Prologue
Electricity cackled and quickly went mute in the roar of rushing water. The sparks emanating from the hand behind her back faded.
Red eyes stared at her almost callously; his blank expression, along with her blurring vision, hid the turmoil that swirled behind that crimson gaze. Neither moved—besides the beating of the monstrous hands that kept them both aloft in the air—although for different reasons: He for the sudden end to the battle and she because of the pain wracking her body.
He winced then. His eyes flared with a gradually growing heat but he rejected the urge to rub them.
The girl impaled upon his arm clutched at him feebly. Blood covered her front and flowed down his limb. Dulling blue eyes were half-lidded, but still showed shock in their gaze. The locked on the object protruding through her abdomen and out her back. Her breathing grew fainter and fainter and he struggled to keep his ears locked onto the sound with the thundering of the sky and the rage of the waterfall.
Her headband came undone and disappeared into the rapids below. A spasm sent her ever closer to the edge of oblivion.
Her soon-to-be killer's throat grey dry. He could feel her heart's pulse begin to slow. He swallowed; his tongue felt leathery and raw.
Did he not want this? The power that would set his eyes equal to his brother's?
"You pulled back," His voice nearly cracked. "You really are an idiot."
She did not speak. Not that she didn't try, but crimson slipped from her lips instead of words. A sharp gasp that was the embodiment of her pain followed the red trail. She choked slightly and wondered if the chakra-made lightning reached her throat. The lightning had left faint, charred lines that nearly reached her collarbone. From the tell-tale feeling of Kyuubi's chakra surging through her body furiously, despite the hand that pierced through the center of stomach, the fox was desperately trying to reverse the damage. The state of the seal was an anomaly in and of itself as, while the flesh that bore it was stripped away by the Chidori, the demon still obviously remained bound to her.
With the boy's arm still through her gut, it impeded the fox's efforts to heal her. She grey weaker with every second as her debilitated body hung from the limb, the agonizing support draining her of her strength. Another wave of searing pain swept over her when his hand jerked slightly.
She forced her eyes to remain on his, but they wavered from fatigue and the strange, six-pointed stars that formed within the eerie irises. She did not know what the change in his eyes meant but didn't bother to ponder on it as she struggled to stay conscious. Her eyelids kept drooping shut without her consent and she had trouble peeling them open with willpower alone.
Strangely, she began to calm. The pain numbed.
She hoped it was merely from the shock instead of a sign that she was dying.
The instigator of her suffering swallowed once more. His arm was beginning to tremble from flesh constricting around it and the constant force of gravity trying to drag down his former friend into the depths below. He considered apologizing to the crippled blonde, but the thought was ridiculous. The deed was done with the will to complete it. The kunoichi's reluctance to fight him with the intent to kill only sped up the process.
The heavens began to weep.
Finally regathering his wits, he watched her go limp and inhaled heavily. Her heartbeat was far too weak to feel, and his eyes inflamed as his mind decided her dead. He started to withdraw his arm and murmured somberly to his defeated adversary, "I told you that I would sever those bonds, dobe. . ."
He blankly observed her tossed body fall into the waterfall, the blonde being pulled down faster by the falling torrent. He then raised his bloodied hand.
His fingers brushed scratched metal and seconds later his headband trailed after her, symbolizing the last remnants of their friendship.
A familiar emotion rose within him as he raised his hand to cover one of his eyes as it reached the pinnacle of its transformation faster than the other. He knew exactly what it was. He had felt it before.
Loss. It was the one wound that left no cut, no burn on his exterior. It flooded throughout his body in such a way that it's origins were unknown, as hidden as a subtle poison snaking through his body and warping his mind.
Only when both Naruko and the headband descended down the waterfall and into the plunge pool did he turn away. Gliding down, he landed painfully on his ancestor's side of the valley and stood there with his back to the river. He decided the pain from his injuries were nothing in the wake of his crime.
Nothing could compare to the price he paid for power.
Am I just like him? he wondered numbly.
"Foolish little brother. . ."
The words echoed all around him, tormenting him. Sasuke spared a quick glance at the raging waters, clutching the arm soaked in soaked in Naruko's blood. He half-expected, half-hoped she would rise up from the depths like a phoenix and do as she had threatened: break his limbs and drag him back to Konoha by force.
His eyes stung, and he knew it wasn't just because of his Sharingan transcending. He finally forced himself to look away, abandoning the valley.
Anything for power.
Several moments later a deep glow illuminated below the waterfall.
