Naruto ❯ Rubies & Sapphires Book 2: Onyx & Citrine ❯ The Date ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Yo! I'm going to update the first part of the second Rubies and Sapphires part to get things rolling and then go on to the others. Unfortunately, one person PMed me to say he didn't want this made public, but he was too lazy to read the long AN, and told me to stop making them long. He even said it might be against the rules. How stupid. So, you don't have the energy to scroll a mouse wheel down several times, yet you have energy to breathe? That's got to be the most hypocritical thing I've ever read. You know it takes more energy to breathe than to scroll down several times? Not even Shikamaru is that lazy. Want to know this person's penname? It was Howardbrown2. Naturally, he's written no stories of his own. So you know what? I'm going to make an extra long A/N just for you. If you have something to say, have the guts to say it in front of others.

 

For those of you who're worried that Unryu Itachi was just a person I needed to be introduced for that part of the story and then forgotten about, don't worry. I don't introduce OCs and then forget about them. I have plans for him.

 

People who mention that any of my characters are Mary-Sue or anything of the sort will be instantly blocked from now on. When you say `Mary Sue' you're not just labelling the character, you're also severely insulting the author. Go and read the Wikipedia definition of it. Mary-Sue is not a term to be thrown around lightly. You want to know something? I took a `Mary-Sue' test for canon Naruto. The highest rating score was 50 or more, meaning the character is without a doubt a Mary-Sue. Know what Naruto's canon score was? 158. So I thought, hell, why not try a test for canon Gaara? Score: 167. Trust me, every single main character in the canon Naruto universe is a `Mary-Sue'. And you call my versions of Naruto Mary-Sue? That's sad. How can you call my version of Naruto a Mary-Sue when the canon Naruto is so Mary-Sue he's off the charts? I even put all of his faults in there and still got that result. What's another 41 points going to change?

 

I've been thinking of a name for this new fic, and I decided to continue with the colour comparing theme. So, I decided to go with hair colour. The first one that came to mind was Obsidian for Kurenai. Going with the mineral theme, I wracked my brains for another mineral that is known mainly for its' yellow coloured variety. Now, this is where the problem starts. Can anyone tell me the name of a well known yellow mineral apart from gold that everyone knows? `Obsidian and Gold' just doesn't have the ring to it that `Rubies & Sapphires' does. So, instead I could use something like `Bismutohauchecornite', but that would just look incredibly stupid. `Obsidian and Bismutohauchecornite, Spec's newest addition to his NaruxKure story!' Sure, the story would be good, but the name would turn away half of the potential readers before they even clicked the link to open the first chapter… The only other option I could think of at the time was to stick with the colour theme and move away from earthy objects. And this is where I ran into the next problem. Yes, I could use `star' to describe Naruto's hair, however, that's not an accurate term. Stars range in colour from the black/white of neutron stars all the way up to blue super giants. Yellow stars like Sol, commonly known as our Sun, are main stream stars, the most common type in existence. Naruto's particular blonde colour is unique in his world besides Yondaime. That's the first problem. I could use `neutron star' as Kurenai's description, but that would imply she's stupid. Why? Because neutron stars are possibly the most dense objects in existence besides black holes. To give you an idea of how compact their atoms are, take a twenty kilometre wide city. Now, crush all of it into something the size of a marble. That's the scale of density that neutron stars are. So, I'm stuck with earthly objects again… And that's where I ran into the next problem. I went with precious gemstones and decided on Topaz for Naruto. Although the yellow variety of Topaz is not as valuable as the brown or pink varieties, it's possibly the most well known yellow variety of gemstone thanks to Diablo 2. The first one that came to mind for Kurenai was Onyx; however, Onyx is a semi precious gem, not a precious. The only precious gemstone that even has a black variety was diamonds. Now, when you think of diamonds, what colour do you automatically think of first off? Most of you will think `silver/white' or something like that. Stupid thing is it's another example of people clinging to things they understand, labelling everything else as a lie. Gems come in a wide range of colours. In fact, there are practically no gems that come in one colour only. If I did decide to call this Diamonds & Topaz, people would spam reviews saying `OMG damondz r whit, nub!' Even if they had used the correct spelling, they would have been incorrect. The variety of diamonds they are referring to are completely transparent when cut and polished, assuming they have no flaws. But just to see how many people are going to be stupid and say that, I'm tempted to call this fic Diamonds and Topazes. But black diamonds are not exactly… Pretty. They're actually rather ugly. I could use black pearls, but I'd have to shorten it to pearls or break the `tradition'. Now, when I said pearls, if I hadn't said black before it, most of you would have thought I was talking about the milky white version. And then it hit me. The ultimate name. One that no one will make incorrect assumptions about. There was another mineral that I had completely forgotten about that's only colour was yellow. Citrine. So, I now dub this fic; `Rubies & Sapphires Book 2: Onyx and Citrine.'… Corny name compared to the last one, but due to the fact people are going to incorrectly point out that my fic title is `incorrect', I'm going to save myself the effort of reading their `smart' replies.

