Welcome to the newest chapter of Naruto: Music of the Soul. This chapter will be a bit shorter than usual , but just as great as the rest! I do not own anything but this story!

"Corti!"

"Naruto!"

Both Corticarte and Naruto stood square in the middle of Naruto's apartment, both prepared to do battle against each other. Naruto's right hand slowly reached toward the ninja tool pouch connected to his back pocket as Corticarte slowly made her way toward the kitchen table. Corticarte dove toward the table as Naruto threw a kunai at the sleeve of Corticarte's shirt, which caused her to be attached to the wall beside her left arm. Corticarte pulled the kunai out of her shirt as Naruto ran toward the kitchen table, which suddenly was pulled back as soon as Naruto was arm length away. Corticarte grinned evilly as she picked up the miso ramen cup on the table, ripping off the lid as steam rose up from the cup, filling the room with the savory smell of ramen. Naruto slightly drooled as Corticarte dug in with her chopsticks, devouring the entire cup of ramen.

"Corti… you so cheated…" Naruto moaned as his stomach growled angrily. "That was the last ramen cup in the entire house…"

"Too bad, maybe you shouldn't underestimate me next time," Corticarte said with her mouth full of ramen as she shoveled more noodles in her mouth.

Corticarte and Naruto had just finished with their third day of training together with Kakashi and Sakura. Tsunade had promised to give them a mission tomorrow (after listening to Naruto's constant complaining) so both were excited to do a true mission together, as a team. Corticarte had began to get used to living with Naruto, which wasn't so bad beside when Corticarte ate all of Naruto's ramen.

"For a spirit you eat WAY too much," Naruto muttered as he collapsed on his floor bed. "I'm just going to go to bed…"

"Um… can I ask you a question Naruto?" Corticarte asked timidly as she took a seat on her bed. "Who is Sasuke?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably as he heard the name of the person he considered, still consider's an ally.

"Where did you hear that name from?" Naruto asked quietly, now Corticarte's turn to shift awkwardly as she cleared her throat slightly.

"Well, I overheard Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan discussing him when I took a break to grab a drink earlier," Corticarte explained.

"Sasuke is… my friend," Naruto answered as he took a glance out the window at the moon that was glistening in the night sky. "He left the village about three years ago in search of power… he allied himself with an enemy of the village named Orochimaru…"

"So he's a bad guy?" Corticarte asked as a small, visible tear rolled down Naruto's cheek.

"No! He's not a bad guy, he's a member of Konohagakure, he's one of us…" Naruto answered defensively, his voice trailing off at the end of his sentence. "He's just lost his way, that's all. And it's up to me to get him back to his senses."

"But… why?" Corticarte asked as she looked at Naruto seriously.

"Because he would have done the same for me, he was like my brother," Naruto answered quietly. "We formed a bond, me and him. At first we hated each other, I thought of him as nothing but my rival. That's before Team Seven was formed, when we were still in the Academy. Even after, all I wished to do was to be seen by him, for him to just see me as his equal. He was always the best at everything, he was so popular. I guess you could say that in a way I was jealous. But he was alone, just like me. And I never thought of it, how similar we really were. His parents were killed, my parents were dead. All we had was ourselves, well I had ji-ji before he died. He was not just an ally, he was my friend. My best friend…"

"I see…" Corticarte said as she glanced down at her lap.

"I… wish I could have been there, so you weren't alone…" Corticarte turned a dark crimson color as she looked away from Naruto's stare, the blond shinobi's face covered with a warm smile.

"Thanks Corti, I really appreciate that," Naruto answered as he looked at her for a moment.

"S-Stop looking at me!" Corticarte snapped as she glanced away, blushing even harder now. "I-It's not that big of a deal…" Naruto chuckled as he pulled his blanket over his body, fluffing his pillow as he laid down on his floor bed.

