Chapter 8

With an inhale of breath, Yue squared her shoulders and said, "My mother is sick and the healer of this village went on his monthly trip to search for herbs and won't return for a couple more days. I could wait, I know, but I worry about my mom and don't want her to get worse."

"Oh. You want me to heal her, then?"

Yue blinked. "What? No, I actually wanted to ask you to go to the next village and search… wait, are you a healer, too?"

Naruto touched the side of her nose with a smile. "I can heal others, yeah."

The face of Yue brightened. "Oh, that's wonderful! Let me close the shop so I can take you to my home, Ashura-chan."

Nodding, she waited for Yue to put things in order.

'You know, this could be a great way to attract some attention.'

'What do you mean?'

Kurama sighed. 'Remember what I told you before of using yourself as a bait to attract Zetsu?'

Naruto frowned. 'Isn't it too risky?'

'Let's admit it. You already caused a ruckus in Konoha. It won't be long for reports coming from the spies settled in the village to arrive at the hands of the Kage and other powerful people.'

'Like Obito and Nagato.'

'Exactly. They would obviously know about your actions in Konoha and understand that you're not keen on harming others as you didn't attack, not even once. Just protected yourself.'

Naruto hummed. 'I could start by building a reputation as a healer. After all, I've got no affiliation to any other nation as I didn't exist before the Sage dropped me here. Better to appear as a neutral party than a violent one, right?'

'Why only a healer, though?' She couldn't see him, but could almost hear the smirk in his tone. 'I'm all for not showing all your cards. However, why not couldn't you be known as the second coming of the Sage of Six Paths? It's not like it's a lie.'

'Wouldn't it be risky?'

'High risk, high gain. You've got the strength to change the current shinobi world, but you also need the political power, too. I don't think Father would be mad at you using his name. He did name you as the successor of Ninshu.'

Naruto tilted her head. 'Well, it's true I spilled the beans in Konoha.

'Right. I still can't believe you did that, by the way,' he deadpanned with a roll of his eyes.

'You didn't stop me.'

'Would you have listened when you were practically spilling even my secrets?'

She flushed. 'Sorry about that."

'Anyway, going back to the topic, why not make your status as the Second Sage of Six Paths official?'

Frowning, Naruto looked at Yue who was coming from the back of the store. 'I'm afraid of becoming like Nagato… I don't want to change.'

'Change is inevitable, kit. But don't worry, you've got me around to smack you in case your ego grows.'

She smiled just at the same time Yue approached her. 'I'm glad you're my friend, Kurama.'

"Okay, I'm ready." Yue said, her lips curving up. Naruto's own smile widened as she let herself be led outside. "Let's go then, Yue-chan!"

With a nod, they go outside. She just needed to wait a minute for Yue to close the shop.

"So, what does your mom have?"

Yue's mood drops a bit, but she still answers, "I actually don't know. She fainted two days ago and had a fever twice since then. We got her temperature down those two times, but I still worry that we won't manage to succeed a third time."

"Sorry, if I was too impulsive in asking."

"Don't worry. After all, you need to know this if you are going to heal her."

Not really, but she will say nothing about it. Don't want to worry her even more by confusing her with her powers. "So, um. You said 'we'?"

Her mood lifted once again. "Yes, I was talking about my younger brother. He's twelve and so sensible. If he wasn't, I wouldn't dare to continue manning the shop and leaving him alone with my mom. So I think I'm fortunate in that aspect."

"Oh, it must be nice to have a brother like that," she said with slight longing in her tone.

"Well, he has his quirks, but he's the responsible one between us."

"Quirks?"

"Yes, he wants to explore the world. He's always been the adventurous type, but he never escaped our sight, not wanting us to worry."

"That's sweet of him."

"Yeah. At first, I thought it was a phase, like all the kids that come from a small village, I also wanted to see the outside, but I think he's serious about it." Naruto tilted her head and at her silent request she continued, "He studies hard about the geography, history and everything he can get his hands on. He's even managed to ask for tips from our local hunter about how to live outside and what to look out. He always has this wistful look on his face, but, well, he worries about us, you know?"

"Oh," she muttered, not knowing how to answer. Yue probably saw that, as she shook her head with a slight blush on her face. "Look at me, telling you about my problems. My apologies."

"No, no! It's okay. I've been told I'm a good listener. Also, I like to listen and help others."

"You're so nice, Ashura-chan."

Naruto scratched the back of her head, abashed. "Thank you. It's nice to see how much you worry about your brother, though. I'm sure he knows how fortunate he is to have you as his sister."

"Thank you. Anyway, let's stop talking about me. What about you? Where are you from?", she asked with a smile before stopping. "If you can't talk about it, don't worry though."

"Huh? Why shouldn't I?"

Yue frowned in confusion. "Aren't you a ninja? I thought they were pretty secretive about their information."

'Heh. You're a shitty ninja to even forget about it.'

'Shut up,' she said internally, before saying out loud. "Well, I am a ninja, but I hold no affiliation to any village."

That got her a slightly worried look. "Are you a rogue-nin?"

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