 

Anywho, the date in this chapter isn't going to be what the majority of people would consider a normal date. Yes, it will involve eating at a restraint, formal dress and all that. What it won't involve is small talk during the meal. One of the things I hate most is when people beat around the bush at a meal. They say things that to me are completely meaningless and shallow. `It was fairly warm today for a winter's day.' That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. 99 percent of the time, it has no hidden meaning and makes the conversation in my opinion cold, informal and boring. This date is the way I would have it go.

 

Oh, and an offer I'm putting out to other authors. If you want something translated into Japanese, say any original jutsu names that you want, send me the English name and I'll translate it. I can't guarantee I'll be able to do all of them, but I will be able to do about 90 or so percent of them. Send me a pm with the ones you need and I'll get on it and send you a pm back with the results.

 

On a lighter note, I reached 500 reviews for the first part too! Sweet!

 

Comments/Questions/Suggestions:

 

RevanLah: No one save the people who create Naruto know for sure what they want. There's theories, yes. I even have my own, but we don't know for sure. Apart from the ones you mentioned, it's highly unlikely I'll put another Jinchuriki in here, canon or not. I can't remember the name for Nibi's container, but she's a kunoichi from Kumo. She's in some of the more recent Canon manga issues. As for Orochimaru's power coming from something other than a Bijuu, it mainly relies on some facts and a little common sense. Orochimaru is scared witless of Itachi. Now, if Orochimaru was the container for the Orochi, which people insist is the Hachibi, then even if the `ring theory', which states that the members of Akatsuki got the Bijuu that corresponded to the finger where their ring is located, Itachi would get the Rokubi. Now, logically, Hachibi is more powerful than the Rokubi, right? So why was Orochimaru so scared of him? There's no real answer to that. That's what makes me think Orochimaru gets his power from something else. Also, Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring was located on his left pinky. There was no 10th Bijuu, so that just supports my theory. Video game? Which one? Raiden 3 or Star Wars: Empire at War? Anyways, it was one of them.

 

Shinobi's Fire: True, good point. It's just that it seems strange that no one else seems to have ever been able to use Mokuton Jutsus from his family…

 

GhostofKenshin: Oh no, I have plans for Itachi. Not sure how big yet, but he's going to be… Around…

 

dee-unlm1t3d: Well, it helps that right now, the only things I have to do each day are look for a job and a place to live. That takes all of… 30 minutes to do? The rest of the day is mine to do what I wish. I spend the majority of it writing.

 

a Foolish Writer: You didn't happen to read the very next sentence did you? I explained it right there.

 

obliviandragon: The two dances he used were both versions of Omnislash. Gogo Cloud!

 

fabarati: Hmm… I reread that issue and in mine, Kakashi said `Something like a bloodline limit.' He even said that Haku's Bloodline Limit was just a unique manifestation of the Hyoton. Still, we could argue back and forth for all eternity… Right now, I'm more interested in getting the second part up and running. As for who did which jutsu, Naruto did Odama Rasengan and Itachi did Dai Raikiri. I explained why Itachi was able to do it. Being Rokubi's container, who apart from the god of lightning, Raidon, had the best power of lightning, that would mean that simple activation of the body to produce lightning wouldn't be hard, especially in a tailed form where their chakra control is so perfect it exceeds anything regular humans are capable of achiving.

 

ki master: Oh trust me, Itachi's still in this story. He just won't be making an appearance `in the flesh' any time soon. We'll still hear of him or from him. And I've read `Team 8'. Damn fine fic. Went to my favourites by the end of the second chapter.

 

SotF: Diamonds and Emeralds? I understand Diamonds for the black variety, but I can't think of anything about Naruto that would have to do with Emeralds… Unless you were referring to the yellow variety of emeralds? Rubies & Sapphires were chosen for a reason. Namely, their eye colours… Still, I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind the choices.

 

halo2freak007: Futatsu is `2'. However, that was `12'. It took me ages to figure out what `twelfth' was in Romaji. I used google and it only had one site with it in Romaji…

 

Dragon Noir: Yo! Hmm, true, I could have done that… As for Orochimaru's attendant, It was Kabuto… Probably should have put that in there…

 

Silver-Foxie: Well, I'm going with the assumption that 1 tail of any Jinchuriki is `even' with one tail of another. Sure, their power types and the way they use chakra will be different, but I think that their power levels would be equal if they had the same number of tails.

