Uzumaki
Naruto turned to the next chapter, boggled and then skipped as many pages as he
could (actually, he'd forgotten this chapter's existence!).
And skipped pages...
And skipped even more pages...
And even more pages still...
As it turns out that specific chapter was actually quite a bit larger than the
previous ones -possibly because it contained its own mini-sections comprised
mostly of techniques and detailed hand-drawn images (which really was to be
expected, when considering who wrote it).
Then Naruto finally
arrived at a segment that didn't involve events after dates.
Final
Word ... ii
If you're reading this,
then it's likely that I must congratulate you, the formerly-Single Ninja on
your success! You've learned from the three unsaid laws and I, Jiraiya,
successful author of love, will wish you all the best in your love-life!
However, there's still
that chance that you've followed the guide to the letter, but have not reached
her. Do not fret! She is likely not the one for you! Keep in mind, that there
will be a kunoichi out there for you! You just have to keep searching!
And so, whether you
have been successful or not, remember this:
Live to Learn. Learn to
Love. Love to Live.
Hold close to these
three ideals, for this does not only apply to male shinobi, but also kunoichi.
All ninja have the same wants, hopes, realities and dreams and will need these
three rules to catch a kunoichi to never let go.
Jiraiya
And that's
all the Final Word had to say.
Naruto closed the book and
a little smile crept onto his face as he turned the faucet on. It was at this
point, that the whiskered boy took notice of the young man infront of him.
White socks and sneakers, unmarred blue jeans and an untucked, orange
buttoned-up summer-shirt. Naruto had to admit that the bloke looked pretty cool
-especially when his soaked hands gave his defiant hair a vague comb backwards.
So when Naruto put his
headband into his shirt pocket, he grinned at the male infront of him and his
reflection afforded him the same luxury.
Today, he and Sakura will
be out on the town!
DISCLAIMER:
In Soviet Russia, you own Naruto. Over here, Naruto owns you.
Single Ninja on the
Town
By Arkhe
Final Word ii
The
orange-and-blue ninja-turned-civilian had just turned the corner to meet with
his date, hoping that his current image would surprise her. Instead the tables
had turned at the sight that unfolded before him.
"Sakura-chan..."
Naruto's jaw nearly unhinged. For that gaping male, things appeared to him in
slow-motion and for a brief moment, something as simple as a girl he liked
waiting for him at a street corner had become his world.
Chestnut brown sandals
turned in step, as did a lime green dress twirl and waver with the graceful
twist of her movement. Her soft, rosy-pink hair positively flowed with the
playful touch of a summer breeze. Her emerald irises caught the light just
right, twinkling like stars when they met his sky blue.
Haruno Sakura was dressed
in a simple sundress, to which Naruto agreed that it complemented her greatly.
"...you're
beautiful."
"Thank you,
Naruto." Her cheeks tinged pink at his flattering musing, but the young
woman was quick to return some praise herself. "You don't look bad
yourself." The statement held true as her eyes lingered a little longer than
it should have.
The blond bashfully
scratched the back of his head and gave a shy 'thanks' before calming himself
enough to take charge. Shifting into a friendly smile, Naruto held out an open
hand for his partner to take.
"You ready?" He
beamed.
"You bet!" And
Sakura willingly grasped his extended palm, allowing their fingers to
comfortably entwine.
From one
stand-point, this could be start of the rest of his life...
---
At the exact same moment
elsewhere, a young woman daintily strolled down a street and the people she
passed briefly paused to admire her.
Adding to the effect of
the pale suppleness of her skin, her pearl eyes and her rich, violet hair,
Hyuuga Hinata wore a traditional Fire Country-style kimono. The formal article
of clothing was snow-white with pain-stakingly hand-embroidered golden
stitching that faintly danced in intricate patterns. The bamboo umbrella also
followed the style of the kimono; what with being an unblemished white with
golden patterns of its own. To top it off, she wore a serene smile on her proud
countenance; giving off a regal air and an aura of tranquility.
The Hyuuga heiress'
breeding was obvious when she gave polite bows to everyone she met on her
self-appointed path.
The reason for her going
out in full-battle dress today was due to last evening, when the Main House
member poured over her family's scrolls. She was doing so in an effort to
search for a clause to allow her marriage outside the clan. Needless to say, her
search proved fruitful. With her newfound knowledge in mind, the timid Hyuuga
heiress had a new lease on her future.
Should her beloved chosen
not prove to be the person she searched for, she still has plenty of chances of
finding that special person. However, the person in mind was her only current
choice and she wanted to search out the feelings between them and see where it
could go.
And so, with the thought
of a bright future casting out her doubts, the breath-taking, pale-eyed young
woman broke into the day; going so far as to dress formally, so as to capture
his attention and then have him accept her proposition to an immediate date.
Hyuuga
Hinata stepped out, activated her blood limit and went off in search for a
certain whiskered-boy.
---
Aburame Shino, Inuzuka
Kiba and the latter's animal counter-part, Akamaru, had been taking a brisk
walk by many of the stores and stalls that littered the food and beverage
district they were passing through. It was on this rare occasion, that not one,
but both human male teammates of Team 8 were sharing an honest conversation -as
opposed to Kiba's usual one-sided boasting.
"I'm telling you,
Optimus Primal would kick Prime's ass!"
"No. He
wouldn't."
"Oh yes, he
would!"
Though it wasn't an
entirely intelligent conversation, it was a conversation nonetheless.
"If Primal could
transform into a dog, he'd definitely be unbeatable, but a monkey is
still-gwahuh?-!"
Both boys (and one canine)
could only stop and blink, as the difficulty at comprehending what was
happening had them freeze in their tracks and halt all thought.
"Hello Kiba-kun.
Hello Shino-kun. Hello Akamaru-kun." When reaching appropriate speaking
distance, Hinata bowed to each teammate she'd addressed and politely turned off
her bloodlimit in pausing to briefly converse with them.
