The Fox And The Tiger

Return

At the entrance stood two people. They were Darui and Yugito. The two had been notified by Ay, of Naruto impending arrival. Nearly two months had gone by since they last saw him and a lot had changed. Nobody just remained at their previous level, they had all worked hard to become stronger and reach new heights.

The question was how Naruto would be. They had no contact from him whatsoever. Nothing until his sudden message of his return. One that he was late for...

"That bastard! Keeping us waiting like this!" Yugito said with clear aggravation in her voice.

"Yo." A voice said from behind and above them. Sitting on top of the gates while waving nonchalantly at her.

"Welcome back Na-"

"YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped down before being hit, and stood behind Darui. "What's going on Darui-sensei. How's it been?"

"Been moving. Some moments dull."

Naruto nodded and looked back to his teammate who was fuming in anger. "And you, Yugito? How's the family?" Immediately she lost all anger and just stood still. Naruto didn't miss this and noticed her frown. "Something wrong?"

"While you were away, about a month into your trip...they died...there was a funeral a couple weeks ago."

Naruto stood silent then slowly walked to her. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and then with his left, gently lifted her chin to look him in the eyes. The slitted eyes were a normal round as he smiled softly. "It's ok if you're sad it's normal...this is a time where you don't need to put up the act."

Her eyes widened in surprise from what he said. It was him that told her to always hide her feelings. Never let anyone see her hurt or anything, otherwise they could control her. However, upon hearing that, the dam she formed broke and tears began to escape her eyes as she started to cry. Naruto just pulled her into his embrace and allowed her to cry fully without saying a word or judging. When she finally stopped crying, she realized that he'd hugged her the whole time while stroking her hair. On top of that, not once was there some witty remark.

He let her freely release all her held in tears and got her to break down her wall. The act she'd been putting up, crumbled immediately with his words, his eyes, and his embrace. Naruto may not be good at expressing his thoughts towards anybody yet, but he knew how to show. Actions were what drove Naruto and told you how he felt about you. Never was it his words.

She sniffled as she looked at down into his eyes and a smile formed. "Thank you, Naruto...I...I needed that."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. "I'm...I'm sorry that I wasn't here...for you. I...am now though. So if you ever need it, you know where I am."

She nodded and smiled again as he released her. "You're still late."

Naruto rolled his eyes with a smirk. "And if I said I was here the whole time, waiting until you had an outburst, would you believe me?"

She looked at him blankly. "That would be the kind of stupid thing you'd do...but Sensei would have sensed you."

Looking at Darui, he sighed in resignation. "Very well. So what's been going on?"

Darui stepped forward. "Well...got some news...you will be excited but...at the same time you may also not."

A confused look graced Naruto's face. This made Yugito get one of her own...Naruto was showing a lot of emotion. Showing reaction to things, he wasn't blank and careless. Just what happened that made him change from how he was?