 

Itallia: They also said in the Chuunin Exam that with each match, you get more chances to impress the judges. I'll explain why they get promoted in this chapter.

 

Aidis: Ya, he's around somewhere. I don't introduce an OC like that without having plans for them.

 

xxxxLostPuppyxxx: Read the start of this chapter for the answer to both those questions.

 

DreadCraft: Hmm, well, Sakura's always been a `Damsel in Distress'. As for Kurenai, she didn't stand much of a chance against Uchiha Itachi in canon, so I just put a bit of a twist on their fight to suit the story.

 

ShenobiKageKitsune: Hmm? I thought I said at the end of the last chapter that I was going to continue the story in a new fic…

 

dragonmirage: Yah, I don't like the rebels. Much. Empire FTW! Anyways, as for Jinchuriki's healing a broken neck, did you mean that you doubt even they could do that or did you mean shouldn't they be able to do that? If it's the former, then I think Naruto actually did that. Remember at the Valley of the End? After Naruto did the clone chain and slammed Sasuke into a wall, Sasuke used Ryuuka no Jutsu and then did that sickening move on Naruto? That would have broken any vertibrate's neck, Jinchuriki or not.

 

The Demon King of Hell Kyuubi: Need suggestions, huh? Well, before I give you suggestions, I need a few raw details about your plans for the fic. I'll PM you with the questions.

 

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! And now, ladies and gentlemen, book two of Rubies & Sapphires: Onyx & Citrine!

 

Legend:

 

'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'

 

'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'

 

“...Human or Lesser Summon Talking...”

 

“...Demon or Summon Boss Talking...”

 

“...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU...”

 

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Rubies & Sapphires Book 2: Onyx & Citrine:

 

Chapter One:

 

The Date:

 

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The Day After the Finals:

 

As Kurenai had said, Naruto had woken up the next day completely healed. Naruto was woken by the sunlight streaming in through his window. He opened his eyes groggily and looked around to see Kurenai there, smiling at him. Naruto crinkled his eyes into a trademark lazy smile.

 

“Ohaiyo, Kurenai-Chan.”

 

“Ohaiyo, Naru-Chan.”

 

Kurenai leaned in and gave him a full kiss on the lips, taking advantage of the fact that his face mask was on the floor next to him. Naruto was still half asleep and was not expecting this in the least. He quickly got used to it and kissed her back, slipping his tongue into her mouth and she did the same. After several minutes, both of them pulled back, breathing slightly faster than normal. Naruto remembered the final match and looked at Kurenai questioningly.

 

“What happened after I lost consciousness?”

 

Kurenai chuckled.

 

“The crowd were half expecting you to get back up again and keep fighting. However, the match ended in a draw. All judges agreed that both teams should be promoted to Jounin. The promotions will be done back in our own villages.”

 

Naruto smiled and he remembered the damage that had been done.

 

“So, how's the stadium?”

 

Kurenai sighed.

 

“At least the rest of Suna is undamaged…”

 

Naruto smiled lazily as he put his mask back on.

 

“That bad huh?”

 

Kurenai nodded and the door to the room opened, revealing Tsunade, Shikamaru and Chouji. Tsunade smiled at Naruto.

 

“Good to see you're up, Naruto. All that people are talking about is the final fight between you and Itachi. Did you have to do so much damage to the stadium?”

 

Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

 

“My bad…”

 

Tsunade dismissed it and checked his temperature to make sure he was ok. Naruto blushed slightly when Tsunade bent down to do this, revealing her ridiculously large cleavage to him. Tsunade may be 50, but the human body responds to what it can see rather than logic in some situations. The situation Naruto was in currently was one of them. Tsunade straightened herself, satisfied with Naruto's health.

 

“Naruto, we're leaving at sunset.”

 

Naruto sighed and got out of his futon.

 

“I'm going to see Itachi.”

 

Tsunade nodded as Naruto walked passed her and his team mates, who smiled at him which her returned and walked out the front door. When he stepped out into the busy street, everyone stopped their activities and stared at him. Not the stares he got until he was four. These looks held no malice or hatred. It held a mixture of awe, admiration and disbelief. Naruto smiled at them and raised a hand in greeting.

 

“Yo.”

