Chapter 44
Naruto breathed in the cool mist of Kiri's foggy environment.
To him, it was strange and quite different.
To Haku, it was home.
Despite not being in Kirigakure, just the neighbouring town taken over by Mei's rebels, Haku held a small smile in being back in her homeland again.
She was currently dragging Naruto from stall to stall, explaining to him about the different food types that were only uniquely found in Kiri.
She even had him taste her favourite coconut candy.
It made him happy to see Haku happy. Her eyes twinkled with almost childlike excitement to be back home.
Shared happiness as they say.
Still though, he observed the faces of the civilians who lived here. Behind the customary smiles and business persona, there lay an air of exhaustion. He could tell from how they slumped slightly once they were done talking to a potential customer. It wasn't unlike Wave in the tyranny of Gato's reign, only here it had lasted much longer.
Hope had diminished into an acceptance of reality. Their last bet was in Mei making it better for them should she succeed.
Naruto was here, too, to help ease that pain, but he was here selfishly as well.
"Over here, Naruto-sama," Haku said eagerly as she dragged him yet to another stall.
The sign above it read: Sohara's Soba.
Naruto scowled. "There's got to be a ramen stand here somewhere right?"
Haku giggled.
…She giggled!
The sound set something inside of Naruto afire.
She sounds so different when she's happy.
"I guess I'll suffer through this," Naruto pretended to sigh as if this was one of the hardest things he'd ever done.
Haku continued smiling and intertwined her fingers with his.
That action set that blaze inside of him into a burning bonfire.
Why did there have to be so many extraordinarily attractive women in his life?
He wasn't complaining. It just wasn't good for his heart.
"Welcome!" a brunette girl said before stopping in her tracks and taking them both in.
To Naruto's surprise, it wasn't because of him that she seemed so shocked.
In fact, now that he caught her gaze, he found that they rested on Haku, who looked equally shocked.
"H–Haku?" the brunette said.
Haku looked like she saw a ghost, or a remnant of the past. "...Miyu?"
It seemed that an unlikely reunion was occurring in front of him.
Whether they were past friends or former enemies, Naruto did not know, but they both looked like they could use their privacy.
He tapped Haku on her shoulder, which brought her attention back to the present.
"I can give you two some space, if you want," Naruto whispered gently.
To his surprise, Haku gripped his hand tighter and shook her head.
"It's alright Naruto-sama," Haku said, voice straining unlike he'd ever heard before.
It was at that moment when he realised that now of all times, Haku would need his support the most.
Confronting your own past was a terrifying experience.
Naruto smiled and nodded, squeezing his own fingers to show his support.
He turned to the store clerk. "I'll have your most popular Soba dish."
They also snapped the other girl to attention.
"What? Oh! Right," she said before scrambling to hand him the menu. She pointed to a particular dish–soba with tempura shrimp and vegetables. "Are you alright with this one?"
He smiled and nodded.
Haku spoke up too, "I'll have the same."
The brunette girl, Miyu, turned her gaze downwards…to their held hands.
A small smile appeared on her face and she looked relieved before she bowed and went to the kitchen to make them their dishes.
He and Haku sat in the stall. The latter was still silent in contemplation of her encounter.
Their intertwined fingers still held firm but Naruto released them temporarily to place the same hand on her shoulder.
Before Haku could even turn a questioning gaze towards him, he pulled her closer, enveloping her in a one-armed hug.
"You got this," he whispered into her ear.
Haku looked stunned for a minute before her eyes went glassy.
She gave a small but determined nod.
She could face down hundreds of shinobi without blinking, yet she was nervous to face what seemed to be an old friend of hers.
Naruto knew the feeling. It was the same he had when he met his mother for the first time in this world.
Miyu came back out with two trays of dishes. Three bowls, varying in size lay on top of each tray–one for dry soba, one for its sauce, and one for the tempura.
Before Miyu could leave, Haku called out to her.
"Miyu," Haku said.
The brunette froze before she turned. "Y–yes?"
"...would you like to eat with us?" Haku offered tentatively.
Miyu looked taken aback for a second before the same relieved smile showed on her face like a moment before.
