiha. He’d die first. It was perfect.

And in the moonlight, in the same building as her, he started to plan the death of the blonde girl. Naru .

Chapter Text

Naru woke up with the sun. It was the last day in the tower, which she was glad of. Too much had happened, and she’d never had to live with people in a building before. Sure, she’d stayed in hotels, and in the woods with squad seven, but it was different to live in a compound with the other rookies and those weird sound villagers and the creepy sand people? She was really glad it’d be over by the next day.

She’d be glad of distance between her and Sasuke. He was different now, with that dot on his neck. Angrier. He’d already had issues, but now…

She walked to the shower in her boxers and tank, towel slung over her shoulders. She frowned at her reflection, and took off her bandages, not being careful. Sakura had done a great job, and had been really exact with remembering where her wounds had been. She’d, of course, healed days ago. if she squinted she could make out scars, but she’d have to put her jacket back on so avoid suspicion once she got out of the tower. It was kinda sad, she liked the tank top thing.

She stripped off, turned on the shower as hot as it would go, and sang under her breath to herself as she scrubbed her skin raw. She smiled as the hot water turned her red, as the steam made it hard to breathe. She washed her hair roughly, tilting her head into the water and sighing as the scentless generic shampoo rinsed away, circling the drain. Hot water felt good on her sore muscles. She thought about what she’d do today. She’d promised Sakura she’d teach her a few shuriken tricks and was trying to formulate her next plot to get Shikamaru to fight her. She hoped no one else made it to the tower, but it was a whole day.

Someone would.

She turned the shower head off and got dressed, tying her headband around her neck and towelling off her hair as she walked to Sakura’s room. Sakura was awake, reading by her window in her nightdress. She looked surprised to see Naru, but not unhappy. At least, until she saw Naru had put her sweatpants back on.

“All that trouble!” She sighed, snapping her book shut. Naru grinned.

“Sorry Sakura-chan!” She laughed, “but they’re just comfortable. I think I’ll save those tight ones for missions or something,”

“Well that’s fine…” Sakura said, shrugging, “if you wanna make Sasuke-kun happy,”

“What?” Naru said stilling. Sakura smiled up at her.

“Well, he’ll be glad that you’re… Doing what he told you to. I mean, it’s like you’re following his directions. You know, kinda like…” Sakura stood, walking past her to her bag, pulling out her clothes, “He’s team leader, or something,”

Naru turned on the spot, looking at her neon sweatpants in abstract horror. “On second thought, I think I’ll change. If you want to meet me up in the training room, you can,” She walked out and into the hall, back toward her room, “I’ll teach you that shuriken stuff you like!”

I can’t ever wear these again. She whined internally. She loved her orange jumpsuit, and Sasuke had ruined it with his dumb, stupid opinions.

She yanked the tight black pants on and put her gear over them, scowling at the neutral, mature outfit. She liked her old clothes. But no, Sasuke liked them too, so now she could never wear them again.

Kiba likes the black trousers. You might have to just cut your legs off. She thought, jogging up the spiral. But I like my legs. And Kiba is okay. I don’t mind him liking my trousers. He didn’t order me to keep them on either.

Why do I care what these idiots think of how I dress anyway? I like bright orange trousers. Maybe I should get a pair of tight orange trousers and piss both of them off. Yeah. That’s good. She grinned. When I get out of this tower I’ll buy a pair of tight orange trousers and everyone will be miserable about it except for me.

She reached the training room, and Sakura was there, warming up by throwing shuriken one at a time at a target she’d drawn on a section of scroll and stabbed to the wall. Her clustering was loose, but, she was clustering. Naru smiled.

“If you close one eye it’ll improve your aim. Here. hold your thumb out over the target,”

Sakura glanced at Naru and then did. Naru walked to stand next to her and did the same.

“Close your left eye first, but don’t move your thumb,”

Sakura did.

“Is it still over the bullseye?”

“Yeah…” Sakura said, confused.

“Okay, switch eyes,”

“Oh! What the…”

“I don’t know why, but if you close the eye that makes your thumb move, your aim is better,” Naru grinned, stepping back, “Iruka told me that,”

“That’s… actually really useful…” Sakura admitted, seemingly surprised. She closed her left eye and threw a shuriken. It hit pretty close to the center of the target. She shot a smile at Naru and Naru beamed back.

“Okay, now if you really wanna sink them, you should imagine you’re throwing through the target. Skulls are a lot thicker than drywall. If you wanna kill someone, and not just cause a migraine, you need to really whip those knives,” She said, demonstrating quickly. Sakura nodded, and sent a shuriken three quarters of the way through the wall. Naru grinned.

“Damn! Looks good! Okay, try it like this,” she showed her the way she held two shuriken at once, and whipped them forward. One landed in the center of the target, and the other landed about a foot above it. If the target was a person’s chest, the second star would be stuck between their eyes. Sakura tried, but her second hadn’t been thrown hard enough, and just barely stuck into the wall, an inch and a half out from where Naru’s had landed.

“Ugh! Can you show me again?” Sakura groaned. Naru nodded, and threw two more. They clustered so close you could barely thread a hair between them.

They kept going like that for a couple hours, until they heard a loud crash. Another team had made it.

“Who left it this late? Wanna go see who it is?” Naru asked. Sakura shook her head and threw another shuriken.

“Go ahead, I’ll stay here. You can tell me when you get back,”

“Oh, okay,” Naru said, turning and hovering by the door. She paused, “Try, uh, lifting your pinky finger a little on your follow through. It helps with the drag,”

“Oh, thanks Naru-chan, see you in a bit,”

Naru strode down the hall quickly, chewing the inside of her cheek. She was getting a weird feeling again, like something bad was about to happen. It’d be easy to overlook, but she was too anxious a person to ignore the roiling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It’s where Kyuubi lives. She thought, He always knows what’s happening.

She passed the mess hall and went to the gates. There was that creepy Kabuto kid and his team, talking to…

“Sasuke!” Naru yelled, striding forward and clapping him on the back, grinning at the three strangers.

“Naruto, good to see you,” Kabuto drawled, adjusting his glasses, “I was surprised to see that you all got through the exam so quickly, Sasuke was just telling me about how you… were crucial to his finishing- your team’s finishing, so efficiently,”

Naru looked up at him, a horrible feeling brewing in her stomach. He was setting off the same kinds of signals that those men who hung outside of bars did when she was walking home after dark. When they’d lean toward each other and sneer at her.

Threat. This guy is a big ass threat and I want nothing to do with him. I don’t want to be anywhere near him and I sure don’t want Sasuke near him either.

She smiled. “Yeah, but in the end so much of it is down to luck, there’s no telling how something small could have changed the whole… situation,” She grabbed the back of Sasuke’s collar and dragged him with her as she turned to leave.

“We have some private team stuff we gotta go do, by ourselves, alone, now… so see ya!” She shouted, pushing a protesting Sasuke up the spiral and away from the three older villagers.

“Naru! I was trying to get information!” Sasuke hissed. Naru leaned forward, shooting a glance behind her before hissing into his ear.

“That Kabuto guy is creepy,”

“You just don’t like him because he calls you Naruto,” Sasuke grumbled, yanking his shirt out of her grip and glaring at her. She snarled.

“It’s a habit, I hope, that you won’t pick up,”

“What? You don’t like being named after a fish cake?” Sasuke sneered, “I think I might start calling you Naruto, maybe it’ll catch on,” Naru leaned in, placing her hands on his shoulders and smiling.

“I will cut your tongue out and feed it to you, you porcupine headed monster,” she whispered, suddenly pulling at the side of his mouth. He bit her finger and pulled away. She didn’t flinch, she only wiped her hand off on his shirt and glared at him.

“Naruto,” He said, glaring right back, “Where are we going?”

“Sakura and I were training, I’m bringing you too because it’ll make her nervous and you apparently need a babysitter,”

Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. they were probably around half way up the tower when they passed by Gaara, who was just leaning against a wall, staring at them as they walked by. Naru stared back, feeling interest thrum through her veins. She knew she shouldn’t try to talk to him somehow, but she shot him a small smile. He didn’t smile back, he just narrowed his eyes slightly.

She kept glancing at him until they’d passed the line of sight, but after the encounter, neither She, not Sasuke seemed eager to talk. Naru couldn’t help thinking about how often he was… alone.

He reminded her of how she’d been before squad seven. It was like looking in a funhouse mirror. It was her, but it wasn’t. He stuck in her head.

“He looks at you,” Sasuke said, glancing over his shoulder at her, “His whole team likes to stare at you,”

“I’m a pretty easy person to stare at,” She laughed, “I stick out,”

“Yeah, isn’t there a saying about that? The nail that sticks up? that’s beside the point. I don’t like that they look at you,”

“Can’t control what other people do,” Naru said, shrugging, “All you can do is ignore it,”

“Keep away from them,”

“Oh look! We’re here! Sakura-chan!” they entered the room, and Sakura turned, saw Sasuke, and promptly dropped all the shuriken. Naru muffled her laughter, and Sasuke sighed.

“Oh- wow, I wasn’t expecting you,” she said, her face turning bright red.

“Yeah he was talking to that creepy bastard Kabuto and his team. So I brought him with. Doesn’t matter, show me what you got,”

Sakura nodded, glancing at Sasuke, who was sitting on a table and twirling a kunai around his finger, watching it turn disinterestedly. She took a deep breath and threw three shuriken at once. Stomach, chest, head. Naru grinned.

“Looks great! Try to put three in a line… here…” She took Sakura’s inkwell and drew three targets on a different wall, the middle six inches below the other two.

“How do I hit the middle one?”

“Twitch your hand downward as you release the second shuriken,” Naru said, coming to stand next to Sakura and pulling out some of her own stars. She sunk all of them in the center. Sasuke snorted. Naru glared over her shoulder at him.

“What now?” She snapped. Sakura looked at him too. He had his arms crossed and was smirking.

“I just think it’s funny you’re trying to teach someone else to throw knives when you were begging for my help two days ago,” he stood, and walked over. She wished she was taller, he had a good four inches on her. She scowled.

“One, I was SO not begging you, and two-“

“Quiet,” he snapped, “Sakura-san, you start fine, but you lose power on your downswing, look,” He threw three of his shuriken, and they sunk dead center, knocking one of Naru’s out of the wall.

“Showoff,” Naru snapped. She pulled out so kunai and lodged them deep into the door frame, and started doing pull ups. She could hear Sasuke giving Sakura tips, and the way she could just… hear Sakura blushing was infuriating.

Whatever, doesn’t matter to me, this lets me off the hook for coaching Sakura. Who cares? Not me. God damn that smug bastard. Why is everyone in my life so damn smug? Sasuke, Shikamaru, that Hyuuga, Neji. Even Sakura is smug half the damn time. What kinda word is smug anyway? Self satisfied bastards. I’ll be just as good as them, and then they’ll all be forced to admit they’re not so damn perfect. I’ll do it in bright orange trousers too, just because I like them.

She smiled to herself as she thought it, her muscles protesting further damage. She’d gone too hard yesterday, and even her body was having trouble catching up. She needed to eat something. She glanced over her shoulder at her teammates. Sakura was looking up at Sasuke like he was the coolest thing on two legs, and Sasuke was busy showing off.

They won’t notice if I go eat something. They’re busy.

She dropped from the doorway and left, jogging down the hall lightly. Gaara was gone. She stared at the place he’d been, thinking about the hate that was always in his eyes. She knew what was behind it. Pain.

She kept jogging, reaching the mess hall and was glad to find it empty. All these people were becoming too much. She needed a break. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat on the counter as the ate it, kicking her legs out and humming between bites. She was enjoying herself so much she didn’t notice Shikamaru and Choji until they came into the kitchen itself.

“Do you live here?” Shikamaru snapped. Naru smiled at him.

“Hey grumpy, what’s up Choji-chan?”

“Nothin much Naru-chan what’s up with you?”

“Jus eatin’ some cereal, want some?” She offered, passing the box to him. He took it. Naru smirked. Shikamaru was standing with his arms crossed.

“Hey!” He snapped, “Did you just-“

“Hey Choji-chan, what’re you planning on doing today?” She asked, cutting Shikamaru off. He threw his arms up. Choji just smiled, pouring himself out all of the remaining box, so that it heaped out of the bowl, and pouring in just enough milk so it didn’t spill.

“Eh, Shikamaru and I are probably just gonna go play shogi or something. What about you?”

“Sakura-Chan and Teme are practicing their shuriken. I was helping… but, I got hungry,” She smiled. Shikamaru was obviously not used to being ignored. He was staring between Naru and Choji like he was watching a tennis match. It was taking everything Naru had not to burst out laughing. Choji looked like he was on the verge of laughing as well.

“Hey if you’re not doing anything, you can hang out with us!” He said, smiling. Naru grinned at him. A thumping noise came from where Shikamaru was standing.

“No, no she can’t, Choji! What the hell!”

“That sounds great!” She said, beaming at him and throwing her bowl into the sink, where it shattered, “Thanks Choji-chan!”

Chapter Text

He was going to kill Choji.

Shikamaru was just trying to have a relaxing afternoon, play shogi, and watch clouds through the window, but Naru kept poking at the pieces, asking what they did, and making Choji laugh, and calling him Choji-chan. The sixth time she interrupted the game he actually threw himself backward, groaning. Choji was laughing so hard he was probably going to pass out, and Naru was just grinning like a fox that had caught a bird.

“I was just asking a question!” Naru laughed, smacking Shikamaru on the stomach. He jumped up, glaring at her.

“I’m trying,” he pointed at the board, “to strategise, and you are distracting,”

“It’s weird,” she laughed, tilting her head, “Everyone seems to say that,”

“That’s because you’re an intolerable pain in the ass,” He snarled, pointing at her now. She leaned forward, her grin turning into something more threatening.

“Fight me and I’ll leave you alone,” She said, staring straight into his eyes. He looked over at Choji, whose arms were crossed, a self satisfied smirk on his face. I really will kill him. Shikamaru thought, looking back at Naru, who had put her hand on the shogi board, scattering the pieces, leaning in toward him. He wanted her to get out of his face, and leave him the hell alone.

“I’m never going to fight you, Naru,”

“God damn it!” She snapped, grabbing his vest and shaking him, overturning the board and flinging shogi pieces across the room as she did, “Just hit me already!”

The door swung open, and Sasuke and Sakura rushed in, looking out of their minds with worry. The second they saw Naru, gripping Shikamaru’s shirt, inches from his face, worry turned into fury so quickly Shikamaru couldn’t help but laugh.

“You dumbass Naru! What the hell do you think you’re doing sneaking off like that? Do you even know how worried I was?” Sakura screamed, her face turning red. Naru dropped Shikamaru and held up her hands in surrender. Sasuke strode across the room and grabbed the back of Naru’s tanktop, hauling her to her feet, his Sharingan activated, a scowl so firmly placed on his face Shikamaru thought it might become permanent. Naru just kept grinning like a kid who’d been caught doing something she knew she’d get away with.

“I will lock you in your room, I swear,” Sasuke threatened, glowering down at her.

“Eh, what’s the big deal, you guys were doing fine on your own,” She held her arms out, “I just wanted to hang out with these guys for a minute,”

“Hang out! Yeah, that looked like they were having a great time!” Sakura snapped, glancing at the overturned Shogi board, Choji, who was trying not to laugh, and Shikamaru, whose vest was still screwed up from where Naru had seized him.

“You need to control yourself Naru,” Sasuke snapped, shaking her. Something about it annoyed Shikamaru. He didn’t like Sasuke that much, and the feeling was quickly intensifying. There was a reason he wouldn’t fight Naru, it was that she was smaller, and a girl. Sasuke, however, seemed oblivious to this, yanking her around. He shook his head and looked away. No point in making a fuss.

“I have perfect control over myself, thanks. I don’t need you to say shit to me about it. And you have no room to talk anyway, your sharingan has been flaring up randomly ever since you got that stupid hick-”

Sakura slapped her hand over Naru’s mouth, and she and Sasuke made to drag Naru from the room. Sakura yelped, and whipped her hand away, a bite mark across her palm. Naru grinned over her shoulder, still being pulled forcibly from the room.

“See ya later Choji-chan! See ya later grumpy!”

“Stop calling me that!” Shikamaru yelled, moving to shut the door behind them. Naru just started laughing as Sakura whacked her across the head. Shikamaru shut the door and shook his head, kneeling to fix the shogi board. Choji smiled at him.

“You know, life’d be really different if she’d been on our team instead of Ino,”

“Yeah, it’d be even more annoying,” Shikamaru snapped, moving the shogi pieces back to where they had been. Choji grinned.

“I think we make a good team, but Naru is hilarious,”

“You’re the only one who thinks so,” Shikamaru grabbed the chips that Naru had flung across the room and placed them on the board. “Besides her, that is,” He narrowed his eyes, counting them quickly. One was missing.

“Choji, get up,” He snapped, gesturing for Choji to stand. Choji looked taken aback.

“What?”

“A piece is missing, get up,” Shikamaru snapped, placing his hand on the ground and looking under the nearby dresser. Choji stood. It wasn’t there. It wasn’t under Choji either. He sat up, arms shaking.

“That girl is going to be the end of me,” He growled, standing and striding to the dresser.

Chapter Text

When Naru finally got her teammates to let her go, she dug her hand into her pocket. She pulled it out, tossing it into the air and catching it. Keima. Cassia Horse. She grinned to herself. Any minute now.

They reached the training room, and Sakura started a lecture, but Naru shushed her, leaning her head out the door, listening.

“What-”

“Sh! Wait for it…”

“Wait for wha-”

There was a loud crash. Something Heavy being thrown through a window, accompanied by a scream of anger and frustration.

“NARU!”

Naru turned, grinning, to her teammates, holding up the Cassia Horse. They both looked at it, confused. Sasuke got it first.

“Dobe, you’re a real asshole, you know that?”

“Oh, I’m aware,” She smirked, putting the piece back in her pocket and beaming, “He’ll have to fight me now,”

“You’re a demon sent from hell to ruin everyone’s lives, I just know it,” Sasuke said, throwing up his hands and shaking his head, turning away from her. She pointed at him with both hands and laughed.

“You don’t know how right you are,” She laughed. Sakura closed her eyes as the sound of someone throwing doors open drew closer.

“I hate you,” She sighed, before pushing Naru out of the room and slamming the door. Naru stumbled back, and then knocked on the door.

“Sakura-chan! Let me back in!” She laughed. She heard Sakura click the lock. Then there was nothing but the sound of Shikamaru charging up the spiral, kicking doors in, looking for her. She could her him swearing loudly at people who protested their doorways being destroyed.

“She’s over here!” Sakura screamed from inside the room. Naru froze. She could hear Shikamaru fall still further down the hall.

“Uh, Sakura-chan? Please let me in,” She said, hearing Shikamaru speed up again, sprinting toward her.

“No! You deserve whatever you get out there!” she snapped. Naru spun around, holding her arms out a little. Shikamaru came into view, his face furious.

“Naru, you little shit!” He shouted. She backed up, then turned and sprinted away from him, laughing like a maniac. He screamed in frustration. Choji was trailing behind him, cracking up. Naru ran all the way to the dead end at the top of the spiral. It was a door, sealed to prevent the genin occupying the tower sneaking out of it to cause trouble.  She spun around, pressing herself against it. She could tell Shikamaru wouldn’t be able to stop himself in time, he had too much momentum. She braced herself to jump out of the way, but he reached out, slamming his hands either side of her head, glowering down at her. The boarded up door shook with the impact.

“Where… Is it?” he gasped, out of breath with a combination of anger and the sprint. She bit her upper lip.

“What?” She asked, smiling up at him. He lowered himself to eye-level with her.

“Where’s the Keima?”

“The what? Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She said, trying to push him back weakly, her arms shaking with suppressed laughter. He didn’t move.

“I swear Naru, you really don’t wanna do this,” He growled, “just give me the piece back,”

“Uh, I think I do,” she finally started laughing, “You aren’t getting that piece until you fight me,”

“Oh, I’m not going to fight you, Naru,” he snarled. She stared into his face, eyes narrowing. He was a planner, always three moves ahead, but she couldn’t read him.

Choji leaned against the wall, looking bored already by the stand off. He pulled out a bag of chips, popping one into his mouth.

“It’s in her pocket,” he said, yawning. “Sorry Naru-chan,”

Naru dug her hand into her pocket and gripped the piece. Suddenly Shikamaru snapped his hands together, clasping them between he and Naru.

“Shadow Possession Jutsu!”

Naru felt her body seize up, her hand gripped around the piece. No way. Nope. Not happening. She tensed every muscle in her upper body, resisting as he started to move his arms. His eyebrows shot up.

“Damn, you are strong. But you’d have to be herculean to get out of this one. Do this the easy way Naru,” He pushed through her strength, holding one hand flat out in front of them. Her arm stuttered forward, coming to rest under his. He pulled his other arm forward, and the hand holding the Cassia Horse came forward too.

“Shikamaru-kun! God damn it!” Naru snarled through gritted teeth. Shikamaru just smirked.

“And…” he opened his hand, slowly, and the shogi piece dropped from Naru’s hand and into his, “Thank you,” He released the jutsu. She just glared up at him, shaking with frustration.

“Hey Naru, cheer up,” He laughed, tossing the piece into the air and catching it, “you almost had me there,” he put the piece in his pocket and turned. Naru’s heart was beating in her ears like a war drum. Choji was watching her, his eyebrows raised, like he was waiting for her to do something, but she felt frozen. He’d outsmarted her so easily. She’d completely forgotten to stay away from his shadow. It was such an obvious oversight.

“Shikamaru-kun!”

Shikamaru turned, one eyebrow raised. “What now?” he sighed, hands in his pockets. She pushed off the door and stomped up to him, squaring up.

“If you don’t fight me fair and square now, I’ll get you another way, you know that, right?” Naru grinned, crossing her arms, “I’ll start ambushing you,”

“Naru, you couldn’t sneak up on a blind and deaf commoner,” He turned away, gesturing for Choji to follow.

“I’ll find a way to catch you off guard! I swear!”

“Bye Naru-Chan!” Choji laughed, waving. Naru waved back reluctantly.

“Bye Choji-chan,”

She watched them go, and then went back and kicked the door of the training room off its hinges. Sakura and Sasuke were standing there, Sakura covering her mouth, obviously trying not to laugh.

“Don’t… Say… A word,” She bit out, teeth gritted, jumping up to the kunai she’d left in the doorframe and continuing her pull-ups. Sasuke sighed.

“That was pathetic,” He said, laying back on a table as Sakura went back to throwing knives. Naru scoffed.

“Kiss my ass, it’s none of your business,”

“You’re embarrassing,”

She pulled the left knife out and stabbed it higher, staring to climb the wall. she only stopped when her head brushed the ceiling on her upswings. She could feel Sasuke glaring at her. She needed to do legs, but that would require her getting down and actually standing in the room with her squad, and she’d rather cut her left hand off entirely than do that at the moment. She braced herself on the wall and flipped, planting her feet against the ceiling and then kneeling. As soon as she was solidly placed against the ceiling, she used chakra to stick herself there. then, blood rushing to her head, she glared down at Sasuke, who had been watching her bemusedly.

“What are you doing?” He groaned. She smirked.

“Curl ups,” She said, placing her hands behind her head and starting.

“Why are you on the ceiling?” He asked, squinting up at her.

“Makes it harder,” She grunted. She saw him shake his head on the downswing, but ignored him.

Sakura turned, looking up at her, and for a while, they all just stayed like that, Naru doing curl ups on the ceiling, Sasuke reclining on a table, Sakura leaning against a bookshelf, and the silence of change hanging in the air between them.

For a while they were fine.

Chapter Text

Sakura couldn’t sleep. She was tossing and turning, her mind roiling with a terrible mix of memories and Other Sakura’s conjectures and opinions. First she saw Ino, laughing at Naru, then she saw her throwing the chair at her back. It had hit Naru so hard that it shattered, But Naru brushed it off like the paper shuriken that children had thrown at her when they were young.

Remember the insults they used to write on them? And you couldn’t ever pluck up the courage to stop them? You were too preoccupied with being popular.

No one stopped them. There’s nothing wrong with being a bystander.

You can keep lying to yourself, but I never will.

Great, at least I have that.

Sakura thought about the curse on Sasuke’s shoulder. How it kept spreading up across his collarbone and up his neck, almost touching his jaw every time he got angry. How his Sharingan had been flaring up randomly. Like he had a fifth of the control he’d had before.

That mark’s unstable and you can’t even be bothered to tell him about it. Just like you haven’t told Naru about that error in her seal.

Shut up. Naru’s seal is strange, there’s nothing like it. It’s not… I can’t be sure. And Sasuke’s curse was definitely unfinished. That’s obvious. But the problem remains that in the end we need to figure out why that grass woman wanted to unbalance his mind and intensify his chakra like that. What could be the benefit?

Whatever it is it’s not good for you. And let’s talk more about how you now have two supernaturally powerful people with unstable seals on their bodies on your team and yet again you’re the weakest rat in the race.

Naru isn’t unstable, Sakura snapped back, her mother did a fantastic job. She’s actually incredibly stable considering the seal has a loophole like that.

