Naruto's Best Friend

Weed Picking with Asuma's Team

Ryoko decided to follow Asuma around all day since Naruto was on a mission once again. The tall man sighed as he watched his students pull at weeds for a nice old lady.

Usually, the two-tailed cat would leave whenever they did boring 'missions' like this, but she knew they were almost done.

And when their team was almost done that meant one thing.

Food.

Shikamaru sighed heavily as he struggled to muster up enough energy to pull out another weed. Ino didn't seem like she minded the job one bit, seeing as she helped out regularly at her family's flower shop. Choji looked like he really wanted to eat something, hence the reason why he kept glancing at the cat.

Ryoko trotted over to Asuma and curled up in his lap, waiting for the group to finish.

"This is such a drag. I don't see why we should keep doing these missions after we proved that we could handle a C-rank mission." Another long sigh from Shikamaru was heard as the rest of the team agreed.

"Personally, I think you three are ready to handle more C-rank missions, but these D-ranks have to be done somehow. Besides, the Hokage already gave his last C-rank to Kakashi's team." Asuma answered, petting Ryoko who purred softly.

Ino looked up and paused in what she was doing. She stared at the two-tailed cat curiously before asking it a question.

"Wait, isn't Naruto on Kakashi's team? What is Ryoko doing here if he's out of the village?" Ino knew the cat to be very protective of its owner and rarely leave his side.

"Naruto can handle himself. He's with a Jonin and his two teammates, he's guaranteed to come back home without a scratch. Also, I wanted to show him that I absolutely trust him and his strength." The three would've believed the two-tailed cat if she weren't twitching every once in a while.

"Are you sure about that, Ryoko?" Choji asked, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"One hundred percent." The cat's tails twitched nervously as her paws dug deeper into the ground. She was out of Asuma's lap at this point.

"Then what's up with the twitching?" The platinum blonde girl spoke, pulling another weed from the ground.

"What twitching?" The four sweatdropped at Ryoko, seeing through her denial.

"You look like you're one second away from running after Naruto. Your paws are digging deeper into the ground from trying to stop yourself from catching up with team 7 and your body looks like it's trying to get closer to Konoha's gates. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't completely trust Naruto to be out on his own." Shikamaru spoke with slight amusement in his eyes.

"What? Of course, I trust Naruto. He's completely capable of defending himself in a fight. Besides, it's not like he's going to get himself in dange-" Ryoko suddenly froze, making her look like a lifeless statue.

The two-tailed cat forgot how to breathe as another shift told her what she feared would happen on his mission.

Naruto was in danger.

And usually, she would calm herself down and remember the last time she felt her heart drop in such a way. His fight back in the forest ended up fine and he seemed to make it out without a scratch. He even felt more happy and energetic after the battle.

But because she has developed a strong bond with the boy, she was able to sense something different this time. Being able to smell the boy's scent, no matter how far away, had its advantages.

And right now, she smelled blood.

Naruto's blood.