"I have a packed lunch. Let me get that and I'll be with you in a sec," She said.
Soon enough, she was sitting beside Haku, munching down on an onigiri.
Naruto ate in silence, making no effort to hide that he was listening in on the ensuing conversation.
"...How have you been, Miyu?" Haku asked.
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Haku's conversation with Miyu was surprisingly heart-warming.
As it turned out, Miyu was a childhood friend of Haku before the disaster that struck her family, causing their separation.
"Again, I can't believe what you went through all these past years. If I'd known…" Miyu gripped the hem of her dress in frustration.
To her shock, she found a cold hand on her own. It was a gesture of kindness by none other than Haku. Her peaceful smile said it all.
"It's alright Miyu," Haku said, "You didn't have the power to help me."
A bit blunt but it helped relax Miyu's tense shoulders nonetheless.
Miyu looked like she was about to cry. "M–may I give my old friend a hug?"
Haku tilted her head in her signature confused gesture before she nodded.
Miyu enveloped Haku with the biggest hug of her life. Tentative cold hands found themselves reciprocating Miyu's gesture and Haku found that she…quite liked this hugging thing, whether it be from Naruto or her old friend.
When they separated, both looked happier.
Then Miyu sighed.
"What is it?" Haku asked.
"It's just that…you know my dream of making it outside of Kiri that i've told you in my childhood?" Miyu asked.
Haku thought for a moment, her memory fuzzy after having experienced so much in her life. Then, remembering the words of a 6 year-old Miyu, exclaiming that she was going to open up a soba stall outside the islands of Kiri and spreading the love of soba throughout the world came up in her mind.
Haku smiled. "I do. Do you still have that dream?"
Miyu shrugged but looked slightly disappointed. "...Well, yeah but…it doesn't look great for Kiri now does it. It's an impossible dream anyway, just the ramblings of a child. Not to make light of what you've been through, but in the aspect of travelling around with this…Zabuza and getting to see outside the mist of Kiri…well I'm a bit jealous of that."
"Then do you want to try and come over to Konoha?" Naruto interrupted their conversation for the first time and as if just remembering that there was someone else here, Miyu jumped.
"E-Eh?" Miyu got out, confused.
Naruto gave her a patient smile. "I'm sure that Haku would appreciate your company in Konoha. You can come with us once our missions are over."
Haku turned to meet his blindfolded eyes and despite her stoic nature, Naruto could see no small amount of hope in her eyes.
Miyu looked shocked. "I–I can't possibly…leave just like that, can I?"
Naruto shrugged. "It's up to you if you want to leave and I can put a good word for you with the Hokage. You'll gain citizenship under refugee terms and can open up a soba stall there."
Miya looked a bit overwhelmed.
Haku was biting her lip in anticipation of Miyu's response.
Naruto looked at the empty soba bowl. "I must say, this soba really is great. Though ramen is still the best though."
"You're lying! Nothing can be better than soba!" Miyu exclaimed reactively.
Silence rang for a moment as Naruto turned to the brunette in surprise. Said brunette had placed a hand over her mouth as if it had betrayed her.
She looked nervous.
Naruto simply laughed. "Well if you're that passionate about soba, then I don't see your business being any less than successful. In fact, if you do decide to move to Konoha with Haku here, I'll introduce you to my favourite ramen stall owners. Maybe they can help you with the business side of things."
Miyu, once again, looked like she was about to cry.
"I'll give you some time to decide. We may stay here for a few weeks depending on the situation, after all." Naruto said.
Miyu could only nod. "P-please."
With that, Naruto got up to leave. Haku motioned to follow him but Naruto stopped her.
"You can stay and spend more time with your friend if you want," Naruto said to her, gently.
Haku stopped in her motions before nodding. Then, to his surprise, she stood up, got on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his cheek, whispering a sweet 'thank you' to his ear.
Naruto looked like one of Haku's frozen statues for a minute before his brain rebooted. He blushed a bit before coughing into his fist.
"It's been a pleasure, Miyu," Naruto said, "and Haku, take it easy."
It was the three words he liked to say the most to his ice-wielding friend and every time, it got her to relax just a bit.
