Joy
She had never been so
happy, as she had been these past few weeks, even though she was still
relearning to walk. A fluffy NaruTayu as he helps her walk again. One-shot.
This fic was written in
response to a request by SaiyanWarrior200.
Tayuya did not know how he
had found her, or why he had helped her, but she wish the idiot would have let
her be.
Carrying her back toward
Konoha using a clone henged into a stretcher, with another clone holding up one
end of the makeshift litter, the blonde talked incessantly about how she would
be just fine and how amazing a place Konoha was and on and on and on…
“Would you just shut the
fuck up for one second?! God damn, you’re noisy, kid.”
Naruto just laughed and
ignored her, choosing instead to continue his story about ‘old man Hokage’ and
the village leader’s weakness to the Sexy no Jutsu.
Tayuya sighed, and tried to
ignore the idiot, but his childish, grating voice could not be blocked out. Tayuya
tensed her muscles in anger, immediately flinching in pain when he legs
screamed in pain.
Naruto noticed, and paused
his story momentarily. “You alright, Tayuya? Something I can do for you?”
Tayuya just ignored the
blonde and waited out the pain, which slowly died down as she let her muscles
relax. Her legs didn’t really hurt that much, as long as she didn’t try to move
or flex them. Thank Kami-sama that the idiot had at least thought to make a
stretcher. Riding to Konoha on his back would have been agony.
Seeing that she had nothing
to say, Naruto livened back up and dove into another story about the Hokage’s
grandson.
The red-head listened
half-heartedly, trying to ignore the kid because he was an annoying brat, but
half-listening because it was the only distraction she had from the soreness in
her legs and the otherwise boring nature of their hike back.
The sun was setting when
Konoha came into view. Naruto and his clone stopped, gently setting Tayuya
down.
The red-head knew better
than to struggle, since that would only cause her great pain, but she could
still use her voice.
“What the fuck blondie?! I
thought we were going to Konoha! Are you seriously going to just drop me off
here?! You fucking bastard!”
Naruto shook his head,
strangely serious. “No. Tayuya, you don’t think that a hidden village would
allow a former enemy free reign in the city, do you? I’ll take you in after
dark.”
Tayuya growled. “So I’m
supposed to hide out the whole time I’m in Konoha? That would be a shitty way
to live, why don’t you just kill me now, instead?”
Naruto chuckled. “I just
need to hide you on the way in, Tayuya. Then I can get you some
civilian-looking clothes, and you can pass for an injured villager. Of course,
you don’t have any money, so you’ll be staying at my place until you can get a
job and work somewhere else. I’m sorry in advance for how my apartment looks…”
Tayuya paused, taking it
all in. This dipshit wasn’t going to turn her in? The whole way here, Tayuya
had thought that the idiot was taking her back for questioning of some sort,
however friendly. But he was going to let her off the hook, just like that?
Maybe this wouldn’t be so
bad. Even if he was a total moron.
Once the sun had sunken a
ways below the horizon, Naruto and his clone carefully picked the stretcher
back up, and stealthily made their way back into Konoha.
It amused Tayuya that the
genin had no trouble avoiding the ANBU patrolling the perimeter, and that he
managed to avoid any people the whole way to his apartment.
When they first carried her
through the front door, Tayuya could see why he had apologized for the
apartment.
It was a disaster. Ramen
cups and bowls everywhere. Bits of trash were scattered all over the floor. By
one boarded-up window there was a pile of shattered glass, pushed over by the
wall, but never picked up.
Tayuya was so busy mentally
criticizing the room that she didn’t notice when Naruto laid her onto the
couch. Only a slight twinge of pain as she sunk into the cushions, moving her
leg, told her that she’d been set down.
As she was pondering this,
Tayuya suddenly had another thought. She had to stay here until she got enough
cash to afford a different place. Her legs were broken, so she probably
couldn’t get a job until she could walk. At the very least, even if she got a
job in her condition, she would still need too much help to live by herself.
Knowing that the bones in
her legs were shattered, Tayuya calculated the length of time it would take for
them to heal with proper medical attention. Something like 8 months. And
without the right care, it would be even longer.
That was way too
long to be living with this idiot. She turned, intending to have him take her
to hospital with some story, any story, that would get her treated, even if it
got her discovered, when she gasped in shock.
The guy had seemed so
cheerful the whole way here. How could he be a cutter?