 

People nodded in acknowledgement and went back to their work. Naruto continued walking down the street until he heard a distant rumbling. He turned around to see something he had hoped never to see again. Fan girls. Naruto sighed and smiled at them before using Shushin to warp on top of a nearby building where he saw Itachi with a wide eyed expression. Naruto smiled lazily.

 

“Fan girls are a pain. Especially when you're already taken.”

 

Itachi nodded in agreement and stared at the group of girls who were shouting and screaming out their names. Itachi turned to Naruto with a questioning look.

 

“I remember you telling me something about her during our talk in the first test. From your brief description, I'd say it was your Sensei.”

 

Naruto nodded and Itachi smiled.

 

“She's beautiful, I'll give you that. I don't know what her personality is like, but I can tell you have good tastes. As one of my team mates would say `nice catch.'”

 

Naruto chuckled as they sat there, sighing in relief as both of the groups of fan girls decided to move away to keep searching for them elsewhere. When they were alone, they dropped their facades and shared a mutual silence of understanding, with the occasional bit of meaningful chat. They stayed there until the sun was about to set and Naruto sighed.

 

“It's unlikely we'll ever get to see each other again with the relationships between our villages…”

 

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

 

“We'll have to change that, won't we?”

 

Naruto smiled at the implication. They both needed to become the Kages of their villages so they could try and patch relationships up. They wouldn't be able to see each other often, but seeing each other at all was better than nothing. Naruto became aware of two chakra signatures approaching from opposite directions. One Naruto recognised instantly as Shikamaru while the other one he recognised soon as Kinsuke, Itachi's team mate. Both of them hopped up onto the building their captains were on. Shikamaru sighed.

 

“Why do you have to make me go to the troublesome effort of bringing you back? We're leaving with the Godaime in 10 minutes.”

 

Kinsuke nodded in agreement.

 

“We're leaving in fifteen, Itachi.”

 

Itachi nodded and both captains stood up smiling as they extended their hands.

 

“I hope to see you soon, Naruto.”

 

Naruto smiled lazily as he took Itachi's hand and shook it.

 

“You will, Itachi. You will.”

 

Both boys split up, taking one last look at each other over their shoulders before they lost eye contact and went their separate ways.

 

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4 Days Later:

 

The people of Konoha arrived back at their village gates mid morning three days after they had left Suna. The guards passed them through and everyone returned to their `normal' lives. Early on the fourth morning, Tsunade called Team 8 to her office. She was fighting a losing battle against the monstrosity known as paper work as they came. She seemed glad for the distraction as she finished off a signature for a trade contract between Konoha and Kumo and looked up.

 

“Naruto, your little display of power during the finals has practically doubled our mission requests. I'm sure Kumo is in the same condition as we are. If it wasn't for the Kazekage threatening the construction workers of Suna by crushing various inanimate objects every time one of them mentioned Kumo and Konoha should foot the bills for the repairs, I would have you pay for it out of your own money.”

 

Naruto smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. Shikamaru sighed.

 

“Mendokusei…”

 

Chouji smiled as he pulled out a bag of chips and began munching away. Tsunade sighed as she stood up and walked to the window, looking out over Konoha.

 

“However, that's not the reason I brought you here. Everyone of the judges agreed that both yours and Kumos' first two fights showed skill, leadership and team work, while the last fight showed you have more power than strictly necessary for a Jounin. The judges practically demanded we promote both teams, but I decided to use my own judgment.”

 

Naruto knew where this was going and tried to suppress the grin that was trying to force its way onto his face.

 

“My judgment tended to agree with the others. I am now officially promoting Team 8 to the rank of Jounin.”

 

Naruto smiled lazily as Tsunade produced the three jackets that were hanging inside a cupboard. Inside though, he was happier than he had been for quite some time. Tsunade handed Naruto his jacket which he accepted with a smile. Naruto took off his old Chuunin jacket and put on his new Jounin jacket. Tsunade gave both Shikamaru and Chouji their jackets which they swapped their old Chuunin jackets with. The three newly appointed Jounins were unsure as to what to do with their old jackets. Kurenai sensed this and smiled.

 

“Most people keep them for sentimental purposes.”

 

They nodded and held onto them as Tsunade sat back in her chair and gave a lecture about what it meant to be a Jounin, their responsibilities and finally their rights. After the explanation, Tsunade dismissed them. Kurenai smiled at them.

 

“I'm proud to have taught all three of you. Now that you're Jounin, my job as your Sensei is done. Next time we work together, it won't be as a teacher-student cell, it will be as a fully fledged squad. To celebrate, we'll have one last barbeque lunch together. Meet up tomorrow at lunchtime at the usual spot, ok?”

