I don't have much to say, so I suppose I'll keep this short.

This is the first story I've actually finished a chapter for in 3 years. Hope you guys enjoy.

Veiled Shinobi

Chapter 1

Uzume sighed contentedly as she walked towards the park. The sun was shining brightly bringing a pleasant warmth that contrasted well with the cooling wind. The sky was a very appealing blue and there were very few clouds.

It probably wasn't safe to be walking around so soon after helping Matsu escape, but she felt she needed to get out and clear her head a little bit. It was hard to live with people like Miya and Homura who possessed absolutely no sense of humor, and with Matsu hiding in a secret room most of the time, she was left without good company. She figured a walk to the park on a nice day would help.

She looked towards the sky and inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air immensely as she continued her walk. A smile spread on her face. Today was really a good day, she thought, a day where one could forget all of their problems-

"Oof!" Her musings were interrupted as she ran into what felt like a wall and fell backwards. She landed on the ground with a rather unlady like grunt.

"Um, are you okay?" She brought her eyes up to look at what, or rather who she had bumped into. He was tall, approximately 6 feet if she had to guess. His hair fell in spiky golden locks over his wide royal blue eyes. His cheeks had peculiar lines that brought to mind whiskers.

The last thing she took note of was the hand extended to offer her help up, which she gratefully accepted.

"Yeah," she laughed her blunder off as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Sorry about that, my mind was wandering."

The man smiled in amusement at her words and Uzume had to hold in a gasp as something within her reacted to that brilliant smile. She felt her face flush with a deep heat, her heart pounding a mile a minute within her breast. He turned to leave and she found herself grabbing a hold of his arm.

"Wait!" She insisted, without fully reasoning why. The man looked at her curiously as she struggled to come up with something else to say. "Um… Are you hungry?"

-O-

"Did I really look that hungry?" the blond said, at least Uzume thought that was what he said, it was hard to tell as he was currently stuffing his face with various types of foods. She chose to ignore this question in favor of her own.

"You really pack it away, don't ya'?" She asked rhetorically in an amused tone. Seriously, it was rare to see even a Sekirei eat this much, it was just ridiculous.

They were currently sitting at a booth in some non-descript restaurant that was only about a block away from where she had bumped into him. The table was packed with pretty much everything the restaurant had on its menu.

If this was how much he usually ate, she had to wonder where he put it all.

"So Naruto-san, do you live around here?" She asked another question, repeating the name he had told her when they introduced themselves on the way to the restaurant.

Naruto shook his head as he gulped down the food that was in his mouth and took a sip of water to clear his throat.

"No, this is actually my first day in town." He stated and then, without further clarification, unceremoniously went back to eating. Uzume smiled fondly at that, this guy didn't really have much in the way of manners, but it was somehow charming.

"Are you a student?" He looked about the age of the other people that were in town for school, so it was a valid hypothesis. Though it was immediately thrown away as he once again shook his head in the negative.

"I'm here for work." He didn't even bother swallowing this time as he said this and went back to work clearing the table of anything that could be considered food.

"What do you do?" At this point even she wasn't sure as to why she was so curious about this man, but something about him fascinated her beyond her understanding. He stared at her for a second before gulping down the rest of his water. It took her a second until she noticed that there was no longer any food on the plates that littered the table.

"Alright," his voice dropped to a whisper and he put on a comically serious face, he beckoned her closer and as she leaned in he cupped one hand to the side of his mouth as if he was about to share a big secret. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm an assassin."

"..."

"..."

She stared blankly at him for a second, which seemed to drag on a little bit before she burst out laughing.

"Pfffthahaha!" she clutched her sides as she struggled to catch her breath. Her eyes were closed tight from laughing too hard, and once she finally managed to open them she saw him staring at her with a satisfied grin lighting his features.

She finally calmed down and took a few breaths before continuing to speak.

"I definitely needed that, thanks." Uzume coughed a little, a few lingering giggles were still trying to escape but she held them in.

"No problem Uzume-chan," He said with a light tone. Uzume noticed he was in the midst of putting away his wallet making her look down and see the bill that was underneath enough money to pay for the meal with a generous tip. She hadn't noticed anyone bringing the bill, so she guessed it happened while she was in hysterics.