She watched in fascinated
wonder as the boy drew a kunai along one arm, making deeper and deeper cuts. His
face was set in a serious look of concentration. She was so amazed that she
couldn’t move her eyes off the knife, making her miss the way that each cut
healed within seconds.
So Tayuya was greatly
surprised when Naruto suddenly put down the kunai, and, gripping his arm
firmly, crushed his own bones. To his credit, the boy only let out a small gasp
of pain at the self-inflicted violence.
This time, Tayuya saw the healing in
action. The crushed arm, hanging limply at a horrifying angle, slowly rose back
to its normal position. She could hear the bones snap back into place, and then
the arm was whole again.
Naruto broke it again, and
again, and again, each time watching the arm in careful concentration.
Tayuya was frightened. How
could anyone heal so quickly? And even if he could, why was he injuring himself
repeatedly?
Naruto turned to face her. “Hey,
Tayuya. I wanted to ask you, before I tried it. Would you mind if I tried
healing your legs, here in my apartment? I know it probably won’t be the best
care. I might mess up your legs, or something. But it would let you avoid the
hospital, where you would definitely be found out.”
Tayuya grunted. “They might
not notice. I mean, they’re just hospital workers, right?”
“The Hokage works in the
hospital. Many ninja work there, who also go on missions outside the village. The
girl who wanted Sasuke back very badly works there. Several of the ninja who
went on the mission with me are staying the hospital, including Shikamaru, the
guy you fought.”
Tayuya’s eyes widened. Holy
shit. Walking in there would be just as effective as turning herself in.
“I guess I don’t have much
of a choice, do I? Give it a whirl, midget.”
She turned her face away so
she wouldn’t have to watch the procedure, and so that Naruto couldn’t see her
blush as he knelt down and laid his hands on her legs.
She waited, feeling the
feather-light touch of the boy’s chakra feeling around here thighs and lower
legs. Naruto hemmed and hawed, making various thoughtful noises as he examined
her damage.
Suddenly, her legs were in
agony. The movement of the broken pieces of bone could not help but tear at her
muscles, causing Tayuya incredible pain. But the sound-nin just clenched her
teeth and took it.
In a slower version with
his own chakra, Naruto imitated the Kyuubi’s healing inside her legs, moving
bones back into place, and reattaching torn muscles tissue. Unfortunately, he
could not regenerate cells like the Kyuubi could, but at least this was better
than nothing.
After almost an hour,
Naruto finished, standing up and stretching his stiff, sore legs. “That’s as
much as I can do, Tayuya. I don’t think you can walk yet, but it shouldn’t hurt
too much, I hope.
Tayuya slowly relaxed out
of the tense pose she had held during the entire procedure. Her legs felt
faintly sore, like she had run a long ways, and was now tired. She tried to
move them, but they felt so heavy, like they were made of lead.
Naruto saw her leg muscles
twitch, and spoke up. “I couldn’t fix your muscles much, so they’re really weak
right now. You’ll have to build them back up to be able to stand, and walk, and
run and all that.”
Tayuya almost screamed in
frustration. She couldn’t even stand up. She was a goddamn ninja and she
couldn’t even hold herself up.
She wasn’t even aware she
was crying until Naruto wiped away a tear. “Hey, don’t cry. You’ll be back to
normal within a few months.”
Blushing heavily, Tayuya
jerked her face away, looking into the back of the couch rather than face this
stupid blonde, making her feel strange.
Naruto yawned. “Hey, do you want to sleep out here on the couch, or you want
the bed?”
He heard a faint, mumbled response. “Fuck off.”
Grinning, he walked away. “I guess that means you want the couch. See you in
the morning, Tayuya.”
They both were soon asleep.
Tayuya awoke to the sound of slurping. Using her arm to pull herself
uptight, she looked into the nearby kitchen and saw Naruto eating ramen. For
breakfast.
He looked up, having noticed a rather violent red suddenly appear by the
couch. “Hey, you’re awake! Want some breakfast?”
Tayuya groaned. “Not ramen. Why the fuck would you have ramen for breakfast?
You some kind of freak?” Despite her harsh words, her tone remained casual.
Naruto didn’t seem to notice her profanities. “Ramen’s the best! But I have
some other stuff lyin’ around, if you want.”
He got up and walked over to the couch. “Come on, let’s get you something to
eat.”
Tayuya glared at him. “Why don’t you just bring it over here?”
