"Oh, you guys…" said Naruto after a few minutes of thought, "Are you here to join the Gardening Club?"

There was a brief pause as the boy at the door struggled for words.

"We're coming in!" he growled, shoving the door wide open and storming in.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as the karateka was followed by three fellow club members, each dressed in the characteristic white gi.

"There are a lot of you," he remarked, "Didn't peg the karate club to hold so many green thumbs."

"Shut up," said the first boy roughly.

"That's not very nice," mumbled Naruto.

"Shut up," repeated the other boy, "Do you know who I am?"

Naruto shrugged, "Nope."

"I'm Daimonji, the strongest first-year in the Karate Club."

"Cool," smiled Naruto mockingly encouraging, "I'm…"

"You're Naruto Uzumaki, who made Noguchi leave the club and even beat Captain Tsukuba."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"Who and who?"

"The Captain! You've gotta remember the captain!"

Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry, you can't seriously expect me to remember every shmuck I've beaten."

"You…" snarled Daimonji in outrage, while his cronies muttered angrily in the background.

"Well, what do you want?" asked Naruto flatly, "If you're not here to join the gardening club, you can get out."

"Hold it!" snapped Daimonji, "I won't accept that another first-year is stronger than me! Look at this amazing muscles I've developed from hard training at the Karate Club!"

He loosened his white gi and allowed his admittedly large pectoral muscles to peek through the material while he flexed his considerable biceps.

"Okay, whatever," said Naruto, "I don't care so just get out already."

"What… fight me!"

"Not this again," muttered Naruto under his breath, before continuing in a louder voice, "I don't really want to. There's no point. You're the third Karate Club idiot that's challenged me, and I suppose there's only going to be more and more after I put your ass down. Fighting you is a waste of my time, so can you just get out already?"

"My classmate speaks the truth. Please leave," cut in Makoto from the side.

"Makoto Himeno," spat Daimonji in distaste, giving her a disdainful look, "Get your nose outta my business. Considering you have to use a weapon to win your fights I don't think you should have any say in this."

"Be that as it may," said Makoto, although her eyes did narrow at the slight, "If you insist on deciding to pursue your intention of fighting here, I will intervene."

She whipped her shinai out of its wrapping with a practised motion, bringing it in a steady guard position, her eyes never wavering from Daimonji's in a concentrated glare.

Naruto's eyes caught one of the other karateka shift uncomfortably. Evidently, Makoto's kendo ability was quite considerable and well-respected, even among other disciplines. But Daimonji didn't seem all too fazed.

Naruto froze as Daimonji gave a short nod to someone behind his back, and he immediately heard a surprised yelp.

"Glasses?" he said, whirling around.

Immediately, he saw the reason for the yelp. One of the karateka was pinning Yuuka against his body, his meaty forearm around her neck and keeping her up on her tip-toes with the force of his grip.

"You cur!" snarled Makoto, redirecting her glare at the club member holding Yuuka and taking a threatening step forward.

"Careful!" yelled a club member next to the hostage and hostage-taker, raising a fist, "Take another step and I'll smash your little friend's nose in! She'll be looking after the flowers in hospital if you don't stop!"

Makoto growled, shaking in fury, but did as they demanded, her shinai dropping to a lower, less-threatening stance.

"You too!" said the karateka, turning to Naruto, who was giving him an icy look, "Not a step!"

The final club member spoke up from next to Makoto.

"Drop the sword," he said gruffly.

Makoto glanced at him- her eyes filled with hatred- and hesitated.

"Drop it!" repeated the karateka next to Yuuka, lifting his fist as if to strike the defenceless girl.

Makoto grimaced and let the shinai fall from her white-knuckled grasp. The closest club member promptly kicked it clattering over the linoleum floor until it came to an unceremonious rolling stop a metre or so from Naruto's feet. Seeing this, Makoto clenched her now empty fist, intensifying her glare at the karateka who had done this.

"What's with that look?" said the club member roughly, "Know your place!"

He lashed out with a vicious backhand that struck the unprepared Makoto across the face, knocking her down with a surprised gasp.

"Kendo bitch! Not so cocky without your weapon now, are you?" spat the karateka in contempt, kicking the recovering Makoto in the stomach and sending her rolling over onto her back.

Yuuka let out a worried sound, but it just came out as a strangled groan with the arm still held against her throat.

