Infectious
Naruto was always happy. Always
encouraging. Always persevering. Always smiling. Not even Tayuya could resist
succumbing to the pleasant cheerfulness that permeated the very air around that
loud, blonde ninja. Naruto/Tayuya NaruTayu One-shot.
Tayuya awoke with a scream.
“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT YOU
MOTHERFUCKING BLONDE BITCH!!”
Her chest ached in a dozen
places where she had hit different branches flying back after that fucking
blonde kunoichi's wind attack. Her arms were sore from futile efforts to move
the giant tree that pinned her legs to the ground. Her head throbbed with the
dull pain that was the symptom, no doubt, of a moderate concussion, no surprise
after falling several stories from a tree.
But her legs. Oh fuck, they
hurt like they had been dipped in molten steel. The weight of the entire tree
sat on her legs, the bones of which had been shattered into pieces when the
tree first hit her. And now the tree continued to cause Tayuya agonizing pain,
as the tree, kept slightly off the ground by her legs, pressed the whole of its
enormous weight onto her already-broken limbs.
Silent tears ran out of the
corners of her eyes. Not because Tayuya was sad, or because she was some sissy
girl who couldn't stand pain. But holy shit if that tree wasn't the most
painful thing ever to happen to her in her entire fucking life. The tears came
out despite her best efforts to hold them in. Tayuya refused to scream, but
couldn't help but allow her mouth to remain open in a silent shout, in between
her various curses against everyone she knew that was associated with Konoha,
Suna, or trees in any form.
Of course, there was no one
to hear her scream. No doubt Tayuya was screwed her until she died of thirst. And
she knew that. It was unfortunate that her kunai pouch had been blown off in
that last attack, since that would have enabled an easy, relatively painless
suicide. Tayuya didn't feel like attempting to bite off her own tongue, since
that was a horrible way to die, and there was a slight possibility that her
body's involuntary reflexes would save her, leaving her in even worse pain, and
without that ability to call for help, should anyone decide to come by.
Not that she expected any
of her teammates to look for her. If they were still alive, which she doubted,
after seeing the amazing abilities that even the lazy guy had at his disposal,
Tayuya knew they wouldn't come back for her. Out of concern for her, or
laziness, she knew now which. Because Tayuya knew that Orochimaru had no use
for crippled kunoichi. Heck, he had even sacrificed a healthy kunoichi, Kin or
whatever her damn name was, in the battle back at Konoha. If Tayuya had somehow
gotten back to Sound, she could hardly have hoped for anything better than a
quick death, since the alternatives were the rather cruel experiments that the
Otokage conducted in the back rooms of the base.
Really, Tayuya supposed,
she was waiting for death to come to her, in the form of a voracious thirst
that would eventually let her drift into unconsciousness and death. But Tayuya
knew that she shouldn't give up like this. All of the time she had spent in
Sound, she had wanted to be the best ninja there, in spite of her gender. All
of those misogynistic pigs had brushed her aside as just 'some girl' who had
somehow become. Tayuya had proved them all wrong, becoming one of the elite, a
member of the Sound Five, shrunk to Four after Kimmimaro's quick decline in
health.. She had been one of the best.
But now she was back to
square one. No doubt those idiots back in Sound would say to themselves that it
was her own fault, trying to be a ninja, a woman in a man's profession. Tayuya
hated to lose to them like this, but what other option did she have?
“God fucking damn it! I
want to live!”
“Nani? Who's there?”
Tayuya's eyes widened until
they were as large as saucers. She had heard that voice before. That annoying
blonde idiot that had been with the lazy guy's team. With the shit-eating grin
and those weird whisker marks.
Suddenly her legs screamed
in agony as fresh pain shot through her lower body. Naruto peered over the
tree, and saw her pinned underneath, even as Tayuya realized what the blonde
shinobi had unwittingly done.
“YOU COCK-SUCKING SON OF A
BITCH! GET OFF THE DAMN TREE YOU BASTARD!”
Naruto quickly hopped off,
landing next to her with practiced ease. “Hey, you're that girl from earlier,
with the flute or whatever. I found it back there, you know.” He pulled it out
of his pouch, showed it to her, and then put it back.
“Hey! That's mine,
motherfucker! Give it back!”
“I think you're going to
need a lot more than a flute to get out from under there, Tayuya. I'll help,
alright?”
“I don't need your fucking
bastard! I just want my flute back!”
Naruto gave a foxy grin. “Of
course you need help. You said you wanted to live, right? I'll help!”
“You idiot. I'm an enemy
ninja!”
Naruto laughed out loud,
which just made Tayuya even angrier. “Sh-shut up! Don't laugh at me, you
man-whore!”
Naruto turned his laughing
gaze onto her angry face. “Don't get all mad, uh, it's Tayuya, right? I just
want to help! Even if you're an enemy, you're still hurt, and as a guy I should
definitely help out other people who need it. Especially since you're a girl
and all...”
Tayuya snarled. “I don't
need your pity! I what does being a girl have to do with it, huh?! You think
I'm inferior to you male bastards, thinking with your dicks instead of your
brains?!”
