Magnet
Raindrop Memory

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Summary: Deciding to pursue her career as a medical doctor even further in Konohagakure, Amaru bids farewell to her home village, and arrives in the busy village of Leaf shinobi. However, she isn't exactly welcomed with open arms… things go a wry the moment she tries to sought after the man who had helped her nearly two years ago – Uzumaki Naruto.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own the concept, original story/plot, canon characters, etc. of Naruto/Naruto: Shippuuden. The images, animations and publishing all belong to creator Kishimoto Masashi, TV Tokyo and Shounen Jump!.

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Chapter Two

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Dusk was falling into a deep night by the time they had reached the apartment complexes. The units were stacked somewhat eerily upon another, forming strange shapes in the darkness with occasional glints of white from the moonlight hovering above. Amaru gripped her rucksack tightly as she followed Naruto into the small passage that lead to the front entrances.

"Well! Here we are." He dimly managed aloud, shooting a quick backward glance at her before ascending the flight of fire-escape stairs, up towards a few levels. Amaru followed closely from behind, and she couldn't help but to notice the sounds of night crickets and late cicadas humming their tune peacefully despite the morbid situation she was in. As if they were openly mocking her, she only clutched her things to her chest tighter, feeling the uneasy distraught stirring inside her.

The stairs extended to a broad platform, where various other tenants living in separate apartments were filed in a single line like a row in front of Amaru's eyes. It was something that was still rather alien to her, as she was accustomed in living little huts in her village, and those were often scattered randomly about near the river. Holding her questions on her tongue, Amaru silently followed the blonde-haired ninja further up a few more stairs, until the fourth or fifth platform which, much to her horror, leered and jutted dangerously out in mid-air, distancing themselves quite a length from the floor.

Unlocking the door quickly, Naruto pushed the door of his cramped apartment open, making his way in where he kicked off his padded sandals, unzipping his jacket. Amaru blinked a little, before doing the same, and slipped off her boots, her socks padding silently upon the floorboards as she followed him.

"Uhmm…" Naruto stopped, glancing around him. "The stove and fridge are by your right there." He gestured, and sure enough, by the very corner was a small oven and stove-top, complete with a kitchen's countertop that curved around. Possibly used for cooking or dining upon, Amaru noted. Naruto continued.

"If you keep heading past the kitchen there… the bathroom's just right there, with the toilet and my room."

Amaru nodded.

"And we're standing in the living room." Naruto felt a drop of sweat slide down to his chin.

"I know." Amaru pointedly replied.

"I'll… just get things ready." Naruto scurried away to the depths of his room, and Amaru let out an exasperated sigh. At first she was convinced that perhaps living with boy her age shouldn't be too bad, considering it was normal of siblings of the opposite sex to live together anyway. But they weren't siblings. And this was Naruto we're talking about. Dropping her rucksack by the couch, she plopped down, feeling immensely tired from all the traveling, the shouting, and the surprise she'd received from Shizune…

Turning over to her side in a dejected manner, Amaru laid in that position for a few minutes, her mind wandering. She could hear Naruto cleaning up messily, and was going back and forth from a closet. 'He's probably trying it hide his mess.' She thought hazily, before sitting back up. Sniffing herself, Amaru made a face, obviously not pleased by her own state of cleanliness.

Standing up, she went over to the entrance of his room, where she saw Naruto furiously changing bed sheets and linen, whipping up a storm of a mess in the process. "Uhm… Naruto…?"

He glanced up, a little surprised before turning around, scratching the back of his head. "Er, Amaru! What's up?"

"May I use your bath?"

"S-Sure."

"Thank you." Amaru nodded her thanks, before disappearing from view. Naruto stood there, a little frozen in place, before slapping himself.

"S-stop this, Naruto!" He hissed to himself, feeling the familiar heat returning to his face. "Y-You're not Ero-Sennin! E-Even if he lives with you in s-spirit… a-and we're both s-sa- ugh! That's not what I meant!" He threw his hands up in exasperation at the peak of cursing himself, before noticing that Amaru had returned with a change of clothes in her arms, staring back at him as if she didn't know what to say.

"H-Have a good bath!" He blurted out instantly, and she slammed the bathroom door immediately without a reply. The doorknob lock clicked loudly, signaling her precaution of whatever peeking he had planned, had been counterattacked.

Naruto face-palmed, emitting a loud smack in the stillness of the night, face still beet-red, heart still thumping. Was he a pervert? 'Of course not! I'm… I'm a decent man. I think.' He thought miserably, before sinking to a seat upon his bed. This was going to be harder than he originally thought it would be.

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Amaru felt the last bits of air escaping into the bath with her as she slammed the door behind her, the breeze tousling her hair. Leaning against the door, she let out a long sigh, heart pounding. What was that just now? Was he planning some sort of… antic? Visibly shuddering, Amaru lifted her head up, staring the bath with sullen eyes. She should stop this sort of thinking. Honestly, who did she think she was? She had no right to think about herself in such a situation.