Her teammates returned the
respectful bow with their own in staggering awe. It should be pointed out now,
that one person (unsurprisingly) lost his voice, another fell over himself with
trying to speak and someone had his tongue hanging out (that last one was
surprisingly not Akamaru!). Each had only entertained the notion that their
female teammate could be as awe-inspiring as she was currently so, but never
had they have ever expected such a day to come so soon, nor were they really expecting
to bear witness to it.
Seeing as her teammates
didn't appear to be in the mood for conversation, Hinata went on to excuse
herself. "I apologise that I cannot stay much longer. I have a date with
Naruto-kun and must be on my way." And sounding sincerely sorry as she
did, Hinata bowed again and stepped between her teammates and onwards before
they could even bid her a farewell (or atleast if they had access to their
proper motor-functions that would allow them to have bade her a farewell).
Once she'd disappeared
around a corner, Shino remembered to breathe and Kiba successfully returned his
tongue back into his mouth. The latter shook his head to clear it, as he
recalled Hinata's shining visage (as well as her more than pleasant looks) from
memory.
"Whoa..."
Kiba exhaled with a lopsided smile. "Hinata sure was something, huh?"
"Hnn." Shino
answered pragmatically.
"Hey! Don't act as if
you're all joe-cool!" Kiba accused. "You're blushing as hard as I
am!"
The Bug-using ninja
frowned, pushed his glasses further along his nose and then tilted his head
further back under his collar. The red hue along his cheeks was still evident.
"'Whoa',
right?" The Inuzuka elbowed his Aburame friend none-too-softly.
"Whoa." The
Aburame scion stoically agreed after a moment.
-Woof!- Akamaru decided on voicing his
piece with a wry smile (atleast for a dog).
"HOW DARE YOU
AKAMARU!" Kiba immediately turned on his canine, a scandalised look etched
on his face. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D SAY SUCH A THING! I'LL KILL YOU!"
While the Inuzuka
quarreled with his canine bretheren, the Aburame desperately wanted to wipe
away the fog from his glasses but ultimately decided against it; he'd reasoned
that he would have to take off said opticals in the first place and valued not
doing so.
"Wait a
minute..." A sudden realisation hit Kiba with the force of a sledge
hammer, easily disengaging his line of thought. "Hinata's going out with
Naruto!-?"
---
Naruto licked his bottom
lip anxiously, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. True, he was now on
his date, but how was he supposed to act?
Supposedly chib... chiv...
chibi... That word that means really nice, right? Atleast, that's the
impression he got of it, considering he never did get around to finding out
exactly what its definition was.
The blond ninja grinned awkwardly and put a hand to the back of his neck.
"Sooo..." The
Uzumaki drew out before inhaling sharply. "You got a place in mind
or...?"
Sakura smiled knowingly at
his antics and simply nodded. She didn't speed up her pace, but she'd given his
hand a squeeze to which he returned thankfully. The male shinobi felt like he
was walking on sunshine.
Things
were finally going his way!
---
A special flower girl had
placed a measured foot out of her shop and confidently headed out. And with
each progressive step she made in her tread, she turned heads. Someone poured
hot coffee into someone elses lap, another had walked into a pole and the last
was being forcefuly dragged away by his irate girlfriend.
A purple velvet,
sleeveless turtle-neck miniskirt was a most glorious (and scandalous!) piece of
clothing was what one Yamanaka Ino wore (for the lack of a better word). What
with its choice cuts of having a very low back and a largely missing mid-riff,
it had displayed a sheer amount of skin -and though it still left quite a bit
to the imagination, the suggestive aspect had it bordering on the obscene. With
amethyst earrings, light mascara, an overtly large belt that hung loosely from
one side of her waist and knee-high, rubber boots had matched her ensemble to
create a look.
And what a look.
Ino had chosen this
wardrobe specifically for the shock factor (rather an understatement in her
now-unconscious-father's opinion). She'd figured that either Naruto would
accept on the drop of a kunai or -an outcome she was betting on- he'd
turn boneless at the sight of her and she'd have to drag him around -which were
better options than an outright 'no' in her book.
Besides, with what she had
planned; namely taking such a hyper-active date to the Hidden Leaf's night-life
was a win-win date. There was no way it could go wrong!
And in the likelihood that things don't work out, they could both mutually walk
away! She'd have returned him his favour and all's good!
Yamanako Ino smiled
spectacularly at the attention, as each step was punctuated with a swing of her
hips in a sensual gait; oozing a tempting combination of charm and beauty. The
only thing left to complete her nightly plans would be a certain party animal
and she was on her way to pick him up now...
---
Akimichi Chouji was glumly
sitting outside of a restaurant. The obvious discrepancy had been picked up by
Kiba and Shino as their curiousity had them wander over to the
(self-proclaimed) big-boned ninja, momentarily putting on hold their tracking
of either Hyuuga-heiress or demon-vessel.
"Chouji? I
half-expected you to be in this place..." Kiba said none too delicately.
"Me too..."
Chouji admitted with a sigh.
"So, why're you out
here then?" Kiba took a seat next to his big-boned chum, whilst Shino
chose to remain standing. "And, you know, atleast not having a packet of
chips in hand?"
"Well, Ino insisted I
needed to lose weight..." The Akimichi began uncertainly and halted. The
silence spoke volumes.
The dog-affiliated ninja and
the insect-using ninja shared a knowing glance out of Chouji's view. In the
span of 3 seconds, they had a mental argument spanning 5 minutes. Before Kiba
could open his trap and insult the Akimichi boy, Shino interrupted. "Clans
are respected communities and you are a part of one. You should be proud of
your upbringing and their traditions."
"I suppose."
Chouji acknowledged, his mood already brightening. "What would Ino know
anyway? It's not like Naruto's in my clan."
The two males of Team 8
gave pause to blink, both wondering exactly how Naruto was brought up into this
and not liking where this was potentially leading to.
"Hold up!" Kiba
jumped up and grabbed the larger boy by his shoulders. "What's this about
what Ino said?"
"Before she kicked me
and Shikamaru out to get ready for tonight, she told me that if I lost some
weight, I could be more appealing to the girls like Naruto is."
"'Like
Naruto!-?'" Kiba and Shino exclaimed (though Shino lacked an exclamation
mark in his declaration).
