Chapter 3
As Yona settled in beside Shikamaru, setting her things down, Naruto bounced over with his trademark grin and enough energy to fuel a dozen sparring sessions.
"Yona! I got here before Iruka-sensei! How about that, huh?" Naruto announced, plopping down beside her as if they'd been best friends for years. He started chattering about his morning, his voice booming across the room, oblivious to the surprised looks from around the class.
Ino leaned in, her eyebrows raised in confusion. "Uh, Yona, since when are you and Naruto all… friendly?"
Yona shrugged nonchalantly. "Since yesterday," she replied, her mouth quirking into a small smile. "He came over for dinner."
Ino’s eyes widened. "Dinner? You mean like, at your house?" She blinked, clearly trying to process this new piece of information. "And you invited him? Like… willingly?"
"Yep." Yona smirked, enjoying Ino’s shock.
Shikamaru, watching the exchange, leaned back and eyed Naruto as he joked with Ino. He quietly said, "So… Naruto’s our friend now?" His voice was calm, as though he already knew the answer.
Yona glanced over at him and nodded. "Yeah. Naruto’s our friend."
Shikamaru gave a small smile, understanding her unspoken reasoning. "Guess that means we’re all in for a little more… noise," he remarked with a lazy grin.
Naruto caught the last part of their conversation, turning to them with a broad smile. "What’s this about noise? You’re talking about me, aren’t you?"
Yona rolled her eyes, but there was warmth in her tone. "Don’t get too full of yourself. It’s not always a good thing to be noticed."
"Hey! I’m impossible not to notice!" Naruto shot back, puffing up his chest.
"That’s for sure," Shikamaru muttered, smirking, which made Ino stifle a laugh.
Naruto turned to her, beaming. "See? Even Shikamaru gets it!"
Ino shook her head in disbelief, still trying to wrap her mind around this new arrangement. "You guys are impossible." She looked back at Yona. "So this is happening? Naruto Uzumaki, part of the group?"
"Yep," Yona said simply, nodding with a smirk. "Get used to it."
Naruto, clearly overjoyed, laughed a little too loudly, earning a few glances from the other students. "This is awesome! You guys are the best!"
Shikamaru glanced at Yona and, with a resigned sigh, muttered, "Well, guess this’ll be interesting." He gave her a knowing look. "But at least it won’t be boring."
Yona grinned. "When has anything been boring with us around?"
Ino finally relented, giving Naruto a half-amused, half-exasperated look. "Fine, you’re in. But don’t expect me to go easy on you during sparring."
Naruto grinned back, his eyes gleaming with challenge. "Bring it on, Ino! I’m not afraid of any of you!"
The bell rang, and everyone started quieting down as Iruka-sensei entered the room, but there was an undeniable shift in the air. Yona glanced around, noticing how their small circle felt a little fuller, a little brighter, with Naruto’s boundless energy now a part of it.
--
Sasuke sat in his usual spot, glancing around the classroom with a subtle frown. Today felt different, almost as if the room’s usual energy had shifted. He quickly noticed why: Naruto was nowhere near him or Sakura, who, as always, had managed to grab the seat right beside him.
It wasn’t difficult to follow the noise at the back of the class, where Naruto was laughing with Yona, Shikamaru, and Ino. Sasuke’s brow furrowed. That’s... a strange development. Yona, usually so quiet and detached from Naruto’s antics, was talking to him as if they'd been friends forever. Even Shikamaru, who tended to keep his circle small, seemed perfectly at ease with Naruto in their midst.
Sakura noticed Sasuke’s frown and leaned over, misinterpreting it. "Isn’t it nice that it’s finally quiet around us? Maybe Naruto finally got the hint," she said, her tone mildly satisfied. But her expression betrayed a hint of wistfulness as her gaze lingered on the group at the back. She quickly looked away, masking it with a bright smile.
Sasuke didn’t respond, only giving a small grunt. He turned back to his notebook, trying to concentrate, but found his eyes drifting back to Yona and the others, despite himself. Yona hadn’t even looked his way once since entering the class, and for some inexplicable reason, that irritated him.
Shaking it off, he forced himself to focus. What did it matter if Naruto was sitting with Yona and her friends? But there was a strange, nagging feeling that gnawed at him. He told himself he didn’t care. Naruto could hang around with whoever he wanted.
Even so, Sasuke found himself glaring a little harder than necessary at his notebook, ignoring the inexplicable tension that had settled at the back of his mind.
--
After class, Yona and Sasuke met at their usual training spot. Normally, these sessions flowed with a natural rhythm—each anticipating the other’s moves, each pushing the other to their limits. But today, things felt… off. Yona noticed it the moment they began sparring. Sasuke was tense, almost reckless in his attacks, his strikes sharper and harder than usual.
Yona deflected a punch, catching his glare. “Whoa, easy there! You’re going to break something, Uchiha.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Focus, Senju.”
She rolled her eyes, trying to break the tension with a joke. “Is that what they call this? You seem like you’re one bad mood away from turning this into a wrestling match.”
He clenched his fists, his gaze dark. “If you’re going to mess around, don’t bother wasting my time.”
Yona blinked, taken aback. “Wasting your time? Seriously?” She let her hands drop to her sides, frowning. “Look, if there’s something eating at you, maybe just… talk about it. No need to take it out on me.”
Sasuke scoffed, averting his gaze. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired of everyone thinking this is all some… game.”
She shook her head in exasperation. “You’re being ridiculous. I’ve always taken this seriously. If you’re going to act like this, maybe I’m the one wasting my time.”