The pounding of the rain, footsteps, and the loud rumble of engines and whir of tires resonated dully in Kyouko's ears. The thirteen-year-old walked side-by-side with her mother and was careful not to stray from beneath the umbrella the older woman held tightly.
Grey clouds rolled, looking like a blanket of dark smoke, and thunder boomed. The sky lit up as lightning crashed far off. The weather did not cause much alarm for Kanata and her daughter. Both hurried regardless, not wishing to get a cold from the sudden downpour. Kyouko huddled into the warmth of her jacket, her short hair clinging to her forehead and nape. The weather painted a somber mood for all beneath the heavy rain. She stared at the sky, an uneasy feeling tugging at her gut.
She had an unsettling premonition: Things were going to change. Something big was about to happen. Kyouko knew this, but could not predict what. That alone bugged her.
Her mother glanced at her worriedly as the girl brushed her wet locks from her face with a strange expression, "Is something wrong Kyouko?"
Kyouko merely smiled and shook her head, masking her unease and replying, "Nothing." Yet, her subconsciousness concluded. She forced away the unease and kept in step with her mother.
". . . forecast said there was only a thirty-five percent chance . . . not a thunderstorm. . ." Kanata muttered, gaining a small smile from Kyouko.
A thud resounded and Naruko slammed into wet, dirty pavement. She rolled end-over-end before crashing headfirst into a brick wall and causing a trashcan to spill its contents upon the wet alley floors. A small trail of blood followed after the blonde, several splotches appearing where her body made contact with on the alley floor.
She slumped against the ground in the tattered remains of her beloved neon-orange jumpsuit. Choking and hacking up water, she attempted to move. The blonde only managed to fall onto her side. As the jinchuuriki stilled, any random person to walk by would think her dead. She breathed very faintly in testament to that.
Blood was splattered all along the orange jumpsuit in worrying amounts. Two gaping tears could be seen in the fabric on her shoulder and stomach; if anyone saw her back they would find an identical set.
Despite there being naught but a scar upon her revealed shoulder, a large, fist-shaped hole laid on her abdomen, burns in the shape of lightning branching outwards from it. The bright, unzipped jacket and the shirt she wore underneath was hanging by the seams. Long and wild blonde tresses had come undone from its simple ponytail and portions of her face from view as rainwater dripped from it.
A headband rested near her. It had a rectangular slab of metal attached to the dark blue cloth and a leaf-shaped symbol engraved on it. A scratch lanced across the insignia as if carved by a knife.
Naruko's eyelashes fluttered. Two gems of sapphire peered out wearily beneath her hair but she saw nothing. Her gaze was as unfocused as the thoughts wandering about in her depressive haze. Blood trickled down from her scalp from where she had collided with the wall. Pain disoriented her and confusion muddled her mind. Shock and her weakened limbs kept her from trying to get up again.
. . . He really tried to kill me.
Abstractly, Naruko knew that she should have been dead, would have been dead if it weren't for the Kyuubi. Her hesitance to fight Sasuke honestly could have easily lead to her death—no. It would have been the reason she died, for despite all her childish antics Naruko was and still is a powerful shinobi. How else would she manage to avoid the ANBU after pulling off such a wide-scale prank as the defacement of the Hokage Mountain itself? In broad daylight? Or defeat the one-tailed demon and his container?
Naruko had fought on par with the Uchiha while holding back, only resorting to the use of the fox's chakra when Sasuke utilized the Curse Seal and reduced himself to that monstrous appearance with equally terrible strength. Despite his transformation, she still could have succeeded in defeating the Uchiha if only she had not pulled back.
Still, those were "if onlys". Dwelling on them wasn't going to help her in this situation—not where she had been whisked away by glowing waters and into this strange place. The discomfort of being tugged through sludge accompanied her, pulling her into this bizarre realm with horribly loud beasts that roared to and fro in the distance. Her olfactory sense were awash with putrid scents, courtesy of the garbage littering around her vulnerable form.
Gaining some awareness she felt faint traces of Kyuubi's chakra surging through her, healing her, but definitely not at the rate it usually could. Ignoring that, she took stock of her unfavorable and still dimming situation.
She still could not move. Her mind kept drifting farther and farther away as exhaustion set in and made her very flesh and bones feel like lead. Her vision was blurring. Her sight was a blend of yellow, orange, and a dull, dirty grey; then it all ebbed away to make way for the enroaching darkness. While her hearing grew muffled she still managed to hear somebody cry out. The noise sounded out like she was underwater and sinking, voices garbled and undistinguishable.