Especially since she wasn't anything special in the first place.

Barging into Konoha like that, demanding for lodging, going even to the limits of requesting to be a legalized civilian in pen and ink, it was a bit absurd, now that she thought about it. As the guilt settled in even deeper, Amaru moaned in her hands gently, before turning to face the bathroom door. Locking it quickly, she hung her clothes upon the hooks that were nailed on the door's backside.

The bath was generally clean, much to her surprise. Amaru supposed that a person such as Naruto, a sole wash under the shower daily would suffice, as she noted by a thin film of dust in the bathtub. Letting the water run from the tub tap, she splashed some water over the clean but dusty surface, washing away the dust before plugging the tub, filling it with hot water. Satisfied, she untied her bandanna, letting her wild locks cascade down her back. The bath was gathering steam, and thus she hastily unzipped her vest off, hanging it by the clothes rack nearby.

Quickly glancing about once more, Amaru noticed that there were some clean towels on a upper rack hanging beside the body-length mirror. Taking one down, she placed it by the basin top, and stripped down, whereupon she reached for the shower knob and some shampoo.

Meanwhile outside, Naruto had just finished cleaning out most of the junk in his room, and had given his bed a new change of sheets and bedding. Fluffing up his pillow, he wasn't really sure what to do next, but he felt like he should do something, lest she'd do something violent to him if something's amiss or not suited to her comfort and luxury back home. But then again, she wasn't Sakura. And he wasn't a girl, so he wouldn't know what to think.

Feeling a little agitated, Naruto didn't quite notice he was still in his outdoors clothes, still wearing orange slacks and a thin, black chain-mail mesh shirt like most customary shinobi. He wandered back out to the living room, where he tugged a window open to get some air into the stuffy apartment. What next? His kitchen was bare, and he didn't know if she wanted something to drink or eat after she took a bath. Feeling even more anxious, and after a few minutes of debating, he decided to reach for the phone, the thought of calling Sakura for help easing his numb mind.

Dialing the number (which, for some reason which comes across us, isn't so strange) he knows by heart by now, he pressed the receiver earpiece close to his ear, trudging up some golden locks. Running a hand through his hair in a nervous habit, he listened as the tone continue to ring, before the clatter of a phone being picked up, some clumsily fumbling, and a pleasant voice.

"Hello? Haruno household."

"S-Sakura-chan?" He croaked out, and he could almost imagine her face stiffening up.

"N-Naruto! Why are you calling so late?" She replied in a snappish tone, easily feeling irritated knowing that it was her idiot teammate that was calling. Naruto chuckled nervously.

"T-Tsunade-baa didn't tell you yet?"

Sakura seemed to pause for a moment, before her speaking up once more – unfortunately, with a bit too much sarcasm than Naruto would've liked. "Ohhhh. You mean that. Yes, I've heard of it." There was a bit of bitterness in her tone, and Naruto wasn't sure why his heart tugged at him at that moment.

"W-Well. I need some help."

"With Amaru-kun?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What do you need help on?" Sakura's tone lightened a little, her natural temper toning down once her mind was slowly being wrapped around the issue of a fellow woman in distress.

"She… she seems to be mad at me. I'd figured you would know what to do… y'know, help her make herself at home at my, uh, place." He gulped at the last part, not knowing how well Sakura's reaction would turn out.

"Isn't it natural for every girl to loathe you if they found out that they had to live with you?" She deadpanned, and Naruto sweat-dropped visibly. "S-Sakura-chan…"

"Well. In any case, you should stock up that empty fridge of yours. Buy some fresh fruit. Say, did you check if your milk's expired yet?" Sakura's motherly role took over, and the level of concern in her voice was overwhelming. Naruto shook his head, before realizing dumbly that he was on the phone.

"Uhhh, not yet. And fruit? What? Girls dig that?" He asked incredulously.

Sakura didn't sound too pleased on the other end of the line. "Shows how much you know. Anyway, I'll come over. I'll bring some fruit over. Besides, I haven't seen Amaru-kun yet." There seemed to be a happy perk to her voice now, and Naruto smiled a little. Sakura was overall, honestly a good person.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan. I owe you one."

"Just don't mess up on our next mission, and consider yourself debt-free." She remarked amusedly, before hanging up.

Naruto followed suit, glancing back at the kitchen. Knowing himself, there were probably… breadcrumbs in the cabinets. Yay.

Trotting over, just to make sure the Gods really didn't bestow some sort of miracle to him; he opened each cabinet, checking their contents. There was nothing but plates, glass cups, and a single cup of outdated ramen. Scratching his head as he closed them shut, he swerved around, opening the refrigerator. As Sakura had predicted, there was only a few cartons of milk – one with a distinct smell to boot. Pinching his nose, he pulled the bad carton out, checking inside, before promptly dumping it into the trash can without another thought.

Luckily for him, there was a bottle of Calpis that wasn't touched yet. Remembering that he had purchased a pack of the yoghurt-tasting soda just a few days ago, Naruto figured that it would be safe to drink. He pulled it out, putting in on the counter to contend with it later for Amaru. Perhaps that might ease her mood, he thought dimly.

Closing the fridge door, he sighed again. Quite frankly, he was sighing a lot tonight.

"Man, taking care of a girl and making sure she doesn't pummel you to death is… exhausting." Naruto leaned against the counter top, relaxing for a moment, eyes glazing over as he let his mind drift to a random nothingness in an attempt to clear his head.

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Amaru sank deeper into the water with great pleasure, feeling her entire body's sore bones and aching muscles melt into nothing by the warm waters, enjoying her hot bath therapy to the fullest. It was a delightful change to enjoy her bathing times in private now, especially since back at the village she was too poor to own her own private bath. Going to the public bathhouse wasn't exactly… the most thrilling part of her day, to say at the least. To finally enjoy something such as this was blissful. Life was too good.

Deciding that it was time to get out of the bath as her fingertips and toes were wrinkling up, Amaru got up, getting out of the bath quickly. Water trickled down her lithe legs, and she stepped into the shower area, where all the excess water flowed down to the drain in a decline. Wrapping the towel securely around her body, Amaru picked up a smaller towel and began to dry her hair. Stepping over to the door, she picked up her pajamas, before realizing something.

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Amaru's face crumpled when she realized she forgot something. Something very important.

Almost immediately her hand flew to the doorknob, but realized that Naruto was in the apartment. 'Right. This is his place afterall.' She thought in despair, fingers shaking, heart pounding. But what can she do? Sliding down to her knees, Amaru collapsed to the floor in defeat.

She'd forgotten her bra and panties.

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Naruto paced back and forth in the living room, half anticipating Sakura's arrival, and half anticipating when Amaru would come back from her bath. She was taking an awful long time, but he figured that it was only natural, seeing as Sakura would have taken around the same amount of time. Stopping by the couch, he flopped down in exasperation, feeling tired from just waiting.

"Hurr?" Something soft yet firm was lying beneath his fingers. Glancing to his left, Naruto nearly did a double take, narrowly missing a lamp stand in the process. What was that doing there? What was that doing there?

It was white. And it was lacy.

It was a bra.

Naruto gulped; sweat sliding silently down his temple. There it was, sitting innocently on top of Amaru's pack of belongings. Folded neatly with the straps tucked back, it was just there, shining for the entire world to see.

And it was Amaru's.

'Goddammit, Naruto. It's just a bra. It's completely normal. Very normal.' His brain tried to reassure him, and he pulled his gaze away, forcing himself not to look. But… but the question was… What was it doing there?

It's not like Amaru to leave something like that behind. She was very careful about her things. Especially since the last time he even inquired about her being a woman, he'd received a very painful slap, one which he did not want again.

The answers were clicking in Naruto's head. She'd taken a change of belongings with her prior entering the bath, as he had recalled. So… that means… she'd left it behind?

Which means…

"Oh my God!" He nearly shrieked out in terror, jumping to his feet and fleeing back to his room in safety. He pushed the door behind, not quite closing it, and flicked on the radio in an attempt to distract himself and his wandering thoughts. Amaru was going to kill him. Either way, even if he did nothing wrong, there will be murder tonight.

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'Maybe he's still cleaning up his room.' Amaru thought, and a quick plan formed in her head. If Naruto as she believed, was still cleaning his room, then all she would have to do, was sneak out without him seeing her, snatch her articles of undergarment, and flee back to the bathroom before he notices. Sounds like a good plan.

Gathering up her courage, she silently and slowly unlocked the door, wrenching the doorknob open slowly. Peeking through the crack, she could see the door to his room wasn't exactly closed, but it seemed to be pushed against the door in a loose manner. She could see his back faced against the door through the door crack, busying himself with cleaning something. Sounds of a radio playing inside could be heard. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she opened the bathroom door, where she began to tiptoe out towards the living room.

'Slowly does it, Amaru! Rushing won't help you!' She held her breath as she continued her walk of stealth down the hall, glancing around quickly, before her eyes landed on the rucksack sitting upon the couch. And sitting upon the rucksack, was her bra. And panties, which were tucked beneath that.

'Yosh! I've got it now.' Amaru happily darted forwards, but immediately froze and jumped in fright when something black and large darted across the floorboards right in front of her.