"Y-yes! I t-think
s-she w-was g-going o-out o-on a d-date w-with h-him today." Chouji
struggled to say.
"That bastard!"
Kiba seethed through a red haze, as rage started to build up within him.
"C-can y-you p-please
s-stop s-shaking m-me?" The currently present member of Team 10 managed to
sputter in between being roughed up.
"Whoa... Sorry there,
big guy." Kiba immediately let go of the Akimichi's shirt collar once he
realised what he was doing.
"Why? What
happened?" Chouji inquired, after the world stopped shaking.
Kiba started on his
explanation of when he and Shino met Hinata earlier. Shino didn't bother
correcting his teammate about the exaggerations, though he would agree that
Hinata was as entrancing as an untouched field of fresh snow (a term not so
elegantly expressed by the Inuzuka). Once explanations were over, Chouji
frowned. Hard.
"He can't treat Ino
like that!" The Akimichi boy shook with barely suppressed anger in defense
to his long time teammate.
"And he can't treat
Hinata like that either!" Kiba held up a shaking fist.
"He shouldn't treat
anyone like that." Shino corrected them both.
"I say we should find
Shikamaru. " Chouji pointed in a direction he knew his male teammate to be
at. "He'll know what to do."
"C'mon then! Let's
go!" Kiba took the lead and the other two boys followed suit.
---
Naruto's eyes washed over
Sakura's choice of eatery. It wasn't a stand like he was used to, but an actual
dine-in restaurant catering various traditional and rather elaborate
food-stuff.
The blond off-the-job
ninja gave a quick inspection of the establishment through the window. From
what he noticed, he could feel his blood freezing over.
There were multiple
casual-formal waiters and waitresses...
A fold open menu in a leather frame...
Solid utensils with a consistent theme...
Oh god... Table cloth...
Naruto’s hand
instinctively reached to pat his poor defenseless frog-purse, already feeling
the sting that would decimate a good portion of its contents. If he was a
betting man, he'd bet this place charged for water too.
Patience was never quite
the strawberry-haired kunoichi's strong suit and her partner's wide-eyed
staring would be no exception. "Stop gawking and let's go in
already!" She gave his hand a tug and dragged him in with her.
Though Naruto would
undoubtedly enjoy the company, he still couldn't help but feel there might be
something to regret later.
---
A young woman stepped out
in a slow but purposeful gait. The people she passed had bid her courteous
salutations, as she walked the walk of one with professional elegance.
The walk was for good
reason really, considering Tenten was currently dressed in a formal -with a
touch of casual- suit! What with her tight, curve-hugging pants, a long-sleeved
collared-shirt and a suede vest (with coat tails!) on top making for the formal
portion. The weapon mistress had went on to add a pair of boots, twin gauntlets
and a thigh holster presenting the more casual side. In an unrelated note, it
was due to Tenten’s frisky and venturous mood that nearly all she currently
wore was in black leather.
People would remark that
she appeared to have an air of casual-formality. Or that she had some sort of
'leather-thing' going on -though they didn't express that to her face.
Hearing about the other
girls dressing up from Naruto yesterday, Tenten had decided on also a little
dressing up to attract the attention of a certain blond shinobi. It had taken
her countless of hours trying to find the right balance of casual and formality
without sacrificing elegance and it had paid off!
Tenten
suppressed a sigh and turned it into a resolved grin. She could practically
feel her muscles straining and aching from the spar that would be sure to
follow their lunch-date.
---
Both Rock Lee and Hyuuga
Neji had been walking down the street. Or rather, Neji was striding down the
street, Lee happened to spot him and was now unwantedly hanging on his easily
irritable teammate.
"Ah! My dear comrade,
Neji!" The bowl-cut boy declared eagerly. "I require the utmost
assistance!"
"Not now, Lee. I'm
busy." Neji concisely replied. He was a man on a mission and he wasn't
about to stop now.
"Please! Your
eyesight greatly surpasses mine!" The spandex-clad ninja openly wailed.
"I require aid in finding one Uzumaki Naruto!"
"The Main House
requested I search for Hinata right now." Was the statement that was
stoicly returned.
"Ohhh..." Lee
wilted on hearing that it was family business. He would stand down to more
important causes. "That's too bad. It seems I must venture fourth and seek
Uzumaki Naruto on my own -as per Tenten's personal request!"
"Yes, you go and seek
Uzu--" The Hyuuga branch-house member froze, finally processing what he
just heard. "Wait... What's this about Tenten's personal request?"
"Ooooooohhh! During
your absence, Tenten had become enamored with our blond colleague! She had
thrown accusation upon accusation until I finally agreed to be more like
him!" The taijutsu-specialist declared with manly tears threatening to
spill fourth.
"So now I seek,
Uzumaki Naruto! So that I may learn his way to appease Tenten!" He
concluded, posing dramatically.
"Enamored?" Neji
could feel an eye twitching.
"YES!" Lee
pulled Neji close until they were cheek-to-cheek and the Gai-imitator pointed
to the horizon. "Apparently, Tenten seeks companionship with him and
wishes I was more charismatic like him!" Lee held up a fist, the flames of
determination burned in his... irises(?) as he suddenly made a connection.
"YES! Now that Naruto is Tenten's consort, it leaves Sakura free for me to
court!"
Neji's eyes narrowed and
harshly pulled himself away from his over-enthusiastic teammate. He
rationalised that likely Tenten wanted Lee to be less annoying like Naruto, and
it was just like Lee to misinterprete that. However, now there were too many
coincidences concerning the orange-clad idiot and it had the Hyuuga bring his
hands to his forehead, kneading the growing headache that was threatening to
take hold.
"My... 'absence' from
our team's assemblies," The Hyuuga prodigy growled through gritted teeth,
"was due to the Main House assigning me to watch over Hinata, as her
current behaviour had her family worried. I have been following my cousin for
the past week and she'd led me on a pointless goose-chase."
"But now I
understand..." The serious member of Team Gai looked over to his enthusiastic
teammate square in the... seeing orbs.
"I'd observed Hinata
as chasing Naruto, as was a few of her other females acquaintances, including
Tenten. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now..." The Branch-house
member broke off solemnly.
