Tale of A Golden Girl

Meeting

Her eyes flickered from blue to violet, and she felt herself beginning to burn up.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The blonde made the mistake of not paying attention to her surroundings while yelling at her partner.

'Naruto you fool! Get out of there!'

Naruto blearily looked up at the person touching her shoulder in concern. Pretty violet eyes examined her beneath furrowed red brows.

"Hey, what's wrong 'ttabane?"

Naruto flinched back violently.

'When the heck did Mom get there?'

'Now! Leave NOW!' The fox bellowed.

"Naruto?" Kakashi and Minato were looking at her, moving to help her in some way.

Naruto squeezed her eyes shut when she felt them about to turn red. Without meaning to, she slapped away Kushina's hand.

"D-don't touch me." She growled, making the redhead flinch.

"Naruto..." Minato frowned. "Calm down alright? Don't take it out on Kushina, just tell us what's wrong okay?"

Naruto panted, turning her back on them, she felt like she was boiling from the inside out. Her face was flushed with a sudden fever, and no one seemed to notice how pale Kushina was getting by the second. It was only a matter of time before the redhead began feeling ill as well.

"Nobody touch me." Naruto rasped.

Kakashi stepped forward, dark eyes serious. "Naru-"

Her body burst into a golden glow, blinding them momentarily, and before anyone could blink she was gone.

Naruto staggered as she lost control of her Kyuubi Cloak's incredible speed, her foot slipping on a loose tile atop the rooftop she'd been zipping across before she lost her balance, the sudden and awkward stop sending her tumbling forward violently.

With a pained grunt, Naruto tucked herself in a protective ball, her small form tumbling off the side of the rooftop and plummeting into the alleyway below.

The blonde flipped herself around to make a last minute rough landing, but to her utter surprise, she fell right into someone's arms.

"Sorry!" Naruto yelped.

"You're nothing but trouble aren't you Naruto?" A familiar laid back voice drawled, followed by a careless sigh.

The blonde looked up at her savior, recognizing her classmate and the person she had met in the Chunin Exams so long ago.

"Ibiki!" The blonde blurted.

The tall boy sighed again and set the short blonde onto her feet. Masked face flushed, Naruto looked up at the boy.

At age seven, Ibiki was still one of the tallest people she knew. Well, at least compared to her peers. He had lightly tanned skin, and white hair cut to short spikes. His eyes were deep brown, always uninterested and half lidded. She didn't know him very well, just that he spent a lot of his time with Asuma, Aoba, Raidou and Genma. As a child, he was very laid back, almost awkward, and he didn't speak unless spoken to.

"Thanks for catching me man, could've been an ugly spill, y'know?"

Ibiki shrugged. "Welcome." He grunted.

Naruto beamed at him, taking in her surroundings, noticing they were in a shadowed alley filled with dusty cobweb draped crates and puddles created from mixtures of egregious fluids. Infirm rats darted from shadow to shadow, cockroaches scuttled from corner to corner.