A loophole that lets her tap into the Kyuubi’s power like a damn maple tree. Face it, it’s disconcerting. It’s almost like her mother wanted to keep her safe and figured no one could like a demon. Like her mother anticipated trouble. If she’d wanted, she could have made Naru a normal human. But…

She left her the fox. What a legacy…

The Other Sakura laughed. Sakura glared up at the ceiling. She never used to be this active. She should never have let her out. She thought of the man, his blood, his screams. She should have figured it out without her.

But it felt good, didn’t it? And I, for one, enjoyed the fresh air. Listen, I don’t mind staying inside for the boring parts, but I think I'll be the main personality in fights from now on.

No. I’m going to deal with this by myself. You’re my curse. Those two had theirs thrust onto them, but you and I are byproducts of each other. No, you’re a byproduct of me.

Or is it that you’re a byproduct of me? Who’s the real Sakura? That’s the problem with sharing a body… Who came first? The chicken or the egg?

Evolutionarily the first animals we could really call domesticated chickens would have come from eggs laid by their ancestors, so… the egg. Duh.

But which one of us is the egg smartass?

I am. You’re the chicken that hatched from me repressing my rage and indignation from early childhood in order to make friends.

More like the dragon that hatched from the egg, then.

Oh stop. I can’t take you seriously.

Oh really? And I think I deserve a name. I hate being called the Other Sakura.

Well if I’m the flower, then you’re the thorn. Ibara.

Ibara huh? I actually don’t mind that. Ibara it is. Makes things easier, doesn’t it?

Sakura nodded, half in order to check Ibara hadn’t taken control of the body. It was strange, actually having a conversation with her. Like… meeting a sibling you hadn’t seen since you were a baby. Strangers but somehow not. Not that Ibara was a stranger.

Kinda hard to be strangers with someone who shares your meat suit.

Do not call the body a ‘meat suit’, you freak.

Who’s the freak? The chicken or the egg?

I’m going to sleep now.

Oh you think you make that decision? Watch this.

Suddenly, her consciousness cut out, and she was in complete darkness. She felt her body falling into sleep rhythm without her even having closed her eyes. Ibara laughed.

It’s a shared body. You weren’t paying attention and I shut it down.

How?

I honestly just reached my hands out, knew what I wanted to happen, and slammed them onto the ground.

What is this place?

The soulscape. Ino was in here a fair few days ago, she knew what she was doing though. She cheated off you for that written test.

She did what?

Yeah she was doing her possession thing. It was whatever.

No! Not whatever! We’re at capacity in here! It’s crowded! No more souls!

I’ll remember that for next time. Ibara snapped, rolling her eyes. Sakura looked around. It was nothing but blue black darkness.

How do we sleep?

Just imagine yourself on a bed and decide to sleep.

Sakura imagined a bed in front of her, and a small cot appeared. Ibara raised her eyebrows.

That’s the best you can do?

What? You can do better?

I live here. Watch.

Ibara closed her eyes. A massive four poster bed with red silk sheets and white pillows appeared behind her, and her black and white frame was suddenly in a night dress. She winked at Sakura before clambering into the bed and stretching.

Night Sakura.

Sakura begrudgingly got into her cot, looking over at the massive bed.

Night Ibara.

They both laid down and Ibara fell asleep quickly, but Sakura couldn’t clear her mind enough to decide on sleeping. She guessed Ibara couldn’t read her thoughts while they were both in the soulscape, but mainly she was worried that Ibara would be able to hijack the body while she was out.

She wasn’t going to let that happen.

Chapter Text

Naru could hear her heart thrumming in her ears as all the Genin were herded into the tiled room, facing the Hokage and the various instructors and proctors, and lined up into neat rows. She stood between Sasuke and Sakura, who looked exhausted.

She expended enormous amounts of restraint trying to remain quiet. There was a lecture she disregarded, and then they announced too many of them had passed. There’d be a tourney to see who would progress. She briefly glanced around herself, trying to gauge how many of them there were. Definitely less than half of them had progressed. This is too many people?

Naru bit her tongue, buzzing with excitement. A fight. Maybe she’d get Shikamaru.

The Old Man, Sarutobi, The Hokage, called out for anyone who wanted to surrender now. Kabuto Raised his hand without hesitation, but that worried Naru significantly less than the strange spasm that overtook Sakura.

She eyed her as they filed up onto the viewing platforms. She could hardly contain herself. She grasped Sasuke’s hand, grinning at him.

“I hope we can fight! This is awesome!” She said, pulling him closer to her so she could keep her voice quiet. Sasuke just stared at their interlocked hands until she let go, ashamed of her own lack of control.

The generator spat out names. First a stranger… and Sasuke. He looked distracted as he trod down the stairs and faced the man. A member of that creepy Kabuto’s team.

Sakura hissed something to Kakashi, But Naru was too distracted to catch it. She watched as they squared up, and as the stranger pinned Sasuke, his hand over the younger Genin’s face. Naru couldn’t stop herself from screaming out at him.

“Come-on Sasuke! I know you can do it! I’m the only one who gets to kick your ass, remember!”

After she spoke, was a strange pattern spread across his skin. He moved fast, faster than she’d ever seen him move before, and kicked the other ninja into the air, a strange, ecstatic look coming over his face as he slammed the man back into the ground, headfirst.

Sasuke was declared winner, and Naru’s knuckles turned white on the railing. Had he always… been able to do that?

Kakashi was with him in a second, and then they were both gone.

She was completely distracted throughout Shino’s fight. She only registered that Shino had won.

The bully, Kankuro, won his fight, after which he winked up at her. She rolled her eyes, making sure he could see as she did so. She worried about Sasuke as he strode back up to his place. She knew he would have hated that wink.

Then Sakura’s name came up. And then Ino’s. They walked down, glaring at each other. It started slow, a lot of yelling, taunting. But then Ino cut her hair off, and threw it at Sakura. Ino collapsed.

Sakura froze, her left hand trembling. Her arm started moving, then, suddenly, she started laughing. Ino snapped up again, looking at Sakura in horror.

“How do you have two souls?” She cried, panicked, scrambling backward. Sakura was just laughing, maniacally. She threw her head back, grinning ear to ear. Everyone in the room was just staring at her.

“Oh,” she laughed, gripping her fists in front of her and glaring back down at Ino, “This.. this feels good. Ibara is in the HOUSE!” She charged toward Ino, leaping on her and pounding her fists into her face, laughing as Ino buried a Kunai into her thigh. Naru leaned forward, watching as Sakura beat Ino bloody. Something was very very wrong.

“Ha! MAN this is good,” She laughed, standing, pulling Ino up by her top, spinning with her, pulling her face close to hers, “This is what I’ve been biding my time for, I’ve been waiting years for this ,”

“She’s using her left hand,” Naru murmured, “she’d right handed, why is she using her left hand?”

Sakura threw Ino across the room, slamming her into the wall. Ino slid down it, crumpling against the floor. The proctor stepped forward. She staggered, grinning, opening and closing her hands like she was testing them, staring down at her body like it was new.

“I’m keeping this,” She cackled, jumping up and down experimentally.

“The winner is-“ The proctor stopped, staring at Sakura, who was swaying, twitching randomly.

Suddenly, Sakura’s right hand swung up and struck her in the temple, knocking her out cold. She fell to the ground, almost a mirror image of Ino.

The proctor blinked, an exact picture of the shock that Naru felt.

“Double knockout,” He called, his voice echoing in the silence, “No winner,”

Tenten lost to Gaara’s teammate, Temari, But Naru saw none of it. She was too busy looking after Sakura, who was unconscious.

She heard, rather than saw, Shikamaru win his fight. She smiled to herself. I’ll get you, grumpy.

She put a wet cloth over Sakura’s forehead. Sakura looked like she was sleeping restlessly. Naru was worried, both her teammates were down, and Kakashi hadn’t come back. She was so worried that she didn’t see her name get called. Shikamaru had to get her attention by throwing a ball of bandages at her head.

“Hey loser, it’s your turn,” He drawled, pointing at the pit. She jumped up, staring down at her opponent.

There was Kiba, smiling up at her, with something else in his eyes. Regret? She leapt down, landing in front of him.

“Let’s get this thing popping!” Then I can go find Sasuke and figure out how he’s doing.

He pulled Akamaru from his hoodie and set him down between them. She groaned.

“Come on Kiba! It’s bad enough I gotta fight you! Get Akamaru outta here,”

“I never fight without Akamaru,” He bent down, leaning in, “Hey Naru, no hard feelings, right?”

“Well that’s on you, considering I’m gonna kick your ass,” She laughed, hunkering down into her defensive stance.

The fight flew by. She had been caught off guard by the smoke bombs at first. He hit her harder than she’d expected, but then she got him with her clones and disguises. She wound up knocking him out in the end, after he’d hit Akamaru. She was the one who’d placed him on the stretcher, and she walked him out, joking with him when he came to, placing Akamaru on his chest, a little sore, but definitely going to be okay.

“You’re stronger than I thought,” He said, wincing as he shifted. She smiled, stopping at the door.

“People are making a habit of saying that,” She limped back up to Sakura, who had come to, but seemed really distracted. Naru decided not to ask her what ‘Ibara’ meant until later.

Hinata and Neji were next, and Naru didn’t understand what was happening. They both just looked like they were missing each other. But then Hinata was coughing up blood, and Neji was just… watching. Not sorry at what he’d done. He looked disgusted by her, On the ground, blood spurting from her mouth, determined to keep going.

Naru leapt down, kneeling by Hinata, grasping at her hand, assuring her she’d be okay. Hinata smiled at her.

“I promise I’ll be strong like you one day, Naru-Chan,” She had said, blood splattering across Naru’s face and running down Hinata’s cheek as she had been pulled into a stretcher. Naru was shaking, her whole body buzzing again.

She turned to face the handsome boy, who looked like he didn’t care at all.

“What was that?” She barked, glaring at him. Neji stared back, unfeeling.

“We fought,” He said, emotionless, “and I won,”

Naru scoffed. “You tried to kill her, don’t you care at all?”

Neji just looked at her, insolent. She bent down, placing her hand firmly into a puddle of Hinata’s blood, pulling her hand up and into a fist. Blood dropped steadily down from her grip, sticky and still luke warm.

“I’ll fight you, and I’ll win, I swear... you bastard,” She snarled, glaring at him. Neji didn’t react. his arms were crossed, his face blank. Naru almost jumped him there and then, but there was Sakura, a hand on her shoulder and a voice in her ear.

“Come on, they need to clear the floor for the next fight. We have to move,”

Chapter Text

It was her. The sight of her, blood splattered across her face and dripping from her hand, combined with the look in her eyes… He felt like he’d lose control right there. He was shaking, watching her friend drag her up to the platform, where she absentmindedly wiped the blood from her hand across her shoulder and down her chest, smearing it across not only her shirt but her exposed collarbone. He didn’t wait for the name to come, he had to fight someone. He needed blood. He stared up at her, noticing Kankuro striding to join her, leaning casually on the railing. She looked annoyed, but refused to shift away when he violated her personal space. Gaara hadn't seen him take his stupid game this far before. He must really be having fun with her. Gaara grounded himself, trying to clear her from his mind.

His opponent was the boy in green. He looked weak, but who was to say. So did she, but she was doing something, obviously, to attack people’s minds. That was it. She must be secretly attempting some type of psychological warfare.

The fight began. The boy was fast, but not fast enough. Impressive, but not… unheard of. Gaara was impatient. He wanted to kill. He glanced up at her, saw her snap at Kankuro, then turn and shout down at them.

“Come on Bowl Cut!” She had yelled, “You can do this! You have the power of eyebrows! He doesn’t stand a chance!”

The power of what?

Gaara glared up at her. She wasn’t scared for her friend? Was she stupid? Did she think that he, Gaara of the desert, the Monster of the Sand, could be beaten by this… child? The thought of her underestimating him made fury thrum in his veins. He’d show her. Gaara went offensive, pushing the boy back, onto the statues. But now, the boy’s teacher felt the need to interfere.

“Okay Lee!” He said, grinning, “Go ahead and take ‘em off!”

Take what off? Gaara watched as the boy removed a pair of leg weights. When he dropped them, the floor shattered.

The boy was suddenly too fast to even see. He was too fast for Gaara’s sand. And he just kept getting faster. Gaara was buffeted side to side by the boy’s blows, in shock. If it wasn’t for his sand armour, he’d be… in pain . He was being kicked up, into the air, one hit after another…

Then he was thrown into the ground. He lay there, shocked, staring around at the quiet room. There was the boy, injured, exhausted. He sent out the sand, grabbed his leg, his arm, and.

“Sand binding coffin,” he spat, clenching his fist and crushing the boy’s limbs. He almost smiled at the scream. Now death . He heard her cry out, but his sand was already there, almost on the boy.

I had wanted Uchiha, but this one will do for the first. Watch, as I kill your friends one by one, and show you how weak you truly are.

But as soon as it seemed assured, as soon as he had begun the plan to kill them all, Rock Lee’s teacher stood in the way, scattering Gaara’s sand across the room. He had had his victory stolen from him again .

“Why? Why would you save him? He failed,” He spat, confused. Why would you take this from me? The only thing that I can do to feel alive.

“Because…” The man said, “He is my student, and he is precious to me,”

Precious? To you? This failure?

Rock Lee trembled and stood on shattered limbs, slouching strangely, eyes out of focus.

“But…” He mumbled. But there was an outcry, and the teacher turned to his student.

The boy was unconscious. His body standing on his crushed leg and still trying to fight. Gaara couldn’t understand. He looked up at her . Blood smeared across her face in stripes from where she’d tried to wipe it away, sweat keeping it damp on her skin, making it run down her skin as though it was fresh, a bruise blooming across her cheek. The pink haired one was holding her back as she made to leap over the railing, straining to get to Rock Lee. To help him. Her muscles were tensed, veins protruding in her neck as she yelled stupid nicknames at him. Gaara was declared the winner.

He felt no joy.

Chapter Text

Choji lost his match with the sound man who walked like an animal. Naru shook the whole time, Sakura holding her. She hadn’t ever seen anything like this. She hadn’t ever been faced with the reality of people she liked- loved- dying without her having the ability to help. It had made her feel powerless, useless.

She thought of Hinata bleeding, and Lee’s screams. How could she even begin to help them when she was so weak? So… pathetic?

Lee had been so much stronger, so much more skilled, yet Gaara had ruined all his chances for achieving his dreams. Hinata had almost been killed by her cousin, and she had a month to train before she’d get a chance to fight the boy who did it. She thought about his face, beautiful and uncaring, cruel, judgmental. She'd never be able to face herself again if she lost.

She and Sakura walked toward the hospital. Sakura pulled off to buy flowers, but Naru just kept walking. She went to see Kiba first, feeling guilty, but found him sitting up, talking to Akamaru. He had his hood down, and it suited him. She had always liked his hair, thick and messy, a little longer than hers. She wasn’t going to tell him that. Not now.

“Hey! You’re the first one to come to my sick bed! Where’s Shino-chan and Hinata-chan? Too busy celebrating to come see the flunkie?”

Naru grit her teeth and looked down. Kiba leaned forward, and she could feel his eyes scan the blood on her chest and face.

“Naru-chan, did something happen? Sit down, talk to me!”

Naru collapsed onto the end of his bed and looked at him.

“Hinata-chan fought that Neji-bastard and he… He won. That technique they use, gentle fist? He… he gave her a heart attack. She’s here, in the hospital. She’s gonna make it, I just know it, so don’t worry too much,”

“She’s… had a heart attack?” He asked, his hands moving to Akamaru and pulling him close. Naru clenched her fists.

“My next fight is with Neji, in a month-“ She started, but he cut her off, leaping forward and grabbing he upper arm.

“Drop out,”

“What-“

“You need to drop out. If this kid gave Hinata-chan a heart attack in the preliminaries, then there’s no saying what he’ll do to you during the actual event! Don’t risk it! We’ll just take the exams again, together, next year,”

Naru stared at him, surprised. There was a strange kind of desperation in his eyes. Like he needed her to do what he said or he’d be driven to distraction. Naru shook her head.

“Kiba, you know me better than that! I'm not dropping out. I’m gonna kick his ass, I swore it to his face, and this is my opportunity. I’m gonna beat him, for Hinata-chan,” she smiled at him, grazing a clenched fist against his jaw, “and for you and I, cause I know you wanna beat him too Kiba-chan,”

She could see the muscle in his jaw twitching as he stared at her face, like he was chewing something. He started to lean toward her, but stuttered to a halt immediately, and she stood, a hand on his shoulder, leaning him back.

“You rest up Kiba, and when you get outta here work on your jutsu. I didn’t expect you to be such a pushover,” She joked, moving her hand quickly and flicking his ear. He caught her hand and held it, making her look back at him.

“Hey, it’s not too late to back out, you can even surrender during the fight… I- well, you need to be careful, don’t be a knucklehead and get yourself hurt,”

Naru grinned down at his worried face, and gave him the thumbs up. “I’m not gonna surrender, I’m gonna win. Believe it!”

Kiba’s mouth twitched into a smile, and he let her hand go. “Come back and tell me about your training,”

Naru shook her head. “You aren’t gonna be here that long, dog boy, don’t worry. I went easy on ya,”

Then she left, and went to find Sasuke.

Sakura was already there when she finally found him, and he was asleep. Naru’s first instinct was to check the weird mark, as though she could sense something was up. It had been encircled by Kanji that looked like they had room to surround more of the weirrd dots. She frowned. Why wouldn’t it be gone now? Why wouldn’t they center the seal around the curse?

Sakura was watching her face, like she was waiting for Naru to start asking questions about Sasuke. Naru shook her head.

“Who’s Ibara?” Naru asked, pulling the collar of Sasuke’s shirt to cover the mark. Sakura looked as though Naru had just punched her.

“What?” She gasped, voice hoarse.

“After you were possessed, you came to and started acting weird. You said ‘this feels good, Ibara is in the house,’ or something,” Naru looked up at the other Kunoichi, “why’d you say that?”

“Naru-chan…” Sakura looked down, fiddling with the flowers she’d set by Sasuke’s bed, “You know I have a short temper, right?”

“No shit, really?”

Sakura shot her a nasty look, but then sighed. “I have two souls in me. And one… one is Ibara. She was the one who killed that guy, and she was the one who… hurt Ino. She’s like…”

“What, so there’s two of you in one body? Like me and the Kyuubi?” Naru asked, gazing at Sakura in shock. Sakura looked up, Surprised.

“Yeah kinda,” She furrowed her brow, “Yeah I guess out of anyone, you’d get it,”

“Of course I get it, how come you didn’t tell me before?” Naru asked, Walking to Sakura and holding her hand, “You can trust me on this, Sakura-chan, you can tell me stuff like that, I’ll never judge you. We’re a team, right?”

Sakura looked surprised, but then smiled. “Yeah, Yeah we are,”

“So don’t stress about it! I love you and I probably love Ibara too, even though she just seems like she wants to kill people, but it’s the right people so, that’s good! We’re a four man squad all by ourselves!”

Sakura laughed. “I guess so,” She looked down at Sasuke. “He’s stable but, I don’t think he’s gonna wake up any time soon. I asked about Hinata-chan but… She’s not able to have visitors right now. They said Rock-san is though. Wanna go see him? I bought him flowers too,”

“Yeah, I definitely wanna see him, where is he?”

Sakura paused, “He’s in the long term care ward, I… didn’t… I didn’t wanna go alone,”

Naru nodded. “We’ll go together,”

The visit was short. He was unconscious. Naru peeked at his chart. It made almost no sense to her, but looked… bad. Really bad. She wished she could throw some of her healing factor into him, to help somehow. She chewed the insides of her cheeks as Sakura placed flowers in a vase at his bedside. She looked so… at home here, like it was the right place for her, at the side of a hospital bed, arranging flowers. She had a strange, feminine energy that Naru lacked entirely.

Naru made up an excuse and left her there.

She strolled down the hall, eyes on her sandals. She ran straight into…

“Oh! Kakashi-Sensei!”

“Naru-kun, were you visiting Sasuke-Kun?” Kakashi asked, looking around. Naru nodded.

“Yeah, but he’s out cold. Anyway, Kakashi-sensei, I had a favour to ask you, I need to train before-“

“Don’t worry, I already took care of it. I got you a teacher who’s even better than I am,”

“But Kakashi-sensei! I wanted you to train me!” She whined, throwing her hands up, “Who are you trying to pawn me off on? Is this so you can go train Sasuke-Kun?” Kakashi looked down at her, the small sliver of his face that was visible a mixture of surprise and resignation. Or something else. Naru could never read her teacher.

“Listen, I’m not pawning you off on anyone, I found you an instructor who specialises in what you need to learn specifically. He’ll do a better job than I ever could. Look, here he is now,” He gestured at the hallway behind her. She turned, and burst out laughing. Ibisu, Konohamaru's private tutor, was walking up to them. He froze when he saw Naru.

“Kakashi-sensei, I know you don’t expect me to hang around with this pervert!” She said, pointing at Ibisu, who tensed up immediately.

“This… what?” Kakashi asked, lifting his hand to his temple like he was developing a headache. 

Ibisu rushed forward, palming Naru’s head and laughing awkwardly. “Nothing, Just our little joke, Kakashi-san, Don’t worry about it,”

“No, it’s not, this scrub took one look at my Harem Jutsu and fell apart, he’s a total pervert and you’re expecting me to listen to anything he has to say? Kakashi-sensei, get serious here,”

“Um, Harem… Jutsu… aside… I think that it’s best for you to re-cover the basics with a private tutor, and, Ibisu-sensei is the best private tutor in the village,”

“But-“ Naru started, but Kakashi held up his hand to stop her. She looked up at him, frowning. She respected Kakashi, and it stung to have him brush her off. He hadn’t even bothered to lie about training Sasuke instead.

Kakashi left, and Naru turned to Ibisu.

“Listen, you nasty pervert, the only reason I’m even humouring this is because Kakashi-sensei said I should. If it were me calling the shots, a scrub who got beat by an eleven year old girl would NOT be training that same eleven year old girl a year later, but I…” She sighed, the words in her chest driving their claws in, refusing to come out without a fight, “I really need to get better. So, lead the way. But be warned, you nasty son of a gun, if you suck at this, then I’ll kick your ass. Again,”

“You only caught me off guard, that’s all,” Ibisu said, his forehead sweating. Naru rolled her eyes.

“You, a Jonin, let yourself get caught off guard by a sudden group of naked girls. Produced by me. A kid. You’re gross. Get to the training already, will you?”

It didn’t take long before they were up at the hot springs. Ibisu was lecturing about respect and listening to him and some other lame bull, and Naru was nursing the wound Kakashi’s favouritism of Sasuke had done to her pride. She got it, logically, she understood that Kakashi wanted to train Sasuke because he had sharingan and he was the only one who could teach Sasuke how to use his, but… she wished she could have trained with them. She was, yet again, jealous of Sasuke. His skills and abilities and understanding were all above hers, and she felt as though Kakashi choosing to train him, and him alone was kind of… pointing that out. Not to mention the person he’d chosen to train her was a nasty old pervert.

Then, suddenly Ibisu was walking on water. He explained something about chakra control, and how it was similar to walking on trees. She felt confident she’d be able to do it...

Until she tried, and fell straight through the surface of the steaming water. Ibisu looked so smug she really considered using her sexy jutsu on him again, but… She did have to learn. But why him? She whined internally. I'd rather be back with Iruka. But Iruka was teaching in the academy. He couldn't just abandon his duties there to train her. She sighed.

“You have no control over your chakra and you’re inefficient when it comes to building it up. You’re far inferior to both of your teammates when it comes to control,” Ibisu said. Naru squinted up at him, feeling anger bubble in her stomach, “Both Sakura-san and Sasuke-san have better chakra control than you. You’re far behind them when it comes to the basics,”

“Oh yeah?” She snarled, turning red as she clambered out of the hot spring, and glowered at him “If that’s true then how come there’s been times when I saved both of their asses in combat? Huh?”

“That’s only because you have reserves of energy and chakra that are completely inhuman,” Ibisu snapped, pointing at her. She froze. Oh yeah, he would know, wouldn’t he? She looked at the ground, feeling her stomach burn. “You need to learn to control yourself,” Ibisu snapped. In her head, Sasuke’s voice echoed.

You need to get control of yourself, Dobe.

She shifted, looking up at him. She got to her feet, and tried again, and again. She just kept plunging into the boiling water.

Just as she got to the point where she was getting it, finally starting to find her balance, she got distracted. There was an old man, sitting outside the bath house peeking into the women’s bath. She burst out laughing and fell into the water. Ibisu turned to see him, and started.

“Are you… Peeking into the women’s bath? I will not allow any disreputable behaviour, sir!”

The old man whipped around, smiling, “Oh please!” He summoned a toad, who whipped Ibisu straight into the ground. when the smoke cleared, he was there, red lines down his cheeks and a smirk on his face, perches precariously on a massive toad. “What’s wrong with you? You trying to get us busted or what?”