Before she was tucked off into unconsciousness, she mustered enough of clarity to cling on and call out mentally into the fog of her mind.
Kyuubi. . .?
For only a few moments—more than enough time for the demon fox to answer—there was only silence.
And then Uzumaki Naruko closed her eyes and embraced slumber, feeling more alone than she has ever had before.
Both mother and daughter had heard the thumps, followed by the clatter of tin and the noise of a body slamming against a wall. Kyouko ran off, just a bit ahead of Kanata, to see what happened, only to halt as soon as she reached the alley entrance, eyes wide. Her gaze locked onto the orange figure and saw a girl—bloody, beaten and bruised—laying on the ground, unconscious.
"Mom! T-There's someone here—she's hurt!" Kyouko cried in a panic after investigating the sounds originating from between the two shops. She vaguely noticed it was a kid, probably younger than her. T
They both scrambled to help her.
"Oh God." Kanata breathed as she crouched down to check on her. Dirt, bruises and blood smudged the blonde's pale skin. Upon seeing deep penetration in her chest, she gasped in horror. It looked like something pierced her chest and charred it along the way, what with the lightly burned flesh around it.
While her mother assessed the situation, Kyouko panicked. Blood coated the girl's front—and oh, let's not forget that a giant, freaking HOLE is in her gut! Kyouko finally had a reason to understand why she felt that foreboding earlier. She ran her hands through her hair and distractedly realized she was shaking and not from the cold. Kyouko had seen such things on television, but experiencing it in real life was a different matter altogether. Her skin paled and she averted her eyes, not wanting to look at the blonde's injured state. "Mom, what do we do? Is she dead?"
As her daughter panicked, Kanata acted quickly. She took out her phone and dialed 119 to alert the hospital and authorities to the problem. Once she had answered all the questions and told them where they were, she hung up and took comfort in the fact that an ambulance on the way. She then surveyed the unconscious form to see if there was anyway she could help.
From what she could see, the only truly fatal wound was the penetration of her stomach. Peculiarly, the scorched skin surrounding it arranged itself in a strange, lightning-like pattern that stretched outwards from the middle of the blonde's stomach. Kanata also saw black markings but they were too faint and obscured by the burns to make out.
Tucking the blonde's long, damp hair back, Kanata saw that blood had crawled out from her hairline and ran over a closed eye and a whiskered (Kanata just realized she had birthmarks—or were they scars?) cheek.
"Why would anyone do such a thing?" she mumbled, taking out a clean tissue from her purse and making gentle swipes along the girl's face to free it of the blood. She could just imagine the pain she had went through as she took in that, while even in sleep, the blonde held an anguished expression. "How are you still breathing?"
Thoughts rushed through her head as she watched her. Where was the girl's family? Were they terrified, worried? Who did this and why? Will she make it?
Glancing back, she saw that Kyouko calmed down, but she held an anxious expression on her face as she paced. She was talking to Tsukune on her phone, as her mother could vaguely hear his voice filtered through the speakers. He was obviously speaking very loud. There were a few people crowding at the mouth of the alley. A few whispers of concern appeared here and there. Some of the more sympathetic ones went towards her, offering any help they could provide.
Sirens were soon heard. She felt a small bit of relief but continued her vigil over the girl. When the ambulance arrived, she kept thinking the wound on the unconscious blonde's stomach looked smaller than when she first saw it.
A groan pushed past her lips.
Eyes that were once shut tight opened, squinting and blinking rapidly at the intrusive brightness of her surroundings. "Ouch," she murmured. Her skull felt like it was going to split open, and everything was so nauseatingly white she thought she was dead.
Then she heard the beeping in the background.
Some instinct made her body jolt and she hissed when she attempted to shoot up, clutching her abdomen as it made its painful protest in the wake of her motion. Definitely not dead, she noted sarcastically. All instinct that surfaced receded at the throbbing twinges in her gut. Gingerly sitting back when no immediate danger presented itself, she looked over her bedridden form.
She could feel think bandages wrapped from her waist to just below her breasts underneath the hospital gown. The material also circled her skull. What happened to me?
Her hand reached up and fingered the white cloth—she felt she was missing something important. The smell of anesthetics was thick in her nostrils. She looked around and saw the machine that resonated the irritating beeping sound, and the zigzagging line looked familiar. She recognized it as a heart monitor.
