Jealous
Tayuya lives in Konoha. A
glimpse into her life there, a few looks at how she got there, and how she keep
Naruto to herself. NaruTayu One-Shot
Written in response to a
request by jere7782.
Naruto, the reigning Hokage
of Konohagakure, smiled as he took a slow walk around the village. Being Hokage
wasn't so tough. Not nearly as hard as the old man had made it seem, and far
less difficult than Tsunade had constantly told him it was. For fuck's sake,
why hadn't either of them thought to use shadow clones to get through the
paperwork? The clones knew all that he did, and so they could make intelligent
decision about stuff, and the real Naruto never needed to bother with that
shit, even once.
Whoops. Naruto caught
himself using crass language again. At least he had mostly pruned it from his
speech, although he still sometimes slipped. Gaara had seemed rather amused at
the last meeting by the blonde Hokage's outburst of foul language, after
hearing about the recent developments in Iwa.
But it was only to be
expected, since he spent so much time around Tayuya, who was only slightly more
civil than when she first entered the village, though she was much less
hostile.
He waved to the old man at
Ichiraku's as he passed. Somehow, that guy was still in business, and still
working, despite having his daughter and son-in-law also working at his stand. Naruto
was about to shout a greeting when he felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around
him from behind.
He smiled and leaned back
into Tayuya. “Hey, Tayuya-chan. What brings you out here, hm?” His eyes
glittered and danced as he craned his neck to look at the woman behind him.
Tayuya just smirked, and
replied in a confident voice, “Just wanted to say hello, shit-head.” Her arms
tightened around him as she rested her head on his back. “You don't mind, do
you?” Or maybe she wasn't as confident as she wanted to be.
Naruto twisted around in
her arms and embraced her firmly, before pulling back and putting one arm over
her shoulder, steering her alongside him as he continued his walk at a slower
pace. “Of course not, Tayuya-chan. I never mind having you around.”
Tayuya grinned, and shot
back. “That not what you said at that mission briefing last week.”
Chuckling, the blonde
leader of Konoha rolled his eyes. “I don't mind having you around. It's the
stuff you do sometimes...”
Tayuya hit him playfully on
the shoulder, then nuzzled against it, messing up her hair, which had already
been in a state of disarray.
“Besides, Tayuya-chan,
you're a lot better than you were on your first day here. Real progress. I bet
in a few years you'll be as tame as a bunny rabbit!”
Tayuya unleashed the full
fury of her puppy-dog eyes, which looked odd on her normally fearsome face. “You
don't think I'm good enough now, Naruto?” She even managed to make her lower
lip tremble.
Naruto knew it was a ruse,
but couldn't resist pulling her close again, resting his chin on her head. “I
like you just the way you are, Tayuya-chan. Even back then, you weren't
so bad...”
The red-headed kunoichi
endured silently as she was hauled back to the leaf village, not uttering a
single complaint as every time her captor leapt, her legs shrieked in
nearly-unbearable agony.
She'd been captured. Found
by the Konoha ANBU scanning the area of the last mission. And now she was on
her way to the village she had just been running from, and would no doubt be
interrogated for every bit of information she had about the Sound.
But that was alright with
her. Orochimaru was not a nice man, by any stretch of the imagination. Even if
the leaf brought out the worst they had to bear, they could not hold a candle
to the unutterable atrocities Orochimaru committed daily.
And this was her best
chance, her one, real chance, to get away. Because Orochimaru did not tolerate
dissent. He did not abide treachery. If at any time Tayuya had tried to run
away, Orochimaru would have reached out through the cursed seal and sent her
into the terrible, stabbing torment of the seal. Or killed her instantly.
But now, after a brush with
death so close that even the curse seal thought she had died, and so faded,
Tayuya was free. Free to escape from Orochimaru, to rat him out to his worst
enemies, and help them fight back against the cruel, pale man who had once been
the genius of the Legendary Three.
When she was first asked,
as a matter of courtesy, to tell them everything she knew about the Sound, not
a one of them expected her to say anything. Ibiki was already waiting in the
back of the room for her inevitable refusal. The Hokage was standing in the
doorway, ready to leave as soon as the interrogation started. The ANBU around
the room were waiting in silent anticipation of her loud, screaming protests. Because
she had screamed and cursed and cussed all over the hospital, and so surely she
would be even more obnoxious now.
Only the weird blonde kid
who had brought her from the hospital room seemed unsurprised when she cleared
her throat and began to tell them.
Everything.
Out of habit, Tayuya rubbed
at the spot her cursed seal had once been, though it had faded years ago. And,
also out of habit, Naruto took her hand, and gently brought it to her side,
reminding her without words that there was no reason to be anxious, no reason
to worry about that snake any longer.
She snuck a glance at the
blonde Hokage, and almost jumped when she say him staring straight back at her.
Damn, he always scared her shitless like that, staring like he was some sort of
moonstruck lover.
Which, she supposed, could
be true. He had expressed a preference for her, over and above even that
pink-haired slut who was constantly asking him out for lunch, or coming up with
various reasons that she needed to see him, alone. Honestly, did she even think
before she did stuff like that? It was so obvious, to everybody.
Everybody except Naruto.
