Chapter 10: Chapter 9
"From the expression on your face, things didn't go well?"
Naruto frowned as Shikamaru literally collapsed into the chair across from his desk. Just thinking that it was his desk was rather strange, especially considering they moved their camp every couple of weeks... but they always made sure he had a desk to use.
"It's so troublesome."
"You say that after every mission," Naruto ground out.
"True. Though this one was more troublesome than most. We lost the Tsuchikage and..." Shikamaru let out a deep breath, his face scrunched up in anguish,"I'm sorry, but we also lost Gaara."
Feeling like Shikamaru's words were like a punch to the gut, Naruto's original instinct was to blow up in a rage... but he immediately clamped down on that urge, remembering they were in a war. Gaara had volunteered to go and assured him that they'd get the mission done, no matter what. Naruto had already lost so many ninja, and continued to lose them in small amounts on weekly, and sometimes even a daily basis. Both he and Shikamaru were close to the red-haired Kazekage, and his loss impacted them both deeply.
The blond settled for rubbing his forehead, and letting out a sigh. "Report."
"We arrived at the location just at sunrise, with no encounters," Shikamaru began to explain without hesitation, as if he wanted to get the story off his chest as soon as possible. "We managed to move swiftly with a smaller group. It was only a recon mission, but Gaara thought the presence in the obelisk was familiar, so he requested that he be allowed to investigate. We voted within the group and decided it would be a good idea for him to check.
"He approached the obelisk and placed his hand on it. He claimed he could feel the Ichibi in the obelisk, and it was responding to him. He was going to attempt to remove it. But then Tobi struck.
"I don't know how he found us, but I'm pretty sure he has some sort of detection ward or seal set up around the obelisk that none of us noticed. Instinct told me we would be walking into the trap but I felt freeing a bijuu would be worth the risk. So did everyone else.
"Tobi appeared out of nowhere like he usually does, and used one of those artifacts he has to cut Gaara, then warped him out of the area so we couldn't heal him. Before anyone could really do anything, Gaara was already gone, and it wasn't long after that when I noticed we were surrounded. I informed Tsuchikage-sama, and he told me to run back with as many people as I could while he held them off. We could still hear the sound of fighting miles away."
Naruto leaned back in his chair as he listened to all of the report. "How many made it back?"
"Seventeen out of the twenty-five."
"Better than I was expecting for coming under attack by Tobi directly."
"We lost two on the way back, because of the Moon."
Naruto was quiet for a moment, but then shook his head. "Not good to hear, but still better than I expected. Tobi must have been preoccupied to let that many of you get away. Not that I'm not thankful – because I am – it's just something that doesn't happen when he involves himself directly."
The two of them sat in companionable silence, before Naruto stretched in his chair, then looked at Shikamaru. The other boy was leaning back completely in the chair, eyes closed. He actually looked completely worn out for a change, instead of just being lazy.
"Shikamaru - go get some rest. Tell one of the guys to send a message to Kakashi and Darui, I need to talk to them. When you're more awake, tell me as much as you can about these obelisks."
The other boy literally rolled out of his chair as he turned and headed for the exit. "You got it, Naruto. See ya."
The blond watched as his old friend left the command tent. What he wouldn't give to have paperwork as his enemy right now, instead of the current hell they were in.
Naruto stifled a yawn as he went over some of the reports he was charged with looking over in his capacity as overseer of the new arrivals, which had kept him incredibly busy. He had to greet all of the new visitors whenever there was a large group, and either help them get set up or to meet up with the rest of their clan. Others needed to be directed to real estate brokers, construction and immigration offices, the Academy and ninja registration buildings, among other places.
There wasn't anything that grabbed his attention, so he set the papers down and looked out the window of his office. He had been granted a room to use in the Administration building, just a few levels below the Hokage's office. It made sense in the long run, this way he wouldn't have to make the trek from his apartment when something came up with the clans and he was needed.