Naruto felt a white-hot flicker of rage run through him and almost took a step in the direction of the boy who had struck Makoto, but managed to reign it in as he saw Makoto wipe a smear of blood away from her lips and shift into a position where she could lever herself back up to a defensible position with a determined look.

She's strong, he thought admiringly.

He caught her defiant gaze and, maintaining eye contact, gave a slow- almost exaggerated- nod, with a movement so slight that the karate club members didn't notice a thing. Makoto's focussed brown eyes flickered to where Yuuka was being held, asking a silent question. Naruto half-turned, but a sudden voice caused him to turn to the speaker.

"So what now, Uzumaki?" sneered Daimonji, who had been watching the events until now with a smug grin, "There's no one to interfere-"

He nodded emphatically at Makoto who was still on the ground, and the karateka next to her- who seemed to hold some sort of personal grudge- kicked her in the ribs, eliciting a pained shout.

"-and you've no reason to refuse," he continued, nodding again, this time in the direction of the captive Yuuka.

What are you going to do? asked Juubi, They effectively have two hostages. I'm sure you could pound these clowns into the ground any day of the week normally, but this time it'll be a lot trickier. If you don't handle this correctly your civilian friends could take some serious damage.

Yeah… I don't have anything in my arsenal that'll close the distance and do damage fast enough to incapacitate, but is precise enough not to harm the hostage. Plus, everyone's too spread out. And I think the kendo girl is good enough to at least hold her own, but she needs her weapon.

Hmm…

Say, do you know any moves that can take out those goons holding Yuuka hostage? You could 'take-over' my body and do it.

I definitely could, but I wonder if I should. It's probably better for you to fight your own battles.

C'mon… they have a hostage- you can't claim this is a real fight! I'll do the rest myself, I just need to make sure she's safe.

You've got a point, I suppose. But what about the sword girl? She's defenceless at the moment and might as well be another hostage for how useful she is right now.

Leave that to me. Just do your thing on my mark.

"Well?" asked Daimonji, losing his patience as Naruto still hadn't responded, "Four-eyes over there is going to start getting her face rearranged unless you give me an answer soon! And it better be the answer I want!"

Naruto shot a look at Makoto which the other girl caught.

"Trust me," he said out loud.

"What?" Daimonji asked, confused.

Naruto turned and lashed out with his foot, hooking it underneath Makoto's shinai and sending it flying through the air towards the girl. Completely ignoring Daimonji, he twisted over took a furious step towards Yuuka.

MARK! he screamed mentally.

On it, replied Juubi.

Losing control over your body was an extremely strange feeling, one that Naruto could never quite get used to. He never could quite get accustomed to the initial twinge of panic as he realised his muscles weren't responding when he wanted them to, or the disconcerting feeling of his limbs suddenly moving without his will.

But for Naruto, who had experienced the feeling a number of times now, he found it weirder still when he had to cede control while moving. The feeling of being forced out of the driver's seat halfway through taking a step was enough to make him shudder in revulsion.

Reminder to self: don't do that again, he thought, as he watched the events unfold from the back of his own mind.

His body finished that first step, then accelerated forward with gracefully sinuous movement he recognised.

That's Shimiho (Silverfish Strides)!

Correct.

Naruto watched as Juubi closed the distance in a heartbeat, the deceptive movement giving the two karateka little time to react, judging by their wide eyes and slack-jawed expressions.

"Koma-geri (Spinning Top Kick)," Juubi called, twisting on the spot and striking out with a kick that struck the boy not holding Yuuka and tossed him bodily away with the power of the built-up centripetal force.

"Hey!" called out the hostage-taker, caught unaware and unable to react as his friend was taken out.

But that was all he could get out, as his blond opponent was onto him, eyes blazing. The unfortunate boy raised his free hand futilely, but it was to no avail, as Juubi's hand snaked around his guard, grabbed the wrist that was holding Yuuka up, and then forcibly ripped it free, letting the girl fall to the floor, gasping.

"Hebi-Tsukamu (Python Grip)," Juubi muttered, "And… Kanadzuchi Osu (Hammer Press)."

His other hand caught the karateka's guarding forearm, and then, lifting both hands (and in the process raising the enemy's too), he took a stance.

"Go to sleep, son," he said with a vicious smirk.