This had Lee gasp in
exaggerated surprise as he caught on to Neji's vague recount.
"That cad! To play
with a girl's innocent heart! I must teach Naruto a lesson!" Lee swore.
"You guys looking for
Naruto too...?" A question with an underlying growl was loudly directed at
the duo.
Neji and Lee turned to
find Kiba, Shino and Chouji standing nearby.
---
"They don't serve
ramen...?" Naruto miserably mumbled. The world was a dark and lonely
place.
"For the last time,
Naruto, no, they don't!" Sakura held up a fist threateningly. "Stop
asking or I'll hit you!"
"They don't
ser--"
-Bop!-
"Owie!" The
devastated blond was socked out of his recursive loop by the knock to his
noggin.
Shrinking under his date's
edgy glare, Naruto scoured over his choices for something else to eat.
"So... Uhhh..."
A solitary bead of sweat made it’s way down Naruto’s bandana-less forehead. Not
only were all the dishes more pricier than his ramen, but he didn’t know what
in the world half the stuff was!
Feeling himself glazing
over, he turned to his female companion and asked, "What are you getting,
Sakura-chan?" The question was really more for his benefit than not.
"Just something
light." She leaned over to indicate her ordered dish on his menu.
The number-one surprising
ninja of the Hidden Leaf was ironically taken by surprise himself.
"Tofu?" He
whined not bothering to hide his disgust. "Why are you getting tofu?"
"Err..." Sakura
briefly gave pause to consider what she would say. "I'm trying to watch
what I'm eating..." The fact that it was the cheapest thing on the menu
had a bigger influence than her excuse -not that she'd admit it.
"But it's tofu!"
Naruto gagged, unable to grasp the subtleties. His knowledge of tofu extended
mostly towards some slices being in his ramen -otherwise it wasn't something he
could associate as being a sole meal. Thus he scrolled through the list and
made his next decision on pure instinct (like he always does with most broad
decisions).
In a sudden brust of
bravado, the Uzumaki took charge. "Cancel her order." He ordered the
waiter.
Sakura sputtered in
indignant surprise, but Naruto spoke over her before she could voice her
concerns. She could only gape as he (randomly) ordered their meal. There was
green tea for drinks, an entree of a couple of skewered barbequed pork,
followed by some Fire Country-style curry with rice and finishing it with Dango
and Anmitsu jelly for desserts. All of it would be shared between them both.
"Now go! GO!"
Naruto forcefully ushered the waiter to start on their orders, for the reason
that should Sakura try to halt the preceedings, he would easily fold under her
decision (although another reason was so he wouldn't have second thoughts into
co-ercing his own sabotage to canceling his brash order as well).
"There's no way I
could possibly afford all that!" Sakura suppressed a shout for a panicked
whisper. "That's all far too expensive! Especially the curry! That's a
Fire Country specialty!"
"We're on a date,
Sakura-chan." Naruto waved her off calmly, though the butterflies in his
stomach did loops and barrel rolls. "I'll cover it!"
"But..." She bit
her bottom lip to rebuke but didn’t get far.
"No 'buts'!
Seriously! I'll take care of it! You just go ahead and enjoy yourself!" He
deftly shrugged off her worries and raised her hopes with the same sentence.
"But there's no
possible way I could help you finish all of that..." Was Sakura's weak
excuse. She'd felt a touch of guilt at the thought of being a burden to her
teammate, just because he'd finally gotten the date he'd been begging her for
and now was trying to impress her by acting this way.
"Hah! If you can't
finish it, I'll take care of that too!" Naruto grinned "Believe
it!"
Sakura could only smile at
the confidence he radiated.
The mild pit of worry in
the whiskered ninja's stomach said otherwise.
---
One Temari of the Sand was
seated at a table of a cafe, currently clad in one of her purchases from the
days prior.
Simply put, she was
wearing a simple summer red kimono -being one of her more expensive purchases
during her stay (incidentally covered by Naruto a few days prior, though on a
technical note, it was really covered by her brothers). However, unwilling to
just wear the kimono on its own, Temari of the Sand also added in additional
mixes of ninja-wear, so not only did she have a kimono draped on her frame, but
also some fish-net clothing, consisting of a full-body mesh that only covered
her entire left arm and down to the right leg. The other appendages covering
cut off at the elbow and knee. Instead of taking her regular battle fan, Temari
had instead brought one of her more smaller fans (at least in comparison to the
battle counter-parts) -to which she was using to cover her face.
To put it simply, Temari
was a mix of different extremes.
Simple archaic clothing
with a hint of battle armour.
Obvious youth with the mannerisms of a mature woman.
Citizen of the Hidden Sand, currently staying in the Hidden Leaf.
The last was the most
tale-telling, considering that she was naturally exotic and her choice of the
region's clothing had made her all the more appealing to the general consensus.
Currently, Temari of the
Sand was watching the scenery over the wide brim of her hand-held fan. Or to be
specific, the departing of a certain person. Once he was out of sight, she
slapped her fan on the table and it fluidly closed with a loud snap.
"Cheque please."
A few more days left
before she and her brothers were to return and she'd wanted to spend this
particular one with a certain blond and make it memorable. Now, all she had to
do, was locate him.
---
The two brothers of the
Sand; Gaara and Kankuro were standing at an intersection, both mutually not
even considering heading in any direction. Kankuro was grimacing, and though
Gaara's face was carefully neutral, he appeared as menacing, if not more so,
than his older brother.
"I can't believe that
asshole didn't show up." Kankuro growled for the umpteenth time that day.
Gaara didn't voice his
displeasure, but he didn't have to be obvious about it. With Gaara, it was just
so.
Both brothers were
recently sudden fans of the Icha Icha series. They'd heard of the author having
a book signing in the Hidden Leaf, so they thought it would have been a great
idea to come down (though Temari did play a large role in getting them moving
for her own personal reasons).
Of course, once they'd
manage to distract Temari, their luck only turned sour; in that their favourite
author had not made his promised appearance. Already disgusted with the taxing
travel to the Leaf, the long and disappointed wait at the bookstore, the amount
of money spent to distract their sister and certainly not looking forward to
the travel back, it was completely understandable how irate both brothers of
the sand were.