She sat on a hospital bed, some sort of tube attached to her wrist. Positioned at the bedside were two chairs. A large black box with a screen hung on the wall directly in front of her. Vague noise filtered in through the cracked door.
Where am I? Some kind of hospital? Weird, she couldn't recall ever being in a hospital before.
Then, as she pondered on it, I can't remember anything!
Except for her name.
What happened to me? How did I get here? Why can't I remember anything else? Briefly, the monitor with the squiggly green line spiking. It resumed its steady beeping as she stamped down on all her alarm. Thinking on it made her head ache worse, and Naruko settled back into the bed when she realized she would not be able to get up without the risk of upsetting her wounds.
She turned her head, catching a slice of sunlight hitting her face. Naruko squinted and raised an arm to shield her face.
Her spot on the bed gave her a clear view through the large window she just now noticed, although it was only through the sterile white colored blinds. She lifted her other arm and barely managed to grab the drawstring. With slight effort, she pulled them up enough to see outside.
What she saw made her breath hitch for a lengthy stretch of time.
Pillars of concrete and glass stretched high into the dark sky with colorful, glowing signs that shined and flickered from them. Down below she took in the both huge, wide and narrow yellow-striped roads occupied by large, rumbling metal vehicles. The strips of hard, dark rock canvassed the large city as far as she could see.
On the sidewalks, varying types of people walked, but the majority, she realized, had dark hair. Others had different shades. Naruko lingered on one with pink. An unexplainable sense of nostalgia and failure threatened to overwhelm her. She drew a deep breath, throat catching.
A name lingered on the tip of her tongue.
Sadly, it was forgotten as soon as her mind acknowledged it. Feeling frustrated, she nibbled on lip as her eyebrows knitted together. The tension in her arm strained her, so she shut the blinds halfway before letting go of the string and relaxing back into her pillow. She used the ceiling as an inadequate substitute to look at.
As she ignored the tempo mimicking her heartbeat, the noise circulating all around her snatched up her attention. Voices rose or fell in conversation and shoes tapped loudly on tiled floors as people walked the halls. It was difficult to pinpoint where they were all coming from with so many echoing throughout the immense building she was in. Even the floors below her had sounds resonating from them. A sort of comical song was playing from the one below her.
So focused on the laughable singing below she barely noticed when two pairs of footsteps halted at the door leading to her hospital room. Her eyes shot to it and she sat up again. With clunk the door opened, releasing a squeaky creak.
Two women, one obviously younger—barely a teenager—and slightly shorter, stared at her in surprise. Both had similar features, including dark hair. The eyes were different though, and she noted the smaller looked more tomboyish than what she assumed was her mother. Her hair was shorter and her clothes seemed less feminine.
The blonde merely blinked at them and tilted her head to the side slightly, perfectly and unintentionally imitating an adorable, clueless child.
"Uh, hi. . .?" Naruko offered dumbly as they just stood there.
The older raven-haired woman, who also had a few age-lines, finally reacted. She sat in one of the chairs beside her bed, smiling gently. "Hello. My name is Kanata, and my daughter here is Kyouko. What's your name?"
Slightly surprised, Naruko decided being polite to the woman and fulfilled her request. "Naruko." The blonde shifted her gaze as the other girl, Kyouko, mimicked her mother and sat in the remaining chair, her gaze concerned but grinning broadly as she offered her own greeting, to which Naruko returned hesitantly. "Do you know how I got here?"
Kanata clasped her hands together loosely. "Yesterday, we found you in an alley unconscious. You were hurt pretty badly so I called 119 so an ambulance could come and pick you up to take you to the hospital. I'm actually a little shocked you're awake right now; the doctor's said you may not wake up for days with all those injuries."
Naruko face showed confusion. She'd been hurt? That was probably why she couldn't remember anything. She didn't know what "119" or an "ambulance" meant either, but Kanata wasn't finished speaking.
"Do you know what happened or see who did this? The police are still investigating the scene, but there are very little clues as to who attacked you."
They watched as Naruko struggled to recall anything from before she woke up. It was obviously difficult and for Naruko she was just groping blindly in the dark for fraying strands. After failing, she shook her head miserably.
"Are you sure?" Kanata pressed gently, only receiving a nod in response. "You hit your head pretty hard, so I guess it is to be expected. Do you know your family name or how old you are? What school you go to?"
At that, the bedridden girl opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Frustration showed on her face.
Finally, she said, "I'm. . . twelve. School, uhh. . ." Naruko's face soured, and not only from not being able to remember anything.