Naru climbed onto the bank, spitting the water out of her mouth and looking up at the man who’d just clobbered her trainer without even trying.

Great. The battle of the perverts. If I’m getting trained by one of these assholes, I’m sure as shit getting trained by the stronger one.

“ Hey! Who are you?” She snapped, standing up and walking over Ibisu. The old man smirked.

“Hah, I’m glad you asked kid!” He struck a pose and grinned. “I am the Myouboku Mountain’s Monk of the Frog Spirits, otherwise known as... The Toad Sage!” He grinned down at her. Naru raised her eyebrows.

“Okay, ya nasty old man,” She said, “but you just knocked my teacher the hell out,”

“Oh, that guy was teaching you?” He looked down at Ibisu, "He wasn't doing a great job. Or are you just a crap student?"

“No! He's a shit teacher. And since you interrupted... uh… Now you gotta train me,” She snapped, walking up to him and his toad, “Cause… That loser is down and out, something that is your fault, and I don’t have time to waste waiting for him to come to,”

“Listen here, boy,” The Toad Guy snapped back, pointing down at her, “Your teacher was interfering with my research, and I am not about to train a little runt like you, I’m busy,” He held up a book. It was the same one that Kakashi always had his face buried in. She rolled her eyes and stepped closer, lowering her voice, doing her best Sasuke impression.

“Listen, everyone’s busy, the thing is, if I wanted, I could make a whole lotta noise. And you’d get found out. And more than just my teacher’ll be on your ass for being a gross old peeping tom,”

“And you’d get busted for hanging outside the women’s bath too,” The sage pointed out. "We're both gross peeping toms," Naru grinned, and pulled her tank top aside to show him the strap of her sports bra. She couldn't blame him for the mistake. She did strap herself flat every morning. not that there was much to strap, she'd burned off most of the fat on her body training. Like I said before. Sakura has a feminine energy that I just don't have. A whole lotta feminine everything else too.

“‘Cept I'm a girl, ya Dirty Old Man. And if you don’t agree to training me, I’ll start yelling,” She tilted her head and straightened her shirt. The man smiled back at her.

“I like ya, kid,” He smirked, “I guess I can’t say no,”

“No you can’t, sensei,” Naru laughed, gesturing for him to follow her. He reluctantly obliged.

“But listen kid, I’m not trying to weasel out or anything, but I do really have to do some research here, so…”

“Research? Yeah right. You’re just making excuses,” She snapped, glancing over her shoulder at him.

“What’d you know about it? You have to be eighteen or older to buy my books, so you wouldn’t know anything about what kinds of research-”

“All you were doing was peeping at naked women, and you can do that any old time,” Naru clenched her fist in front of her, “I need as much training as possible in the next month so I can beat Neji Hyuuga!”

“Who’s Neji Hyuuga? A boy who turned you down cause you look like a guy?” The old man snapped. Naru spun to face him, walking backward.

“Neji Hyuuga is my next opponent in the chunin exams. I have to defeat him in order to progress, and I swore a blood oath to defeat him,”

“That… sounds like a you problem,” He said, putting his hands behind his head. She glared at him.

“It’s your problem too now Perv, you just said-”

“Listen kid, I already told ya I’m busy. I gotta go find some hot chicks and… examine them,”

“Hot chicks?”

“Yeah, hot chicks, fine ladies, beautiful women,” He rolled his eyes, “Nothing you’d know about,”

“Listen Perv, I know more than anyone about hot chicks, okay? Hell, I branded the damn technique on hot chicks,” Naru snapped, coming to a halt and glaring at him.

“What would you know about hot girls? I wrote the literal book on hot girls. You’re just some… androgyne,”

“I don’t know what that word is, but androgyne this, you old coot! Henge!” she snapped, gripping her hands together.

And there it was. That same face they all make. She’d put some real effort into this one, not too much, not too little. It’s be a convincing disguise… if she hadn’t been dead naked. It was easy enough to play coy, the way she always imagined a girl would be if she got a one in a few years… The Toad Dude was completely blindsided.

“Oh, Sensei, don’t stare…” She said, conjuring a blush. The old man was in, hook line and sinker. Dunzo. Naru sneered internally. Men are hyenas. This is getting ridiculous. Sasuke’s reaction was much more fun.

“Whoa! How’d you do that? She’s a perfect ten!” He angled himself from side to side, grinning wildly. She just blinked up at him, “Okay, I’ll teach ya, but on one condition,”

“What condition?” She asked, playing it up a little. She couldn’t help herself. These guys were too easy to manipulate.

“Only if you stay like that the whole time,”

She released the jutsu, returning to her usual form and glaring up at him. “You nasty old pervert. Not the whole damn time!”

Chapter Text

Naru strode out onto the water, teetering and then plunging into it. Jiraiya was cross legged, watching her struggle.

“It’d help if you thought of the water as having a hard surface. I can tell you’re afraid to fall, and it’s making it inevitable that you do,” He said. She shot him a frown, and he laughed internally. She was such a weird little kid. She reminds me of myself, a little.

He watched her grow steadier and then…

“Hey! Dirty old man! Look!” She hopped up and down, water splashing a little under her feet. She got it faster than I thought she would. She really wasn’t listening to Ibisu. Tsunade would like her.

She grinned at him, flashing him a peace sign as she spun on one leg, dragging her other toe through the water, sending little waves through the surface, spraying droplets everywhere. Jiraiya smiled to himself.

Minato, can you see this? She looks just like you. You’d think a daughter would look like her mother, but… she’s like a little clone of you.

“Hey! Earth to pervert! Let’s get this poppin'! what other new stuff can you show me?” The girl was in front of him now, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked and looked up at her.

“No, that’s enough for today. I think we should talk for a while,”

“You’re not gonna make me do the sexy jutsu again, are you?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“No,” Jiraiya stood, and gestured for her to follow. She did, crossing her arms and frowning. He led her into the woods, and they sat across from each other. “Listen kid. You probably don’t know this, but inside of you, you possess two chakras,”

“Wait a minute… You know about the Kyuubi? Are you from this village originally?” Naru slammed her hands down on the log, standing, bracing to defend herself. Jiraiya almost fell off his own log. Flower petals flew past them in the setting sun. This was not how he thought this conversation would go.

“Wait… you know about the Kyuubi? How’d you…” Hadn’t they banned people from talking about it?

“Uh, listen here old man,” Naru growled, hunkering down even more. He wished she’d relax, he wasn’t going to hurt her. Someone else might though. He realised, and she knows enough not to trust strangers. Good girl.

“I only recently came across that information, and I’m the one with the fucking seal on my stomach. The last person who brought that up out of the blue bit my friend and turned him into a grouchy asshat with a curse mark, so it’s best if you explain your position now,” She growled, clenching her fists. 

The fact you were self aware enough to realise it at all is kinda impressive, I don’t care how recently you did. “Okay, kid, calm down, I’m not gonna bite anyone. I know it can be shocking when someone knows more about you than they should, but I am originally from this village.” How much do I let slip? “ I trained the fourth Hokage,” That did it. Mistrust was replaced with wonder as she looked up at him. She sat back down.

“Really?” She asked, voice bursting with ill-contained excitement.

He nodded, smiling slightly. He’d never met a kid who looked so much like their parent. I have to be careful or I’ll get caught up in having flashbacks all the time. “Really. And I’ll train you too, but our first order of business is to get you to the point where you can control and channel the Kyuubi’s chakra,”

“Then let’s get it poppin’!” She said, jumping to her feet. Get it popping? Jiraiya smiled again.

“Not until tomorrow. You need a bath and some rest,”

“Old man, I just fell in the water about nine times today, the last thing I need-“

“Kid, what you need is soap. Grimy little…” He gestured for her to follow. She reluctantly did, and they both went to the bathhouse and split up. She went to the women’s section, he went to the men’s.

It’s strange, he thought, getting into the water and leaning against the edge of the spring, how history just seems to repeat itself. I get the feeling that this is the start of a whole nother ballgame.

Chapter Text

Naru woke with the sun. It was becoming a habit now, not that she’d ever been able to sleep long. She just had too much energy. She went into town, and the second the tailor opened she strode in and ordered a pair of orange trousers, cut like the black ones she’d gotten from Sakura. But with pockets. The tailor looked like she was in physical pain when Naru asked for the colour to match her jacket, which she was wearing again, unzipped, with the sleeves rolled up.

Naru just kept grinning and paid in advance. It really will make everyone miserable except me! Hah!

After that, she grabbed some breakfast and met up with The Toad Sage, who was looking bemusedly at her jacket.

“Did you have that thing on yesterday?”

“Nope! I forgot it at home,” She grinned, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget it again. It was just an accident during the chunin exams,” She adjusted her headband, another chunin exam accident. One, however, she would likely keep.

“Okay kid, how do you expect to survive as a ninja wearing neon-”

“You have five foot long white hair and wear wooden shoes, neither of us are stealthy. Also, don’t start a fashion fight cause I’ll rip you to shreds…”

“What do you mean-” he started, but she cut him off.

“Fishnets. Why does everyone wear fishnets?” She snapped, pointing at his forearms. He looked down and hid a smile. She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just get to the important stuff,” He shrugged at her.

“Okay, if you say so. Follow me,” he lead her to the pond, where she’d seen Choji training before. Naru smiled at the memory of seeing him there, practicing as she passed by to the spot in the woods where she trained. She was excited for what the Sage had planned… Until the old man promptly planted himself in the bushes to watch the girls who were swimming there. Naru grit her teeth. Am I gonna have to put up with this all month?

“Henge!”

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “Hey Sensei, can’t you pay attention to me for a minute? Pretty please? I really need some… Training, Sensei,”

The old man whipped around, grinning, and Naru jumped back, breaking the Jutsu. The sage wilted. “Aw, no fair. Are you making fun of me kid?”

“Listen, ya nasty old bastard, there’s nothing fun about this,” She pointed at him, “I haven’t been able to take any of you assholes seriously since before the exams, and I really need to get trained so that I can beat Neji into a damn pulp,”

“Okay, first of all, you’re really going to need to get over this Neji kid, first of all. He’s not interested-”

“It’s not like tha-” The sage held his hand up, stopping her.

“And second of all, the girls just left, so it’s time for me to teach you something,”

“You’re so gross,” Naru groaned.

“Yeah, well, I also didn’t wanna train you, but you’re the one who insisted, and here we are,” Jiraiya took a deep breath, “So you know you have access to the nine tails’ chakra, right?”

“Oh, you mean rent? Yeah, I know,” she slapped her stomach, smiling, “He’s still got a lot of debt to clear,”

“Rent? You know what, I don’t care. You need to learn how best to control that different type of chakra, because your ability to tap into and control that chakra will be crucial in order to achieve the power levels needed for what I’m going to try to teach you here,”

“Power… levels?”

“You’re going to need to be able to control it at will, and I’m guessing up until now you’ve been unable to tap into that energy unless-”

“I can only do it when my life is in danger,”

“Exactly,” He said, “so our goal here is to get you to the point where you can get at that energy at will,”

“Sounds Jazzy, how do we do it?”

“Well first, you need to use up most of your chakra,” he said, “then we’ll see if you can summon up some of the Kyuubi’s chakra,”

“Okay, I have an idea,” She said, backing up. She gathered as much chakra as she could, and summoned as many clones as she was able to. There must have been around twenty five of them.

“Alright everybody let’s go!” One of the clones yelled, and they instantly began beating each other senseless. Naru was happily standing in the middle, throwing punches and taking them, her nose already bleeding, a grin on her face. she kept catching glimpses of The sage, watching, eyebrows raised and an expression of bemused surprise on his face. She blocked a punch and kicked a clone out of existence. She was starting to get dizzy from the amount of memories flashing into her mind’s eye. She felt herself get kicked to the ground from behind, and struck out her left leg at her attacker. She then yanked another clone by the ankle and sent her slamming to the ground, where she dissipated.  

When she was the last one left, covered in dirt and her own blood, gasping for air, she grinned at The Toad Sage. He just shook his head.

“Okay, now that’s over, try conjuring up the fox’s chakra,”

She nodded and snapped her hands together, closing her eyes as she tried. At first, she just felt the last dregs of her own chakra. She felt anger gather in her stomach, bitter at her own uselessness. Sasuke would be able to do this if it were him. He can do everything right.

Then she felt it, a roiling red energy bursting out like a dam breaking. She felt herself smile as she let it stretch out around her, emanating from her like fire from stove that had just ignited, or heat from the sun itself. Raw, powerful, dangerous. She let out a strange mix between a whoop and a scream, a sound of triumph as she slammed her hands to the ground, sending cracks shooting out from where her palms struck. The sage called out.

“Okay! Okay! Wind it back a little, find control,”

But who would want to wind this back? A voice in her head laughed as she crouched, grinning. Or was she snarling? Who would want this to stop?

“Naruto!”

She flinched, like her full name was a dagger he had thrown at her. She pulled the power back, looking up at her teacher. She squinted at him.

“How do you know my name?”

The man stared her down, unflinching, “After your annoying little blackmail session yesterday i asked around a little,” He crossed his arms, “Why don’t you go by your full name?”

“You don’t go by yours either, Toad Sage,” She snapped, straightening up and feeling the chakra dissipate. It was beginning to come to her why she shouldn’t just… break the ground. She glanced down at the place where she’d slammed her hands.

“My name is Jiraiya, and now you don’t have an excuse,” he said, not ceasing to stare. She tilted her head, brows furrowed.

“It’s good I don’t need one. I can go by whatever I want to, Pervy Sage,” She looked down again. Jiraiya pointed at the place where she’d lost control.

“That, is what we’re trying to stop. You need to get a handle on yourself. Power like that comes with consequences, and if you don’t watch it, you’ll wind up a rogue. Or worse,”

“Worse than a rogue?”

“Worse than a rogue. Now, I want you to focus that chakra again, and keep control of yourself this time. Think of something… grounding,”

She bit her top lip, trying to picture something that’d stop her from losing control. Her mind went to Sasuke first, but… He’s what made me lose it in the first place. No, you need to think of someone steady. Sakura? No, she’s as unstable as you are. Kiba? No, I like Kiba, but not enough to stop me from doing that again. Ramen? Uh, that might be the same problem as Kiba… Her brain fixed on a face, deadpanned, unfeeling.

She began to build up her chakra, focusing on that face. She felt it build, but kept it back, sharpening it to a peak, and then she looked up at her teacher, who was watching with a satisfied smirk on his face. She kept his face in the back of her mind, and sneered back.

“What should I do?”

“Show off a little kid, what can you do?”

“Shadow Clone Justu!” She snapped, and the clearing was filled with an army of her. Maybe two hundred. Jiraiya grinned ear to ear.

“Pretty amazing kid, but I think you might need a new trick,” He laughed. She dissipated her clones and smiled back.

“Why’s that?”

“Cause, Neji’s already seen that, hasn’t he?” Jiraiya looked her up and down, “And I get the ever growing feeling he’s the one you were thinking about just then, wasn’t he?”

She squinted at him, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t want him to know either way. Because, there could have been plenty of people who’d make her want to keep control, but for some reason, she was just burning to make it so Neji never underestimated anyone ever again. More specifically, her.

She’d make sure he took her god damn serious, if it was the last thing she ever did. He’d take her deadly serious.

Chapter Text

Okay, so the kid was fucking terrifying. He’d met scary kids before. He’d met scary adults. He’d never trained a twelve year old that took such obvious pleasure in getting punched in the face, or one broke the ground like she was a tiny version of Tsunade or something, but Jiraiya was one of the Legendary Sanin. He could totally deal with a preteen with supernatural powers. This was right up his alley.

But damn, did he pity that poor little Neji kid. Whatever he did, the kid probably didn’t deserve to have Naruto set on him. He definitely didn’t deserve to have her set on him after Jiraiya taught her some new tricks. But… what could he say? He was a total sucker for the kid already. He’d shape the damn moon into a weapon and hand it to her if she wanted it. He wondered if he was going soft, or if she had this effect on everyone. Maybe it was cause she was identical to Minato, or that he saw so much of himself in her, but whatever it was, it made him feel kinda… glad he was back home.

He was definitely going soft. But there she was, practicing her summoning, and bringing up nothing but tadpoles. She was growing more and more frustrated, but instead of giving up or complaining, she was just trying harder and harder. He was getting a sneaking suspicion that if he let her, she wouldn’t sleep tonight. She’d just stay here and keep trying until she got it.

She just kept going. It’d been hours. He was just about to call her off when-

“Gamakichi?” He snapped, staring, bewildered at the little toad.

“Yo! Jiraiya! What’s going on?” He looked around at Naru and Jiraiya, surprised. “Why’d you summon me?”

“I didn’t, it was her,” he replied shortly, pointing at Naru. Naru smiled at the toad and held her hand out, which he shook, surprised.

“Hey, no one ever shakes my hand! I like ya, kid!” He peered up at her face, “I’m Gamakichi!”

“Hiya! I’m Naru! I only just learned to summon!”

“Well, that’s pretty cool!” Gamakichi said, hopping up onto a higher rock, “I’m really not that into fighting though, so I’m not really sure I’d do a ninja much good. You could probably summon my dad if you really tried,”

“Do not summon his father!” Jiraiya snapped, “I can’t even deal with his father’s bad attitude, let alone a little twerp like you,”

“Twerp my ass,” Naru snapped back, spinning around on her heels and grinning at him, “I’m getting better already!”

“We’ll call it here today, you need a shower, there’s still blood on your face,”

Naru rolled her eyes and winked at Gamakichi, who winked back. Jiraiya smiled.

“I can smell you from here. Shower. And be quiet,” he rolled his head to either side, cracking his stiff joints. Naru laughed and grabbed Gamakichi, plopping him down on her head. He laughed too. Jiraiya rolled his eyes. I really am a sucker.

Chapter Text

Naru spent the next two days conjuring Gamakichi and his brother, not managing to get anyone more useful. It was Gamakichi who had suggested it in the end, whilst Jiraiya was too busy peeping at the girls at the pond and Naru was getting so frustrated she might lose control when he asked her.

“Well, when were you actually able to summon a lot of chakra? With the exception of the time you beat yourself up, of course,” He was sitting on Naru’s head where he normally sat, patting his hands along her forehead. She sat cross legged, her chin in her bloodied hands.

“I guess when that grass bitch almost killed me and Sasuke-kun,”

“Well maybe you just need to almost die again, and you’ll get a hang of it,” He suggested. Naru shot a glance at Jiraiya, who was laughing to himself, staring at one of the more… gifted girls, and then she stood, squaring her shoulders.

“You’re right, Gamakichi, I gotta go all out,” She glanced at Jiraiya again, then she jumped away, swiping the toad off her head and hugging him to her chest. He turned his head to look at her.

“What, so you’re just like… gonna go kill yourself?”

“No, don’t be dumb. I’m gonna go almost kill myself so I can get some totally rad powers,”

“Oh, yeah, stupid me,” Gamakichi scoffed, turning back and looking ahead of them. He shot her a glance out of the corner of his eye, “Where are we going?”

“The cliff outside the village,”

“And why are we going to the cliff outside the village exactly?”

“I’m gonna jump off of it, and you’re gonna sit at the top. Tell Sakura and Sasuke I love them if I die,”

“If you die, I’ll go back to Myōboku, you know that right?”

“Oh! And Kakashi-sensei, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Iruka-sensei, Hinata, The folks who run the ramen shop, that Gaara kid too, he looks like he needs a hug, Lee! Lee is important-”

“The list of people who you love is way too long,” Gamakichi whined, rolling his eyes. Naru gave him a little squeeze.

“You, and The pervy sage too,” Naru stopped, her eyes on the cliff’s edge. “We’re here,”

“You know you don’t really have to do this, right?”

“Of course I do. It’s the only way I can beat Neji!”

“I think your fixation on this Neji kid is getting a little too intense, you might need to talk to someo-”

“Remember who I need you to talk to!” Naru shouted, setting Gamakichi on the ground and hurling herself off the cliff. For a moment, it felt as though her heart had stopped. She was whipping through the air, the ground growing ever closer, she screamed, snapping her eyes closed.

She was in the sewer again, facing the Kyuubi eye to eye. He was grinning.

“I’M GLAD YOU’RE BACK, LITTLE KIT. ARE YOU RETHINKING MY IMPRISONMENT?”

“Pal, I’m not rethinking shit,” She glared up at him, “thanks for actually pitching in for once but I need you to stop doing that thing,”

“WHAT... THING?”

“The thing with the anger and the uncontrollable lust for power that kicks in when I try to use too much of your chakra,”

“ I DON’T DO ANYTHING, KIT. THOSE FEELINGS ARE YOURS. I HAVE NO HAND IN YOUR LUST FOR POWER,”

“Wait, that’s me?” Naru blinked, running a hand desperately through her hair.

“ YES,”

“But… I’m not… I’m not like that…” she said, whipping both hands out in front of her face, spreading her fingers apart, as though forming a border to keep her thoughts close to her.

“OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE,” the fox demon laughed, “ HUMAN OR NOT, YOU ARE MINE. MY KIT,”

“I’m not your kit, I’m not your anything besides your.. Your prison. And you-“ she frowned, “I don’t like this place, I’m not gonna just chill in a damn sewer. One sec, this is my stupid brain place right? Here,” She closed her eyes and focused.

The room surrounding them changed. They were now standing on solid ground, and the Kyuubi was perched in a craggy and wide clearing, with high walls and a caged dome over his head, a habitat not unlike that of a zoo. He stood and stretched, looking around himself. She stood in an observation room, looking at a seal on the coffee table in front of her and the red couch behind her. The Kyuubi just stared at her as she reclined onto the couch, throwing her feet up on the table. She stared at him.

“This feels better. Anyway, I’m not your kid or your kit. I’m your prison and your landlord. You need to do what I tell you to do, or, your stay here will get more uncomfortable,”

“YOU CANNOT INTIMIDATE ME,” The Kyuubi laughed. Naru pulled a pear out of the fruit bowl perched on the side table and bit into it, smiling.

“Everyone really needs to get a grip on this,” She laughed, turning the pear, “You all really need to take me seriously. It’s stupid not to. I dont know what I look like but… Well, I’ll give you an example of why, exactly, I’m not the type of person people should be writing off,” She looked at the demon and narrowed her eyes, shooting large stone spikes from ground through the caged ceiling, impaling him on two of them. She withdrew them quickly, however, and sealed the ground, replacing the rock with soft, low heather. He staggered a shocked look on his face, staring at her face as she chewed calmly. She pulled her feet off the coffee table and stood, turning her pear and biting into it again.

“ AND YOU SAY YOU AREN’T MY CHILD,”

“You fucked up my whole life, but I have the power now. If you want, I can give you a contract, but... you need to give me something,” Naru strolled up to the glass in front of her and made the pear disappear. The Kyuubi struck out, clawing at the glass, but it had no effect. Naru laughed.

“Like I said. I have the power here. So. You give me Chakra on tap and a fair few little skills, and I’ll uh… Let you live here without being speared on a spike. And if you’re a really good boy, I’ll let you see what’s happening in my life. Some in house entertainment. I mean, you gotta be going nuts with boredom here,” She leaned on the glass. The Kyuubi grinned, laying down and crossing his forelegs.

“ OH, KIT, WHATEVER YOU SAY TO THE CONTRARY, YOU AREN’T JUST SOME HUMAN. BUT YES, I AGREE TO YOUR CONDITIONS, I’LL GIVE YOU POWER AND YOU’LL GIVE ME MORE...” he rolled his shoulders, licking his teeth, “FREE REIGN,”

“ I reserve the right to revoke at any time,” She said, snapping her fingers and conjuring a scroll. Jiraiya really could never know just how many ideas he gave her. She bit her hand and signed it in blood, then a similar scroll appeared in the enclosure. The demon placed a paw firmly on it, and both scrolls disappeared. Naru grinned.

“Alright, well, I have to go save the body, partner,”

“ GOOD, I WILL SEE YOU TONIGHT, KIT,”

Naru opened her eyes, barely a hundred feet from the ground, and bit her hand, summoning all the chakra she could…

When the smoke cleared she was perched on the head of a toad the size of half the damn leaf village, who was bracing himself on either side of the canyon.

“Jiraiya! What the hell do you think you’re playing at, summoning me here?”

Naru shuffled forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the massive beast’s face, “Uh, hey, Toad man, there’s no Jiraiya, just me, I summoned you,”

“You did what?”

“I did it, hello, I’m Naru Uzumaki, it’s nice to meet you,”

“Listen Kid, I don’t care who you are, I just need to know why Jiraiya summoned me,”

“I’m telling you, he didn’t, it was me, I’m introducing myself,” Naru snapped, glaring at the toad. Suddenly she was snatched off the toad’s head by a long, studded tongue, and was being glared at. Naru glared right back. The toad leapt out of the canyon and onto the side of it, tossing her to the ground unceremoniously.

“JIRAIYA! WHERE ARE YOU?” the massive toad yelled, shaking the ground with the booming volume of his voice alone. Naru felt Gamakichi hop back onto her head.

“Hey! Dad! This is my friend, Naru! She’s great!”

“Your friend?” He snapped, looking down at her. She grinned and waved up at him.