With a mighty stationary leap, he brought both of his feet up and brought them crashing forward with the force of a full extension, striking the karateka's unprotected chest with crushing power. Juubi also released his opponent's wrists at the moment of impact, resulting in the unfortunate boy flying over to collapse in a heap atop his fallen comrade.

As she silently recovered her strength on the ground, Makoto supressed the urge to moan in pain as her stomach muscles throbbed in protest. She had taken harsher punishment, it was true, but still, the karateka that had struck her hadn't held his blows back at all, and she was certain there'd be nasty bruises forming in the morning.

Wincing, she caught the look Naruto gave her, an unspoken message passing between the two. It was a proud, determined gaze, full of strength and unbending will, and Makoto knew at once that the owner of that gaze would never let himself submit, would never fall and grovel to another's whim. That gaze was a fighting gaze, and Makoto knew instinctively that it was asking her silently if she would join him.

However, it wasn't as simple as fighting their way past some karate club members. Their opponents also had a hostage, and the last thing Makoto wanted was for harm to befall Yuuka, her beloved friend. She'd rather get beaten to a pulp than allow Yuuka to be hurt.

So as much as she'd love to answer that gaze with a resounding yes and then beat the crap out of her enemies, as long as Yuuka was in the equation and liable to getting hurt, she couldn't in good conscience do so.

But then the owner of the gaze spoke, almost as if reading her mind.

"Trust me."

And for a reason she wasn't sure of herself, Makoto found she did. Maybe it was the unshakable confidence present in the voice, the incredible self-belief and quiet assurance that he could take on anything and come out on top, unbroken. Maybe it was the rumours circulating around the student body, that he had taken on a delinquent gang on, and even a policeman, and taken them both out, easily. Maybe it was her own pride talking, desperate to triumph against the lowlifes threatening her friend, at any cost. No matter the reason, Makoto found herself just accepting that statement as the simple truth, and started to think about the next steps in escaping their predicament.

But even with Yuuka out of the equation, how was she supposed to take on an experienced karateka without her shinai? She was certain she could take down anyone if she had her weapon in hand, but she was ashamed to admit her hand-to-hand skills were mediocre at best. Against someone who had had actual training, and trumped her in power, size and weight, she would estimate her chance at victory to be sketchy at best.

The gears in her head turned rapidly, looking for an answer.

If only I had my shinai… she thought mournfully, as her brain couldn't seem to turn out any answers.

Her reach was simply too short to win a simple one-on-one, especially without any specialised techniques to back her up. She glanced back at Naruto, and then her eyes widened. From her field of view, still on the ground as she was, she could see- right in front of her- the shinai lying on the ground, and Naruto's foot rearing back to deliver a kick, the two lining up perfectly.

Genius! she thought as she understood the other boy's plan.

She sprang up, supressing a wince of pain as her stomach cried out in agony at the sudden movement. Taking advantage of the surprise of the karate club member next to her, she managed to hit him with an elbow to his gut, making him double over. Turning, she caught the shinai that had been flying towards her, sparing a grateful nod to Naruto that she saw was unreceived as the blond was already racing towards Yuuka.

She couldn't afford to watch for long though, as she had to quickly sway to the side to dodge a wild punch. The karateka had evidently already recovered. She would have to just believe in the Naruto's words to trust him in regards to Yuuka.

"Come," Makoto said tauntingly, the reassuring weight of her shinai in its practised guard stance giving her confidence.

"Cocky bitch," growled her opponent in response.

He lunged out with another straight punch, which Makoto easily dodged, counterattacking with a sweeping hit with the heavy shinai on his side.

"Setsudan-Ryuu (Slicing Dragon)!" she called.

The karateka yelped but swung out with a wider hit this time, a haymaker.

Makoto, now deep into her rhythm, dodged and landed another Setsudan-Ryuu as well as jabbing her opponent painfully in the chest and stomach.

"Tsuki-Ryuu (Piercing Dragon)," she said sweetly, her shinai returning to the steady guard position that the karateka was really beginning to dread.

The club member shuffled uneasily closer, glaring at her warily while keeping his guard up. Makoto calmly followed his movements with the tip of her shinai, not letting her stance waver in the slightest.

Finally, the karate user gave a yell and rushed forward, only to find out the hard way that, with a shinai, Makoto far outstripped him in reach. She swatted aside both outstretched arms before stepping inside her opponent's range and thrusting powerfully at his stomach with Tsuki-Ryuu, a hit that made him gasp with pain and collapse to his knees.

