Naruto (Kira's Story)

Hey everybody, I figured that I'd go ahead and give you a little bit more today with my friend's permission first. I'll give you a little bit more so you can place some judgement on the story. ^_^ This will probably be updated every two days from now on, so I'm totally giving you all something to look forward too. Remember that reviews are greatly appreciated and that this will be a long story. Enjoy. By the way, Raine is the name of the author of this just to give you a bit of a heads up. Don't tell her i told you though. ^_-

***Getting Settled***

“If it is such a bother, kill me now and end your dilemma!” she shouted, her voice nearly breaking at the end of the sentence.
A number of ninja had drawn weapons and were halfway into stances to throw them or leap to the Hokage’s side. His raised hand caused them to back down but not relax as he stared into the emotionless eyes of the young woman in front of him. He looked deeper. Her strange yellow eyes were anything but emotionless, he found. They were swimming with more emotions than he could name. Determination, anger, and sadness were only a few that he recognized. Looking into her eyes, he felt like crying. He wondered how she wasn’t crying with so much pain inside her.
‘Where did the little girl I used to know go to?’ he wondered.
He tore his eyes away and looked around at the ninja around them. The only ones not holding drawn weapons, ready to leap to his defense, were the young genin and the jonin she’d entered with. Naruto was standing with his mouth open and eyes wide, clearly speechless for once, shocked out of his tirade about his new mission. The other genin were equally surprised, even the young Uchiha. Kakashi showed his shock the same as ever: widened eye and raised eyebrow. Their charge was nearly as shocked as Naruto.
He turned back to Kira and placed his hand on the hilt of her sword. The entire room seemed to hold its breath before he pushed it down to her side.
“I will not kill you. It would be a bigger waste than the death of your clan was,” he said calmly.
She nodded and returned her blade to its sheathe in a single smooth motion.
“Now then, since you will be a part of this village you will need a place to stay. I will contact some of the jonin and see if one of them is interested in letting you live with them.”
“Actually, if it’s not too much trouble, I would prefer to have a home to myself.”
“Hmm,” he said, thoughtfully. “Yes, in your case privacy is a necessity at this point. We can always change your arrangements.”
She nodded in agreement.
“I know of a small house that has recently been abandoned on the outskirts of town. You can live there.”
She nodded again.
“And also, we will need to assign you to a team. I will call a meeting tonight of the jonin. We will determine your new sensei then.”
“Thank you.” She bowed again.
“I will send someone tomorrow to inform you of the decision.” He turned to the others. “You will set out in the morning.” He looked pointedly at Kakashi. “I will need all of the jonin at this meeting.”
Kira lowered her eyes. She knew why every jonin, not just those with teams needed to be there. She shook her thoughts away and bowed again to the Hokage prepared to back away, but a hand on the top of her head stopped her.
“Do not be ashamed, Kitten.”
She smiled reluctantly at the nickname.
“You are a part of this village and we will not abandon you if you do not abandon us.”
Tears came to her eyes and she had to blink rapidly to dispel them. She straightened and looked at him, the gratitude evident on her face.
“Now go, and rest. I imagine you’ve had little enough in the past few weeks. Iruka will show you to your new home.”
Iruka stood and bowed to the Hokage as well before stepping from behind the table and leading the way past Naruto and company. Kira’s eyes locked with Sasuke’s for an instant before she turned away and followed Iruka out.
The sun was still bright in the sky, just beginning to lean obviously towards the western horizon. The Hokage could call the meeting now and let Kakashi’s team leave today. But he wouldn’t. The meeting could last the entire night if the jonin got into their arguments enough. Many of them would oppose even having her in the village, let alone on a team. Once they realized that the Hokage would not change his mind, the ones in charge of a squad would fight strongly for her to be put on his or her team. There would also be fights over whether she should be allowed to participate at all since it would give one team an advantage over the others. Because of that, Kakashi’s mission would have to be delayed until tomorrow morning.
Kira sighed. It was so easy to predict what they would say but so hard to predict what the ending verdict would be.
“Rough day…Kira?” her old examiner asked kindly, stumbling slightly over the name.