Naruto laughed, like her question had the most obvious answer in the world.
“Because you need to practice walking again. I’ll help you, alright?”
In hindsight, Tayuya realized that it was pretty obvious. “Fine, you
fucking retard.”
Evidently ignoring her insult, Naruto knelt down, putting one of her arms
around his shoulders. Then he stood up slowly, bringing Tayuya with him.
The red-head shakily supported herself on her weak legs, putting almost all
of her weight on Naruto. “God damn, I can’t do this! Fuck it, I can’t even
stand!” Tayuya blinked rapidly, trying desperately not to cry in
disappointment.
Naruto remained cheerful as ever. “It will take a lot of time and effort to
build your muscles back up, Tayuya! That’s why we’re starting now!”
Fuck it all, if the blonde bastard wasn’t cheering her up. Ignoring the heat
in her cheeks, Tayuya slowly moved her legs in a walking motion, using up far
more effort than she could ever recall, just to get them to move on their own.
But Naruto seemed rather pleased with her progress, and with his constant
encouraging babble, Tayuya managed to ‘walk’ over to the kitchen table.
After she was seated, Naruto rushed off, returning shortly with toast and a
glass of orange juice. Then he sat down himself and finished his ramen.
Once he was done, Naruto announced that he had to go do stuff, but would be
back later, hopefully with some stuff to help her walk with.
Tayuya repressed the sudden melancholy when he left. She didn’t miss him.
She wasn’t lonely. Just bored, that’s all. Yeah…
When Naruto returned that evening, he wasn’t surprised to see Tayuya on the
couch. “Hey, you made it over to the couch! Great!”
Tayuya hastily raised herself using her arms, and glared at him. “No thanks
to you, you bastard! You left me at the table over there! I could’ve been
stranded there all day! And I had to go the restroom, and that was damned hard
since you were gone all day!” Yeah, she was angry because he hadn’t
helped her. Not because she’d missed him all day.
Naruto laughed. “You still have your arms! And besides, you need to practice
moving on your own. I don’t want to have to bathe you are take you to the
bathroom.” Naruto handed her a cane. “That was about all I could find, so I
hope it’ll help, at least once you can sort of move around on your own a bit
more.”
Tayuya mumbled something that sounded vague like thanks.
Naruto set the cane and several bags down by the door. “Anyway, we still
need to work on walking, right? So let’s walk around the apartment for a
while!” Not giving her a chance to object, Naruto soon had Tayuya standing with
his support.
Try as she might, Tayuya couldn’t suppress the blush that stayed up the
whole evening, as Naruto, unaware of the tension in their proximity, walked her
around the apartment until late.
When she decided that she’s had enough, Naruto agreed quickly. At her
request, a surprisingly polite one, at that, Naruto filled the tub with hot
water, and left her in the bathroom with a towel and the bags he’s brought home
with him. Tayuya found that the bags had clothing for her, a delightful change
from her dirty, smelly ninja uniform.
Once she was finished in the bath, she hauled herself out using mostly her
arms, and dried herself of the towel that was spread out on the floor.
Then came the hard part. Getting dressed. While it had not been too hard to
take off her clothing before the bath, putting it on was another matter
entirely.
She got the shirt on easily, making a mental note to ask for a few bras,
which Naruto had neglected to get, probably out of awkwardness. She had somehow
managed to put on some panties, though with great difficulty. But the pants
were impossible. Tayuya simply didn’t have the strength to force herself into
the pant legs. After several fruitless attempts, she searched through the bags
for something easier to wear, because she was certainly not letting Naruto see
her without something to wear down below.
She came across a skirt. Tayuya hated skirts. But before she flung it to the
other end of the room, she realized that it would probably be easier to put on,
lying down on the floor, than any other clothing she was likely to get.
Swallowing her pride, Tayuya put on the skirt, and then called for Naruto,
who assisted her out to the couch, and cleaned up the bathroom himself before
taking a shower.
Before he went to bed, Naruto decided to check on Tayuya. “Hey, you need
anything before I go to bed, Tayuya?”
He heard some mumbling, but could understand it. Walking over next to the
couch, he asked, “What?”
Tayuya grabbed him, pulling him down on top of her. If her legs were weak,
her arms were as strong as ever.
Blushing, Tayuya muttered, “Stay with me.”
Naruto started to protest, but decided against it. If this was what she
needed, then why not?
