Caged Birds Lullaby

chapter 5

Naruto shifted uneasily in her bed, brow furred. It was nighttime, if the moonlight illuminating the dark room was any indignation. Behind the open windows, the stone faces of the Hokage were glaring down at the village, and the stone eyes of the Yondaime Hokage was were looking right in the direction of the small apartment, in which the girl was currently sleeping.

A drop of sweat slid down her forehead, going down her squinted eyes and into the pillow.

The small blonde turned in her sleep, rather forcefully, and ended up in a heap of blankets on the floor.

"Itai…", she grumbled, eyes still closed, and rubbing her bottom.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings.

My room. Oh yeah..i was trying to sleep, ttebayo.

Rubbing one eye, she got up, dragging the sheets with her back to bed. It was then tat she noticed her window was open. The wind was blowing with so much force, that Naruto had catch, flatten and roll her hair in a tight bun.

Kuso…

After quickly closing it, she scrambled back to the warm bed, and draped the sheets around her.

"What a day….and I cant even get my deserved sleep!"

Her eyes fell on a headband on the small table beside her bed. It had a small metal plate with a leaf symbol engraved into it. The fabric was dark blue, and slightly worn out.

The sight of it made the girl smile, but it didn't last long. She looked down at her stomach, frowning a bit.

"The seal…."

Flashback:

Naruto couldn't believe it. She had successfully made it to the tower, passed the guards, and entered the secret library. Funny it was guarded with the same blood seal as the main Konoha library. Bu she had no time t think of those things, she had a much more important task to do. She was no idiot. (well, not as much as people thought her to be, ttabayo!..no wait, scratch that, she wasn't an idiot. Period.) She knew that something wasn't right in the whole thing Mizuki had told her, but this was also her last ever chance to graduate, and fulfill her dreams! And be with neji.. wait, why is he popping in my mind! Go awa,y go away! Hmph!

Trying to make as little noise as possible, she sneaked to the very back, where she knew the most important scrolls were kept.

The one she needed wasn't exactly hard to find, for it was put in the middle of a drawer, and it had the same blood seals around it.

Blinking once and willing the thought 'blood seals are very unoriginal..' to go away, she quickly smeared the leftover blood from the earlier bite on her thumb on the seals. They glowed blue for a moment, then disappeared. She quickly took the scroll, balanced for a few minutes (this thing was so heavy! And so big!) she started running to the exit, a triumphant grin plastered on her whiskered face.

Of course something just had to go wrong.

She found a confused Sandaime Hokage in his nightgown standing in front of her, both eyebrows raised.

She dropped the scroll.

Think, think, think DATTEBAYO!

She spotted an orange book badly hidden in the sleeve of the old man's gown.

A smirk appeared on her face.

"Gomenne jiji! Oiroke no jutsu!"

She landed softly on the ground, and looked back.