“A very looong day, Iruka.” She looked up at him a smiled slightly.
He chuckled. “I suppose it would be after having a debate with the Hokage.”
“You call that a debate? Ha! I had him wrapped around my finger,” she joked holding up her index finger. She sobered quickly, though. “Really, I’m worried about the jonin meeting.”
“Ah, you’re afraid of what they might decide.”
She nodded and then blurted out, “But what if they decide to not put me on a team? What if none of them want me? I won’t be able to stay here then. I don’t want to leave!”
“Hey, hey,” he said putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it gently. “Don’t worry so much. Things will work out.”
She didn’t look like she was going to cry anymore but worry still marred her pretty face so he continued, “Besides the Hokage and I won’t let anything happen to you. I think even Kakashi might fight to keep you here.”
She sniffed and smiled. “Thanks. Even if you don’t mean it.”
“Hey, I do to mean it! I—Oh, you trickster,” he said seeing her sly grin. “You knew I meant it.”
“Of course. You’re easy to read. That’s why I love you so much.”
“You always were a tricky one. Just like Naruto,” he said while rubbing the back of his head.
“You really care about him don’t you?” she asked.
“Like a little brother.” He smiled, thinking. “But don’t tell him that. Kage knows how he’ll take it.”
“I think he’d love you more for it. He doesn’t have enough affection in his life. Everyone seems to hate him. Truthfully I think that he’d welcome having a big brother.”
He looked over at her but couldn’t catch her eye as she was looking straight ahead.
“Your intuition hasn’t been wrong before, maybe I should try it.”
She looked up at him now. “No, it hasn’t. Though I’ve wished it had been on more than one occasion. And, yes, you should try it. I think he’d like having a home with another person in it.”
“Maybe we should make you Hokage V.”
“And have all those people looking at me all the time? Ugh, no way.” She stuck her tongue out.
Iruka laughed. “You know, I’m thinking about taking Naruto out for ramen tonight, would you like to come?”
“Why not? I’d give me a chance to catch up with you and get to know Naruto a little better.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t want our kitten to be out of the loop,” he joked.
“Oh, you meanie. I’m going to make you black and blue,” she mock-threatened.
“Oh no, someone save me from the evil kitty-cat. She’s going to scratch me!” He pretended to be terrified and started running in the direction of her new house.
“You bet I am. You’re gonna look like ramen noodles when I’m done with you,” she called, giving chase with Miko.
They ran, laughing and jesting, through the town, dodging people, wagons, and shops, until Iruka stopped suddenly and Kira tackled him, having been in mid leap when he stopped.
“Oof, I guess you caught me,” he said from his position face-down in the grass.
“Course I did. Why’d you stop?” she asked from her perch on his back.
“Because…” he tried to pry her off and failed. “We’re here.”
“Wow,” she gasped.
The house was an old fashioned Japanese home with wooden floors and sliding doors. Vines with large white flowers were climbing up the wooden posts at the corners and the little path to the front steps was lined with multicolored blossoms. There were two cherry trees in the yard and they were still in bloom despite the late season. Underneath them was a large pond filled with koi and a sculpted bench where Miko made himself comfortable.
“It’s beautiful.” She looked around in awe. “Who lived here?”
“I’m not sure. The Hokage knows more about it than I do, but it seems he had good taste.”
“I’ll say.”
“Could you get off me?”
“What’s the matter? Too heavy for you?” she teased.
“You’re not, but your stuff is,” he grunted, rolling over and making her scream playfully as she tipped sideways onto the ground.
Iruka stood up and looked back at Kira. He started laughing uncontrollably, nearly falling over when he saw her. She was on her back on top of her bags. The straps were tangled around her arms and legs so she couldn’t get up. She was rocking back and forth trying to get up but was unable to.
“Stop laughing, you ninny, and help me up!”
He leaned down to give her a hand when she grabbed his hand and pulled him down. He fell on top of her and was amazed when she rolled over easily so she was sitting on him again.
“I win,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Alright, alright, you win. Now get off me you evil little trickster,” he ordered.
“What’s the magic word?” she asked coyly, folding her legs Indian style on his stomach.
