Seeing as the young blond wasn't expecting any more visitors he decided to take a nap to calm his nerves and sort through the recent waves of emotions that had hit him like a ton of bricks.
'What the hell should I do now? I have to get Kat out for sure but then again I kind of like living and I sure as hell don't want to leave dad or Prim behind. But then again, Katniss has so much more waiting for her back at home. And I think that she would take care of Pops for me if I asked nicely enough. But what if we figure out how to get both of us out. What then?' The blonde thought diligently, his arms crossed behind his head as he lied on the red velvet couch, allowing his mind to roam.
'I wonder how Kat is doing? I mean nearly losing two siblings in one day has got to make some sort of psychological issues right? Knowing her she's either worrying about her family or trying to figure out what to do once she gets to the Games. Then there's this whole thing with Prim that I still have to figure out. Should I ask for some help on this? Gale maybe. Or maybe Peeta, he has a lot of experience with love, right? I mean he tells me about this girl he's in love with all the time but he's never said her name. She's one lucky girl. He makes some delicious cake. And not to mention Greasy Sae's ramen. Damn, I'm gonna miss that tiny piece of delicious heaven. With all it's noodley goodness and meaty flavor.' Thought the boy, unconsciously drooling at the prospect of eating his favorite food in the world. Unknown to him, as he had been musing through his thoughts someone else had entered the silent room.
"Ahem." Came a raspy cough from the corner, successfully drawing Naruto's attention to the corner of the room as he tumbled off the couch clumsily and landed on his face.
"Smooth, Fishcake." Came the amused remark from none other than one Gale Hawthorne. He would know that voice anywhere.
"Shut up, Gill." Mumbled the younger of the two whilst picking himself up from the rather dusty wooden floor.
When the two had been out trading goods together once, Gale had taken to calling Naruto Fishcake when they went to the Hob and Greasy Sae had offhandedly commented on the fact that Naruto's name meant fishcake when Naruto had to remind Greasy Sae what his name was, again. Gale, of course, found this absolutely hilarious, the fact that the younger hunter who could take him down within the blink of an eye had such a cutesy name was too good to be true and immediately began teasing him and in a somewhat weak retaliation Naruto had called Gale, Gill. And the names just stuck for the two this way. The two had become somewhat rivals in all truth.
Gale, even though he was older than her, had come to see that he actually had affections for Katniss beyond platonic. He had come to notice that he would take any chance to help Katniss with anything from learning how to use traps, to helping her learn to cope with the loss of her father when he was still trying to learn himself. And the major reasoning as to why he would do that was so that he could be around her or to hear the sound of her voice, her laugh, the way she would only let out a full-blown laugh if it was himself, Naruto, or Prim telling the joke or doing something ridiculous. He loved the way that she would talk to him like he was a normal person, not like any of his fangirls who would set him on a pedestal and try to seduce him when given any chance possible. He loved the way she spoke her mind without a care in the world when she was around those she trusted dearly (himself and Prim along with the blond-knucklehead). He knew that he was being selfish, but goddammit he was in love.
Naruto, although terrible with emotions, was able to pick up the fact that Gale had indeed fallen in love with Katniss. Gale wasn't the subtle type whatsoever, when Gale had once been trying to lie to him it was so easy to tell he was lying that it was like picking a piece of hay out of a stack of hay; Too easy. But, of curse this tick that Gale had only seemed to appear when talking to people he knew personally. When talking to people he didn't know it was as if he was the best spy in the world−second to Naruto, of course. The point being that, if you knew Gale well enough you knew that he sucked at lying and being subtle. Especially when he liked something a lot. And well, Katniss was like an older sister to Naruto and Katniss saw Naruto as a younger brother in turn and he had taken it upon his list of responsibilities to act as such, which included testing and keeping any possible suitors as far away from her as possible. Which was quite hard considering Gale was quite… touchy. Gale always liked touching Katniss' hands or shoulders whenever he was helping her with something or teaching her to set up a new trap. Not to mention the sickeningly sweet nickname he had for her, like seriously, his nickname for her was 'Catnip'. Catnip was something little kittens ate for a sweet treat; even Buttercup-bastard would roll over for some of the stuff. Not to mention, it was rare where they lived, even if they were surrounded by greenery they could never manage to sprout the damn thing and when they did, it was a miracle and really special.
