Naruto: Shattered Mirror 27

Be it curiosity or surprise or maybe just politeness, Naruto chose to accept Shiori's offer. Not to say he had the faintest idea why she made it, but he felt refusing would have been a bad idea.

In all his time being partnered to the red-haired girl, Naruto had learned one thing about Shiori's home: She didn't like to talk about it. He knew nothing about where she lived, what she did when she was home, or even who she lived with.

'Is she an orphan?' Naruto asked himself, seeing that as certainly possible and for some reason that brought a flash of something in his mind, something that made him sad. But he quickly shook it off. 'I'm for all legal purposes an orphan too, so why should she keep it from me? I couldn't laugh at her for it since I'm in the same situation. Is she just a private person?'

The trip to Shiori's home took them both to the business sector of Kiri instead of the residential area. They passed by several shops and kiosks, and some of the merchants in the area waved to Shiori and greeted her verbally. The redhead returned the greetings in kind, though Naruto noticed she didn't make any effort to do more than just be polite.

Eventually they came to a two-story shop that had no name on it, just an orange stripe about a meter wide looping around the building where the first floor and second floor connected, and a wooden plaque hanging from a pole depicting one eye closed and another eye open, as if someone was winking.

"Well, this is home." Shiori admitted, not sounding rather enthusiastic about it. She said it more like she was telling Naruto where the bathroom was.

"I take it you live above the store itself?" Naruto asked.

"It's not a store. We don't sell things here." Shiori admited. "We take in damaged or old swords and refine them. We're a sword repair center, more of a forge than a store."

"So your family repairs swords? Then why couldn't you repair Kasumi-sensei's?"

The look in Shiori's eyes was difficult for Naruto to identify, but it reminded him of the times Hikaru had been mentioned. "We only work with normal weapons, not special ones like hers. A specialist is needed for her Bakupiri, like Kaji-sama."

"Oh." The whiskered blonde simply replied, not sure what else could be said.

Without another word, Shiori opened the door, causing a bell to ring. "It's just me." She called out.

The entry room was small and bare, sort of like it's sole purpose was to give people a place to take their shoes off before going any further. The walls were bare, lacking any decorations and the only things to see was a shoji door and a barred square hole in the wall, from which a light stream of steam emitted.

"This is where people come in to drop off and pick up their weaponry." Shiori said to Naruto, noting his confusion at the lack of scenery. "It's pointless to have the room be any bigger, and there's no need for them to see the forge itself." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Ah Shiori, you're early for once." An older feminine voice called out from the next room.

Before Naruto could ask for identification, the screen door opened, giving him his answer. There stood a woman that looked a lot like an older version of Shiori, but still young and gorgeous. She has long red hair tied into a ponytail and covered by a grey bandanna, amber eyes and was currently wearing a grey kimono that looked covered in soot and sweat.

Upon seeing Naruto this woman's eyes brightened and her mouth curled into a coy grin. "Ooh, you brought a boy over? And here I thought you'd be a jounin by the time you tried that." Shiori just frowned, but the woman ignored it and politely bowed to Naruto. "Hello, I'm Miya, Shiori's older sister. Welcome. Are you here for business or just visiting?"

"Umm... Shiori just invited me over." Naruto admitted, feeling a bit uncomfortable under her gaze despite the lack of negativity in her expression.

"So I was right eh?" Miya said, looking at her sister with a grin.

"Don't start Miya, I'm in no mood." Shiori said.

"You're never in the mood and it doesn't change the fact I'm right." Miya said good-naturedly then looked back to Naruto. "Let me guess, you're that new teammate of hers? I was wondering when I'd finally be introduced to you. I wanted to say hi sooner, but that would have just embarrassed Shiori more."

"Hi, I'm... well, I'm not sure if it's my real name or not, but you can call me Naruto." The whiskered blonde told her.

"You look tired. Why don't you come in and get comfortable?" Miya offered, holding the door open for him to enter.

"Umm…thanks" Naruto said with a smile as he stepped through the door.

Shiori however stayed behind for a moment and looked at her sister. "Is she...?"

Miya nodded. "Don't worry, she's asleep. I don't think anything except a world war would wake her up."

"Umm... is someone else here?" Naruto asked, confused. Shiori gave him an annoyed look and Miya's expression was more of 'better stop there' kind. "Never mind. Can I see the swords?"

Miya smiled. "Sure. Want to see our family swords?"

"Miya." Shiori started.

"Oh relax, I'm not going to show him how we make them or anything. Just some examples." The older redhead said before looking back at the blonde. "I assume you've seen Shiori's blade."

