10 Chapter 10

The classroom was bustling with excitement as all of the freshly promoted genin jumped around from table to table. The guys were chilling, the fangirls were fangirling, and Shikamaru was knocked the fuck out.

As per usual.

I for one was relaxing…or at least I would be if not for the-

"YES! We're about to meet our jonin-senseis!" An annoying, albeit adorable blonde cheering, hopping onto our table and pumping her arms in the air.

"Sit down! You're making us look bad!" Satsuki urged. Seeing that Naruko wasn't calming down one bit, Satsuki decided to drag her down. "I said get down!"

"No! Stop being a killjoy!" Naruko fought the Uchiha's grip, trying her best to stay atop the table.

"I. Said. Down-"

"Woah!"

Naruko, who Satsuki had pulled too hard, had fallen down on top of her. Their bodies landed one step below, on Satsuki's table. Hinata instantly jumped out of her seat to check on them, with me right behind her.

"Are you girls alright-"

Hinata paused, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the two girls. I raised an eyebrow at the white-eyed girl, and decided to take a look for myself.

…What the fuck are the odds!?

The entire class quieted down to pin drop silence as we all looked at the kissing forms of Naruko and Satsuki. Naruko was lying above Satsuki with her knee pressed up against her…Uchiha oven.

Honestly I think they're even more surprised then us, because they haven't stopped locking lips-

""Bleh!""

Ah, there we go.

"H-How dare you steal my first kiss!" Naruko pointed at Satsuki, slight tears budding at her eyes as her glare intensified.

"W-What do you mean, me!? You're the one who landed on m-me and forced you l-lips on mine, you damn cow!" Satsuki retorted in righteous anger, her arm coming up to wipe any trace of Naruko off her lips.

"You pulled me down, you flat chested grouch!"

"Wanna say that again, you bag of tit meat!"

"Girls."

The two girls froze at the chillingly soft tone of Hinata. The Hyuga's signature no fucks sinister smile in place.

"Behave."

One word was uttered, yet it held the truth of thousands. No man or woman on this Earth could convey so much with so little.

Hinata was the exception.

""R-Right!"" They both stuttered out. I shivered slightly as I watched my girl from behind. She had instilled that same instinctual fear inside of me plenty of times after all. Her eyes left the two girls as she spun around and gave me a different smile, a cutesy loving smile.

"That settles that, let's take our seats, kay?" She giggled out.

I nodded my head slowly as she grabbed my hand, leading me up the step, and back to our table. Once we sat I noticed the class was still silent, their gaze on Hinata and I. The aforementioned girl taking Naruko's seat instead of her own, and holding onto my arm like it was her lifeline.

It didn't take long before realization engulfed their faces. Most of the guys giving me approving nods, Kuzan outright giving me a double thumbs up, even Shikamaru gave a small smile before clasping his hands together in prayer.

A prayer I would need as the initial surprise wore off of the fangirls.

The surprise that was replaced with the burning jealousy of my many fangirls. The only one who didn't look outright ready to kill Hinata and devour her corpse was Sakura, who merely watched us with a longing gaze.

Why does my happiness have to make others feel like shit? No, why does my happiness make them think they have to feel like shit?

"Hello class." Iruka walked in, a sigh escaping his lips as he entered the class. All the while rubbing his temples like he had the most severe headache of his life. "I hope today finds you well."

Okay, as nice as Iruka is, something is definitely off. He paused for a moment, taking a seat in his chair as he slowly begun shifting through papers. He looked like he had aged a year over the course of a single day.

"Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked at me, a singular eyebrow raised. "Do you need something, Lei?"

"No, I don't. I just wanted to ask…are you alright? You look so tired." I asked in genuine concern. Last night was supposed to be the night Mizuki-sensei have a certain blonde steal the Scroll of Sealing, and since Naruko was with us for most of the evening, perhaps Mizuki went through with it himself.

I gave a curious glance at the blonde beside Hinata and winced when I saw her sweating bullets.

…You have to be fucking with me.

"Yes, I supposed I would look a little…worse for wear. Last night Mizuki-sensei attempted to steal one of this village's most prized possessions, the Scroll of Sealing. He ended up succeeding, thanks to the help of a…rather dense individual, and I was the one who had to intercept them."

