AN: Hello, Jazbez here once again... I can't think of any jokes right now... This is a peculiar idea that I had because all of my stories are based off of songs, and this story is based off a song but at the same time it isn't. "Trial of the Angels" is a tune/song that I found on YouTube that focuses on a Chinese bamboo flute and the mood given off of the song led me to this idea that I had. First off, this story was largely inspired by Jetslinger's story Melody of the Fox and how he led me to love this pairing. As such, I'm utilizing aspects from his story as well as my own to make this as a 'thank you' of sorts to his story. I'm going to PM him and ask if I can use this story after I post it and if not I will more than likely take down the story.

Disclaimer/Dedication: I, Jazbez, Fifth head of the Lytrosi clan, do not own the following: Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, Melody of the Fox by Jetslinger, or "Trial of the Angels" on E3C6H9's YouTube channel. I do however own a Darth Vader pez dispenser... I just can't find it... it may be next to the Buzz Lightyear one...

Note: This story is set in the future (never liked saying that, it sounds weird) and Tayuya is twenty six and Naruto is twenty five.

Enjoy
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In the village of Konohagakure, the sun began to set in the skies, bathing the tree lines and the village in a brilliant orange and yellow sunset as it always did. The villagers, now silent, waited for what they knew was to come as it had become a small tradition in the village. Everyday at sunset, the villagers would listen to a story of hardship, hate, and of the love and redemption of a woman that once hated them.

Atop of the academy sat a woman as she fiddled with the cumbersome leg brace that made it so hard for her to sit or move properly, loosening the contraption so she could rest without it biting into her damaged leg. Feeling more comfortable now, the red-haired woman began to hum a slow mournful melody as she brought out her flute, not noticing how the village was silent around her and how her humming reverberated throughout the village in a manner that made it clear to those on even the other side of the village, to her it was just a time for her to relax and express herself in a way that she normally wouldn't, even with her and her husband's friends.

Bringing the instrument to her mouth, Tayuya began to play the melody that told of her life in sections, the melody never changing over the course of the song but still telling her life at its different stages and their moods.

The first part of her melody told of her earliest memories of life growing up in Earth Country. She remembered the way that the people would shy away from her, how their unwillingness to even acknowledge her broke her down more than her service to Orochimaru and the Sound, she already felt numb to the looks others gave her and instead hid behind a veil of brashness and profanity. But there was one part of her early childhood that affected her the most and Tayuya knew it, it was how her own gran'ma treated the young girl. She knew that family wasn't supposed to hate and resent each other, but that resentment was all that she got from her gran'ma as a child and the eventual casting aside of her as a girl broke Tayuya more than any other event could ever do.

Stopping for a breath, Tayuya began to hum once again before playing the next part of her life.

After being cast aside and neglected for reasons that she herself didn't know, Tayuya felt lost and unwanted, a child with no place in the world around her. It was only a small glimmer of hope that she accepted the offers made to her when she first met Orochimaru as she fended for herself, alone on the streets by herself and unwilling to trust others. When Orochimaru first showed interest in her, Tayuya felt that this would be the first time she was ever accepted by someone, and this alone led her to blindly follow her new sensei. Looking back on her old life, Tayuya regretted a lot of what she had done under Orochimaru's service, the destruction and death continued to break the young girl down and as a result she grew more brash in an attempt to seal herself away from the rest of the world. Of the years of service, Tayuya realized that Orochimaru never accepted her as a person like she had hoped he would, instead, she was just another tool and pawn in his plans.

Pausing once again for her breath and once again humming a small continuation to the melody, Tayuya slowly brought the instrument to her mouth once more before continuing.

It was during her time as one of the Sound Five that Tayuya first saw the forests of the Fire Country, and how the thick trees around her seemed to offer a chance of a new life and isolation from a world that would never accept her. But she knew at the time that she didn't deserve the promises of release and freedom that laid within the trees, she was involved in destroying the land that offered a new chance of life for her. She would help attack the Leaf and kill it's leader, weakening the resolve of the shinobi in the village and drastically change it's sense of peace. On her second trip to the Land of Fire, however, soon became the first steps of her life to a freedom that she felt she didn't deserve.

