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The Rise of Uzumaki Ch. 45 (Naruto)
🕑 Added 2022-10-18 14:41:01 +0000 UTCA/N: Dinner goes well... until it doesn't~
-x-X-x-
For a brief moment, Fu considers doing the responsible thing. She actually does think about it. And really, it’s the thought that counts right? In the end though, the dark-skinned Jinchuriki just can’t help herself. Her curiosity always has been her downfall.
Looking between Naruto and the kunoichi again, Fu pouts in confusion.
“But why does SHE smell so good too then?”
The raven-haired kunoichi hunches inward, even as Naruto’s eyes widen, something like understanding suddenly happening for him. He definitely doesn’t look confused anymore, though he does look a little embarrassed as he laughs and rubs a hand through the back of his hair. Fu feels a little embarrassed too, worried that she’s gone and stepped in it now.
Had she already made a mess of things? Before she can try to take it back, before she can do or say anything however… Naruto abruptly wraps his arm around the raven-haired kunoichi’s shoulders, tugging him into his side.
“Well, Fu… that’d be because Sasuko here is one of my fiancés. We’re very close, and so… that smell you’re detecting on her is my smell, more than likely.”
As Fu processes this, Naruto reaches out on his other side and pulls the pink-haired kunoichi in for a one-armed hug as well.
“And this is Sakura, one of my other fiancés! I’m sure you likely smell me all over her too, haha!”
As both Sakura and Sasuko blush but don’t try and pull away from their brash blond teammate, Fu blinks owlishly, glancing to the pink-haired kunoichi in question. Now that he says something… yeah, Fu can smell him on her as well. If that is him, which… she doesn’t see why he would lie to her about that.
It makes sense after all. Naruto’s scent is the best smelling, so what she’s smelling from Sasuko and now more faintly from Sakura… it’s probably just him, isn’t it? And he smells so good… because he’s like her, a Jinchuriki. Now that she’d had her curiosity regarding the strangeness of the different sets of smells satisfied, Fu realizes she’s completely burying the lead here.
“You’re a Jinchuriki too?!”
All but leaning over the table, Fu looks at Naruto excitedly. For a moment, Naruto just blinks… then, his face splits into a broad smile as he finally lets go of Sakura and Sasuko, nodding his head happily.
“That’s right Fu. I’m the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails, just as you’re the Jinchuriki of the Seven Tails. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Naruto sticks out his hand for her to shake, but Fu is having none of that. Even though there is a dining table in between them, the dark-skinned, mint-haired young woman all but leaps across the table, stretching herself across it in order to wrap her arms around Naruto’s neck and pull him into a hug. It just feels right… and she gets to take a longer whiff of his heavenly scent while she’s at it.
“Whoa! Haha…”
“Fu!”
Only Shibuki’s admonishing tone finally reminds Fu of what she’s supposed to be doing here. Namely, she’s supposed to be representing her village. She’s SUPPOSED to be on her best behavior. And instead, she’d gone from commenting on their guests’ smells to lunging across tables in order to hug them. She was… really screwing this up, wasn’t she?
Blushing profusely now, Fu pulls away from Naruto, albeit with a certain degree of reluctance. When she looks to Shibuki, he doesn’t look mad at least… just a little disappointed, and a LOT exasperated. Said exasperation only grows when Naruto lets out another laugh and waves it off.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Fu is just happy to meet one of her own kind for once. That’s more than okay.”
Fu brightens up as Naruto immediately forgives her… but seeing how attuned she is to Shibuki, she doesn’t fail to notice the way he stiffens up, looking… withdrawn and somewhat melancholic. Seeing as she’s sitting next to him, Fu doesn’t hesitate to reach out under the table and slip her hand into his, fingers interlacing with his fingers as she gives it a good squeeze.
Shibuki looks at her in surprise for a moment, before gracing her with a fond smile and squeezing back.
“You’re right Naruto… of course. There’s nothing wrong with Fu being exuberant. However, there is a time and place, and draping oneself over the dining table is not that time or place… as she well knows.”
This time, the admonishment is a lot lighter and a lot gentler, with Shibuki still smiling fondly at her, taking a lot of the bite out of it. That just makes Fu feel guiltier however, and she ducks her head even as she nods in agreement.
