Chapter 3
Naruto smiles sadly and squeezes my hand gently. I return the smile and wipe away the remaining tears, my sleeve sliding down on my forearm. "Wait, what are those?" Naruto asks as he catches my left hand and pushes my sleeve to my elbow revealing faded scars. He turns my wrist and runs a hesitant finger across them.

"Nothing," I tug my limb from his grasp and pull my sleeve to cover the unsightly blemishes. "They're nothing."

"Kitsune," Naruto starts, then stops again. "I'm gonna go pay the check so we can leave when we're done." He smiles and walks over to the waitress and stands there as she writes up the bill. I pull my gaze from his back as the bell above the door jingles its welcome as a man in all black with dark tinted glasses walks in. He takes off his glasses and looks at me, nodding his head in greeting before he tucks the shades into his coat pocket and slides into a seat at the bar.

"Well, howdy there sheriff," calls the waitress popping her gum.

"Howdy there Loren, nice to see this place ain't as dead as usual," comes his gravelly reply. He reaches into in pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lights a cancer stick and puts the pack back into his pocket. He glances over at Naruto and shakes his head. "I'll take a pot of coffee and a piece of whatever pie you got."

"You got it," Loren says to the cop before turning back to Naruto. "Here's your change hun, have a good night." She smiles at him before turning to the order window and yelling to whoever's in the kitchen.

Naruto walks back over to me and sit across from me again. "There, we can go whenever you're ready." He picks up his cup of coffee and takes a drink before setting it back down and eating his pancakes. I nod and pick up my fork and resume eating, watching the cop from the corner of my eye. Naruto glances up and notices this but says nothing. I bite my lip and put the utensil down. He pauses with a piece of food on the end of his fork to look at me. "You okay Kitsune?"

I shake my head no and whisper," I'd like to leave now," as I fold my hands in my lap and study them intently. Naruto drains his cup of coffee before pulling a few small bills from his pocket and placing the tip on the table. He stands from the booth and motions for me to follow before he turns around and walks out the door.

"Have a good night," calls the waitress.

"Tell that boyfriend of yours to be careful out there, miss. Never can be too careful 'bout trustin' folks when you don't know 'em." The sheriff's voice rings in my ears as I clear the door and it shuts behind me. I walk over to the car where Naruto is waiting for me and climb in. I keep my head down as I buckle myself in and he starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot and back onto the road.

He casts sideways glances at me every few minutes, but doesn't say anything. He turns on the radio and lets the radio announcer's voice fill the cab and drone on as background noise. I stay silent and stare out the window wondering what to say and how to explain myself to him. I suppose I should start with telling him how I lied about my name. I take a deep breath and try to calm my shaking nerves. I'm so scared of how mad he's going to be when I tell him.

"Naruto?" I call softly. He looks over at me and then turns down the radio. He doesn't speak; maybe he's already guessing what I'm going to say. "I have to confess something," he doesn't turn to look at me so I blurt it out quickly. "My real name is Hinata Hyuga and I lied to you about my name because I didn't want you to turn me back into my family and that's why I got so scared and nervous around that cop because I thought that my father had already called them and told them I was missing so they would be looking for me and I just didn't want to get you involved in all that," I spoke without taking a breath and the words seemed to rush together, but Naruto still understood. He made that perfectly clear when he pulled over to the side of the road.

"You lied about your name?" is the first thing he asks when he can speak. I nod in silence and he stares thoughtfully out the windshield. After a moment, he speaks again. "Why Kitsune?" his question takes me off guard. Of all the other millions of questions I thought he would ask, he asks about the name.

"I always thought I was a beautiful name, and so I picked that name for my first daughter," I blush and dip my head, embarrassed about telling him that.

"What about a boy's name?"

"I haven't thought that far," I confess. "I've just always wanted a girl…" Naruto nods in agreement. His eyes are soft and searching for something. He bites his lip and opens his mouth like he's going to say something, but doesn't. Without looking down, I push up my sleeve and turn my wrist to Naruto so he can get a good look at them in the light "This is why I had to get away from my father," he eyes trace up my arm. He flinches at first, but farther up, past the faded scars where yellow bruises, unmistakably a man's. His expression is unreadable.

"Hinata," my name is like a sigh falling from his lips. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," he trails off and starts muttering to himself and tapping rapidly on the dashboard. His muscles are taunt like a bow and his eyes wild. I reach out and place a hand on his forearm to try to calm him. He looks in my eyes, then down to my hand, then back to my face. "How much do you remember? Please, tell me you remember something." His voice is frantic.

"Naruto, I'm not sure what you mean," I reply sadly. "And you're really starting to scare me, please tell me what going on," I coax gently. He runs his hands through his hair a few times and takes a few deep breaths. He reaches out and unlatches his necklace from where it rests and pulls it off. He dangles it between us, the red swirl swinging gently back and forth, almost hypnotizing…

"Do you remember this?"

"It looks, familiar. Like I've seen it before, but I can't really place it in my mind." Naruto lets out a sigh. "Why? Should it look familiar?"

"Hinata, I don't know how to tell you this, but you're not from this world."