When I said soon, I meant VERY soon ;)

I awkwardly moved my hand back and forth in an attempt to wave, but it came out more as a windshield-washer-esque motion. I notice Sasuke shake his head in amusement as his car sped off down the road.

My phone buzzed again from my pocket. Grunting, I lifted it from my waist and up to my face. Naruto's face lit up my screen.

"Hello?" I answered. It's 12AM, it can't be that important. Seriously, if I had to guess, he's probably tipsy and needs me to—

"My dad's in the hospital." His voice wasn't broken, or sad, but factual. Straightfoward, no beating around the bush. I widened my eyes as I retraced my steps to the front door and began lacing my converse back on.

"What? What happened?" I tried to speak calmly, but I knew this was bad. Very bad. Naruto's dad isn't just a rich suburban man; he's the governor. The frickin' governor. So it probably wasn't a car crash, or he'd have started with that. It had to have been something serious.

I know Naruto: When he gets really bad news or something really bad happens that he has to tell me about, he gets emotionless. First, he's stone cold, facts, facts, facts. He once told me he got that from his mother.

But that's not his form of coping. That's his way of getting around the stab he feels each time he retells the story. The coping is what he needs my help with; when he gets angry. Naruto has strong emotions, and the pendulum swings two ways. For instance, he didn't make the Varsity football team Sophmore year. And he told me the story of seeing Rock Lee's name on the list instead of his.

And then he broke his lunch tray in half after he couldn't get his fork package open.

Nonetheless, he answered my original question.

"Someone got him through the window. Just his leg's hurt though, and his shoulder's a little hurt from where he hit it against the countertop when he fell down," Naruto replied. His detached tone was still very evident.

"Are you at the hospital on Cobblestone?" I asked, now padding my hands gently over the lower portion of my hips where my pockets were to find my house key. I noticed the shining object on the counter and jogged over the swipe it from the granite surface.

Naruto confirmed my question with a 'yes' and I quickly snatched the printed bus schedule from its position next to the door. Not having a car requires a lot of extra effort. I scanned it half-heartedly as I walked, only trying to find when the next bus will come to the stop near my house. I find the column marked 'Senju St', indicating where my bus stop is located, and see that it is conveniently arriving in 4 minutes.

I climbed up the metal steps and sat behind a rather large woman, who continuously chanted at her phone, 'What? No!' almost the entire ride there. I glanced over once or twice and realized she was streaming Netflix. Somehow what she was doing became much more normal.

The bus pulled into the hospital parking lot exactly when the schedule said it would; 14 minutes after it picked me up. It was late, so the bus wasn't that crowded, and I had no problem worming out, but I was worried and begin to panic when I saw police lights flashing outside, so I ended up almost falling down the front steps.

I mall-walked to the front door and nearly yanked them open as they slowly slid in opposite directions, allowing me to go inside. I jogged to the nurse's station and mumbled something quickly about 'Uzumaki', but she must've known what I meant because she gave me a room number.

"Hey," I murmured, stroking my hand against the door frame as I waited for Naruto to acknowledge me. His head jerked up out of his hands, and the fluorescent light caused long, dark shadows to be stretched beneath his eyes.

"Thanks for coming," He replied quietly, his head turning back towards his father's bed. The governor's leg was pulled up, but the wound must've not yet been operated on, because the only thing covering it was a thin layer of gauze that blood had already begun to seep through. Kushina, Naruto's mother, paced along the other side of the wall, rubbing her fingers down her jawline every few seconds. She paused once to stare down at her husband, then adjusted her long ponytail and continued pacing.

"How are you?" I asked. I hesitated to put my hand on his back, and eventually decided against it. Instead, I rubbed my palms together as I slid them in between my legs and into my lap.

"I'm fine. My well-being isn't the one in danger, though, right?" He tried to sound light-hearted, and I knew he was trying to get my sympathy away from him. I pulled the corners of my lips up consciously, despite the fact that there was no humor. Tension wasn't really my thing, and neither was comforting.

A muffled radio sounded from the hall, and we both turned our heads the find the source. The noise appeared to be a police radio, and the two men who carried the device it came from sauntered into the room. Kushina stopped pacing, but Naruto and I made no movement. Naruto's face seemed interested, at least, as he yanked his eyes from his father's bed.

They asked if this was the Uzumaki's room, which Kushina replied with a firm 'yes'. They identified her as Minato Uzumaki's wife, and Naruto as his son. I was identified as a close family friend and Kushina insisted that I stay.

