Past. Date?

Midori goes out to lunch with one of her make-shift sensei's who's really a sempai at most. Things start out as an icy blizzard, then cools over and Midori may have made her first real friend in Konoha.

Midori and Sasuke made it back to the training grounds, then soon after Sasuke and Sakura left somewhere else. Midori rolled her eyes at how stupid Sakura looked, acting like a lost puppy trailing after Sasuke. Now she was alone with Naruto. "Okay Midori Hamatiko! I'm going to train you fighting moves today." Naruto said cheerfully. Midori looked at Naruto and only nodded. Naruto stopped smiling for a moment as if he wanted to ask something. "Why don't you smile?" Naruto asked and looked her in the eyes. Midori looked at him with a cold stare. "I have nothing to smile about." Midori said dryly.

Naruto returned her gaze, but with warm eyes and a radiant smile. "Well we're going to change that. We will, believe it!" Naruto said as if it were a goal he'd just set out on. Naruto and Midori trained hard until nearly past noon. Naruto would get Midori to try some moves, she'd learn it quickly, then he'd try to make her laugh. His attempts were useless. Midori threw powerful kicks and punches at the dummy as Naruto watched her. She suddenly stopped and stumbled backwards. Naruto jumped up behind her and caught her. "Take it easy." he said with concern in his voice. Midori's stomach made a rumbling noise. "Uh..heh.." Midori said when she remembered she hadn't eaten all day.

Naruto laughed. Naruto helped her back up "Hey, I know! You've worked hard, how about we go get some ramen?" he offered cheerfully. Midori smirked "That'd be great." Midori felt like an idiot for falling backwards. "Okay, I'll buy!" Naruto smiled. He started walking backwards with his hand behind his head. Midori looked at Naruto and suppressed a laugh at how funny he looked. Naruto blinked and got closer to her "What?" Midori asked looking away. "Oh, I thought you were gonna smile is all." he smiled at her.

Naruto then led the way to the Raman bar. The ordered some raman and ate together, Naruto talking randomly. "So, Naruto?" Midori asked slowly. "Yeah?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of ramen. "Well you know what's happened to me, but I'm curious about you. Your so carefree and happy-go-lucky." she asked him. At her words, Naruto put his bowl down and all the cheery brightness seemed to fade from him. After an awkward moment Naruto looked at Midori. "I was an outcast ever since I was a baby. Shunned out by society because of the demon that was sealed inside me when I was born...people were scared of me. Some even thought I was a demon." he said darkly and looked away.

Midori's expression softened. She sat close to him and leaned lightly on his shoulder. "I see." she said thoughtfully. Naruto turned and looked into her deep amber eyes. "It wasn't a choice you made. Nobody has the right to think your different from them. You just have a special quality they were never given." Midori spoke smoothly. She smiled at Naruto "No wonder your such a goof." she laughed in a friendly, teasing way. Naruto brightened "You have a beautiful smile, Believe it!" Naruto smiled at Midori.

Midori sat up to finish her bowl of raman as did Naruto. The young girl who came to collect their bowls smiled at them. "You have a girl with you Naruto! Could it be your on a date?" she asked cheerfully. Before Naruto could say anything Midori spoke up "You could say that." she said rather cheerfully. Naruto turned to Midori with a surprised expression on his face. Midori stood up and took Naruto's hand. "I'll be late for my training, talk to you later!" she said over her shoulder as she pulled Naruto along.

Midori finally let go of Naruto but kept walking. Naruto seemed to still be in a daze. When he finally snapped out of it, he started to talk again. "Why did you tell her we were on a date?" Naruto asked with his hand behind his head with a blush crossing his cheeks. Midori smirked at him and rose an eyebrow. "'Cause thats sorta what it was." she turned to face him. Their faces almost touching. "That's what I call a date because I don't date friends." she smirked and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She backed away and ran ahead a little. She spun around and winked at him "What? You thought I was a heartless person who prefers to be alone all the time?" Midori laughed when Naruto had stayed silent, blushing more than before.

"Hehe..." he kind of laughed with embarrassment. Midori turned around so she'd be walking forward and almost tripped on a small puppy that had appeared behind her. It yelped in surprise when Midori staggered to regain her balance before falling. When she glanced down there was a young brown pup by her feet. From the tip of her nose, around her eyes to her tail tip was a dark shade of brown, her underbelly is a light brown and the end of her tail and the back of her ears is an even darker brown, almost black. Midori bent down and picked the pup up.

"She's a stray. She looks hungry too." Naruto observed, noting her lean frame. Midori held the pup up to get a good look at her. The pup batted her face playfully, then started to lick it. Midori laughed, then held her close to her breast "Well, if she's stray, I can give her a home." she smiled. "Lets go to a pet store and I'll buy her some stuff. I have some money from running errands..." she trailed off. "Alright. I'll show you just the place." Naruto grinned.