Updating a few hours earlier because I know I'll be busy when the actual time comes...
"What do you mean Itachi?" Naruto asked cautiously as she sat up.
Her inner companion cocked her head as if testing if the other was stupid or not. "We know that if we want to be anyone's partner for life, if we want to walk the earth and grow old with anyone, it is Itachi."
A long pause. "Are you sure our feelings go that deep?"
A short pause, and a shrug. "No they do not. But if we choose anyone, even for the sake of choosing, we'd rather it is Itachi rather than anyone else. The question is, do you want to pursue the feelings?"
Naruto looked down. "I would like to. But there are many risks."
"Kindly elaborate."
Naruto glared at the mock politeness.
"Marriage can restrict our freedom and mobility. We have an unconventional way of doing things and break many rules. Union with a Clan Head or Clan Heir will put a constriction to all that.
I don't know if I can take care of my children, given I've never had any proper parenting, what with my own father placing the village before me.
I'm a Jinchuuriki and Kurama's position during childbirth is vulnerable, and there's a good chance of History repeating itself.
Sasuke doesn't like his former teammate. No matter how much I seemed oblivious to that after the war, I know the true extent of his dislike- which is much more than what he showed. So anyone related to Naruto would be of obvious dislike to him.
And the most important of all- Does Itachi like me more than a best friend?"
Silence rang loud.
Before Inner Naruto burst into laughter.
An offended look calmed her down into giggles before she spoke.
"Ok. Use clones for dividing household work and non-familial work. Our separate identities as Uzumaki Naruto and ANBU Second-in-Command will help retain our freedom. Itachi would understand, I'm sure. Else, leave the thoughts of union.
Look at Ojii-sama! He had no children of his own when he was alive, and Senju Butsuma was not known to be the best parent. Yet, he was known to be the best caretaker of children. He had drawn up plans for orphanages and children. Among the plans drawn before Konoha's birth, the plans for children were more than the plans for administration. Besides, you will have help from Kurenai-san, Anko and Mikoto-san. It comes naturally with the motherhood!
Kurama was controlled by the Sharingan to rip his chains and seal inside Kaa-san. Inside us, Kurama has neither chains, nor a seal. We can tweak the seal keeping him in such that he can come out in any form- from chibi fox to large nine tails on both his and our whims. So he will be outside before childbirth.
Sasuke IS a problem. We can only hope Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san and Itachi can take care of his problems.
What if Itachi doesn't like us back in that way? Not every relationship had both people simultaneously loving each other. If memory serves us and Ojii-sama right, it was Mito-sama who had fallen in love with Hashirama-sama and wooed him. We want our man, we get our man!"
Naruto looked stunned at her companion, her expression a mixture of 'you are awesome' and 'are you crazy'.
"Oka...y... How do you know so much on motherhood?"
The companion facepalmed. "You remember this out of all things? It was a more of a logical conclusion from the data we received from the experience of our travels."
Naruto had a shy smile as she looked away. "I guess so. I'll ask Tou-san, Kaa-san and Ojii-sama about me courting Itachi-kun. Anija will be a spoiler." She ended with a sly smile
Only if you knew, Naruto. Only if you knew...
Inner Naruto put a not-so-comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hold on! Why did Itachi became Itachi-kun here?"
Naruto rolled her eyes. "We only call him that name to tease him, given he has a lot of fan girls. Of course it had started with respect."
They laughed out loud.
...
Elsewhere, Itachi sneezed quietly. Mikoto caught him in the act. "Oh Itachi! Are you catching a cold, my dear boy? You should take some rest!" Shisui beside him snickered. "I don't think that's the case, Aunt Mikoto. Someone must be talking about him. He's quite popular after all."
Itachi hit him hard in the ribs. "I wasn't the one who motivated the entire Shinobi Force. You are just as famed, if not more." Mikoto giggled before replying, "True. But Naruto seems to have outdone you both."
The two boys sobered up at once.
...
"You know," Naruto said as she watched the cotton-clouds of random shapes, lying on her back with her companion, "I've always wondered about the meaning of life. Even if I wasn't born to be a Jinchuuriki with an almost fixed responsibility, I've wondered the purpose of a life. Something other than the petty fights among ourselves over a piece of land or a metaphorical bruise to the ego."
