"Hey mom"

Tsunade jumped when she heard Athena's voice behind her. She quickly turned around to find the girl standing there with a neutral expression. Tsunade sighed. How is Athena so silent? It's hard to detect the child and she had a tendency to appear out of nowhere. Sometimes she would smile about it. It must amuse her. Other times she didn't seem to notice.

Tsunade had got down to her daughter's height. She opened her arms and Athena practically fell into them. She heard her offspring sigh in content. She wonder if she had missed her as well. She didn't tend to openly admit such things, so Tsunade would have to read between the lines. If she's relaxing in her hug and doesn't appear to want to leave anytime soon then it was safe to assume that the eight year old had missed her mother.

Tsunade figured she wasn't the only one who grew attached.

"How was your mission"

Athena shrugged. "Easy enough"

"Did anyone come after you? "

"Chunin level ninja. I handled that as soon as it started. Easy prey"

Tsunade giggled. She could only imagine what Athena had done to those ninja. She's not one for violence but she could be very brutal if she had to resort to it. Tsunade had seen what she could do when she was tasked with interrogating a suspect. She had her ways.

"Where is Naruto? " Tsunade asked. She was sure the two would run into each other. She had pulled away from Athena, who did not seem too happy with that, although she didn't say anything. Tsunade had the laugh at the displeased look Athena had on her face.

"Awe, you missed your mommy" Shizune teased and poked Athena's cheek. The child groaned and looked away. She wasn't one to admit feelings and didn't exactly like being teased about it.

TonTon had bumped her snout against Athena's legs making the child look down. The pig sat at her feet, looking up defiantly. She snorted.

"What's your deal? If you want me to pick you up, don't look like you're doing me a favor" Athena scolded as she held the pig in front of her. They had an interesting relationship. To anyone not used to them it would seem as if they didn't like each other. Shizune and Tsunade knew better. TonTon was always there when Athena had nightmares. She was always there when the girl wandered off on her own. She was always there when the girl trained on her own. The pig just refused to show that she cared because Athena always calls her pig.

"Tsundere pig"

That earned her and angered snort and hooves on the face.

"Tsunade my love"

Tsunade immediately adopted an annoyed look when she heard Jiraiya's voice. She turned to face the pervert with her usual glare. Naruto stood next to the Sage, an innocent look on his face

"She's angry at you. What did you do Pervysage? " he asked as he looked between the two. "Did you try to get a peek? "

Jiraiya laughed a perverted laugh as he glanced at the boy. "Oh believe me, I got more than a peek"

Naruto blinked. What did he mean by that? He couldn't ask because Tsunade's fist met the sage's face and sent him flying into the nearest tree. Naruto stared in shock.

"Holy cow! "He exclaimed and looked from the pained Jiraiya to the angry Tsunade who was stomping her way towards the man. "She going to kick his ass! "

Naruto was way to excited for that. He watched with an amazed smile as Tsunade tore him a new one.

"Yeah, kick his ass! "He cheered as he watched Tsunade abuse the hell out of Jiraiya.

Jiraiya felt betrayal next to pain. How could Naruto cheer for Tsunade? He thought they had a bond. He thought they were close. He thought they had something. But apparently he was wrong. Naruto was encouraging Tsunade to kill him. The kid betrayed him. He'll never take him out for Ramen again.

Athena and Shizune stood aside, debating whether or not they should step in and stop Tsunade before she actually kills the man.

"He'll survive " Athena waved it off and turned to Naruto. "Are we still up for our ramen date? "

Naruto beamed and nodded. "Of course. I saw a ramen stand just down the street and I think they also sell sweets"

