A Shinobi's Will

Last Preparations (Chapter 2)

(Konoha Streets) 

Shizune had a sad look as she had searched for the blonde man. She had searched his favorite places. He wasn't even in his most visited ramen stand, Ichiraku. She walked through  the crowd thinking where Naruto could be when in the corner of her eye she saw an yellow haired blur. She saw as Naruto ran through the crowd toward a the shop district. She wasted no time and ran, following Naruto. Naruto sensed some one and turned around to see Shizune following him. He stopped and turned around. Sadly, she did not see him stop and crashed into him. Both teens fell on to the floor. Naruto and Shizune blushed at how how close they were and in the position they were in. Both stood up and cleaned themselves. "Sorry Naruto-kun." Shizune barely said above a whisper. Naruto looked at her for a moment. "No, I'm sorry. I should have not stopped so suddenly. Maybe I can make it up to you by inviting you some other time. Right now though, I have to go to a weapon shop." He said as he turned to leave. Shizune acted quick and grabbed his hand. "Wait Naruto-kun, let me help you. I know you want to do this alone but I am a friend. Please." She said. Naruto stared into her eyes. Over the years of the torture from the village, he had gained the ability to tell if a person was trying to deceive him. He stared into her onyx eyes and saw no ill intentions toward him. "Um... sure. Why not, it can't hurt to have a person helping me." He said as he gave her a genuine smile that no one had ever seen. Shizune felt butterflies in her stomach as Naruto gave her that smile. Naruto signaled her to follow him. "So where are we going?"Shizune asked. "I was going to go by some weapons. At least 20-40 kunais, senbons, shirukens, and a sword." Naruto said as the shop was in their eye sight. "Do you have enough money. I could let you-" Shizune was cut off as Naruto told her how much money he had. "I have 1, 500,000 ryo" He said. Her jaw dropped as she heard the amount of money. Teens like them only usually had about 200,000 to 400,000 ryo. "How did you get so much?" She asked.She sweat dropped as she heard his answer. "Gambling." They finally arrived at the store. As they searched, Tenten, one of the Konoha 12 members, appeared. "Oh, hey guys looking for something." She said. Naruto shook his head and walked into an aisle while Shizune started talking with Tenten. Naruto had gotten everything but a sword. He continued searching until he felt as if something was calling him. He walked toward the invisible force until he came face to face with a black sword with a gray outline on the sharp side and red bandages sewed on to the hilt.   

The sword was inside a glass case that had no lock. Naruto assumed it was to let people test the weight of the weapon. Naruto grabbed the glass case and took it off to grab the sword. What he did not notice was a seal that only disappeared if the sword belonged to that person or its blood relatives. Naruto approached the counter with the items. Tenten noticed the sword and demanded to know how he got it. "What do you mean? The sword was just there with no lock. I just grabbed it and brought it here to buy it." Naruto said confused. Tenten looked dumbfounded and decided she would ask her father later. "OK that will be 45,000 ryo." Naruto pulled the money out and gave exact change. He left while storing the items in a storage seal while carrying the sword in a sheathe. Shizune followed him. By the time they had gotten out, it was 6 pm. "Well I need to go home and rest. Maybe we could meet tomorrow for lunch?" Shizune asked hopefully. He remembered his schedule and nodded his head. She smiled and soon ran off. Naruto, not wasting time, also left to sleep. He would need as much energy as he could for training.