18 Chapter 18

We left the Hokage mansion, Satsuki went back to her compound, while Naruko and I headed back home. Preparing immediately for the Waves mission was mutually decided to be the smartest move, so we would be doing that before anything else.

As we arrived back at the main house of the Senju clan, I followed Naruko into her room to help her pack. I winced when I saw that the place was already a mess. She hadn't even been here long!

"Really?" I asked, a deadpan firmly on my face. Naruko blushed in embarrassment and settled for saying nothing.

Naruko didn't store her weapons in a pouch, neither did Hinata or Satsuki for that matter. They all stored them in scrolls, and our job right now was to gather a bunch of weapons and seal them in scrolls so Naruko would have a mass of weapons to rely on.

I for one didn't store my weapons in scrolls, because I rarely used shuriken and whenever I used kunai, I used it more like a dagger, for close quarters battles. So I just kept them in my pouch. If I ever needed a mass of kunai or shuriken, I could just go to either Naruko or Satsuki, so I was covered on that front.

I did however store a pass of paper bombs. Something Naruko hated having around, and Satsuki didn't store it because I stored them.

We made our way to the Senju's armory where we stocked up on kunai and shuriken. The armory was running low, so I would have to make a trip to a weapons shop to refill it sometime in the future.

Naruko and I sat in silence as we began sealing each individual kunai, shuriken, and a small amount of senbon in her scrolls.

"Naruko." I said, interrupting the silence and getting the girl to look up at me for a moment before continuing her sealing.

"Yeah?" She asked, her face dull with boredom.

"What happened that night to make you act so differently?"

She paused her actions, her gaze still on the floor. Her face panicked as she turned her head away.

"Nothing." She said, and I could tell she didn't even have the strength to lie well.

I put a hand on hers, trying to show her how much I cared about her with a single look. She didn't turn towards me, but she didn't pull her hand away.

"Please, Naruko."

There was a very long silence, only interrupted by a liquid hitting the ground. I quickly turned Naruko around to see that she was crying. I rarely had ever seen Naruko cry and it absolutely crushed me. I pulled her in close and wrapped my arms around her as tight as I could without hurting her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I had wanted her to tell me about Kurama so we could move our friendship to the next level, but I very obviously overstepped, and now I felt like shit.

She didn't return the embrace, instead she pulled away. I eyed her with concern as she remained silent.

Minutes passed before she finally spoke.

"You'll hate me if I tell you."

It wasn't a question, she said it with absolute certainty.

"I won't." I said instantly.

"You will." She said a bit louder.

"Naruko, how long have we been friends? If you think-"

"You don't understand!" She stood up with clenched fists.

"Then make me understand." I said gently, reaching my hand out to her. She eyed it and shook her head.

"...No." Her voice was soft, so soft it hurt. "I don't deserve-"

Her words were lost to me as I pulled her close and softly pressed my lips against hers. She stiffened in my embrace, but didn't pull away, instead she deepened the kiss. Her lips clung to mine and I could feel the need she had for me. Her arms wrapped around the back of my head, holding me tight.

—

Naruko

What she was doing was wrong. She knew that much, but she couldn't let go. She was selfish. Selfish for loving him even though the beast inside her was the very reason he was without parents.

In her eyes, nothing was worse than missing out on family, and yet here she was, kissing the man she loved like he would disappear forever if she let him go.

Perhaps he would.

When their lips parted, she shied away from his gaze, she thought about running away, but he put an end to that thought quickly by wrapping his strong arms around her waist tightly.

"I love you, Naruko."

Her body froze. All useless thoughts came to a halt as she focused all of her brain power on processing what just came out of his mouth.

Her head tilted up to look at him and her tears returned when she saw a warm look with eyes full of love staring back at her. His jade green eyes, which were her favorite things in the world to look at, held so much emotion that she couldn't place into words, but more than that was the understanding in his eyes. She could tell that he knew whatever she had to say would hurt him, but wanted to hear it anyway for her sake.

"Lei…I…" She paused. She knew how she felt, but did she deserve to feel that way.

No, she didn't, and no one, not even Lei could tell her otherwise.

"...Within me, is the Nine Tailed Fox."

She didn't say any more. Why would she need to? That alone would be enough reason for him to push her away and demand she leave his life forever. She cherished every moment she spent with him, and thanked whatever higher power for allowing her to be in his life, but the day she learned what she was, she knew it could never last forever.

"I know."

Her brain malfunctioned as she looked up at the man she loved in shock.

"...huh?"

He nervously smiled at her confusion, and took one hand off of her waist to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, to say I knew would be a bit of a stretch. I speculated that this may be the case. With how everyone looks at you, and the names they call you, not to mention your birthday being the day of the attack." He explained and I stared at him wide eyed.

He…knew? Yet he allowed her to stay by his side? By Hinata and Satsuki's sides?

"Then-"

He cut her off with another light peck to her lips. She almost slipped up again and deepened it, and good thing she hadn't since the kiss didn't last nearly as long as the last one.

"I don't care if hate and death themselves were inside of you, Naruko, my feelings for you remain the same. I love you, and I want you with me until the day I die." His voice was strong, and words were powerful, never once wavering.

