"Gah!" Naruko suddenly sat upright in the bed. Her lavender eyes were wide open, frantically glancing about the room. They darted all over the place, from object to object before she realised that she was in Tazuna's home, specifically the spare room that was lent to the female Konoha shinobi. She was currently alone in the room, so she guessed that everyone else was downstairs.
"Shit... How long have I been out for?"
Naruko tried to stretch her arms, but realised that her chest was being squeezed hard. Looking down, she realised that she was currently in the nude save for numerous bandages wrapped around her delicates. Her luscious red locks streamed over her shoulders and down her chest as well as down her back.
Just before she jumped off the bed, she placed her legs on the tatami flooring of the home and slowly pushed herself off. Seeing that she could stand perfectly fine, she proceeded to test her legs, performing squats and jumps to ensure that she could use them just fine. They hurt just a little, but otherwise she deemed them fine.
"Alright, they're fine." She reached over to her clothes that had been washed and neatly folded on the nearest chair and threw them over her bandages, rushing out of the room and towards the stairs.
As Naruko flew down the stairs, landing on the last one, she quickly looked around the living room of the home where she and the rest of the Genin usually hung around at. However, she saw none of them except for her three teachers, all of whom were sitting around the table.
"Er, yo, Kakashi-senpai, Gai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei. Where's everyone? Are they fine? They didn't die did they?" Naruko walked towards the three and glanced about to ensure that they weren't anywhere else. "How long have I been out for? What's going on? Is this an intervention?" Questions spewed out of her mouth without restraint before Kakashi finally answered her.
"Good morning." Kakashi waved to his student, "It's good to see that you're awake and walking about without any trouble. But you've only been out for at least two hours. So try do try to take it easy."
Kurenai nodded as she held a bag of ice against the back of her head. "You were really badly hurt. Some of your muscles were tearing and most of your body had been punctured by the senbon of that Hyoton user. If it weren't for the Kyuubi—" Naruko made a face, "You'd be lucky to even move properly for a week."
"And yes, they're fine. We've just sent everyone else outside while we discussed private matters. Some of which involve you."
"What'dya mean?" The girl plopped herself down at the empty spot around the table, placing her chin in her hands.
"Do you know of a silver eyed woman with black and red hair?" Kurenai asked, "One that was on the bridge at the time of the battle?"
"You mean Ruby-nee?" Naruko sat straighter at the mention of her sister's identifiable eyes and hair. She sighed sadly as she remembered her death, "I know her. She was with me on the bridge when I fought Haku and..." She grew silent. "She died protecting me. Where's her body?"
"We've buried her. Along with Haku and Zabuza." There was no mention of Raiga, so Naruko didn't bother to bring it up. Not like she really cared for him anyway.
"But the thing is that she attacked me on the bridge. With a giant scythe. According to Shino, Sakura and Tazuna, she sliced her hand wide open with it, breaking out of the Genjutsu I sent her under and knocked me out from behind because I let my guard down. Then she proceeded to take down my whole team without killing any of us."
"What? Are you sure you got the right, Ruby?" Naruko raised an eyebrow as she questioned Kurenai, "That doesn't sound like the Ruby-nee I know. She's was a nun or a preacher of some religion and was really friendly when I met her. We became really close during that one week we were together..." Naruko shrugged the sadness away for now, "Besides, when she was there with me she didn't have any scythe or cut on her hands. She looked completely untouched. There was no Genjutsu or anythin' on her, so that's out of the question."
"I see... Well, whomever it was, I had to drag Shino, Sakura and Tazuna to the ledge I created on the pillar under the bridge to hide from Gato." Kurenai narrowed her eyes as she fell back into her thoughts, "I guess we'll have to chalk it up to someone else then...?"
Gai then clearly his throat and regarded Naruko, "Speaking of 'someone else'... Your brother was also there on the bridge with us, Naruko-kun."
"What?!" Naruko's knees slammed into the table and she scampered to stand up, "Naru-nii's was here?! I gotta go—"
"Calm down, Naruko-kun!" Gai held his hand out, withholding any information from her unless she relaxed. Naruko licked her lips and reluctantly sat back down, staring intently at Gai. "He washere. As in, he is no longer here. We met by accident and he revealed that he was here because he had heard that a few of the Seven Swordsmen were at Wave terrorising the villagers and that he wanted their swords. For what reason, I'm not too sure." Gai shook his head, "He killed Raiga and shortly after you lost control of your power and we had to turn back for you, he fled and left with the Kiba."
Naruko's fist slammed against the table, surprising Kurenai but not Kakashi and Gai. They knew how badly she wanted to bring him back to Konoha and hearing that he had been there, not too far from her, made her upset.