Then, with the finality of an execution, Makoto whipped her shinai lengthwise in a final Setsudan-Ryuu, hitting the karateka across the face, mirroring the first hit that she herself had taken.

She turned away from her fallen opponent, her shinai finally dropping to point at the ground, as she made to look at how Naruto was doing.

However, the karateka might have fallen, but he wasn't quite out of the fight yet. Seeing Makoto turn her back from him and drop out of that damnable guard stance, he saw this as his golden opportunity.

Rubbing his sore arms to return some feeling to them, he burst up from the ground in one of the swiftest movements he had ever made, making it into Makoto's personal space in a matter of seconds, his huge arms spread and ready to wrap around her, constricting her movements and restricting her ability to swing her shinai.

But Makoto was prepared for him. Just as he reached her, her shinai, which was held vertically with the tip pointed earthward, rose upwards with great force, smashing the karateka between the legs and actually lifting him up off the ground a little from the power behind the blow.

"Joushou-Ryuu (Rising Dragon)," said Makoto, satisfied, as the karateka writhed on the ground in unspeakable pain.

Naruto whirled around just in time to dodge a powerful punch.

"So you've finally decided to fight!" roared Daimonji gleefully.

Naruto fixed him with a deadly glare, not saying a word.

Daimonji ignored his opponent's refusal to rise to his taunt, and darted over deceptively quickly for someone of his size while lashing out with another punch which Naruto again easily side-stepped.

"Huh," grunted Daimonji.

He skipped up on the spot like a boxer working himself up, then stepped forward, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks that to his mounting frustration, all missed his opponent, who dodged them with what seemed only the slightest of steps and movements, all while giving him a decidedly unfriendly look.

"Stay still, you little cockroach!" he yelled, "Once I get you I'll knock you flat! I can't believe a jumpy fucker like you is called the strongest! You've got no muscles at all! All you can do is jump around like a rabbit!"

Daimonji's anger only intensified when he realised that not only had his blond opponent continued to ignore his words, he had also closed his eyes, all while still managing to stay a step ahead of Daimonji's strikes, dodging them all effortlessly. In fact, his movements seemed to have gotten sharper, if anything. Naruto was now taking multiple steps to dodge, each individual move flowing into the next gracefully, continuously, like some strange but beautiful dance. And this dance was starting to build up into to a crescendo. He was steadily increasing the amount of paces in the gap between Daimonji's blows, gradually speeding up his tempo and the unnatural grace of his footwork.

To Daimonji, it seemed like the nimble blond was slipping and sliding around his attacks, like the scattering of iron filings away from a magnet. It didn't seem like mere dodging anymore.

"You…" he growled.

Finally losing his patience, he channelled all his irritation into one punch, striking out with his entire body weight behind it.

To his horror though, the blow missed completely- in fact, he couldn't even see his opponent anymore.

"Your strength is nothing," remarked a voice from behind him.

Daimonji spun around. He hadn't even noticed that the pace of Naruto's dancing steps had mounted up to the point where when he spent it all in a lateral movement, he managed to get all the way around Daimonji's considerable girth to reach his back.

"Now let me show you my strength," said Naruto, finally opening his eyes.

Daimonji gasped as he saw the milky white eyes surrounded by a webbing of pulsing veins. He hurriedly tried to bring his body around, but he was too late, as Naruto had already sunk into a low stance, with his spread arms parallel to his legs, one brought low and the other pointing skyward.

"You are within the range of my divination," said the white-eyed boy calmly.

After glancing dispassionately at the defeated boy writhing at her feet clutching his family jewels, Makoto's first impulse was to look towards Yuuka.

To her relief, her friend was unharmed, and was sitting with her legs folded to either side of her, as it seems they couldn't muster up the strength to support her weight any more. Catching Makoto's look, Yuuka produced a wan smile and gave a weak thumbs up. Makoto smiled back reassuringly, noticing the two karateka who had been menacing Yuuka were lying, unmoving, in a pile quite a distance away as she did so.

Seeing Yuuka turn her attention onto something else, Makoto followed her gaze to the centre of the room, where violent movements swirled and eddied like a whirlpool. Naruto, having disposed of the two goons threatening Yuuka, was taking on their leader.