Leaning forward and resting his head on his hand, he looked to the side, out the window. It was easy to spot the cranes and construction scaffolding near the walls, where all the new construction was taking place. They had finally run out of free space within the village proper itself, and had started planning to build a second, smaller wall outside the first. Essentially the village would have another 'ring' outside of the first wall. Interestingly... it had always been part of the initial planning to have multiple walls and defensive layers, but they had scrapped them in favor of one big wall. Now, however, they would be building a second wall anyway.
As his eyes skimmed over the various buildings he could see from his office, he smiled as his eyes fell upon the Academy. He had stopped by on a whim the other day, just to see how the school was doing. He wasn't exactly trying to hide his presence, and as a result one of the teachers with an outdoor class had spotted him and called him over to do some demonstrations. Of course he was more happy to oblige. So what if his ulterior motive was to see who was currently in school right now?
The first person he thought of was Iruka, but he was either in one of the earlier year's classes or wasn't even in the Academy yet, since the kids where he was seemed to be 11 or 12 and just about to graduate. Only slightly depressed at this realization, he quickly discovered that the only person he could recognize in the class in front of him was a very boisterous Sarutobi Asuma.
He made plans in his mind to come back and explore the Academy later, once he wasn't bogged down with work just to check and see who was where, mostly out of curiosity. Even though pretty much everyone he knew that was older than him grew up fine, there were a couple... special cases that he was interested in.
A gentle knock on his door pulled him out of his musings. "Yes?"
The door opened slowly, and Naruto was able to carefully mask his surprise as Uchiha Kagami entered the room. The blond hopped up out of his chair to assist the older man, who hobbled along slightly thanks to his bad knee, but was waved off.
"I'm not that old, Naruto."
"Oh... sorry? I didn't know."
Kagami chuckled as he moved towards one of the other unoccupied chairs in the room. "It's fine. Just a nasty encounter with an Iwa nin during the Second War that shattered my knee. Got a pretty good replacement thanks to Tsunade-sama, but I'll never go active duty again." The retired shinobi gestured towards one of the other chairs in the room. "I'll just sit here, the walk was a little longer than I anticipated."
Naruto nodded slowly as he closed the office door. "You could have sent a message and I would have come to you, Uchi-err, I mean, Kagami-san."
Kagami grinned at the way the blond caught himself, but shook his head. "No, it's fine. I needed to chat with Hiruzen about a few things, but I also wanted to talk to you outside of the clan boundary. Too many ears there."
Naruto was immediately placed on guard, and it must have shown in his posture because Kagami idly waved his hand in the air. "Easy, Naruto. It's nothing serious, well – for me, at least - but I'd rather not have people gossiping. Just the fact that I was probably seen visiting you here will set gums flapping, but there is nothing that can be done about that."
"Alright." Naruto was somewhat reassured, but he still hated politics, and one thing he learned quickly was that Konoha was all about politics right now when they weren't at war. Some days, sadly, he might actually have preferred war – not that he'd ever tell anyone. At least objectives were fairly obvious... beat up the bad guy and be the victor. Unfortunately life in general was never so simple, especially when there was no visible 'bad guy'.
Kagami watched as the blond moved back around his desk and slowly sat down. Leaning back in his chair, he scratched at his chin before looking the Uchiha Patriarch in the eyes. "So, what can I do for you Kagami-san?"
"I'll get right to the point. It's not so much for me as it is for my daughter, Mikoto."
"Mikoto-chan? What's wrong?"
One of Kagami's eyebrows arched upward. "Mikoto-chan? Can't say I saw that one coming."
Naruto faltered for a moment, blushing lightly as he registered just who who it was that he was speaking with. Mikoto was a very good friend of his, and after a while it just became habit to show he was fond of her. He did it to nearly every female that was near his age. Most of them didn't care, and Mikoto didn't seem to have anything against it, either. "I-I'm sorry, Kagami-san. I don't really mean anything by it but I usually refer-"
"It's fine, Naruto. Great, actually." Kagami held up his hand in a stopping gesture as Naruto began to ramble, effectively stopping the blond from potentially embarrassing himself. "You see, my daughter doesn't know that I'm here right now. She's currently wandering the Uchiha District with that other man, Fugaku."
