Blue Eyes: Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day in the village of Konohagakure. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and a slight breeze was blowing keeping it from getting to hot. Yes, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and a young girl named Naruko Uzumaki couldn't get a certain red-headed Kazekage out of her mind.

Naruko was 15 years old, had blonde hair and blue eyes, whisker marks on her cheeks, and the oddest part of her features where fox ears on top of her head and nine fox tails off her backside. All of the fox appendages were orange. The interesting thing about these tails is that Naruko could do anything she wanted with them whether it be wearing them normal, one long puffy tail, or a short poofy one. Naruko was the vessel of the nine tailed fox and about a year ago assimilated with the fox giving her the fox features and a very large power boost. On top of all that she had become quite a looker with a slim waist toned arms and long elegant legs.

Naruko didn't know why she was thinking about him so much. She had just recently seen him under less than pleasant circumstances. He had been captured by Akatsuki who had extracted Shukaku from him which would have killed him permanently if Granny Chiyo had not given her life to save him. All of that still didn't explain why she couldn't stop thinking of  Gaara.  She decided to go talk to Sakura; she might know what's going on with her mind. Naruko found her exiting the library.

"Hey Sakura?" Naruko asked approaching her friend. "Could I talk to you?"

"Sure Naruko what's up?"

"Not here, it's kind of private"

"Um…Okay, then where?"

"The park is usually empty this time of day"

"All right."

Naruko led Sakura through the village to the park thinking about how she would ask her about her problem. 'Watch it be  I am in love with him. What would I do then?' Naruko hoped it was something simple and that Sakura could help her. What if she had fallen in love? What then? Would Gaara feel the same way? How would she find out? It's not like she could just up and go to Sunagakure.

They reached the park and found a spot away from any crowded areas or places with a lot of traffic that was a sunny rock next to the pond. They sat and stared at the water for minute. Naruko decided that if she tried to think of a way to intelligently say it they would be there all day so she should just up and say it.

"Sakura, how do you know when your in love?" Start with an innocent question, that's a good idea, Naruko decided, her tails swaying nervously.

"What?" Sakura looked at Naruko with a startled look on her face. Why is Naruko asking THIS question?

"I..I said how do you know if your in love?"

"Well," Sakura started thoughtfully "you can't stop thinking about them, Your heart beats fast when you near them, you want to be near them, and you want them to be happy. Why?"

"I think I've fallen in love" Naruko stared at the water not knowing what to do.

"Oh! With who?" Sakura was very interested to know who could've caught Naruko's attention.

"I think it's Gaara" She said in a small voice.

Sakura just stared at Naruko. Did she hear wrong? Naruko COULDN'T have just said she's in love with the Kazekage…

"Wait, 'you think?'" Sakura couldn't understand how you couldn't be absolutely sure about something like that. She knew she was in love with Sasuke, how could Naruko not be sure?

"Well I only know I feel two of those things. I know I can't stop thinking about him and I know I really want to see him again, but I don't know about the other two." Naruko didn't know how she would find out either. She was sure Tsunade wouldn't just let her leave Konoha for no reason.

Sakura sat and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. She really wanted Naruko to find someone who loved her, everyone needed to experience love at least once. But she didn't know how to help her on this one. She knew Tsunade wouldn't let her go with Akatsuki out looking for the Jinchuri…. THAT'S IT!!!

"I have an idea!" Sakura exclaimed grabbing Naruko's arm and half-dragging her away somewhere.

"Whoa! Where are we going?" Naruko asked trying to gain her footing, which is hard when the person dragging you shows no indication of slowing down.

"We are going to see Tsunade!"

"What?! Why?"

"You'll see!"
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Lady Tsunade sat looking at the piles of paper work on her desk. Why did she agree to this job? And where was Shizune with her sake? She still had figure out what to do about the Akatsuki. They went after the Kazekage to extract his biju which only led to the conclusion that they would eventually come after Naruko. According to Jiraya, Naruko was friends with the Akatsuki member named Tobi who was described as being 'more than a little strange with the mind of a five-year-old and the attention span of an insane flea."

She was contemplating all of these problems when a very excited Sakura burst into the room practically dragging a confused looking Naruko. Sigh, What now?

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Yes Sakura what is? I should have you know that I don't have the time to settle a squabble."

"We aren't fighting but I think Naruko should be sent to Sunagakure!"

"We should send her where?!"

"WE SHOULD SEND ME WHERE?!?!" Naruko's tails puffed and her ears shot to attention. What the hell is Sakura thinking? The old lady will never agree to that!

"And why, Sakura, should I do that?" What was this child thinking? Naruko can't leave the village, if she does the Akatsuki would be all over her.

