Naruko sat upwards, eyes glazed over as she stared emptily into her reflection in the river, the water's surface calm and unmoving, looking very much like a mirror. It was times like these that she really felt alone. Without her big brother who was always there, able to make her smile without even trying.
The people around her didn't understand that, trying to be people they weren't in order to entertain her. Thankfully, she had recently found a good friendship with her godmother, Tsunade, and her assistant, Shizune, the apprentice acting like an older sister to the redhead.
Shizune had taught Naruko a few tricks about medicinal herbs, informing the attentive girl that certain plants could be used to make healing balms or even poisons. Naruko had listened closely, wanting to learn all that she could. For what reason, Shizune didn't know, but she had a feeling that it had to do with a certain blonde brother.
Naruko had also befriended Hinata, the girl with moon white eyes seeing her as a role model to get stronger and braver. Naruko enjoyed Hinata's company and the bento sets she made for both of them for lunch. The pair were friends, not on the level of Sasuke and Naruko, but were close nonetheless. Naruko wouldn't allow Neji to bully the poor girl as and when he'd like, standing up for her when the older boy verbally abused the shy heiress.
Hearing the bushes that were behind her shuffling around, Naruko stood up instantaneously, spinning around as she did so, kunai already in hand in preparation for attack and defence.
Wave was nearing the borders of Kiri, which explained Zabuza and Raiga, and that meant that she was near territory that was not friendly. Her Konoha hitai-ite was tied around her bicep, showing off her village allegiance, if this was someone that wanted to start trouble, they could certainly try.
She wasn't as weak as she used to be when Haru-nii had up and left. Weeks of non-stop training with Sasuke-baka, Itachi-nii, and even the one month trip with Jiraiya, had paid off tremendously. She had already learnt how to perform the Rasengan faster than daddy and Hentai-Sennin even did, although not Haruto, but none of them even knew that he could use the Rasengan in the first place. She did, however, use her Kage Bunshin to help act as shells while she moulded the chakra.
That stupid water balloon test had taken her approximately two full weeks of training to even burst, but it did help her learn how to spin her chakra in multiple directions. Her training was inhibited by the fact that she didn't know which way their chakra rotated naturally, and had to first figure out where it went to. The next test was simply, breaking a rubber ball. Since it was rubber was thicker and air was different from water, it emphasised power, a department in which Naruko was not lacking in. The final step took around another week to learn, to combine both steps by spinning chakra inside a balloon without moving the balloon itself, ensuring that the user learned how to stabilise the sphere.
"Who's there?!" Naruko demanded in her fiercest voice possible, "Show yourself!" which was also coincidentally the same she used when she was upset with Haruto. The stoic boy couldn't help but feel unnerved by how strikingly similar she reminded him of their mother. The bushes rustled some more and Naruko tensed further, preparing to pick a fight or take flight.
"I'll have you know, I'm armed!" She warned, just in case it was a random villager wondering around, trying to escape Gato's tyranny. "My weapon might be small, but it'll hurt a lot when I stab you in the foot!"
Chuckles came from beyond the shrubs before someone spoke in an amused voice.
"Ara, what a feisty girl," A pale hand reached out from the bushes, pushing it aside to allow the speaker to pass through. Naruko's eyes took in the figure's features as they stepped past the green leaves. "You wouldn't hurt an innocent woman like me would you?"
Dressed only in a set of black robes, the person was hooded, but was definitely a woman judging by the large chest –Naruko unconsciously growled- and wide hips. A smile played on the woman's face, but she was unarmed. Naruko still didn't let her guard up, knowing that Zabuza, well not so much him, and that Raiga guy were still prowling around, and who knew if they had other friends that would like a piece of Kakashi's bounty.
"Funny, that's what bad guys say before they attack people."
The woman reached up and pulled her hood back, revealing a beautiful and kind face, and unique hair that was shade of black and red, amused silver eyes staring at her. A fang of silver hung from the side of her face, pinned back by a large mauve hairclip. Naruko wasn't embarrassed to say that she found the woman to look beautiful, beyond average, definitely in the top three "most beautiful women" she had ever seen so far in her life, above Tsunade—sorry, baa-chan!—and beneath her mother, snagging an impressive second place.
"I assure you, child, I am no bad guy." Fingers were crossed, hidden behind her back.
"Who're you?" Naruko lowered her weapon subconsciously, not wanting to hurt such a pretty and seemingly innocent lady.
"Why, I'm just a holy woman wondering around the Elemental Nations, trying to spread the word of my fair and divine lady, Jashin-sama, accompanied by my…" She smiled slyly, as if concealing a grin from breaking out onto her beautiful features, "… dear boyfriend."
Naruko muttered to herself, trying to recall anything about a "Jashin", "Jashin? I can't say I've heard of her…" Ruby nodded.
"Exactly, that's the reason why I'm trying to spread my lady's name, to bring her back to her days of former glory and respect!"
"Oh, so… You're like a nun?" The woman pondered over her words, humming in thought.
"Well," she shrugged, "I wouldn't say 'nun', more like a prophet or a preacher." She grinned playfully, "Why? Would you like to be a part of Jashin-sama's group?"
"Er, no thanks," Naruko gently rejected her offer, "I'm not really the religious type." Deciding to change the subject before the woman could try to convince her to convert, "So, where's your boyfriend?" She slipped the kunai back into her waist pocket, looking around for anyone else to come wondering out of a bush.
The woman smirked wirily, "Who knows what he's doing," she hid a chuckle behind her dainty hand, shaking her head, "That man is mysterious and cold, the very polar opposite of me. Hah!" She sighed lovingly, eyes seemingly in a trance, "But really, he's just a sweetheart trying to act all cool to impress me." She gushed, her lady-like appearance replaced with happiness, "He's very protective of me, and wouldn't even let me talk to other men without asking me to take care of myself." The woman blushed faintly, but it was very prominent due to her porcelain skin.
Naruko couldn't help but feel giddy for the woman, happy that her relationship was doing well, as if they had suddenly bonded and were now friends sharing stories. Whoa, this was weird. Maybe she needed to hang out with girls more often instead of with Mr. Freeze, Uchiha Sasuke.
Wait, was it because she wanted to see herself as happy as the woman before her when Haru-nii proposed to her during her reign as the Godaime Hokage, after she had begun changing the laws for siblings in the same clan to get married?
The woman strode through the mist, slowly walking with grace and poise that Naruko couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at. This woman, so perfect in all the right ways… She wanted to be like that, to be more womanly. She frowned at her chest, or rather the lack of, hoping that puberty would kick in soon.
"Sorry," Naruko nearly palmed her forehead, realising that she had forgotten to introduce herself, something a Hokage should have done at the start of a meeting. Well, then again, those were diplomatic mission and were standard protocol; she never learned anything about what to do when encountering a pious person, "Uzumaki Naruko, at your service!" She jabbed a thumb at herself, grinning proudly, "Current genin in Team Seven, and future Hokage of Konohagakure."
The woman broke out into trilling laughter, Naruko following along, knowing that the woman was laughing at her enthusiasm and not at her dreams. Wiping the tear that had formed on her eyes through the laughter, the woman smiled equally as large, bowing lowly as she began introducing herself to Naruko.
"Lovely to meet you, Naruko-chan. You're free to call me…" A mad and cruel grin appeared on her face which went unseen by the shocked Naruko due to the woman's low bow, spoiling her image of an angelic beauty, "Sister Ruby."