Kyouko spoke up, "We're about the same age then, and it looks like we both have the same idea about the educational prison." She smiled in an attempt to distract disheartened girl. It worked a little. The smile pulling at whiskered cheeks made Naruko look adorable.
After a brief discussion, Kanata informed Naruko that she would be released from the hospital in about a month—if all goes well and she recovers from the trauma her body suffered (she left out the part where it was a miracle Naruko even survived), and that the police would likely visit to speak with her.
Currently any family or guardian she had were yet to be found. If none could be located there was the possibility that Naruko could be put in an orphanage.
Hearing that, Naruko felt terrified, just as much as waking up without any knowledge of, well, anything. The idea of being put in an orphanage sparked an ache within her chest. Her visible upset had Kanata feeling sorry for the poor girl.
Kanata and Kyouko left later on when a nurse came to change her bandages, leaving Naruko with a sense of loneliness. She managed to ignore it and found entertainment in the weird anime on the television. Sadly, that only lasted so long.
It was later on that the blonde eventually discovered that she did NOT like hospitals. The smell of chemicals, blood, and the fact that she could not get out of bed barring from going to the restroom left her feeling very bored and restless a large part of the time. The urge to just jump up and run had her assuming she was a pretty active person. It also lead to her being chased down by the nurses. The staff often had to watch her carefully to keep her from slipping out of her room to explore after that.
The doctors, upon replacing her bandages on the tenth day, expressed astonishment at her quick recovery. Most of her injuries were gone. Most didn't even leave a scar. The hole in her navel had quickly begun healing itself and the process was further quickened by the effects of modern day medicine, but it was unlikely that it too would leave without a mark.
Naruko did not really understand their wonder at her speedy recovery. Their constant looks of fascination made her feel like a specimen. It bothered her. At least the next day it looked like they all forgot about it. She could do without the blank expressions, but she'd take what she could get.
For the past month, Kyouko and Kanata visited her once every day—sometimes twice. Naruko was very thankful for them. They actually came back on their own (why was that so weird to her?) and relieved her of the daily boredom and loneliness. Naruko particularly enjoyed baiting Kyouko, to the amusement of Kanata. Needless to say, despite getting into a few childish arguments, the two girls were fast becoming best friends.
The police had visited her the first week of her stay at the hospital, just as Kanata predicted. It didn't go so great.
Not bothering with pleasantries, they immediately began questioning her. They apparently had found little to no evidence except for a single item—from which they acquired DNA that was not hers—that they placed in a bag (thusly christened as "evidence" in sharpie, Naruko saw) and brought along to see if she could recognize it.
"It" was a scratched headband.
Upon seeing it, images and words flashed through her mind, although most were indecipherable. The main one that remained at the forefront of her mind was the word shinobi.
A pair of crimson eyes had enveloped her vision after the word had echoed in her head, starry pupils spinning treacherously within.
She felt. . . betrayed.
As quickly as they came, the fragmented, vague memories fled and left her with a piercing headache. She was unable to remember nothing except for that word.
She snapped irritably at the police when they continued to press despite her obvious discomfort, "If I remembered anything, I would, but unfortunately I can't. Honestly, if it would get you guys out of my room, I would tell you anything if I actually knew something about this! Leave me alone already, geez!"
She was a twelve year old girl—probably—and amnesiac to boot. She might have addressed them wrongly, but seriously, what the hell were they thinking badgering her? How many times would she have to say that she didn't remember until it sunk into their heads?
No matter how much they tried to drag it out of her, she was unable to give them an answer. Then they had left, upset by their unsuccessful attempt at gathering information, but not before they agreed to her request to keep the headband as they had more than enough time to gather data from it.
After that tiring debacle, she kept the headband on her at all times, finding it far more familiar to her than the surroundings she was confined to for the past few days. She always had it either wrapped around her forehead to keep her wild bangs out of the way or loosely tied around her neck. Sometimes it hurt to look at it, but Naruko didn't care. If it could make her remember like it did with that word "shinobi", then she would endure.
There were still no leads as to who Naruko's family was or what background she may have had. The possibility of her going to an orphanage progressively grew into what seemed like the inevitable as the last week neared its end far too soon in her opinion. Despite that fact, Naruko did her best not to allow it to affect her during the Aono's visits. Kanata noticed this—barely—during the last two days as Naruko and Kyouko bantered. The blonde was trying to distract herself and it showed with how her grins seemed just the tiniest bit forced.