Naruto nodded slowly, not sure where this was going. "Her fiancé, right?"
"Yes, but not for much longer, I believe."
Naruto tilted his head to the side, startled but also confused. "But from what Mikoto-chan tells me, when she was younger she asked you to set up a... what did she call it? A contract, I think? You're against it now?"
"Oh, I'm not against them. They can be useful to set boundaries, or when there is definite gain in prestige or power to both sides. My daughter never really wanted a contract, but she felt she needed one because for a long time she considered herself to be untouchable. As an only child and daughter of the head of the Uchicha clan, an attractive young woman, and a wild temper when she lets it out - thanks to the friends she has kept for many years... she is seen as a rather intimidating figure."
Naruto felt his lips twitch upward slightly at the hint regarding his mother. Kagami must have noticed because he started smiling too.
"So you can see why a lot of boys her age would not be too interested in getting very close to her, both out of fear thanks to myself and Habanero-chan. So I matched her up as best I could, with a slightly older man who was still close enough to her age but yet also quite accomplished."
Naruto distractedly scratched at the side of his head as he listened to Kagami, and could now only come to one conclusion, "She doesn't want to get married to him, then."
"No, she doesn't." Kagami looked inordinately pleased at this for some reason.
"How long ago did she decide this? I thought she said they had been engaged for a while, and the wedding wasn't too far off?"
Kagami leaned back in his chair, stretching his leg out. "I'm surprised she's told you this much. She's normally rather reserved with anyone other than myself, Minato, Taichi, and Kushina-chan."
Naruto shrugged and turned his head to look out the window. "Not long after the mission we went on together, she would randomly ask me to spar every now and again. It's been happening lately with increased frequency. When we take breaks, and I've asked her how she's doing, she just starts talking and letting everything out. I got the impression she just needed someone to vent at, and... lets just say I'm a lot better at listening than I used to be when I was younger."
"I understand, and I appreciate that you listen to her." Kagami leaned back in the chair, pressing his fingertips together in front of his chest. "Taichi always seems to be on assignment, Minato is always working on his new techniques, and Kushina-chan... well... as much as I love the girl as if she was my own daughter, she is a bit of a motormouth. I doubt Mikoto could ever really get a word in."
Closing his eyes and chuckling, Naruto nodded. He could definitely see that being the case. "So, are you trying to tell me that you need something done with Fugaku?" While he wasn't really looking forward to doing anything harmful to Sasuke's father, perhaps he could get the man to lighten up a bit. Mikoto's stories about him definitely didn't paint a pretty picture.
"Personally, I have nothing at all against the young man," Kagami shrugged, "But even I can see he isn't the right fit for my daughter. For leading a clan, he would be fine, but I don't see him being successful as a husband, or even a father. He's too devoted to work and is a... little too stubborn."
Naruto's mind immediately snapped to Itachi and Sasuke, and barely managed to squelch a derisive snort. Thinking about Itachi also made him recall the attempted coup that Fugaku would spearhead someday, and that alone left what felt like a lump of ice in his gut.
"But now Mikoto has found someone else that has sparked her interest, and she's serious enough about it that she wants to break off her current engagement."
Naruto was silent for a moment as he let Kagami's words bounce around in his head. While he was still somewhat obtuse about certain matters and probably always would be, he definitely wasn't a complete idiot anymore. A certain feeling of dread started to hang over him as all he could think was 'Sasuke's mom, Sasuke's mom, Sasuke's mom!'. The best he would likely get away with now was delaying the inevitable... unless he was willing to potentially make an enemy of the Uchiha. Thatwas something he was definitely hoping to avoid.
Damn politics.
To top it all off, he was rather wary about getting entangled in any relationships simply for practical reasons. Firstly, he would have to tell whoever he was to get involved with that he was from quite a few years in the future. Any relationship he got into would potentially stop one that set of a chain of events that led to something he could know how to fix. Getting involved with someone like Mikoto would change a huge series of events. The Itachi he briefly knew and the Sasuke he was a rival and teammate of would never exist. Ever. The thought process that continued from that point was staggering. No Itachi meant that the Uchiha Massacre would never happen, or it would be someone else that did it. But one of his objectives – to save the Uchiha clan – would be easily accomplished this way.