“Yeah, hey, it’s me, the summoner,” She said, standing.

“You, a little boy, summoned me, Gamabunta, The Chief of the Toads of Mount Myōboku? I’ll believe that when the sun stops burning, kid,”

“Dad, she’s a girl, and she did summon you! I saw it!”

The Toad Chief lowered his head, staring down at Naru, who was smiling up at him. He narrowed his eyes.

“You look like… who’s your father, brat?”

“No clue, he’s dead,” Naru said, placing her hand over Gamakichi to make sure he didn’t fall as she craned her neck in order to stare up at his father. Gamabunta stared back.

“Son, you said she was a friend of yours?”

“Yeah, a real good one pop, she’s a pretty cool chick,”

“Well then,” He took a long drag of his pipe and straightened up, breathing out a cloud the size of the Hokage’s dome, “I guess she’s fine by me,”

“Well you’re fine by me too, Mr. Bunta,” Naru said, grinning. The toad chief glowered down at her.

“Don’t push it, sparky,”

Naru just kept grinning, and Gamabunta disappeared.

“Thanks, Gamakichi, I can't help but feeling like that woulda been a lot tougher if you weren’t here,” She laughed, pulling him off of her head and holding him out. He shrugged.

“Friends help each other out, right?”

“Yeah, friends do!” She said, pretending that there weren’t tears prickling in her eyes as she said it. Gamakichi didn’t point them out. She just placed him carefully back on her head and took off back to the waterfall where they’d left Jiraiya.

She realised, that night, that no one had ever said that she was their friend. 

Chapter Text

“Are you stupid or something?” Jiraiya snapped, glaring at Naru, who was cross legged on a acid green toad the size of an ATV, Gamakichi perched on her head, all three of them chomping down on rice balls she’d bought from a place in town. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. Something happened she’s not telling me. She shouldn’t have been able to manage something like this in just a week. I’m either dealing with a prodigy or something way more dangerous. He looked at her orange pants and unzipped jacket, sleeves still rolled up. And no prodigy dresses like that.

“It’s been said, but, all the same, I think you should teach me the next thing,” She said, spraying rice at him.

He stepped forward, lowering himself to her eye level. “I’m training you for the Chunin exams, not the fourth great shinobi war. You don’t need to know more. I don’t even have to keep training you,”

“You haven’t seen Neji fight,” She said, her voice muffled by another mouthful of rice, “I’m serious, he almost killed Hinata-chan in the preliminaries. He could kill me, easily,”

“He almost killed who?”

“Hinata-chan, she’s a rookie, like me, she’s the sweetest kid on two legs and he gave her a heart attack. He can stop chakra flow to your limbs and organs,” She swallowed, suddenly looking more serious without her mouth stuffed full with food, “He’s a Hyuuga, I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate. Hinata-chan is my friend, she’s small and quiet and I wanna pick her up and put her in my pocket,” Naru flexed her fist, “and she’s Neji’s cousin,”

“He almost killed his cousin in the preliminaries? Was she a good fighter? Did she leave him no choice?” Jiraiya asked, eyebrows raised. Naru blushed faintly.

“I love Hinata-chan,” Naru bit out, glaring at him.

“She was out matched, wasn’t she?”

“I faced my friend in my own match. If he’d wanted to, he could have just knocked her out like I did Kiba-chan. He didn’t care if his cousin died. He didn’t care at all,” Naru leapt off her toad, standing, staring at Jiraiya, “And if I’m not careful he’ll kill me, and I swore a blood oath I’d beat him. I swore it on Hinata’s blood,”

Somehow, the way she dropped the cutesy honorific made the sentence that much darker. She looked up at him, shoulders squared, jaw set, as though she stood every inch as tall as he did. He frowned.

“Well kid, you talked me into this stupid shit, yet again. What do you want to learn?”

“To beat Neji I need two things- I’ve been working it out. I’m no strategist, that’s Shikamaru-Kun, but I’ve been thinking it over- I need to confuse his vision. He has their kekkei genkai, the Byakugan, so that alone is a tall order,”

Jiraiya crossed his arms, smiling to himself, “But you have shadow clones,”

“Yeah, but I’ll need to distribute chakra into all of them evenly in order to get away with them, else he’ll just slaughter me. And if that wasn’t enough, I need to hit him. No kunai are gonna touch that kid, when he was fighting Hinata he could dodge like a monster. No. I need to hit him hard. Really hard,”

“So what do you need me for?” Jiraiya asked, smiling, “You can channel chakra into a punch, right? With your chakra levels, you could knock someone’s head off with a hit like that,”

“That’d get me to Chunin alright,” She rolled her eyes, ruffling her hair, “Why don’t I just punch him?”

“Nothing wrong with a good old fashioned right hook, kid,”

“But you know something better, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’m not teaching it to you. Not yet. You can wait,” You  gotta wait cause I need to figure out if you have the self control not to kill people with it. You could do a lot of damage very quickly, “What I think you need is better evasion techniques. I’ve noticed your surprising lack of survival instincts,” Jiraiya put his hand to his chin, smirking, “And I’ve known you for a week,”

“Lack of… Bite me, you nasty old goat,” She snapped, glaring at him. He laughed.

“Exactly, what I think I need to do here is teach you dodging. You’re a close range kid, and I think I need to make sure you can anticipate moves at close range,”

“Anticipate them? You’re going to teach me to see the future?” Naru asked, grinning. Even Gamakichi snorted. She glanced back at him, confused.

Jiraiya sighed, rubbing his eyes. “No, but if you pay attention, you can tell what someone is going to do a split second before they do it. It’s in the eyes, and the feet. Tiny, and I mean incremental, involuntary movements that signal what their next move is to everyone around them,”

“Okay, so I need to get rid of these movements, right?”

“The thing is kid, you don’t have these movements,”

“What? but you just said-“

“I apologise, I should have clarified. People have these signals if they Think About What They’re Doing. You don’t think, it’s like your body makes these calls for you. If you had to fight yourself, it’d be the most chaotic fist tornado to grace this earth. From the sound of this Neji kid, though,”

“Yeah,” She said, smiling, “He’s got a brain and stuff! He thinks!”

This kid is going to be the death of me, ‘He’s got a brain and stuff,’. I should retire. “Yeah, he probably does Think, most people Think, you’re actually, believe it or not, the exception here,”

“Alright, alright, I get it, I’m an idiot, hilarious,” She said, waving the idea aside and bouncing forward, her eyes bright, “Show me how to read people!”

“Okay, but this type of thing usually takes years to perfect, so I doubt you’ll get it in time. You’ll only get a vague idea of what to do, but it could help, you never know,”

Naru just grinned.

“So how are you gonna train me?”

Jiraiya smiled, and pulled a coin from his pocket. “A trick I picked up from my travels. Ever heard of Puppet Masters?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” She growled. Guess she fought one or something. From the sound of it she got beat in a fight.

“Okay, well, I’m no puppet wielder, but, I can use a rudimentary form of it for this exercise,”

“How so?” Naru asked, looking at the coin. Jiraiya grinned.

He whipped the coin into the air, and snapped it forward, whacking her forehead. She jumped back, rubbing the place where it struck. Jiraiya laughed as an angry self rose on her face.

“Hey!”

“In order to dodge the coin,” He said, smiling, “You have to watch my hands. If you can anticipate my moves before I make them, you can dodge me. If you can’t…” He snapped the coin forward, and it struck her hand. She swore loud enough to scare the girls in the water away. He sighed.

“Try dodging it, kid!” he snapped, and she flipped back, her eyes still on the coin. He hit her again. She growled. “My hands! Watch my hands, it’s the whole purpose of this damn exercise, focus!”

By the end of the day, long after Gamakichi and the other toad had gone back to the mountain, after the sun had gone too low for them to continue, Jiraiya looked at Naru. She was covered in bright blue bruises, raised and painful, where the coin had struck her, but she’d finally started watching his fingers. He could tell this was going to be harder for her than the toad summoning. He wondered if it’d take the whole three weeks they had left. He wondered if it’d do her any good.

Chapter Text

She woke up early, it was still dark. Naru got dressed, rolling up her sleeves and smearing eyeliner across her eyes, grinning at her reflection after she spat out her mouthwash.

She had asked Jiraiya for the morning off, so she could visit Lee. Kiba had been discharged weeks ago, but with the finals coming up she felt the need to motivate herself. She still wasn’t perfect at the coin excercise, but she’d only been hit four times the day before. If anyone could talk her into redoubling her efforts, it was the boy with the bowl cut.

She went to the clearing where he used to train and picked twigs and a chipped kunai off the ground, and some of the low, ground covering white flowers that grew there. She bundled them up and tied them together with a broken drawstring from one of her bags. She threw the little  bundle into her bag and went into the village, walking through the streets as the sun rose. She smiled at the quiet around her, the little jewel bright windows of early risers and the rustle of nocturnal creatures who stayed neatly out of sight.

She waited outside a bookshop until it opened and bought a little blue journal for Lee, figuring that he’d like to write while he was healing, keep track of his progress as he got stronger. At the checkout, the sullen boy pointed out that the journals were buy one get one, so she grabbed herself the orange one off the top of the pile, smiling to herself as she threw them both in her bag with the flowers. She figured she’d never actually fill it, but it might be nice to doodle something every now and again when the others were sleeping on missions.

She sat outside the hospital, eating fruit and throwing the cores as far as she could into the woods, listening to try to see how far away they fell. When the hour was godly, she went in and snuck by the nursing station, wandering down the hallways. She knew he was in the long term care ward, but couldn’t remember where it was. It felt like years ago that she’d been here, not weeks. She hated hospitals, she hated visiting almost as much as she hated being a patient in them. But she knew how it felt to be alone in a hospital bed without any visitors at all, and that was worse than having to brave sterile hallways. She would make sure Lee never felt like she had.

She strode past a room where Ino’s familiar voice was shouting about indigestion, and sped up, ducking so she’d be less conspicuous. She made it two doors down before she felt her body freeze.

“Where do you think you’re going, loser?” A lazy drawl echoed through the hallway, his words punctuated by Ino’s ongoing lecture. Naru felt her desperation mount in her chest.

“Shikamaru-kun, let me go, I really don’t want to run into Ino,” she pleaded, frozen. She strained as hard as she could, even throwing some chakra into her effort to move, but he held her fast. She couldn’t even look at him because she was caught mid step, and he was standing squarely behind her.

“I didn’t either, but then I got put on her team, and now I can’t avoid her,” he moved Naru to face him, and made her walk forward, till they were face to face, hands in their pockets. He looked her up and down. “You sure change your clothes a lot nowadays,”

“Maybe I think it’s weird to never change your clothes,” She snapped, her eyes flicking nervously to the room Shikamaru had just came from. He tilted his head, frowning.

“You don’t have a visitor’s badge, where are you going?”

“I’m trying to see Bowl Cut,” She said, panic still growing in her chest. He was just being sadistic here, he could tell she wanted to go, why was he forcing her to stay?

“Well you’re headed the wrong way,” he gestured vaguely over his shoulder, her own hand mirroring his movement, “Long term’s that way. I can show you, if you want. Then you’ll at least be with someone who has a visitor’s pass if you get caught,”

“Please Shikamaru-kun, I don’t care what we do, just either let me go so I can leave or take me out of here,” She looked at the door again. He sighed.

“You realise you don’t have to be afraid of Ino, right? She’s not all that strong, or smart. She only ever insults the way you look and stuff. Who cares what she thinks?”

“I don’t care what she thinks,” Naru scoffed, straining as hard as she could against Shikamaru’s shadow possession. He just stepped closer, bringing them toe to toe.

“Naru, I can feel you struggling against me. Chill out,” He broke the jutsu and pulled her into a loose hug, one arm around her shoulders, the other looped around her waist. Naru’s body, sore and wound tight with anxiety, relaxed as soon as she realised what he was doing. She raised her hands and patted his back awkwardly, not sure exactly how to reciprocate without crushing him in twelve years of built up touch starvation.

“Let’s go visit Lee,” he said, his tone bored.  He let her go quickly and turned away, putting his hands back in his pockets. She stood there and blinked for a moment, before shooting down the hallway, outstripping Shikamaru and waiting around the corner for her sauntering friend. He was so calm, she couldn’t help but let her anxiety fall back a little, feeling the Kyuubi shift in her stomach, as though laying down.

He lead her to the ward, slowly, ignoring the way she’d move ahead of him, straightening paintings and peering into doors, letting him pass her and repeating, trying to stop herself from literally running in circles around him. He just moved, head tilted up slightly, counting ceiling tiles or something like that. Naru kept shooting him looks he wasn’t paying attention to either, but the corner of his mouth occasionally would twitch when she’d try to match his easy pace.

When they reached Lee’s ward, Naru felt that magnetic click in the back of her head that she hadn’t felt since the tower. She held out her hand to Shikamaru, trying to stop him, so she could go ahead, but he just strolled past her. He opened the door to Lee’s room and-

Gaara of the Desert was standing over Lee, his sand spiralling around them both, he was growing closer, reaching out with his hand. He froze. Shikamaru had snared him, catching him off guard. Naru was shaking, her body on fire with the amount of chakra he was kicking out. She bit her hand, breaking skin, snapping herself out of it.

“What are you doing?” she snapped, wiping blood off her mouth as she moved her hand away, letting it bleed freely. She’d need that blood if she was going to summon something.

“I’m here to finish what I started. I’m here to kill him,” the boy said, his voice still so hoarse, like he’d swallowed sand.

“You’ve done enough, you can’t kill Lee now, we aren’t going to let you,” Shikamaru said, stepping sideways, moving Gaara away from Lee. His sand, however, still swirled overhead with the intent to kill the unconscious boy. Naru moved forward, walking toward him, and, without thinking, stood between Lee and Gaara, her back to the sand nin. She opened her bag and pulled the slightly crushed bundle of flowers and twigs, with the broken Kunai in the middle, and dropped it with a clink into an empty vase, and opened the journal, writing a note on the first page and snapping it shut, setting it next to the vase now containing her flowers. She brushed his hair back from his forehead. He didn’t look like he was hurting.

She turned toward Gaara, ignoring Shikamaru’s shocked expression, and frowned.

“Gaara, I don’t know who you think you are, but I’m not gonna let you kill my friend,” She tilted her head and stepped closer, he twitched strangely, but that was just due to the spasm that had just overtaken Shikamaru’s body. Gaara’s face remained unreadable. Naru reached out, the sand not blocking her, and brushed his hair from his forehead, revealing the kanji there. His eyes widened, she could tell he’d never have let her get so close if he hadn’t been trapped. But he could have used his sand to push her back,  and he hadn’t. She knew she was playing a dangerous game, pushing boundaries, but something in Shikamaru’s hug made her realise how bad she needed touch. And when she looked at Gaara, she thought he might too.

“I’m the monster of the sand village, my mission in life is to take as many as I can, to prove my existence is stronger than any other, I will kill everyone, until there’s no one left,” he said, louder and clearer than she’d ever heard him speak before. She dropped her hand.

“You’re not a monster,” She said, smiling a small, sad smile, “I’ve met monsters. I have one running wild under my skin, and you? You’re nothing like them,” she stared, straight into his eyes, “Monsters are scary, and you couldn’t scare me, even if you tried,”

“I am trying,” He snapped coldly, as though he couldn’t help himself. Shikamaru let out a strange, strangled noise, and Naru looked over. He was glaring at her, beckoning her away from Gaara with his eyes, his jaw set.

She turned back to Gaara, and she brushed his hair back again, firmer this time, eyes fixed on his. She’d spoken to the Kyuubi, she’d impaled him on a stone spike. She felt no fear for humans anymore, not even the drunken men outside of bars, who said those words no one should have to hear, when the sky was dark and she was alone. She wasn’t scared of them anymore, and she wasn’t scared of this red haired boy either. “Don’t bother,” she said, before turning away and walking back to Shikamaru.  He looked relieved when she stood next to him, looking at him for her next move. She knew his chakra store was never large, and he’d already used his jutsu today once. She was struck by a small idea, and grasped his hand, focusing her regular, human chakra and pushing it into him. He jolted, and looked at her, surprise in his face, but kept a hold on Gaara.

Gaara’s eyes were fixed solidly on Naru.

She sent a little more chakra into Shikamaru’s body, but, not wanting to overdo it, she dropped his hand. Shikamaru twitched again when she did, like the connection being cut off was an even stranger feeling than it being opened. Naru just kept staring Gaara down.

“Are you two going to try to fight me?” He rasped, his voice getting harsher by the second.

“If we have to,” Shikamaru said, even calmer and more unreadable than Gaara.

“I’ll kill you both,” He said, “I just told you, it’s my purpose, I live to take the lives of those around me,”

“Yeah, I remember, and I live to eat ramen and scream. But I’m not doing either right now, am I?” Naru snapped, rolling her eyes. Shikamaru shot her a glare out of the corner of his eye.

“Shut up,” he growled, sweat beading on his forehead. She bit the inside of her cheek. Gaara’s sand started swirling faster, his eyes flicking from Naru to Shikamaru and back again. Shikamaru frowned, and shot his arm out, a move mirrored by Gaara, and pulled her closer to his side, drawing her in like he would somehow protect her- as if he could, the ever whirling tornado of sand threatening them. She frowned, considering pushing away from him, objecting to the motion.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Shika-kun,” she hissed, her blood dripping to the ground from her hand. She felt strange, as though something beyond her understanding was happening. She moved to draw away, but Shikamaru tensed, keeping her at his side. Gaara glared, his sand stuttering, Naru narrowed her eyes, ready for a fight, but then...

Gai, Lee’s teacher was there, standing between them. And Gaara was gone, through the window. Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, but instead of letting her go, he only loosened his grip. She frowned. She wasn’t about to complain, but how come Shikamaru was being so touchy feely?

It’s weird for him to even voluntarily be around me for this long, let alone actively try to keep me near him. Why is everyone acting so out of character lately? This test really has us all fucked in the head. Ino must have really been getting on his nerves. He slid his arm up around her shoulders, thanking Gai and steering her out of the room.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” He snapped once they were out of earshot. She directed her frown at him, pulling out from under his arm and leaning against the nearest wall, facing him, her eyes fixed on his shadow.

“No, but I don’t think that kid would be able to kill me,”

“Of course he’d be able to kill you! You just saw what he did to Lee! We’re having this conversation in a hospital instead of a gravesite due to Gai’s intervention, who, by the way, you didn’t even thank before we left,” He said, his normal drawl tightening into a tense growl as he bristled, pointing back down the hall they’d just came from and stepping closer.

“Since when do you care who I thank? Or what I do in general?” she growled back, her eyes flitting up to his face and back to his feet. He edged closer again, bringing them face to face. She’d only have milliseconds to react if he pulled something.

“You should be glad that someone is looking out for you,”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“What? Was Sasuke here? Was Sakura? Who was watching your back today? You’re always alone, running around in the dark, leaving yourself open to be attacked by any-fucking-body. Do your teammates not care what happens to you? Why aren’t you all training together?”

“I have a private tutor, and I don’t need anyone watching my back,”

“Obviously you do or you would have gotten killed by that kid in there,”

“You don’t know that,”

“I do,” He glared down at her, his hands coming to rest, palms up, on her shoulders, “I do know you’d die if you faced him,”

“You have absolutely no concept of how strong I am, Shikamaru-kun! You don’t know shit about what could or couldn’t kill me!” Naru snarled, pushing off the wall and getting closer to his face, fury thrumming in her chest.

“Don’t call me that,” He said, voice low, hands snapping up from her shoulders and clenching in frustration around her ears. She glared up at him, ignoring the fists blocking her sight lines either side of her face. She couldn’t look anywhere but at him.

“What the hell am I supposed to call you, Shikamaru-Kun? Grumpy? Shika? What?”

“I don’t know, just don’t fucking say my name like that, you’re so…” He sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and rolling his eyes, looking away, “This is such a drag,”

“I’m so what?” She spat, her anger peaking now that he had reverted to his usual careless attitude. You can’t just check out mid argument, damn it!

“Ugh, whatever, you’re too much work, I can’t deal, and I should be getting back to Choji,” he turned away, moving back toward the short term care ward.

“I swear to god I’m gonna…” She sprinted at him and tackled him from behind, sending them both slamming to the ground, and turned him to face her, balling her fists up in his vest and kneeling over him, shaking him.

“You might get away with that kinda shit when you’re with Ino, but you can’t just leave me hanging mid goddamn conversation you lazy motherfucker,” She leaned forward, the tip of her nose close to touching his, and bared her teeth. “now, what am I, exactly? I wanna hear it,”

Shikamaru glared up at her, before tilting his head back and slapping the ground with his palms, groaning in frustration. “You’re so… Annoying. You’re like the annoying little sibling I never wanted, and you just run around like you’re immune to physical injuries and shit. You constantly put yourself in danger as though you’re actively trying to get killed, and no one is ever watching your back, and you don’t care . You don’t care how people treat you and you don’t care if someone is in your corner or not, you’ll just always do shit the same way. You don’t adjust to situations,” He was building up a head of steam, pushing her back slightly, sitting up a little, “You’re constantly letting Sasuke kick you around, running around after him, trying to prove yourself, like you can’t get enough of him, you’re as bad as Ino and Sakura and all the other fangirls in his damn stupid harem , except, you’re worse, cause you have no clue what you’re doing! You’re completely unaware of any of it! Meanwhile there’s guys lined up around the damn block trying to get your attention and you only have eyes for the one guy who cares about nothing but himself! He doesn’t like you Naru! If he did he’d have been the one keeping you safe today! But it was me!”

“Sasuke-Kun cares about lots of things, and you don’t know anything about it!” Naru snapped, turning bright red, “I’m not a part of his harem and I’m not trying to get him to like me, I’m not trying to go on dates or get boy’s attention , I’m trying to get stronger, and I’m pitching myself up against someone stronger than me. Same reason I’m gonna fight you, Shikamaru-kun, I wanna see how good I am against someone who’s better than me,” She pulled his jacket up, hard, hearing seams rip, “I don’t need people to keep me safe, I’ve never had babysitters and I never will, and I don’t like Sasuke-kun,” she dropped his jacket and heaved him to his feet. Shikamaru looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. He jammed a thumb into his chest.

“ I kept you safe today, I had your back. Cause when you love someone you look out for them. Think about who you’re looking out for, and if they’re looking out for you too,” Shikamaru turned away, fury making his movements jerky, “And why they do it. Cause people who only do things for you because they expect things from you are the people who’ll leave you quickest when the tables turn,”

“You’re wrong!” She called, her hands shaking. He didn’t respond, he just took a turn and moved out of sight. Her heart was beating like she’d been in a fight.

I don’t know, If I was, I didn’t win, that’s for sure.

Chapter Text

Shikamaru was laying on the grassy head of a cliff just outside of the village, a toothpick between his teeth as he watched the clouds roll by. He could hear the waterfall at the end of the hill raging, and could feel himself start to drift off. Naru’s face kept popping into his head, however, making it impossible to really relax.

You’re wrong!

Shikamaru grit his teeth, snapping the toothpick. He spat it out, pullign a splinter off his tongue. He wasn’t ever wrong. She was the one with her head up her ass. How could she wanna hang out with a guy like that Sasuke? What was so great about him? He didn’t understand girls. They had so much energy for completely asinine shit. Their commitment to being made to feel like crap was astounding. I mean, she really likes Sasuke more than Kiba? Was she dumb or something? Well, He raised his eyebrows, his eyes fixing on a fast moving cloud shaped like a broken hand, She wasn’t smart. That was for sure.

He didn’t understand Kiba’s fascination with her, either. She was just loud and annoying and so much work to be around. He frankly didn’t know why he didn’t just avoid her himself. But whenever she came by, looking anxious, with a bruise on her cheekbone or a grin on her face as she laughed at people around her, he couldn’t hold back the strange urge to make sure she didn’t get hurt. She was like his little sister or something. Annoying and overwhelming and utterly exhausting, but the way she looked when she thought no one was paying attention, (which was shockingly frequent considering how often she was the center of attention), made him want to stab anyone to cause her harm.

Sasuke. How on earth was he so comfortable hitting her? Even just holding her still, Shikamaru felt like a complete and utter piece of garbage. The way she’d looked earlier, glancing at the doorway to the room where Ino stood. He’d tried to reassure her, to let her know Ino was an idiot and generally harmless, but she’d looked like a deer in headlights.

And how could Sasuke just leave her alone all the time? He watched out for Ino constantly, he only got time to himself while she was working or with friends, what with all the sand and sound nin around, creeping up the joint, and he didn’t even like Ino. Maybe Sasuke hated Naru. Maybe he should try to set up a team transfer or something. Maybe he would actually put in some effort for once.

He knew he wouldn’t. He put his hands behind his head and listened to the waterfall, smiling to himself. Once Ino got off work, they were all going to go train with Asuma, and then they’d get something to eat. He liked Asuma. He wished he could be more like him, the way he could protect people.

