Chapter 3

Naruto's eyes lowered, "What you did was wrong and-" she started only for Naruto to cut her off.

"I know Kurenai-sensei, I just couldn't stop myself. You are very beautiful and I had never seen something like that. I am very sorry and I will never do it again. Please just don't tell anyone about this." he said in a pleading voice.

Kurenai's blush came back as his words struck her. She cursed herself in her head as she prided herself on hiding her emotions, luckily, Naruto was quite dense and currently trying to get out of a punishment. She looked down at him with a scrutinous eye. "Look at me Uzumaki-san," she said. Naruto's blue eyes raised and locked with Kurenai's. "Do you admit you peeked at me?" she asked. Naruto nodded. "Do you know that it is a crime to peek at people while they are taking baths?" she asked. Naruto nodded again. "You understand that I could take you to the Hokage and have you thrown in jail for this correct?" she asked. Again, Naruto nodded.

Kurenai sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Very well, since you weren't trying to peek at me deliberately." she shot a glare at him which had him smiling sheepishly. "And you did not try to deny what you did but instead accepted your responsibility for the consequences of your actions. I will not report this to the Hokage," she said drawing a relieved sigh from Naruto. Honestly, she never would have reported him. She would never admit it but the fact he had managed to hide from her senses and stay hidden until she was already washing herself required some serious stealth skills. Aside from that, the fact he had seen her naked was not something she wanted common knowledge. So, she scared him into silence while simultaneously gaining something to blackmail him with if she ever needed to.

She grinned evilly, "On one condition." she said as she figured out something she wanted to do for the blonde-haired boy in front of her. He had complimented her in ways no one ever had before and she was feeling quite connected to him as his burden must not be easy. Naruto's eyes snapped to her.

"What?" he asked, his eyes squinting, he would normally have run away as soon as she conceded not turning him in but his curiosity of her actions, i.e. not acting like Sakura, confused and intrigued him at the same time.

"You let me take you to go get some better clothes," she said as she eyed his orange monstrosity. "How in the hell did I not see him with that on!" she screamed in her head.

"What?" he exclaimed, "My clothes are perfect what's wrong with them?" he asked. He loved the color orange and it was a miracle the store had these orange jumpsuits on sale when he went to buy his clothing. He loved this thing. It had many extra pockets and it was extra durable, plus he had many different sizes all for the low price of half of anything else he tried to buy.

Kurenai looked down at him with disdain, "How exactly, would orange help you in a fight?" she asked, "My clothes lead my attackers to focus on other areas before my attacks." she explained, "Your orange just sets you as a beacon." she said as if it explained everything.

Naruto just mumbled something under his breath. Kurenai's eyes narrowed. "What was that?" she asked, her righteous fury coming into play.

Naruto shrank away but repeated himself in a louder voice, "It's cheaper than anything else!" he said, "I managed to get this for half of anything else I try to buy in any of the stores. I don't have the money to pay for new clothes." he explained.

Kurenai's eyes narrowed. "Damn Civilians," she thought to herself. "Tell you what, I will pay for it if you promise to let me use this spot seeing as you already knew about it before me," she said.

Naruto looked up at her with wide eyes, "You can use this anytime you want Kurenai-sensei. You don't have to pay for it. It's not like I own the place." he said.

Kurenai smiled at him, "Then just think of it as a friend helping out another." she said.

Naruto's eyes squinted as he looked at her, "Why would you want to be friends with me?" he asked.

Kurenai's smile disappeared. "Why wouldn't I?" she countered.

Naruto looked down. He spoke quietly, "You know what I contain Kurenai-sensei. Many people within the village glare at me. I am dense and stupid but I am not blind. I can see that many people would not like to be my friend, and the ones I have aren't too well-liked." he said his morose-sounding voice cut to Kurenai's heart as she imagined that. Her small group of friends was by choice, his was by necessity.

Kurenai leaned forward and smiled at him, "Then I will just have to join them. Because I want to be your friend, do you want to be mine?" she asked.

Naruto smiled brightly at her, "Yes." he said with his happiness almost boiling over. Kurenai couldn't stop herself and giggled at him. She looked almost startled as she hadn't giggled in years. But she shook it off as Naruto's smile seemed to disappear before being replaced by something. His lips twitched and slowly spread as they curved upwards. Naruto's smile seemed to be reborn as it slowly spread across his face. Kurenai's lips twitched upwards as she saw his first true smile.

"Then we are friends Naruto-san," she said. His happiness was as infectious as always.

"Arigatou Kurenai...-san." he said. Kurenai smiled slightly.