"Think about it Hokage-sama, Akatsuki know that Naruko is here in Konohagakure. If we sneak her out of the village, only telling those who are absolutely important we should be able to get Naruko to the sand without them knowing.!"

"Sakura, the sand was just attacked and the Kazekage captured if you'll remember."

"Yes, and they got what they where after! As far as the Akatsuki are concerned there are no more Jinchuriki in Sunagakure!"

"….." Never before did Tsunade like Sakura more than she did then. In one crazy outburst she may have solved one problem that was giving Tsunade fits.

"That may be the most brilliant plan I've heard since this whole ordeal started" Tsunade pulled a scroll towards her " I'll notify the Kazekage that Naruko and some bodyguards will be on there way."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama!"

"Be ready to leave the day after tomorrow at 5:00am."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Sakura pushed a stunned Naruko out of the Hokage tower and stopped when she noticed that Naruko hadn't responded. Was something wrong with her? Sakura figured Naruko would be ecstatic to be going to Sunagakure. She was just standing there, staring forward at nothing. Should she say something? She didn't get the chance to say anything however as she found herself with her arms full of an excited Naruko whose tails had shrunk to a poof the length of a dog tail and was wagging happily.

" Sakura have I ever told you how much I love your brain?"

She couldn't believe it! She was going to see Gaara! But what would she say to him? What if he didn't return her feelings? Naruko was excited and worried at the same time. At least Sakura would be going with her, right?…Right?

"You are coming with me aren't you?"

"Just try to keep me away!" Of course she would be coming was Naruko crazy?

"I should go pack! I need to laundry and go shopping and…"

"Naruko! Calm down!"

"But there's so much I need to do!"

"Yes but you don't have to do it ALL today! You can do your laundry today and I'll go shopping with you tomorrow then I'll help you pack."

"THANK YOU SAKURA!!" Naruko ran down the street to her little apartment. She almost broke down the door in her haste to get inside, but she didn't and proceeded to round up her dirty clothes.
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Sakura watched with amusement as Naruko darted in and out of the rows of clothes occasionally stopping to look at and sometimes grab something. When she looked as though she had enough clothes to choke Gamabunta she trotted over to the changing rooms and went in. Sakura was unsure how good Naruko's sense of fashion was. She would admit the outfit she usually wore that consisted of an orange and black halter top, black skirt, white stockings, and black lace-up knee-high boots was very cute, but anyone could get lucky.

Fortunately, Naruko was not merely lucky. Her first  outfit was a blue short sleeved shirt with a neck that almost fell off the shoulders, under that was  a mesh t-shirt. Her bottom half consisted of a pair of baggy khaki shorts that went down to her knees and blue sandals on her feet. All in all it worked with her.

This went on for about an hour until Naruko picked her top five favorite outfits. They paid and went to the next shop, which was a lingerie shop. Sakura wondered why in the world Naruko would need something from here. She soon got here answer. Apparently this was the only shop in the village that could fix her interesting underwear predicament considering that she had a mass of tail and conventional underwear wouldn't fit. It was also the only place that could accommodate her double-d bust line.

It was an interesting visit. Sakura kept catching Naruko stealing glances at the more seductive clothing rack. When she was caught she would blush and quickly turn back to what she was doing. Sakura knew why and understood. If this had been her and Sasuke she'd be doing the same thing. Finally, Sakura went over to Naruko.

"Oh go on. Why not? You know, just in case." Sakura whispered to Naruko a motioned toward the rack of Naruko's apparent interest

Naruko grinned and scooched over to a particularly alluring set of red lingerie with embroidered black roses. At least she has good taste. Naruko finished her shopping and led Sakura back to her apartment. It was surprisingly clean considering the large volume of folded clothes all over the bed.

"Were is your bag?" Sakura looked at the small mess. How much was Naruko going to need? How much was SHE going to need? It just occurred to her that she hadn't asked Tsunade how long they were going to stay in Sunagakure.

"Umm.. How many am I going to need?" Naruko wondered how much of this she was actually going to need to take with her.

"Hello girls!" A Familiar voice was heard over by Naruko's window. Both girls spun around to find Kakashi climbing in through the window. Did this guy not know how to use doors or did he merely ignore their existence?

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"You scared us! Don't you ever use doors?!" Naruko pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Occasionally but I didn't come here to discuss how frequently I use doors. Tsunade-sama Instructed me to inform you that you will be staying for several months so pack accordingly."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" There's a question answered.

"No problem. See you tomorrow morning." Kakashi hopped out the window leaving two befuddled girls.
"Did YOU know he was coming?" Naruko asked in confusion.

"No. Tsunade doesn't tell me anything until the last minute."

They proceeded to look for some bags to pack with wondering who else was going to be escorting them.