Said companion hummed as she replied, "I know. I am you." A snort from Naruto went ignored. "We might get the meaning once we spend more time in life? Who knows? We might even realize that we have been going in the wrong direction. Maybe a roller-coaster ride too!"
Naruto snorted. "Like Ojii-sama's feelings about the Uchiha Clan? Hating them- because his brothers died- to suspicions- because of what Hashirama had proclaimed about Madara- to mixed feelings because of Izuna's wound- to high caution- because of Izuna's death- to wariness- in the initial days of Konoha's construction- to exasperation at Madara's behaviour, to pain, sadness and disappointment in the later years till he met Obaa-sama." She counted on her fingers.
"Don't let him witness you doing this." Her companion warned.
"Yeah, yeah."
...
When Naruto had stepped out of her own closet, she found the world dark. Yest, she could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin.
She was blind.
She extended her slightly wild chakra and wandered carefully around the floating island. She had found some large wild fruits and berries piled outside the lake of the waterfall- probably kept there by her giant animal friends for her. She knew not how much time had passed since either leaving Konoha, or meeting her inner self (difference between them was around an hour). But she did feel hungry.
She had eaten few berries before she left, searching for her friends. A long while later, she found the Koala bear who had told her that one day had passed since her arrival. The end of this day would hopefully signify the return of her sight.
Naruto had trained herself to work when she had lacked any sense. But real-life situations turned out to be freakier than she thought. Moreover, she had been exhausted from battling extensively and helping in the aftermath of the war without a break. She wanted to give her body rest, but Madara's gift had started acting up.
She knew how to go through her life well without her eyes as good as a Jounin with sight. Her sensory skills had a major role in that. But with her muscles asking for few more hours of rest in the least, she tried not to use much chakra and rely on her natural senses and had cut off any use of chakra, even the fox seal on her shoulder that keeps up her appearances, though it didn't use chakra continuously.
A couple of hours after playing with her friends- training, she went into the forest alone, trying to get a natural feel of her 'temporary' disability. She wasn't exactly worried about losing her sight as long as she had chakra.
Or that's what she thought.
She must've either been too exhausted, or too immersed in nature to note the masked presence of another shinobi.
Her instincts caused her to activate her sensory skills- that have been kept to sleep forcefully- in the last moment, and avoid a fatal blow to her heart from an intruder- a shinobi, by the stealth and lack of sound of footsteps- a male with lightning base chakra, a Kumo Jounin. However, it had cut her arm. The poison in the blood was spreading through her veins. Her antibodies already working, trying to neutralize it. The battle had to be over. And fast.
"Well, well. I've found a bigger catch than I had intended to." A gruff voice said. "Who are you and what do you want?" Naruto shot back in he male voice as she instinctively transformed back into her male self. "It doesn't matter who I am. Not to you anyway. Because I wish to get rid of you and make myself famous for getting rid of the most powerful shinobi. That had been my only wish when I set out for the island. But now, it's gonna be easy now that you seem to be blind. Also, I would like to have some fun, since you belong to the fairer sex." The leer was clear.
Naruto's face hardened at the implication. "I'm terribly sorry for bursting your bubble, but I'm not what you think. If you would allow me to explain before what seems to be my imminent death, that was a transformation Jutsu- a personal variation of mine, that I had created for trapping perverts like yourself. I call it the 'Oiroke no Jutsu'! Glad to see it had worked on you." She smirked at the end.
She felt fury and irritation spike in the other Jounin's chakra before it simmered. "At least you do not deny that you are blind." "And what makes you think that I wasn't always blind and that this is a temporary thing?" Naruto asked casually. "Your surprise and that you haven't been able to completely avoid my attack is the proof." Was the cocky answer.
Naruto raised a brow. "Impressive observation. Do you need me to applaud?" She asked flatly. There was a roar before the man launched himself. "You will die today Uzumaki!"
Naruto didn't want to use any chakra, whether it be hers, or Kurama's or from the Byakugou seal, for the the fear of tampering the progress of whatever change was happening in her chakra from Madara's 'gift'.
This is a test of pure Taijutsu. Naruto smirked feral. The one that belonged to Minato. But the shinobi was not a Jounin for nothing. He had the advantage of using water, lightning and gale style jutsus, while she couldn't use her wind and water jutsus.