The class gasped, staring at our sensei in shock. Hell I would be too if I hadn't had foreknowledge. No I was surprised that Naruko had someway found a way to get fucking tricked.

"A battle ensued, but you needn't worry. It ended rather quickly due to the combined efforts of myself and the knucklehead who stole the scroll, and Mizuki was captured."

Hearing the word 'knucklehead,' everyone's eyes slowly drifted over to Naruko and upon seeing her sweating face and her sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head, we all deadpanned.

"H-Haha." She forced a laugh out, failing to amuse anyone as everyone bore their deepest thoughts upon her.

"Is that a satisfactory answer, Lei?"

"Yes." I answered after a long and heavy sigh. Hinata all the while giving Naruko a look that said-

'We'll talk later.'

"Alright, moving on, congratulations on becoming genin! Today marks the day you will all be put into a squad composed of three of you, and a jonin-sensei." Iruka explained, his eyes glancing to his left and out the door of the classroom as we saw the familiar face of Kurenai peek in for a moment, before giving us all a wave and hiding herself from view. "Any questions?"

"Sensei, Why are there three of us on a team?" Sakura got up from her seat and asked.

"A good question. Genin teams are designed into three man cells led by a jonin because it makes it easier for jonin to teach their students if there are a small number of them, as well as keeping the adequate spread of force up to line."

"I see, thank you." Sakura smiled, retaking her seat.

"Any more questions?"

His eyes scanned around the room, a frown formed on his face when he saw no one else was curious about something that would change their life from this moment on.

"Alright, then I will now start naming the teams and the assigned members. Team 1…"

I watched in boredom as people I had spent most of my life in class with were called. People from the orphanage, clanless children, and a few fangirls.

"Team 6, Kuzan Tamura, Sakura Haruno, and Taro Yamada, led by Genma Shiranui." Iruka announced, Kuzan jumped up, excitement written all over his face as he fist bumped Taro, one of the boys who lived in the orphanage with us. He was honestly the third closest person to me in my time in the orphanage. Kuzan and Mama Reiko holding down the #1 and #2 spots and never letting go.

My eyes trailed over to Sakura who had her head down on her table in disappointment.

It could have been worse though…Kuzan was literally runner up for Rookie of the Year, Taro came it around 7th or 8th if I'm not mistaken, and she came in at #4 for the girls. Their team was a damn good one.

"Team 7, Naruko Uzumaki, Lei Senju, and Satsuki Uchiha, led by Kakashi Hatake."

About what I expected.

"YES!" Naruko jumped up, throwing both her fists in the air as she relished in the moment.

Satsuki was a lot more tame in her reaction, but I could see a warm smile on her face as she watched Naruko dancing for joy.

"Damn." Hinata whispered into my arm. I looked down at her, and my heart dropped when I saw just how disappointed she was. She looked as if I had just broken up with her or something of equal emotional value.

Naruko, noticing Hinata's state, dialed her, celebrating down a few notches, as she watched her friend sulk.

I ran my hand through Hinata's hair, giving her a reassuring smile. "Hey it's not all bad, we'll still get to hang out plenty."

She hesitantly nodded, her face still buried into my arm before she pulled away and gave a very small smile.

I had to cheer her up, as any good boyfriend would do. "Plus it could be worse, you could be paired up with someone like Kiba."

"Team 8, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburama, led by Kurenai Yuhi."

My mouth was left agape. I had expected different teams since Team 6 and 7 were both altered, I hadn't expected them to remain the same! What the fuck was Gramps thinking?! I had thought he'd break up InoShikaCho, while they were a solid unit together, putting Hinata with Shikamaru and Ino would make an absolutely vicious team, even if Choji, Kiba and Shino would have to be a below average team.

Hinata looked up at me, an unamused expression dominating her features, veins slowly coming to surface on the skin around her eyes as she activated her byakugan.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"We both know that wouldn't be the right call." I chuckled nervously, but the look Hinata was giving me told me she wasn't playing any games.

Kurenai walked into the class, her eyes landing on each of her students as her lips twitched.