Makoto gripped her shinai and raised it slightly, as if to bring it into a stance, but as she watched, she quickly realised it was futile. Her comrade was completely unharmed, and was dodging all of Daimonji's blows effortlessly. Makoto was well-trained enough, and had seen and been mentored by enough high-level martial artist masters to recognise that the graceful, flowing movements that linked perfectly from one to the next that Naruto was displaying was extremely polished and deliberate. That sort of elaborate manoeuvring was completely beyond her skill level at the moment, even though kendo was a discipline that put a great emphasis on footwork. Internally, Makoto reaffirmed her suspicion that Naruto was a powerful martial artist. It rankled her, but she had to admit that he was much stronger than her too.

Although, thinking back, someone who could snap her shinai with his bare palm wasn't someone she could beat anyway. Shivering, Makoto remembered she tried to pick a fight with this person when she first saw him. Luckily it had been a misunderstanding and everything turned out alright, but Makoto didn't want to think about what would have occurred if Naruto had taken the attack badly and had retaliated. Someone as well-trained as he was sure to have some devastating attacks.

A little bit starstruck, she watched in awe as Naruto utilised a set of rapid steps to take Daimonji's back in a single continuous movement, then adopted an esoteric stance while his opponent was still whirling around and trying to take stock of the situation.

"You are within the range of my divination," Makoto heard him say.

With the sudden intuition that came with long and hard experience in training and combat, Makoto suddenly felt a chill as she heard those words accompanied by a distinct feeling of dread that sat heavily in the pit of her stomach. She knew somehow that there was a certain range that extended around Naruto in all three-hundred and sixty degrees of a hemisphere that she absolutely must not enter. It was just a gut feeling, but she felt it with an unshakable certainty that the area around the blond was dangerous.

Then he attacked.

"Two palms!"

The first two hits struck so quickly they might as well have been simultaneous. The twin impacts rocked Daimonji back, forcing him to take a steadying step, trying to lift his arms to protect himself.

But it was in vain.

"Four palms!"

The next two strikes were hot on the tail of the first two, weaving smoothly around a hasty guard and hitting accurately, eliciting a grunt of pain as they did.

"Eight palms!"

Four blows this time, and at this point, Daimonji had completely lost all semblance of defence. His arms flailed wildly and a look of panic covered his face as he tried desperately to ward off the stinging hits. Each connected hit sent him reeling back under the force of the blow and he was clearly on his last legs now, judging by his heavy breathing and bulging eyes.

Naruto didn't let up, taking small steps forward to stay in range to keep up his unbroken rain of blows.

"Sixteen palms!"

Naruto's arms were like whips as they lashed out, one after another, in a continuous barrage of powerful hits. And, Makoto was shocked to see that they weren't just wild swings, either. They were targeted at different parts around the body, and each hit with perfect precision, landing as either a palm or pointed fingers.

At the sixteenth consecutive strike, Daimonji's body gave in. His eyes rolling back into the back of his head, the karate club member collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

"Tch," growled Naruto as he stepped aside from the body to continue his routine, "Thirty-two palms!"

Makoto watched on, spellbound, as he unleashed another series of hits that hit nothing but air, the polished movements speaking of hours upon hours of repetitive training and practice- the results of which had engrained themselves upon his very muscles.

There was a brief pause, the slightest delay in the swarm of hits, before Naruto's feet stepped out and launched him forwards and allowed him to let loose with his longest chain of air strikes yet.

"Jyuuken: Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou (Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams- Sixty-four Palms)," he announced triumphantly as his final blow- a decisive forward thrust- was thrown.

Makoto's mouth fell open.

What kind of technique is that? she thought in disbelief.

Her own special move, a three-hit combo technique called Ryuu Buyou (Dragon Dancing), was nothing compared to what she had seen. She had pulled it out many a time as a special weapon against particularly tough opponents, and it was surely a vital part of her arsenal, and nothing to sniff at. However, comparing it to the deadly work of art she had just seen was like comparing a matchstick to a bonfire. It managed to knock out Daimonji, who, in spite of his piggish personality, was undeniably built powerfully and boasted a frame bound by abundant muscle... and it didn't even need the full thing to land!

Thinking back, Makoto did some quick calculations. Daimonji fell by the sixteenth hit… the full combo was sixty-four. And with how the strikes intensified in both speed and power as the technique progressed…

Makoto shivered as she imagined what taking the full brunt of the whole attack would feel like.

