Naruto's Best Friend

Will Do Anything For Dango

~Time Skip~

Months had passed and Ryoko and Naruto have gotten closer over time. Their bond had increased and gotten to the point where they could communicate telepathically back and forth.

The bullying died down considerably ever since Ryoko showed up, people too scared about getting eaten by the cat if they angered her. She successfully scared off everyone who meant harm to the blonde.

Currently, Naruto was riding on the back of Ryoko with paint buckets in his hands. He laughed maniacally as they easily lost the ninjas who were chasing after him.

Oh, and that's another thing.

The ninja all know about Ryoko and her transformation and fire powers. At first, they were all scared and wanting to keep a close eye on her but quickly realized she had not caused any harm to anyone ever.

Sure, she growled and roared and had flames cover her body but that was to look intimidating. And it worked every time.

But she had never once hurt another. The Hokage wasn't worried and that was enough to convince the ninja that she wouldn't cause harm.

But boy was she a challenge.

The Hokage tried on multiple occasions to have his Anbu bring the two-tailed cat to him, but each time they came back scared and unsuccessful.

Eventually, he gave up and just waited patiently for the cat to come to him. Graduation was tomorrow so he might be lucky to talk to Ryoko if Naruto becomes a ninja, he thought to himself.

Naruto's hands slipped through Ryoko's fur and he flew back, crashing harshly to the ground. Iruka eventually caught up to the blonde and scolded him for not coming to class.

The large saber cat sighed quickly through her nose as she stood directly behind Iruka. Iruka jumped in surprise as the hot breath of air ruffled his hair and turtleneck collar, the sound of a bell jingle quickly following after.

The sensei quickly turned around to face the large cat staring down at him with an intense stare. Iruka suddenly grew a little scared from his face being inches away from Ryoko's large and sharp fangs.

"A-Ah, Ryoko. I was just taking Naruto back to class." He looked back at his tied up student, realizing that the situation he put himself in. It doesn't seem very good. "Uh..." He stared at the sabercat as her eyes drifted to Naruto's tied up form, before moving her slitted pupils gaze back at the man.

Said man gulped, fearing he would get eaten before he quickly remembered what the Hokage told him.

"I-I have a box of dango in the classroom. If y-you help me take Naruto back to class, I can give it to you."

As soon as those words left Iruka's mouth, Ryoko picked up Naruto with her teeth and lowered herself so Iruka could climb on.

Iruka, still in a daze, got on and held on tightly. He snapped out of his trance almost immediately as he was almost about to fly off.

He gripped on tighter and pressed his body close to the cat's back, praying he didn't die.

Suddenly the large cat slowed to a stop and waited patiently for Iruka to get off. Once he realized they stopped, he got off, wobbling over to the door.

"Traitor..." Naruto grumbled with a pout on his face. The cat chuckled, still in her saber form which made it sound a lot scarier than it should have.

Iruka opened the sliding door for the cat and she trotted in with Naruto swaying back and forth between her teeth, her bell jingling as she moved.

The students stared at the scene wide-eyed, deciding not to question out loud what was going on.

Iruka began to lecture Naruto as soon as he was gently dropped to the ground. However, in the middle of Iruka's lecture, Ryoko started nudging Iruka with her nose. She sniffed him multiple times and kept nudging him as if searching for something.

"W-What is it- OH yes, the dango." The man quickly scurried over to his desk and pulled out a box of dango.

Upon seeing the dango, Ryoko sat down heavily, a loud thud echoing in the room along with a jungle of a bell, as she stared at the box. Her slitted eyes became thicker as she stared hungrily at it.

Iruka chuckled and put the box down in front of her, before turning back to Naruto who stared at his best friend with an incredulous look.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME, RYOKO!" Naruto yelled at the large cat in disbelief. The two-tailed cat, without looking up from her dango, lit one of her tails with flames and singed the rope, setting the blonde free from his restraints.

He grumbled something along the lines of "thanks" and "stupid cat". Ryoko didn't care enough to do something about it as she was happily munching on her dango.

Iruka sighed before announcing to the whole class that they have to redo the transformation jutsu, an idea formed in Naruto's mind.

Everyone groaned and got in line. A few started to blame Naruto but hearing Ryoko's growl quickly shut them up. Shikamaru believed the cat was troublesome.

Ryoko walked up Iruka and began the dango search again.

"Sorry, Ryoko, I don't have anymore." Iruka giggled a little as Ryoko's nose began tickling him. Pushing the cat away, he started to pet her fur.

The cat sat beside Iruka and watched all the students perform the jutsu. A few started fidgeting under her gaze, feeling very nervous as the large cat's red eyes landed on them.

When Naruto's turn came up, he used his "sexy jutsu", successfully causing Iruka to fall back with a giant nosebleed.

Iruka began yelling at Naruto but turned away when he heard a warning growl erupt from Ryoko's throat.

The man sighed before giving a stern look at Naruto and telling him to sit down. After everyone was in their seats, Ryoko transformed into her kitten form and hopped onto Naruto's desk.

She purred when Naruto started petting her.

Iruka began talking about graduation being tomorrow and Naruto grew nervous. He connected the mind link with Ryoko.

'I'm nervous. What if I don't pass tomorrow, Ryoko? I'm the absolute worst on tests.'

'You'll do just fine. If you need help, I'm right here and ready to assist. I believe in you, Naruto, you should too.'

Ryoko cut off the mind link, sensing that their conversation was done. The day ended and everyone headed home except Naruto and Ryoko. The two went to the Hokage mountain to clean it up from Naruto's graffiti.

Well, Naruto cleaned up the Hokage mountain while Ryoko cleaned herself. Afterward, Iruka took them both to eat ramen.