The Girl Under the Mask-Kakashi x OC Romance

Chapter 46

"Where do you think it is?" Naruto wondered as he glanced Ama up and down.

They had managed a couple hours trek before the sky turned the orange of dusk and they stopped to make camp. Sakura's sedative was strong and Ama still hadn't woken from the slumber she was put in.

Since the serum was also experimental, they didn't know the length of its effect and if she'd wake up armed and ready to attack. So for safe measures, they restrained her before taking one eye off her. And now she was sitting up, her legs tucked under her with her feet tied together and to the tree she leaned on; her hands also tied with rope behind her back.

And much to their disturbance, she still looked the same with her shaved head and tattoos. They looked her up and down and even removed her shoes to try to find 'it'. What they did find was a two inch thick black piece of metal wrapped around her ankle. The item itself was so tight to her skin, there was no way that it could have slipped over her foot and up her ankle, but there was nothing to indicate it opened up and clasped on. That got the feeling it wasn't responsible for creating her disguise...but something in their gut told them it wasn't helping her either.

"Could it be under her clothes?" Naruto continued to wonder.

"It's not under her top." Kakashi recalled not seeing a single item on her when he first realized it was Ama.

Naruto turned and gave him a small glare. "Exactly when did you see this, you pervert?" He accused.

"She's wearing my sweater! How do you think that happened?"

"So you thought you'd just stare at my sister, eh?"

"She's my wife, you fool." Sakura pulled Naruto away by the ear while Kakashi face palmed and sighed.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Naruto groaned as he tried to smack her death grip off his ear. "Wait, wait, wait!" His tone quickly turned serious when he saw the small shuffle in Ama's shoulders. She was waking up. Sakura didn't even mean to let him go. She forgot she even had a hold on him as she saw it to. "Kakashi-" He had just turned his back from her, "-I think she's waking up." Naruto rushed and pushed him out of the way, eager to be the first by her side when she woke up.

"I guess this is it..." Sakura murmured, growing nervous thinking about what was going to happen next with this other Ama. "...so how do we fix it? " She asked the question they all had on their mind.

"Leave it to me!" Naruto beamed with certainty, all thumbs pointing at his confident grin. "I know she recognized me, and she'll see it again." He assured them as he knelt by her side expectantly.

As Ama came to, she 'awoke' slowly, trying to get a sense of her surroundings before she opened her eyes and revealed she was fully awake. She realized she was tied up, close to a tree with no sharp bark to wear down the rope against.

"Recognized you? She almost killed you." Sakura reminded him.

"But she hesitated! If she hadn't, then I'm sure I would be. But for a moment, she knew it was me and she hesitated because she didn't want to kill me." The confident and stubborn look he gave Sakura softened as he turned back to Ama, determined to be the one to get through to her. "Just give me a little more time with her and I know she'll see me again. She has to." He whispered and leaned closer to be able to look her straight in the eyes when hers opened.

"I wouldn't get that close to her if I were you." Kakashi warned.

"Hey! I've got this! Believe it!" Naruto stubbornly ignored his warning.

"I didn't say not to try, just not so close." He warned again, remembering the headbutt Knuckles had taken.

"Come off it, I know what I'm doi-Here we go, she's awake!" He cut himself off excitedly and leaned in even closer as her eyes finally started to open. "Ama, it's me. Naruto." He sat patiently watching for her reaction, all the hope in the world that that's all it took.