"Sort of. It's hard to see a clear blade." Naruto answered.

Miya smiled. "Good, that's kind of the idea. Since the blade is hard to see, it's hard for the enemy to know where we're striking since people have a habit of focusing their sights more on the actual blade of the sword than anything else. So even though they're not actually invisible, they bother the enemy's vision enough to get the desired result."

"How do you make them clear?" Naruto asked.

"That's a family secret." Miya answered, then turned to her sister. "I should get back to work. Go ahead and show your guest around and do whatever you brought him here for. Just... keep him away from her if you can."

Shiori nodded. "Definitely." Before Naruto could ask for clarification, Shiori led him into a different room. Miya smiled and returned to the forge. 'I hope things get better for her. Shiori needs some happiness since she sees it so rarely in her own life.'

Shiori brought Naruto to the second floor, the residential part of the building. Naruto saw she was rather cautious, as if she expected to be attacked within her own home.

The residence looked normal, one main room being the entry point filled with a brown couch, an endtable, and a tv opposite the couch. On the right side a small kitchen could be seen, same with some kind of extra room that Naruto couldn't identify from the entry point. There was a hall between the front room and kitchen that went in back, with one door visible but clearly more past the corner.

The only decorative thing in the area was a sword displayed on the wall. It wasn't a clear one like Shiori's, no this one was colored a mix of onyx black and steel grey, like the two minerals were mixed together while making it. Also it wasn't a katana, but bigger and shaped like a scimitar, with a two-handed handled, and held in place on a plaque. And despite this, it was clearly meant for battle, not display. The first hint was the leather on the handle was worn from being held so much, not to mention the luster of the blade was dulled while the blade itself had a few chips from wear and tear.

On impulse Naruto reached out towards the sword and suddenly out of nowhere, Shiroi's hand shot out and grabbed his own in a vice grip.

"Do. Not. Touch. That." She said, emphasizing every word and there was an intense look in her eyes that sent a shiver down Naruto's body as he nodded slowly.

"Okay… I won't."

Shiori stared at him for another moment and then let go of his hand. "I'm sorry…but that's my father's sword." She said gesturing up towards the picture above the sword that he had somehow missed before.

Naruto flexed his hand as he looked at the picture and then at the sword. "No, I am sorry. I should not touch things that do not belong to me." He said with a small smile, he then gestured to the picture above the sword. "That's your father?"

Shiroi nodded, withholding a snide comment she was tempted to make.

"Huh, you look a lot like him."

The red-haired girl finally did smile a bit and Naruto looked at the sword again, this time making sure not to touch it. "Is this one of Kaji's swords?"

Shiori nodded again. "Yes, it's called the Hanmā. You put just a little chakra into this sword and then you could reduce a rock to pebbles and a tree to splinters with just one swipe. Though it's impossible to wield unless you possess a steady and firm hand. Because the vibrations from the attack could actually destroy your sword hand otherwise. No one but my father or maybe Kaji-sama could use it." Shiori said proudly.

Naruto smiled, having actually found a topic that made Shiori brighten up. "Your father sounds like a strong man."

However that brightness quickly faded then and depressed look returned to her face "He was." She said absently.

"Was?"

"My father… he was a great and noble man. When the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura began the killing off of all bloodline limits in the Village, my father spoke out against it. He said his loyalty to the Mizukage did not extend to include genocide. He had joined the revolutionaries that helped overthrow Yagura and end his reign of terror once and for all." A smile formed on her face.

"He had been hailed as a hero among the other revolutionaries. I can remember how when I was just a little girl all I could ever think about was being a great swordsman and a ninja just like him. You could say he's my motivation."

Naruto just stood there listening and though part of him did not want to bring up the next part, the other part of him wanted to know. "What happened to him?"

A shadow fell across Shiori's face. "It was a few years ago, a celebration was being hosted to commemorate the downfall of Yagura. The Lady Mizukage was in the crowd and my father had been chosen to be one of her bodyguards that day." She paused for a moment as she looked at the photo. "I can remember that day so clearly, I was dressed in a cute pink kimono, I had just won a gold fish in a carnival game. Then… the explosion came."

"Explosion?" Naruto asked

"A group of people, still loyal to Yagura and the old ways, had plotted to kill the Godaime Mizukage to avenge Yagura. They set off a bomb as a distraction. People were running and screaming, there was fire and smoke. I can remember my father and the other swordsmen surrounding the Mizukage to protect her… and then I remember seeing other ninja, the supporters of Yagura appeared out of nowhere and attacked."