"Um, this was going to be my treat." She said, looking up at him confusedly. After all, she was the one who suggested the meal.

"Eh? That makes no sense, you barely ate anything." That was untrue, she ate a healthy portion by any Sekirei's standards, but compared to him, it was probably just an appetizer. Nevertheless, she decided not to argue, he seemed rather adamant about it.

They walked out of the restaurant together and looked at each other, Uzume wasn't completely sure what to do next. They had met in a rather odd way and saying goodbye just seemed rather plain and boring.

"Thanks for the meal!" She said with a friendly smile which he returned with full force. Again something within her reacted and she suddenly felt many degrees hotter.

"It was my pleasure Uzume-chan!" He said and, with a wave goodbye, he turned to walk away.

She understood it now, why she was reacting to him. But, she thought, she couldn't bring herself to involve him with the upcoming disaster. It would be selfish to do so...

"Um, did you need something else Uzume-chan?" She was brought out of her thoughts by Naruto's voice and she looked down to see that she once again was clutching his arm in an effort to stop him from leaving.

"Er… I…" She struggled to come up with a reason as to why she had grabbed him a second time.

"Well, Haihane, look who we found." A voice interrupted her and she looked to the source, her eyes widened as she saw two members of the Disciplinary Squad standing on top of the restaurant that they had just exited.

The one who spoke had pink hair that was pulled into a sideways ponytail. She wore a kimono-like shirt and gloves and she didn't look much older than a teenager. Uzume knew this to be Benitsubasa.

The one who she had been talking to, Haihane, had grey hair and sharp looking eyes. She wore a tattered dark kimono and gauntlets that had scythe-like claws attached to them. She looked a lot calmer than her companion.

"Friends of yours?" Naruto questioned, not taking his eyes off the two.

"Not exactly…" Uzume answered nervously, there was no way she could fight these two on her own when she wasn't even winged yet.

"Alright number 10, tell us where Matsu is and we might go easy on you!" The pink haired one shouted confidently, uncaring of the stares she and her companion were getting from the bystanders.

Uzume cursed silently to herself, she should have known better than to spend so much time out in the open. Fighting was not an option, so that left her with running.

Like a shot she was off, pushing through the crowd and sprinting down the street as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't look back to see if either of the two were giving chase, she just focused on running.

She continued at top speed for a while, until she was sure she had lost the two women. She spared a glance behind her to see no one. Well, almost no one.

"You can run really fast, you know that?" Naruto was right behind her, and looking no worse for wear from all the running. She immediately stopped and stared at him for a second. Before she could ask why he had followed her, she noticed that his arm was still being grasped by a hand. Her hand. She had never let go.

"Oh my god!" She let go quickly, embarrassed by such a mistake. She bowed slightly towards him in apology. "I'm sorry for dragging you all the way out here."

"Here" was the residential area of town where one could find Izumo inn, she had been trying to reach that destination as no one would dare follow her there. The owner of the inn, Miya, was feared by all other Sekirei, making this the safest area in town.

"It's not a problem," Naruto stated cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by what most people would view as a huge inconvenience, if not something more serious. He just smiled at her and turned away for a third time.

Again Uzume felt heated, only this time it was much more demanding.

Again she grabbed his arm.

Again he turned back towards her, and his eyes widened as this time he was met by her lips crashing into his.

With his eyes open he bared full witness to the wings of light that sprouted from her back. He watched in awe as they spread until they took up the full width of the street.

As Uzume pulled back she felt the burning within her subside, though it did not completely disappear, and she felt her wings recede. Perhaps most of all, she felt like she had found a part of her she had lost long ago.

"Well… that was new." The blond whom she still held onto said simply, and in that moment she realized she had just dragged him into the game. The disaster that would no doubt cause many problems for all those involved.

"Naruto," she said, her voice cracking slightly at the realization of what she had brought upon him. "I'm sorry…"

And she tried with everything she was to mean that, but she couldn't regret that kiss…

Chapter End

Beta: Slicerness

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