Tayuya sighed, and leaned further into his embrace, inhaling his slight male
odor, with a hint of a woodsy tint to it. She closed her eyes and tried to
relax, tried to forget about that pink-haired bitch who was constantly vying
for his attention. Naruto never got it. For some reason, the otherwise
intelligent leader of Konohagakure never noticed that Sakura's outrageous
flirting, and never commented on it.
And he still called her Sakura-chan!
Tayuya opened her eyes, narrowing them in anger, and, she admitted, a
bit of jealousy. Naruto was Tayuya's. He took the red-head out to meals
all the time. He relaxed with her in his spare time. He shared his thoughts
with her, even some of his worries.
Nothing like that stupid medic. So why did he call her Sakura-chan? Tayuya
found it hard to believe that it could be just because that was what he had
always called her, but that was what Naruto had said. Could it really by true?
Tayuya gripped him a little tighter, reassuring herself that this man was
hers, and only hers. It had been that way ever since...
Tayuya blinked, and blinked again. What the fuck was going on?
She tried to use a genjutsu dispelling technique several times, and rubbed
her eyes furiously in an effort to throw off what had to be an illusion.
Shit like this didn't happen.
Tsunade, seeing her disbelief, explained it again. “Since you have been so
helpful, and your information has led to one of our greatest achievements in
the entire history of Konoha, and since you are physically incapable of doing
major harm to other ninjas, because of the permanent damage to your legs, we
have decided to put you on parole. If you can behave yourself for the next five
years, then you'll be free to go wherever you like.”
Still unable to take it in, Tayuya just stared at the blonde old hag in
shock.
Tsunade sighed. “Naruto, just take her outside, will you please? And make
sure she gets to her apartment, okay?”
He nodded, and gently led the stunned red-head out into the streets of
Konoha. Feeling suddenly nervous, Tayuya clung to his arm, then remembered
herself and shoved his arm away. What the hell? She didn't need his help.
Except that she didn't know where this apartment was. Naruto gestured for
her to come with him, and led her slowly toward the place she would spend the
next five years.
Tayuya followed close behind, maintaining a slightly intimate proximity as
she made sure that she didn't fall behind. It was hard to keep up with his
pace, since her legs could barely walk, let alone move at any great speed.
It was the that the pink-haired bitch first showed up. When Tayuya first saw
her, she recognized the glint in the medic's eyes. Envy.
Feeling possessive, and not willing to just give up, even though she hadn't
really staked a claim in the first place, Tayuya took a hold of Naruto's hand
and glared at the other woman.
Sakura spoke softly, barely concealing her jealousy. “Hey, Naruto. Who's
that?”
“Sakura-chan!” Tayuya stomach tightened even as her grip on the blonde's
hand did so also. “I was just taking Tayuya to her new apartment. You know, the
girl from sound?”
“Oh. Well, when you're done, do you want to go to lunch with me? I'll pay.”
Sakura had a victorious smile on her face, a look so smug that Tayuya couldn't
stand it. Even if she had just met this guy, she wasn't going to lose him to
some bitch like that.
Speaking up quickly, Tayuya made sure to keep her voice relatively calm.
“Hey, I don't know where to get lunch. Maybe we could do that before you take
me to the apartment?”
Naruto, oblivious to everything going on around him, smiled and replied to
both of them. “Hey, why don't we all go to Ichiraku's for ramen!”
And so it was that the three of them found themselves eating ramen, Naruto
sitting in the middle of the two girls as he happily chowed his way through
several very large bowls of the steaming noodles, never noticing the death
glares the females shot at each other at every opportunity.
But it was what happened next that stayed with Tayuya for years, and
characterized Naruto's behavior ever since.
Finishing his last bowl, Naruto sighed in contentment. “That was great!”
Sakura forced a smile onto her face, while somehow managing to glare at
Tayuya at the same time. “Great! Hey, can you walk me home, Naruto?”
Tayuya's breath hitched.
Sure, she had just met the guy, but... he had always treated her well, even
when everyone else had shunned her as 'the spy.' And now, before she could even
think about what might happen someday, maybe, this pink-haired slut was
trying to take him away.
But her worry was in vain. “Sorry,
Sakura. I've got to take Tayuya to her apartment, and help her move in and
stuff. She's new, and so she's gonna need my help.”
Failing to notice Sakura's
stunned and hurt expression, Naruto turned to Tayuya and offered her a hand.
“Let's go check out your
new place, huh?”
Tayuya gratefully accepted
his hand, and let him lead her away. She never let go, the whole way there.
And now, as always, Sakura
arrived. From over Naruto's shoulder, Tayuya could see her face twitch in pain,
but then, unlike every other time, it softened, into... acceptance?
Tayuya watched the other
girl's lips carefully, as Sakura mouthed, “Take good care of him.”
Tayuya watched the medic
walk away slowly, and relaxed into Naruto even more.
The blonde chuckled. “You
alright, Tayuya?”
She smiled. “Never been
better.” And she kissed his cheek.
And that is the end of this
rambling, random fic. Sorry if it's not up to par, but it's late, and I wanted
to post it and go to bed. Hope you liked it, despite the small amount of time I
put into it.
For those of you following
the daily updates, be warned. This may not keep up for long. My life is so much
busier now. Damn.
Anyway, let me know what
you thought.
-demonicnargles