Once again Shiori paused as she thought about the memory, she seemed to be resisting the urge to cry, but her eyes remained dry. "The Mizukage was kept safe and those insurgents were defeated, but there had been causalities. Among them had been my father. He died doing his duty."

Naruto, hoping he wasn't being inappropriate, took her hand in his. "At least he died honorably and heroically. The best way a ninja can die."

Shiori smiled and gently squeezed the blonde's hand back. "Naruto-kun I…"

"Ehemm." A voice suddenly interrupted.

Both Naruto and Shiori turned to the direction of the voice and saw that standing by the doorway to the next part of the home was a woman.

She was in her late 30s maybe early 40s; her hair was auburn and only just showing signs of grey, at the moment it was currently held up as a messy bun. Messy in the sense that she hadn't bothered to brush it before putting it up in a bun. Naruto could immediately tell this woman had been drinking, for there were dark lines under her bloodshot eyes and she was leaning against the frame of the wall greatly to keep her balance. Not to mention that she looked like she had just gotten out of bed.

Shiori narrowed her eyes at the woman and muttered just loud enough to hear "Mother."

The woman grunted an acknowledgment at Shiori and then her eyes drifted over to Naruto, and after quickly giving him a once over. "Who is this?" Her words came out slightly slurred.

"Naruto, Ma'am." The blonde said respectively and gave a small bow.

"My new teammate." Shiori added.

"Oh goody, another ninja." Shiori's mother said dryly as she walked over to the cupboard and took out a glass. "Like we don't have enough of those in the world already."

"Enough." Shiori said without shouting. "I don't care what your mood is right now, I have company over and you will behave."

Shiori's mother actually glared at her daughter. "Don't you talk like that to me girl. I'm the parent here not you."

Shiori stopped her foot in anger and clenched her fists. "Parent? You? The only thing here that gets your attention is the liquor cabinet!"

The older woman's response was to hurl the bottle she had in one hand at the young teenage girl, which Shiori dodged causing the bottle to shatter on the wall behind her. If one looked closely at her one would think that this wasn't the first time Shiori had been under attack like this.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelling. "Why would you throw something like that at your own daughter?"

"Shut up scum. Leave me alone and go ruin someone elses life. That's all you barbarians are good for anyway."

"Better to be a barbarian than a good-for-nothing drunk like you!" Shiori screamed before running out the door.

Naruto looked to his fleeing teammate then sent another look at her mother, one that was trying not to be angry but not doing a good job at it. 'Now I understand why she never talks about her home.'

"Unless you plan on replacing the whiskey you made me waste, get the hell out of here boy." Shiori's mother said in a way that could easily be taken as threatening.

"Why do you hate ninja so much?" Naruto asked.

"None of your business."

"It is my business. Your daughter is a shinobi, your husband was a shinobi, and-" He was cut off by another bottle being thrown at him. This would have hit him in the face and possibly given him a concussion had he not caught it with his hand. His hand stung from the impact, but it was better than being hit in the face.

"I said get lost!"

'Obviously her family is a sore spot for her, meaning she still loves them but is too wrapped up in her own grief to show it. Probably never learned how to deal with her husband dying and it's ruined her relationship with Shiori.' Naruto analysed from what he heard and saw. "Fine, I'll leave, but one last thing. Shiori remembers her father as a hero, do you want her to remember you as this?"

Before the woman could answer Naruto left, but made it clear he wasn't afraid of her attacking him from behind with another bottle.

Shiori's mother waited until she heard the door close before she sighed and reached for another bottle and poured it into her glass. But for the first time in a long time, she didn't guzzle it down right away.

Shiroi stormed out of the house/shop fuming; walking down the street without any clear destination in her mind. 'Maybe I would just walk straight into the sea.'

She hated her mother, she ruined everything, everything. She finally got the courage to ask a friend, a boy even, back to her home and was even starting to feel good about it and then…BOOM, her drunk of a mother just had to screw it all up.

'Naruto is probably never going to want to come over again. Hell he probably won't even want to talk to me after this.'

She felt many things at that moment. First was rage, she wanted to just find something and break it. Second was sadness, she had kept her tears back when she had been talking about her father but she did not think she would be able to hold back the flood this time. Third was embarrassment, she wanted to find a hole to crawl into and just curl up into a ball.

And she might have done one if not all three of those things had she not felt a hand suddenly grab her shoulder.

She spun around ready to strike whoever the hand belong to, but she stopped when she saw the concerned blue eyes of Naruto gazing at her. "Naruto?" 'He came for me? He doesn't never want to see me again.'

"It's not your fault." He said.

