Chapter five:

How to greet your best friends parent.

'with no sense of smell, your memories dropped like pennies out of a ripped pocket, until your past was ashes and your parents were blanks: nothing more than the holes in swish cheese.'

-Lisa Bick

Naru paced the well worn floor of her neat bedroom. The ancient wood groaned as her weight trod down upon them-the final cry of a defeated allies. Her bright blonde hair glittered faintly from the sunlight flittering through her open window.

Her bottom lip was a mess of small gashes, made by her sharp teeth in a desperate attempt at calming herself. Naru's mind was a flurry of thoughts.

She walked back and forth, thinking about Shino…how had he even found time to give a note. She knew she wasn't the smartest shuriken in the pouch, but even she should have felt the weight of the paper descend into her empty pocket…so that begged the question-how had he done it?

Shaking her head in a rough motion, she stomped to her closet. Nearly taking the battered door of its rusted hinges, Naru gave a cursory scan of the depleted inside- the calm look of expected failure and danger weighed heavily in her expressive blue eyes. She owned a few nice clothes, some had been given to her by the Sandaime, others she had been given over the years by various individuals.

A knock on her front door alerted Naru of company. Walking into her tiny living room, she debated on whether or not to open the door. The answer was given to her.

A profile of a kindly old man filled the slightly crooked doorway of her small apartment. Naru gave a grin, hiding her slightly accelerated sigh of relief.

"Hokage-san…how are you today. I wasn't expecting you to check up on me so soon, is something wrong?" her blue eyes gave a slight passing over the leader, quietly assessing him for any injury.

The Hokage watched as the young girl looked for any wounds on his person. Oh to be young again. Though he had watched her since she was little and he had liked to praise himself on being able to read her better than most- the truth was he knew very little about the unpredictable young'un.

"no Naru, nothings wrong. I see you have been very busy." he looked out at the mess of her clothes strung room.

-0-

Naru blushed and looked away. It was unfortunate, how would she explain to the grandfatherly old man that her best friend had invited her over for dinner to meet his parents.

She felt a weight descend onto her lap. Looking up into the kind eyes of the Hokage, she felt the fabric of a dress envelop her fingers. Though no words were spoken, a special conversation was taking place. At his nod Naru said goodbye and waited for her leader to leave. Heading to her room, Naru tore off her old t-shirt and shorts and looked at the pretty dress.

It was quite long, but not cumbersome enough to hamper her movements in the event of her needing to run or fight. It would descend gently to her knees and was loose at the bottom. It had long, tight fitting sleeves and flared ends also, but that wasn't the best part. The dress, to Naru's delight, was a beautiful yellow with white flowers printed on it. Hurrying to put it on, Naru sighed at the remarkably cool material, she knew she would treasure this outfit, after all it wasn't every day that the Hokage gave out free gifts.

Looking at herself in the small bathroom mirror on her way out, Naru deemed herself ready for a night with Shino and his parents. Putting on her shinobi sandals, she calmly walked to the Aburame compound following the written instructions that Shino had slipped to her. 'well…here goes nothing.'

-0-

Shino silently paced the carpet in his room. How could one girl bring him to his knees so quickly. Though a reoccurring thought, it still didn't make any sense to him then it did the first time. He felt confined, like a tiger roaming the inside of a cage, wanting out but sadly for his stress levels, only Naru held the key.

Slumping on his bed, Shino took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He could feel his kikai bugs become agitated and desperately tried to rein in some form of control. To make matters worse, he was constantly wondering if Naru was going to show up.

Ah Naru, a lovely angel with a temperamental disposition. How he had managed to make friends with her…well the world wasn't ready to reveal any of it's secrets to anyone, not even him. Maybe the reason he cared so much about her, was because the world and the Kami above enjoyed his sick and twisted predicament- give the boy endless amounts of time with a stunning girl who he will protect with his very existence and then make her unattainable to show him life's twisted lesson. Just great!