"Night Corti," Naruto said as he closed his eyes, Corticarte smiling as she tucked herself in, closing her eyes as well. Tomorrow was a new day, sure to bring a lot of adventure…

The Next Day

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto grumbled as he, Corticarte, and Sakura stood by the Hokage's Tower, awaiting their sensei's arrival.

"Never on time, as usual," Sakura answered as she leaned against a tall oak tree. "By the way, how is the living situation going?"

"Well…"

"Corti, if you can't live with this idiot, you can come stay at my house," Sakura told Corticarte, which caused Naruto to fall to the ground comically. "And Naruto… you better not try anything funny with Corti, understand?"

"S-Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?" Naruto stammered as both him and Corticarte turned a dark shade of red.

"I seen the way you were looking at her true form when we were in the Forest of Death," Sakura said accusingly as Naruto began to stutter.

"B-But… what are you talking about?" Naruto half shouted, half whispered as Corticarte began to chuckle softly. "S-Shut up Corti! It's not funny!"

"Yo," a voice greeted as Kakashi appeared before Sakura, Corticarte, and Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei! Oh, great timing," Naruto said with relief as he stood beside his sensei. "Tell Sakura-chan that she's crazy. She said that I like Corti… in that way."

"I thought that you liked Sakura…" Kakashi said as Naruto pointed at Kakashi and nodded with a grin. "But after how you were looking at Corticarte in the Forest of Death…"

"Dammit, not you too Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto roared as the whole group bursted in laughter, well all except for Naruto.

At the Hokage's Tower

"Team Seven, I have your mission," Tsunade announced as Corticarte sighed loudly.

"Then tell us, what's the hold up?" Corticarte snapped as Tsunade's right eyebrow twitched angrily.

"N-No, don't get Tsunade-sama mad Corti…" Sakura whispered to Corticarte, who simply shrugged in response.

"You little brat, do you know who you're talking to?" Tsunade roared as Corticarte shrugged yet again, looking away defiantly.

"P-Please Corti…" Sakura begged as Tsunade's nostrils began to flair, like a bull preparing to charge.

"Tsunade-sama, please don't be rash," Shizune begged Tsunade pulled off her green jacket, draping it over the back of her seat.

"I wanted to send you all on a simple recon mission to test Corticarte's skills in an actual mission that would most likely require combat against enemy shinobi," Tsunade stated as she stood before Corticarte menacingly. "But I've changed my mind… I will test her myself!"

"But what about my test…" Kakashi began, but silenced himself when Tsunade glared at him.

"You will face me one on one, little brat!" Tsunade told Corticarte, who snickered in response.

"Politely decline, please!" Sakura whispered loudly to Corticarte.

"Let's go! I won't hold back either!" Corticarte shouted as she followed Tsunade to the top of the Hokage Tower, dragging Naruto alongside her.

"Wait, what the hell…?" Naruto shouted as he was dragged along by Corticarte.

Top of the Hokage Tower

"Corti, this is a bad idea," Sakura warned Corticarte, who wasn't paying her any mind.

"Maybe you should listen to Sakura-chan, I mean Baa-chan is her sensei," Naruto added, but Corticarte was too busy in a stare

down with Tsunade.

"Just play our song Naruto," Corticarte simply stated as Naruto took a deep breath, then nodded.

"She's really going to go all out," Sakura said as she glanced at Naruto. "Are you really going to let her do this?"

"Hey, Baa-chan challenged her, she can't back down from a challenge!" Naruto stated enthusiastically as Sakura sighed in response.

"Naruto, the Godaime just challenged her, not some ordinary person!" Sakura snapped, but was ignored by Naruto.

"Are you ready for a lesson in respect?" Tsunade asked menacingly as she cracked her knuckles, prepared to fight.

"Let's go, old lady!" Corticarte shouted as a tick appeared on Tsunade's forehead.

"The battle of the old ladies," Naruto muttered with a smile as he watched the epic battle begin…

Corti vs. Tsunade next chapter! Who will win? Find out next chapter!

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