Chapter 11 - D.A.R.E (Don't Anger Red Eyes) {PART 2}

"Nozomi? Nozomi!"

"Huh...nya?" Nozomi yawned and opened her eyes, staring drowsily into Naruto's eyes. "Naruto-kun?" The cat girl yawned again and arched her back, stretching a little. "Is it morning already?"

"Yep!" Naruto smiled as he watched the girl. She was so cat-like, from the purr she often did, to the way she stretched on all fours when waking up...to...well...there was to many things to list. He frowned as he saw the look in her eyes. "Nozo-chan...you look really tired. Did you not get enough sleep?"

Nozomi just smiled and shook her head slowly. "No, I'm fine...I got plenty of sleep..." she put a hand over her mouth as she yawned loudly, and sweatdropped. "Eheh....soo anyways, let's get up and get going already, shall we?"

Naruto gave her a skeptical look but nodded after a moment, deciding she was fine. "Ok, let's pack and get going then." he grinned as he went to work rolling up his sleeping bag and cramming it into his bag.

Nozomi yawned loudly as she unzipped her sleeping bag and crawled out, proceeding to roll it up as well. Naruto had been right. She hadn't gotten enough sleep, thanks to that stupid nightmare she'd had. Of course she wasn't gonna tell HIM that she hadn't slept well, or else she'd have to tell him why she'd been awake so long, and she wasn't in the mood to discuss her latest dream. The cat girl smirked to herself.

Despite how scared she'd felt, she'd made use of her time before falling asleep, having tested her newest jutsu on Naruto. To her satisfaction, it had worked, and she had undone it quickly as the boy had begun to stir. A grin spread on Nozomi's face. 'Now that I know it works, all I have to do is find the right time to use it, and then....heheheheeee!!'

Almost as if he sensed what she was thinking about, Naruto turned and looked at the cat girl. "Nozo-chan? You ok?"

Nozomi jumped, snapping out of her thoughts, and gave a hasty nod. "Of course, I'm fine, hehehe!" she said quickly.

Naruto frowned but nodded his head in response. "If you say so...you still look tired to me...you sure you don't want to sleep a little longer?"

Nozomi quickly shook her head. "N-no thanks!...I may still be tired...but...come on, my sleeping bag's already been put away." She motioned to her bag where the rolled up sleeping bag had been crammed in. "How else would I sleep?"

A drop of sweat slid down the back of her head as a smirk appeared on Naruto's face, and she gulped, moving away. "Wh-what are you staring at me like that for?"

Naruto just stared at her, a smirk on his face. "You said you were still tired...it doesn't matter if you don't have a sleeping bag..." He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her with him as he leaned against a tree.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing?!" Nozomi demanded, blushing as she found herself sitting against the boy, her back against his chest like a pillow. "Let me up!" she ordered, starting to sit up.

"Ah ah ahhh.." Naruto smiled, grabbing her arm and pulling her back down again, this time positioning his legs around her tightly so she couldn't get up. "You said you were still tired, and it's early still...take a nap."

"HERE?!" Nozomi shrieked, blushing wildly.

Her blond haired companion smiled and nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Why not? I don't mind...I love having you close like this."

The blush on Nozomi's face darkened and she sweatdropped. "...Naruto-kun, I'm tired, but I can handle losing a little sleep...we need to get into town and get searching for...whoever it may be that brought those jutsu's to us. So c'mon, let me up." The cat girl started to sit up and shrieked as not only did Naruto's hold on her with his legs tighten, but his arms snaked themselves around her waist, pulling her back.

"Nozo-chan, we have 6 days. Take it easy and relax a little...or I'll FORCE you to relax." A mischievous grin appeared on the boy's face as he tapped one of the cat girl's ears. "You know I can, kitty.".

Nozomi sweatdropped and swallowed hard, sighing. 'I could just say no again...but I kinda have a feeling by the sound of things that if I DID, he'd just pet me until I was fell asleep...man, why'd I end up with the persistent one?!' The cat girl sighed again and rolled her eyes. "Ok, FINE...but only for a little while."

Naruto grinned and hugged her waist slightly tighter, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Giving in are we? That doesn't sound like the Nozo-hime I know." he teased.

Nozomi blushed at hearing his nickname for her, grateful he couldn't see her face. "For the time being. Only on this subject though, and just this once...because I know what you'll do if I say no."

"Ahhh...very wise," Naruto grinned, flashing his pearly white teeth at the girl. "but I'm still gonna pet your ears."

Nozomi's eyes widened and she groaned. "WHY?!" she demanded, turning her head to scowl at him.

"Because...they're so soft!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, kissing her on the cheek. "Oh c'mon, you know you like it."

A light shade of red colored the cat girl's face and she looked away. "I don't like being treated like a cat...I'm a human for crying out loud!"

"No, you're a cat girl." Naruto pointed out with a smile. "A cat and a girl...cat girl." His smile widened and he gave her waist a squeeze. "MY cat girl. My cat, my girl. See?"