Who better to confront a madman with a fully evolved Sharingan than with a clan full of the potential to do the same, even when considering the risks?
It was strange that Kagami would approach him now, considering Naruto had been entertaining thoughts of trying to get to know Terumi Mei a little better. She had been almost attached to his hip as he was coordinating with all the bloodline clans that had moved to Konoha from Kiri, acting as a secretary of sorts when she wasn't training. As the next potential leader of the Terumi clan (which was acknowledged as the most powerful among their new arrivals) she was getting good experience for dealing with administrative aspects.
What Naruto found odd was that she was rather shy unless someone addressed her first. He had thought perhaps he could ask her out to get her to open up a little, but was mildly surprised to find that she already had a boyfriend. He didn't want to pry, but the kiss they shared definitely wasn't one done between family.
He felt some disappointment, of course, as he got to know Mei a little from his future – very well in one painfully brief encounter – and had considered getting to know her now, earlier in her life. That had gotten shot down before it could really even get started.
Now that he thought about it, the few times Mikoto had come looking for him and Mei was still around, the Uchiha had been rougher and more aggressive than usual in their sparring sessions. It was becoming clearer and clearer.
Leaning back in his chair and trying to unsuccessfully find a comfortable position, he took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me guess. I'm the someone else she found?"
"You don't sound pleased."
Kagami's voice had a dangerous edge to it, but Naruto simply shook his head and sighed. "It's not that. I'm flattered, honestly. She's one of the strongest kunoichi that Konoha has, is the heir to one of the strongest clans in the village, and, yes, I think she's beautiful. But it's dangerous as hell for me to get involved."
Naruto opened his eyes to look at the current leader of the clan who was sitting across from him, only slightly surprised to see something that could pass as respect on the man's features. His lips were turned upward slightly in a slight grin, at least, and that made Naruto relax more than anything else.
"I wouldn't say it will be dangerous, exactly. It might create an uproar for a little while, but with your current standing in the village I don't think it would last."
Naruto blinked. "Wait... you're supporting this?"
"Of course. It's what my daughter wants, and like I said, I was never a huge fan of Fugaku to begin with. There simply were no better options at the time." Kagami idly played with the hem on one of his sleeves as he spoke.
Naruto's brain, meanwhile, was going a mile a minute. Things were already messed up because of the clans from Kiri here, but if he went through with helping to void Mikoto's engagement to Fugaku, thoughts of how much would change once again passed through his mind. The part of him that was male would never reject the idea completely... from what he knew of Mikoto, she was definitely very close to his ideal of feminine perfection. Fugaku was an idiot to not treat her better.
Thinking back, he couldn't help but wonder what she was like when he was growing up. He didn't really have any memories of her that came to his mind, other than occasional visits to get Sasuke at the Academy, and one brief glimpse at the Military Police Headquarters. But he couldn't remember anything more than that, and Sasuke never told him more than her name. He always had a rather glorified view of what parents were because he never had any of his own, but if this was what it was really like before Sasuke and Itachi were born...
"Naruto?"
The blond immediately sat up straight, quickly apologizing, "Sorry! I just let my mind wander..."
"About Mikoto?" There might have been a teasing tone to Kagami's voice, but Naruto didn't know the man well enough to be sure.
"Sort of. Just thinking about what I knew of her from our spars and occasional chats. It's not much, I'm afraid."
"Well, you've only been public knowledge for about two months, so I wouldn't expect you to know her life's story. But you'll have some time to get to know her soon. I've managed to convince Hiruzen to dispatch you on a mission with my daughter to get you out of the village for a few days."
Naruto was shocked. "How did you manage to pull that off? I didn't think the old man would want to let me out of his sight for the near future."
Kagami barked out a laugh, "The old man? Hiruzen? I know he's getting up there, but damn. Does he let you get away with that?"