"He can't take a hint, but maybe he can take a hit." She hummed, her eyes looking over to Kiba who was watching us. The Inuzuka's eyes widened in fear as Hinata glared at him with those terrifying byakugan eyes of hers.

Well at least that's what most people thought. I for one thought it was one of the coolest dojutsu, but then again, I have never seen a sharingan in person. Perhaps Satsuki will unlock hers and let me stare into those beautiful eyes of hers?

"Team 8." Kurenai called after a moment.

"Guess it's time for you to go." I frowned. Hinata's face mirrored my own as she hugged me tightly, an expression of affection that I reciprocated just as tightly, if not tighter. Then she got up and walked out with Kurenai. Shino and Kiba in tow.

Team 9 was a team filled with the two guys who Satsuki used to sit next to in the first few years and one of Kuzan's fangirls.

"Team 10, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara, led by Asuma Sarutobi."

I guess it truly is staying the same. Shadow manipulation along with the Gentle Fist sounded absolutely incredible though.

Asuma walked in, a massive smirk on his face as he quickly spotted Ino, before his eyes roamed up to Choji and Shikamaru. Then his eyes moved over to-

Me?

He held my gaze for a moment. "Team 10." He called out, although his eyes were still on me, the smirk never faltering for a moment.

Oh wait! Gramps did say something about my dad being his first son's sensei. If that's the case, it makes sense for Asuma to be at least somewhat curious about me, if he was in any way close to my dad.

A man I honestly didn't know much about besides the fact that he was a jonin-sensei, and Tobirama's son.

That doesn't really explain too much though.

"It sucks that genin teams can't have four people." Naruko groaned, moving to sit next to me.

"Yeah, our team would have been one of legends if all of us could be on it." I frowned, feeling much the same way she was.

"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. We're still totally gonna be awesome, the most awesome shinobi that ever lived! I'm just sad HInata couldn't be here with us." Naruko clarified, my eyes opening a bit.

"Ah."

"Our team would have been much better if it had been you that was left out, cow." Satsuki snorted, taking a seat in Hinata's old one.

"Hey-"

"Stop." I interrupted, really not in the mood to listen to the two argue for the nth time.

Even with me saying that, the two still shot each other's looks, and gestured to one another insults that I had long since stopped trying to decipher. Worst part is, I know they both actually love each other enough to the point they would take a kunai to the chest and die if it meant the other could live.

Such tsundere love originated in our resident tsundere, Satsuki, and Naruko just plays along since it's how she operates.

We watched and waited as the other people's senseis came in, called them out and left. The last to leave besides us was Team 6 led by Genma who lazily walked in and took them.

I knew Kakashi would take rather long getting here, so I decided not to waste any time.

"Wood clone jutsu."

Three clones sprouted out of my back and waited in front of me for orders.

"Not again." Clone #2 whined without fail.

"Hush up, I won't actually be working you to the bone, I just wanted to test something."

Naruko and Satsuki raised curious eyebrows as they put their hands into the clone seal.

""Shadow clone jutsu.""

Five of Naruko's clones and three of Satsuki's popped into existence with a puff of smoke.

Naruko then bit her finger and slammed it on the desk, a summoning circle being inscribed there.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With another puff of smoke, all of her seal making tools appeared. Ink, a brush, and several sheets of chakra paper.

"Chop chop, let's get to work!" She grinned and her clones saluted just as enthusiastically.

Satsuki on the other hand had her clones sit on the ground in some sort of meditation. Their index fingers are almost touching but not quite. This was her lightning manipulation training that she had been doing for years now, and to say she had come a long way would be an understatement. She had made great progress with it, and she was but a few short months away from being able to produce lightning from the friction of air molecules bumping into each other.

An insane feat, one every elemental manipulation has their own path to attainment, but none more hard than lightning.

I had to explain chemistry to her since the shinobi world actually lacked a bunch of chemical knowledge. Sure they had rather great knowledge of biology, but the same could not be said about the study of the substances that make up matter. One would not be able to truly master lightning manipulation if they lacked the necessary knowledge of chemistry. Luckily for Satsuki, I was a Pre-Med student before I got packed up.