But back to the point, Gale and Naruto were rivals for two reasons: 1) Gale was vying for Katniss' affections which Naruto was keeping them away from him. And 2) It was always a test to see who could bring in the biggest game and get it by the local peacekeepers without them noticing.
Gale was currently winning with a deer, two turkeys a rabbit and a squirrel. Naruto has an inkling that he had made a deal with the peacekeepers again because the blonde had only been able to bring in three rabbits, four squirrels, and a small mountain lion while barely making it through without any peacekeepers noticing.
"How you holding up there Fishcake?" Gale asked, sitting down on the couch and patting the spot beside him to signal Naruto to join him. Successfully pulling the younger boy out of his musings once more.
"I'm okay, everything just caught up to me a couple minutes ago though." The 12 year old said honestly.
"Listen, I'm sorry and I should've done something, volunteered for you." The brunette said, guilt painting his voice, causing it to crack halfway through.
"Hey, we talked about this, remember. We said that if it were to ever to come to something like this that I would volunteer for you or any of your little brothers because I know I at least stand a chance and I have a knack for luck. And if I were to be chosen that you would stand down because you have a family to support and now that Katniss is going too, her family as well." The sapphire-eyed blonde said furiously. His forest green-eyed companion made no move to calm him since he understood. "There is some food and supplies at my place if you need any, in fact get it as soon as possible because or else it's gonna go bad. Kami knows we're not gonna use it, so you might as well." Naruto said, his tone softening as he spoke.
It was only now that Naruto realized how hard this must be for the older boy. He was about to see both of his best and only friends battle to the death and potentially have to kill each other while simultaneously having to worry about having to support two families. Damn, that must be having some sort of impact on his psyche. He had been thinking a lot about people's psychological workings lately. Just like he had every year once the Reapings came around. Naruto turned away from the brunette, willing himself to gather his bearings.
"I know, I know. But I still think that you're too young for this crap." He said, his voiced strained as he was holding back a torrent of tears that would be sure to come once he was back in the forest, but he continued speaking anyways, pushing through the pain in his heart and sting in his eyes. "I'll grab the food and supplies as soon as possible, even though I don't want it, I know it's not about me. But really, listen to me. You do your best to get out of there, both of you guys. I know you guys can manage it somehow, just think. Okay? Use everything you've learned and everything you know. Everything that you haven't shown us." The younger of the two's eyes widened and head whipped to back to him upon hearing this. "Don't give me that look, I may not look it, but I can be pretty smart, when I want. I know you've been hiding something, the way you could pick up a knife like it was an assassin's weapon and not a kitchen tool. The way you walk has a deadly feel to it, like if I take my eyes off you I'm risking my life. I know you would never kill any of us so I never asked about it. You're one of my best friends, not to mention rival. You better show me that I didn't make a mistake by choosing a squirt like you to be my rival. It would be pretty pathetic if you died within the first five minutes, now wouldn't it?" he said with a hint of mirth towards the end.
"Oh, shut up Gill. But I get it. I'll do my best, believe it. I swear I'll explain everything once this is all over." He said, only slightly amused himself.
"Believe it?" the tall teen said, chuckling. "So that's what you're going to use huh? The lovable idiot. Nice choice, don't mess it up. That always was one of my favorites, even though it's extremely annoying. You better make them believe it, or they'll have your hide. I better go now, I was gonna apply for a job. Be careful Fishcake, and take care of both of yourselves. We have to keep the three Hunteers together remember?"
"I will. Same goes for you. Take care of everyone. Good luck with that job of yours." The Abernathy said.
"You too."