Besides, Naruto thought. It was rather comfortable here. So warm, and soft…
Every day, it was the same routine. Naruto got up and fixed breakfast,
helping Tayuya over to the table to eat. Once they were finished, Naruto helped
her over to the couch and left for the day. When he returned in the evening, he
fixed dinner for them, and then they spent the evening walking around the
house. Tayuya required less and less help as the days passed, and she was soon
as optimistic as Naruto about her abilities in the future.
Near the end of the third week, Naruto came home to find Tayuya already up,
fixing dinner. Recovering quickly, he shut the door behind him and watched as
she prepared a rather simple soup. She leaned against the counter, to be sure,
and only picked up stuff with one hand, while the other held on the to the
table, but it was amazing progress.
Suddenly Tayuya, who had been engrossed in her task, became of aware of his
presence. “Oh! When did you get here, Naruto?”
In her surprise, she forgot to keep leaning on the counter, and began to
fall. Naruto ran over and caught her, smiling brightly. “I just walked in, and
was watching you fix dinner.”
Tayuya glanced at the clock. “Damn, you’re earlier than usual. It was
supposed to be a surprise…”
“But I am surprised! Besides, you didn’t have to do this, Tayuya.”
“Of course I do! I can’t let you do all the work!”
Naruto smiled, and the red-head couldn’t help but smile as well, until she
remembered dinner. “Oh! The soup!”
Naruto held her from behind so she could concentrate on finished the soup, which
she then poured into two bowls. Naruto walked her over to her seat at the
table, and then brought over the soup.
They ate in pleasant silence. Naruto, being rather hungry after training
most of the day, finished his quickly, and smiled at Tayuya. “That was great,
Tayuya!”
The red-head blushed, and looked down at her bowl of soup. Damn him, making
her get so attached.
Naruto was practically bouncing off the walls all evening, as he barely had
to help her while she walked around the apartment.
When Tayuya decided to call it a night, Naruto laughed out loud. “You were
great, Tayuya! Pretty soon you’ll be just fine, and you can move out and
everything!”
Tayuya’s matching grin faltered. She had forgotten that she would have to
move out. But she really liked it here. Looking back on her life, she knew that
her happiest times had all been here, in the last few weeks, with Naruto.
“What’s the matter, Tayuya?”
She grabbed his shirt, pulling him very close. “Naruto,” she breathed,
looking straight into his sky blue eyes, “can I stay here, with you? Please? I
mean, I can get a job, and help pay for stuff, but I just, I mean…”
Please don’t make me leave.
Naruto brushed a thumb along her cheek, and it came away wet. “Of course,
Tayuya. Don’t cry.”
Tayuya, with great effort, stretched onto her tip-toes and kissed him
sweetly on the lips. “Thank you, Naruto.”
Tayuya skipped along behind
Naruto, laughing out loud. The blonde grinned at seeing her so happy, which was
quite often, anymore. Looking around, he chose a nice shady spot under a tree,
and spread out the blanket for their picnic. After almost a year, it was
finally safe for Tayuya to go outside, and so she took every opportunity she
could to go outside with Naruto.
Shikamaru had moved to Suna
to stay with Temari, removing the threat of him recognizing Tayuya. And none of
the others on the mission, now quite a while ago, really remembered the strange
red-haired kunoichi from sound. And even if they had, they probably wouldn’t
have recognized her now, in such a girly kimono, with her hair washed and
combed, flying free in the breeze.
Tayuya dropped the basket
she carried onto the ground nearby. Naruto winced. “Be careful with our food,
Tayuya.”
She tackled him onto the
blanket, still laughing. “You’re so silly, Naruto.”
Naruto grinned. “Always.
So, um, are you gonna get off me?”
Tayuya thought about it for
a minute, and then smirked victoriously. “Nope.”
Naruto growled through his
smile, and suddenly flipped them over, placing Tayuya underneath him on the
blanket.
Tayuya blushed when his
face came dangerously close to hers, but never lost her joyful grin. “What are
you going to do, Naruto?” She asked in a whisper.
Naruto inched his face
closer. “What do you think?” Their breath mingled in between them. Their noses
almost touched.
Tayuya whispered, “I think
you need to stop teasing me,” and crushed her lips against his.
Some time much later, they
remembered the basket of food.
I couldn’t really come up
with a great ending, but I tried. Let me know what you think.
-demonicnargles