Through My Lying Eyes

28 - Underneath

-13 days later-

Almost 2 weeks have passed since the letter Shibuki had received, and since then, Yui had been in even more hellish training. And today was going to be no different.

She woke up at 0600, put her weights on, and got ready to go down at 0615. She and Naruto started basic body-weight exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, running, and core. At 0730, they stopped so they could eat breakfast. After they finished, they packed some strong backpacks with as much weight they could fit in them. For Yui, it was about 40 lbs, and for Naruto, nearly 300 lbs. Neither of them are using any chakra at all for it.

They walked with that weight for 1.5 miles to not tire Yui that much. At 1130, they ate lunch and talked about her progress, which has already drastically improved from when they started 3 weeks ago. But after lunch, it was sparing time. Yui's goal was to land a single hit on him, while his hands were tied behind his back. Even with this handicap, he dodged every attack coming his way easily.

At the end of the day (1800, or 6pm), she wasn't able to get a hit in. But that didn't matter to her, all she knows is that she is getting faster and more cunning with every passing day. She knows that if she keeps this pace, she could land a hit on his base form in no time. Naruto knows this too, and is excited to see just how far she will go to achieve this challenging goal.

He couldn't wait for the future of his little girl.

"I almost had you daddy. I'll get you tomorrow." Yui said confidently. "I'll admit, you're getting better, but you still have a long way to go before you can even get close to me. Besides, this is only the first step, next, you have to hit me while my sharingan is active, so good luck with that. But I'm sure you'll get to that point in no time at all. No, I know you will." Naruto said to try and motivate her, which worked.

"Of course I will, you're training me after all." She tried to get up, but fell back down because her legs were too tired. She did push herself to her limits after all. "You tired? Do you need me to carry you?" Naruto asked. "No, I'm good, I can do this." Yui said.

She tried to get up again, standing up for only a second before falling on her butt again. "Alright, I'm carrying you." He said and picked her up bridal style. Yui pouted and crossed her arms, but allowed it anyway.

He started walking to his house, and felt Yui lay her head on his chest. Her eyelids started to drop and she soon fell asleep in his arms, and started lightly snoring. He chuckled to himself and slowed his pace to let her sleep a little longer. He entered his house and slowly went up the stairs, making as little noise as he could possibly make.

He set her down in her bed and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight sweetheart." He whispered. He turned around and without his knowledge, Yui smiled.

He left his house and was instantly greeted by Fuu walking up to his house. "Hey whiskers, how ya doin'." She asked.

"Tch, I thought I told you to stop calling me that." He said. "Oh calm down crybaby, you know I'm just joking. Besides, it's just so easy to clown on you." She said in a slightly mocking tone. Naruto, instead of retaliating, just took some deep breaths to calm down.

"Anyway, I see you're done training Yui for the day, so I was wondering if you wanted to eat with me?" She said the last part with a light blush dawning her cheeks. Naruto appeared oblivious to that however.

"I guess that's fine, it's your turn to pick, right? Lead the way." He said to her, and she led him to a fancy restaurant that neither of them ate at a lot. "Why here?" Naruto asked. "N-no reason. I-I just felt like it." She replied.

They walked in and Fuu asked for a table for two. They were taken near the back where few people were, perfect for Naruto in his eyes. They took their seats and sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. Fuu was trying to cover her face with her hands to hide her blush in a natural way.

"You know, I can tell somethings up with you. What's going on?" Naruto said. Fuu blushed even more and started stuttering. "Ah? N-no reason in p-particular, I-I just wanted to t-talk. T-thats i-it." Naruto slightly raised an eyebrow.

"L-listen, I..." She took some deep breaths, letting the blush she had fade a bit. "I just wanted to thank you. Sincerely. You don't even realize how just much you've both helped me and this village. This sub-par thank you doesn't even do it justice. I-I." The blush returns in full effect. "I just think that, you're incredible. Your strength, intellect, how much you care for others even though you don't show it very much. It all amazes me that you don't brag about anything, and that's not even mentioning what you did stopping me from getting banished."

"Now you're giving me too much praise I don't deserve." Naruto said.

"You DO deserve it!" Fuu yelled. "You deserve every good thing in this world. Even when the world is against you, you stand strong and change it for the better in the end. After all you've done for us, for me, I can't hold back, I can't be afraid any more. Naruto, I love you. I know you might love me like that back, but I don't care. I need you to at least know that I love you with all my heart. You don't have to love me back, but-" "Why would I not love you like that back?" Naruto cut her off.

"H-huh?" She stuttered. "You don't have to worry about that. I've actually been waiting for you to say something for a while now, I could tell you've had these feelings kinds of pent up for a while now." Naruto said.

"Y-you mean you." She covered her mouth with her hands and tears started forming in her eyes. "Honestly, I guess I thought that Hinata was the only person who saw me for who I was instead of what I was like everyone else so I held onto her, even after her death. I think it's about time I moved on from Hinata and finally met someone else. And that someone else will undoubtedly be you, there's no one else in my eyes worthy for that to me." Fuu was crying tears of joy at this point.

"I love you too, Fuu." Naruto chuckled a bit. "Can you believe that it took me this long to finally get another girlfriend. And it's pretty handy that Yui already sees you as her mom anyway, so it works out for all of us." Fuu almost jumped over the table to hug Naruto, but knowing where they're at, she held herself back.

Soon a waiter came and got their orders, almost as if he was waiting for them to finish their important conversation. Naruto ordered a large bowl of ramen, and Fuu got a fancy steak. They talked a bit more about future plans and eventually finished their food. The bill came not long after, and Naruto was shocked.

"Holy shit that's a lot. And for two meals?" He asked himself while laughing. He looked up and saw Fuu smiling at him mischievously. "What're you smiling fo-" Then, realization dawned on him. "God damn it, I completely forgot about our bet. Is that why you brought us here of all places?" Naruto asked.

"I'll be honest, I remembered the bet when the bill came, I forgot about it too." Fuu started laughing like a maniac while Naruto took out his wallet, muttering something about troublesome girlfriends. "Is this how our relationship is going to go, you tricking me into buying you everything?" He asks.

"Maaaaybe." Fuu dragged her answer in a playful manner. Naruto started muttering again, this time about how he'll get her back for this. He paid and they got up to leave, with Naruto holding out his hand for Fuu to grab, which she gladly took. They left the restaurant, and started just walking around the village to find something to do, all the while catching the attention of many jealous people.

It was now almost midnight, but due to the winter season, many people were still out partying, and many places were still open for them to explore. At 0200 (2am), they finally made their way back to Naruto's house, but Naruto stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Fuu asks. Naruto doesn't answer but instead starts to sniff the air. Naruto's eyes widen as he looks towards the direction of his house.

Or more specifically, the large of amount smoke and light coming from that direction.

Naruto let go of Fuu's hand and raced towards the house, with Fuu right behind him.