Speaking of Pre-Med. I eyed my clones, wanting to see just how far I could push an alteration of their appearance. I had wanted to test it in the past, but put it off since I had so many better things to do, but now I'm curious.

I put a hand on Clone #1 and infused my chakra into him, all the while picturing what I wanted to create in my mind. I watched as my clone slowly turned into a wood statue before being shrunk down to the size of a small wood dog.

I eyed the clone for a moment and mentally asked him if he could speak. He mentally told me he couldn't as I forgot to add vocal cords. I rubbed the back of my head, slightly ashamed of my mistake, before adding them.

"All good now boss." His voice came out as a growl, but judging from the feelings I sensed from the clone, he wasn't actually mad.

This would be incredibly useful. If I could make a wood clone of a dog, realistically, couldn't I make a clone an ant? Perhaps it wouldn't possess the same level of intelligence, but even just being my eyes like the Aburame's chakra beetles would make a huge impact.

I looked at the other two clones and continued my experimentation.

—

"He's still not here!?" Naruko groaned in annoyance. We had dispelled all of our clones around two hours ago, it had been around five hours since Team 6 left the classroom.

Meaning this son of a bitch Kakashi had left us waiting for five hours!

I know he's almost certainly staring endlessly into the Memorial Stone and mourning his dead comrades, but dude.

Five hours is a force.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the door to the room slid open and in walked the man himself. I probably would have been happy to see him if he didn't make us wait for so long.

Plus I had seen him more than enough times in the village.

"Finally you're here!" Naruko jumped up, pointing a finger at the silver haired masked man. "We've been waiting all day."

Kakashi blinked slowly as he eyed the girl. His gaze scrutinized every little detail about her, before moving onto Satsuki. Satsuki's gaze met his, as she stared at him challengingly. Then his eyes moved over to me, my feet up on the table and my hands crossed behind my head.

"Well aren't you going to say anything, you spiky haired napper!"

Kakashi's gaze once again landed on Naruko.

"My first impression of all of you-" He put his hand on his chin and closed his eyes as he hummed in thought.

"...Is that you're all idiots."

Fair.

Naruko was taken aback, while Satsuki groaned. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" Naruko shouted in exasperation. Kakashi paid her no mind, not even saying another word and walking out of the classroom.

Naruko gazed at the place Kakashi had once been standing and judging by the way she was shaking, I could tell she was about to start screaming bloody murder.

I put a hand on her shoulder which took her out of whatever - blood for the blood god- state she was in before walking out of the classroom myself. When I looked, Kakashi was gone. A grin tugged at my lips as I realized his game.

We were already being tested. Our files must tell one hell of a tale about us, he must be trying to see if we can find him and live up to the hype.

I gave a small pulse of my chakra and instantly found his own chakra source. He wasn't doing anything to hide it, which means he wasn't actually trying too hard, but a test nonetheless.

"Follow me." I said as Naruko and Satsuki walked out of the class after me. We made our way outside and hopped up the building, seeing Kakashi at the top reading his bingo book.

The book we had yet to get.

"You really just left us?" Satsuki asked this time, although she wasn't mad nor surprised. She was prodding, trying to learn information about him, any information was good information after all.

"Mhm." He hummed, closing the book and gesturing for us to sit down in front of him to which we complied.

"Alright, if we're gonna make this work, I should learn a little bit about all of you I guess…Tell me what you like, dislike, and a dream you have. I'll start. My likes…I don't really have anything I like. My dislikes? Well I dislike a lot of things. My goals for the future? Hmm…That's none of your business. You're next, blondie." He drolled on lazily.

"Who are-"

"Naruko." I cut her off. Seriously, she really needed to learn how to take a chill pill. He was provoking her intentionally and she was falling for it everytime.

"Tch. Whatever." She conceded, before going into thought. "My likes, well I like my friends, and ramen, training, and seals…Hmm. I dislike people that judge others negatively without knowing them, and my dream." A wild grin replaced her contemplative expression. "To be the Greatest Hokage, I'll let this village know the might of the Uzumaki clan, and the tale of Naruko the Great!"