Before anything else can be said, the door to the dining room slides open and the first course of dinner is brought in. It’s in this transitionary period that Shibuki clears his throat, just as they’re about to dig in.
“It seems you’ve been… busy, Naruto. You and your teammate are betrothed to one another now? That’s a… big change since I saw you last.”
Fu perks up at that, intensely curious once more. She was a little curious to know WHY Sasuko smelt more like Naruto than Sakura, but she didn’t really want to rock the boat any further at the moment. At the same time, she was very curious about what it meant for them all to be ‘betrothed’. That meant they were together, right? Was it normal for one shinobi to have two kunoichi? But then… why didn’t Shibuki have ANY women? Was it Fu’s fault?
“Ah, well… you know how it is, I imagine. Sometimes fate conspires against you… or with you, as the case may be. Put simply, I am one of the last members of the Uzumaki Clan. Ever since the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool was wiped out, we’ve been scattered to say the least. The Fifth Hokage has seen fit to honor me with a mandate… namely, the reconstruction of the Uzumaki Clan by any means.”
Here, Naruto glances to Sasuko and then Sakura, Fu noting how fond he seems to be of both of them.
“Sakura and Sasuko are just two of my fiancés. At this point…”
Here, Naruto has to pause. It takes Fu a second to realize he’s counting in his head.
“There’s a dozen of them.”
He shrugs as if to say ‘what can you do’, but Fu gets the impression that that’s quite a lot when Shibuki chokes on his food beside her. Helpfully reaching over, the dark-skinned Jinchuriki smacks her leader’s back a few times to dislodge the piece of errant food, prompting it to come back up. As Shibuki pants, he just shakes his head.
“S-Sorry… wrong pipe. A-A dozen, you said?”
Naruto just nods, suddenly very interested in his own meal.
“This is very good! My compliments to the chef!”
Fu brightens at that, beaming with pride that their village had managed to impress some out of town guests. But Shibuki doesn’t look nearly as happy about the compliment from Naruto. In fact, he seemed to be getting tenser by the moment. Fu didn’t really understand it, but she WAS hungry too, so she just tucked in and stayed quiet for a little bit.
Eventually, they were into the second course, and the silence at the table was starting to get to her, big time. But before she could break it, Naruto spoke up, clearing his throat and drawing her attention.
“So… Fu. I understand that you’ve grown up here in Taki.”
Blinking, Fu slowly nods, before smiling brightly.
“Yep!”
Naruto matches her energy with his own, smiling right back at her. Then, he asks a bombshell of a question.
“Do you like it here?”
Fu opens her mouth to respond, to tell him that of course she likes it here… but then she stops in her tracks and really thinks about it. Beside her, Shibuki’s back is ramrod straight, but he remains silent… clearly waiting to hear her answer himself.
“… No one has ever asked that before.”
Fu doesn’t think it’s an answer any of them, least of all Shibuki, wants to hear. But it is the truth. And while she feels bad when Shibuki’s shoulders slump beside her, Fu knows she can’t take the words back. Still, maybe she can lessen their sting?
“I like Shibuki! He’s always making time for me, whenever I need someone to play o-or train with!”
She tacks on that last bit as an afterthought, realizing that she’s supposed to be a big scary kunoichi now, and that their guests are all big scary shinobi and kunoichi as well. She’s pretty sure ninja didn’t ‘play’ like she and Shibuki did. They trained, right? So Fu had to make it clear she was a capable ninja as well!
Unfortunately, her efforts to make Shibuki feel better don’t seem to be bearing much fruit. His shoulders are still slumped and he’s hanging his head… something Naruto seems to notice, even as he graces Fu with a softer smile.
“I believe you, Fu. I know Shibuki and I know his character. He’s a good man with a lot of weight on his shoulders.”
Fu blinks at that and glances over at Shibuki. Weight on his shoulders? Hm, what did that mean exactly? Her confusion must have been palpable, because Naruto chuckles after a moment.