Breaking off once more to catch her breath, Tayuya hummed to keep the tune and steeled herself for the rest of the melody as she began to play once again.

Tayuya had woken up from a comatose state to see the eerie white walls of a hospital around her. She didn't know what was happening, she was supposed to be dead when the forest fell down around her. The following days were a blur to her, learning that one of her legs was mostly irreparable, that she would have to have a leg brace on her limb to even hold her weight, let alone the slight chance that she could ever fully walk again, the questioning and interrogations that the village had put her through, it all began to crash down on the damaged girl. She began to lose the edge to her personality as she saw it as useless now, she wasn't meant to be a fighter now as she was incapable, she couldn't return back to the Sound as she would have likely been executed for failing her mission, and her old doubts of the chances that she could ever become accepted at all once again began to gnaw at her mind.

More than once she thought about ending it all, simply to bite through her tongue and bleed to death or to drown in the blood coming down her throat, but there was a side of her that continued to fight on, a side that seemed to be growing and getting stronger the more time she spent in her hospital room. The reason for this was because of her roommate in the room.

Of course it had to be him, she thought at the time, the loud mouthed blonde brat that would glare at her, act as though everything wrong was her fault... although it technically was her fault. But there was another part to the brat that she had noticed, it seemed he gave her these looks as though he cared at the same time. He was the first to talk to her as though she was a real person ever since she was captured, the first to show any legitimate concern for her well being before her gran'ma left her, and whenever Tayuya asked the brat why he cared all she had gotten was a sad look as though he understood her.

Whenever he was around, Tayuya started to feel as though she was truly getting better. Her old edge returned, her motivation to live returned because she refused to disappoint the brat as he was the only one in years to actually care. After a month of being confined to the hospital, Tayuya was released under the care of the brat as though the Hokage was giving the girl a second chance.

Pausing once more to gain another quick breath as she hummed, Tayuya blew once more into her flute.

Under his care, Tayuya began to adapt to her new life. The brat went with walks with her as she adapted to the leg brace, a slow and aggravating process but she enjoyed his presence by her side, she would sit down on logs and practice her genjutsu while he trained nearby, fixing his stances and postures as she instructed him to.

After a month of his help and her own stubbornness driving her, Tayuya could limp by herself in her brace without needing the brat to support her. It was one of the few times in her life that she had felt that she had been able to accomplish something since it was the first time that she had ever been praised, let alone the brat. With his urging, Tayuya was able to gain the position of a quick chunin because of her own capabilities and past rank, nevermind that she was handicapped by her injury. She gained a small position with the Hokage as an aide with the paperwork despite of her past, all because of how the brat vouched for her, how he saw beyond what she was before.

Another pause before the red-haired woman started to play once again.

Then the brat told her that he was leaving for three years to train. The following week between the two was one of tense silence, Tayuya was hurt that she was going to be left alone once again, afraid that the brat was only another person to cast her aside after he was done with her. On the day that he was to leave, Tayuya gave him a small hug and asked the brat to stay in touch with her, the first time that she was willing to be so open with anyone after her long life.

The month after was one of solitude for the girl, she was too tired and defeated to leave the brat's and her shared apartment at the time, forgetting her duties with the Hokage and forgetting to even practice her music. After an amount of time however, a few of the brat's friends, the pinky and what had to be the only other blonde in the village, came over to look for her. They were sent by the Hokage, the woman fearing that all the progress that Tayuya had been making was lost, and tried to talk to the depressed girl. After a few hours of the girl's unresponsiveness the two girls left the depressed redhead alone for the night. They continued to show up for a week after the first day, after that they were joined by the other boys that were on the mission that Tayuya was captured on, a week after the rest of the brat's friends showed up. Each of them tried to cheer the girl up, to show her that she was cared for even though some of them haven't forgiven her yet, but they were met with very little success.

The first time they made any leeway though was when they brought a letter with them from the brat, a letter for her specifically that she took right away, the first showing of any emotion for two months since the brat left. She wrote a quick letter and gave it to the genin and the pineapple-head to send to the brat.