Kakashi hummed, then pointed at Satsuki. Naruko was lost for words at how Kakashi so easily disregarded her dream. Though I can't say she wasn't familiar with such a thing.

"I like things, and I dislike many more. I have no dream, only goals that I will accomplish, and I will not keel over and die until they have been written in stone." Satsuki glared into Kakashi's one eye. Once again Kakashi looked completely unaffected as he pointed at me.

"Eh, well, similar to Naruko, I like my friends, ramen, training, and spending time with Tenzo-sensei and Gramps. My dislikes? Ah, I guess it would be people trying to take what is rightfully mine, and my dream?" I stopped and pondered for a moment.

"Tell me Lei, if you had my hat right now, if you bore the weight of the entire village's future on your shoulder, what would you do?"

I recalled the words of Gramps from years ago when we had that talk that I had tried to forget more than once.

"Lei, how do you feel about being Hokage?"

"Honestly it sounds like a lot of work, and a job that requires an onhand therapist."

The question had surprised me when I first heard it, and my answer had surprised me even more. The fact that I hadn't outright declined made me question myself. Why hadn't I?

Never in all my years of watching the show did I ever think 'Hey being Hokage would be pretty cool.'

Never.

Yet here I was wondering if it was the right thing to do, for the sake of Konoha.

My mind flashed to the 4th Great Shinobi war, the face of Madara Uchiha, and then Kaguya. Then to threats even beyond them. I lived in this world after all, surviving Madara and Kaguya was phase one…

The Momoshiki, Kinshiki, Jigen/Ishiki, Kawaki, and the rest of the Otsutsuki were very real threats that I would undoubtedly have to face if I managed to survive. Did I want to take up the mantle of protector of Konoha to defend the village?

"...You're not a man, not yet, but I know when you become one, your presence alone will radiate so much light unto the world-"

Hinata's soft voice flowed into my mind, a gentle reassuring embrace that wrapped my mind and soul in her love and trust. She believed in me.

My eyes trailed over to Naruko and Satsuki who were eyeing me with expectant smiles on their faces.

They believed in me.

"My dream is to unite the Elemental Nations and bring peace, it won't be perfect, I know, but I will do my best to support and protect the people I love, and in turn I know they will do the same for me…As their Hokage."

My heart warmed at the bright smiles both Naruko and Satsuki gave me, before I turned my gaze to Kakashi.

Who was reading his fucking bingo book.

"Mhm, yeah, so we're gonna have a training exercise tomorrow, mkay? Meet me tomorrow at Training Ground Three." He said, getting up off of his ass and raising his hand in the tiger hand seal. "Oh yeah, you all might want to skip breakfast, or you're gonna puke." Then with a gust of wind and leaves he was gone.

"He's something." Satsuki harrumphed, crossing her arms under her small bust.

"Something is an understatement! He's annoying! He's a jerk! A real ass!" Naruko grumbled, stomping around the roof, before her eyes set on my smiling face.

"But at least we got something good out of it." She hummed, walking towards me and crouching in front of me. "All this time we had been waiting for you to find something to pursue. You helped us find our goals and gave us everything we needed to reach them, so it makes me so happy to see you finally chase something."

"Of course, I had the best girls a guy could ask for around me. For that, thank you, Naruko, Satsuki." I put out my hand and placed it on the blond's head. Her cheeks dusting with pink as she did nothing to stop me, Satsuki coughed softly into her hand, and turned her head away, but I could still see her ears burning red.

"W-Well, we have the rest of the day to do whatever, what do you want to do?" Satsuki asked, still facing away.

I hummed in thought, my hand coming up to my chin as I thought things over.

"We could go to my place again, we probably should go light with training if we do any at all, so we can be in our best condition for the training exercise. Plus I wouldn't mind robbing you both in some Uno."

Yes, I made Uno cards. I made them with thick paper cards that I harvested from the trees I grew. I realized very quickly that I could end up starting my own paper monopoly business, and the thought of a large sum of money to do what I pleased, which excited me to no end.

…Did I get Hashirama and Tsunade's shared gambling habit?