"Hey guys." Came
a lazy drawl.
Nara Shikamaru wasn't
having a good day. Or rather, wasn't having a good past week. Since several
days ago, Ino really started getting on his nerves of 'Naruto this' and 'Naruto
that'. Even Chouji's normally polite and forgiving nature had taken a blow,
when Ino had compared him to Naruto. This dragged on for days up until this
morning, when Ino told them of her plans for a date. Disgruntled enough,
Shikamaru had taken his business to his regular cloud-watching route, only to
meet a certain Sand kunoichi on the way. Not only was he also berated by said
kunoichi, but he was also compared to Naruto as well!
Thus when it was by
complete chance that he happened on the other Sand Siblings, the Nara was quick
to mind to play the hand that was dealt to him. Namely, he was going to wash
his hands off the whole torrid affair and send trouble down Naruto's way!
On the receiving end of
two glares, Shikamaru was quick to get to his thought-out opening line.
"You guys do know that Naruto's dating your sister?" In one swiftly
planned gesture, the genius chuunin had pulled himself out of the line of fire.
"HE'S WHAT!-?"
Exclaimed Kankuro.
"What...?"
Gaara's quiet voice struck far harder than Kankuro's, as it promised
something... terrible.
"Yeah." The
shadow-user affirmed with a nod, barely stopping the urge to swallow loudly at
Gaara's leak of killing intent.
"What about
you?" The puppet-user sneers suspiciously. "Weren't you seeing our
sister?"
"I don't know."
Shikamaru kept with his nonchalant act. "What I do know, is that I just
ran into her and she was bragging about Naruto's prospects as boyfriend
material."
"That bastard!"
Kankuro seethed and the package on his back appeared to visibly shake. "We
trust them together once and he turns on us!"
Gaara said nothing, though
his eyes widened and his pupils dilated. The vessel of Shukaku was only missing
his manic grin to complete his 'blood-lusting face'.
"Oi."
Gaara, Kankuro and
Shikamaru turned to whomever addressed them and found it to be Kiba, Shino,
Chouji, Lee and Neji.
"Got something to
take up with Naruto?" Kiba smirked evilly.
"We have a lead on
his whereabouts." Added Shino.
"Naruto's been seeing
more than just Ino apparently." Chouji nodded with a fierce look to his
best friend.
"We cannot have the
defiler go around unpunished!" Lee nearly exploded into passionate flames.
"Are you coming or
not?" Neji offered.
It was only then that
Gaara grinned sinisterly and his 'killing face' ensemble was complete. Blood
was going to spill today.
---
"How's the
curry?" Sakura gave her date a knowing smirk, while she carefully gathered
another helping to her plate.
"...It's a little
hot." Naruto admitted, faltered past the napkin he held in front of his
face.
"So it wasn't good
idea to add curry powder on top of your the curry without tasting it?"
Sakura only spoke after she took measured bites into her meal and savoured the
flavour with an appreciating smile.
"...yeah. Feels like
I'm gonna die." Naruto put the napkin down, allowing Sakura a clear view
of his inflamed lips.
She giggled and he could
only put half an effort into the glare he was giving her.
Naruto wiped the
perspiration and downed another glass of water. He didn't feel like he was
going to die, but he surely felt he was on his way there!
---
A certain person had
arrived at Naruto's regular ramen stand. Finding nothing, the girl then decided
that her best course of action, would be to use her bloodlimit to aid in
locating the loud-mouth blond ninja.
"Hinata?"
The pearl-eyed Hyuuga
heiress looked over to the person who called her and came face to face with Ino
in a scantily-clad choice of clothing, easily contrasting her own. Luckily,
Hinata fell back on manners instead of openly gawking in shocked social ethic
wonder.
"G-good afternoon,
I-Ino." Hinata bowed deeply to which Ino awkwardly returned.
"Well, we're pretty
dolled up, aren't we?" The blond flower-girl tried to joke, though the
awkward moment ascended further, as each deduced the intentions of the other.
"What's
this...?-!"
This exclamation came from
a very surprised weapon mistress. A third pair of eyes lined with the first two
and appraising looks were exchanged between all three.
"Well, well, well.
What do we have here?"
Atleast that was until a
sultry voice, who hailed from a particular dessert region, had also arrived on
the scene.
"So... Anyone care to
explain where the party's at?" Temari quirked an eyebrow in mild
curiousity.
---
"I don't believe
this!" Kiba shouted distressingly. "What the hell does that prick
think he's doing?-!"
A group of young shinobi
males were taking their sweet time and all were seething in their own personal
dislike for Naruto treating their teammates/possible love-interest/sister in
such a fashion.
"What do they see in
him anyway?-!" Kiba added as an after-thought.
Of course, this was
more-so jealousy when the dog-boy brought about the subject.
"HooooOOOOO!-!"
Lee finally had tears running down his cheeks. "To think that hard work
and perseverance had finally have him noticed, only to discard manners with
quick abandon!"
Neji would've rolled his
eyes at Lee's over-the-top antics, but even he had to agree with that
assessment.
"Though his qualities
have finally earned him the attention he seeks, he has abused that
privilege." Shino inputted.
"Damn straight!"
Kankuro punctuated with a clenched fist. "That bastard deserves the
beating of a lifetime for getting involved with our sister."
"Aren't you going to
say how troublesome this is, Shikamaru?" Suggested Chouji to his lazier
counter-part.
"No." Shikamaru
had his hands in his pockets. "It will be more troublesome if we are to do
nothing. Once the eventual fall-out occurs, the girls will turn on us,
especially now that we know what we know." He was careful to stroke the
fire so that he wouldn't have to do anything when the inevitable arrives,
though everyone seemed to be doing a marvelous job of rallying each other
themselves. "It is better to nip this in the bud than be drawn in a bigger
mess later for simply being associated by proxy."
"YOSH! His passion of
youth flares with tainted tension and must be halted!" Lee suddenly
bellowed.