Nozomi's face flushed to a darker shade of red as she sweatdropped. "I guess...but why do you have to PET me?"

"Because, it's one of the ways I can show I care, and it calms you down too." Naruto grinned. "Besides that, I know you like it...you're just too embarrassed to admit it because you think that'll make you sound even more like a cat." The boy paused and laughed as Nozomi's shoulders tensed up. "Am I right?"

The brunette growled and muttered something he couldn't understand.

"Nozo-chan," Naruto began, "I know you're embarrassed of your cat like quirks...but I really like them...they're what make you YOU...please don't get upset and try to hide those parts of yourself from me." The boy paused. "I want to know everything about you...and I want to help you know all about me, too. Please...for me...try to be yourself."

Nozomi heaved a deep sigh and nodded. ".....I'll try....fine...just....don't laugh. Please. There's more cat like qualities to me than I've ever let you see...I swear...you laugh and I'll kick your butt!"

"Don't worry, Nozo-chan." Naruto smiled again. "I won't laugh. I promise...you can be yourself around me." He paused. "Afterall, if you can't be yourself with your fiance then who CAN you be yourself with?"

Nozomi went silent, her face now redder than a tomato. "Um....Night!" she said hastily, closing her eyes and trying to force herself to sleep. However, try as she might, the brunette just could not fall asleep. 'How cruel...I was plenty tired until he made that fiance comment, and now I can't get to sleep?! Not fair!'

"Nozo-chan?" Naruto frowned at the display of abruptness she'd given and sighed. 'She's still mad about that?! It's been awhile...I thought maybe she'd have gotten used to the idea by now!'

The blond haired boy sighed and started stroking her ears lightly, in a massaging manner. "Good night, Nozo-hime.."

Nozomi's eyes flew open in surprise at his petting her, and she opened her mouth to protest, but all that came out was a purr in response. The cat girl sighed and slumped against Naruto's middle, her cat instincts beginning to take over, sleep threatening to pull her into black unconsciousness at any moment. 'Oh well...he asked me to be myself...I guess that means I let him pet me, and let myself purr and all that...Gosh it's gonna be hard to remember that..' Finally, oblivion came, and Nozomi welcomed the hazy unconsciousness with open arms...

Naruto smiled to himself as he heard the long, loud purrs coming from the girl, and stroked her ears a couple more times before leaning his head on her, soon falling asleep himself.

---

"Nyaaa...what a nice nap..." Nozomi yawned, a contented smile on her face. "I didn't have any nightmares, either...I wonder what time it i-" The cat girl's eyes widened as she saw that it was bright out, most of the shadows under the tree vanished, a sign that it was at least afternoon, and she sweatdropped. 'Did I really just sleep for 4 hours?! That's crazy!!'

Nozomi started to sit up, but was pulled back. "What the?!" Nozomi glanced down and groaned as she saw Naruto's muscular arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. "Umm...Naruto-kun...I'm awake...I had enough sleep, so you can let me up, heh..." The cat girl frowned as nobody answered. "Naruto-kun! Let me go!!"

"Mmm....ramen..."

"Nyaa?" Nozomi blinked and turned her head to look at the boy, only to groan in frustration as she found that he was asleep with his face buried in her hair. "Naruto-kun!!" Heaving an exasperated sigh, the brunette turned away and tried to think of a way to wake him up.

"Ramen...that's good...hmmm....zzz.....No....Nozomi's better......zzzzz"

Hearing this, Nozomi's face turned a light shade of red, and her fur spiked up. "What are you TALKING about, Naruto-kun?!"

"...Zz....Yeah....much better....we'll.......restore.......Uzumaki.....Namikaze too.....with Nozomi.."

At this statement, Nozomi blushed furiously, resisting the urge to slap him. 'He's not dreaming THAT kind of thing IS he?! What a perv!!'

"Naruto-kun, wake up already you baka!" Nozomi turned and raised her hand then slapped the boy across the face hard, stunning him. "WAKE UP!!"

"What the?!--" Naruto shot straight up, eyes wide, and touched his face where she had slapped him. "Ow! What was that for Nozo-chan?!"

"You wouldn't wake up." Nozomi said sourly, giving him a disapproving look.

Naruto frowned. "Couldn't you have found a little nicer way to wake me, Nozo-hime?" he whined.

"Nah...that way suited you, what with what YOU were dreaming about!" Nozomi growled. "Now let me up! It's already noon- we slept WAY too long!"

"You......What'd you hear?! Wait, was I talking in my sleep?!" Naruto asked nervously, letting his hold on the girl go slack. 'If she heard that I'm SO dead!'

Nozomi didn't answer as she hurried to her feet and scrambled away from him, grabbing her bag and walking away.

'I guess I should take that as a yes...' Naruto sighed. 'I don't know why she's so mad...It's not like I can control what I dream about!'

"Hey, Nozo-chan wait up!" The spiky haired boy yelled, scrambling to his feet then grabbing his bag and running after the cat girl.

---

"Here we are again..." Nozomi sighed as she glanced around. "It feels so...nostalgic here...even though I hated this place. Oh well, let's go."

