Guardian and Mother - Naruto's Parental Guardian Sequel (Naruto Fanfic)

An Old Friend

A week had passed since the news of Asuma's death. Kurenai was growing stronger and she was more focused on raising the baby well instead of dwelling on the death of her beloved. It hurt her whenever she thought about it, but she had explained to me that caring for her child was more important and that Asuma would scold her if she let it keep her down for too long. Shikamaru had shown great support towards Kurenai and was willing to help her look after her child when it was born, as well as protect the village as Asuma had died doing so. Yuki was also looking forward to helping Kurenai look after the child, as she loved to remind me every day after Kurenai told her she could. Naruto and the rest were away on a mission along with Kakashi, so I left Yuki with Kurenai and Anko while I did some shopping.

Walking through town, I spoke with a few of the stall owners and interacted with the townspeople but I froze as I picked up on an unknown but familiar chakra. Having not shopped yet, I followed the chakra through the town and outside of the village gates to where the trail ended and nobody was seen. Looking down the path, I ventured into the woods to the side and looked around, keeping my senses sharpened for any signs of the person's chakra. My eyes became more focused and I gazed through the woods with my heightened sight, but still could see nothing...... That was until my ears picked up on some movement from right above me. A body jumped down towards so with a spin, I lifted my leg up and kicked the body in the stomach. The woman groaned and fell to her knees on the floor with a strained laugh. Her long black hair hung down her back and pink eyes met mine. Studying her, my body froze as realisation settled in as to why she was so familiar.
"Megumi?" I gasped, staring down at her. She rubbed her stomach and stood up, a smile on her lips.
"Hey there Katsu, it's been a long time." She chuckled with a toothy grin.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned her, raising an eyebrow.
"What happened to your eye? And what have I missed?" She retorted, a question for a question.
"Orochimaru and a lot. Now what are you doing here?" I demanded, not giving in until I got a satisfactory answer. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, giving me a shrug.
"After getting away from Orochimaru a few years after they left you to die..... I tried creating my own life and succeeded. But then I heard rumors of how the infamous Kakashi Hatake had a wife and she was a female named Katsu. I thought that if you were alive, then I should drop by and see for myself." She informed me, her tone seeming serious at first before her expression turned into a mischievous look.
"So you came to check if I was alive......" I murmured, not quite sure if I should believe it or not. Something about the situation and the unease I felt made it hard to trust anything. "You need to let our Hokage know you're here then." I saw her features stiffen before she recovered and put on another grin, shrugging and walking off towards the gates.
"Come on then." She called behind her to me. Shaking my head in disbelief, I followed after her and walked through the village with her towards the Hokage's building, gaining stares and frowns on the way. She wasn't recognised in the village and from the aura I felt from her, if they felt the same, then I could only imagine how uncomfortable the village people felt in her presence.

Arriving at the Hokage's office, I knocked on the door and we both entered. Tsunade and Megumi talked for a while to test whether she was a threat to the village or not, then Tsunade gave her a temporary allowance to stay here. She wasn't to stay here for long however, as from the suspicious looks Tsunade and Shizune gave her, I could tell they didn't trust her. Bowing in respect, we left the office and headed over to Kurenai's place where they were waiting for me. As we walked, I told her what had happened when I arrived at the village, who I met and how I fell in love with Kakashi. She listened intently and my suspicion rose when I saw the intrigue in her eyes when I mentioned Naruto's name. Being careful with what I said around her, I felt pleased to see her again, but the feeling of distrust was constantly passing through me.
"So this Naruto kid is the jinchuriki, huh?" She mumbled. Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Yeah, he is....." I frowned, remembering the times when Naruto would have hard days and grief from the village folk. "I need to do some shopping before getting back to my girl, are you coming?"
"Yes, of course I'd love to meet the little one." She grinned, strolling off with me following along behind her.

After the shopping was done and we were both carrying bags back, we arrived at Kurenai's place who let us in quickly. She gazed questioningly at Megumi but said nothing until she introduced herself. Once Megumi had explained her back story like she had to me, Kurenai seemed very welcoming towards her, though I was still suspicious and felt guilty because of it.
"You two must have had a very tough past." Kurenai frowned while Megumi interacted with a shy Yuki.
"Yeah, but we both came out of it all ok." Megumi beamed up at her in reply. "Katsu here even got a family out of it all." She winked over to me while I rolled my eyes.
"How long do you plan to stick around?" Kurenai asked her.
"A couple days, a week maybe. My pass here is only temporary after all." She shrugged with an uncaring look on her face.
"It's so nice that you came all the way here to see Katsu again." Kurenai smiled, seeming to love the idea of old friends reuniting. Studying Megumi's response, I saw a flicker of a dangerous emotion pass over her eyes before they became warm.
"Of course. We got along well as children even with all that happened to us. It's only natural I'd want to know if she was alive." She chuckled with a shrug, ruffling Yuki's hair causing her to giggle.

For the next few hours we spent the time talking and getting to know what Megumi had been up to during the rest of her years. The whole time she was talking, I couldn't help but be more suspicious about it all. She had been a really nice girl who was in the cell next to mine, and that was how we became friends. Looking at her in front of me, it seemed like she was the same person, but the feeling I got from her said otherwise. Usually my feelings about people were correct, but I really hoped that this time I was wrong. It felt good to see an old friend again, and it seemed that Yuki and Kurenai liked her. I just hoped that she would prove me wrong instead of right when the time came.