The first game Naruko and I ever played was blackjack afterall…

"Sounds good." Naruko smiled, rising up to her feet, Satsuki and I following her lead as we hopped off the academy and started making our way back to the Senju compound.

As we walked a thought crossed my mind.

Monopoly would be really fun right about now. Imagine huge game nights of monopoly with the group! Oh man that sounds like a great way to make some profit!

Then once I get enough money (my own money, not the money from the Senju treasury.) I can start investing into video game production, by the time Boruto came around, everything was modern. If I play my cards right, I can have devs create games that I've always dreamed of playing. Like a Dragon Ball Xenoverse/Budokai Tenkaichi mix. That would be so fun!

Oh my dreams of the future are amazing!

"Lei, what are you laughing about?" Satsuki asked, her hands behind her back as she bent over slightly with a tilted head.

"Eh? Sorry about that, I was simply lost in thought. Thinking about the future and all the glorious children I will make happy."

Her face immediately started burning red again and I realized I may have…misworded my thoughts. However as her eyes locked onto the ground while we walked, I couldn't bring myself to correct those words.

The children would be happy, my kids especially, and if Hinata would allow it, I definitely planned on taking Naruko and Satsuki as my women.

Although maybe asking her about such a thing the day after we got together would be moving just a little bit too fast.

When we arrived at my house, I opened the door and instantly flopped onto the couch. Both the girls joined me albeit in a more reserved manner.

"I'll never get over how nice this place is, and you have all those other houses in the compound as well." Naruko puffed her cheeks in jealousy.

"Satsuki has a compound just as big with more houses." I chuckled, looking towards Satsuki who wore a proud smile. She was always proud to be an Uchiha after all. I definitely couldn't blame her. Mangekyo sharingan go brrr, and all that.

"Yeah, but still, you've been to my apartment a ton, its nowhere near as nice as your house."

My smile remained as I looked at the blonde.

"Then why don't you just move in?" I asked.

She jumped out of the seat with opened eyes as wide as they could go. "W-What?!"

My smile doubled in size. "I'm sure you heard me, move in with me."

One peek at Satsuki and I could see even she was completely taken aback. Her eyes looked between the two of us rapidly.

I honestly had wanted her to move in a while, back when I first got the compound, although when I went to the old man, he turned me down. There were plenty of reasons I could think of as to why he would do such a thing, but he never explained them.

He did however say that once we became genin, I could, as the Senju Head, rightfully adopt anyone into the clan, whether that be to the main house, or side branches. Or I could just offer them a place to live. It was completely my choice what I wanted to offer them, but it was up to the person to accept. Naruko was old enough now to make her own decisions, if she agreed she could stay with me and nobody could do anything to halt it.

Naruko being an Uzumaki is honestly just icing on the cake.

"The choice is ultimately up to you, though if you move in, I'd want you in this house and not any of the other side branch houses. The house is pretty huge with seven bedrooms not including my own, I want you close enough so that if anything happens, I'd be close enough to help." I offered a quick explanation to the obviously still puzzled girl.

"Are you sure?" She asked after taking a deep breath.

"Of course, I absolutely hate your landlord, and wouldn't mind if he keeled honestly, you shouldn't be in that run down place anymore. If you don't want to stay here with me, I'm sure Satsuki would be open to letting you stay in the Uchiha compound."

Satsuki looked at me with an indescribable face for a few seconds before turning to Naruko and giving her a nod. "When we became genin, I also became the Head of the Uchiha. Such a thing is within my power, and…I wouldn't mind it so much if it were you there with me." The Uchiha girl turned her head away again, this time only a small amount of red dusting her cheeks.

Naruko looked between Satsuki and I as we sat in silence, waiting for her answer. Eventually she sighed, her soft face hidden behind her long smooth blond hair.

"Alright, I accept. I'll move in with you, Lei." She chirped nervously.

"Good to have you, Naruko. If you want, we can grab your stuff now. Our skill with seals should make it rather quick and easy to pack everything."

She nodded slowly, and I rose from the seat. Both her and Satsuki getting up as well.

"You don't need to come too, Satsuki, we'll be quick after all." Naruko whispered out. I had barely heard it from my place by the door, while Satsuki, who was standing much closer to Naruko must have heard it clearly."