"Sometimes." Naruto blushed and looked away. "I've known him for so long, he's like the closest thing I have to a dad, so I just call him the old man." It wasn't a complete truth, but it was close enough.
As the Uchiha's chuckles settled down, he reached into his robes and pulled out a sealed scroll, then tossed it to Naruto, who caught it in one hand.
"It should be simple for one person, and a walk in the park for two of you. It's A-Rank but we probably could have given it to a veteran chunin squad. A group of militia from Valley Country deserted their posts, and our hunter squads have picked up rumors of them hiding out along our southern border with River. Scour the area and if you find them, wipe them out. They don't know anything of importance but they need to be made an example of to discourage further desertions. This was likely a fluke, but they don't want to risk it."
Naruto nodded as he opened the scroll and read the details. It was minimum pay for an A-Rank, but he wasn't exactly hurting for money so he didn't care too much. The mission itself likely would be as easy as Kagami claimed, he could probably have finished it himself within two or three days, the six day window they allowed seemed a little much. But then they probably were expecting a veteran chunin squad, and not a capable jonin and... well... him.
Rolling the scroll back up, he placed it on his desk and hummed for a moment.
"Just out of curiosity, why can't you just break the engagement off?"
"Mainly because it's too late to do it that way." Kagami shrugged as he moved on his chair, likely trying to find another comfortable position. "Had it been only a couple of months after the original engagement, Fugaku likely would have been fine with it. But now that they have been seeing each other for such a long time, he sees it as an insult. Believe me, I already tried it through the proper channels, and even went to appeal to him directly with Mikoto at my side. With only a month until the wedding though, he's within his rights to refuse."
"Why do both have to agree? Aren't there ways to break contracts, even if there are penalties?"
Kagami nodded, "Yes, but in this case all contract breakers were meant to be agreements. There is no way a contract break will be acknowledged by any Uchiha if only one side wants to break it. Fugaku is both stubborn and ambitious, there is no reason for him to break it on what he sees as a whim of Mikoto, and most others would back his choice. Of course, like any contract, there are emergency clauses that can go into effect when certain criterion are met, such as death, sickness..."
He waved his hand in the air in a rotating motion as if to signify that the list of bad things went on, but stopped and focused his eyes on Naruto for his last word.
"Infidelity."
Naruto's jaw went slack for a moment, before his head promptly fell forward and his forehead hit his desktop with a resounding 'thump'.
"Now now, it's likely not the way you're thinking, and I'm using a very loose interpretation of the word. A simple kiss will break it off."
"Huh? How is that possible?" The blond's head lifted as he asked his question, staring at Kagami as if he was a madman.
"It's part of the way the contract seal works. As long as both of their chakra states are unchanged from the moment the contract is sealed, it will remain in effect. So Mikoto and Fugaku have both gone nearly a year without doing anything with a member of the opposite sex. As far as I know, Mikoto has never done anything, ever. However, I haven't asked her either. It isn't my business. Her mother would have killed me."
Naruto chuckled nervously as he starred at a grinning Kagami, thinking about the man's words. He would have to check out what kind of seal was on that contract. Was it self-updating? How was that possible?
"Err... I still don't see how it's possible to have a seal update itself, based on external stimulus, unless..."
One of Kagami's eyebrows twitched upwards, "So you know some things about sealing? Well, Mikoto and Fugaku have to go to the clan chambers to place their chakra in the seal once a week, or after returning from a mission. The seal can detect residual chakra from another within a week time period, so neither of them have had a mission that has lasted more than a few days over the last year."
Naruto knew about residual chakra... it often happened when you got into Taijutsu fights with an opponent that laced their attacks with their chakra. The Hyuuga specialized in that. When they would close off tenketsu with their jyuuken strikes, their chakra would leave its own residue in your chakra system that would last for a up to a week depending on the severity of the strikes. It wasn't harmful, it was just the way chakra worked. It was how medics were able to find out how shinobi died, and sometimes even who did it. Everyone's chakra had their own unique 'signature'.
"Seems like it's rather complicated for something so simple."