He grunted from the added pressure. “You have a bony butt.”
She shifted, and he grunted again.
“That’s not the magic word.”
“Ow! Please?” he begged.
“Make me,” she said playfully.
“Come on,” he begged. “I said ‘please’.”
“Yeah, but then it’s no fun-ack!” she yelled as Miko jumped onto her shoulder, making her lose her balance and fall off a relieved Iruka who immediately stood up. “Cheater,” she muttered, picking herself of the ground.
“Well, you should have let me up.”
She stuck out her tongue in reply.
“Do you want me to stay and look through the house with you?”
“Are you nuts? I’ll probably end up locked in a closet somewhere.”
“Actually, that’s more likely to happen to me,” he laughed. “I can take a hint. Be at the stand at seven, okay? We’ll wait up for you.”
“Fine. And, Iruka, thanks for being such a good sport.”
“What are friends for?” he shrugged.
“See ya!” she called as he took off back the way they came.
Iruka was always fun. He was more like a favorite uncle than a teacher to her. She’d met him when she was three and they had immediately gotten along. She was more at ease with him that the other kids her age because, unlike them, she didn’t spend a few years with him as a teacher although he had given her the test to become a genin. She knew him as Iruka the man not Iruka the sensei, though she used his title when other people were around. She meant what she said. She did love him, but it was completely innocent, like the love for a family member.
Now that Iruka was gone, it was time to explore her new home and form a list of what she needed to live here. She walked down the path to the door and took off her shoes. Miko trotted along behind her.
“We’re going to have to get you a welcome mat to wipe those paws,” she said looking down at him.
“Are you saying I’m dirty?” he answered in cat.
“No, but we can’t exactly make you wear shoes and I don’t need to wash the floors every time you step on it.”
“Fair enough. I just wish I had my feet back so I could wear shoes again.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I know you are. It’s not your fault, you know. You couldn’t have done anything more than you did.”
“I could have killed him before he cursed you.”
“You and I both know that you couldn’t have stopped him in time.”
“Still, I should have done something,” she sighed, frustrated.
Miko rubbed against her legs soothingly while he purred. Eventually she smiled and leaned down to pet his back.
“You know, I think I’d rather have a hug.”
“Me too.”
Kira picked him up and they explored the rooms. The house was already completely furnished: stylish and comfortable chairs, couches, and matching coffee tables in the living room; large squishy cushions, a polished table, a china set in a beautiful cabinet, and top of the line cooking appliances in the kitchen; and huge canopy beds with matching dressers and nightstands in the bedrooms. The bathroom was gigantic and covered in sparkling white tile. Half of it was taken up by a marble tub sunk into the floor with a movable shower head.
“Wow, Miko. This place is gorgeous. I wonder why the Hokage let us have it.”
He just shook his head and turned to the last bedroom.
“Hey, can we have this one?”
“’We’? What do you mean ‘we’? You don’t think I’m going to let you sleep in the same bed as me, do you?” she asked following him in.
He pouted and Kira sighed, giving in.
“Why do I let you do this to me? You’re supposed to do what I want. I’m the little sister.”
“Well, our situation kind of reversed that. I may be older, but you’re definitely bigger.”
“You’re not calling me fat are you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Don’t have to.”
“You bugger, it’s horrible that you beat up on me.”
“It’s not my fault you walked into it.”
Kira lunged and caught Miko on the bed, tickling him mercilessly.
“Okay, stop, stop. I take it back, I take it back!” he yelled out between laughs.
“Good, now help me unpack.”
“What! No way!” he yelled as he scampered out of the room. “I’ll go check the pantry.”
“Stupid cat,” she muttered, grinning.
Back in good spirits, she unpacked all of the stuff in her bags and repacked a smaller bag with everything she would need on a long mission. When Miko came back she wrote down a list of food items that she needed to go shopping for. That done, she looked at the clock and found that it was fifteen to seven.
“Time to go,” she said, grabbing the list and her purse.
“Yay, food!” he called.
“You make it sound like you haven’t eaten in forever.”
“Dried fish is okay, but real food tastes so much better.”
“Alright, race you there.”
“You’re on!”