Naruko was quite skilled in bearing a grin instead of a frown—it was easier.
Nearing the end of the month, Kanata wondered what to do. Naruko had quickly grown on her, despite not even knowing her long, and it was plain to see that Kyouko had taken to her too when observing the extra bounce in her step when they were going to visit.
The girl was strange, but not in a bad way. The blonde's personality showed that she was blunt, mischievous, and dense at times, but honest. She was rambunctious like a child with just as much energy as one, if not more. Even so, she was not insensitive or selfish. She once slipped out of her room to help soothe a small kid wandering around who just had his mother put in the ER and had gotten separated from his family in his distraught state.
The weird thing was how Naruko was mystified by many everyday things, while some she already knew about. Kanata found it unusual that she could remember some things but not others, like how she knew what a movie was but not a television. On one occasion the whiskered teen went down an elevator with a nurse and jumped when it started moving, showing just how ignorant she was to some things.
Kanata enjoyed the rapt attention Naruko could display when being told something new and interesting, although the blonde tended to show her dislike to anything related to written tests as Kanata found out by giving Naruko a small quiz to stave of her boredom. Regardless of her dislike, Naruko focused on it well enough to want to pass it when Kanata encouraged her and claimed that she was certain she'd do well. She passed after forcing herself to study with books she reluctantly requested from Kyouko, barely scraping by, but it was enough. It was very obvious she was more of a kinesthetic learner rather than one who learned from lectures or books.
Kanata had also discovered, unfortunately, that upon bringing the blonde some cup ramen Naruko gained an unhealthy obsession with it. It was only something easy to make, just to avoid the hospital food. Kanata had no idea the damage her mistake would cause.
The blonde didn't chew, she inhaled the broth and finished in a minute at most. Then she went right to the next one if there was another. After finding out just how many she could eat in a row Kanata found herself praying she would get burned off of it, lest Naruko's addiction burned through her wallet. She was honestly surprised Naruko's stomach didn't bulge from all the salty noodles. In fact, the small girl didn't even seem to gain any weight from it, which Kanata found a bit unfair as a woman who found herself watching what she ate to make sure she didn't gain any unnecessary flab, or visits to the gym.
Naruko even revealed a weird verbal tic one day. Kyouko took full advantage by teasing the blonde of it. When she first heard "dattebane," slipping unaware from Naruko in a moment of excitement while watching anime, the teal-eyed girl ended up snorting, before breaking into outright giggles and prompting a blush from the whiskered teen and a humored smile from Kanata. Safe to say, Naruko was now wary of saying it around her dark-haired friend.
All in all, Naruko fun, and growing dear to them both.
Still, Kanata could not help but be hesitant to act on her fledgling idea. She might just be getting ahead of herself. There was no official information on Naruko despite her apparent age and given name, besides her new medical records. Where were her family and friends? More importantly, how did Naruko even end up in this situation? There was also the question if the girl even desired to accept such a life changing option.
"Wow, you really suck at drawing," Kyouko teased the blonde lightly, in a manner Naruko wouldn't take to heart. The blonde's eyes narrowed into a playful glare. They sat in the hospital room, only a day until Naruko would be released. Kyouko and Naruko were hanging out, both trying out artistic expression today.
Naruko set down the notebook covered in doodles and the pencil Kanata gave her before quickly taking the pillow behind her and throwing it at Kyouko. It smacked the teal-eyed right in the face even though she ducked.
The whiskered girl gave a loud laugh as the pillow hit the floor and revealed Kyouko's aggravated expression. "Like you're any better. At least I don't do stick figures."
"Oi, you little midget!"
A vein throbbed. "I am not a midget!" Naruko snapped heatedly, before smirking. "At least I'm not an over bloated pig like you!"
The grit of teeth followed this remark. "What did you just say?"
"What, have you already forgotten when you tried to put your fat, dirty hands on my ram—oh, no."
"C'mere, you!"
"Get your meaty paws away from me!"
Kanata laughed. Even though Kyouko was darting across the room to unsuccessfully capture Naruko (almost fully recovered besides the large, scab on her stomach), both girls had smirks on their faces. The whiskered girl's quickly stretched her lips into an awfully fox-like grin. She then easily slipped away from Kyouko's grip and proceeded to tickle Kyouko's sides, much to said friend's horror.
Naruko's laughter filled the room when Kyouko ended up tripping, going face first into the hospital bed in her haste to escape Naruko's relentless onslaught.
Kanata's smile widened, and she decided.