"True, but it's been used by the Uchiha since before Konoha existed, so who am I to argue about it now? I'll admit that it is unusual to use a contract like this, but since both of them were already of age, there was no choice. It was also Mikoto who asked for the one year grace period. Fugaku didn't seem too eager to wait that long but he eventually agreed."
Naruto simply sighed and shook his head. He never understood some clan laws. He had sworn to change the Hyuuga's practice of the caged bird seal when he became Hokage, but that never really panned out for obvious reasons. But with the Uchiha... with the Uchiha... wait...
"Whoa! Wait! Mikoto is the heir, right? If she gets with me, what does that mean?"
Kagami smirked. "Technically, since the Uchiha are a Patriarchal clan, you'll be the leader. Of course there will be elder advisers and-"
"B-But I wasn't born an Uchiha! I don't have the Sharingan! I'm an Uzumaki, and as distant relatives of the Senju I don't think that will go over very well!" Naruto was standing up now, looking panicked, while Kagami was still sitting in his chair, calmly staring.
The two continued staring at each other in some strange sort of silence until Naruto eventually sat back down. Kagami nodded his head at the blond, and continued speaking.
"As I was going to say, there are elder advisers in the clan who may not like you at first, but even they will come to understand the sway you have in Konoha, and by extension, Konoha's Hokage. You have Hiruzen's ear as much as I do, and at the rate he's completing difficult assignments and leading teams I'd bet on Minato being the next Hokage... so you'll have an advantage with him too. I've always thought the Uchiha needed to be more involved with the village, not removed from it like so many of us seem content being."
"But if you really want to shake things up, placing my daughter as the Matriarch and letting her take charge... well..." Kagami's voice trailed off as he shrugged and looked out one of the two windows in Naruto's little office.
Meanwhile, the blond realized for the first time that he never knew what happened to Uchiha Kagami when he was growing up. He had never been one to read up on clan history, especially not once the fourth war hit, but he didn't ever remember hearing the man's name come out of anyone's mouth. Was he forcefully... 'retired'? All of these thoughts happened in a brief moment, it didn't take long for him to pick back up on what Kagami was now saying.
The fact that Kagami was also talking about the two of them in such a way that it made it sound like their getting together would be a certainty. He wasn't terribly keen on that, but so far the positives far outweighed the negatives. He'd feel like an ass for a while for pulling one over on Fugaku, but considering how Mikoto had been sharing with him how disillusioned she was with the man during their last few spars... he wouldn't feel that bad.
Still, it would take some getting used to, if they did in fact work out.
"- will be there to help you as well, and Mikoto will have an obligation to as your wife, should you follow through with actually wanting to lead. Regardless, as I've already explained by now, I see only good things from having you in the clan."
"I... well..." Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times, as he contemplated on what to say, before finally sighing and nodding, almost as if resigning himself to a new fate. "Thank you."
Kagami nodded. "Hn."
That grunt must be a genetic trait.
Thankfully, the rest of that day had passed uneventfully, other than a brief visit from Minato. He wanted help from Naruto in putting the finishing touches on his 'new' Hiraishin, and needed a guinea pig. Of course, Naruto was happy to oblige, as he had used it briefly in the future, but it was always a dream of his to see his father using it.
Or at least it became one once he found out who his father was, anyway.
He actually didn't even see Mikoto until the night before they were to leave on their mission, and even then neither of them really said much. Mikoto was blushing slightly and couldn't look him in the eye – it was likely that Kagami told her what she had to do if she really wanted to break things off with Fugaku. While Naruto wasn't sure exactly how the situation had explained things to her, he knew that he wouldn't have a problem giving Mikoto a kiss. She wasa beautiful young woman, of that there was no doubt. His only awkwardness came from the fact that he didn't know if Kagami told her about him knowing what was necessary, other than the fact that she needed to have his residual chakra on her in some manner.
Mikoto barely managed to make plans to meet up the next morning at the gate before she fled almost as quickly as she had arrived. Chuckling to himself, Naruto had left a message with Hiruzen that he would be heading out the next morning, then went home and crashed for the night.