Relief flooded her heart and tears flooded her eyes. Loud sobs escaped her mouth as she pressed her head into his chest. He loved her, even if she was the demon brat everyone had called her. Even if she was the one who caged the killer of his parents, he still loved her.

She couldn't calm down. The sobs of relief and joy instead of sadness not slowing down at all, and Lei patiently rubbed the back of her head.

Time passed, how much time she couldn't answer, but it had grown dark in the time she had spent in his arms. Never once did either of them speak. Her sobs had finally died down to nothing, but her head was still firmly attached to his chest, a spot she quickly realized she wanted to spend an eternity in.

However, all good things must come to an end, and in this case, the start of something even greater.

Her head departed from his chest, and she rubbed at the tears that had tried on her face. Her eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, her resolve wavered. The feeling of Lei's hand rubbing her back, and his warm smile killed any hesitance she had. She wanted this. To hold him tight like this whenever she wanted.

"...I love you too."

Mentally she complimented herself for saying that without stuttering and while maintaining eye contact, and her mental congratulations continued as Lei's smile grew. His arms pulling her in again and this time, she initiated the kiss, slamming her lips on his and holding his head tightly.

She still didn't think she deserved this, but she wanted it, and so did he.

—

Lei

We had made our way back to the main house. The entire way, Naruko refused to separate from me, not that I asked her to.

Even when I attempted to walk her to her room, she gently pushed me towards mine, and when I had looked down at her, I damn near melted at her adorable pleading look.

So here we were, laying down, in my bed. She had already fallen asleep, but she had still not let go of me. Her head rested on my shoulder as she used my right arm as a body pillow.

My libido was absolutely screaming since my hand was firmly nestled between Naruko's thighs. My knuckles brushing against heaven.

I had already sworn to myself that I wouldn't do anything sexual with any of the girls until we were older. Right now we were much closer to being kids then we were to being young adults, and doing anything as they were right now just felt…wrong.

So I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Something that didn't come easy at first with my icha icha motivated thoughts, but eventually I allowed myself to sink into her warmth and drift off.

—

*Knock*

I cracked an eye open at the sound of knocking. Someone was at the front door? I flexed my sensory chakra a bit and tiredly rubbed my eyes when I sensed a familiar presence and two other that weren't so familiar..

"Five more minutes." Naruko tiredly groaned.

"Don't worry, I'll get it." I whispered in her ear, as I got ready to get up and separate from her, I felt a strong tug that brought me back into bed. I glanced at my blonde headed girlfriend and fear passed over me when I saw her glaring at me.

"That goes for you too." She ordered.

I found her incredibly cute, and the person outside could wait five minutes for us, so I cuddled with her for another five minutes.

When that time passed, Naruko got out of bed with me, all the while still clinging to my arm. I still didn't question it, I for one enjoyed it, so I wouldn't be bothered to stop it.

We stopped at the door and opened it to see Konohamaru and two other children, a girl and a boy.

"Good morning, Boss. We're here for training." Konohamaru saluted, and the two other kids mirrored his actions.

Naruko blinked slowly, then her gaze locked onto mine with confusion. Did she forget already?

"Your student." I said, which earned an understanding look from her.

"Right, training." She trailed off, seemingly not into it. "Go climb a tree."

The three kids looked confused.

"A tree?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruko's face crinkled in annoyance. "Yes, a tree, you know those big things all around the village with leaves? Use your chakra to climb one."

"Our chakra? How would we do that?" The girl asked nervously.

Naruko grew even more annoyed so I lightly rubbed her hip which caused her to yelp in surprise. She looked at me in confusion, and I smiled back at her.

"Perhaps we should start with names." I turned my attention to the three kids. "You all should know your 'Boss' Naruko Uzumaki, I'm Lei Senju, Lord Second is my grandfather, so I guess we share that 'Honorable Grandson' title, huh, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru's face lit up as he stared at me with renewed respect. "Yes! I didn't know you were Lord Second's Grandson!" I chuckled at his sudden friendliness. Just yesterday he looked at me like some asshole who fucked up his plans, but now here he was acting so kind.

I can't blame him, he's just a kid after all.

I looked over to his two friends who suddenly perked up.

"I'm the Magnificent Moegi!"

"I'm the Awesome Ultra Udon!"

They both introduced while striking poses. Konohamaru gave a proud laugh then struck a pose in front of them. "And I'm the Legendary Coolest Future Hokage, Konohamaru!"

Both Naruko and I deadpanned.

"If you're all gonna be Naruko's students, you're gonna need to work on that. For now, do as Naruko said and climb a tree." I yawned.

They all deflated at my words.

"What do you mean, climb a tree?" Udon asked this time.

I sighed, looking at Naruko who was leaning her head against my shoulder while looking at me with hazy eyes.

"Earth to Naruko." I waved my hand in front of her face, snapping her back to reality.

"Huh?" She asked, her gaze falling down to the kids. "They aren't climbing a tree yet?"

"What do you mean by climbing a tree!" Konohamaru asked, raising his voice a bit.