And with that, yet another of his precious people walked out of the large wooden doors, separating himself from them and giving himself up to his new adventure up ahead. But this one had a bit more swagger in his step.
'I think I've had enough surprises for today, now for that nap.' He thought as he laid back down, hoping for no more interruptions.
Alas, fate is a bitch. Before he even got to close his eyes there was a heavy knock on the door as a gruff voice told him they would be departing now.
The blond sluggishly pulled himself up into a standing position and straightened his clothes as he walked towards to the large wooden doors, preparing himself for what was on the other side. He took once last deep breathe before smiling idiotically wide and placing his tan hand on the knob and pulling open the door. He was immediately grabbed by two figures garbed in white, which he recognized as peacekeepers, and led down the hallway before coming to an exit and being walked down to the train only a few feet away.
As expected, the streets of District 12 were vacant once more. The silence was eerie and it was obvious that everyone had their shutters closed, waiting for them to leave so that their party may commence.
Every year once all of the excess people from the Capital left, there was a celebration to celebrate the fact that people from their own families weren't taken to participate in the upcoming bloodbath. Although it was staged to seem like it was a celebration for the upcoming Hunger Games, everyone knew the underlying purpose. As every year the families whose children were taken from them would turn off all of the lights, close all the curtains and essentially close themselves off from the rest of the world to mourn their loss.
A sharp shove on his lower back from one of his escorts broke him away from his musings once more as he was led to the train that would take him to the Capitol, a place he had only heard about and seen on television during the yearly Hunger Games televising. He knew that it was extravagant but he also knew it was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to his father's past connections with the Capitol they had more than once had been over to the Mayor's home where Naruto met Madge. Madge was a nice girl, misunderstood and always willing to please others. Since being the Mayor's daughter made her an outcast in the secluded Seam (as District Twelve's more rickety and inhabited area was frequently referred to as by it's inhabitants). In that way both her and Naruto had something in common. Among other things.
Seeing as he frequented Madge's home quite often he had unsurprisingly gained the trust to wander the halls of the mansion and thus was well aware of what happened in the inner workings of where they lived, having stumbled across and sneaked into the Mayor's office where he would frequently have broadcasts playing on his television about classified information. It was stupid really, anyone could walk in there and just watch television in order to find out what new mistake the Capitol had made. There have been a lot. He had at some point made a mental map of the place after getting lost so many times.
….
Upon entering the train the pre-teen was immediately engulfed in a desperate hug by his father who had been waiting for him on the train the entire time. The older man was shaking with unshed tears and bottled rage at having his son go through something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemies. They slowly separated before walking together into another compartment where there was an abundance of food piled high on silver platters. Fine wines and cheeses, enough food to feed the entire Seam, sating the ravenous beast named starvation gnawing at their souls, even if the effects would only be temporary. Father and son sat down together and awaited the arrival of one shaken brunette in order to begin their meal.
It wasn't awkward per say, just slightly suffocating.
"I'm sor-"
"Don't. Just don't dad. Okay? This isn't your fault. We both know that so don't apologize. I'll do my best to keep both of us alive. We both know I'm more than adequately equipped to deal with this. It's kinda what I've trained for. We'll be fine. I'll be fine."
"Okay. Okay! You know what princess? You're right! We'll be just fine. You'll be just fine. Both of yous. We just need to focus on getting you guys out of there. Alive. Yeah, yeah. You'll be just fine." Stated the elder of the two, although it sounded more like a reassurance to himself than anything else.
Silence reigned once more until the rolling of the compartment door was heard as it opened and standing there was the long awaited brunette. Looking calm on the outside but on the inside, Naruto knew, a storm surged and if it wasn't abated soon then it would tear her from the inside out.
"Hey Kat, what's shakin'?" Naruto said with a ridiculously large grin plastered on his face.
And slowly but surely, the storm was beginning to calm. For now at least. It was fine for now.
And Naruto can deal with fine.
He can.
Really.
He can.
But only for now.