Naruto's Kit

Chapter 17

It didn't take long for Naruto's group to find a place to go the first night in Wave. Apparenty there was a festival of some sort being held, with tons of street vendors and entertainers all in one place. Everybody was drawn to it like a moth. People there wore kimonos with oceanic designs sewn onto them, making the Konoha residents stick out like sore thumbs. The aromas of cooked food and sweet snacks overwhelmed the air and the hypersensitive noses of Akane, Shiba, Mino, and Sassha, but they weren't bothered by it.

Hinata bought the two kids some cotton candy from a vendor right away. Instead of eating it, Akane stretched it out over the top of her head, making a wig out of it. "Hey, Okaa-san, guess who I am." Both girls had a small chuckle, then Akane actually ate the sugary treat. After getting some stray hairs out first, much to her irritation.

"Hey, is that you Naruto?" A girl's voice called out to him from the side. He turned to see a purple-haired woman about his age wearing a sea blue kimono with goldfish on it approach. "Wow, it is you. Good to see you here."

"Ah, hi Isaribi. Didn't expect to see you here." Naruto greeted the once cursed girl. After Isaribi came to Konoha, she was treated for her ailment by Tsunade and several other medical experts. About seven months before Naruto returned from his trip with Jiraiya, she was declared cured. Although that green stripe under her left eye would not go away. But outside that she was normal again. Cured, she wanted to move back to the beach, but didn't want to go back to Land of the Sea. So she was recommended Wave and moved there, and had been living there peacefully since then. Naruto had been informed on all this shortly after his return.

"Who's this, Otou-san?" Akane asked.

Isaribi saw the young girl and smiled. "Why hello there little girl. I'm a friend of his. He helped me out big time years ago."

Akane sniffed her and her face scrunched up. "Why do you smell like fish?"

"Well, that might be because I swim a lot." Isaribi commented.

Akane sniffed her again. "You smell more like fish than salt water."

"Do you make it a point to sniff everyone you meet?"

"Yes." Akane planly answered and took another bite out of her cotton candy. Then she had to pull out a long red hair she missed. "Dang. Next time I won't use a prop."

"So how are things for you here Isaribi?" Naruto asked.

The former fish girl leaned against a street light. "Pretty good. Stable job and unvandalized home. Don't have to wear bandages all the time. So much better than before. How about you? Got a little girl now I see." She then turned towards Hinata. "And would she be your little woman then?"

"Not the way I would say it, but..." Naruto started.

"Damn right he's mine." Hinata proudly claimed, cutting him off. "I'm Hinata Hyuuga by the way."

"My name's Isaribi Meikai. You've caught yourself a good one here, and it's easy to see what bait you used." She added, looking over Hinata's figure.

Hinata blushed and turned away. "Isaribi, I'm not that shallow." Naruto defended.

"But you're not going to complain about it, are you?" The diver replied teasingly. Then to keep it up, she turned to Naruto. "You wouldn't happen to be interested in having a harem now would you?"