"Tch." A new
voice piped up. "You guys are loud."
"This might interest
you." Neji stated towards the newest arrival: Uchiha Sasuke.
The lone Uchiha had been
enjoying his day. Things appeared to be getting better and better, as not only
did little instances of luck occured his way -what with him perfecting that
darn fire-technique that's been bugging him for a while, but he hadn't been
harassed by a female member of the population all day! At first he'd been
marginally surprised when his fellow ninja males found him and explained things
to him, but he still readily agreed to join them.
Naruto was going to
recieve a beating of a lifetime today...
Sasuke smirked and thrust
his hands in his pockets.
Today was officially the best day EVER.
---
Currently, a small
congregation were making their way down some busy streets. Anyone in the
immediate area had to stop and pause.
It wasn't everyday that
had a crowd of kunoichi's, lead by the Fifth Hokage, parade down the main
street of the Leaf.
The reason for this was
that during the meeting earlier today, all kunoichi had voted not to conduct
their business in the Administration building; as the atmosphere was unbecoming
for serious debate. That and Naruto might be interrupting them again and that
definitely was no place to get away from the boy. Oh, and just because the
people who did escort the Hokage drinking yesterday thought they had a great
time, didn't mean that it had influenced everyone's decision to conduct their
meeting in the best Karaoke bar in town.
"Yeah! It's great to
get out of that tower!" Mitarashi Anko stretched her arms over her head,
jutting her chest forward. "I just hope I won't get too bored. Meeting's a
meeting after all."
And with all things
conspiratory, the group were making their way down their way to a very
particular street at a very particular time...
---
Hatake Kakashi had been
relaxing in a very comfortable chair in an outdoor cafe. Newspaper wide open in
his lap, Kakashi double-tasked with reading and reaching for his latte. He had
just brought the delectable drink to his mouth, when fabric stopped the glass
from touching his lips, effectively preventing him from downing the liquid.
This caused the one-eyed jounin to blink in surprise and look up to find a
small crowd of male shinobi watching him with interest.
"MY ETERNAL RIVAL,
KAKASHI!" Maito Gai hailed with open arms.
"I told you."
Sarutobi Asuma jostled Umino Iruka. "No one knows how he does it. When no
one's looking, it all happens normally. But when someone one is..."
"Wow..." Iruka
mumbled to himself in awe, but brought his voice out louder to congratulate
Kakashi. "That's an interesting technique you've got there!"
"Huh?" Was
Kakashi's intelligent reply.
"He means you're
impressive technique, where you can eat or drink things past your mask,
whenever people aren't looking!" Gai gave the silver-haired jounin a
thumbs up.
"What?" Kakashi
reached for his face and his visible eye blinked in surprise. "Oh that's
right... I'm wearing a mask."
He turned back to the
dumbfounded expressions of the other jounins and shrugged casually at their
gaping.
"I usually forget
that I keep it on."
And the levels of
confusion escalated from there.
"HoooOOOOOOO-OOO-OOOOO!"
Gai howled in open envy. "You truly are hip and cool like that,
Kakashi!"
Once everyone got their
bearings, they joined Kakashi at his table and began ordering their own light
meals and/or beverages as well.
"What's the
news?" Kakashi asked politely.
"The jounin lounge
was closed today!" Gai sputtered crumbs everywhere, as he spoke while
trying to consume his man-wich in a (sad) attempt to multitask in a subtle
contest with his self-proclaimed rival.
"Yeah, not too many
places around that lets you smoke, you know?" Asuma lit up a cigarette to
further emphasize his point. "You'd be surprised at how many places are
taking up the no-smoking policy."
"I've got my day off
today and I saw the guys." Iruka freely admitted. "Thought it'd be
nice to catch up."
"And the rest of
them?" Kakashi gave a curt indication to the other male shinobi of jounin
and chuunin rank, who were seemingly appearing off the street.
Gekkou Hayate, Shiranui
Genma, Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu all gave polite greetings before
moving to a table on their own.
"No idea. Same reason
as us, I'd think." Asuma shrugged it off without a care.
Kakashi flicked a passing
glance at all the jounins seating out in the open before making his evaluation.
"It would seem that
because of the appearance of ninja as customers, it attracts other shinobi
because it appears as a friendly and safe haven for people with our kind of
occupation to stop at." Kakashi observed with a nod of his head.
"A SOLID
THEORY!" Gai shouted. "TRULY, YOUR OBSERVATIONAL SKILLS PROVES YOUR
GENIUS INTELLECT, MAKING YOU WORTHY TO BE MY RIVAL!" Both Asuma and Iruka
couldn't help but covertly snicker at the green spandex-clad jounin's antics at
Kakashi's expense.
There was an enjoyable
silence with the backdrop of small-talk, before Kakashi risked speaking again.
"Is it just me, or
have all the female jounins gone missing?"
---
Naruto released a breath
he didn't know he was holding. Sure, his frog purse took quite a hit, but
atleast he'd managed to pay for both his and Sakura's meal.
"It was pretty
nice." Sakura commented in regard to the food Naruto had ordered for them
to share.
"Hehe, yeah, I'm
feeling pretty good myself." Naruto stretched his arms overhead before
letting them drift back to cradle the back of his head.
Sakura took this as an
opening to poke the blond boy in the stomach. "Geeze. You're just about
due any time now, huh?" She chuckled to which he joined in.
He thought was just about
due too.
---
"What's that,
cyclops?" A voice laughed, crossing between being melodic and sneering.
"You miss us already?"
All the male ninja looked
over their side, mostly surprised at the appearance of all the jounin kunoichi
just peering over the divider next to their table.
"You happened to be
late attending yesterday's meeting, Kakashi." Iruka politely remarked,
taking a sip from his coffee. "Otherwise, you'd know what they were up
to."
"Official kunoichi
business, broomhead!" Anko stuck out her tongue.
Kakashi sighed and he
rolled his visible eye, trying not to pay Anko any attention to mind. Not that
the tactic ever worked against Anko anyway.
But it sort of did as
Shizune suddenly started. "Isn't that a group of Naruto's friends?"