He dashed out the sliding door.
“Wait, wait, cheater, I have to lock the door.”
After locking the doors, she took off down the road as fast as she could go, which was pretty fast. She saw Miko’s tail vanish around a corner after just a few minutes of running. When she turned the corner she ran into something hard and fell backwards.
“Ouch,” she groaned, rubbing her head. “Oh, sorry, Iruka—sensei.”
She hesitated on adding his title until she realized there were people around.
“It’s alright. Are you okay?” he asked, helping her up.
“Yeah, fine,” she dusted herself off. “You,” she said aggressively, pointing at Miko. “You cheated. I told you I had to lock up the house first, so I’m not buying you a bowl.”
He yowled piteously, pawing at her leg.
“No, you whiner.”
He continued to beg, winding between her legs and meowing.
“No.”
He hugged her leg at the knee, staring pleadingly into her eyes.
“Fine, you baby,” she muttered. “I’m too soft with you.”
He purred happily chased his tail in glee.
“Wow! What’s up with your cat?” Naruto asked running up in time to see him running in circles.
“Nothing. He’s just happy. Dumb clown just talked me into buying him a bowl of ramen.”
“Oh, that’s cool—wait a minute! Did you just say he talked you into it?”
“Yeah, he’s such a baby.”
“Am not!” he yelled, but to the others it sounded like an indignant meow.
“Are too!” she argued back.
Miko stuck his tongue out and the other two noticed.
“Hey, he’s sticking out his tongue.”
Naruto bent down for a better look.
Miko swiped at his nose, making the boy jump back, and leapt onto one of the stools.
“Well, that’s a subtle hint that it’s time to eat.”
They placed their orders and began eating the hot noodles while they talked of this and that. Eventually, Kira asked something that had been bugging her for a while.
“Hey, Iruka-sensei?”
“Hm?” he asked through a mouthful of ramen.
“Uchiha Sasuke. He’s not the one that’s the last of his clan is he? The one whose brother killed them?” she asked, looking down at her bowl.
“Yeah, he is. Why?”
“It’s just…that means he’s a lot like me. He probably understands part of what I’m feeling right now. The thirst for vengeance. The emptiness inside my heart. He’s lived with it for so much longer than I have. I wonder…I’ve heard…well…will I turn out like him? Holding all my emotions inside, living only to kill the one who murdered my family.”
Iruka, Naruto, and Miko just looked at her.
“But, hey, you’re not like that. You’re full of laughter and you’re fun to be around. You’re the kind of person that won’t let something like that make you give up on life. I only met you today and I know that. Believe it!”
“Thanks, Naruto. That’s nice of you to say.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “And you’re right. I can’t let it ruin my life. I’m going to stay the person I am, even if I’m out for revenge.”
She finished her bowl and grabbed her purse to pay when Iruka stopped her.
“I’ll get it.”
She couldn’t read the look in his eyes, but smiled and thanked him anyway. Then she said goodbye and headed out to take care of the shopping.
It was late when she finished. The moon was rising and the light of the nearly full orb guided her as she walked into the house with all the shopping bags hanging from every inch of her arms. She dumped them on the kitchen floor and proceeded to put the items in their places. When she finally finished it was midnight and she was starting to get tired but since she was practically nocturnal, she would be unable to sleep at this point. She decided to clean the house: sweeping, dusting, polishing, and mopping. The whole house took only a couple of hours and it was nearly three o’clock in the morning when she finished.
“Are you going to sleep tonight? If you get Kakashi as your sensei, you’re going to be really tired on the trip to the Land of Waves,” Miko cautioned.
“Yeah, I’m going to turn in now. Today was pretty tiring so I might be able to sleep this early.”
That said, she put away the cleaning supplies, brushed her teeth and hair, changed into her pajamas (which consisted of loose pajama pants and a baggy T-shirt), and climbed into bed.
“So…are you gonna wear the hat tonight?” he asked since she was still wearing it.
“No, I guess I don’t need to.”
“Good. Because you look better without it.”
“Yeah, right. Whatever, suck up.”
She took it off and settled herself into the soft pillows, falling asleep quickly while Miko snuggled next to her.