Friend

After the two finished eating the delicious ramen, Naruto noticed a mask dangling by Rize's waist.

"Hey, what's that mask?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Ah, it's just something your father gave me. It's something like a title dedicated only to me." Rize replied.

"Eh?! I'm jealous! I want a title that only belongs to me too!" Naruto exclaimed.

Rize laughed and poked his waist, "Maybe if you were stronger, you could have one too."

"Stop it!" Naruto swatted Rize's fingers away. "I'm going to surpass you and make my own title!"

"I'm looking forward to it." Rize said with a smile.

"You two seem to get along quite well, Naruto." Teuchi said as he took off his apron. "Even though you said the two of you aren't friends."

"That's right, we're not friends." Naruto said in a serious voice.

"It's as he says, we're not friends at all. We're just shinobi who seem to know each other." Rize said.

"Ehh? You're a shinobi too?" Ayame asked, she had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Rize deadpanned Ayame, "Did my appearance not give away that I'm one? I also have my katanas on my back."

"Ahahaha," Ayame awkwardly laughed while rubbing her scalp. "I guess I was too distracted. Also, I haven't seen you here before. It's unusual."

"You saw me the last time I came here." Rize said.

"That's true…but that's not what I meant. Like I've seen most of the locals here, but you aren't a local aren't you?" Ayame asked.

"Yep, she's new to Konoha." Naruto answered for her. "Apparently, she was found in a forest, injured, brought her here, and realized she was an Uchiha."

Rize was surprised at the story Minato had fabricated. Although parts of it were true, she was in a forest, she was only injured after she fought, and killed three of them. Well, a good lie must have parts of the truth in it too.

"Oh! You're an Uchiha?!" Ayame asked with a sudden burst of energy.

Rize saw pure light coming from Ayame and had to squint her eyes to properly see her.

"Yes, I am. Why are you asking?"

"You see, I'm a big fan of the chieftess of the Uchiha clan. I'm pretty sure her name is Mikoto Uchiha."

Rize nodded her head, "That's right. She's my…"

"Mom?" Ayame finished her sentence.

Rize reluctantly nodded her head, she felt like if she denied it, Ayame's disappointment would be immeasurable, and her day would be ruined.

"Ah! No wonder you were with her last time, it all makes sense now." Ayame said before continuing, "Anyway, I'm a big fan of hers."

"Me too!" Rize was surprised when Naruto had exclaimed with the same enthusiasm as Ayame, "When there were Jonin class bandits that invaded our village."

"Mhm!" Now, it was Ayame's turn to be a fangirl. "Suddenly, she appeared in this cool outfit and took down several of them easily."

"And her fireball jutsu was like the sun! It illuminated the entire area! It went like BOOM BOOM and then she went like Bam! Bam! Pow! Then the bandits were captured!" Naruto said.

Rize glanced between Naruto and Ayame. They were perfectly in sync with each other's thoughts and were showing pure excitement from what they remembered.

"Wow, I didn't know she was that strong." Rize said as she recalled the moments she had with her.

"Truly, you missed out. It happened a couple months before you had suddenly appeared. There have been an increased number of invasions since then." Naruto said.

"I see."

Rize placed her elbow on the table and rested her cheek against her palm. She recalled the memories of when the ANBU was also in the same forest she had woken up in. It was also when she killed the man, though it was probably no one important.

"Perhaps, did you not know?" Ayame asked.

Rize shook her head, "As you said, I arrived here late. And I never bothered to ask if she was strong anyway."

"Ehh? Maybe you should learn a few skills with her and fix part of that attitude of yours."

Rize's hand went to the handle of her blade as she glared at Naruto who started to slowly back away.

"Naruto, don't try to be snarky with me. I'll cut that tongue of yours right now." Rize said.

"Calm down! I was joking, joking!" Naruto exclaimed with his hands clasped together.

Rize sat back down and released her grip on the handle of her blade.

"Hmph."

Ayame laughed at the situation between the two, she really couldn't tell if the two were friends or not. She glanced at Rize's eyes, it was cold, and full of chaos. But she felt like there was another layer to her.

Thinking about this, Ayame had subconsciously formed a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Rize asked.

"N-nothing." Ayame replied in embarrassment. "Anyway, why did the two of you decide to become ninjas? Any dreams you have?"

"Yes! To surpass the Hokage and everyone in the village will acknowledge me!" Naruto said as he glanced at Rize. "I also want to beat her!"

"In your dreams." Rize commented.

"Haha, what about you Rize? Do you have any goals in the future? Any dreams you want to achieve?" Ayame asked.

Rize didn't know if it was just her, but she swore she saw Ayame's eyes glisten with shining stars and curiosity.

"Um, to become stronger?"

Ayama sighed, "What a basic answer."

Rize's eyebrows twitched slightly at the comment.

"That's too bad for you then, I was going to elaborate more. But just because you made that comment, I'm not going to say anything." Rize said.

"Petty!"

"Too bad!"

"Tell me!"

"No."

Ayame looked at Rize in disbelief and shook her head.

"Fine, I'm going to become your friend, and you're going to tell me one day." Ayame said.

Rize furrowed her eyebrows, "Who said I wanted to be your friend? I don't even consider that banana colored hair kid to be my friend."

"It's not the color of a banana!"

Rize ignored Naruto.

"Well, too bad. You and I. Me and You. We are best friends now." Ayame said sternly. Rize could see that she was not going to back down anytime soon.

Rize sighed, "Do whatever you like."

Ayame smiled.

Suddenly, a figure with white hair appeared.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Yo, Naruto. I'm here for Rize." Kakashi said. "Rize, Lord Fourth has called for you. He has something to give to you."

"Well, that's my cue. Bye." Rize said as she walked away.

"Goodbye friend!" Ayame exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

Rize felt irritated at the sight of the bright aura. Ayame was the first one to call Rize her friend when she arrived at the village.

"Maybe this isn't so bad."