The Red String of Marriage

Young Healers - Naruto

Naruto woke up alone in the morning; Ino was nowhere to be found. He wandered out to the kitchen, finding Mizuka drying the dishes and cleaning the counters.

"Good morning, Naruto!"

"Good morning. Where's Ino?'

"Mei came this morning and asked if she wanted to go to breakfast. She'll be back in a little bit."

Naruto had met Mei the previous day with Ino when they were in tow. She was a pretty black haired girl with a big smile and kind eyes. She and Ino seemed to be close, but she stopped smiling at the mention of Mizuka.

"Mei didn't seem like a big fan of yours, Z."

"She's not. She's angry because I wouldn't take her on as my student. Her whole family is."

"Why not?"

Mizuka set down the dish towel and leaned over the counter.

"I believe that she's not in it for the right reasons. Ive known Mei her entire life. Hell, I delivered her. And I've heard her say plenty of times that she can't wait to be a healer so she can meet the perfect shinobi and fall in love and get married and have babies. I've heard it a million times over the past seven years. She never mentioned it before then."

"What happened seven years ago?"

"Ino didn't mention it? Mei was kidnapped and tossed into the Tenchi River in freezing temperatures.. Kakashi jumped in after her. They both came close to losing their lives that night. I'm the one that resuscitated him and kept him alive. We were married a month later, and Mei has been talking about her own shinobi love story ever since."

Naruto made a face.

"That seems kinda fast."

Mizuka laughed.

"Well, we had known each other since childhood, so it wasn't like we were strangers."

"So, is she not going to become a healer? I mean, maybe she'll find the right reasons."

"She's a healer, just like Ino. Another healer took her on. Don't get me wrong, she is a very sweet girl, it's just that I'm probably only going to get one student and I wanted someone else with passion and the willingness to learn. I've certainly found my match with Ino. She's smart and driven, and she's been very receptive to guidance. I wish I could keep her to hone her skills for an extra year, but I understand that Tsunade needs her back in the village. She's blossomed into a wonderful healer that I'm very proud of. And Mei has turned into a wonderful healer as well, and she probably will get her shinobi husband; a lot of healers do."

Naruto heard footsteps on the stairs; his sensei appeared a moment later, dressed in his mask, undershirt, and pants, fresh from the shower. He sat down next to Naruto at the table. Mazuka continued.

"And Ino's been a good match for our family... and Tenchi."

Kakashi nodded,

"Having Sakura here would've caused too much conflict. And she wouldn't have had any idea what she was walking into, which really isn't fair to her. And then explaining to the Harunos that their youngest was going to train with Mizuka."

"Yeah, so what's the story with that?"

'My parents had me when they were young teenagers, but instead of giving me up or one of them staying home to raise me, I was left alone to fend for myself as soon as I was old enough to attend the academy. They both had aspirations to be powerful shinobi and, well, they weren't, and they aren't. I guess they started their real family 14 years ago and they pretend like I ever existed."

The story was almost unbelievable. Mizuka seemed unaffected.

"I'm sorry, Z."

"Oh, don't be. I'm not. I'm an Elite Healer of Tenchi and a member of the Hatake Clan now. That's not to say that it didn't hurt before, but anger is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die, you know? Besides, what I have now is better than wheat I would've had otherwise."

She smiled at Kakashi when she said the last part.

"Wow, Kakashi Sensei. I thought you were just a pervy old bachelor. Who knew that you were a happily married guy all along."

"You just never know, huh?"

Mizuka looked as she just remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Kakashi, Guy and Little Guy left early this morning for Konoha. They said there weren't enough training opportunities here."

Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, that takes the pressure off a little bit, at least. It's hard to recover sometimes with that amount of hot-blooded youth."