(She suddenly remembered that Madara, while having Fire Affinity like all his clansmen, had Wind as his major affinity. Cool, isn't it?)
With that happy thought (which thought?) she proceeded to put him down. The animals were peacefully far away slumbering. The Jounin had the advantage since he fought to kill, while she aimed to make him unconscious. She didn't want the Raikage angry!
Apparently, the man took her mercy for weakness and taunted her. "What happened, War Hero? Are you too exhausted from that battle, or was that not you at all? That's what you are! A fake! A phony!"
Naruto was annoyed by his unnecessary blabbering and taunts. She used her sensory skills to put him under Genjutsu. She didn't have a good catch at first attempt as the lack of sight had disoriented her. But as soon as she got used to it, she put him in a genjutsu. He had got out of it soon enough, but it left him disoriented. Naruto used it to her advantage and punched and kicked him. The man collected his senses and caught her leg, pulling her down.
Back to step 1, but atleast she got the blind situation under control. It wasn't soon until she chopped the nape of his neck, rendering him unconscious. An unexpected awakening from a giant crab caused it to run to Naruto as he smelled danger. The crab muttered a foam of apologies while he gave the unconscious man few cuts from its pincers.
Naruto put the Jounin under rope bindings, chakra bindings and a paralysis seal. She took her rest as she fixed herself- both the poison and her clothes. The animals seemed to have been under some sleeping pollen, no doubt intentional. Bidding a farewell to her giant friends- who were teary eyed- she left to Kumogakure mainland with the help of the crab that helped her earlier. he sea creature was surprisingly fast. Halfway through the sea, the crab delivered her to a chattering dolphin.
She had no problem in reaching the Raikage's office blind once she had reached shore. She had taken with her, the assailant. The Raikage's chakra expressed genuine surprise and concern at the sight of the shinobi. Most of the shinobi who were around seemed to have the same reaction, except for one. Naruto asked Ay to bring that particular person. In the privacy of his office with only Ay, Bee, Cee, Darui, the Jounin and the culprit who had malice in his chakra, along with herself, she asked for answers.
The unknown older man was an elder from the council of Kumogakure. The shinobi, Toki, was known to be rebellious. The elder Toshi was the one who had urged Sandaime Raikage to kidnap Hinata for the Byakugan. He had an unreasonable grudge against Konoha and was 'afraid' when the war 'hero' was from Konoha. It was not easy enough to get the duo to confess. Naruto had to use slightly underhanded tactics for the job to get done.
Ay, the ever rational man, ordered the execution of the two culprits. It seemed that the two had gone too far this time with trying to sabotage Kumo for their personal benefits.
Naruto, even before Ay had a chance to ask, reassured him and his shinobi that the matter will be kept from Konoha from her side. If some of his shinobi tend to blabber, it's not her fault.
Ay laughed and said that Toki and Toshi would be executed for treason against the Raikage.
...
Naruto arrived in Konoha, more specifically, her cozy cottage, only to be tackled by Kushina and fretted by Minato.
"Where were you?!"
"I had a problem and I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. So far, one bird is still dying."
"Why did you disappear all of a sudden?"
"For Dramatics! Seriously, stop shaking me, Tousan, Kaa-san!"
Naruto managed to escape from her parents as she searched for others. Hashirama was bubbling with anxiety settling into relief, and was held back, thankfully, from hugging Naruto by Mito. She and Naoko had similar expressions, but at a less dramatic stage.
As soon as she concentrated on Tobirama's chakra, she knew she was in trouble.
"If you would excuse me, I would like to have a private word with my granddaughter." He said bluntly.
There were instant protests.
"She's my granddaughter too!"
"She's our daughter!"
"Tobi! You can't hog her for yourself!"
Mito was the first to notice the rage of her brother-in-law. Hashirama and Naoko noticed a while later, but before anyone could interfere, he stormed off into the farthest bedroom. Naruto followed him quick enough.
"There are privacy seals!" Hashirama mourned. "And even I can't remove them!" Naoko crossed her arms with a pout.
...
"I hope you know what situation you are in."
Naruto hesitated, "A little elaboration-"
"Physically."
Naruto repressed any breaths that wanted to escape her mouth.
"When was the last time you did something reckless on my watch?"
"... Takigakure."
"And what did you face when you returned?"
"..."