"Oh, Kendo-girl, are you alright? Did you take out that guy without any trouble?" the voice of the object of her thoughts rang out suddenly, and Makoto was snapped out of her reverie.

"I do possess a name, I'll have you know," she said hotly, "It is Makoto. And in response to your inquiry, yes everything is accounted for without much trouble."

"Alright, that's good to hear, Kendo-girl," said Naruto as he walked over.

"'Makoto'," Makoto insisted.

"Whatever," shrugged Naruto.

He whistled as, upon coming near, he saw the wretched state of Makoto's opponent.

"Ouch," he commented, "What happened to him? You didn't… you did, didn't you?"

It seemed like a rhetorical question, but Makoto looked at the poor boy who was still clutching his balls in pain, and then back up at Naruto.

"I guess I did," she said shortly, her eyes glinting defiantly as she dared him to question her methods.

But Naruto only winced in solidarity with the unfortunate soul before walking on, to where Yuuka was still sitting at the back of the room.

"You okay, Glasses?" he asked kindly, "Not hurt or anything?"

Yuuka smiled back up at him.

"No, I think I'm fine," she said, "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

"It was nothing," smiled back Naruto, extending a hand, "Now, you want to sit there all day or you want a hand?"

Yuuka took the proffered hand, and without much effort or so much as a grunt of exertion, Naruto hefted her up. For a long moment, the two of them stood for a second in silence, before they both seemed to notice at the same time that they were still holding hands. Both going red- Yuuka's shade noticeably darker and fuller than Naruto's- they quickly released the other's hand and backed off a little, creating some space between them.

Amused at the byplay between the two, Makoto joined them, storing her shinai securely in its case again. As she did, she caught Yuuka's eye as she was embarrassedly looking away from Naruto, still flushing.

Deciding to have some fun, Makoto raised a deliberate eyebrow and tilted her head, her gaze flicking to the oblivious blond and then back to Yuuka, an obvious question in her brown eyes. Then, exaggerated and deliberate, she nodded once, an approving look in her eyes, and gave her friend a thumbs up, mouthing 'Nice!' at her as she did so.

"Makotoooooo," complained Yuuka, punching her friend light-heartedly in the arm, "It's not like thaaaaat!"

Makoto only grinned as Naruto looked between the two, confused.

"Sure," she said, "Suuuuuuure."

"Sure what?" asked Naruto.

The two girls ignored him. Or, at least, Makoto ignored him in favour of grinning wolfishly at Yuuka, and Yuuka could only stand to look at him for a few seconds before averting her gaze and ended up glaring weakly at Makoto, a blush warming her face.

Naruto shrugged.

Must be girl stuff, he remarked to Juubi.

Aye, must be.

"So, how was your day?" asked Miu.

"Eh, it was alright," said Naruto carelessly, slinging his bag behind his back and folding his arms behind his head, "Interesting, even."

"Really?"

"Yeah I met Makoto- she's one of Yuuka's friends. She does kendo and stuff. Pretty cool person, but she talks really weird. Like she's from the Warring States era or something."

Miu looked confused.

"The Warring States era was in China. Are you talking about the Sengoku period?"

Naruto blinked once before he realised what he had done. Carelessly, he had dropped a reference to his old world- referring to the period of time in shinobi history before the hidden villages had been established and the political climate was defined by the battles and alliances between the individual shinobi clans.

"Oh," he said, "Yeah, never mind, I'm pretty bad at history."

"Well, maybe you should consider paying attention during class!" said Miu reproachfully.

"Ha ha," said Naruto light-heartedly, "No."

The pair were walking home leisurely after school, the setting sun tinting their surrounds in a gorgeous dark red light and casting long shadows across their path. They were taking the long way home, as they usually did. In the mornings they might take the shortcut to school if they were running late, taking the route through the rooftops and over fences and across canals, but in the afternoon, without anything to rush them, the two Ryouzanpaku residents were more than happy to take the scenic route and just enjoy their time together.

"How was your day, then?" asked Naruto.

"Eh," Miu responded, "It was pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's good. We could all do with a normal day, now and then," said Naruto.

Even as he said this, he couldn't quite shake the foreboding feeling in his gut that normal days would be far and few between in the near future. Nonetheless, he ignored the heavy feeling in his gut and continued to walk alongside his friend, whistling as he walked towards what he now called his home.