Everyone turned to look at where the medic ninja was facing. And indeed, there
were the whole male portions of the rookie nine, Gai's team and the sand
brothers.
"Hehe! They look
mighty pissed!" Anko commented colourfully.
"You thought they
looked pissed..." Asuma indicated to the other end of the street, where
another group was approaching from. "Those girls look even angrier."
"Aaawww... And
they're all dressed up..." Anko smirked sharply, before her eyes caught on
a couple exiting a restaurant across the street.
Easily figuring where all
of this was heading and already enjoying the distress that would come of it,
she gave everyone else a heads up.
"Looks like today's
gonna be interestin' after all!"
---
Naruto was the first to
reach the restaurant exit, and he approached the situation like he saw in the
movies. He opened the door for Sakura and held it for her to exit. Sakura
smiled at this and thanked him. Feeling a little braver, she took hold of his
hand as she stepped out and pulled him out with her.
"I had a good
time." Sakura blushingly admitted. She couldn't quite meet his eyes, but
settled on watching her hand intertwine with his.
"So did I." A
goofy grin wouldn't leave Naruto's face as he too was mesmerised by their
joined hands.
So enthralled with the
other, that they didn't quite notice the large throng of male and female
assorted jounin and chuunin watching their every move. They also happened to
miss two large groups of their peers approaching from the opposite ends of the
street. Approaching with killing intent, actually.
"You know... I'd like
it if we did this agai-" Sakura started but was interrupted.
"Naruto!" A
booming voice interrupted.
It was rather unfortunate
that a particular openly perverted author just happened to step out of the shop
right next to theirs.
"I had to stay up ALL
NIGHT but I finished the updated second edition of the guide book! Now it
covers more things on how to woo that precious person! GWAHAHAHA! This is my
best work yet!" Jiraiya excitedly bellowed, whilst pulling a thick leather-bound
manual and attempting to shove it into Naruto's hands.
"Hey? What's the
matter with you?" Jiraiya worriedly asked, finally noticing Naruto's
quickly annoyed demeanor had made a complete 180 and now was starting to look
pale, scared and fearful.
Then it was the first time
the older man noticed a certain pink-haired female standing right next to
Naruto and was turning all shades of red. She wasn't blushing anymore. If
anything, she was downright fuming.
Then Jiraiya's
pervert-preservation senses kicked in.
Years of peeking on the
baths of the many countries had bestowed upon him a worldly collection of
perverted wisdom and senses outside of the original five. One new sense of
which, had him more tuned in with sensing an angry woman's intent in his
direction. At the moment, not only was this sense going off like crazy, the
super pervert's hair on his neck was rising on end. Even his long pony-tailed
mane was becoming prickly with retribution-fearing anticipation.
And boy did he fear
retribution.
He'd isolated the feeling
from a large concentrated source behind him as well as a smaller but finer
concentrated source just a short distance away. So Jiraiya did the best he
could do in this situation.
He decided to escape.
However, in a burst of
genius that he'd thought he lost all those years ago when he was in his prime,
the aging pervert surprisingly adapts. Quickly taking back the book he'd just
put in Naruto's hands, the Toad Sage opens it, places a pen to the inner cover
and begins scribbling feverously.
"To my biggest fan,
Naruto!" He loudly narrates with desperation as he writes the dedication.
"Thanks for helping me write such a great piece of literature for all
shinobi men out there! Best of luck to your women troubles, Jiraiya-sensei!"
He practically yelps and
thrusts the book back into Naruto's hands. With the action completed, the
Super-Pervert bolts like the wind, taking to the rooftops.
Naruto only had time to
look up to the crowd closing in, looking to the world like a deer caught in
headlights.
To one side, was a very
angry-looking crowd of his closest male friends. All looked just about ready to
throttle him.
The opposite side had a
smaller group of his closest female friends. Each had varying shades of emotion
from heart-breaking disappointment to jilted, angry-psycho. The combination of
all of them appeared to promise far more pain then the male group could ever
hope to dish out.
The blond boy turned
helplessly to another direction. This one had a huge group of jounin and
chuunin ninja. Every last one of them gave him both looks of pure pity and
righteous turn about.
Except for three people.
Kakashi gave him a good-luck wink (atleast, the blond boy hoped so, it was hard
to tell with the other eye covered).
Tsunade looked like everyone else, but a growing fear was starting to take over
her face, as she realised the paperwork that would be involved.
The last person was Anko. She had the biggest grin on her face, her eyes though
unfocused, flickered between all the parties in the area. Actually, she looked
like she was just about to cre--
Dropping that line of
thought, Naruto turned around. One completely red-faced Sakura-chan was
blocking his last avenue of escape. With the way she was still clutching
tightly at his hand -which incidentally was growing tighter- Naruto was pretty
convinced that she wasn't going to aid him in escaping either.
"NARUTOOOOOOOOO!"
Came the united exclamation of many a vengeful voices.
And for once in his life,
Naruto wished he wasn't in the centre of attention.
End of Single Ninja!
Watch out for the sequel; Single Kunoichi on the Prowl, coming soon!
Constructive Criticism, Feedback, Flames and all
major credit cards accepted! XD
Also, the Single Ninja Forum is now up and about! Feel free drop by with
any corrections or suggestions!
Author's
Notes:
And that's that. Whoa... Single Ninja on the Town is finally complete! DONE!
WHOOOOO!
Okay... Gimme a sec. Let me get myself together...
Did anyone notice what was
up with the meal Naruto ordered? Hehe.
Bet some of you are also
wondering if this fic had a pairing. In all honesty... No, not really. If you
want to get technical, it's Naru/Saku -solely on the fact that he'd got into
this mess because of Jiraiya's meddling with his attempted love-life. But ultimately,
no pairing.
Let's see... Anything left
to say...? Hmmm... The original idea was conceived on the 8th of August of 2005
and it took... what? around seven months!-? Fwar. Even I'm amazed by this.
Never expected it to take this long.
The thing was, I never
really expected this story to become this large. Infact, it was my supposed
retreat from Fox Identity and the seriousness and amount of professionality and
effort that required.