“I’m talking about his responsibilities, Fu. To both you and to the village of Taki. This isn’t the first time me and my team have come here. We didn’t get to meet you then, but we did meet Shibuki… together, we saved Taki from a coup, but it was Shibuki who did the most, who risked sacrificing himself for everyone… including you.”
Fu isn’t sure whether the story is meant to settle her or not, but there’s just one problem… it’s the first time she’s hearing of it. She remembers a few years back when Shibuki got hurt. He was so tired that she took care of him for days. He told her it wasn’t anything to worry about, that he’d just pushed himself too hard.
Now though… now Fu is left wondering what really happened. A coup? The whole village in danger? Why didn’t… why didn’t Shibuki tell her? Why didn’t he ask her for help? She could have helped!
Fu’s fingers slip out of Shibuki’s for the first time since the meal has started. Finally, he looks up at her.
“… The village was in trouble? W-Why didn’t you tell me?”
Stricken, Shibuki trembles a bit, his now empty hand closing in on itself helplessly.
“Fu, you don’t understand… I had a duty to keep your safe. You were too young. I-!”
“Were they too young?!”
Fu has never cut Shibuki off before. Backtalked him once or twice, sure. Overwhelmed him with her own chattering, definitely. But she’s NEVER cut him off while he was speaking. Having her do so now… Shibuki falls silent, staring at her with wide eyes as Fu gets up from the table, gesturing wildly at their guests.
Sure, she wasn’t quite sure HOW old Naruto, Sasuko, and Sakura actually were. But they LOOKED about her age. And that meant they’d been her age even when they’d helped Shibuki save the village from a coup. Meaning he’d let them help him, but not her. Not Fu. Because… because she always had to be kept apart. She always had to be separate from the rest of Takigakure. Most of them didn’t even know who she was.
Fu tried not to let that hurt her. Truly she did. She tried to act like Shibuki was all she needed. But the truth was what it was. She wanted friends. She wanted companionship. She wanted a fiancé one day too! She wanted to be betrothed to someone! She wanted to smell herself on them and smell them on herself!
Stricken, Fu realizes she can’t stay… and so she leaves the room, uncaring of how it might embarrass Shibuki or their village. She needs to get out. She needs to get away from… from all of this.
And so she flees.
-x-X-x-
In the wake of Fu’s departure, Naruto feels like an utter heel.
“Ahem… apologies, Shibuki. I didn’t intend for…”
But the leader of Takigakure just shakes his head, eyes still downcast.
“No, I know you had good intentions. It’s my fault. I kept secrets from her. I kept HER a secret from everyone else. I might have had my reasons, but the truth is… there is no excuse. She’s right to be angry with me.”
Naruto doesn’t quite know what to say to that. Shibuki is right though. It was mind-boggling that Fu hadn’t even known about the attempted coup. Shibuki had nearly lost his life saving the village alongside them. He’d drank the Hero’s Water, and while that alone had not been enough to win the day, that combined with Naruto and Sasuko’s efforts had turned the tide. And more than that, he’d even survived afterwards.
… Still, what if he HAD died? What would have happened to Fu then? Presumably one of the high-ranking shinobi that Shibuki had mentioned earlier would have stepped in, but Fu would have been all alone in the world. Her only companion, her only friend… would have been dead.
Naruto wasn’t sure if it was his place to condemn or judge Shibuki for his choices, but he could at least acknowledge that the other man had fucked up. And Fu had ever right to be angry with him, just like he said. At the same time though…
“We should give her some space. She just needs to be alone for a little while.”
Shibuki’s words feel defeated and altogether weak. And yet, Naruto is still ready and even willing to go along with it… until Kakashi speaks up.
“That’s not a good idea, given why we’re here. We didn’t lie to you, Shibuki. The Akatsuki are coming for Fu sooner or later. Best to retrieve her and make sure she’s safe before they show up.”
… Kakashi was right. Probably. It was a question of whether the Akatsuki would actually show up any time soon or not. Shibuki knew Fu best. If he said she needed her space, then she probably did. But her need for protection against the Akatsuki overrode her need for space… right?
Comments
Sootythunder
I mean is there an option to go after her but giving her enough space to clear her head?
SylverIron
Dang, there goes a tender moment between two Jinchuriki...
