Chapter 118

"Why would you look for shinobi gear in the forest?" a perplexed Sakura asks. "I hope you didn't think shinobi just leave their important equipment for anyone to find."

"I-" Naruto starts, only to stop himself and consider his words. It's not something he does often, but he doesn't want his teammate thinking he's weird by telling her the truth.

"Naruto," Kurenai softly speaks. "I've done a fair amount of research, and I know you've had a tough life. It's okay to tell me the truth."

Naruto automatically thinks about how she tricked him into telling her about Ino and smirks before saying, "I'm not falling for that again. If you know so much, you tell me."

Kurenai smirks cheekily before turning to a confused Sakura, explaining, " as an orphan, ryo is always a problem. There's a village issued allowance, however, that barely covered food, much less all the equipment needed to be a ninja. Without the funds to buy gear, Naruto-kun must've realized at some point that ninja die in some of the training grounds; Training Ground 44 for example. You went into the Forest of Death to scavenge for tools from shinobi who'll no longer be using them."

"You stole from dead bodies," Sakura cries in disgust. The tone of disgust alone made him want to cry, but her deep denial, like no one 'normal' could ever do such a thing, made him want to crawl in a hole and take a suicide pill.

Kurenai immediately tells Sakura with authority, "Haruno-chan, it seems you don't quite understand the predicament your teammate lived through. While I don't begrudge you for having a stable home and fortunate finances, perhaps it's too difficult for you to understand since every material desire you've needed was more than likely met. Please recognize the fact that many other shinobi in this village, young and old, are not so lucky. Had my parents not left me a sizable savings upon their death, nor had I inherited my home, I can assure you I would've done the same thing Naruto-kun had."

Sakura looked stung, again, and this time Naruto was going to stand up for her. "Sensei, I'm not like that anymore, so it's okay. And you're right. That's how I met Ji-chan. I didn't know who he was. He was just Ji-chan. We camped, ate together, and talked—he told the best stories—and he… he was really good to me… the first one to really be good to me. We've been friends ever since. That's pretty much it."

"You make it sound like afternoon tea," Kurenai mumbles, mentally scratching that curiosity from her list before asking, "what did you want to ask me?"

"Ah, yeah, um, will you come to a Welcome to the Village party I'm throwing for Haku?" Naruto asks, surprising her with the unexpected question. "So far it's me, Hinata-chan, Haku, Sakura-chan, and if I can sneak out Iruka-sensei-"

"Naruto, do not take Iruka-san out of the hospital. He's a post-acute inpatient care, which means until they clear him, he remains where they can monitor him, understand?"

Glumly, he nods and Sakura tells him, "don't include me without even asking first."

"Sorry," Naruto chuckles. "I just thought you'd say yes. Come on, you like Haku right?"

With a shrug, Sakura just nods. Naruto turns to Kurenai then, with large, sparkling, hopeful, clear blue eyes, his has clasp together like in prayer. Kurenai very nearly regrets all her decisions up to this point when she feels a great pang of affectionate submission under such a cute onslaught. 'Ugh, really?' her emotion-driven mind groan. It's just hard not to care about someone who cares so much. Add to that he's still spending time with Hinata-chan despite ending her genjutsu training with her ward. Kurenai rolls her red irises a bit before nodding with a small smile, which grew when he fist pumps in unrestrained glee.

Kurenai grabs a handful of leaves and turns to him. "Naruto-kun, I want a clone for this many. You know what to do."

"What?" Naruto complained, thinking about Ino and all the questions he has about why everything happened to her. He never got a chance to last night since she never came over. "But I was hoping-"

"Naruto," Kurenai says with such warmth in her voice and eyes, it's stunning. "I know you can do it. I believe in you."

Naruto feels like he found something he lost. Though he can't forget how important his training is, he knows he can get distracted, especially when it comes to Kurenai or the people he's hurt with his mistakes. He's literally standing in front of two of the most important people in his life and unlike them, he knows something bad is coming to try and take them away. All slumber and arousal are forgotten as he puts his fingers together and speaks, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto had never spoken so much to Sakura before. They've communicated necessary information before but never did they have long-running dialog. She was still a little sharp with her critiques of his style as mission leader but she also pointed out what he did well. Their missions were mundane but talking to Sakura calmly was fun. Naruto is looking for Kurenai to sign off on their fourth mission when he runs into Team Ten.

"Yo!" Naruto calls cheerfully, trying to act as natural as Ino seems to be. "Have you guys seen Kurenai-sensei? We need her to sign our mission scroll."

"'Fraid not," Asuma answers. "Try training ground four. Found her team using the lake there before."

"Cool," Naruto calls. It takes him a moment to break down and finally ask, "…where's Chōji?" Ino gives him a cold stare for a second before returning to a neutral look. Naruto was told to not do anything but he still wanted to talk with the boy he thought he knew. Certainly, Ino-chan looked fine but he was still worried.

"He's sick," Asuma states.

"Sensei," Ino calls out. "If you want to help Naruto find her, we can turn in the mission scroll."

Asuma looks at a smirking Ino who chuckles a bit before saying, "that might not be a bad idea-"

"Ah!" Naruto yelps surprising Team Ten. He turns around as if sensing the location. "Never mind, I found her." Naruto quickly turns and runs opposite the training grounds. A clone of Naruto's spotted Kurenai and Hinata walking out of the Konoha library, and it only took him ten minutes to find them walking toward the training grounds. After getting her signature, Naruto creates a clone to take the scroll back to Hokage Tower, asking them, "what time do I come over?"

"Before dinner is fine," Kurenai tells him all the while observing a slightly pink-cheeked Hinata keep her cool. That would've been impossible two months ago and Kurenai is supremely happy with the girl's progress. To keep Naruto around a little longer, she asks him, "Naruto, if you had the option, would you prefer to learn Genjutsu or Fūinjutsu?"

"Mmnn," Naruto hums, thinking about Naru-nii's suggestion. Playing it with a distasteful expression on his face, Naruto responds, "don't you need to read a lot for both?"

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