Shaking himself out of his cynical thoughts, Shino understood that his current mood would not help him in any way, shape nor form. Falling back against the covers of his bed, Shino tried to calm down, but all he could think of was how Naru would give secret little grins to him in class or the way her hair shown in the sun. Kami up above-why do you laugh so.

Rubbing his already messed up hair, Shino decided to get dressed in something more appropriate for tonight. Even though he felt a dark recess of his heart whisper that Naru didn't want to come to dinner, he still felt the need to show her a different side of him, to show that he could be welcoming, friendly and supportive of her choices.

Getting on a dark dress shirt, with some dark shinobi pants he walked out of his room and down the stairs to the foyer, where he nearly crashed into his mother, who was carrying a container of vegetables to the kitchen.

Nodding in apology and greeting, he took a seat on one of the benches near the wall next to the door, and played the inevitable waiting game.

It may have been minutes, maybe seconds before he felt as if he was on fire. It burned his skin and ignited a feeling of happiness within him. A uncharacteristic smile was steadily forming on his lips, while he wiped suddenly sweaty palms on his pants. His kikai buzzed frantically under his skin-they were excited too, it seemed. A small bead of nervousness grew in him, making his heart speed up until he could practically dance to the beat.

In the limits of his hearing, Shino could just make out the small sounds of someone with incredibly small feet, walking up to the front door. A smell of spices and melons seemed to permeate the foyer, wafting from the small crack under the heavy door. A lump of apprehension caused him to swallow excessively, desperately trying to get rid of it.

Shino could practically feel the vibrations coming from the small, timid knocks, the slight hesitations making him feel angry at anyone who could make the physical form of sunshine and mischief so delicate and unsure.

Gathering up what little courage he could muster, Shino walked to the door. The fall of his footsteps sounding unnaturally loud to his ears, while the small hallway stretched into infinity-making the door a gateway barrier stopping him from ascending the steps of nirvana-his best friend Naru, who would be waiting. Breathing in a overly-controlled manor, Shino opened the dividing piece of hard oak wood and died peacefully, only sad that he had to leave behind Naru.

-0-

Naru walked up the path to the Aburame compound and silently marveled at the beautiful gardens and traditional living complexes that surrounded her. Flowers of every kind were being pollinated by insects of every species. A sweet smell of honey, silks and fresh fruit flittered in a wave of calm serenity. Suddenly Naru felt a craving for a peach or an orange, any one would do. Out of the corner of her eyes, she would sometimes see one of the Aburame clan members either walking, meditating, or tending the grounds. It seemed a love of nature bloomed well in the Aburame clan. Sighing in wistfulness, Naru continued her trek up to the main house, the place though traditional, seemed to tower over the young Uzumaki, making her shiver unconsciously. A odd feeling seemed to arise in her; would Shino's parents even like her? A feeling of fear followed that thought making her hesitate in her steps. Not that it mattered much as she was up at the door anyways, her small hand gently rapped out a volley of small, timid knocks. In the back of her mind she had a unique urge for nobody to be home so she could leave, but she didn't act on it knowing how much this seemed to mean for her best friend.

Shino meant the world to her, when she was down he made her happy and he seemed to be the only one who cared enough to stay with her besides the Hokage and the people who ran the ramen stand. no, it wouldn't be fair to run away from something new just because it was different.

She could hear the sound of slightly muffled feet hitting the floors as the person on the other side of the door walked closer. her heart started to beat a uncomfortable rhythm against her ribs. With a long, suffering sigh, Naru stood a little straighter and gave a mental check to see if she was still presentable, it wouldn't bode well for her if she showed up looking like a slob. The door opened and she came face to face with Shino, who just stood there looking like an idiot for several minutes. Naru was becoming a little peeved with her friend, she couldn't get him to respond even though she had called his name and waved his hand in front of his face. well, this was just great, here she was all dressed up and on time and Shino apparently went to lala land instead of doing his job introducing his friend to his family.

