"Why would you look for shinobi gear in the forest?" a perplexed Sakura asks. "I hope you didn't think shinobi just leave their important equipment for anyone to find."
"I-" Naruto starts, only to stop himself and consider his words. It's not something he does often, but he doesn't want his teammate thinking he's weird by telling her the truth.
"Naruto," Kurenai softly speaks. "I've done a fair amount of research, and I know you've had a tough life. It's okay to tell me the truth."
Naruto automatically thinks about how she tricked him into telling her about Ino and smirks before saying, "I'm not falling for that again. If you know so much, you tell me."
Kurenai smirks cheekily before turning to a confused Sakura, explaining, " as an orphan, ryo is always a problem. There's a village issued allowance, however, that barely covered food, much less all the equipment needed to be a ninja.
Without the funds to buy gear, Naruto-kun must've realized at some point that ninja die in some of the training grounds; Training Ground 44 for example. You went into the Forest of Death to scavenge for tools from shinobi who'll no longer be using them."
"You stole from dead bodies," Sakura cries in disgust. The tone of disgust alone made him want to cry, but her deep denial, like no one 'normal' could ever do such a thing, made him want to crawl in a hole and take a suicide pill.
Kurenai immediately tells Sakura with authority, "Haruno-chan, it seems you don't quite understand the predicament your teammate lived through.
While I don't begrudge you for having a stable home and fortunate finances, perhaps it's too difficult for you to understand since every material desire you've needed was more than likely met. Please recognize the fact that many other shinobi in this village, young and old, are not so lucky.
Had my parents not left me a sizable savings upon their death, nor had I inherited my home, I can assure you I would've done the same thing Naruto-kun had."
Sakura looked stung, again, and this time Naruto was going to stand up for her. "Sensei, I'm not like that anymore, so it's okay. And you're right. That's how I met Ji-chan.
I didn't know who he was. He was just Ji-chan. We camped, ate together, and talkedhe told the best storiesand he he was really good to me the first one to really be good to me. We've been friends ever since.
That's pretty much it."
"You make it sound like afternoon tea," Kurenai mumbles, mentally scratching that curiosity from her list before asking, "what did you want to ask me?"
"'Fraid not," Asuma answers. "Try training ground four. Found her team using the lake there before."
"Cool," Naruto calls. It takes him a moment to break down and finally ask, "where's Chji?" Ino gives him a cold stare for a second before returning to a neutral look. Naruto was told to not do anything but he still wanted to talk with the boy he thought he knew.
Certainly, Ino-chan looked fine but he was still worried.
"He's sick," Asuma states.
"Sensei," Ino calls out. "If you want to help Naruto find her, we can turn in the mission scroll."
Asuma looks at a smirking Ino who chuckles a bit before saying, "that might not be a bad idea-"
"Ah!" Naruto yelps surprising Team Ten. He turns around as if sensing the location. "Never mind, I found her." Naruto quickly turns and runs opposite the training grounds.
A clone of Naruto's spotted Kurenai and Hinata walking out of the Konoha library, and it only took him ten minutes to find them walking toward the training grounds. After getting her signature, Naruto creates a clone to take the scroll back to Hokage Tower, asking them, "what time do I come over?"
"Before dinner is fine," Kurenai tells him all the while observing a slightly pink-cheeked Hinata keep her cool. That would've been impossible two months ago and Kurenai is supremely happy with the girl's progress.
To keep Naruto around a little longer, she asks him, "Naruto, if you had the option, would you prefer to learn Genjutsu or Finjutsu?"
"Mmnn," Naruto hums, thinking about Naru-nii's suggestion. Playing it with a distasteful expression on his face, Naruto responds, "don't you need to read a lot for both?"
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