"What?"

"It's not your fault. You just wanted to be nice to me, and your mom pushed you. It's not your fault that this went wrong."

Shiori smiled warmly at his comfort, and a couple of tears managed to escape. "Idiot, I know it's not my fault. It's hers." Luckily her tone wasn't accusing. Instead she hugged him for a sense of comfort and stability.

"Let me guess, after your father died she got depressed and turned to drinking as a way to escape, and she's never really tried to stop escaping?" Naruto asked, not returning the hug but not discouraging it either.

Shiori nodded remorsefully. "I can't remember the last time she was sober, or kind. I don't think she remembers how to be anything but an angry drunk. That woman... hasn't been my mother for years. Yet every night I have to go home to that, and it makes me want to be anywhere else. Miya's the only good part, without her I'd have probably killed my mom by now."

"Why don't you move?" Naruto asked.

"We can't, Miya needs the forge to earn our income. And the forge is unfortunately in Mom's name. So unless she dies or signs it over to Miya we're stuck with her."

"And I take it she refuses to give it to Miya?" Naruto asked.

Shiori nodded. "Yeah, if it were up to her the forge would be burned to the ground, as a message to stop supporting ninja, but she can't get any work herself and needs some income for her booze, so she has to endure it."

"If she blames ninja for everything wrong in her life, then why does she still live in Kiri?" Naruto asked.

Shiori sighed but didn't look bothered. "Sometimes I forget you're still learning. You can't just leave a hidden village and get away with it. Not even civilians, anyone and everyone who lives here has knowledge about it that enemies would love to get their hands on. Things like our security patterns or the most effective places to strike, or even what routes we use for trade or travel. Trust me Naruto, no one gets to just leave a hidden village. Mom's stuck here, even if she destroys every brain cell that knows anything about Kiri."

Naruto didn't know what to say anymore, so he just wrapped his arms around her to return the hug. Judging from her continued hold on him, it was just what she needed.

"Naruto, I don't want to go back there yet. Think we could maybe go to your place instead? Until she passes out again?" She requested.

"Sure, that works." He said before releasing her then leading her to his residence. "By the way, what exactly were you bringing me over for in the first place?"

Shiori shrugged. "Nothing really, kinda gets boring when I'm alone. I figured I had nothing to do and you had nothing to do, so why not kill time together?"

Naruto smiled. "Why not indeed?"

Kaji had been sitting outside in the rock garden in deep meditation when he heard footsteps approaching, two different people.

"Kasumi if you broke your sword again you are going to be leaving here with lumps on your head." The blind man said as he reached over and took his cane.

Kasumi smiled. "No Kaji-sama, I did not break my sword, there is a matter I need to discuss with you."

Kaji got to his feet and leaned on his cane. "Utakata boy, stop being so silent and make yourself known." He said and tapped his cane on the ground hard.

The container for the six-tailed bijuu raised a brow. "How did you know it was me?"

Kaji wrinkled his nose. "You still smell like soap, even after being gone for so long."

Utakata rolled his eyes. "And you're still a grumpy old bastard."

Kasumi looked at both men and sighed. "If we could take this inside please. It's about to rain."

The two of them went inside the dojo, which was currently empty since Kaji was not teaching any students at the moment. The two of them gathered in the center of the room and sat down on some cushion pillows.

"What's on your mind Kasumi?" Kaji asked.

"Kaji-sama, Utakata-san, I believe we should discuss a change in Naruto-kun's training regiment." Kasumi started, looking at the two older men.

"Why? You dropping him as a student or something?" Utakata asked, blowing a few bubbles absently into the air.

Kasumi shook her head. "No not at all, though I am going to take a sabbatical soon for my wedding. Anyway, looking at him today, I'm fearing we've been pushing him too far too soon."

"Ninja work is supposed to be fast-paced and full of work." Kaji stated sagely. Outside rain started to lightly fall.

"I'm aware, but in our effort to get Naruto-kun up to speed with everyone else his age I fear we've basically been trying to cram several years worth of lessons into a matter of weeks. Such a workload is stressing him out and running him ragged. Shinobi or not, Naruto-kun is still only human and needs time to rest to let his body recover."

Utakata held his tongue; certain that mentioning Naruto was a jinchuuriki would only hurt the discussion. Besides, Mei had ordered him to remain silent on it and he wasn't about to defy her while she was close by. Lava and boiling substances beat bubbles after all. "And after he recovers, what then?"

Kasumi looked at both men. "I am sure all of us know that two tigers cannot live on one mountain together, let alone three. And one student cannot have three separate teachers."