Naruto rolled his eyes, and
kept smiling. “Guys are just supposed to help girls, that's all. I would have
helped you if you were a guy, too, you know, so don't get all weird.” Forming a
single seal, the blonde ninja created several dozen clones all around him,
which immediately took up position all around the tree.
Tayuya just watched in
amazement as this pathetic, orange-clad shinobi-wanna-be lifted a tree that had
to weigh several tons, and then oh-so-very-carefully moved her out from under
it, taking special notice of her shattered legs.
Tayuya was pleasantly
surprised, but then she saw where this was going. “Wait, you idiot! You can't
help me! If you take me back to that shitty leaf-village they'll lock me up and
hurt me even worse!”
The red head suppressed an
urge to sit up and knock the blonde upside the head when his shocked expression
told her that this had never occurred to him. Her legs and chest would have
killed her to sit up, and besides, he had offered to help, so she
shouldn't just beat him up...
Then Naruto was all smiles
again. “Well, if you promise not to hurt anybody, Tayuya, we can leave your
hitai-ate here and I'll just way you're a random person I found crushed under a
building in the village. As long as we don't run into Shikamaru or someone who
went on the mission to get Sasuke,” his face darkened slightly, but he still
smiled as he continued, “you should be just fine! We have great medics back
there, and they should be able to fix you up just fine!”
Tayuya just stared. Was he
really offering to help her to such an extent?
Now he looked a little
nervous as his clones set the tree back down onto the ground and dispelled
themselves. “You know, Tayuya...” The sound ninja's chest tightened in anxiety.
Was he second-guessing himself now? Now that she had her hopes up? “It was hard
enough getting you out from under the tree without hurting you. I don't have a
stretcher or anything, so I think the easiest way to get you back to Konoha
would be to... um...”
So relieved that he wasn't
giving up on her, Tayuya interrupted. “Just do whatever you need, blondie!” She
hoped her voice didn't show her eagerness, and her fear of being left here.
“Good! I'm glad you
understand, Tayuya!”
Naruto picked up her head,
and began feeling along the back of her neck. “Let's see, where was it?”
As Tayuya suddenly realized
what he was doing, Naruto squeezed a bundle of nerves on her neck, and the red
head fell into pleasant, painless darkness.
Tayuya awoke in room with
white walls, and a white ceiling. A hospital. So that blonde brat had kept his
word.
A nurse, standing over in a
corner reading some graphs and charts, noticed her open her eyes. “Oh, you're
awake, Naruko!” Tayuya had repress the urge to flinch at the name. Didn't that
idiot have any imagination? Then remembering what an idiot he seemed to be,
Tayuya guessed that she should just be thankful he had remembered to get a
different name at all.
The nurse checked over all
the bandages Tayuya wore, nodding in approval. “You're healing very well now.
That nice boy even got a medic ninja to come and help, so you should be ready
to leave tomorrow. They already healed all the bones in your legs, and your
broken ribs, and helped with the concussion. As long as you don't do any very
strenuous activities for a month or so, everything should heal completely. For
now, just rest, and I'll have someone come in in a bit to run some final tests
before we release you tomorrow.”
The nurse walked out of the
room, and spoke to someone standing outside. “She's awake, and seems to be
doing fine. You can go in and talk to her, as long as you're quiet.”
Naruto walked into the
room, closing the door behind him. He spoke in a low voice, quiet, but laced
with his usual level of excitement. “So you're okay, Tayuya?”
The red head smirked as she
saw Naruto smile at her, and she could even hear the smile in his voice.
Such a cheerful, idiotic guy.
“Yeah. They said I could leave tomorrow.”
Naruto's face lit up at the
news. “Great!” Startling even himself with the loud reply, he glanced around,
as if some nurse might pop out of nowhere to shush him. “I'm glad you're
alright.”
Tayuya's face shifted into
a true smile. Even if he seemed stupid, he was such a nice guy, and his good
mood was...
Infectious.
She could hardly stop
herself when she next asked, “So, could I stay with you until I find a place to
live here?”
Naruto gave her a huge
grin. “Of course! That's what friends are for, right?”
Tayuya laughed as her smile
widened to match his. Even if he was such a simple shinobi, he was a great
person, helping her when she was at her worst, overlooking her former status as
an enemy.
It was hard to believe that
just the other day, Tayuya had been contemplating killing herself, and
wondering if she could really ever hope to fulfill her dream of becoming a
great kunoichi.
But as she found out,
staying at Naruto's apartment even long after she could have gotten another
place, and training in secret with him even though they both knew the trouble
that would come if they got caught, Naruto perseverance limitless.
And Tayuya soon found that
she, too, began to share his urge to help others, his perseverance, and the
simple happiness that seemed to permeate the very air around him.
It was infectious.
So yeah,
this actually turned out sort of like I had envisioned it. I hope you liked it. I wrote it for
the many NaruTayu fans that requested more of same from me. Yes, I can be
bribed with reviews to write certain stories. Especially with pairings I like.
So review and let me know
what you think of it.
-demonicnargles