His jaw tightened as he looked at her, a flash of something like regret in his eyes, but he said nothing. Yona watched him, disappointment flickering across her face. She waited for him to say something, to give her some kind of explanation, but his silence said it all.
“Fine, Sasuke,” she said quietly, her voice cold. “If this is how it’s going to be, I’m done for today.” She turned and started to walk away.
“Yona—” he began, but stopped himself, unsure of what to say. He watched her go, a sinking feeling pooling in his stomach.
--
Yona trudged into the house, frustration simmering from her tense training session with Sasuke. Lost in thought, she almost didn’t notice the booming laughter coming from the living room. But as she rounded the corner, she was nearly knocked off her feet by a blur of white hair and a familiar, hearty voice.
“Yona, my little princess!” Jiraiya cried, sweeping her up in a bear hug and spinning her around.
“Jiraiya!” she gasped, laughing despite herself as he set her back down.
He patted her head, his grin stretching ear to ear. “You’ve gotten taller since the last time I saw you! And don’t tell me—have you been training? Looks like you could almost take down an old man like me.”
“Almost?” Yona teased, raising an eyebrow. “I’d say I’m there already.”
“Confident as ever,” he chuckled, ruffling her hair.
Tsunade crossed her arms, a smirk on her face. “Oh, please, you’d be out cold in seconds if she really tried, Jiraiya.”
“Ah, Tsunade, have a little faith,” he laughed, sidling up beside her, only for her to give him a light punch to the arm.
“Back off,” Tsunade scoffed, though she smiled. “Last thing I need is you corrupting her with that ridiculous book of yours.”
Shizune, standing nearby with her hands on her hips, gave Jiraiya a warning look. “I hope you haven’t brought that… novel of yours anywhere near Yona.”
Jiraiya feigned innocence, clutching a hand to his chest. “What, Icha Icha Paradise? It’s a literary masterpiece! I was just telling Tsunade that my newest one is about to be released—”
“Not. Around. Yona,” Shizune cut him off, shooting him a protective glare.
“Oh, come on,” Jiraiya groaned, casting a pleading look at Yona. “Surely you appreciate art, right?”
Yona shook her head, laughing. “Sorry, Jiraiya, I’ll stick to my training scrolls, thanks.”
Tsunade snorted, patting Jiraiya on the back hard enough to make him stumble. “Looks like you’ve lost this one, Jiraiya.”
“Ungrateful, all of you,” he huffed in mock indignation before turning to Yona with a twinkle in his eye. “But really, kid, it’s good to see you. I’ve missed this place.”
Yona softened, realizing just how much she had missed him, too. Though he was an on-and-off presence in her life, something about having him here again made her feel grounded. “It’s good to see you too, Jiraiya.”
They settled into conversation, with Tsunade and Jiraiya bickering like old times, sharing stories and laughing as if no time had passed at all. Yona couldn’t help but feel her earlier irritation fade away in the warmth of her unusual but cherished family.
The cozy dinner with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune was already filled with laughter and banter when Jiraiya started asking Yona questions, his curiosity uncontainable. Leaning forward with a playful glint in his eyes, he grinned, “So, Yona, what’s life been like lately? Come on, don’t hold back—I need all the details!”
Yona smirked, knowing he’d only be satisfied with full answers. “Nothing too dramatic,” she replied, feigning innocence. “You know, school, training... beating Shikamaru at shogi—”
Jiraiya chuckled, nodding along, then his eyebrow quirked when she mentioned Sasuke. “So, you’re training with Sasuke Uchiha now, huh? A Senju and an Uchiha training together—that’s a first. Who would’ve thought?”
Tsunade rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Some of us are capable of moving beyond old prejudices, Jiraiya.”
“Oh, sure,” Jiraiya teased, a wide grin spreading across his face as he leaned closer to Tsunade. “Of course, coming from the granddaughter of the First Hokage, I’ll totally believe that.”
A solid smack landed on his head before he could even finish, courtesy of Tsunade. “Watch it, or I’ll show you just how much I’m above prejudice.”
Yona shook her head, exasperated as Jiraiya rubbed his head and shot Tsunade an almost flirty smile. Their back-and-forth was like clockwork. She couldn’t resist sighing, “You two never change.”
Jiraiya just winked. “Hey, kid, you should consider yourself lucky to witness such a high-level... dynamic.”
As he said this, a knock sounded at the door, and Shizune got up to answer it. Yona didn’t need to look up to know who it was.
“Hatake-san,” she greeted, smiling at Kakashi as he strolled into the room, hands tucked into his pockets with his usual casual demeanor.
“Good evening, Yona-chan, Tsunade-sama,” he greeted them all with a lazy wave before his visible eye shifted to Jiraiya. “Heard the legendary writer was in town, so I thought I’d swing by. Besides, I’m due for the latest volume.”
Jiraiya’s grin grew. “Kakashi, you always know when to show up at the right time!”
Shizune shot them both a scowl, then looked at Yona, immediately covering her ears. “We don’t need to corrupt her with talk of your—your... book.”
Kakashi just chuckled, taking a seat with an amused look as Shizune kept her hands on Yona’s ears. “Come on, Shizune, it’s just literature,” he said, while Yona rolled her eyes and playfully pulled away.
“You all act like I’m seven,” Yona complained, though she couldn’t hide the laughter in her eyes.
The evening continued with a light-hearted atmosphere, Kakashi and Jiraiya swapping stories—both on missions and, much to Shizune’s dismay, their “literary discussions.” All the while, Yona watched them, feeling grateful for this family, even if they were a little... unconventional.