He knew he wouldn’t do that either. He knew, at the end of the day, all he’d do is complain, and watch the clouds. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do something else, or that he didn't want to be different, it was just that there was a heavy weight in his torso that made it so damn hard to find the energy to move. A lack of motivation. He just wanted to be a normal guy, an average, every day run of the mill shinobi. Stuck on guard duty, dozing off at the front gates, then at the end of the day going home to an average looking wife and a normal, average kid and not having to deal with all these... feelings, and problems. 

A shout from the bottom of the waterfall made him jump. He sat up, and there was another shout. It sounded like a man. He stood, edging toward the source of the noise. If some old dude was having a heart attack, it wasn’t going to be on him that the guy died.

But it wasn’t some old man clutching his chest, it was Naru, breaking out of her sexy jutsu and cracking up, sprinting away from a massive, white haired old man, who was chasing her with a large stick, threatening to beat her black and blue. Naru was laughing her head off, sprinting across the pool and up the side of the canyon, then back down again, leaping over rocks in the water’s surface and sliding across it, like she had on skates. The old guy threw the stick at her, but she dodged it and jumped away, summoning…

A small toad? The toad hopped up onto her head, and they both pointed at the old guy and laughed together as he started flinging something so small Shikamaru couldn’t make it out at her. She flipped and slid and dodged around, avoiding the little weapon with ease, laughing at him and taunting him, at one point performing her sexy jutsu again and cartwheeling away, toad clinging to her pigtails and crying with laughter. The old man just flopped down on his back after a while.

Shikamaru smiled, sitting cross legged with his chin in his hand, watching the scene play out. The thing was, more than anything, he just wanted Naru to keep laughing. He’d never laughed like that in his whole life. When she got like that, like she'd never heard a joke before and everything was the best thing she'd ever heard, she lit up the room, and just encountering it made his whole day brighter.

An icy chill slid into Shikamaru's stomach. Oh no…

Did I tell her I loved her earlier? 

Chapter Text

Naru sat on the couch, peeling an orange. She looked up at the kyuubi, who was looking bored.

“THE NARA WAS RIGHT.”

“Right about what?” She snapped, pulling a chunk of orange rind away and disappearing it. The kyuubi blinked, as though he was shocked her mind wasn’t in the same place hers was.

“ THE UCHIHA BOY. STAY AWAY FROM HIM, KIT ,”

“Even if I wanted to I couldn’t, he’s on my team,”

“ HE IS FAR TOO MUCH LIKE MADARA, AND HUNGRY FOR POWER,” the kyuubi’s tails thrashed, and Naru chewed the first slice carefully.

“Oh that makes sense. Cause I know who that is and care a lot,”

“ KIT, BEWARE OF ANY MAN WHO DESIRES NOTHING MORE THAN REVENGE,”

“Honestly it feels like I should just beware of any man at all,” She said, sending half the orange to the kyuubi. He regarded it as though it was funny, and swallowed it like a pill. This had, as the fox had predicted, become a nightly occurrence. Naru now spent only a little less than half her time with the fox, and she could already tell it had been a bridge to increases in dexterity and skill. The drawback was, of course, having to spend time with the strongest demonic piece of shit on four legs the world had ever known. She’d be okay, though. Kurama wasn’t harmful in his cage and seemed to be glad of the company... and the lack of sewer water. Frankly, the fact that her mind was a sewer to start with was a little offensive.

“ TRUE, HARBOUR YOUR HATRED FOR HUMANITY AND FREE ME, WE WILL-“

“Shut up,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “That’s not what I meant. I meant that apparently Sasuke is so focused on training he hasn’t bothered to do much as speak to me since he left the hospital in the middle of the night, without saying goodbye. I mean, what? You can’t get away once in a whole month? Not even for a minute after grocery shopping? Shit. Then Kiba is busy helping Shino, our schedules only match up enough to say hi once every few days, let alone hang out, and Shikamaru… He thinks I’m some kind of vapid boy magnet. Maybe it’s cause he hangs around Ino so much. I don’t care about boys,”

“ YOU SOUND LIKE YOU CARE ABOUT BOYS A LOT,”

“ Shut up, no, they’re just my friends, I don’t wanna be... with them,”

“I THINK YOU SHOULD REMAIN ALONE FOR ALL TIME AND SEEK IMMORTALITY,” The fox said, flexing its paws. Naru rolled her eyes.

“So that you can live forever as an extension of me?”

“ WHEN YOU DIE I COULD BE FREED, OR I COULD ALSO PERISH. I DO NOT FEAR DEATH, KIT, BUT IT IS NOT SOMETHING I WISH TO ACCELERATE,”

Naru looked up at him. It was strange. He was holding back. Everyone held back. No one wanted to reveal everything they knew. Not to her, anyway.

“Today’s the exam,”

“ WHO DO YOU FIGHT, KIT?”  the Kyuubi laughed, tails swishing. 

“Neji Hyuuga,”

“ WHY DO YOU FIGHT, KIT?” He drew closer to the window, and grinned. She stood, and walked toward him. She grinned back.

“To win,”

“GO AND WIN THEN,”  He boomed.

Naru snapped awake, the shadow of Kurama’s face burned into her vision, reflecting onto the white ceiling stretched above her bed. It was today. Her fight with Neji was today. She looked at her elbow. The bruise was healed. Of course it was healed. Of course it was. But it was the only one she’d gotten the day before. She’d only been hit once.

It only takes once. And she had to beat him.

She went to the arena, running a little late, as usual. She sprinted through the gates and joined the back line up of genin left to take the test. Sasuke wasn’t there, neither was that sound freak. She frowned. Where was Sasuke?

Shikamaru shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, but she ignored it. There was talking, and then it was time for her match. It was all going by so quickly. All she could feel was the electric hum in her chest that meant she was ready.

It stilled when she saw him however, stepping out, facing her. His pale eyes were fixed on hers, she heard nothing but the howling wind and somehow his quiet intake of breath. She held her fist out, as she’d done before. His expression remained unaltered.

“You can never change. You are a failure. You will never be anything but a child, scared and alone, lost in the howling woods,” he said, straight backed, proud.

“Yeah, sounds like what you were saying at the tower. Do me a favour and let’s get this poppin’,” she trod sideways, circling him, eyes locked on his face. He didn’t need to turn to see her, she knew, but he did anyway, he turned as she walked along, slowly, assessing him. She knew he had no weak points, he could see her every move. She tossed a kunai, and he dodged it, easily. She smiled. “I already told you that you were wrong then, didn’t I? No need to keep spouting the same old story,”

“I’m not wrong,” He said. She hurled a few more knives. She could try to wear him down, but that wouldn’t be much of a show. She wasn’t only trying to win, she was trying to show off her skills. So where to start?

At the beginning.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” She split into five. A small number, just for now.

She sent them out at once, just to see how he tracked her. Just because he can see everything, doesn’t mean he can pay attention to everything. She could do hand to hand, she was definitely a better close range fighter than a long range one, but so was he. His specialty was that gentle fist- palm hand thing. And she hadn’t seen any long range at all from him. What she needed was a good, solid plan. He knocked two clones out at once, then glared straight at her.

So, you know. That wasn’t enough, he’s still tracking me. She drew closer, split into more clones, watched him move. He was good, he made it look like dancing, even his fingertips moved through the air because he wanted them there. Perfect control. Perfect discipline. He was flawless.

“If trying to get better is so pointless, and you can’t ever change your fate, then why do you train so hard?” She laughed, or rather, her clone did. She slipped closer, dodging a strike as he redirected his eyes to point toward the clone.

“My fate and yours are two very different things,” he snapped, swinging at and dissipating another clone, “I was destined to become a strong shinobi, from the beginning. A Guard with no other choice. You will never be strong. Do you want to know what you will be some day?”

“Enlighten me,” The clone laughed, whipping a kunai at him that she had snatched up from the ground. Neji dodged it, flipping back, landing gracefully, flipping his ponytail over his head, truly looking like a vision as he lowered himself into a defensive pose. Some twisted asshole's idea of an angel. Naru and two of her clones drew out, fanning away from him, while the clone she was using as a distraction tilted her head, grinning. Neji smirked.

“You’ll play at being a Kunoichi for a few years, then meet some guy, fall in love, and spend the rest of your days playing the housewife, having children and cleaning up after them as they go off to the academy and you will stay home and cook for your husband and children, waiting until they come home. You'll clean and shop and make packed lunches while your husband goes off on missions. You’ll wind up barefoot in the house, pregnant and cleaning,”

The main clone laughed, walking forward, arms out to her sides, leaving herself wide open. “I like the image, but sadly it’s a little off. I don’t know all that about kids, and I’ve told ya, I’m gonna be hokage one day,”

Neji smiled.

“You’re not. Particularly because…” He whipped to face the real Naru, charging forward fast enough she couldn't back out in time, “You’re just a clone,”

Damn, he got me close enough for hand to hand. She thought, Dropping low and sweeping her leg under him, and all I can do is dodge here. What now?

She’d have to take a hit and move back, regroup. How’d she do it though, if he shuts down the chakra network how could she possibly regroup? It’d take much longer than she had to get herself running at full power. And the slip up had to be convincing on top of everything else. Damn it all.

She lingered too long, and had to block a strong hit as he went for her neck, a kill move. He seemed surprised that she’d been able to stop it. She used her struck arm to push him away the same time she pulled back. Gasping, letting him think he’d got her worse than he had, letting him take it in stride. She’d lost her chakra in her left arm, but even without chakra, her punches were solid. Her right was slightly dominant anyway. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop from smiling as something else clicked into place.

Sure, I can’t use my own chakra in this arm, but I’ve got two kinds. Thanks Kurama, you asshole. She couldn’t risk playing her ace now though, not with those eyes on her, but a few more little moves and she’d be set. “Just wondering, what makes you so determined about this whole fate and destiny thing? While you got me here,” She smiled, using her right hand to flap her left uselessly. Neji straightened, eyes narrowing, mouth twisting into a smirk.

“Look around you, are you really this stupid? Look up on that mountain. Do you think a single one of those men were ever dead last like you? Do you think a simple little girl like you could ever count yourself amongst them? No, the evidence of my thinking surrounds us, over and over again,” he adjusted his headband, "Just look around yourself,"

She smiled again, looking around. “Now? Well, why don't you?” She laughed, “I guess you already are. You and I are both here, both on equal ground. I made it here faster than you did too, if you really care about that kinda thing. You have a year on me, after all,”

A dark look passed over his face. He looked like he was getting ready to do something, but she smiled and sent in her clones, quadrupling them. she slipped in, recovering her hand, knowing that’s what he’d be looking for. She made a clone hang back, look injured, stay just barely out of range. Make it convincing Naru.

“If you’re right,” He snapped, vanishing a handful of her clones and pausing, looking around, fixing on the decoy, “Then show me. Prove it,”

Too easy. “Careful,” One of the clones laughed, just before he hit her, “What you-“ another strike. Then the decoy was behind him, and dodged a hit, charging in and grabbing his ankle, yanking upward, throwing him into the air, and then the real Naru was in the air behind him, grabbing him around the waist, pulling him into her, “wish for!”

But he spun in her grip, and smirked again, his face inches from hers as he drew his hand back. She gasped, staring up at him. “What? You don’t think I know this move by now? You need to be more original, Naru,”

He started hitting her... He plucked away at her every chakra point. He drilled her into the ground, until she was flat on her back, bleeding from the mouth, her own chakra shut down as he stood over her, smirking.

“How’s it feel? To be laid out and facing your own inadequacy?” He taunted. She coughed some blood up and smiled, shaking with the pain of it all. She saw Rock, and Hinata, standing in her mind’s eye, facing enemies they couldn’t defeat. She’d sworn. Naru had sworn. It was time to pull her ace.

“Hey, My Own Inadequacy, I’m Naru,” she slid out from under him, clambering to her feet. Calling in the Kyuubi’s chakra. She felt it fill her. Felt it strengthening her every tendon, pouring power into every cell. Then she was overflowing with it, smiling, fists grasped at either side as she planted her feet more firmly into the ground. Neji looked shocked, unable to comprehend what was before him. She moved, whipping knives at him. But he just span on the spot, deflecting all of them. She smiled. Even with her this fast, knives wouldn’t work. He really was good. She moved in, knife in her hand, and he clashed with her, anticipating her moves as they came. “You’re a hand to hand kinda guy, right?” She laughed, pulling another knife and watching him match her, blocking her every swing.

“I don’t know what made you so nihilistic, but whatever did it, when I’m hokage, I’ll change it,” She snapped, smiling, "I promise!" She put chakra into her next swing, feeling him match her, and when they clashed, they blew each other back with the force of it.

She split into two quickly, then, once she hit the floor, she tunneled underground. She could tell his position using the sound of his feet, and if her clone lay over the hole where she dug...

She could hear him burst out of his own crater, and start walking toward her newest decoy.

“Stupid little girl,” He spat, staggering, “In the end, you really were alone,”

She burst upward, coming face to face with him, beaming. He looked surprised again. She wondered if his face was gonna stick like that. “Nah, look! I’m with you!” she laughed, punching him in the face with as much force as she could without blowing his head right off. He fell back, out cold. The proctor approached, whatever the hell was between his teeth twitching as he moved it to the side of his mouth so he could speak.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!" He declared, pointing to her. 

She heard the crowd go nuts, screaming and booing and clapping. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. She just looked down at Neji, his eyes closed, his lips slightly parted, a bruise already blooming on his cheekbone. She could feel the proctor clap her on the shoulder, tell her to hit the shower. But… She didn’t wanna leave him.

She stooped down and picked him up, carrying him out of the arena and handing him to the medical nin when they sprinted into the hall. He seemed so much smaller, unconscious in her arms. He was a lot taller than her, a boy, a year older than her at that. But without that smirk on his face and the insults on his tongue. He looked… sad.

He looked lonely.

Chapter Text

Shikamaru met her in the hallway, a medical nin was checking her bruises, making her take her jacket off. It was tattered anyway, from when she had been slammed into the ground, but she was arguing. Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets. She bit her top lip when she saw him and turned away her face, finally letting the MedNin take her jacket off. He drew closer, but stopped a little more than an arms length away.

“Hey, good fight. I didn’t know you could override your chakra network like that. And uh…” He paused, his words stabbing his throat, “I thought that clone on the ground to hide the hole you dug was some… some quick fuckin' thinking,” He sighed. She turned back, and his heart almost stopped when he saw tears in her eyes. She was grinning.

“Hah! You think so? I was tryna plan... Could you tell?”

He paused, staring at her scuffed up and bloody face, tears spilling over her eyes, down her cheeks, parting the dirt there. Shikamaru forced himself to smile back. “Yeah, couldn’t stop sneezing from all the dust you had to shake off that brain of yours,”

She let out a shaky laugh. The Medical Nin gave her a thumbs up and left. She thanked him and turned back to Shikamaru, pulling her jacket back on. “Fuck you, Grumpy,”

“You… you can use my name… if you want to,” He said, pausing awkwardly. “Sorry bout... the harem thing. I shouldn't have said that,”

“Your name is grumpy,” she laughed, throwing her arm around his shoulders, and dragging him down to her level, pulling him up the hall. He laughed too.

“Who’s next? Sasuke-kun, right?”

“ Sasuke-Kun isn’t here. Didn’t they say he’s disqualified? They said anyone not here when the time came would be,”

Naru let go of him and wiped her face on her sleeve, shaking her head. “Nah, like it or not, they aren’t gonna cancel that fight. I overheard some guards betting on it. We’re all just warmups, he’s the main event,”

“Oh, he’s that good huh?”

“You went to school with him too. You know how good he is. Plus he’s an Uchiha . Everyone wants to see what’s left,”

Shikamaru just hummed in response. He wanted to grab Naru and hug her or give her a noogie or something, but he never did what he wanted to do. “That puppet guy who’s always staring at you, and Shino are next,”

“Shino-san? Damn, I wanna see that! Let’s hurry,” she jumped up and down like a little kid and grabbed his hand, dragging him along and grinning. Shikamaru couldn’t tell if she was acting different from before or not. Had he confessed his love and had it go totally unnoticed? really? What a drag. I tell a girl I love her and neither of us even fucking notice. Typical.

“Hey look! The match hasn’t started! Looks like the crowd’s gonna riot any second. Hey! Kiba-Chan! Hinata-Chan! Did you save me a spot?” Kiba turned and grinned, but choked on his own spit when he saw Naru running toward him holding Shikamaru’s hand. Shikamaru almost laughed. Yeah, even if he did love Naru or whatever, it was stupid for anyone to think they’d be together. He didn’t have any interest in dating. Or anything really. He’d leave it till he was older. Just add it to the list of things I’m procrastinating. But there Kiba was, eyes wide, spluttering and trying to reply to Naru normally, turning red as he smiled at her, eyes popping, shooting glares at him.

No wonder she didn’t pick up on what I said, she doesn’t pick up on the fact Kiba likes her? Does she live under a rock? A boulder? A mountain?

The proctor stepped out into the ring. “The Uchiha vs Gaara fight has been postponed. The next fight will be Kankuro and Shino Aburame!”

There were boos, but when they quieted, Kankuro raised his hand. “I’m good, thanks,” He drawled. Everyone stared around, confused, but Shikamaru just kept his eyes on Kankuro. He glanced at Naru, who was staring him down, and winked.

“Why would you leave it this long to drop out?” She asked aloud, looking at her friends. Shikamaru shrugged, pulling her in to his side slightly. He was being obvious, and childish, but he couldn't help but indulge himself. Especially considering she'd never notice.

“Performance anxiety?” He said. She and Kiba both snorted, and she grinned at him. An elbow to his ribs, he grinned back, until…

“Okay then, Next fight… Shikamaru Nara Vs Temari!”

He froze. Well, this sucks. His eyes flicked to Hinata, who looked like she was in pain, clutching her chest. I could die if I do this. I should say something to Naru. Maybe clarify or something. Tell her I love her as a friend? Tell her I regular old love her as... a person who you love? Tell her I’m proud of her... actually having a brain?

She was looking at him expectantly. People were booing. He looked at her, memorising her face, expectant, focused.

“Naru... I-”

“You’ll do awesome, get down there already!” She pushed him off the railing, and he fell, thudding to the ground. She leaned over, grinning and giving him the thumbs up. “I believe in you, Shikamaru-Kun!”

There is NO reason everybody should be in love with this girl. She’s the worst. Why is she collecting guys like Sasuke collects girls?

Oh gods... is this a reverse harem? Did I fall into a reverse harem by accident? Nah, I gotta stop this. Stop myself from fixating on Naru.

He looked up at the sky, watching the clouds roll over the arena, frowning. I never wanted this.

I just wanted normality. I just wanted average. Instead I fell into every trap, every trick. I wound up a shinobi and I wound up here.

He got up, frowning at the girl across from him. She was tall, and had a mean look in her eyes. Blonde, but not like Naru, less yellow, more… normal? She was holding that fan. He’d seen what she could do, and it didn’t make him nervous.

He just needed a plan.

Chapter Text

Naru grinned as Shikamaru did his thing. That’s my buddy! She felt pride for him swell in her chest…

And then he gave up. Out of chakra. If she hadn’t had her system shut down she would have given him some of hers, but the kyuubi was only getting her rewired now, at the end of his fight. In a real battle though, with more than just him, he would have won easily. Shikamaru just isn’t a solo kinda guy.

She walked down to meet him, like he had done her, and when they met, she hugged him. “Good fight,” she laughed. He held her quickly and let go, and then she stepped back and grabbed his vest, yanking him down onto her level.

“But if you ever tap out that quick while I’m fighting you, or fighting with you, I’ll shave your fucking head while you sleep, geddit? Lazy-fishnet shadow-possession motherfucker,”

He smirked, “I’m not ever gonna fight you Naru, that’s why I tapped out. The odds were getting too steep and I swore I wouldn’t,”

“Shikamaru-kun I’m gonna kick your fuckin ass I swear to god,” She snapped, pulling him in and head butting him gently. He flinched and rubbed his forehead, which had turned a little red.

“Ouch, unwarranted,”

“Very warranted, now let’s go see if Sasuke-kun is here,”

“Oh yeah let’s see what’s going on with Sasuke-Kun,” Shikamaru sneered as they walked up, trudging up the staircases. Naru snapped back, laughing, and they chatted normally for a little while.

And then Naru felt that damn magnet click again, and yanked Shikamaru behind her. Gaara was being hassled by a couple scrubs, telling him to throw the fight or there’d be trouble. Naru started to walk forward, wanting to back the boy up, but then…

Sand shot out, wrapping itself around the screaming goons, and he crushed them. He just killed them. He didn’t say anything first, he didn’t explain. (So many people explain) . No. Gaara just killed them. It was the first thing he did. and then the sand went back to his gourd, and he walked out of the tunnel. He stopped in front of Naru, and said nothing. He just looked at her face, then he pulled his thumb to his mouth and licked it. He moved closer still, reaching out, wiping away a little bit of blood she’d missed on her chin. Then he passed them both, not saying a word, but the message was clear.

That was for you. I wanted you to see.

Shikamaru grabbed her, pulling her in closer as they watched Gaara walk away. Naru had seen people die. It wasn’t the death that bothered her. It was the ease. It’s was so easy for him to do it.

There was nothing easier.

Chapter Text

She was watching now, he knew. He knew she wouldn’t let herself miss the fight with the Uchiha boy. What, with the way she looked at him like she wanted to clamber into his shirt with him. So, Gaara's plan had changed a little. It wasn’t that drastic, a small change. He wanted her alive a little longer than before. He wanted to kill all her friends, the Uchiha, the fishnet boy who always had his hands on her, the pink haired brat and Rock Lee. He would kill them and then he’d take her aside, show her her burning village, and he’d ask her. Am I trying hard enough yet? And she’d cry and beg and it’d feel good to eliminate her. But first, he needed to scare her. He needed to make sure that she was afraid of him. There could be no living person immune to him.

“Gaara, Sasuke Uchiha isn’t here yet, he’s going to be disqualified soon if he doesn’t show up,”

Gaara stared up at his mentor , and sneered. “He’ll make it,” he walked out onto the field, “I guarantee it,”

It took a little bit of fussing, and the girl even came down onto the field, looking panicked and arguing with the proctor. Gaara just stood there, watching her. He couldn’t help but remember how she looked, biting her hand, blood running down her chin. He’d almost lost control again when she’d been laid out, coughing up blood while that boy with the long hair taunted her. But she looked fine now, wincing every now and again, but she obviously felt well enough to shout. It was all pointless anyway. He’d be here. The Uchiha had to come by, and show off. He didn’t mind waiting, not when the prize he was looking for was so damn good.

He pushed it right to the very last moment, that Uchiha, arriving in the arena in a whirl of leaves and wind, back to back with his teacher. Gaara wondered how they’d decided on the pose they’d stick with. It was likely the reason they were late. Gaara smirked. Enjoy your last moments, you snot nosed brat. Naru said something to him, along the lines of ‘make sure you win, I want to fight you more than anyone,'

He said something cocky back to her, and gestured to her clothes. She looked angry, (that unique kind of anger that belonged only to her, where she was still smiling and laughing) and made to snap back, but his teacher grabbed her and dragged her away. Maybe Gaara would kill the teacher too, just for the hell of it.

And then they were face to face. He and the Uchiha, and it was all going to plan. But there was a problem. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t take his mind off her stupid face, covered in blood, the way she dropped a knife in the vase at Lee’s tableside and how she smiled when she argued. Uchiha was fast, like Lee, and his sand was having trouble catching up. He couldn’t focus. She was laughing, in his head, while the boy in fishnets threw his arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair. Had he seen that? Was that a memory?

He locked himself down, building his final defense. She was still in his head, even as he sat in the dark, untouchable. Her lips slightly parted, eyes fixed on his face, brushing his hair back, away from his face. Like a friend, or a lover. Her calloused fingers had scratched gently at his skin, so much paler than her own. She’d spoken to him softly. Calmly. Until that damned fishnet wearing leaf nin pulled her away from him. Had he wanted her to stay there? Had he wanted her to keep talking?

He’d wiped the blood from her chin, and wished he could have fed mother something sweet, like that, instead of the blood of those horrid goons. She would have loved her blood, he was sure. On top of the attraction of blood, his colour smeared across her face, it had been a type of psychological warfare. A game for two, since she liked messing with people’s heads so much . But he’d liked the way she stood in front of him. She hadn’t drawn back, or flinched. She was stupid, not brave, or were they the same thing?

Was she brave? There wasn’t any fear at all when she looked up at him. She was barely shorter than him, but in his memory she was looking up, maybe she was focused on the kanji scarred into his head. He touched it, mirroring the motion she’d performed in the hospital. Feeling the ruts and raised parts of the skin.

She must be foolish to even think of touching him, let alone actually doing it. He’d show her. He’d kill her whole village just to show her.

Suddenly, a glowing fist filled with lightning punched through the sand barrier and hit his shoulder. For a moment, he just stared at it, until the light dissipated and he was just watching the Uchiha’s arm struggling to pull out, but then…

What was that? It felt like heat, but not quite. Searing, like the hot desert sun, made focused. He let out a blood curdling screech. He put a hand to the place where he’d been struck and drew it away.