"I agree, but as I recall each of us have been given orders from the Mizukage herself to train this boy. So perhaps a compromise can be made." Kaji suggested. Outside the rain was getting a bit heavier.

"Right, we will cut him into three. I will get the head, Kaji can have the arms, and Kasumi can have the legs." Utakata said, from the tone of the voice, he almost sounded serious.

"Close but not exactly." Kasumi said. "My plan is this, we each get Naruto-kun for one month. And in that time we try to put as much training into him as possible."

"Impossible, one month each would not be enough time for him to master all that needs to be learned." Utakata complained.

"Not necessarily. I have seen the boy's capability, he is a fast learning and quick to adapt. I think that with some one-on-one personal training he could quickly master many techniques." Kaji stated.

"Exactly. I think this would be the best way for all of us to teach Naruto-kun, and the best for him so that he does not have a breakdown." Kasumi nodded.

"Who gets him first though?" Utakata asked

"I do. I am the primary sensei after all. Besides my wedding is coming up soon and as I said before I will be taking some time off after that. I will keep Naruto for the rest of the month and then Kaji gets him next, finally you Utakata."

"Why do I get him last?"

"Because you are the one who is least interested in teaching."

Utakata raised a brow and then nodded at a moment. "Fair enough."

Kaji rubbed his chin. "It has been a while since I trained a student one on one. I hope the boy can survive my methods."

"Your methods are tame compared to what I can put him thru." Utakata commented in good spirit.

"Men this isn't a contest. And remember the whole point of this is to go at a pace Naruto-kun can handle, not just trade one burden for another." Kasumi reminded them.

"Right, but don't forget that when he shows he can handle a faster pace we're going to see to it he gets it." Kaji informed.

Kasumi nodded. "That's fair, just don't treat him like he's supposed to already be a jounin."

"Works for me. Personally I prefer the slow pace." Utakata commented.

"And how is that working for you and Hotaru?" Kasumi asked.

"Shut up." Utakata stated, making Kasumi chuckle.

"I thought so." Kasumi chided.

"Where is the boy by the way?" Kaji asked.

"Getting some rest. At least I hope so."

"Damn, what a storm." Naruto complained as he entered his apartment, soaking wet from the downpour which was pretty bad by Kiri standards but tame by Ame's.

Shiori wiped some water out of her face and moved some hair out of her eyes. In Naruto's opinion her hair really looked good when wet for some reason. "I need to dry off. Can I use your shower?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You want to take a shower to get dry?"

She playfully swatted his shoulder. "No, to get warm then dry. I hate being wet from the rain." She then turned to his washroom and went inside.

"Alright, I'll just stay here and be wet while you get comfortable." Naruto jested while he went to one of his apartment's hall closets to get a towel to dry off with.

"Umm... Naruto? There's no towel in here." Shiori called from inside the room.

"I keep them here. Just a second." He grabbed a second one and opened the door to the washroom. "Here you..."

He paused because Shiori had apparently already started to undress for her shower. Her grey skirt and black shorts were at her ankles showing her white panties, and her grey top was in her arms showing off her black undershirt which showed off her breasts better now. On her arms and legs her bandage wrapping still remained, and her sword rested on the counter by the sink safe in its sheath besides her hitai-ate and yellow hairclip.

"... go?" Naruto finished as he held out the towel then dropped it and closed the door before Shiori could react. And to be safe he went into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Images of a faceless angry girl kept flashing in his mind, ready to turn his head inside-out.

'Oh I hope Shiori doesn't try to kill me.' Soon he heard the shower activate, and got confused. 'Wait, she's not going to do anything to me? Or is she just waiting for when the shower is over?'

'What was that?' Shiori asked herself while she rinsed her body. 'I mean, yeah he didn't really see anything, heck he saw more when I was in my swimsuit, but why did that seem... different?' She paused a bit to lather up some shampoo and scrub her hair. 'What's bothering me the most isn't the fact that he saw me, but that... I wasn't bothered by him seeing me.'

Normally Shiori, and most girls, would feel compelled to scream and maybe attack a boy who walked in on them undressing, degree of attack depending on the girl herself. Shiori always thought that the only boy she would want to have see her like this would have been Hikaru back when he was alive, and never someone else, even Naruto.

'And yet... when he saw me... I didn't mind.' Shiori admitted, washing the shampoo out of her hair. 'Even if he kept looking I probably wouldn't have minded. I wouldn't have kept undressing, no way, but... I wouldn't have been upset over it. Am I just worn out because of Mom, or...?'

She stopped herself, afraid to finish that thought.