She smiled at him and gave him a nod.
Then, as if Kami scoffed at their plans and intentions, an explosion rang through the streets.
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"Mei-sama!" Ao addressed hurriedly, "An invasion of Yagura's forces! On the streets!"
"I know!" Mei shouted as she leapt off the office room's balcony. "How did they get through our scouts?"
"...I don't know," Ao said, fearing the worst. "We had contingencies upon contingencies. This shouldn't be possible."
"Well it happened!" Mei snarled before she landed a moment later on the streets.
There were forces of Yagura's shinobi, groups upon groups, cells upon cells, chaos-spreading, fear-mongering, battle-crazed, she wanted to destroy them all.
But even to her, she knew that it was already too late to save everyone. They were already inside their walls, already capable of inflicting too much death and carnage.
Mei screamed as she blew a jet of lava at a group of Kiri-nin. They died within the first seconds of contact.
She knew that she would have nightmares of those deaths for the nights and years to come. Not in the gruesome way that they died, but how late she was to deliver it.
She needed a miracle.
Yet she already knew that Kiri had run out of miracles a long, long time ago.
Against all belief, a miracle happened.
As if having every fibre of their muscles suddenly constricted, all the Kiri-nin that she could spot spasmed, and remained rooted on the spot, standing completely still as if they physically could not move.
Then a chakra signature flared and Mei felt as if the world had collapsed on her.
It was the single most enormous presence she'd ever felt in her life.
Was it Kushina Uzumaki?
They hadn't told her that she was this powerful.
As if watching a terrible scene from one of those films they so recently innovated, she watched the Kiri-nin simply…drift upwards, like puppets being recalled by their master.
Then they all shot to a single point in the sky.
Every single one of them.
There were hundreds.
And Mei could only watch in horror as they were all condensed into a ball of human bodies, like a planet made out of flesh and bone.
Then, the chakra signature she felt moved and…
…There he was.
It wasn't Kushina Uzumaki doing this.
Words from Zabuza's mouth rang in her ears from yesterday. Words of unbelievable proportions that filled her with no small sense of disbelief. If she were any bit religious, she'd have considered it blasphemous to the honour of one of the most deadly kunoichi in the entire elemental nations.
To say that the blond haired boy she met yesterday was more deadly an opponent than Konoha's premier seal-master. The S-ranked kunoichi. The former jailer of the nine-tails.
She'd scoffed at Zabuza's words.
Now she swallowed her own. No words could describe the scene she saw in front of her. She would likely have trouble making others believe her if she'd retold this very moment in her later stories.
Because as Naruto Hagoromo simply floated in the air as if it was solid ground, he looked like the shinigami himself.
His arms were spread as if opening a gesture for an embrace.
To embrace a cocoon of human bodies.
That almost blotted out the sun.
It was horrifying.
Zabuza, her newly gained left hand man, landed beside her. His face staring at the ball of death, before turning to her as if to say: 'I told you so.'
Yet even the grizzled veteran looked like he was ready to tuck his tail between his legs and flee at any moment.
Mei had truly wondered why Konoha would send so small of an envoy into dangerous territory when they proposed such a big, ludicrous alliance.
She knew why now.
Before today, one could have thought that Konoha had sent a small flock of sheep to a den of wolves.
After today, they realised that it was the opposite.
Naruto muttered something under his breath and as if the environment bent to his will, Water began to precipitate in the air from the fog.
For the first time in her life, Mei could see the entirety of her town. The mist had been cleared from the air.
And the water that came from it drowned the planet of bodies, encasing it like Zabuza's water prison.
The fear that Mei felt doubled as she realised that Naruto intended to drown them, granting a slow, suffocating death that would leave them scarred even in the afterlife.
"Mei-sama," Ao appeared from beside her, his voice shallow and parched. Even he was not immune to such a display of strength.
For the first time in a while, she tore her gaze away from the sight.
"Casualties?" She asked.
"Dozens," Ao stated, "Hundreds if not for him."
He nodded towards Naruto.
Mei's throat dried.
Their agreement with Konoha was no longer a choice.
Not after this.