“BLOOD! I’M BLEEDING! I’M BLEEDING!” He screamed, feeling Shukaku take half his body and throw the Uchiha boy back. He heard a bomb go off, and his defences fell. He felt himself get picked up by… someone, and he slipped out of consciousness.

Chapter Text

Naru awoke to Sakura’s hand on her shoulder and a battle raging in full swing overhead. But she didn’t understand, what had happened? The last thing she’d heard was Gaara, screaming.

“We have to go after Sasuke-kun! Get up!” She snapped. There was a pug sitting next to her, and Naru frowned at him.

“Did Kiba get a new dog?”

“No, I’m Kakashi’s,” The dog replied, in a low, manly voice. Naru’s eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, okay, well, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Naru,”

"Pakkun," The dog replied. Naru Nodded, holding out her hand and shaking his paw.

She looked back at Sakura, “Where’s Sasuke-kun?”

“He went after Gaara and his team, they ran, we need to go after them! There’s no time! We need to wake up Shikamaru-san and go!” Sakura said, starting to panic. Naru gripped her friend’s wrist.

“Hey! Get a hold on yourself, what do we need to do?” 

“Wake Shikamaru-san! I Just said th-”

“Then what are you waiting for?” She snapped, ducking a flying shuriken and dragging Sakura forward, to where Shikamaru lay. Sakura kneeled by him, laying her hand on him.

“Release!”

Shikamaru just lay there. Naru squinted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a kunai. “I warned you if you ever tapped out on me like that then I’d shave your head you-”

“Okay!” Shikamaru shot up, raising his hands and glaring at the two girls, “Fine! I’m up, I’m up,”

“Shikamaru-san! Were you faking?” Sakura snapped, thumping him over the head. Shikamaru flinched and squinted at her.

“So what? I didn’t wanna get dragged into all this,” he growled. He looked around.

“Well, consider yourself dragged, lets go,” Naru snapped, making toward the massive hole Gai had knocked in the wall. Shikamaru gripped her wrist.

“I don’t want you mixed up in this either,” He pulled her back, looking at Sakura, “Sakura and I can handle this by ourselves. Right Sakura?”

“No, we definitely can’t. Naru is our close combat fighter, neither of us are particularly good hand to hand. A normal squad is four nin. We need Naru,”

Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his eyes and then glaring up at Naru. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?”

“It’s been said before, now let’s get this poppin’, I don’t feel like playing catch up with my rival the whole time and missing all the fun,” she jumped out of the gaping hole in the wall, quickly followed by Sakura and the weird talking pug, Pakkun. She could just hear Shikamaru grumbling, a few branches back.

“Sasuke… it’s always that freakin kid, what a drag,” He sighed, catching up with them quickly.

She smiled to herself as they raced through the forest, Pakkun calling out for them to hurry, snapping directions at them. Naru picked up her pace, forcing the other three to accelerate too. After a little while running, Pakkun sniffed the air loudly and turned his head to Sakura. “We’ve picked up a group of sound nin, They’re gaining,”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Well, we’ll have to shake them,” Shikamaru said, putting on a burst of speed so that he was running next to Naru. She looked over at him.

“How do we do that?” She asked, almost excited to hear his plan. He furrowed his brow and looked ahead.

“Let me think, one minute,”

“We don’t have a minute. Anyway, there’s a fight ahead of us. Sasuke was there, but he’s moving now. It smells like two people are hanging behind and Sasuke and the other two are going on ahead. We’ll have to go around,” Pakkun barked, sniffing the air loudly between words.

“No time! We’ll just have to go through!” Naru barked, clenching her fists and kicking off a branch particularly hard. It broke underfoot. Shikamaru groaned.

“Naru, it’s probably a trap, we’ll go around. Might even shake this tail while we’re at it,”

“It’ll take too long! I gotta get to him!” She felt panic rising in her chest. Shikamaru shifted closer.

“Calm down, he’ll be fine, he’s a tough guy,”

Naru looked up at Shikamaru, studying his angular features, his hair pulled away from his face and his hooded eyes, sharp... when he needed them to be. She pursed her lips. “Don't tell me to calm down. I owe him for the land of waves. I always will,” She looked away from Shikamaru, I owe him for everything else too.

“I’ll get you there in time, don’t worry,” he said, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. She forced herself to smile at him.

“Stop!” Pakkun called, and they all froze, Sakura only had one foot in the ground.

“What? Is it a trap?” Naru asked, looking out the corner of her eye at the dog.

“No, but if we backtrack and go through the grove over there without moss then we’ll look like we just disappeared, and we might just lose our tail- with any luck, that is,”

“We don’t have time for this! We have to get to him,”

“Naru, I promised I’d get you there, didn’t I?” Shikamaru countered, looking straight into her face as they began back-stepping. Naru frowned.

“Yeah, but-“

“Just trust me,” He said, squeezing her hand and pulling her gently back with him. She nodded and followed.

“Uh, yeah and us, we’re the brains, you’re the brawn, remember?” Sakura snapped, obviously annoyed at the lack of attention being paid to her. Naru smiled.

She’s used to me focusing on her. She never even knew I had that crush… Probably for the best. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, the braining is all on you guys. Just get me there in time to hit someone,” She squeezed Shikamaru’s hand and dropped it, looking down at her feet as she moved carefully backward.

“Seriously, don’t worry, I might not shout about it as much as you, but I always keep my word too,” Shikamaru whispered, leaning nearer to her under the guise of losing his balance slightly. Naru grit her teeth.

“I know, I know, a shinobi always keeps his wor-”

“No,” He hissed, catching her eye, “I always keep my word,”

She pulled her gaze away from his as quickly as she could and glanced at Sakura, who was walking backward more easily than the rest of them and trying her best to burn holes in the back of Naru and Shikamaru’s heads with her eyes. She whipped back around and picked up her pace a little, trying to put a little distance between Shikamaru and herself.

It was futile, because Shikamaru had fairly obviously been slowing himself down to match Naru’s pace. She couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. She had always liked Shikamaru, considered him a rival almost like Sasuke, but there was no reason that he should be so suddenly determined to be close to her all the time. Hell, before these exams he hardly even paid her mind at all.

It was like something had happened, but Naru couldn’t think of anything. Except for the Keima. When she’d threatened to ambush him. Was he trying to keep tabs on her in order to prevent her from ambushing him? Was that why he was hanging so close and constantly trying to ‘keep her safe’? More like keep yourself safe you shady fuck.

She jumped up into the moss-free trees and took off, not waiting for any of her teammates to talk about a plan. She only needed one plan: Get Sasuke, and kick some fuckin ass. (Sasuke's included, if need be.)

She was not going to get drawn into hesitating any further, not by anyone. Not Pakkun, not Sakura, and not even Shikamaru. She wasn’t going to let anyone slow her down any further. It was a straight shot to him now, and she’d finally get to the part she was good at. The fight.

Chapter Text

Shikamaru would never admit it as long as he lived, but he was, maybe, a tiny bit jealous. Now that he finally knew what the hell was happening with his feelings and this… small... blonde… shouting thing … other things were falling into place. His dislike for Sasuke, for instance, made a lot more sense. And the reason why girls annoyed him so much. Or maybe it was that Naru was so different from other girls that made her so… tolerable. Like a friend, but a girl. A girl-friend. Is that where that word came from? Was it just people picking people from other genders and saying ‘this one’s okay, I guess?’

She was charging ahead, that expression that meant she was out for blood digging its claws into her face. She was so dumb, always storming into stuff head first, never thinking it out.

“Good news and bad news, kids. We’re almost there,” Pakkun started. Shikamaru groaned.

“Is that the good news or the bad news?”

Pakkun and Sakura both shot him glares that could kill. Naru, however, ignored him. “That’s the good news,” Pakkun snapped, stopping. They all halted with him. (Naru, somewhat reluctantly.)

“Then what’s the bad news?” He growled, looking around at all three of them before settling his eyes back on the dog.

“We picked our tail back up. They’re gaining again. We have to do something,”

“Fine, we'll keep going and let them catch up to us and I’ll knock everyone’s heads together,” Naru snarled. Everyone looked at her incredulously. Sakura did it first, a hand on her hip and irritation in her voice.

“Oh yeah, real smart Naru, Lets bring the enemies fighting Sasuke-kun back up, and make ourselves into a nice little idiot sandwich while we're at it. Super great strategy,”

Naru rolled her eyes. “So, what then? We just wait around while Sasuke-kun fights those guys all by himself? That’s just perfect Sakura- chan ,” she spat, making the honorific sound like an insult somehow.

“Watch your tone, tomboy,” Sakura snapped, squaring up. Shikamaru cleared his throat.

“I’ll hang back. At the very least, I’ll buy Naru enough time to get a good start on knocking heads together,”

“We don’t know how strong these guys are Shikamaru-san. They could be jonin level. We’ll all have to wait together,” Sakura reasoned, looking at him with surprise in her eyes. Shikamaru gave her his most crooked smile.

“Like Naru keeps saying, there’s no time,” He turned to look at Naru, whose eyes were gleaming, “right?”

“Hey! Don't put that on me! I didn’t mean it was a good idea to just… sacrifice yourself! That’s not what this is about!”

“You're right. It’s about Sasuke. And hey,” he stepped over, onto her branch, putting one hand on her shoulder, palm up, “maybe I’ll get a chance to show off,”

“You never show off except at Shogi, Shika-kun,” She laughed, "that'd be too much work," She didn’t disagree with what he'd said, not with the first part. He nodded.

“Yeah, well, whatever,” he sighed, looking up at the sky. She grabbed his hands, and for a brief second, his heart stopped. But then he felt that searing heat from before, in the hospital, and realised what she was doing. She was forcing her chakra into his body. It was like holding your hand to a candle flame, and it made his whole body burn white hot. Was this how she felt all the time? And anyway, how the hell did she have chakra to spare? She fought a fight earlier too. But there she was, pulling him close, her eyes closed in concentration as she pumped power into his veins. When the hell did she figure out how to do this?

“Naru…” He gasped, moving to pull away from her. She just kept going gripping his hands tighter. He felt himself sweating, his breathing getting heavier as he overheated. “Naru!” He gasped. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, letting the connection break.

“Now you don’t have any excuses. Kick ass and catch up, do you hear me? If you die, I’ll find you in the next life and beat your ass, don’t put it past me. I still haven’t fought you here yet,” she said, balling up her hand in his vest in a now familiar gesture. He smiled.

“You’ll never fight me Naru,” He replied, slightly breathless. He felt like he’d just come out of a hot spring and into a damn ice bath. He wanted to pull her into him, hug her. A part of him also wanted her to cry and beg him to stay with her, and to say Sasuke didn’t matter anymore, but that was impossible. He knew who she was, and wouldn’t have loved her the same any other way.

Well, maybe he’d love her the same if she loved Sasuke less. But the point remains.

“I swore, remember?”

“So did I, now get the hell out of here and go find that spiky-haired fuck,” He said, stepping away and grinning at her, “And make sure you come out of this in one piece, I can’t stand another second in that damn hospital with your stupid ass,” he felt a weird emptiness well up in his chest, but kept the grin on his face as well as he could. She smiled sadly back, and nodded.

“Be careful, Shikamaru-kun,” She said, taking off. The other two said their piece too, but he didn’t really care enough to listen. Once they were out of earshot, he crouched, and closed his eyes, bringing his hands together.

If I plan this out well enough, I can catch up. I can make sure her stupid ass gets out of this safe.

Chapter Text

Naru was a little out of breath when she finally gained sight of Sasuke, struggling to stand and covered in strange markings. She and Sakura landed beside him, and she pulled him away just in time to dodge a massive… something… swinging out of nowhere toward them.

“What the hell is that?” She yelped, unceremoniously dumping Sasuke into Sakura’s arms and staring at the thing as it landed on a tree branch and filled the air with the sound of rattling breathing.

“That’s Gaara,” Sasuke bit out, grabbing his stomach and wincing. Naru looked down at the creature, aghast. That cute kid… turned into this?

But then he looked up at her, and she saw the half of his face that hadn’t been conquered by the beast.

“Oh, good! You finally made it!” He cackled, leaping up and swinging from a tree branch with his mutated arm. Naru narrowed her eyes.

“Jeez, and people give me shit for changing my clothes. Can you believe this guy?” She said, pointing over her shoulder at a trembling Sakura and Sasuke, who was obviously in agony.

“Are you actually joking right now?” Sakura squeaked in disbelief. Naru shrugged.

“Jeez. Tough crowd,” She called down to Gaara, who had his mismatched eyes fixed firmly on her. “Hey, Sandy? I know you’re busy being a monster and stuff, but could you do me a favour and turn it down a lil? You’re kinda scaring my friend over here,”

Gaara laughed, and Naru stepped easily off her branch, dropping to the one just below Gaara. His gaze followed her. “Your friend is going to die, and you’re cracking wise?” He sneered, his tail (Gaara has a tail? Jeez, he really is really switching it up here,) snaked up to replace his hand’s grip on the branch, bringing him so that he was hanging upside down, face to face with Naru.

“Now, Gaara, I like you. I know what you’re feeling, trust me, but… don’t you dare threaten my friends. I already had to risk one of them to get here, so I really-“

“I’m going to kill all of your friends, Naru, and I’m going to make you watch,” He growled, cutting her off, taking aim with his hand and pointing at Sakura, shooting a massive spike at her, like a knife. Sakura, gladly, pulled Sasuke out of the way in time, but Naru screamed anyway, feeling the Kyuubi’s chakra rush up inside her.

“No!” She yelled, whipping back to Gaara and swinging a punch straight into his face. He hadn’t been expecting it, and his sand was covering his body in that armour, so the swing knocked him from his perch and sent him slamming through branches and into a tree trunk. She stood, panting, Kurama’s power building in her like a kettle coming to boil, she ripped off her tattered jacket and glared at him.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” She screamed, feeling her voice break into something more like an animalistic screech as she lost control. Gaara clambered out of the crater in the tree and cackled at the sight of her, crouched on all fours, snarling like a feral cat.

“Her? What? The fact I’ve come within moments of killing your precious Uchiha doesn’t bother you, but the girl is off limits?”

“Shut up!” She snarled, launching herself at him, not thinking. He smacked her straight out of the air, sending her crashing through branches and slamming into the earth. He struck the ground next to her, picking her up and whipping her against the nearest tree trunk. She spat out blood and pulled her hands together, crossing her forefingers and conjuring up as many clones as she could. Maybe a hundred? She was distracted, blood was leaking out of her mouth as she sent her intentions through her makeshift army, and they all rushed Gaara at once. Several disappeared immediately, but after a second they started to get some small hits in, to overwhelm him. Shake it off Uzumaki, come on! Gotta keep them safe, and keep him too busy to move.

She peeled herself off the tree trunk and jumped in, kicking him in the face hard enough to send even his sand-covered form flying up into a tree branch. He fell down, straight into three chakra-packed punches and barely managed to use his tail to grip a branch and stop himself from falling into her again. His sand armour was cracked, and the weird mass taking his body over was spreading. Mouths opened up across his body and blasted sand across the whole crowd of clones, dissipating them and knocking Naru to the ground. As soon as the air stilled, however, she struggled back to her feet, feeling blood leaking from scratches across her face.

“You’re stronger than you let on, this is... unexpectedly entertaining,” He admitted, still grinning. Naru sneered.

“Yeah, well, it’s not some clever move or strategy, people just can’t help but underestimate me. Do you think it’s the hair?” She joked, leaping up, hopping from tree trunk to tree trunk to get the higher ground, but he rocketed skyward too. "Can't we just settle this the nice way? We could talk this out!"

“That’s where you’re wrong, there is no nice way,” He sneered back, looking down at her as she sped to catch up.

“Sakura, please don’t answer, but if your scrawny ass hasn’t gotten Sasuke out of here by now, my list of people to fight just got longer!” She yelled, realising too late where he was headed. But of course Sakura had stayed. She’d never want to abandon Naru. She’d want to be around to help- and she may not be able to carry Sasuke very far. Naru felt more blood rise in her throat. She spat it out and met on a level with Gaara, who was gripping Sakura against a tree. He broke the arm that was holding her, leaving his hand there and growing a new one. Naru tried to breathe through the panic and anger welling up in her chest, but Gaara was laughing now.

“If I wanted something other than your pain, and your life, I bet I could get it from you now. You’d trade anything for her life… right?” Gaara grinned as Naru clenched her fists, “Your attachment to these weaklings makes you weak. The only way to strength is loving only yourself, and existing for only yourself. You are just as pathetic as your pink haired friend here. From the moment a demon was sealed inside of me, when I was small, I have known this. Love for others is weakness, and that makes me stronger than anyone. I love no one, and no one has ever loved me,”

Even now, in the heat of battle, with his hand crushing Sakura, Naru could see herself in his pain, and her heart broke for him. He was so alone, it was so unfair. If it hadn’t been for Iruka, would she be like this now? If it hadn’t been for one kind soul, would she have found all her other friends? “So what is it, exactly, that’ll get you to let go of her?” Naru said, tremulously. Gaara moved to strike, but Naru dodged, planting herself on a tree trunk and crouching there, looking at him. He grinned maniacally.

“Nothing. She’ll be crushed here. I just wanted to show you how she made you weak to manipulation,” He positioned a spike from his tail over Sasuke’s face, teasing her. “You know I could kill him faster, if you’d like. Would that be a comfort to you?” Naru took in a sharp breath.

“So, are you going to force me to kill you in order to save my friends?” Naru asked, feeling tears well up in her eyes unbidden. Thank gods my voice is still steady.

“Oh you won’t be able to kill me, Naru,” The use of her name is what did it. She leapt on him, pulling him up by what hair was still exposed, away from Sasuke, away from Sakura, and closer to her. She hauled him into the treetops and away from them, and she punched him in the face, sending him flying back, further from her friends still.

She followed him, zigzagging through the trees and landing in a tree, overlooking the crater where he had landed. Something was stirring, and when the dust cleared, she sucked in a ragged gasp. Gaara was gone. There was only that… creature. He glared up at her.

“You leaf genin have a way of ruining my plans, you know that?”

“Yeah, I somehow don’t think that it’s exclusive to leaf nin, it might be a habit of ninja in general,” she snapped, glad his voice hadn't changed. He was still in there, somewhere.

Gaara just looked up at her, and then there was a sound like an explosion. A wall of sand snapped toward her so fast she almost didn’t get out of the way in time.

Gaara was really gone now. There stood a truly goliath monster, staring around at the forest, searching for her. She swore under her breath and sprung back.

“Okay, chill out, you can do this, focus!” She whispered, building up as much chakra as she could. She dipped straight into Kurama’s power, pulling it up, feeling it start to exit her body, disrupting the air around her. She bit her hand and smeared the blood across her fingers, slamming her hand down- suddenly she was rocketing skyward, Gamabunta below her.

“What the hell is it now? Jiraiya!” He bellowed, glaring around.

“Nope, sorry sir, it’s me again!” Naru said, leaning forward, “I could really use a hand fighting this big ugly bastard, please… sir?”

Gamabunta sighed, crossing his eyes to glare at her, perched on his nose. “You know Gamakichi won’t freaking shut up about how hilarious you are?”

Naru smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. “He’s a great guy,” She laughed. Gamabunta sighed again and looked over at Gaara.

“Did… Did you actually pick a fight with Shukaku? Really, kid?”

“I picked a fight with Shukaku’s host, so, I guess so?”

“You’re a pain in the ass, just like your father,” He grumbled. Naru crossed her arms.

“Jiraiya is NOT my father,” she snapped, indignantly. Gamabunta paused, like he was going to say something, but seemed to think better of it.

“Just hang on tight, kid,” He snapped, “I’ll show ya what a real fight looks like,” drawing his Katana and facing Gaara’s monster, Shukaku. He charged, slicing his arm clean off. They landed hard, Gamabunta losing grip of his sword, flinging it out of his reach.

“Hey! Try to keep him away from that part of the forest! Sakura is trapped there!” Naru yelled, leaning over the massive toad’s brow and looking into his eye.

“Sakura? Who’s that? Your girlfriend?”

“No!” Naru snapped, turning red. What’s with old guys and thinking I’m a boy? Hasn’t Gamakichi told him I’m a girl before?

“Naru!” Gaara yelled, turning to face them as he rose out of the head of the sand form, “not bad! To thank you for being so very entertaining, I’ll show you the true power,” He looked up, his eyes rolled back so only the whites were visible, “of the sand,”

“The spiritualist medium of Shukaku knows you personally, huh?” Gamabunta growled, crouching low. Naru frowned.

“Guess you could say that, if you’re talking about Gaara, that is,”

Gaara slapped his hands together, smiling at her. She grit her teeth.

“Stay away from him. He’s unstable,”

“How’d you know that?”

“Shukaku’s mediums can’t sleep. It’s because he tends to keep them in paralysing fear. Whenever they fall asleep, he takes full control. Do you think you’d be in good shape mentally if you never slept?”

“Imma be honest boss, I’m not sure I’m in great shape mentally anyway,” Naru laughed, “but I get what you’re saying,”

“Your buddy over here is about to let the Shukaku out, look,”

Gaara flopped over forward, out cold. For a second, the space of a single heartbeat, Naru just stared at them in terror. Then, Shukaku burst out laughing.

“Aha! Oh yeah! Here I come!” He bellowed, grasping his remaining fist and grinning. Gamabunta growled again.

“We’re gonna have to wake up your little boyfriend real quick, kid,” the toad snarled. Naru bristled, leaning over his brow again, slamming her palm flat on his head.

"Hey! He's not my boyfriend!"

"Does he know that?"

"What the fu-"

“Are you ready to rumble?!” the Shukaku cackled, flinging attack after attack at them, causing them to have to leap away to dodge. Gamabunta spat water out at him, countering his fire attacks, and the very ground shook with the power of their maneuvers. Gamabunta leapt forward, grasping Shukaku’s shoulders and pulling him face to face.

“Come on kid! Hit him!” He shouted. Naru went to move forward, but before she could get anywhere, Shukaku shook Gamabunta off.

“Come on Boss! You gotta hold him still for longer if I’m gonna get a hit in!” Naru yelled down at him. Gamabunta leapt back, dodging a massive fireball.

“Kid, do you see any damn claws or teeth on me? I can’t get a better grip!”

“Then what on earth are we gonna do?” She screamed. Gamabunta sighed.

“I’d say do a transformation, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m no damn good at transformations!” He admitted, leaping again. Naru screamed in frustration.

“It’s fine! It’s fine! I’m fucking great at transformation! Just… Just gimme the power and I’ll do it!” She said. Hunkering down and performing the hand signs. Gamabunta chuckled, turning to face Shukaku.

“Remember, claws and teeth, kid,” he rumbled, beginning his charge.

Claws and teeth? Claws and teeth… what has claws and…

Kurama!

“Transform!”

And out shot the nine tailed fox, snarling and barreling toward the raccoon demon. They were fast enough together to avoid his attacks, but not to get any closer.

“This isn’t gonna work!” Gamabunta snapped. Naru grunted angrily.

“Shut up and stop whining. I just gotta give him a good knock upside his head,”

“I know that! Here goes!”

They charged forward, Gamabunta grabbing hold of Shukaku and yanking him face to face again. “Now!”

Naru broke the transformation and leapt forward, onto Shukaku’s head, and backhanded Gaara with all her strength. He grunted, and blinked awake, Shukaku’s complaints going silent. There they were, face to face, inches from each other.

“You… Broke my jutsu!”

“No shit, sleeping beauty,” She snapped, grabbing his shirt so she wouldn’t slide backward down the head of the Shukaku.

“I’ll wipe you off the face of the earth!” Gaara screeched, reaching forward and summoning sand to surround Naru. She reached out, and touched his forehead, her fingers tracing the Kanji there. He froze.

“I will not cease to exist,” he whispered. She shook her head.

“No, you won’t,”

The sand started to encase her legs, dragging her back. She scrambled, grasping his shirt, and before he could crush her legs, she lurched forward and headbutted him, slamming their heads together with so much force she could hear both their skulls fracture. She heard Shukaku crumble, and her summon disappeared.

She slammed to the treetops, panting for air, finding herself facing Gaara, the sword between them, reflecting half their faces back at themselves.

“Hey man, I’m... I’m spent, and you look pretty rough yourself, we shouldn’t do this,”

The sword disappeared, and they both leapt toward one another, both of them landing punches on the other’s face. They landed on the ground, laid out flat, exhausted completely.

Naru just looked at him. Lonely. By himself, her blood smeared across his face. They were young. Both so young. But twelve years was a long time to be all by yourself, and that kind of pain made you older. She didn’t want him to be alone anymore. She reached out her arm, and pulled herself closer to him, one inch at a time.

“What… What are you doing?” he groaned, panic in his voice. She couldn’t find the strength to respond at first, she just pulled herself closer. “Stop!” he yelped.

“I… I know what it feels like,” She grunted, clawing her way forward, her freshly broken fingernails splintering away even more, “to be alone. But you don’t have to be,”

“What… Why? What makes you so… strong?”

She smiled bitterly, heaving herself closer, shaking, every inch of her shaking. Gaara twitched, but couldn’t move at all.

