With those words, Naruto dismissed himself from Inari's sight, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. The young boy stared at the picture and contemplated deeply on everything Naruto just told him.
"Inari! Inari are you out here?" Tsunami called out as she ran around looking for him. Inari turned to see his mother looking for him. Naruto pointed to where Inari was, and Tsunami hurried over to him.
"Inari, are you alright?" Tsunami asked worriedly. Inari looked at his mother before embracing her.
"I'm sorry mommy," Inari cried. "I'm sorry for always making you and grandpa so sad. I'm so sorry."
Tsunami knelt down and embraced Inari.
"Naruto-niichan is right. Grandpa is a hero, I'm sorry for not seeing that. I was stupid and selfish," Inari cried.
"It's all right, Inari. We're not angry at you. We're just happy that you're alright," Tsunami consoled as her son cried on her shoulder. A few minutes later, Inari pulled away and said, "I'm not going to be sad anymore, because Grandpa doesn't want us to be like that. I'm going to do everything I can to make you and grandpa happy and proud of me just like Naruto-niichan said I should do."
"I'm so happy to hear that, Inari," Tsunami said as she embraced her son again.
(A Few Days Later)
Haku stood up and walked over to the window. Releasing the bun, her hair fell down to just under her shoulder blades. Twelve minutes later, she left the cone-shaped house and went walking into the forest. She now wore a pink kimono with red cherry blossoms on it and brown sandals. She carried a basket and was humming slightly to herself.
After an hour of walking, she came upon what she had searched for. Kneeling down, Haku started to pick herbs useful for medicines. Soon, her basket was almost full. A bird landed on her shoulder, and she smiled at it, cooing slightly at it before returning to her task. Haku was startled when the bird suddenly flew off. Feeling slightly down, she followed where it was going.
She saw the bird land next to a boy lying on the ground on his back. The boy had blond, spiky hair, and a Konoha forehead protector. He was wearing an orange jump suit and blue sandals.
Haku got up and walked towards him. The bird flew off, as if thinking that the girl was going to kill the boy. Instead, she crouched down in front of him and shook him awake.
"Hey, you'll catch a cold, sleeping here," she said kindly. Naruto was awoken from his slumber by a gentle nudge. He opened his eyes and looked up at a very pretty girl who was at least two years older than him. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes before looking at her.
"Hey beautiful, what are you doing here?" Naruto inquired with a smile. "Did I die somehow and become a wandering spirit for you to take with you to the afterlife?"
Haku smiled and answered kindly, "No, you're very much alive like me. I'm picking medical herbs."
Haku gestured to her basket.
"Ah, I see," Naruto acknowledged as he sat up on the ground.
"By the way, I'm Haku," the girl greeted.
"I'm Naruto," he replied in return.
"Are you a shinobi?" asked Haku.
"I am, what of it?" Naruto responded.
"Well, what were you doing out here?" Haku asked.
"I was training intensely by myself before I decided to take a break," Naruto replied straightforwardly. "I must have passed out at some point."
"Why would you be training? You look very strong already if you ask me," Haku said.
Naruto grinned cheerfully, "Ooh, it makes me so happy when hot-looking maidens like you acknowledge me as the strong and confident alpha male that I am. Still, I want to become even stronger so that I can one day revive my lost clan as its new leader and become the Hokage of my village."
"So, you train because of your precious people, and the family you wish to have?" Haku figured.
Naruto replied, "Were my motives that obvious to you?"
Haku couldn't help but smile brighter and blush at what Naruto said to her. She spoke, "I believe that you have people precious to you, and that you're working harder to become stronger to protect them. I believe that if you have someone to protect…you can become truly strong."
"It's clear that we have a mutual understanding of each other's feelings about things," Naruto said. "But tell me, do you have anyone precious to you that you seek to protect? Or are you in search of someone to become that precious person?"
"Oh, I do have someone precious to me. In fact, that's why I was gathering all these herbs. They're to be used as medicine for him," Haku explained.
"In that case, beautiful, I'll let you continue on your way," Naruto said. Haku nodded and smiled before she stood up from where she had crouched down and took her basket. She turned and started walking off from Naruto. As she was walking off…
"And just so you know, I'm a boy," Haku said plainly.
Naruto scoffed, "Liar! No boy can ever smell so feminine. Those pheromones coming off you are definitely from a woman!" Naruto grinned mischievously. "Like I said before, I take pride when hot looking maidens like you acknowledge me for the strong and confident alpha male that I am."
Haku frowned and blushed, slightly annoyed at Naruto and how he saw through her lie. She was even more annoyed at the implications Naruto was suggesting. Naruto watched her retreating form until she was completely out of sight. Turning, Naruto started walking off away from the scene, heading back to the house where Kakashi and the others were.
I know she's that fake hunter-nin, Naruto thought, but there was no point in alerting her to the fact that I'm aware of this, since she didn't pose a threat to me.
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