After that day, she started to become more open with the others, accepting them into the apartment and giving small smiles as she talked with them. Over time she formed a small friendship and kinship with them, something that she had never felt back in the Sound. While not as strong as the brat's, she looked forward to the weekly visits some of them gave her after she had seemed to recover. And they also noticed that whenever they gave her a letter from the brat and took her response as well, the girl seemed to give real smiles instead of slightly forced ones.

Over the course of the three years Tayuya had changed. She had friends that didn't mind her being around, she was able to walk somewhat at a very slow pace now instead of limping as she used to when she had her brace on, and she took up a new position as an instructor in the village, with her being one of the very few genjutsu users in the village it was only natural for the Hokage to ask the girl to teach a few students at the Academy since she was trusted by the Hokage not to revert back to her old life after her years in the leaf.

Another pause, another humming of the tune, and another breath as the girl brought the instrument back to her lips for the final time as she approached the end of the melody.

The day that the brat came back to the village was the first time in years that Tayuya had openly laughed in front of others, shocking those around her at the sound, not that it was dark or ugly but because it seemed so innocent as though it was a foreign sound that didn't know that it existed. The following weeks and time between the brat's missions were times for Tayuya and the brat, as well as the others, to catch back up. She had already heard of his adventures through their letters but the shock of actually seeing the brat and hearing him made the stories seem so much more fascinating.

Through the weeks, then months, then a few more years the brat and Tayuya realized just what their bond meant to each other. It seemed to go beyond friendship into one of companionship, not one of a hopeless romantic but one of pair that enjoyed the others presence. The two of them began to date, much to the surprise of their friends, not because they didn't think that the two of them weren't a good couple but because they honestly expected them to reach that stage a lot sooner. After all, they had seen the way the two of them act around each other, especially when the brat was away for those three years and how Tayuya seemed to light up whenever she had received a letter of his, it was more than obvious what the two of them meant to each other.

A few dates led to outings, outings led to a shared apartment once again (ever since the brat had returned from his trip and she found a place of her own), and slowly but surely their relationship grew. Then the brat proposed to Tayuya, she had accepted immediately and then the two of them played a small game to see how long before one of their friends noticed their smiles and the rings, it didn't last a week.

Their marriage was a special day for the two of them, their friends around them as they said their vows. The two of them staring into the others eyes, not listening to the pastor as all that mattered was the two of them. It was the first time that the two of them had felt that they had belonged in the world, no longer on their own in a world that was unfairly cruel to them. As they kissed, it was the only sensation that they felt as they enjoyed the wedding, the outside world but a small buzzing as they stayed close to one another.

Then after a few years they felt as though they truly belonged once again. The months spent shopping for the events ahead, nights spent together at home looking for the right name in their little book on the table, and the times with hands on her belly waiting for small bumps to greet them. And a promise to shield their gift from the hate and hardships that they faced when they themselves were growing up, to show that life is actually worth living.

The following years were once again a blur. A time spent full of love and pain, friends and enemies, self assurance and doubt, and yet the two of them wouldn't trade what they had for the world. They had reached a point in their lives that held meaning, a time where they felt that everything that has happened to them has had a purpose, and it is that feeling that the two of them, turned three, look for everyday.

Realising the last notes of the melody, the red-haired woman let go of the chakra she was entwining into the tune. Listening as the last notes of the song faded away, the woman fitted the brace tightly against her leg again as she headed back down to the ground level.

As she slowly walked out of the building, the woman heard a small cry of, "Mama!" coming from her right. Looking around, a smile already on her face as she knew who it was, the woman saw a small boy running towards her. Picking up her son, Tayuya responded back with a sincere smile as she looked at Kibo, "Hai sweetie."

Holding onto her four year old son, his light orange hair reaching down the sides to the two small line marks on his cheeks, Tayuya looked towards the blonde-haired man that was her husband.

"Ready to go?" he asked his wife, a smile on his face as he looked at the way she held her son.

"Whenever you are brat." she responded with a playful smirk as she saw the small pout her husband gave her.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" Naruto asked his wife as the two of them started walking.

"Never." Tayuya answered, both she and Kibo laughing at the defeated look on Naruto's face, as the small family walking back to their home.

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Love, hate, loathe (surprisingly this is not a combination of the two 0.o)? Any of these is fine and I hope you enjoyed.

Q( '.' Q) - Boxing Kirby wishes a good day