A Wild Night!

Chapter 12

Though Minato had given her an hour to prepare and rendezvous with the team she'd be traveling with, Naruko was fully ready within twenty minutes; her sandals yanked on, her kunai and other assorted gear strapped to pouches on her hip and thighs, and a cup of instant ramen settling in her belly in order to help keep her energy during the trip. She was clad in the distinct outfit that her godfather had gotten her, a specially made jumpsuit of orange and black that seemed to surge her confidence by the mere grace of wearing it.

She stared at herself in the mirror; blue eyes tracing her soft features, her mind able to piece together the parts that were distinctly hers, and the parts that she inherited from her mother and father. The last few minutes had been so hectic - and so, for a moment (just a moment), she allowed herself to... relax. Naruko leaned forward, a finger tracing the whisker marks that ran along her cheeks.

'I wonder if he likes them.' she thought. Naruko had never asked him what he thought of her odd birth marks - the result of being the daughter of a full blown jinchuriki, and not a consequence of being a jinchuriki as one might think. Actually, there were a lot of things she had never thought to ask him; whether he enjoyed that thing she did with her tongue, whether he liked how she would practically tackle him to the ground whenever she wanted to initiate 'fun time', whether he could hear the strong thumping of her heart whenever his head was nestled in her bust...

It wasn't that this was the first time that he had gone out on a mission. No, Sasuke was a shinobi, a phenomenally skilled one, and there was no delusion in Naruko's mind that he was going to stay in the village twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five, just for the sake of being with his girlfriend. He had left before, and though she had missed him, it hadn't- it hadn't been anywhere near as bad as the ache this time in particular caused.

The other times, Sasuke had taken great care to inform her of when he was leaving; and as one might expect, they spent a lot of time rolling around underneath the sheets the night before, in order to really 'say goodbye' to each other. It wasn't easy on either of them - but it was a far cry from him being abruptly thrown out of the village, on a mission to take on some of the most dangerous shinobi to ever exist.

She trusted Kakashi - the man was a strange mix of uncle and older brother to her; he had never been a significant part of her life, but he had been there enough that she'd consider him family nonetheless. But... she didn't trust Kakashi's strength enough to even fathom the idea that the silver haired jounin could keep Sasuke entirely safe from the Akatsuki. Kakashi was powerful, yes, but... Naruko had far more invested into Sasuke's safety than even her conscious mind realized.

Naruko looked down, and just as if she were still staring into the mirror, blue eyes were reflected back at her. Her fingers clenched around the headband in her hand, a chill racing down her spine at the feel of the cool metal, the Konoha leaf engraved into the front.

She'd never worn it for longer than five minutes.

Naruko had never gone on a mission outside the village.

She had hardly ever been outside of the village, unless she was under lock and key. Naruko had never been to a beach, she'd never slept in a bed other than her own (or Sasuke's), she had never, ever done anything like that.

In fact, she had never even considered doing something like this; no, even the ever impulsive, ever adventurous Uzumaki Naruko had been perfectly content with the status quo - staying in the village, shadowed by ANBU, safe and secure.

Until now, until Sasuke had decided to be an idiot and help go after the Akatsuki without telling her.

Naruko took a deep breath, before calmly tying the headband around her forehead. The weight felt a little unfamiliar - but as she tied the knot together, and saw the gleaming metal reflected at her, Naruko knew that she had made the right choice.