TonTon was handed back to Shizune with a pat on the head. Athena suddenly felt bad about the fact that they were off to eat miso ramen with extra pork. She might hold back on that and order a different type of ramen.

~~~~~~

Naruto sighed as he finished his second bowl of ramen. Athena was still on her first bowl. She took her time unlike the boy next to her. Naruto wasn't full yet and wanted to order another bowl. Athena only watched silently. The boy could eat as much as he wanted for the one day.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Naruto, did you ever try taking your time? " Athena asked as she finally finished her bowl. "If you eat so fast it's no wonder you're never full. You're not giving your stomach enough time to register that you had your fill"

Naruto looked at her, ramen hanging from his mouth. He slowly sucked the ramen into his mouth and swallowed. "I never thought of that"

"Try it" Athena pushed away her bowl and ordered some dango. The stand they decided to visit had a variety of foods and sweets. It was the perfect stop for them both. Naruto could have as much ramen as he wanted and Athena could enjoy some dango.

Naruto was taking Athena's advice and slowed down. He ate moderately and eyed Athena silently. He noticed that she had three necklaces. One with her name on it. The other is the teardrop necklace he had and the next was a flower necklace. Was it glowing?

"Athena, your necklace is glowing" Naruto pointed out to the oblivious girl.

Athena looked down and sure enough her self made necklace was glowing. She stared down at it for some time before reaching to it and holding it in front of her. She hummed with a smile as she sent her own chakra through it.

Naruto noticed the change in mood from Athena. What's with that sudden happy smile? Why was the necklace glowing? How did she make it stop glowing?

"What's with the necklace? Why does it glow? "

Athena returned to her Dango after a moment and hardly looked at Naruto. "I made it. It glows when it receives chakra from it's... "What would she call the other necklace? They are one of the same. A twin? Other half? She shrugged. "It glows when the person with the other necklace sends chakra through it"

"Is the other necklace a flower too? "Naruto was suddenly curious. Who had the other necklace?

"Yes"

"What type of flower is it?"

"Lavender"

"Why lavender? "

"Because I like it and it reminds me of my friend"

"It does? "

"Yes" Athena didn't feel like revealing to him why it reminded her of Hinata. He'd ask more questions.

"Who has the other necklace? "

"My friend"

"Is your friend a boy or a girl? "

"A girl"

"Does she live at home? "

"Yes Naruto. She lives in the leaf village"

"What's her name? "

"Hinata Hyuga"

Naruto was silent for a moment. Hyuga? As in the Hyuga clan? The clan with the weird eyes and interesting dojutsu? He had read about them. He tended to read a lot ever since he learned to read better. People say they are the strongest dojutsu clan behind the Uchiha.

"Did we ever meet? "

"I wouldn't know"

"Can you tell me about her? "

Athena went quiet. Why was Naruto so interested? He's suddenly making her think more about Hinata than she had in a while and it's making her really miss the coy girl more than she already did. She sighed and rested her head against the counter top.

"She means a lot to me"

Naruto hummed and nodded. So this Hinata was special to Athena. He smiled. She must really be nice if Athena liked her that much. Naruto then realized something. It was something his mother had told him. He stared at Athena for a moment and determined that he could be right.

"So, she's your girlfriend" he said seriously. "I didn't know you liked girls like that Athena. That's pretty cool. "

Athena was frozen on the spot. What? How had Naruto concluded that Hinata was her girlfriend? She said no such thing. She was her friend. That is what she told him. That is what she is. Where had he pulled that idea from. They were only kids for crying out loud.

"Naruto"

"What's up? "

"I never said she was my girlfriend" Athena was very calm despite the emotions that were roaring within her.

"You didn't have to. You said she means a lot to you"

"That doesn't mean she's my girlfriend "

"But you miss her and you even have a necklace that lets you communicate in a way. You had this smile on your face when the necklace glowed. It's like the one mom gets when she talks about dad"

Athena said nothing and returned her head to the counter. Why? Why did Naruto have to do this? Why did he have to bring such a thing up? This was going to bother her for a very long time.

"She's not my girlfriend "

"Ok" Naruto nodded. "But you want her to be"

Athena took a deep breath and sat up in her chair. She turned to Naruto and hit him right on the head. The boy held his head in pain and watched as Athena slid off her stool and left the stand.

"What did I do? "

~~~~~~~

Tsunade was walking through the village in search of Athena and Naruto. Jiraiya was limping next to her. Shizune had told them that the two ran off to a ramen stand. Tsunade refused to let the fool come with her, but he still ended up coming with her.

"You went too far" Jiraiya whined as he rubbed his bruised head. He winced in pain when he touched a particularly soar spot.

"You went too far" Tsunade shot back. What the hell was wrong with him? Saying something so perverted to the innocent boy. "You better pray that Naruto didn't pick up your pervertness because if it turns out he did, I will kill you"

Jiraiya chuckled nervously. He was fairly certain the boy did not follow in his footsteps. The only thing he adopted was his love for books and his weird poses.

"The boy is fine. He stayed innocent" Jiraiya reassured. "He actually tried to stop my perversion "

Tsunade smiled. That's good to hear. She wanted Naruto to remain the innocent cheerful boy she had met three years ago. He looked so much like his father, but had his mother's personality. She was looking forward to training him. Maybe she could help him control his chakra better. Her seal might do him some good. It will help with his control. The boy had potential.

"Hey Pervysage" Naruto appeared in front of them with a smile. "You look a mess"

"Thanks for all the support back there kid" Jiraiya scoffed.

Naruto only smiled and patted his leg. "You'll be alright. After all you're Jiraiya! " Naruto struck a pose and Jiraiya copied. The two snickered to themselves.

"Where's Athena? Shizune told me you two went off together " Tsunade asked.

Naruto giggled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "She left"

"Why? "

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. She just hit me on the head and left. I don't think I said anything bad"

"What were you two talking about? "Jiraiya asked as the three started to walk together.

"About her girlfriend " Naruto grinned. Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade, who shrugged. "Well she said she's not her girlfriend but I know she likes her " Naruto nodded to himself.

"Is that so? "Jiraiya asked.

"Would this girlfriend happen to be Hinata Hyuga? "

"Yeah, that's the name. She said she meant a lot to her" Naruto said. "Hinata must really be special if she means so much to Athena. I didn't even know she had a friend back when we were in the village. She didn't seem to like people"

Tsunade chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Naruto you are something else. "

"She probably doesn't even know what to do now that you brought such a thing up" Jiraiya said with a laugh.

"What do you mean? "

"Athena is new to a set of emotions, remember? "Tsunade said.

The boy nodded.

"So she probably doesn't know how or what she feels and must've buried it until you brought it up and now it's going to be on her mind for some time"

"Oh"

"That's why she hit me"