Copycat Kitsune

Ch. 5

Naruto awoke with a slow, throaty groan as her eye slid open slowly and seeing the familiar white ceiling above her, she concluded that she was still in the hospital. The constant mechanical beep sounding from her bedside wasn't hard to miss either.

As the young girl slowly sat up in the bed, she realized that she felt... completely relaxed. Her body felt unusually heavy. Eyelid drooping and dry lips smacking, she realized she was extremely thirsty.

"Good evening." The blond didn't even twitch at the unexpected greeting, her body being far too relaxed to even jolt. Naruto looked to her left and found a man she had never seen before sitting in a chair a few feet away from her bed.

It was a man who looked to be in his early to mid thirty's. His hair was blonde and a few shades lighter than her own, short yet spiky on top but a shoulder length pony tail in the back. He had two long bangs framing his face. His skin was a few shades paler then her own and his eyes were a startling...blue? Green? Sea foam green? Naruto wasn't quite sure what to call it, but she found the color pleasing to see. The man wore a dark red jacket that had black sleeves over a standard Jonin uniform with a Leaf Village headband tied around his forehead.

He sat with one leg crossed over the other, his hands rested on a clipboard that was propped up on his folded knees and he was looking at her with a small smile on his face.

Naruto's blue eye flickered behind the man and towards the door, more specifically, towards the spiky silver haired ANBU agent standing next to the door. The silent shadow stood motionless, his porcelain dog mask staring straight ahead and despite the mask having eye holes, she could only see darkness.

"My names Inochi." Naruto's eye flicked back towards the man sitting next to her. "The Hokage asked me to be here when you woke up." He flashed her a small comforting smile.

"Why?" Naruto wondered, her voice cracking slightly from lack of use. "Who are you?" She stared at him.

"I'm a Jonin but im the head of the Yamanaka clan-"

"Yamanaka? Like Ino?" Naruto looked puzzled, her only exposed eye filled with confusion.

"Ah, you know my daughter then?" He asked with a smile. Though it was a redundant question, something to just keep the young girl talking. He knew that Ino shared the same class as Naruto, his daughter had come home a few times complaining about losing sparring matches against the girl for sometime now.

"What does Inos dad want with me?" She muttered out while bringing a hand up to cover her mouth as she yawned.

"I'm not just a clan leader. I suppose the best way to put it is, I'm a ninja therapist." He told her, chuckling lightly at his own simplified job tittle.

"Oh." Inochis lips twitched slightly as he watched the young girl suddenly freeze up. Her drowsy face quickly morphed into a stone cold slab that gave nothing away. "I don't need a therapist." She told him as she looked away from him and towards the wall of windows to her right.

The nearly setting sun had begun its decent and was currently bathing the cloudless blue sky in a series of oranges, yellows and pinks.

"Naruto..." the seated man began slowly, his voice tinged with kindness. "You went through something rather traumatic and I can't imagine what you're feeling right now but I need you to know that I'm here for you." He leaned forward a little as the girls head turned towards him.

"And I'm just supposed to believe that?" She snapped at him, her blue eye turned icy as she glared at him. "Fat chance buddy, I'm sure every thing I say, even now, is gonna be on the Hokages desk by morning." She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.