“I need to make sure my friends are okay, and to do that, I need to beat you. Tell me, is Sakura okay? Have you let her go?”

“I can’t even move, you think I still have a grip on that pink haired girl? Don’t be stupid,” he snapped. She laughed a little, continuing to claw toward him.

“Oh, that’s good. Now…” she pulled up to him, close enough that she could extend her trembling hand and wipe the blood threatening to drip into his eye away. “Are you okay? I think I may have cracked your dome open a little there,”

“Wha-” he flinched away, but she was determined to make sure his face was as clean as she could get it.

“I know you probably haven’t ever got blood in your eyes before, but it stings, and this is mixed with sand and dirt too. It’s an infection waiting to happen,” She smiled at him, her hand falling beside his face now that the blood wasn’t threatening to run anywhere that’d cause him any more pain.

“I just tried to kill you,”

“So?” she asked, her head falling onto his stomach. He grunted.

“I tried to kill your friends,”

“Yeah, that wasn’t cool. I might not forgive you for a while after that, actually,” she said, “But I’m tired, and everyone is okay, or… shit… Shikamaru-kun!” she made like she was going to get up, but her muscles failed her, and she fell back into him.

At that moment, Sasuke landed next to her. She grabbed his hand, glaring at him.

“How’s Shikamaru-kun? Where is he? Go help him!”

“What? Shut up, Dobe, you’re a mess, we have to get you to the hospital. You can check on him there, I guess,”

“Ugh! He’s gonna be so pissed when he finds out I got hurt,” she groaned as he pulled her into a sitting position, away from Gaara.

“Forget Nara! I’m pissed you got hurt, you walking disaster zone,” He picked her up, shooting a dirty look down at Gaara. Naru patted the side of his face.

“Leave sleepy alone, will ya teme? He’s had a hard day,” Sasuke looked at her, frowning and shaking his head.

“You’re so weird,” he groaned, leaping away. Naru struggled a little in his grip, turning so she could watch Gaara as Sasuke carried her away. Their eyes fixed on each others. She couldn’t read the emotion his were filled with. Naru watched the blonde girl, Temari, swoop down and scoop up Gaara, just before she lost sight of him.

Good. Someone will look after him then.

Chapter Text

Sasuke was sitting in the chair in the corner of Naru’s hospital room. He had refused medical attention; insisted on being in Naru’s room if they were going to examine him, almost refused to let go of her on arrival, sliding down the wall in the entryway holding her. She’d passed out while he’d carried her back to Konaha, and it had scared him, if he was being honest with himself.

She was still sleeping, but that all it was: sleep. Not a coma, not a brain death. She was going to be perfectly fine. So why did he want to start smashing things? Why did he want to go hunt Gaara down and personally detach his limbs from his body? If she was okay, why wasn’t he?

He was ruminating on this when Shikamaru burst in and rushed straight to her side, followed closely by Choji. He practically leapt into the bed with her, grabbing her face and examining her (surprisingly shallow) cuts. He stepped back when she began mumbling unintelligibly, he looked around and snatched up her chart. Sasuke shifted, resting his elbow on the arm of his chair and his head in his hand, watching the Nara panic. He hadn’t even seen Sasuke, his preoccupation was too dramatic.

“She’s fine. Just sleeping it off,” Sasuke groused, tilting his head slightly.

Shikamaru whirled around, still gripping the chart. Choji breathed a sigh of relief, but Shikamaru just glowered at Sasuke.

“If you hadn’t gone galloping off after that fucking Gaara kid- if you’d waited... she wouldn’t have anything to sleep off, you sadistic cactus headed mother fu-”

“If you seriously think that she’d have neglected an opportunity to fight, then you don’t know her half as well as I do,” He replied coldly. Shikamaru was shaking with anger, and moved to step forward, the clip board holding Naru's chart snapping in his hands, but Choji shifted behind him, looking at Naru herself.

“Hey, knucklehead!” he said, tapping Naru’s face, “You’ve got visitors,”

Both of the other boys moved to pull Choji away, protesting that she needed to sleep and to let her rest, but Naru was already blinking awake and looking around her. Sasuke reluctantly settled back into his chair as the newcomers crowded her.

“Choji-chan? Grumpy? Aw shit, is this the hospital?”

“Yeah it’s the fucking hospital, you dunce,” Shikamaru snapped in a tone of annoyance, but his voice shook. He walked forward and pulled Naru into a hug. Sasuke felt a heat rise in his chest, his fists clenching. He shouldn’t be pulling her around! She needs rest! But then, her arms snaked around the Nara’s waist; and he saw her smile up at him; and the heat in his chest turned into a dragon of unadulterated rage. He bit his tongue in order to keep quiet. What the hell is happening?

“Sorry, I know you told me not to wind up here,” she said, resting her chin on Shikamaru’s stomach and grinning up at him.

“I told you to get out of this in one piece, and you did, barely, but still. And... I’m glad you’re okay,” he pointed at the bandages on her forehead, “You know, you should wear that headband where it’s meant to be worn, if you’re gonna run around using that thick skull of yours as a damn battering ram,”

Naru laughed and leaned back, smiling over at Choji, “Can you believe this guy? I just escaped the clutches of death herself and he’s already fuckin’ lecturing me,” She looked past Choji and her eyes finally landed on Sasuke.

“Hey! Teme! Come huddle near my sick bed, or are you scared I’ll see the tears in your eyes?” she placed her hands behind her head and laughed. Sasuke blinked his decidedly dry eyes and drew forward, shooting Shikamaru a dirty look and elbowing him out of the way.

If Naru noticed, she didn’t let on. She was just smiling up at him, obviously very happy he was there. He traced her every feature with his eyes, trying to memorise them. The way she looked, thrilled to see him, happy he was beside her.

“You’re an idiot,” he snapped, pinching her ear. She leaned away from him, slapping his hand back. She grinned, and he almost felt better, until she looked over at Shikamaru and grinned at him too, just the same.

“Hey Grumpy, do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Yes, without a doubt,” He snapped, “And I told you, you can call me by my name,”

“Choji-chan! Do you think I’m an idiot?” she asked. Choji rolled his eyes.

“ Everyone thinks you’re an idiot,” He said, mirroring her childish inflection. Naru uttered a performative sigh and settled into her pillow, her arms dropping to her sides.

“Shikamaru-kun? How’d your fight go?” She asked. Sasuke bristled. Shikamaru-kun. He’d heard her say it before, but god, it bothered him even more now that they were all in the same room and she was looking at him like that . It made the dragon in his chest start clawing at his insides, growling for a fight. He gripped his fists. Keep cool, an Uchiha doesn’t lose his temper.

“You know damn well it went fine. You gave me enough chakra to fell a building,” Shikamaru snapped back. His eyes met Sasuke’s, and he gave a small smirk. Sasuke failed to hide his surprise.

“Sorry, what? You gave him chakra?” He asked, not breaking eye contact with Shikamaru. Naru shrugged.

“Yeah, it’s not like I’m ever running on an empty tank. And he was tired from his fight,”

“ You had a fight too! And since when can you even  share chakra with someone?”

“She hasn’t told you? She’s done it with me twice! How recently did you figure out how to do it, Naru?” Shikamaru said, flopping down onto the foot of her bed and smiling smugly. Naru looked a little confused.

“I thought it up a little while ago, but you were my guinea pig, when we stopped Gaara from killing Eyebrows. Sorry 'bout it,”

“What, and you just never thought to tell me, your actual teammate about this new ability of yours?” Sasuke snapped, completely ignoring the second half of what she'd said. Choji loudly opened a bag of chips, but they all ignored him.

“You’ve been gone a month and never once even bothered to speak to me. I’ve learned a lot of things while you’ve been gone, Sasuke-san, ”

Sasuke-san? San? Who the hell does she think she’s talking to?

“I was training!”

“So was I, and that means we both learned new skills and neither of us has any right to be upset about being out of the loop,” She snarled, “So, if you please, sit down and stop whining that I didn’t send you a homing pigeon about all the jazzy shit I’ve figured out, especially considering that even if I’d wanted to, you didn’t tell me where you were, so I couldn't. You just disappeared. Of course things changed while you were gone,” She looked away, her eyes landing on Choji, “Hand me a few of those, will you?” she snapped. Choji obliged with a smile, and she started munching angrily away. Sasuke looked back at Shikamaru, who was looking positively smug.

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke hissed, turning his head from the other two, as though they couldn’t hear him if they couldn’t see his mouth moving. Naru shot him a dirty look.

“Shut up and sit down,” she growled, gesturing at the seat he’d previously occupied. He prowled over to it and sat, glowering at the other two boys.

“So, now that’s over,” Naru said around a mouthful of chips, “How’d your fight go Shikamaru-kun? What happened?”

“Well,” He said, not bothering to hide his smile, “I trapped them, and held them for a pretty good lil chunk of time. I was halfway to figuring out how exactly to kill them all when Asuma-sensei showed up, and uh, what was that thing that you like to say?”

“Knocked some heads together!” Naru laughed, “Aw, your sensei is so cool! Is it true he uses brass knuckles with knives on them?”

“Yeah. And he used them against those sound goons too,” Shikamaru grinned, leaning toward her. Naru looked delighted.

“Oh man! That’s amazing! You’re so lucky he's your teacher!”

“Kakashi-sensei doesn’t need weapons. He’s a famous name for a reason,” Sasuke interjected, annoyed at Naru’s gushing. She has a teacher, damn it. Naru turned to him again.

“I haven’t seen Kakashi-sensei in a month, I hardly remember what the guy even looks like . I’ve been training with Jiraiya, who’s, frankly, just a dirty old man with a penchant for trashy novels… Come to think about it, he could be Kakashi and I wouldn’t know the difference,”

“Kakashi-Sensei-”

“Kakashi-sensei has taught you a lot over the last month, I know. But he wasn’t here,” Naru snapped, turning away from him again. Shikamaru wasn’t smiling now, just looking at Naru with an expression of concern Sasuke had never seen anyone give Naru before. The dragon in his chest thrashed uncomfortably, and he gripped the arms of his chair so hard that he heard the wood crack. He let go quickly, hoping Choji’s crunching would disguise the sound.

“It all worked out though. I mean, that old guy taught you a whole lot,” Shikamaru said, reassuringly. Naru turned her face back to him and hiked a smile up onto it. Sasuke wondered if she was faking. It hadn’t ever occurred to him before that her smiles and constant laughing and joking might not be genuine. Is she just… trying to make him feel better?

Sasuke zoned out a little, watching Naru talk to Shikamaru and Choji, joking and laughing and only ever looking over at him occasionally. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had a gravity like the sun, and he couldn’t break out of orbit.

Something in him clicked into place as he saw Shikamaru smile at her and grasp her hand, which she squeezed back. Oh my god. I’m in love with her.

Shikamaru and Choji left after a little while longer, promising to visit every day until she was out. She laughed and assured them she’d be in the ramen hut for lunch the next day, and that they could meet her there. Shikamaru had grinned and agreed. Then they were gone, and Naru looked over at him. Fuck.

“I’m actually really upset you left for so long. You didn't even say goodbye,” She said quietly. He just stared at her.

“How long have you and Shikamaru been going out?” He asked, voice hoarse. Naru looked so shocked Sasuke almost laughed.

“We aren’t! He’s just a friend, and my rival. But I’m trying to talk to you about you disappearing, it really-”

“Just a friend my ass, the first thing he did when he came in was climb all over you. If you’re just friends, you should tell him, the poor sod. And I thought I was your rival!”

“Hey! What the hell is with everyone and speculating on my love life? Piss off,” She snapped, pointing at him, “even if Shikamaru-kun and I were doing something along those lines, it wouldn’t be any of your business, Teme,”

“Everything to do with you is my business,” He replied shortly, narrowing his eyes at her. She smiled bitterly.

“If you’re so concerned, stick around more,”

“Oh, trust me, after this? I will. And… Naru, I need to tell you something,” he said, remembering a piece of news that he’d meant to tell her as soon as she woke up. Guilt instantly replaced the dragon in his chest as she looked at him, expectantly.

“What?”

“It’s the Hokage,” he said, a lump rising in his throat, “He’s… He’s dead,”

Naru froze, the smile falling from her face as she stared at him, searching his eyes for a trace of a lie. He stared back. When she spoke, her voice was a hoarse whisper.

“That’s not funny,” She hissed, “Don’t joke about that,”

“I’m not, I wanted to be the one to tell you,”

“The old man isn’t dead, don’t be ridiculous, he’s the Hokage, he can’t just… die. Don’t be so stupid. Who… Who told you that?” Her voice was cracking, and she moved to get out of the bed. Sasuke put his hands on her shoulders to keep her down, flashing back to when Sakura had done the same thing to him in the tower. Naru gripped his wrists and pulled them off her, standing up, stepping on one of his feet as she did so.

“Naru, he died in battle, the same time that we were facing Gaara,”

“No, he didn’t!” she shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. Sasuke could hear people rushing up the hall at the sound. He pulled her into him, in a loose hug, and felt her grab his shirt.

“I’m sorry, Naru,”

“Don’t be sorry, he can’t be dead, he’s not…”

“Naru…” He stroked her hair back. She started to cry silently into his shirt. He wouldn’t have known she was crying if it hadn’t been for the tears soaking through his shirt, and the fact she was shaking in his arms.

He felt awful, really. He felt terrible. He was a terrible, terrible person. If she’s going to cry, it better be on my shoulder.

Chapter Text

The funeral was quiet, but not for the lack of people. It was the overwhelming weight of the loss they had bourne. The terrible magnitude of the gaping hole left in the Old Man’s absence. He was gone. Their greatest protector was gone. And now what would become of them all? The sand had already proven that their treaties were weaker than they’d hoped and that they had been too trusting. And they now had no Hokage.

At first Naru had just cried silently, looking down at the casket of one of the few people who’d ever given a shit about her. She’d felt so cold, and so alone, there in the pouring rain, confronted by the ugly face of death in a way she hadn’t ever been before… or at least, not that she could remember. The people she loved had always felt untouchable. Too important to die. And she was stranded with her thoughts on the lonely island that was her soul crushing grief.

But then Iruka walked up, and Konohamaru with him. Konohamaru clutched at her side, crying into her hip, and Iruka put his hand on her shoulders. She looked up at her favourite teacher. He had a sad kind of a smile on his face as he looked down at her. She felt more tears slide down her face.

“How come people, good people, great people… How come they die?” She whispered, unable to lift her voice any higher under the oppressive emptiness around them.

“Because everyone dies, Naru-san. In the end, we all die,” Iruka said, looking at the casket. Naruto shook her head.

“But the old man… He was the Hokage! How could he just… die? I saw him, before the exam started. He was fine, he was perfectly okay,” She looked down at the casket too, “And now he’s not anything at all. So why? Why even bother? Does anything actually matter?”

“Naru, Do you remember him? Do you remember what Lord Hokage was like?” Iruka asked, hiding the crack of grief in his voice so well, that if Naru knew him any less, she wouldn’t have noticed.

“Of course,” She said, “He fell for my sexy jutsu, and he… he laughed at my jokes. He believed in me… He actually believed in me,” She pulled the crying boy at her side closer and let more tears spill down her face, “and now he’s gone,”

“No, he’s not,” Iruka said, swallowing the lump that was in his throat (She knew because she had one to match) and squeezing her shoulder, “Because you remember him, he can’t ever be gone, not really. We all remember him, and so he lives on in us,” Iruka turned his head upward, letting the rain land on his face.

“It’s not fair, Iruka-sensei,” She said, bending and picking Konohamaru up, “None of this is fair,” She walked away, but not before she heard him reply.

“No, it’s not,”

A pair of Anbu came by after a little while, and took Konohamaru from her. They could have been his parents. She didn’t know, no one really did, but Konohamaru seemed glad to grasp the Man’s vest, and be carried away. She felt another hand on her shoulder as she walked away. It was Sasuke. His eyes were dark, but they were not so grief stricken they swelled almost closed, as hers did. She faced him.

“I’m sorry I was angry with you. Of course you left to train. It was silly of me, to be jealous. Of course Kakashi-sensei wanted to train you one on one- He’s the only person left in this village who has Sharingan too. I… I was wrong. And I was childish. None of it matters anyway, not really. Not now,” She looked past him to the still busy square, filled with mourners.

“Naru-”

“Don’t,” she said, turning away, “I… I have to… I have to find Pervy Sage. I need to train more. Get stronger. I… I have a promise to keep,”

“What promise?” Sasuke asked, stepping closer to her again. She lowered her head, and gripped her fists. The clouds parted, and the rain stopped.

“I swore I’d save as many lives as I could. I couldn’t save the Old Man, but god damn it, if I ever let something like this happen again-”

“Dobe, you didn’t let this happen! Don’t be an idiot! This- this was that Orochimaru guy everyone is talking about, not you-”

Naruto whipped around, staring at him, “If I’d been stronger I could have saved you and been back in time to help- I could have relieved Kakashi-sensei and Kakashi-sensei could have gone to the old man-”

“You’re being stupid! You defeated Gaara! I couldn’t do that! You… You’ve been getting so much stronger so much faster than anyone is ever supposed to be able to-”

“It’s not enough!” She sobbed, grasping his shirt, angrily wiping tears from her eyes like they were obstacles, “None of it’s enough because now the Hokage is dead and there’s no one who can take his place!”

Sasuke froze, looking at Naru’s tear stained face. He hates you, you’re so pathetic, he’s disgusted, just look at his expression. He hates you.

But then he pulled her into him and hugged her hard, resting his chin on her head. “Okay. Get so strong that next time someone threatens the village, you can end them with a look. Get so strong you can save everyone on the fucking planet. And I’ll get stronger too,” He kissed her forehead and pinched her ear, “I’ll get strong enough to save you,”

Naru looked up at him, confusion consuming her whole. What was that feeling in her throat? She wanted to stay, to figure out what it was, but instead she just nodded, and broke away.

“I have to go find Pervy Sage,” she squeezed Sasuke’s hand, “I’ll see you soon,”

Chapter Text

“There’s no one else who can do it, Master Jiraiya,” Ebisu said, leaning against the railing and staring at the Sanin. Jiraiya shook his head.

“There’s one other. And I think I know where to find her,”

One of the council raised her eyebrows, staring at him. “Surely you don’t mean…”

“Yeah. I do. I’m going to go and look for her, and I’ll bring her back here when I find her,” He paused, turning back to face the elder council and the few Jounin that weren’t on missions or helping to repair the damage done in the village, “And I’m taking the kid with me,”

“The Jinchuriki child? You’ll face no objections there, I can assure you,” another council member said, “No one will miss the little beast,”

Jiraiya snorted derisively. “It’d do you good to learn that just because you feel one way, doesn’t mean everyone does. There’s a whole lotta folks who’ll be sorry to see her go. You're all just too dried up and out of touch to know how the village really feels,”

The council all seemed to swell a little at the disrespect, and Ebisu snapped upright, glowering at him. “Mind how you speak, Master Jiraiya,”

Jiraiya shot him a withering look. “There’s a reason that all three legendary sanin left this village,” He growled, voice low, turning to leave, “and it’s not the scenery,”

“How dare-“

Jiraiya waved over his shoulder dismissively, and leapt off the balcony, landing on a rooftop clearly out of remonstrating range.

He found the kid quick enough. She was in the woods, loudly toppling trees and breaking off branches. Jiraiya sat nearby, out of sight, and watched for a while. It took her four punches and three kicks before she fell a rather large cedar tree, likely at least fifty years old. She screamed on her final strike, as though her voice was the last thing that the tree needed in order to submit to the inevitable. It struck the ground with a thud that shook the earth. She's channeling her chakra pretty well nowadays. Jiraiya descended from his own tree, partially because he was worried his perch would be the next victim of her training.

“Keep that up and Konohagakure will need to change its name. ‘Village that used to be hidden in the leaves’ or ‘village that isn’t fucking hidden at all anymore’ doesn’t really have that same ring to it, though,” He said, crossing his arms and leaning against the nearest unharmed tree trunk. Naru whipped around, her knuckles bloody and her whole body covered in sweat.

“I was looking for you all day yesterday, and all morning today, where were you? Spying on girls in changing rooms or spying on girls in hot springs?” she snapped, glowering at him.

“Neither. I’ve been spying on women in hot springs, thank you very much,” he said sharply, “but that’s beside the point. You need to pack your shit. We’re going on the road,”

Naru turned back to the nearest standing tree and climbed up it, sticking herself by the hands to a branch and starting to do pull ups, holding her legs out at a right angle. “Oh? Why?”

Jiraiya paused, wondering if he should tell her the truth or not. She was pretty broken up by Sarutobi's death, after all. He decided the truth was best. “We’re going to go and find the next hokage. An old teammate of mine,”

“Oh yeah? Is he as big a useless perv as you are?” She grunted, not looking at him. He could still tell the news bothered her.

“ She is neither useless, nor is she a pervert,”

Naru froze and fell out of her tree. “She? A woman? A woman Hokage? Lady Hokage! How dope does that sound? ” Naru grinned, jumping up, dirt sticking to the sweat on her back. She didn’t notice, “Where is she? How long till we get to see her?”

“Kid, calm down. The thing is, she’s in hiding, so it’ll take a while to find her,”

Naru waved her hand, as though she was brushing his words out of the way, “Nevermind that, I can wait. Is she strong? Does she have an elemental specialty? Is she totally ripped?”

“She’s very strong, and she’s a healer. The best healer there is, actually,”

“She’s… a healer?” Naru asked, disappointment flooding her features, “I… I thought… If she’s gonna be Hokage, then, she has to be able to beat people up, not fix people up!”

“Trust me,” Jiraiya said, running his hand through his hair, “Tsunade can definitely do both,”

“Oh. Well. That’s okay I guess,” Naru grumbled, crossing her arms.

“I’m sure she’ll be glad to have your endorsement,” Jiraiya tried to stop the smile that was threatening to creep onto his face. “Now, go shower and pack, meet me at the Village Gates in an hour,”

“But… Pervy Sage… What about my training?” She said, as though suddenly remembering something on a to do list. Jiraiya sighed.

“We can train as we look for her,” He snapped, “Don’t worry,”

“Do you think Tsunade could train me a little on the way back?” She asked hopefully, following Jiraiya back toward the village, jogging a little to catch up. He scowled down at her.

“You change Sensei’s like you change clothes. You’re my student now, kid. You even blackmailed me into it. Don’t get greedy,”

Naru rolled her eyes and sighed. “But I could learn a lot from a female perspective, you know?”

“You need a female perspective like I need a hole in the head,”

“Pretty bad then? Your head is looking a little swollen right now, after all,”

“Listen, I can make this training easy on you, or hard on you. Your choice,” he threatened. They reached the edge of the village, where they’d head in opposite directions. Naru turned, walking backward so that he’d hear her.

“Make it hard,” She laughed, wiping her chin, leaving a little bloody smudge there, “Nothing worth having ever came easy,” then she whipped around and jogged away, waving over her shoulder, “One hour, by the main gates!”

Jiraiya crossed his arms and finally let himself smile. She was such  a weird kid.

Chapter Text

Naru could not, for the life of her, pop the goddamn water balloon in her hand. She had been trying for hours, and hadn’t popped a single one. Jiraiya had wandered off, saying he’d be asking around for information. He really thinks I’m an idiot.

Naru didn’t care. She didn’t really want him to know how abysmally she was doing. No matter how hard she made the water thrash inside the plastic bubble in her hand she couldn't make the thin barrier break. She walked through the town, still trying to pop the balloon. One handed, she bought food and ate it, occasionally bumping into people and apologising profusely. She walked down into what was obviously the shady part of town, because it was less crowded, and what people were actually there glanced around them and steered far from her, a little kid in bright orange trousers holding a water balloon. She sat on a bench, sighing and slouching in shame. Jiraiya is going to be so disappointed in me. She flopped back and closed her eyes, the water balloon still clutched loosely in her hand.

Then she heard it. Jiraiya’s rowdiest laugh. She sat bolt upright and looked around her, dropping the ballon. She swore. Then his voice came echoing down the street.

“Oh yeah baby! This is my kinda town!”

She jumped to her feet, striding straight into a dimly lit club, punching the bouncer directly in the crotch when he tried to stop her. She stomped straight into the club and glowered around until she saw him, surrounded by scantily clad women and obviously very drunk.

“Hey! Dirty Old Bastard!” She yelled, pointing at him. Everyone in the club snapped their heads around to stare at her. Jiraiya froze, eyes wide.

“Naru! It isn’t what it looks like!”

“Isn’t what it looks like my ass!” She shouted. She wasn’t surprised, not really. She’d known exactly what he was going to do the second she walked into this city of indulgence. She glanced around. How do I get him out of here, without blowing any cover he might actually have going?   “So, I’m supposed to believe that you aren’t cheating on Mom?”

“Cheating on… Come on kid, what are you talking about?” Jiraiya blinked, surprised. Everyone in the club, however, turned their gazes toward him. Some of the women looked angry already. Naru supressed the laugh in her chest, using the pressure to make her voice crack.