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Naruto had breathed a sigh of relief as, with his senses, he detected that there were no hostile shinobi left to deal with.
He'd have detected their invasion sooner if they'd attacked Konoha as he'd already gotten a feel of the presences of fire country citizens.
But here in Kiri? It was hard to differentiate between the chakra of allies and Yaguro's men. He double checked that everyone he'd drowned was an enemy shinobi just to be sure.
He gracefully and gradually lowered himself to the rooftop of a nearby building. Like a loyal companion, Haku shunshin'ed to his side a moment later.
Her voice was shaky. "Naruto-sama."
Ah, it seemed that he'd set his friend on edge from his…display.
It was necessary, but he didn't have to like it.
"Haku…" Naruto addressed.
"That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Haku interrupted, her voice almost doing a one-eighty.
It seemed that he'd misjudged the reason behind the shaking in her voice. It was…excitement that filled her, not fear.
"Ah, Um…thanks?" Naruto responded.
Kushina joined him a split second later.
"Naruto, I leave you for one morning and this is what you end up doing?" She scolded.
Before he could even retort, Kushina rushed him and engulfed him in a hug.
She was worried for him.
Naruto chuckled as he returned the gesture. "Opponents of this level could never harm me, even if they were in the millions."
"Even still," Kushina said, "I still worry. It's my job."
Naruto smiled into her hair and upon separating, he sneaked in a quick kiss on Kushina's lips.
"Watch it, mister," She said when they separated, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face.
Naruto leaned in for more. She allowed him a second try.
When his tongue flicked into her this time, however, she didn't seem to even protest.
Naurto's heart skipped a beat.
His hands found their way to her hips as he held her gently, deepening the kiss and cherishing every second that passed. He wanted to commit this moment to memory for eternity.
Although one could argue that they'd done more in terms of intimate contact, the very fact that she was accepting him and even reciprocating as her tongue began to massage his own, it meant far more to him than anything.
He held her tighter and her own arms found its way to the back of his neck, drawing him close.
Their kiss lasted for only a minute.
By the end, though the two shinobi were feared as stamina monsters, they were both panting and out of breath.
Kushina chuckled as she planted the side of her face to his chest.
"I spoil you way too much," Kushina muttered, though her voice still held that tinge of happiness that Naruto could detect whenever she was feeling elated.
"I know," Naruto said, a playful smirk on his lips that made Kushina shudder slightly in his arms.
"I love you, Kushina," Naruto said, "more than you know."
This declaration was unlike the ones before, as he'd said her name and not her title of 'mother', and from the tensing of Kushina's shoulders, she knew it too.
It was at that moment, from the high of a one sided victory, of unplanned affection, that those words slipped out.
Naruto's heart hammered against his ribcage as he realised what he said.
He couldn't lie to himself any longer.
He just couldn't bring himself to just love Kushina as a mother.
He'd barely known that type of love in his entire life.
He…
He also loved her as a woman.
He loved her far more intensely than he could even imagine loving anyone.
He would never dare say it directly to her face, the closest he could do was say the words he'd just said.
Perhaps she'd scorn him if she found out the truth.
Kushina's shoulders relaxed as she sighed wistfully. She looked at him with all the love in the world.
Then she looked playful and a smirk of her own appeared on her face."
"I know," She said, throwing his words he'd just spoken a second ago right back at him.
Naruto could only laugh.
"Ahem," a voice interrupted, and almost like an electric shock, they snapped back to reality.
The very reality that they were on a rooftop of a building. The reality where Naruto had just turned Yagura's men into a small planet of human flesh. The reality where Haku was literally standing right there, looking as red as a tomato, shifting on her feet like she wished she knew she shouldn't be here to see this.
It only took a fraction of a second in each other's arms for Naruto and Kushina to forget where they were.
"S-sorry, Naruto-sama, Kushina-sama," Haku blushed harder, "but I believe I sensed Mei-san approaching from that direction."
Both Uzumaki's flared their chakra sense and sure enough, Haku was correct.
The whisker-marked, blond haired man and the violet-eyed, crimson haired woman looked at each other.
They burst out into laughter, half filled with amusement and half filled with embarrassment.
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