"Damn it!" She drew a deep breath and quickly calmed herself down, "It's all my fault. I let my anger get the better of me and I caused him to get away because everyone had to worry about the Kyuubi getting free."
Kakashi waved his student's worries away, smiling at her. "Maa~ Naruko... It isn't your fault. If only I had been a better teacher, I would've stopped Haku from separating us and could've beaten Zabuza sooner."
"Mine as well." Gai spoke grimly, "My flames of Youth simply didn't burn brightly. Had it been a roaring flame, I am certain that I would've been able to bring him back to Konoha! For my mistakes I will do a thousand—" Kurenai clapped her hands and Gai found himself mute to all but himself, so while he was under the silencing Genjutsu, Kurenai spoke over him.
"It was my fault as well, Naruko." Kurenai admitted, removing the bag of melted ice from her scalp. "Had I paid more attention, I wouldn't have gotten knocked out by... Um... Whoever it was that pretended to look be that woman. Maybe I could've returned and helped you against Haku."
"See Naruko? Everyone had faults during this mission. You lost control of your emotions because you saw someone you cared for sacrifice themselves for you. That's just human nature. Nothing wrong with that. Not to mention how much more emotional you are compared to most people. And we didn't worry about the Kyuubi, we were all worried about you. Did you know Sasuke was so worried about you that he managed to activate his Sharingan?" Naruko was surprised at the news of Sasuke's Sharingan and was proud of him for finally unlocking it. It also touched her somewhat that her comrades and teachers cared that much.
Kakashi leaned over the table and patted her head, ruffling her hair with care. "All we can do is get stronger for the future and prevent it from ever happening again."
"You're right... Next time... Next time I'll definitely bring him back." Her eyes were lit with determination. Then Naruko stood up and stretched, "What happened to those thugs that accompanied Gato on the bridge?"
"Ah, them. Remember that speech you gave Inari when he pissed you off?"
Naruko scratched her head as she thought about it. "I remember. Vaguely."
"He managed to rally the villagers and pretty much chased them all out of the country. Because of you and your words."
"Not bad. Not bad at all... But I just gave him a little push s'all. He was the one who decided to act on it." She admitted, secretly pleased with herself. "Also, who did my bandages?"
Kakashi raised his hand, looking away while he grinned slyly behind his mask. "Why I did, Naruko-kun." He giggled perversely, "Being my dear student, I volunteered myself to remove all of your clothes and clean you off myself—" The Jonin suddenly broke out into a sweat when Naruko's burning gaze began working on melting the pervert's head off his shoulders.
"Ho? I don't suppose you mind if I disclose this information to Hokage-sama himself? Do you? Hmmmm?!" Her hair began to float up in nine clumps, eerily dancing behind her like the tails of the Kyuubi had done over a decade ago.
"No, wait! WAIT! I was kidding Naruko!" Kakashi was legitimately afraid now. If the Yondaime and his wife found out that a man, even if that man was the Yondaime's trusted student, had touched their daughter inappropriately, SOMEONE WAS GOING TO DIE. "It was a joke! A praaaaaank!"
"Ignore your idiot teacher." Kurenai cuffed her colleague's head. "Hinata assisted me in cleaning and tending to your wounds and helped to bandage you up."
Naruko bowed and thanked the female teacher before excusing herself. Passing by Gai, who was doing push-ups with his thumbs, Naruko left the house and headed towards the hill where the dead were buried.
The redhead squatted in front of the fresh dirt and the grave markers. Simple wooden crosses had been erected for them all, with Zabuza's blade being buried behind it. She knew the locals wouldn't dare to desecrate the graves of the people who, while having worked for him, had a hand in stopping Gato.
There wasn't much else she wanted to say. She simply realised just how silent it was and prayed for them in the afterlife.
"Oi. Naruko." Sasuke leaned against a tree and called out to his best friend, "You okay?"
Naruko continued to stare at the graves, but smirked at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "Yeah, Teme." She got up and dusted her hands before spinning around and walked past Sasuke. "I heard you got your Sharingan. About damn time don't you think? Maybe then you wouldn't lose as much in our spars." She chuckled as Sasuke visibly fumed.
"I don't lose. We always end in ties!"
"Denial's the first step, Teme-chan."
"Why you—! Then prove it! Let's spar later!"
"Eh? But I'm grievously wounded. I can barely even move properly."
"Don't try to get out of this!" The two squabbled as they left the graves and argued down the hill the dead had been buried on. Had they stayed for a while longer, they would've seen Ruby's grave rumble slightly before a hand slowly emerged from the fresh grave.