Happier Than Ever: A Naruto Uzumaki Love Story

Chapter Four: Like Somebody's Watching

*NARUTO*

It'd been seven days since he ran into her in the forest; seven days since he'd last been able to talk to her; seven days since he'd started thinking about her without any means of stopping. He couldn't shake her words from his brain, "You must be one of them." So, when he heard he'd been summoned to escort a "prisoner" to an emergency council hearing, he had to tame his heart rate.

He knew before descending down the stairs of the dungeon with Kotetsu, Genma, and Kakashi-sensei; before they entered the dank basement of the Hokage building; before his eyes caught the glow of her passion fruit lenses, that they were talking about her.

"Miss. Noroi," Kakashi-sensei said as he approached the prison cell. Kazuna's hungry eyes fixed on Naruto as soon as he was within sight. He swallowed, his spit like a thick paste down his throat. "It's time for your hearing."

When his sensei opened the cell, Kazuna stepped out without a fight or even a quippy remark. Underneath her heavy eyes were dusted with dark circles. She was nothing like the upbeat, mischievous Kazuna from the other night. He refrained from asking what was wrong with her. She wasn't likely to give him a straight answer anyway.

As they walked, her rattling chains dragged along the stone floors, keeping her wrists bound together with almost no slack. It didn't take them long to reach the small conference room. There were three chairs positioned in a half crescent around a podium in the center of the room. Granny Hokage sat in the center chair, her leg bouncing underneath the table as she gnawed at her thumbnail. The old man Homura and old woman Koharu sat on either side of Granny Tsunade. Koharu welcomed them all inside. Naruto was the last to step into the room, shutting the door behind him. He couldn't take his eyes off Kazuna, who avoided eye contact with anyone, her gaze fixed on the cuffs around her wrists.

"Would you like us to stay in the room, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi-sensei asked. Naruto felt his fingers cross behind his back.

"Kakashi-sensei, I would like for you to wait outside. Naruto, could you bring the katana from my office and bring it here," she answered. Naruto exited the room, but not without stealing a glance from Kazuna, who peeked at him from the corner of her eye before the door was closed behind him.

He found himself running through the building to get to Tsunade's office – he didn't want to miss any more of the hearing than what he had to. Upon arrival, the door to the office was left slightly ajar. Naruto pushed the door open and stepped inside, the sword Kazuna used to fight Deidara's puppets sat on Granny Tsunade's desk.

Naruto jogged up to the desk and grabbed the blade from the table. He paused, feeling the weight of the sword in his hands. "It's heavy," he murmured to himself. Before stepping out of the room, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He glanced around the room, but there was no one in sight. Ignoring the feeling, he quickly turned on his heels and made his way back to Kazuna's hearing.

Kakashi-sensei stood beside the door with one leg crossed over the other, his arms folded across his chest, and his one visible eye closed. He held his hand out, gesturing to the door.

"Go on in. I'm sure they'll be needing that," he said. Naruto nodded and opened the door. The room fell silent upon his arrival. Everyone's eyes fell to the katana blade in his hand. Maybe they would use it to cut the tension in the room.

"Is that..."

"Rakurai," Kazuna finished Koharu's sentence. "The sword of the Reiju Ryuzu."

"It can't be," Homura breathed, his eyes wide.

"Is that enough proof for you?" Kazuna asked with a devilish grin on her face. "Otherwise we can unearth my parents and you can have a crack at asking them."