Satsuki looked at the blond for a moment, a slightly annoyed look ready to surface before she relaxed her face. "Alright, Lei, I'm using your kitchen." She said as she turned around and disappeared into my gloriously stocked kitchen.

"Ready?" I asked, earning a small but firm nod from Naruko, as we walked out and Body flickered over to her apartment.

We arrived at the building in mere seconds, Naruko jumping up to her floor and me following closely behind her. She reached into her pocket and took out her key as we walked to her door, opening it and walking in slowly.

It was a mess. More of a mess than it usually was. Naruko sure as hell was messy just as the sky was blue, and the floor was made of floor, but this mess was something beyond even that.

As we walked deeper in, my foot landed into something slimy, and when I looked down, I saw a mass of cold wet ramen noodles beneath my sandals.

"Naruko." I whispered.

She turned around and saw the fury in my eyes.

"How dare you let the food of the gods fall on the ground and go to waste." I spat out. My glare hardened the longer I didn't get an answer.

"Ah, yeah, h-haha, I'll tell you all about it, let's just grab my stuff and clean up first, kay?" She nervously giggled, and I cooled off considerably. Naruko was a fellow ramen connoisseur. To just waste ramen like that…it wasn't like her.

I reached into my pouch and she reached into hers, both of us pulling out paper on it read the kanji for 'Storage Seal.'

We immediately began uncoordinatedly putting the furniture within the seal, going around the house until everything was locked away in them. It took a total of around half an hour for us to pack everything, minus the fridge, stove, etc. Now it was time to clean the place.

I grabbed the broom, while Naruko grabbed the mop.

"I have to sweep before you can mop, so why don't you go ahead and tell me what's possessed you to spill ramen on the ground, and not honor golden ramen rule #7 - Upon spilling ramen, one has twenty-seven seconds to pick it up before it's divine protection wears off."

Naruko gave me a little giggle as she leaned the mop against the wall and took a seat on one of the counters.

"Trust me, I usually would have done so, but last night…a lot happened." She answered, keeping her head down and her face hidden.

Oh. Oh.

Yeah, that'd do it.

"Did he hurt you?" I asked, stopping my sweeping to stare at Naruko seriously. She quickly waved her hands in front of her.

"No, I beat Mizuki-sensei to a pulp. He had been in front of my apartment when I got back and told me there was a secret way to be promoted to chunin, one he used to earn his promotion. I got super excited and listened to him. The scroll was really interesting, and I was even able to learn more than a few jutsu thanks to my shadow clones."

"Naruko." I said softly, growing closer to her and placing my hand on hers. "Tell me what happened."

She looked at me for a moment, before quickly averting her gaze. "I can't. It doesn't matter anymore, Mizuki was captured and all is good."

I stared at her for a good minute. All the while she didn't look at me once, not even a peek.

I guess it's too soon for her to feel comfortable telling me.

Telling us.

I sighed and made my way back to sweep up all the mess, and once I finished, I watched Naruko mop. All the while never exchanging a word.

Eventually we finished and Body Flickered back to my place, and went in. The smell of some damn good cooking snuck its way into our noses, and we beelined it for the kitchen. When we entered I caught sight of a glorious view, a glimpse of the future. Something so close yet so far.

Both Satsuki and Hinata were cooking.

In aprons.

Sure they still had all their clothes on, but…aprons.

It applied all the same.

Hinata turned around first.

"Hey, are you two hungry?"

I sent a silent prayer to whatever god reincarnated me in this world, then took several steps forward to embrace the woman who held my affection.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten since breakfast." I informed her with a soft voice in her ear. I honestly wanted to stay in her embrace for as long as she'd let me, but I pulled away. Becoming Hinata dependent was not the right road to go down, I needed to be my own man!

"Alright, then have a seat." She giggled, gesturing for Naruko to do the same.

A minute of comfortable silence only interrupted by the humming of Hinata passed before I decided to ask the question I had to ask as a loving boyfriend.

"So, Hinata, how was-"

"Don't." She said instantly, before resuming her humming.

I zipped my lips and tapped the table a couple of times.

Yeah I kinda should have expected that.