"I hope you are not trying to play dumb with me. You have a good memory. I hope you remember everything. I leave you to learn your lesson."
He swiftly went out of the door as Naruto deactivated the seals on instinct."
...
Tobirama barely saved himself from being bombarded by half-dead humans and their questions.
But they were persistent. Atleast they had kept their distance.
"What did you do to my baby girl?"
"Tou-sama, I hope you haven't harmed her."
"Tobirama, you better have an explanation."
"Tobi!!! Why are you so cold and heartless."
Tobirama was almost sent into guilt, but was prevented by a simple word.
"Enough!"
It was not so loud, but it was heard well and all eyes turned to Naruto who wasn't looking at them.
"You better not try and tell that whatever Ojii-sama did was wrong, or you shall face the consequences from me. He is right and I committed an error where I shouldn't have. This is something between us and do not even think of trying to guilt-trip him into convincing either of us otherwise." She glared at the all of them, except the Frost-haired Senju.
She disappeared from the cottage and appeared before her best friends, who, by luck, were alone and resting (brooding).
No sooner did she appear, she had caught their attention. No sooner did she get their attention, she bowed low, not allowing them to speak.
"I express my sincere apologies for having disappeared on the two of you like that. It was irresponsible of me and I intend to never do it again. I never wanted to trouble either of you and merely followed my instincts and fears as I vanished. As much as I would like to tell you that I don't expect your forgiveness, I do want it, though I deserve it not. I hope-"
Before she could continue her apology, she was crushed in a hug from her two best friends, before the older one gave a hit on her head. She repressed a whine of pain as she muttered, "I deserved that."
"Maybe, but we only wish you wouldn't do so again." Shisui said.
Itachi deactivated his Sharingan and sighed. "Naruto, do have some more trust in us. You neither take care of yourself, nor let us take care of you."
Shisui activated his own Doujutsu as he gasped. "You idiot! Why didn't you come to us sooner? Why didn't you tell me what you were going through?" "I sort of panicked. I didn't want to be a burden. Moreover, I'll be normal, or something like that by tonight." "You imbecile!" Shisui gasped out as he wiped his tears and proceeded to hug Naruto.
"So you have finally realized what the loser is. Good for you, Shisui." A smug voice was heard as they saw Sasuke entering the training ground. "I would keep my mouth under control if I were you, Sasuke." Shisui growled.
Sasuke snorted. "Yeah right." Before he could proceed with any other insult, Naruto excused herself. "I hope I've not intruded too much on your time space, Anija, Itachi-san. Good day to you as well, Sasuke-san." She gave a short bow of greeting before she flashed into her house.
The Sun had set and Naruto decided to get into bed when she was called by Mito and Naoko. "Naruto, dear, welcome home. I've prepared soup for you." Naoko said softly.
"Arigatou, Baa-san. Can you please leave it on the engawa? I want to be alone for a while." She replied, looking away from them. Mito sighed. "If there's anything wrong, do know that you have us to rely on." She said.
Before they left, Naruto asked, "Who asked you to make this soup?" Mito was silent while Naoko didn't hesitate. "Tobi did. Why?"
Naruto shook her head. "Nothing. Just curious."
When the women were back with the other four, Naruto quietly drank the soup.
She went a liitle far from the house, and laid on the grass beside the lake created recently, under the starry sky. She sighed as she couldn't yet see the beauty of the heavenly bodies.
She cried herself to sleep.
"It's been a bad day."
Okay. Does this chapter list under Angst? If so, I think I did a bad job.
I've been exhausted as well. I guess I kinda forgot how taxing participating in events and sleeping out-of schedule can be, though the former is just as exciting...
Many More Happy Returns Of The Day to a 'cool' busty Kunoichi;
🎁🎉🥳🎂!!Happy birthday Samui!!🎂🥳🎉🎁
(January 7th)
Many More Happy Returns Of The Day to a brave bird who longed to be free from his unjust cage...
🎁🎉🥳🎂!!Happy Birthday Hyuuga Hizashi!!🎂🥳🎉🎁
(January 8th)
Which means obviously...
Many More Happy Returns Of The Day to a tough shell, yet soft core clan leader;
🎁🎉🥳🎂!!Happy Birthday Hyuuga Hiashi!!🎂🥳🎉🎁
(January 8th)