That morning had passed uneventfully, and they had traveled to the southern border in complete silence. In fact, they had both been completely silent for the entire trip, plus their arrival. Mikoto had gone in to get reservations at the inn of a small border town before him, asking for a single room with one bed. She had refused to say anything more to him about it, and Naruto figured it would be best to bite his tongue until they actually needed to use the room. He had no problem sleeping on the floor if it came to that.
Their first day of searching had turned up nothing useful, other than a few disjointed sightings from various people living in the area, though none of them could really point the duo in a specific direction.
Naruto planned to make use of Sage Mode to track them down once they at least had a lead on the nukenin's general location, but figured he'd leave that for use after a couple days. If Mikoto actually wanted to go through with... well, being with him, then he'd have to tell her his secrets anyway. Using it would likely be a last resort, because he had permission from the Hokage and Danzo to kill her if he thought she couldn't be trusted to not talk about the things he would eventually have to tell her.
He really, really didn't want to do that.
It wasn't until Mikoto asked about giving up for the day and returning to their room that they actually started talking. Their first real talk of the day didn't even start until a flicker of surprise crossed his face when he saw Mikoto with her Sharingan active as they were heading back. She had likely been scanning the area for traces of residual active chakra, like genjutsu traps and active seal tags that nukenin were often fond of using.
"What?" Mikoto was looking at him curiously as her Sharingan faded back into the dark brown, almost black color that her irises typically were. Normally he probably wouldn't have flinched at all, he'd gotten so used to seeing the Sharingan, but the sun was setting below the horizon at just the perfect point behind her to where it silhouetted her frame perfectly, and the red eyes with pale skin and black hair made her look incredibly vibrant for a fleeting moment.
Instead of telling her this, however, Naruto simply offered a faint smile and shook his head. "I'm not used to seeing your Sharingan active. You've never used it in one of our spars. That's all."
"Do you... have a problem? With the Sharingan, I mean?"
Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from saying what his initial responses would have been. Instead, he settled with, "I don't have a problem with the Sharingan at all. Only with some people that have used it the way they shouldn't have."
"Oh. I-I see..."
Naruto could tell by the questioning lilt to her voice and the puzzled expression on her face that she really didn't. It was going to be really hard to tell her some of the things he knew. If she decided to go that far with him, anyway.
The rest of their trip back to the inn was silent, not that Naruto was expecting intense conversation. In fact, once again they didn't speak a single word until it was time for him to go take his shower. She went into their single restroom first and came out wearing just her normal uniform minus any footwear, gear, and vest. He assumed she had cleaned them, because they looked fresh, though he didn't do a close inspection. They were all taught techniques that could clean clothes somewhat while out in the wild while they were in the academy. It would remove sweat, but not blood.
After his shower, he had exited the restroom in much the same manner, only in his uniform top and bottom, with the mesh underneath. Their next spoken words weren't until he was about to get comfortable on the floor. She was on one side of the bed, but he wasn't about to presume.
"Naruto?"
"Hm?"
"Do you not like me that much?"
"Wha- of course not! Where did that come from?"
Mikoto shifted on the bed, and lifted herself up so that she was propped up on one of her elbows as she stared at him. He hadn't laid down completely yet, so he was stuck in some sort of halfway position between laying down and getting up.
"My father hinted that the two of you had talked briefly about... me, but he would not tell me how much you talked about. I'm beginning to wonder if you are trying to avoid me."
Naruto tried to keep his expression neutral, and slowly rose to his feet once again. "I'm not avoiding you at all. I'm just trying to remain professional and not overstep any boundaries. At least until you want to change them."
Mikoto looked surprised for a moment before dropping back down onto the bed and burying her face in her pillow. Naruto simply stood there for a moment and watched to see if she would move again, or if she would say anything further. She didn't, however, and after about a minute of standing there he decided to move forward and climb onto the side of the bed.
The bed itself was actually full size, so it could fit two people comfortably without much extra room. Mikoto could easily feel his weight shift the bed, though, since she turned her head enough to be able to watch him as he settled on the side.