“Mom sent me out here to find you, because she’s too weak to stand, and, you know I can’t carry her all the way to the hospital, even after she lost all that weight from her illness,” She threw her hand over her face dramatically so that none of the strippers could see her smile, “And I find you here, trying to pick up women! With my mother , your wife, sick at home, dying! Oh, the humanity! How could you, Father?!” She collapsed onto the ground in a convincing fit of emotional distress. She could hear the emptying of at least four drinks on her teacher’s head, and him spluttering in shock. That’s what you get for ditching me you nasty old goat. She thought, trying hard to keep her face in an exagerated expression of despair.

She felt Jiraiya yank her up by her arm and drag her out as she continued to kick her legs and wail about his “betrayal of the family!”

“I should kick your ass,” Jiraiya growled, dripping with a sticky mix of beer and fruity cocktails, but smiling all the same. She stood and grinned at him.

“Pretty convincing, huh?”

“Honestly kid, with that kinda plot in your back pocket, maybe you should be the novelist,” he said, leading her out to the edge of town and sighing, “If I give you some more help on this, will you actually let me do some reconnaissance?”

“Sure, for little a while. But didn’t the council warn you that I need a babysitter?” She said, pulling a thread out of the hem of her tank top and smiling up at him. Jiraiya crossed his arms and frowned.

“Listen to me. Those assholes on the council are so far up their own asses they can’t see what makes the village strong. People like you do that, not a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense. And if they can’t tell that… well, then that’s their problem- not yours,”

Naru felt her face heat up a little. “Thanks, Pervy sage, ‘preciate it,”

“Yeah, well. Whatever. Anyway, uh, shit, what was I saying? Oh yeah, Paper,”

“You weren’t saying anything about paper,” she said, shaking her head. He grit his teeth.

“That’s cause I hadn’t got to it yet,” he bit out. Naru grinned. “Anyway, your problem is that your chakra is unfocused, and you can’t tell which way it’s turning or where exactly you should channel it. Look,” He pulled out a piece of blank paper and a brush, holding it up for her to see. “Look at this, for instance,”

Naru did. The paper was still just blank. It did nothing other than flap a little in the breeze. Naru shrugged. “There’s nothing there. It’s just a piece of paper,”

“Exactly. There’s no focus,” he did something with the brush and turned the paper around. Naru Looked at it again. Her eyes fell on a little spiral in the middle of the page.

“Yeah, you made a dot. it's still just a piece of paper,” Naru said, pulling another thread from her top, “Congrats?”

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and pointed at the dot. “Where did your eyes immediately go?”

“The dot!” Naru snapped, pointing at it too. Jiraiya gestured violently at her with the brush, flicking ink in her face. (Most likely by accident, but she shot him a dirty look anyway.)

“Exactly! Egg-fucking-xactly!” He gestured at the dot again, “If you have a focus point, your eyes know where to go. Chakra,  is your eyes,”

“Chakra… is my eyes?”

“Yes! You need a focus point so that the chakra knows where to go!” He beckoned her over, dipping his brush in more ink, “Here,” he drew a little dot on her palm, “Now, your chakra has a place to go,”

Naru looked up at her teacher and smiled. “Okay, I got this,”

“Hell yeah you do. Oh! While I'm on a roll! Tilt your head forward,” He, however, didn’t wait, he roughly tilted her head toward him a little, looking down at it. “Hmm,”

“What?”

“Try turning the water to the right,” He said, grabbing his brush again and making the dot into a little spiral, rotating to the right. She furrowed her brow.

“How come?”

“It’s the direction your chakra naturally flows,” he said, dropping the brush into the inkwell at his feet and looking proud of himself.

“How’d you know that?” she asked, looking back up at him. He patted her head, grinning.

“It’s the direction your hair grows in,” He stepped back, turning to walk away, “Okay kid, don’t come get me until you-”

The water balloon popped in her hand, splashing over the both of them. She grinned. “Got it,”

“Oh-kayyy,” he said slowly, turning back to face her. He pulled out a bag of balloons and handed her half of them, dropping at least ten on the ground as he pushed them into her hands. “Fill these up and pop all of them. Then you can come get me,”

She frowned up at him. “Hey! I wanna do the next thing!” But he was already striding away, waving over his shoulder.

“Practice makes perfect kid. You told me to go hard on you!” He laughed. She flipped him off, scattering balloons over the ground.

“Take a shower, you smell like the floor in a bar that’s never been cleaned!” she spat, waving her crude hand sign over her head.

Jiraiya just flipped her off right back and strode quickly away. She sighed and began gathering up the balloons. Well, if I have to do this, I’ll do this right. She looked down at the spiral on her hand and smiled. She snatched up the brush and painted a little leaf around the spiral Jiraiya had made on her hand.

“I’ll get the hang of this so fast, his head’ll spin to the right!” she said, grabbing up the balloons and standing. She smiled to herself. “First I’ll get the hang of this, then I’ll become a chunin, then I’ll be the Hokage and save as many people as I can. Those council goons’ll see,” She laughed.  And if they don’t… that’s their problem.

Chapter Text

Whatever the kid thinks, I actually am trying to get some information. He thought, throwing his arm around a young woman who had her hair tied up, showing off large, fake gold earrings and who had on a dress that was at the very least two sizes too small for her. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

“Hey, I was wondering, do you like to gamble?”

She looked at him slyly through her lashes, “Mister, I like anything you like,”

“That’s a pretty good answer, sweetheart, but, ya see, I’m looking for someone who owes my boss an honor debt. He’d spend more money to get her back so no one thinks he’s letting a debtor run free than she ever owed in the first place,” he lied. She didn't look too far into it. She just leaned in, supplying him with a view down her dress front.

“Oh! Well, my memory’d be better if I’d eaten something. Maybe over dinner…” she said, sliding her hand up his thigh and fluttering her lashes.

Jiraiya pulled out a few bills and held them under the table for her to see. “I already ate, but I could buy you a little something if you want,”

“Sounds good to me. Got a description or something? There’s a lot of gamblers round here,” The woman said, looking down at the bills. Jiraiya smiled.

“Well, they call her the Legendary Sucker for starters. She never quits on a losing streak,”

“Is she blonde? With uh… generous endowments?” The woman asked, all coyness gone with the money in front of her. Jiraiya nodded.

“Yep, that’s her. So she’s around here?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her. My boss robbed her damn near blind the other day. She mighta blown town after that,”

Jiraiya handed her the money, nodding. “I told ya, she never quits on a losing streak,”

The woman tucked the cash into her bra and smiled at him. “Pleasure doing business,” She got up and he slid his eyes down her frame as she did so, smiling to himself.

“All mine,”

There was a loud yell and a bang and everyone in the club jumped, some drawing weapons as Naru, panting in exhaustion and with her tank top torn from where a bouncer had obviously tried to subdue her, burst in. She looked around, almost exactly how she had before, and then her eyes fell on him. A gleam flashed in her eyes and she sucked in a deep breath, but Jiraiya leapt to his feet and sprinted over to her, scooping her right off the ground and throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her out of the club before she could start screaming about another made up scandal.

“You weren’t supposed to come get me ‘till you popped all those balloons, kid,” He snarled, carrying her past the unconscious bodies of three massive bouncers. Little hellion.

“I did!” she exclaimed, obviously proud of herself. He pulled her off his shoulder and held her out in front of him, at arm’s length and a good two feet off the ground. She grinned at him.

“All those balloons? It’s only been an hour and a half,”

“Two hours,”

“That was two hundred and fifty balloons! It had to take a while to fill them up too!”

“I did two at a time,” she held out her hands awkwardly, because of the way he was holding her. Two little Leaf village symbols, facing in opposite directions, were branded, red and inflamed, into her palms from the sheer amount of Chakra that had been channelled through them in such a short period of time. He blinked, then dropped her. She landed on the ground on all fours, catlike, and then stood slowly, looking up at him.

“Come with me,” he said, looking around and striding toward the more family friendly part of town. She followed, looking a little disgruntled.

What kind of a little monster is this kid? Two hands? “Why’d you start using your left?” He asked, trying to keep his voice even. She shoved her burned hands into her pockets.

“It was goin’ too slow,” she said, obviously trying hard not to pout. He knew she’d probably been expecting praise or something, but he was having trouble wrapping his head around the fact she’d done it at all. It was more than impressive, it was surprising. Down right shocking. He strode up to a vendor and bought a popsicle, and asked the vendor for a spare ice cube. He turned back to her, and tossed her the ice cube.

“Hold that between your palms,” he snapped. She did as she was told, flinching at first then sighing in relief. He watched her melt the little cube between her overheated hands. Once it was pretty much gone, he snapped the two popsicle sticks apart and handed her one. She took it, looking up at him in surprise he almost found insulting.

“Wha-”

“That’s pretty good kid. I don’t think even the fourth coulda maintained two different chakra rotations at once,” He bit into the popsicle and chewed it carefully, “Especially in different directions. And he created the damn Jutsu,”

“Guess I just have a talent for swinging both ways,” She joked. Jiraiya paused for a moment, deciding it was best just not to react at all. It made sense, really.

“So, here’s the thing. I want you to go to bed,”

“What? No way! All that work and you just-”

But Jiraiya held up his hand, and she fell reluctantly silent, putting her popsicle in her mouth like a cork in a bottle, “ Because you’re moving too quickly. I need to get some shit together for the next phase of your training, and you need rest. I need to recalibrate, I wasn’t expecting you to do this well. You surprised me. I’m gonna really up the ante tomorrow, but I also need to do my job,” He looked down at her disappointed face and ruffled her hair, allowing her a smile, “I’m proud of you kid, now go get to the hotel room and wash yourself up,”

It was almost funny how quickly her face lit up at the word proud, and she grinned so hard her eyes squeezed shut and gave him the thumbs up. “You got it Pervy Sage!” she turned on her heel and waved over her shoulder, heading to the hotel, “Better be ready for me to bring it tomorrow!”

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and sighed performatively, but waved back. So, she can maintain two different rotations at once. That was probably why she was having trouble before. She could, maybe, have produced a more powerful singular rasengan if she’d somehow changed the direction back and forth, but that would take two more hands than she had.  She really just adjusted the jutsu to both compensate for her specific problem and improve it without even trying to do so. I guess that kind of thinking just comes naturally to her.

He paused, chewing the inside of his cheek. On top of that, how on earth does she have two opposing natural chakra rotations? Is that the Kyuubi? How hasn’t she exploded yet if that’s true?

He looked over, spying a beautiful woman with long brown hair, talking to a vendor. She glanced at him, and seeing him watching her, blushed shyly. He smiled. Well, at least I can take my mind off of it for a little while. I’ll worry about it later.

Chapter Text

Naru sat, drying her hair roughly with her towel. She sighed. It had been a long time since she’d had to be alone like this. Sure, she was by herself in Konohagakure for a little while every now and again, but she could always swing by Ichiraku or go play a prank and get in trouble if she needed it. She wasn’t ever alone with nothing to do. Naru bit her lip.

She wanted to summon Gamakichi to keep her company, but felt like it might be wrong to keep calling him down from the mountain to entertain her. He had a life too. She’d already done a pretty decent amount bed-presses, and pushups, and she’d just taken a shower, she didn’t really want to get sweaty again right away. She flopped back on the bed, wishing she’d packed something to do. Maybe I should take up reading dirty novels all the time like Kakashi. She snorted.

She thought of Shikamaru, always so happy to just lie back and watch the clouds roll by. Or Sakura, who always carried some textbook or other with her in case she had two minutes to spare. Or even Sasuke, who although he never seemed happy while he did it, seemed content to stare off into space and leave the present for a little while, think about something else while his hands idly turned a kunai over and over again.

Naruto wondered if it was an affliction, not being able to detach herself from the present moment, to be inherently malcontent in inactivity. She looked up at the ceiling, imagining something projected there, like a movie. She imagined sitting at a table, with Shikamaru and Choji, Sakura sitting next to her, Sasuke leaning against a wall. They were laughing, playing a board game. It quickly devolved into them throwing chips at each other. Naru smiled. She sometimes wished they were all civilians, all just living their lives like normal citizens while other people worried about all the big things, the wars and the death. She wondered, if she had parents, would things be different? But Sakura had parents, and she got mixed up in all the same crap she did. Well, almost. She wasn’t a demon vessel.

Naru wouldn’t trade though. She liked being herself, her only wish is that everyone else liked her too. She chewed her top lip. It’d be nice if people would only like her like Shikamaru and Choji did. Sakura and Sasuke only really put up with her because they were on the same team, and Jiraiya only put up with her cause she was a blackmailer. But Shikamaru and Choji, they saught her out. Kiba too, sometimes, but the rest? It was all convenience.

I wish people would search me out more often. Look for me.

There was a knock at the door. Naru frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was far too early for Jiraiya to be back. Not with the way women in this town dressed. He’d be busy for another two or three hours. Who the hell was knocking on her door then? She stood, shuffling over to the door.

“Who is it?”

“Room service,” A low, lazy, masculine voice replied. She turned the knob and cracked the door.

“I didn’t-”

The man pushed the door open, making her step back, further into the room. Two men stood, blocking the doorway, dressed in black robes adorned with stylised red clouds. One, the taller man, was almost inhuman looking. Scars like gills marred the skin under his eyes, which were round and unnatural. A large, bandaged sword was strapped to his back and what Naru could see of his smile was sharp and… wrong. The other man… the other man was…

Beautiful. He had the face of a dream, deep lines making their way from his red, familiar eyes to his cheeks, like a pathway for tears to travel along, roads of sorrow. He had high cheekbones and seemed comprised of graceful, gently arching lines. Not like Kakashi or Neji, who were both so angular, or Choji, who was soft and round. Not even Shikamaru or Kiba, whose every feature spelled unabashed masculinity. No, This man… This man reminded her of Sasuke. Gentle lines, unconcerned with expectations but somehow still meeting all of them, a perfect marriage of masculine and feminine, framed in blue-black hair that made his pale skin look like moonlight made physical. This man is either an Uchiha or an angel.

She stared up at him, in awe, as his hand slid slowly down the door and he stepped into the room. “You’re the Uzumaki kid, then?”

It was his voice that had slipped through the door, the lazy cant of his accent, his words spoken like cursive handwriting. She retreated backward, narrowing her eyes.

“No,” She lied, glancing away from him to his smirking friend, but her eyes fell back upon the gorgeous stranger, who somehow, at the same time, wasn’t a stranger at all, “and I didn’t order room service,” She said, her knees hitting the edge of the bed. She wasn’t an idiot. These men didn’t work for the fucking hotel. These men were here for her, and there was no good reason why.

“Oh, sorry,” The man who looked like an animal said, a humour in his words that didn’t belong there. He's a demon. A demon and an angel walk into a hotel room, and my life is a sick joke... “Our mistake. But... while we’re here we might as well clean up a little. Right, Itachi?” He looked at the angel, who just kept walking forward slowly, toward Naru. She fell onto the bed and scooted back onto it, away from him, till her legs stuck out childishly, her feet leaning toward each other. she started to scramble, wanting space, needing to think... but how could she? How could she gain her bearings when her head was spinning so fast?

“Take this seriously, Kisame,” The angel, Itachi, replied in a bored voice. He tilted his head, red eyes tracing along Naru’s face. Kisame snorted.

“Come on,” Kisame said, “this is easy pickings. Grab the boy and lets go,”

“I think it’s a girl,” Itachi said, approaching the bed, taking hold of one of her ankles and pulling her back to the edge. Naru bristled.

“I don’t care what it is, just grab it and let's go,” The taller man growled. Itachi leaned forward, reaching toward her.

“Watch it, pretty boy,” she growled, slapping his hands away and snarling up at him. She felt Kurama stir in her. Itachi smiled half heartedly. How could a person be so stunning?

“It’s her for sure, Kisame,” he said, staring deep into her eyes, making her freeze solid, grabbing her waist and pulling her off the bed, cradling her like a child, “Let’s go,”

“Finally,” Kisame sighed, kicking off the doorframe. Itachi carried her out of the room. She struggled faintly, but Itachi was much, much stronger than he looked, and there was something wrong in the way her body was listening to her, like someone had built a dam between her brain and her muscles. She swore, closing her eyes. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.

“Hey! Itachi!”

Sasuke? No! Go! Get away! This isn’t happening!

Itachi turned, still cradling Naru, and faced the young man standing at the end of the hall. Naru opened her eyes and looked up at Itachi, who was looking bored again. “Sasuke-chan. It’s nice to see you again,”

“That’s good, cause I’m the last thing you’re ever going to see, you vile son of a-”

“Mind your words, otouto,”

A flash of lighting, and Sasuke was charging down the hotel hallway, dragging his Chidori along the wall. Naru saw it like it was in slow motion, Itachi dropped her and grasped Sasuke’s wrist, pulling him in so he had no choice but to stand on her chest, knocking the air from her, in order to stop himself from choking as Itachi grabbed his throat.

“You’re still too weak. You don’t have nearly enough hate,” Itachi whispered, just barely loud enough for Naru, still struggling for air, to hear.

“You bastard,”

“Mom and dad were married, remember?” Itachi laughed, dragging Sasuke off Naru and snapping his wrist as easily as a dry twig. Sasuke cried out, and Naru jumped up.

“Let him go you fucking piece of shit!” She snapped, moving jerkily. Itachi barely looked at her.

“Kisame, subdue that, just for a moment, will you?”

“With pleasure,” the beast purred, striding forward and grabbing her, grinning down at her with his sharp rows of teeth.

“Fuck you,” she said, spitting in his face. Kisame wiped it away with his sleeve, snarling, and punched her hard in the face. Really hard. Pain made her vision swim, and her ears ring. She felt her nose break and Sasuke grunt. No! I have to get to him! I have to save him! She Began building her chakra, ramping up for the fight that was coming.

“Hey, maybe you shouldn’t punch little girls. Just, you know, a tip. It makes you seem like you’re compensating for something,”

Jiraiya!  She looked over at him, standing there. A little plume of anger burst behind her eyes. Leave the monster to me. Help Sasuke! She stamped on Kisame's foot, but he didn't react beyond tightening his grip and lifting her slightly. She kicked out again, still being ignored. Her body still wasn't reacting right.

“Maybe you live up to your nickname though… Don’t they call you the beast without a tail?” Jiraiya sneered, still focusing on the man holding her. Naru snorted with laughter, blood from her crushed nose splattering the ground. Kisame snarled, and he hit her again, sending her slumping, half conscious to the ground.

Jiraiya did something, and the floor around her was soft and warm, and there was a loud crashing. Jiraiya was shouting, Sasuke was screaming, Naru couldn’t see anything. Were her eyes closed? She tried to open them.

She couldn’t. Was she blind?

Was she…

Chapter Text

Jiraiya pursued the two men through the hall, sure that they couldn’t get out, sure he’d be able to catch them and interrogate them at the very least but… then he rounded a corner and there was a hole blown in the throat, straight to the city, rimmed in black flames. He ground his teeth together.

Not much can get through a toad throat. This isn’t good. He knew a little about the Akatsuki, and had heard enough about the seven swordsmen of the mist to know Kisame when he saw him. The younger man was obviously Itachi, likewise infamous, because, of course he was. Not many people wipe out their own clan, and given that it was the Uchihas… well, it took more than a little guts to take on one Uchiha, let alone all of them. No point in trying to pursue them further... I'm not ready for that kind of a fight right now. He had to make sure Naru and her little stalker boyfriend were okay, after all.

He pulled the unconscious kid out of the wall, and found Naru standing, blinking furiously, blood running down her face and into her eyes. Kid probably can’t see a fucking thing . He reached out, touching her shoulder, but she instantly grabbed his arm and made to break it.

“Whoa! Kid! It’s me, it’s me,” he growled, yanking his arm away. She looked up at him, still blinking, her eyes clouded and dark, “But where, exactly, was that energy when you were getting kidnapped?” he snapped.

“Fuck! Sorry Pervy Sage, is Sasuke-kun okay? Where’d you put the goons?”

“The kid’s here, he’s fine. The goth bathrobes got away,”

“They did what? Excuse me?” She barked, baring her teeth upward, a foot to the left of his head. He frowned.

“They got away,” He said clearly, pulling her arms out straight with his left hand and dumping Sasuke on her with his right. She stumbled a little, but recovered and squeezed him closer to her. She pointed her useless eyes down at him and frowned. 

“Teme if you stopped using chakra for your pushups this wouldn’t happen,” She mumbled, and Jiraiya released the toads throat jutsu, leaving the three of them in a badly damaged hotel hallway. Jiraiya sighed, uncapped a skein of water and tilted Naru’s head back, not warning her before dumping it over her eyes. She flinched and blinked, but didn’t drop the boy as water ran over her and splashed him too. When the skein was empty Jiraiya capped it and put it in his bag. She blinked again, looking up at him. Her face went from relief to fury in a half a second.

“THERE’S NOT A SCRATCH ON YOU! YOU LET THEM GET AWAY WITHOUT A FIGHT?”

“Keep shouting, and I’ll blind you for real this time,” He snapped, crossing his arms as she shifted Sasuke so his head was resting in the crook of her neck, and pointed at him viciously with the hand supporting Sasuke's legs.

“Those lil fuckers hurt Sasuke-kun and you just let them walk away? What the hell happened?”

“I didn’t let them do anything, brat!” he said, towering over her, “Those guys were no joke! You should know, they were about to kidnap you! Hold still,” He reached out and pinched her swollen nose, feeling the break. She squeezed her eyes closed, but let him grind the bones back to the place they belonged.

“Well, yeah but-“ she grunted. He let go of her nose, which was bleeding again.

“But nothing! Get your shit and let’s go to another hotel!” He said, turning her around and pushing her into the room. 

“Why?” She whined. He paused.

“Cause the enemy knows about the location of our room, thanks to your so kindly opening the door to-“

“It’s because you don’t wanna wind up stuck with the repair bill, isn’t it?” She said, looking up at him in a bemused sort of way. Jiraiya’s mouth closed with a click of teeth.

“Maybe,”

“You’re so lame,” she sighed, walking back into the room and laying Sasuke out gently on the bed before moving to pick up her things. Jiraiya did the same, thinking it over. Now, the Akatsuki want the kid. It’s gotta be ‘cause of the nine tails, that’s obvious. And Itachi would have known the name too, Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of the nine tails, cause he was in Konoha at that time, in the academy. It makes sense.

He watched as Naru threw her pack over her shoulder and scooped Sasuke back up, a small crease between her eyebrows as his head flopped backward. She adjusted him so that his head fell on her shoulder again, making sure his neck wasn’t strained. Jiraiya frowned. The kid was a hot head, and she let her emotions make her decisions for her. It might not have been a good idea to pair her up with someone who was so ambitious and so keen on self destruction.

It was like pouring boiling water into a frozen glass. A recipe for disaster. But the expression on her face when she looked down at him, like her whole world had ground to a halt because he might not be okay. He knew that look. It was too late to try to fix it if it had been a mistake. All there was to do was hope it hadn’t been.

She turned to him, and he realised he had been fiddling with the fastenings on his bag for a good two minutes.

“What are you doing, Pervy Sage?” She snapped, pulling Sasuke into her like he wasn’t any heavier than Gamakichi. He grimaced at her.

“You’re too young for boys,” He snapped, “You know that right?”

She rolled her eyes, “Boys, girls, dating in general. I don’t wanna do anything other than kick ass and take names. Just ask Kiba-chan,”

“Who the hell is Kiba?”

“My friend who everyone says has a crush on me,” She said, walking out of the room, “I’m not entirely convinced, but I guess it’s possible,” She looked up and down the hallway, and jumped in surprise. Jiraiya rushed forward, worried that the Akatsuki had returned, but a large sandal came out of nowhere and straight into his face. He fell backward, thudding to the ground painfully.

“Gai-Sensei! It’s good to see you!” He heard Naru chirp, “But why did you kick the old perv in the face? I’m not complaining or anything, but-”

Jiraiya swore, sitting up and glowering at the man who was standing in front of Naru. He was looking ashamed, rubbing the back of his head. “Are you stupid or something?” Jiraiya shouted.

“Oh… Sorry Master Jiraiya, I didn’t realise it was you, I thought-”

“No, you didn’t think, that’s the problem!” Jiraiya barked, jumping to his feet and pointing to himself, “Do I look like an Akatsuki member to you?”

“A what?” Gai asked, looking down at Naru, who shrugged.

“Nevermind. We’re making progress here, but the kid is down and out. Itachi did something to him,”

Gai looked down at Sasuke, who was still in Naru’s arms. He grimaced, “It looks like he did the same thing to him that he did to Kakashi-sensei,” He looked up at Jiraiya again. “They came to the village first, and Kakashi-sensei held him off... but he’s been unconscious ever since. We can’t do anything for him, we don’t know anything about what he did,”

Naru inhaled deeply, and Jiraiya stuck his finger in his ear, just in time for her to start yelling at maximum volume, “What do you mean he got Kakashi-sensei ? What do you mean you can’t do anything for him ? Does that mean you can’t fix Sasuke-kun? What kind of useless- Look at him!” She shook Sasuke, who flopped uselessly in her arms, “Is he just gonna be a fucking… a…”