"Ehh, Nozo-chan, how are we going to find who it was if we don't even have a clue?" Naruto asked, running to keep up beside her.

"Oh, that?" Nozomi sweatdropped a little and gave a sheepish, toothy grin. "I guess we'll just pray we get lucky, huh?"

"Yeah...I guess." Naruto shrugged and let the subject drop.

Nozomi heaved a sigh of relief, glad he was not going to question her any further. Truth be told, she really didn't have a clue what she was going to do, aside from walking around town until she found the person she'd dreamed about.

A shiver ran down the cat girl's spine at this thought. 'Suoh-kun...this will be the first time I've seen him in 4 years...I wonder what he's like now...'

The cat girl jumped suddenly, forced to stop as something latched onto her tail. "Naruto-kun, let go of my tail." she said in a sour tone, still not too keen about being near him after what he'd said earlier in his sleep.

To her surprise, Naruto turned to her and held both hands up, a confused look on his face. "Hey, don't look at ME...I didn't do anything!"

"But..." Confusion flickered in the cat girl's golden yellow eyes. "If you didn't grab it then who...?"

Nozomi turned and glanced behind her, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as her stare locked on a little girl who looked no more than 5 years old. "Hello?"

The little girl grinned up at Nozomi, stilling hugging her tail. "Kitty!"

Nozomi just stared at the girl, blushing a little as her petting caused her to purr a little. The kid was cute, with shiny black eyes, a perfect smile (save for one missing tooth), and long, dark violet pigtails that went down to just above her waist.

The cat girl sweatdropped a little. "Ummm...can I have my tail back, please?" she asked in a quiet voice, trying to sound nice.

The little girl just giggled and hugged her tail tighter. "Kitty cat!!"

Nozomi flinched at this and blushed slightly. Nobody had called her that since..well...Naruto. He had dubbed her that the same day she'd dubbed him "Ramen breath", though she didn't use the name much unless he made her mad.

Naruto just watched them, a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. He knew what Nozomi must be thinking, about how he'd always called her the same name, and how he still did occasionally. 'I should call her that more often...she IS my kitty.' he thought, a smirk on his face as he continued watching. This was quite an unexpected event; someone actually coming up to Nozomi and embracing her. He was sure she hadn't expected that from a member of the clan she'd grown up in.

"Umm...my name's Nozomi." Nozomi gave a shy smile, feeling awkward as she looked down at the little girl. "What's yours?"

The violet haired girl gave a big grin, once again displaying her missing tooth. "Aiko! Nice to meet you Nozomi-Kitty-san!"

Naruto, seeing the look on Nozomi's face at this name found he could no longer control himself, and he burst into a fit of laughter. "Aww, how cute...Nozomi-Kitty!...I gotta use that one!"

Nozomi balled her fists at her sides, resisting the urge to whack the boy over the head. 'Remember the jutsu...don't hit him now...you can get him later...but not now...don't scare the little girl..'

"So, Aiko-" Nozomi began, only to be cut off as a loud, feminie scream sounded.

"AIKO!"

"..Huh?" Nozomi looked up and sweatdropped as she saw a very angry looking short violet haired woman hurry forward and grab Aiko's hand.

"Mommy?" Aiko glanced up into the woman's angry eyes and frowned. "What's wrong...?"

The woman's scowl lifted slightly, but she held firmly to Aiko's hand as she pulled her away from Nozomi. "Come with me, now. We need to talk."

Nozomi winced and tried not to scream in agony as Aiko was pulled away, still holding onto her tail. "Ow, ow, ow..."

"But...I wanna play with Nozomi-Kitty-san some more..." Aiko whined, looking sad.

"Nozomi...?" The woman glanced at the cat girl and fear replaced the anger that was in her eyes. "You!" She pulled harder on her daughter's hand now, forcing her to let go of Nozomi's tail. "Come on, we have to get away from her!"

"But why?" Aiko whined sadly. "She's a nice kitty.."

"That is NOT a kitty, Aiko...she's a MONSTER! Now c'mon, we have to get away before that-that--THING attacks us!"

Aiko just stared sadly at Nozomi as she was dragged away, tears filling her eyes. "Bai bai, Nozomi-Kitty-san..."

Nozomi turned away, head lowered as she resumed walking. "C'mon, Naruto-kun. Let's go."

Naruto stared after her, a sad look on his face. "Nozo-chan...are you ok?"

"Naruto-kun, I'm fine. Don't expect that to be the only time somebody runs away in fear after seeing me." Nozomi's face was covered in shadows as she spoke. "I'm supposed to be dead by now...so of course people are gonna be afraid seeing me here..."

Naruto heaved a sad sigh, sensing the pain she was going through inside and also lowered his head as he walked beside her.

A moment later, they were forced to stop as yet again, Nozomi was snagged by the tail. The cat girl frowned and heaved a sigh. "Aiko-chan, you should be getting back to your mo-" By this point, she had turned to face her captor, and shock replaced the indifference she'd forced into her eyes. "YOU!"