"oi, Shino what are you doing? Ya gonna let me in or what? Hey buddy, I'm talking to you." Naru gave a heaving sigh of irritation and walked closer to her taller companion. Seriously, Shino was the tallest person in their class with, sadly, her being the shortest. It made simple things, like whispering into his ear about how much of a bastard Sasuke-teme was, a challenge.

Suddenly a smooth, warm voice moved the air above her and Shino, "welcome to the Aburame compound Uzumaki-chan. I see you've already done a number on my son." Naru looked up and gasped in awe. It was a tall women who looked a little like Shino, she was probably the most beautiful women she had ever seen. With an embarrassed blush, she gave a slight nod of her head, whispering mentally that she was out of her element.

The women laughed and then gave a more sly look at her son, who was still marveling at his usually tomboyish friends change in attire, and winked at the still blushing girl. Aww, they would make the cutest couple once they learned that they were already falling for the other. A small sigh escaped her, it truly did remind her how she and her husband met and acted. "well, Uzumaki-san it seems I should not have let Shino open up the door if he is just going to stand there and not invite such a pretty girl like yourself in. I swear he gets his attitude from his fathers genes not mine."

Naru laughed as she moved past her statuesque friend and followed his mother into the home. Here she had been worrying that they wouldn't like her and now she was laughing as his mother made funny quips to annoy her friend. What had she been afraid of anyways.

-0-

Shino didn't know how long he stood in front of the open door nor did he even register when his mother showed up. He did know that Naru had followed her inside and had left him outside-well it was more of his fault for being pleasantly surprised, but still.

Deftly turning on his heel, Shino stalked back into the main house determined to find out where Naru had been taken. He knew his mother was…unconventional, but it still didn't permit her from taking his friend away, how was he supposed to keep her safe if he couldn't even see her.

He found them in the living room looking through some photo albums that his mother had kept around just to embarrass him in front of company. He blushed scarlet and hoped to all that was holy and pure in the world for no one to look his way and see.

"oi, Shino why are you blushing? Oh, look you were such a cute baby Shino…Shino you okay, ya look a little pale?"

Luck was not on his side.

He felt so embarrassed that Naru had seen him as a baby and what was worse was in all those pictures he wasn't wearing clothes. Touché mother, touché. He grumbled a thanks and walked over to one of the low couches and pretended he was invisible until dinner was ready. It was the longest hour of his life as both Naru and his mother simple couldn't resist teasing him about his apparent cuteness. Oh joy.

When his mother walked out to check on the food, Shino saw his chance to talk with his friend, it wasn't that he didn't want his mother to hear it was just that he valued his privacy with Naru when they conversed, it was special for them.

"Naru, are you okay?" he tried to remain as calm as possible, as Naru responded best to his methods. He watched as she lowered her gaze to the floor and gave a slight inclination of her head. He frowned, he wanted her to talk with him not shut him out. "Naru! Look at me. I'm always going to be there for you, no one will harm you or treat you badly in my presence…you are my best friend, I want to see you happy."

She didn't look up but she did move closer to him so she could give him a small hug. It was her way of showing her thanks.

Tsumiki smiled as she watched the two from behind the wall. She now knew why her son cared so much about the pretty Uzumaki girl. She was the spitting image of her father and carried the personality of her mother. 'ah Kushina, Minato if only you both had lived long enough to witness this moment in your daughters life. Ha-ha, Kushina you would have laughed and cheered on my son while restraining Minato from actively trying to kill the boy. You both should be proud of her and don't worry, I haven't forgotten my promise to you both.'

With a sense of accomplishment, she walked out and announced that dinner was ready and apologized for her missing husband. All in all dinner was a success and Tsumiki was happy her son had made a great friend-though if she had anything to do about it the would be more than friends by the time they were in their teens.

She couldn't wait.