"One other thing though Naruto-san," she said. Naruto cocked his head to the side as if he were confused. A demonic mask seemed to materialize behind her head as she smiled sweetly at him.

"Please refrain from peeking at me when I am taking a shower from now on," she said. Naruto blushed and nodded his head emphatically. Kurenai's slight smile returned. "Then, since it is getting so late, I will meet you here tomorrow right after your team training," she said. Naruto nodded and smiled at her. As she turned, Naruto spoke up.

"Would you like me to walk you home Kurenai-san?" he asked. Kurenai turned around, a bit surprised at his offer.

"Uhhh, you don't have to Naruto-san," she said. Inwardly, she was wondering why he would offer.

"It's no problem Kurenai-san, a gentleman should always walk a lady home." A light pink dusted Kurenai's cheeks as his constant flattery did not fail. He may not realize what he is doing but he is being the perfect gentleman. "Especially, since we just became friends," he said with a smile at her. She smiled lightly at his gesture, as any idea of an ulterior motive was swept from her mind with his blatant honesty.

"If you wish to Naruto-san, I would enjoy the company," she said politely to him. He stepped forward and fell into step with her as the two began to leave the clearing and their embarrassing moment behind them.

Edge of the training grounds

Kurenai and Naruto approached the edge of the training grounds as darkness settled across the land. Naruto smiled up at Kurenai as they began to walk into the shinobi sector of the village. They had been walking in comfortable silence from the clearing and they were nearing Kurenai's apartment. Naruto looked up at Kurenai as they walked and decided he could ask her for something.

"Kurenai-san, you're a jounin right?" he asked.

Kurenai looked down at him and smiled slightly, "Yes Naruto-san." she said.

"Do you think..." he stopped feeling bad for asking his friend for something so soon.

"What is it Naruto-san?" she asked gently as they continued walking.

Naruto took a deep breath, "Do you think you could teach me a few things?" he asked.

Kurenai's stride faltered as she heard his question but she recovered fast. "You have Kakashi who can teach you anything I could," she said.

Naruto looked down slightly, "I guess that wasn't a good question, Gomen ne Kurenai-san." he said as he smiled at her and they approached her apartment.

Kurenai was about to say something when she saw they were at her apartment building, "Here we are." she said.

Naruto looked at the apartment and smiled, "Well, see you tomorrow Kurenai-san." he said. "and... arigatou." he said before he turned around and ran back towards the town. Kurenai stood there, looking back at him for a bit before she sighed and entered her apartment complex.

Naruto ran from Kurenai's apartment. His happiness boils over and gives him more energy. He wondered how he had managed to make friends with her but he just brushed it off as he ran down the street excited that he had another person he could call his friend. As he passed the main square, he slowed down and started to walk on the street. His smile could not be beat as he continued walking. He looked around at the slums of Konoha where his apartment was located. He didn't care about his apartment. It was homey and he enjoyed it. So he walked to his apartment complex and entered his house.

Because he had forgotten to take a shower, he stripped down and jumped into his cold shower smiling all the while. After he finished, he dried himself off with an old tattered towel and headed to his bed. As he lay in his bed, with his froggy head cap and orange pants, he began to think back and smiled as he came across his first new friend since his school days. During the school year, Iruka-sensei had helped him near the end of the year but that was it. He had his team but they weren't friends so much as acquaintances. He counted Iruka as a close acquaintance but since he had waited so long to help him, after letting Mizuki sabotage him for 5 months Iruka had quickly lost friendship status.

Finally, he thought about his Jiji. The Hokage. He frowned as he thought of him. He had trusted him explicitly and had followed his instructions to the letter. But all it had brought him was a pain to this point. He had told him he never did anything against the villagers and that all they needed was the time before they would stop trying to hurt him. He said he didn't know why the villagers were attacking him. But he knew all along. He knew why the matrons at the orphanage would not take good care of him. He knew why the mobs would amass on his birthday to find him. He KNEW why he was hated and he never told him.

Naruto rolled over to his side and let a choked sob be ripped from his throat as he acknowledged that his Jiji lied to him. He never let his jiji know he didn't trust him anymore but he didn't. If he lied about something so big, what else might he be hiding from him? Might he know who his parents were? Might he have known he would have never graduated if he hadn't stolen the forbidden scroll because he had abnormal amounts of chakra?

Unfortunately, because of Jiji's actions, he no longer trusted the most stable part of his life up to this point. But, as he let the one tear fall from his eye, Naruto's frown turned into a bright smile as he thought of Kurenai. She was someone he felt he could trust even with their limited time together, she hadn't ratted him out like others would have. She asked for his friendship! He smiled brightly as he allowed himself to drift off into sleep.