It was strange, in a way, for him to not feel any nervousness at all. Just two or three years ago he would have been sweating bullets, but now he felt calm, and if he really had to describe it... he would say he was amused. That was mostly because of how Mikoto was acting, though if she had no legitimate experience with men he could understand completely.
He sighed in his mind – even though Mikoto was the one who wanted out, he might have to be the one to take initiative at first. Thinking of that, he tossed her a casual smile. "Is this better?"
He saw her head nod against the pillow, and the edge of her lip that he could see curved upward slightly, but that was about all he got. This meant that he would be the one who had to take the initial plunge to get her to open up.
Getting comfortable, he rolled on the bed until he was looking up at the ceiling, and placed his hands behind his head.
"So, you really don't want to get married? We've talked about this a little before, but you never really sounded against it."
Naruto could hear her breathing hitch for a second, before she shifted. He turned his head slightly to see that she was moving back into her previous position on her side, facing him.
"I do want to get married. Just... not to the person I have a contact with."
"Fugaku."
A moment of silence, followed by, "Yes. Fugaku."
Naruto closed his eyes, having a hard time reconciling this fact. He had no idea that Sasuke's parents had gotten together because of circumstance, rather than any mutual attraction.
"Now something - or rather someone - has come along that you think is a better choice. So far, anyway."
There was another moment of silence, longer than the first, followed by an even quieter, "Yes."
Opening his eyes, he rolled onto his side so that he could look at the woman laying next to him. She didn't flinch or look away this time, instead staring straight into his eyes. He couldn't tell if she was blushing or not, the room was too dark.
"There's a lot about me you don't know. More than meets the eye. For all you know, I only existed starting three months ago."
Mikoto didn't say anything at first, instead just nodding her head while never breaking eye contact. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and her eyes before inhaling deeply and attempting to speak in halting sentences.
"I... found that I started admiring you after only knowing who you were for a couple weeks. Maybe part of that was because of Kushina... she wouldn't... couldn't stop talking about you and I found myself getting curious. So I, well... I invited you to sparring practice. I figured you had to be good if you could go toe to toe with Minato. Then, well... then I heard what you said to Jiraiya-sensei."
Naruto blinked, and knew he was blushing as soon as he remembered exactly what it was that he had said at that moment. He moved his hand that was resting against his side to lightly smack against his forehead in an exasperated gesture, only for Mikoto to grab said hand before he could leave it there.
He watched, curious, as she held his hand between them, and entwined her fingers in his. "Do you remember what you said to him?"
"That he was a pervert and shouldn't be doing that."
Mikoto laughed lightly across from him, a small smile on her features as she shook her head. "He was the sensei for my genin team. We were never able to break him of the habit, so I doubt anyone else can. No, you said something else to him."
Naruto knew immediately what she was fishing for. "I said you were beautiful."
She stared at him for a moment again, before a smile larger than he had ever seen before appeared on her face.
"Yes. No one other than my father has ever said that to me before."
Naruto couldn't help but be stunned when he heard that. Was everyone here completely blind? He had never really stared at her on purpose because of her looks, but other than his future mother Kushina (he was biased, in that regard) and perhaps Mei, Mikoto was definitely one of the most beautiful woman around.
"Men are idiots."
Mikoto laughed before bringing his hand towards her mouth and briefly kissing the back of it. He was surprised at the gesture, but for the first time he could remember, she seemed genuinely happy so he decided not to comment. It wasn't until she used both of her hands to pull his hand and cuddle it just under her chin that he spoke again.
"Mikoto-chan?"
"Hmm?" Naruto had to admit that she looked adorable right now. She seemed to be positively glowing with happiness. If nothing else, that pretty much sealed the deal in his mind.
"Over the next few days while we're doing this mission, we'll get to know each other better. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future... that sort of thing." Who knew Kakashi's little introductory questions would come in handy? "If you decide you still want to go through with this when we're done, I'll help you break your contract."
Mikoto's eyes went wide as she clutched his hand more firmly in hers. "Promise?" she whispered.
"I promise."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone