It has been a long time since I've written something beyond a thousand words that wasn't an essay.

Also no idea when chapter 19 will be done or how long it will be, I plan to go back and edit/rewrite all of the previous chapters because younger me was... He was just going batshit crazy from my point of view so yeah they'll all be updated to their new edited forms at the same time hopefully.

Ramen had always been one of the most precious things in Naruto's life ever since he had first tasted the salt filled dish. It had been a corner stone of his years before he had started out at the academy and had been a major building block for his close relationship with Iruka during his time there. The noodle broth concoction had always been able to sate him and bring small levels of joy with each mouthful, especially when eating out at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Although the establishment small, it had always seemed impossibly big to Naruto with its warm and inviting atmosphere and the friendliness of Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. Who had over time become a family for Naruto from such a young age a family who he could talk to about his training and pranks without being judged with the occasional criticism from Ayame.

Even with all those experiences surrounding such a simple food, the warmth and joy of eating at Ichiraku as the temperature begun it's gradual plunge following the suns slow descent. Naruto couldn't help the feeling of dread and guilt that had overridden all of his cerebral processes when Tayuya had filled him in, on what had transpired during his comatose like state of unconsciousness. She did however withhold information regarding the new fox mark adorning her flesh, along with the unsettling news about her exponentially explosive growth in chakra and the gained ability of a healing factor similar to that of a jinchuuriki.

Naruto sat perched on his usual stool with a complete look of indifference masking his thoughts while his ramen lay before him untouched and cooling under the worried gaze of Ayame. She had been watching him since he and Tayuya had arrived as he had worn the exact same expression. It unsettled Ayame to no end that the usually loud and excited blonde who she had come to think of as a little brother, could look so.

Emotionless.

She continued to stare for a few moments longer trying to figure out what could put the blonde in such a stoic mood, while her gaze switched to Tayuya who was also unusually quiet from what Ayame had gathered from the interactions she had, had with the redhead. A frown begun to slowly form as her thoughts bounced around throwing different scenarios into the forefront of her mind, she found herself moving on autopilot as the small white curtain lifted allowing a simple elderly women to enter down. Ayame briefly wondered if she was being rude as she more or less ignoring everything the woman was saying to he. She felt hearing herself call out whatever the woman had told her to her father, who in turn gave her a funny look. Ignoring the look he had given her Ayame returned her full undivided attention back on the two teens.

Naruto was still staring down at his bowl with the occasional blink to show he was in fact alive still, while Tayuya seemed to be finishing her own off before grabbing Naruto's right hand resting on the counter, whispering something that got him to let out a nod and a sigh. They both got up off of their stools Naruto neatly placing ryo between their bowls before leaving without saying his usual goodbye to Teuchi and Ayame. Her frown deepened further and she found herself unconsciously chewing her bottom lip in a manner that was a mix between worry and nervousness.

"Ayame stop worrying about them, a ninja's life is hard" Ayame turned to face her father who had his back turned while he attended to the various pots of ramen arrayed in front of him.

"Aren't you worried too? I've never seen him like that before" A sigh followed her words.

"Of course I'm worried, but I tell myself he'll be fine. Especially now that he has that Tayuya girl in his life" Teuchi continued to keep his back turned to Ayame who still held her frown.

"Life is full of hardships for everyone Ayame, and as a ninja Naruto will encounter them more than either of us ever will." Teuchi satisfied with the ramen for now, turned down the stoves heat to keep the ramen hot in case anymore customers showed up. He turned to Ayame with a tired look.

"I'm going to go take a break in the back and change into more casual clothes" He let out a small chuckle.

"Finally starting to feel my old age" He said before entering the small back room of the ramen stand where they kept a small sink for washing up bowls and cooking utensils over the course of the day. Along with three lockers, one for each of them to keep a spare set of clothes in with the third belonging to the occasional help that was hired when either father or daughter feel ill or injured.

"What about this woman's order?" Ayame said pointing over her shoulder with a thumb.

Teuchi poked his head around the back rooms door with the same funny look he'd given her earlier. "What woman?" His head slipped back into the room and the metallic rasp of a locker opening reached Ayame's ears.

Frowning Ayame turned to look at the elderly woman who had taken a seat early, seeing her still seated on her stool a small smile playing on her lips. It was only then that Ayame took in the woman's appearance of jet black hair without a hint of graying to be seen. Done up in a simple yet elegant bun that left not a single hair out of place. Her face itself was rather odd in that it looked both old and young simultaneously, her skin was in fact like perfectly smooth white porcelain while still giving the impression that she was most definitely past her younger years. It had a lot to do with the hard edge her piercing green eyes held that drove Ayame to feel the woman had seen and experienced more in her life, than could possibly be comprehended by Ayame herself. The clothing she wore consisted of a faded light blue kimono that was decorated with a incredibly detailed floral array on the left shoulder extending down across the torso horizontally meeting and passing under a similar designed faded light blue belt, making the floral design appear to transfer onto the belt before returning back to the kimono and gathering on the right hip. To Ayame it resembled something a Hyuuga woman would be seen in during a festival.

The woman's appearance for an unknown reason sent a chill down Ayame's spine and she could help, but fake a small easy smile to hide the uneasiness creeping over her. A uneasiness that quickly surpassed the one she had felt when Naruto had entered looking devoid of emotion. Ayame immediately thought that perhaps the woman was a ninja, being it the only explanation at her father's apparent inability to see or hear the woman.

"Staring is considered rude by a lot of people my dear" The woman's small smile widened as her raspy voice left her, causing Ayame to jump a little having been tunnel visioned on how the woman looked.

Turning her side to the side and faking a cough, Ayame walked to the other side of the counter collecting both the ryo and bowls left by Naruto and Tayuya. "My apologies miss, let me just get this cleared and I'll get your order for you" Keeping her eyes down on the counter, slipping the ryo into a breast small pocket in her robe. Plucking the wooden chopsticks from Tayuya's empty bowl and placing them into Naruto's allowing her to stack the still full one onto the other.

"Oh, I didn't take any offence my dear..." A uneasy silence followed and Ayame found herself hesitating and question if looking up from the counter and at the woman would be a good idea.

"Just think of it as some friendly advice" Ayame felt another chill run down her spine, able to detect the tone shift in the woman's voice from years of having to deal with all variants of your average customer.

"There's no knowing how some people will act, with what little time is left" The words were a sinister whisper in her ear and it caused Ayame to flinch, turning to face where the woman had been seated so quickly, that she narrowly avoided knocking over the bowls she had just stacked together.

Her voice had been so close. So close that she had to have been breathing right down Ayame's neck. Yet the woman was gone, her seat empty the ramen stand completely vacant of anyone except herself and her father. Her heartbeat was erratic, trying to burst through her rib cage with the speeds it was reaching. Her breathing had grown fast and uneven as a unnatural sense of fear and dread bore down on her. Forcing herself to take a few calm and even breaths to prevent herself from hyperventilating. Placing trembling hands down on the counter to steady herself, she focused on taking a deep breath in through her nose before slowly exhaling. She continued to do so until her heart rate begun to slow and steady before with one final breath she picked up the two bowls and made her way into the back room.

Her father had switched into a pair of dark green pants and simple blue long sleeved shirt that helped to fight off the cold the two articles of clothing were completely miss matched, yet he still wore them because they had been the last things her mother had bought for him before she had passed away. Speaking of her mother as she passed behind her father Ayame could see a photo sandwiched between the wall of the locker and his now fondled cooking attire of her mother smiling beneath a cherry blossom tree. Setting the bowls down in the center of the sink she picked up the one resting on top, she carefully poured the ramen broth into the sink using two chopsticks to keep the noodle from falling out. Once the bowl was completely drained of broth the noodles were dumped into a bin that sat beside the sink on the floor.

All that was left was to gives both bowls a quick rinse to ensure nothing adhered to their surfaces so that they could be easily leaned with hot water tomorrow, but as Ayame reached over to the tap she took in the trembling of her right hand. Having to grip the taps handle until her knuckles turned white to make it stop. It was hard for her keep track of how long she just kept her hand clenched on the tap handle, but was jolted into motion by her father talking behind her.

"Are you okay?"

Ayame turn the tap as soon as the words reached her. With a whoosh water slammed into the bowl that had remained in the sink the water immediately beginning to fill it.

"I-I'm fine, just thinking about Naruto still..." Ayame didn't turn to speak to her father instead choosing to keep her head down and hands moving quickly to rinse the bowls and chopsticks to hide the trembling of her hands from him. She didn't like lying to her father, but she hated making him worry over her more so. She finished the rinsing quickly and snapped the tap off. Silencing the constant whoosh of water, leaving the room quiet.

"Hm... Alright, just make sure to tell me if there is"

"Of course dad, I know you're always here for me" Ayame kept looking into the sink her trembling hands pressed tight against her body to make sure they went unnoticed. Letting out a sigh as she the metallic clunk of his locker closing and the shuffling of his feet moving back into the front.

Eyes locked on her hands feeling a few tears gathering in her eyes, instinctively blinking when she felt them. All she could was hurriedly wipe them and whisper to herself "What's wrong with me...?"

Konoha hospital was a very eerie place as the sun went down, the only occupants being the patients, doctors, chunin guards and nurses who were stuck working the night shift. Tayuya had spent almost every waking moment in the hospital by Naruto's side and even she felt an extra chill pass over her as they entered the main lobby of the medical building. They were immediately noticed by a lone brunette nurse sitting at the receptionists desk who had until they entered, had been contemplating if her boyfriend was cheating on her with her best friend.

"Visiting hours are over" Having delivered the message that she had said hundreds of times to various people over the year,s the nurse returned to her previous thought. It didn't take her long though to notice the Naruto and Tayuya still heading towards the west corridor that led to the high risk patient quarters.

"Hey!" Two heads swiveled to look at her, hesitating when Tayuya leveled a death glare at her as they kept moving.

"S-Stop!" They didn't stop.

"I'll... I'll call security!" They both stopped with Tayuya letting out a sound bordering between undying rage and complete frustration. Naruto put up a weak fight to stop her from marching over to the receptionist nurse fearing that after having been relatively quiet all day she would explode.

The nurse's eyes begun to widening with each advancing step from Tayuya and she shrunk back into her chair in an attempt to hide. Upholding the hospitals no visitation rule after five wasn't worth dying over. Tayuya slammed her hands down on the reception counter as soon as she reach it, with enough force that a sharp Slap! echoed all around in the lobby bouncing down various corridors that branched off into the building.

"Listen here you fucking two day old dog shit excuse of a person" Tayuya's words were a seething whisper said through gritted teeth. Her hands unconsciously clenching in a way to contain the anger that had built up over the course of the day with no one to unleash it on.

"You say one more, just one fucking word, and I swear to whatever deity watches over you that I'll slam your face into the ground repeatedly until I've beaten all that shit you call make-up right off" She leaned over the counter her eyes turning a violent and malevolent shade of light orange that had the nurse shrinking further into her seat.

"Someone who my boyfriend cares about a whole lot is here, and you can fucking beat whatever fucking chump you open your legs won't fuck you after I'm done redecorating the walls with your blood." Tayuya didn't know why, but she felt an over-whelming amount of hostility and hate growing inside of her with each word she spoke and unseen beneath her shirt her new fox mark glowed brightly. Her canines grew and extended out of her mouth.

"Just so I'm clear, I'll torture you first, I will break you, I will make you my bitch and whore you out. You will cease to recognize the taste of anything except a dick fucking your face so hard that you'll vomit." The nurse begun to cry, but Tayuya wasn't done.

"So the next time you open that cunt mouth of yours and it isn't so you can choke on whoever's dick bought you for the night. You better fucking hope I'm not nearby to hear you speak or i will flail you like a fucking fish." Tayuya's rage reached its high point.

"Am I understood bitch?" The nurse had tears streaming down her face, Tayuya was bent as far over the counter as she could manage so that she was staring directly into the nurses face. Snarling with a animalistic rage in the nurse's face.

"I said..."Another snarl.

"Am I understood bitch!" Tayuya didn't mean to yell, but it did seem to shake her out of whatever rage had taken over her when the shout left her. She drew back from the now sobbing nurse who was frantically nodding her head up and down.

Tayuya stepped away from the reception counter shaking her head back and forth, trying to clear the red haze that had suddenly manifested itself. Her eyes unseen by both herself and Naruto flickered back to their usual chocolate brown, her canines retracted. She slowly turned to face Naruto who looked at her with worry, it having replaced his stoic expression. Slowly walking back over to him Tayuya felt a small amount of shame in her gut at lashing out at the nurse in such a harsh manner, all it would have taken was to say the Hokage wanted to see them.

"Tayuya are you feeling okay?" Naruto's voice was soft as he reached out to take her left hand in his right giving it a small squeeze.

"I think so" Tayuya could hear how unsure she sounded, hating it immensely.

"Let's just go see Granny and Pervy Sage" He tried his best to give a reassuring smile that she weakly imitated before looking over her shoulder and the nurse who still was crying.

"Sorry... About that" The nurse looked at her through red puffer eyes before more sobbing burst out from her causing Tayuya to sigh.

"I'm such a horrible person" Tayuya may have been a mean person to almost everyone she had met at one point or another especially during the first few days in Konoha, and she had never regret it mainly because she had felt they had all deserved her verbal abuse. Yet here she was threatening some random nurse who was just doing her job working the graveyard shift.

"Maybe you're just tired?" Naruto proposed halfheartedly as they proceeded down the west corridor.

Tayuya didn't respond, idly scratching her left shoulder. Focusing on just placing one foot in front of the other and not going into another semi psychotic rage if they came across anyone. She was glad for having Naruto's hand in her own as a reminder that she was trying to change, trying to be someone she felt would have the right to be with someone like Naruto. Even though she knew he didn't care too much about he confrontational and at times abrasive personality. Veering herself away from such thoughts as they often led to self-doubt that had been plaguing her both before and after they had kissed, fearing he would eventually lose interest in her. They continued walked for a short while until they reached a point where the corridor reach a set of stairs leading to the next level, along with a second corridor branching off to the right. They took the left turn and through a set of double doors that led into the high risk patient area, people who weren't at risk of dying, but were in a condition that could become lethal if not closely watched over.

Tsuande was sitting in a chair positioned in the middle of the corridor up against the right wall between the rooms marked with a four and six. She seemed to be exhausted possibly from having been caring for one too many patients over the course of the day. Slowly getting up out of what had become her favorite place in the entire hospital, Tsuande ushered the two teens over to door five, stopping with her hand on the handle. She looked at Naruto's impassive face and sighed.

"I'm guessing you told him what happened?" Tsunade said with a questioning eyebrow raise. Tayuya simply nodded her head. Tsunade in turn opened the door letting Naruto enter the faintly lit room, but placed a hand on Tayuya's shoulder to stop her from entering after him. Naruto could feel Tayuya's sudden stop and turned around to question Tsuande, but was stopped before he even could.

"I just need to talk to Tayuya about something"

Tayuya looked at him expectantly waiting for him to let go of her hand finding it sweet that he wanted her by his side, but quite annoying that he still hadn't. "Jeez shithead it's not like she's going to kill me" Tayuya using his nickname without think, but found herself second guessing her remark about being kileld rather quickly shooting a sideways glance at the older blond.

"You're not going to kill me right?" Tsunade sighed heavily pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"I'm not going to kill you"

"Can't you talk to her inside?" Naruto's grip lightly tightened on Tayuya's hand, and her brown eyes softened in realization at his hesitation.

"He's depressed"

"Shithead, I'll be right back you don't need to worry" Tayuya stepped forward and gave him a small peck on the cheek before smiling, getting a smile in return along with Naruto letting go of her hand allowing Tsunade to lead her away from the door. Showing no outwards signs of shock or surprise at their display of affection. Tsunade looked towards the room making sure Naruto was inside before turning to look down at Tayuya.

"How quiet has he been since you told him?" The fearful tone in her voice wasn't lost on Tayuya, making her feel uncomfortably certain that her assumption about him being depressed was right.

"He hasn't said much, I thought he was just thinking it all over or that he was really worried about the old pervert" Tayuya felt weirdly uncomfortable as Tsuande continued to stare down at her, feeling a small amount of anger bubbling up in her thoughts.

"Is he depressed?" Her tone suddenly grew protective and ever so slightly aggressive causing Tsuande to give her a question look before replying. Seeming to take time in wording her response in light of Tayuya's sudden attitude change.

"When someone gets hurt around him, Naruto tends to put all the blame on himself and exaggerates it to the point that he reaches a stage where he is, from a medical stand point. Clinically depressed" Tsuande tried to gauge Tayuya's reaction taking in the girls deepening frown, eyes that seemed to switch from glaring at her to being filled with worry, while keeping both he hands clenching into tight fists at her side.

"Tayuya... Are you feeling okay?" It looked as if Tayuya was ready to lash out at the older woman with a verbal assault of some kind, but yeah posture relaxed, all the anger that had begun to show on her face disappearing. Taking in a deep breath her hands slowly opened.

"I-I'm fine, is there anything i can do?" Tsunade regarded her with a skeptical look, but sighed and shook her head.

"There's nothing you can do, except making sure he gets some sleep and just be there for him if he opens up to you" She almost sounded like a mother in that moment, a mother at a lost as to what she could do to help her child.

"Can i go in now?"

"Yes of course just be gone by the time i get back, after doing my rounds. Visitation hours are over after all. I bent the rules allowing you to stay with Naruto, the nurses will throw a tantrum if they catch you back here" Tayuya gave her an awkward smile and laugh before sidestepping around the blonde and proceeding into room five. All she found was a Naruto statue sitting down in a simple fold chat next to the unconscious form of Jiraiya.

Night had fallen over Konoha bathing the entire village in the eerie pale light of a high crescent moon that hung at it's zenith in the clear star filled sky. A rolling cold chill had long since settled over the everything and everyone forcing all into the confines of their beds in an effort to fight it off. It was in such a bed that Tayuya's eyes slowly crept open, not going beyond being half open as the weight of sleep attempted to drag them back shut. Yet sleep failed to retake control of her mind as the distinct absence of a certain human heater wasn't in the bed with her, so bundling up the comforter around her body Tayuya slowly lifted herself up into a sitting position. Gingerly she put one foot over the edge of the bed, hissing in pain with the shock of the sheer coldness of the floor shot like icy fire through her nervous system. Her eyes snapped wide awake as she struggled to keep her foot on the ground forcing herself to overcome the cold that was quickly sapping the heat out of her body with each passing second. Placing her second foot down and after overcoming a second shock of icy fire through her nervous system, Tayuya softly padded bare foot out of the bedroom. Making her way through their tomb of a house, unable to stop her shivering even with the warmth still contained by the comforter surrounding her. She had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the pitch blackness of the house, but was surprised when it all seemed to lighten up all of a sudden as if she was simply standing in the shadow of a tree or building. With her new found night vision, Tayuya set out for the front room of the house assuming Naruto had most likely gone to sit on the couch by himself.

"Probably didn't want to bother me" She shook her head at the thought, she both loved and hated Naruto and his thoughtfulness about bothering others with his own problems. However she was also now his girlfriend and she sure as well wasn't going to let him wallow in depression. self hatred and pity alone at night. Reaching the end of the hallway that ran through the house, she turned to see Naruto exactly as she thought she would sitting on the couch, head leaned back, eyes closed with his arms laying limply by his sides. She took in the way his blonde hair sat more natural on his head giving him a older appearance without his headband to restrict it.

Shivering at the cold that ate away at her bare feet sapping as much heat from her body as possible, Tayuya shuffled over to the couch before bending over to move his left hand so she could drape it around herself. At her touch one of Naruto's eyes cracked open to stare at her, allowing her to see the pain he so desperately tried to keep bottled up inside himself that only served the purpose of allowing him to mentally tear himself apart. Plopping down on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her in an attempt to warm them faster, she wrapped his left arm around her. She didn't lean ehr head on his shoulder immediately, instead choosing to stare at him as she idly stroked her thumb across the back of his hand hoping he would tell her what was wrong. More importantly hoping he would tell her as a friend and nothing more, not wanting to have the trust they had growing between them to be altered by their now very young and undeveloped romantic relationship.

"Come on say something... Anything!"

"You should go back to bed Tayuya" His voice sounded unnatural soft to Tayuya's ears and she found herself leaning her head into the crook of his neck where she let out a sigh.

"I forget he's as stubborn as I am about this sort of thing"

"Naruto, I'm not going to let you sit out here by yourself in the cold. Just so you can think about how what happened is all your fault..." She sighed softly into his neck leaning into his body, his abnormal body heat quickly engulfing her in its comforting embrace.

"It is though... They were after me, they were going to kill you and they almost killed Pervy Sage..." Tayuya could hear it in his voice, the sense of hopelessness and despair she herself had been in a constant battle with the same feeling when serving under Orochimaru.

"Dammit shithead, we're ninja there's always going to be someone after you or after me. Whenever we go on a mission run the possibility of making enemies" Tayuya slipped her right arm out and around his waist in a one handed hug.

"It's how our lives will always be as ninja, so you can't do this when something happens. You can't try and deal with feelings of guilt by yourself" She felt his grip pull her ever so closer to him, as his head tilted to rest atop her own.

"I'm always here for you Naruto, okay?" She sighed before continuing.

"Even if this doesn't work out I'll be here for you and I hope you'll be there for me, everyone needs someone to talk to" Silence followed her words and settled over the two of them, with only their warm breaths reaching the others ears. A few minutes passed before Naruto finally responded.

"I don't want you to annoy you with my problems Tayuya" A brief pause and she could both feel and hear him take in a calming breath.

"I don't want to be a burden..." His words trailed off and she felt a dull throb in her chest at the words. Pulling her head out from under his and away from his neck, Tayuya took in the tears that glistened along edges of his eyes that fought to keep them from spilling over. Gently placing both her hands on either side of his face, Tayuya looked directly into his eyes and smiled softly.

"Naruto do you know how happy you make me feel? How much it means to me to know there's someone I can trust to talk to? Someone I know cares about me and would look for me if i went missing. Someone who I know would do everything they could to try and cheer me up if they found me crying? You'll never be a burden to me Naruto" She stroked one of his whisker marks slowly with her right thumb.

"I am right here when you're ready to talk to me, ready to help you get past it" She leaned forward and kissed him softly for a mere four seconds before pulling back. He gave her a small smile then proceeding to turn sideways and wrap his arms around her in a hug holding him close to his chest. Her hands slipping from his face to his shoulder before encircling him to return the gesture. They stayed in that position for at least ten minutes both comfortable with the silence, but it came to an end when Naruto pulled back.

"What if I'm never ready to talk about it?" Tayuya's face in a large grin at his words.

"Then i guess I'll have to pry it out of you word by word" He grinned in return.

"I don't know if I've said it before, but I'm really glad i met you Tayuya"

"You aren't to bad yourself shithead"

So like, this is a thing right? At least I hope it's a thing. Also the random creepy old lady may seem completely random, but don't worry It'll tie in much later so don't forge about he creepy old lady. It's midnight I'm tired goodnight