A scream escaped her throat, and she backed up, clutching the towel tightly around her body. Pure fear seized her – nothing else mattered right now, but to kill –

"A-Amaru!" Naruto bellowed, throwing back his bedroom door in a crash, scurrying towards the living room. "What happened?!" He skidded to a halt, when he found her cowering in a corner of the living room, shivering, with nothing on but a towel –

He fought back the incredible urge of a nosebleed at that moment, turning away before he could see anymore, his hand clutching his mouth and nose.

"N-No! Naruto! Kill it!" Amaru shrieked at him, eyes livid. He turned around hesitantly, before noticing the large black spot on the floor.

"C-Cockroach?!" He exclaimed in disbelief, and Amaru had whipped out her scalpel as if it were a means to defend herself against the large roach, which was scuttling around the floor calmly, whiskers twitching tentatively. Well, it looks like the girl had the sense to bring her trusty scalpel around, but not her underwear, it seems. Naruto gulped, looking around. There was a copy of Konoha Daily lying by the tabletop, and he grabbed it, rolling it up.

"I-I'm… I'm not too good with roaches myself…" He shakily said aloud, advancing towards the cockroach carefully. With his blue eyes locked upon the dark target, he raised the roll up like a samurai sword, letting it crash down in a powerful velocity and speed. There was a crunch, and he lifted the roll up, expecting a crushed body beneath.

It wriggled.

And then it scuttled away – towards a frightened Amaru.

"I-It's still alive!"

Without thinking, our blonde hero whipped out a kunai, before throwing it expertly at the fast-moving target, pinning it against the floorboards. It squirmed in a frenzied agony, before it died, legs still twitching slightly afterwards. Amaru was breathing deeply now, the shock still passing overly slowly.

"H-Hey, Amaru." Naruto hesitantly took a step forwards, carefully making his way around the pinned cockroach. "A-Are you… are you alright?"

Amaru looked at him, then back at the cockroach with a terrified expression on her face. "Y-Yeah…" She replied shakily, her eyes still glued on the dead husk and the executioner; the kunai blade.

"Uhm… can you stand up?" Naruto inquired once more, offering a hand. Amaru twitched a little, before taking his hand. "Ahhh… my legs are a little… haha…" She laughed weakly, hoisting herself up with his help. "T-Thanks."

"N-No problem." He fumbled clumsily.

An awkward silence filled the air after that, before the two realized the sort of situation they were in.

"S-Sorry!" He quickly turned around, his back facing her. "You should go get changed." He quietly added, and Amaru glanced away, tomato cheeks flaring back up again. She was about to reach over to her things, when her foot slipped on a puddle of water she had trailed from the bathroom, and the world was tumbling upside-down, her vision blurring from the momentum of her backwards fall…

A loud crash resounded in the apartment, which was followed by a few moans and groans from the two.

The floor was hard, soft, and lumpy at the same time. This was most definitely weird, much to Amaru's surprise. As her vision cleared up and the blotted black faded away, she pushed herself up from the floor, feeling a sore once more.

"A-Amaru…" A weak voice came from beneath. She glanced down.

Naruto, looking thoroughly bruised and battered, was being pinned down by her. A shiver of shock ran through her body. An indescribably sort of noise came from her mouth at their position, and she was about to jump off when the front door opened.

"Oi! Naruto, I'm here. I brought some stuff with me." A rather feminine voice called out. At that moment, Amaru's head swiveled to face the newcomer, her heart dropping into a bucket of liquid nitrogen.

And at that very same moment, the flap of towel that was once oh-so-snug nestled tightly around her torso, came loose and fell apart where her endowment pushed themselves into view. Naruto, whose line of vision was directly in front of everything that was happening, couldn't save the picture into his memory, seeing as the file size was too big for his processors to handle. Everything froze, and his OS died.

He blacked out, but not before a shower of blood came spurting out of his nose.

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Author's Notes: This chapter took a bit longer to write… mainly because I had to plan various scenarios and map them out in my head before going along with the plan. Otherwise, I had fun writing this chapter. Lots of ecchi comedy and whatnot. And to think that I'm a girl as well. I enjoy these things once in a while. It's a guilty pleasure, haha. I'm looking forward in writing the next chapter, so you guys just hang on a bit more! Thanks so much for the encouraging reviews and favourites/alerts. It's really made me happy, honestly.

In case which some of you guys are wondering… the bathroom is a typical Japanese bath. The bathroom is separate from the water closet (where the toilet is). In this case, Naruto's bath is divided into two sections; the shower and the bathtub. Normally, a person would take a quick shower where they clean themselves and wash their hair, before soaking in the tub. That's what I've illustrated in this chapter… just so you won't get confused.

Also, Calpis is a soft-drink of sorts. It has a yoghurt flavour to it, and is a little fizzy resembling like a light soda. It's surprisingly refreshing, and most people enjoy drinking it after a hot bath. One can easily buy a Calpis drink at a local convenience store.