 

They nodded and thanked Kurenai for teaching them for three years. Both Shikamaru and Chouji began walking home while Naruto and Kurenai began walking back to their apartment blocks. When they got to Kurenai's apartment block, she turned to Naruto who smiled happily at her. Kurenai enveloped him in a hug.

 

“I told you I'd come back, didn't I?”

 

Kurenai nodded as she let a single tear run down her cheek and whispered into Naruto's ear.

 

“When?”

 

Naruto understood instantly. When did he want the date. After a few moments thought, he knew he might not get another chance for a while.

 

“Tonight.”

 

Kurenai's eyes widened but she accepted it none the less.

 

“Dress?”

 

“Formal.”

 

Kurenai nodded. Either he'd prepared for this already, or he was going to try his luck again. One last question.

 

“Time?”

 

Naruto thought for a moment.

 

“6:30.”

 

Kurenai nodded as she pulled down Naruto's mask and kissed him before she pulled away, smiling.

 

“I'll see you tonight, Naru-Chan.”

 

Naruto nodded and watched as Kurenai closed the door behind her and went up the stairs. Naruto turned towards his own apartment block, thinking out a plan. He'd dug himself a rather large hole, but given the circumstances, it couldn't be helped. Naruto opened the foyer door and took the steps two at a time before opening the door to see Kakashi smiling at him.

 

“You've dug yourself a big hole, Otouto.”

 

Naruto smiled sheepishly. He'd learnt long ago that Kakashi seemed to know things you'd rather he didn't, never giving a real explanation as to how. After the first few years of living around him, you got used to it. The only plausible explanation anyone had come up with was Kakashi employed a regular army of Kage Bunshins to scout the city for `goss', but Kakashi dismissed that with one of his usual cryptic replies used when skirting around a secret.

 

“Yup.”

 

Kakashi looked at him in an amused fashion as he pulled out two tickets to a rather fancy restaurant and smiled as he saw Naruto's eyes light up. However, Naruto's eyes narrowed when he remembered all the other times Kakashi had waved `free' things at him. He would always want something of equivalent value in return.

 

“What do you want for them?”

 

Kakashi smiled. Feeding right out of the hand. He had thought of a million different things he wanted for them, and then some.

 

“Surprise me.”

 

Naruto's grinned as he walked past Kakashi to his room and closed the door, going to the only secret stash he'd ever made that Kakashi had never found out about. Naruto walked to the third tatami mat from the far wall and formed several hand seals, whispering his jutsu.

 

“Fuin Kai…”

 

The edges of the mat glowed faint blue and then the seal vanished. It was a special seal that Naruto had invented that sealed the floorboard down and then had a secondary seal placed over the top to mask both its own and the seal below its chakra. Naruto lifted up the tatami mat to reveal what the majority of people would call their `porn stash'. However, Naruto had this for a very different reason than just about anyone else who had one did. He did not use this for his own self satisfaction. Well, not directly. He used it in these sorts of situations for their `trades'. If he left it unsealed or hid it poorly, Kakashi would plunder its' `wealth' for himself. Naruto pulled out the top item, which happened to be an Icha Icha video. However, this was not your average one, or not yet anyway. It was a limited pre release edition of Icha Icha Tactics, the movie, signed by the director himself, the king of perverts, Jiraiya. Naruto replaced the mat and redid the dual seal before opening the door to his room and waving the video at Kakashi whose eyes lit up. He started shivering in unsuppressed anticipation as he made a grab for the movie. Naruto pulled it back out of reach and held out his hand, making a beckoning motion.

 

“Tickets.”

 

Kakashi slammed the tickets into Naruto's palm and lunged at the movie like his life depended on it. Knowing Kakashi, Naruto was pretty sure it did. Naruto pulled it away again and Kakashi, who had lost all sense of reasoning and motor skills around this `divine' piece of smut fell to the ground before Naruto chuckled and handed him the movie while he was still on the ground. Kakashi hugged the movie like he was a child hugging its' favourite stuffed plush toy. Naruto smiled in contempt and debated whether or not to take a picture and have it published. Naruto decided he'd teased the man enough so he pocketed them and smiled at Kakashi as he raised a hand and opened the door.

 

“I'm going to get some clothes for tonight, ok?”

 

Kakashi nodded, not taking his eyes off the video. Naruto closed the door behind and walked down the stairs. He may be a `genius', but when it came to fashion sense, he was quite possibly the `dobe' of his group of friends. Well, maybe except for Rock Lee. Naruto decided to visit the Yamamanka flower shop to see if he could get some advice from Ino.

 

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