But lookie, lookie and see
what came and bit me in the ass. XD
Anyway, drop by my Single
Ninja forum sometime. I'll be adding a 'Making of Single Ninja' as well as
teasers and notes for the upcoming sequel: 'Single Kunoichi on the Prowl!'
-Don't expect it too soon though! It's only in its planning stages and I've yet
to sort out the kinks. On other news, I'll be back regularly on Fox Identity
now!
And the very end is
actually based on a True Story.
Subtitle - Epilogue
"Training's
over!" Hatake Kakashi proclaimed, his orange book eliciting a sharp snap
as he closed it with one hand. "You are all dismissed!"
The silver-haired jounin
then immediately disappeared in a flurry of leaves. His sole intent lay on
purchasing the new edition of the Icha Icha series: Come Come Chivalry! A huge
volume box set of a young man, whose adventures takes him to meet the woman of
his dreams, the shy girl next door, a flower girl of incredible beauty, the
bondage mistress and finally the exotic fan dancer! (Little did he know, that
further installments also included a personal fantasy instructor, a botanist,
the solitary swordswoman, a former pupil of the antagonist and the town's
mayor/part-time doctor and her assistant).
And it was claimed to be
based on a true story too!
With Kakashi gone, it had
left the younger of Team 7's members to their own devices. Haruno Sakura was
the quickest to react to Kakashi's dismissal by turning to her dark-haired
teammate and procurring a gift-wrapped box from her sachel to present it to
Uchiha Sasuke.
"Please take it,
Sasuke! It's a completely legitimate piece that all Anbu wear!" The
pink-haired girl implored, offering a gift to the dark-haired boy.
"No." He replied
crisply. He really wasn't one to accept presents or any sort of thing. His
fanclub always gave him trouble, and giving in to anyone would simply be asking
for more trouble -simply stealing valuable time he could spend on training.
"It would simply
break my heart if you don't accept it!" Sakura resorted to begging.
"I have training to
do." Sasuke resolutely stated, ending the conversation.
Sasuke stalked off and
Sakura had slumped glumly. At the same instant Naruto had seen the exchange
from the distance, but could not discern what had been said between his
teammates. He wasn't entirely on speaking terms with Sakura just yet, as she'd
usually broadcast a cold aura at him whenever he even got within 5 feet of her.
This was probably due to
the mess he was in the middle of 2 weeks ago. The battle (or rather mostly
chase, in which the boys were eventually left behind, though his stamina failed
in trying to escape from the girls) had caused much property damage, leaving
alot of complaints and paperwork for one VERY angry Hokage. She'd soon
had everyone's set of events and had sorted it out.
However, much to Naruto's
distress, most of his friends had excluded him from their circles. It had taken
him the better part of the first week to be accepted by all of the guys again,
though the girls were having a harder and longer time in doing so. It had only
been up until now that the ladies involved were giving him a little more than
the time, though the only exception was being Sakura. His pink-haired teammate
was the least forgiving of everyone and though he met her everyday, she had
always given him the cold-shoulder, much less the time of day.
And the worst part was, he
still didn't understand what he'd done!
"Screw this."
Naruto muttered to himself, as he saw Sakura's crest-fallen look. "I don't
like seeing her like that, even if she doesn't like me."
"Hey, hey
Sakura-chan... Why the sad face?" Naruto concerningly asked, once he'd
come over close enough.
Once the pink-haired girl
had noticed it was her blond teammate who'd approached her, she had been about
to give him her cold-shoulder. However, instead of doing so, she ended up
pausing and giving it a think over. She stopped talking to him because she'd
been angry that she'd been cheated by a book, rather than Naruto finally doing
something right himself. However, a speculative jade eye ran up and down
Naruto, taking careful consideration.
Not liking the way she was
scrutinising him, the blond ninja went on to ask. "Is something the
matter, Sakura-chan?" His voice gave indication to his earnest worries. He
really wasn't sure if the way she was looking at him was better or worse than
when she was giving him the cold shoulder...
"No... Nothing is
wrong, Naruto..." She proceeded to speak slowly, now contemplating a new
decision.
The recent memory of a
couple of weeks ago had her consider her options. A few talks with the Hokage
had forced her to accept the fact that he had been doing it all for her and
that his feelings were genuine. Then that whole incident of him accidentally
have the other girls notice him, when he'd been trying to date her, had been
quite a debacle but she had appreciated the gesture, as much as she'd deny it.
However, though everyone
was pissed with the blond boy and after everything was all said and done, the
other kunoichi's still hadn't stopped throwing glances down Naruto's way,
whenever he wasn't looking. But Sakura noticed and it kind of irked her in a
way she couldn't explain...
Then the pink-haired ninja
had the most diabolical idea.
"You know,
Naruto..." She started.
He nodded
enthusiastically, hanging onto her every word.
"I have something I want to give you..."
"Really?" Naruto's eyes widened. His mind briefly flitted to
wonder as he couldn't understand how Sakura's attitude had changed so quickly,
but he wasn't one to question it now.
"Yep!" Sakura turned around and tore open the box she was
holding. "Hold on a second."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, but patiently waited. Just out of his
view, Sakura had pulled out the contents of the present and she'd furiously
went over it with a kunai.
Once satisfied, the Haruno daughter turned back around and carefully
offered the object to Naruto.
"Please wear it!" She asked of him.
Naruto accepted it with open arms, and found it to be a simple steel
necklace with two military dog-tags -similar to the way the ANBU used to have
for ways of identification! He immediately put it on without hesitation.
"Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan!" He beamed. "I think they're great!"
"You're welcome,
Naruto!" She grinned back.
By coincidence, the light
had refracted off a dent in the tags causing it to draw Naruto's attention.
Peering down, he realised that one of the tag's had an inscription, other than
the expected Leaf insignia. Lifting it up to his face to have a closer look, he
read the recently hastily-put, chicken-scratch out loud.
"PROPERTY OF HARUNO
SAKURA!-?"
Life is too short, and
even shorter for ninjas! Seek out your beloved and never let them go!
Uploaded: February 7th,
2006.
Updated: October 26th, 2006.
Updated: January 12th, 2007.