"The culprit," The officer started, finally getting to the occasion for the visit, "has not yet been identified, but we are working as hard as we can. The Police Department offers its apologies, and we'd like to extend that this has become the top priority of the force." When the speech was finished, the two men turned and exited the room. Kushina flopped down into a chair on the other side of the room, running her fingers through her ponytail again.

Naruto leaned his head back against a wall with a soft 'thud'. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, unsure of what to say, and decided looking at the ground was a good idea. I breathed a sigh and Naruto's eyes moved to me without his head following.

"Sorry," I offered lamely, trying to sound sincere. I was sincere, honestly, but I just wasn't sure saying 'sorry' to a wife and child whose husband and father (respectively) had almost been killed, only to find out that the man had gotten away. Naruto shrugged, then suddenly leaned forward onto his knees. His leg rapidly bounced up and down.

"I just don't—" he started, but stopped himself with a "gah" and shaking of his head.

"How do you lose the guy that shot the governor?" It was an incredulous rhetorical statement, not a question. He stood up and rubbed his hand frantically along his hairline. His fingers continued to move, and he cracked them in an unconsciously orderly fashion before rubbing them together.

"I just don't get it," He said finally. I reached for him at that point, imploring him to sit down, but he jerked his arm out of my reach. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words seemed right.

"I mean—I get it. We aren't the most important people in the world. And that's fine! But a shooting victim in a supposedly well-protected neighborhood—isn't that ALONE enough for a better police force than the damn—" he stopped again, now moving his arms in random directions as he spoke. I jumped in.

"Naruto, they're trying their hardest. Please, give them a chance—it's been like four hours," I insisted. I knew he was about to blow-up. And it was understandable, but I might as well give it a shot.

"Four hours is more than long enough for the culprit to escape the scene of the crime," He whispered quickly. He began fidgeting with his hands again before running his fingers down his chin.

"Just—GAH!" I jumped as he violently tipped the plastic chair he was sitting on against the floor, picking it up with one hand and throwing it at the wall.

"I just don't get it," Naruto whispered again, kicking the chair as he walked into the hallway. Kushina had her mouth open like she was about to say something, but sighed instead. Her eyes fell on me.

"Could you talk to him?" She sounded melancholy and worn-out. I knew she cared about her son, but the worry about her husband and the long day had made her weary. I nodded and followed Naruto into the hallway, only to find that he had wandered outside.

"I picked the chair up," I lied, unable to come up with anything else to say once I spotted him sitting on the wooden bench next to the glass sliding doors. He mumbled a 'thanks', then slid down the bench to give me room to sit next to him. I did.

"Your dad is fine, Naruto," I said, finally deciding to set my hand on his back and gently rub my palm in circles along his spine. Naruto didn't seem to jump at the touch, so I figured it wasn't too awkward.

"Yeah, but what if he wasn't?" He spoke into his hands as he set his elbows on his knees and leaned into his palms. I continued to rub his back.

"But he is," I added, "and nobody likes 'what-ifs'." Naruto seemed unconvinced. As I mentioned, I am an awful consolidator. I leaned down to level my face with his.

"Hey, look at me," I commanded, taking one of his arms from where it was holding his head up. He dropped the other one and did as I told him.

"It's just—I keep thinking, 'What if the shot hit the mark?'. It's not so much the question of 'who?' as it is 'why?', you know? Someone's trying to kill my dad. If the police don't catch him—or them—which they haven't—then my dad might be dead. What would I do if my dad died? Who would I be forced to become? I just don't want to think about it," He spilled, lacing his fingers together and setting his chin against them, "Not the same Naruto, for sure."

"He's alright for now," I meant to continue that statement, but I realized my mistake as soon as the words spilled out of my mouth. "I mean—"

"What happens when he isn't?" His voice cracked, and I watched his face transform from a somber expression to utter sadness. His lips sagged as his eyes squinted and his eyebrows turned inwards. His shoulders moved up and down as he began to sob.

I grabbed his head quickly, pulling it into my chest as I rubbed the back of his head. Naruto tried to free himself at first, but I woudn't let him, and he let himself cry. I didn't notice my sweatshirt get damp, although I'm sure it was. I didn't really care.

I didn't say anything, mostly because I wasn't sure what to say. I'm not sure at exactly what moment he had stopped sobbing, but at some point he pulled himself from my grip and leaned against the back of the bench. I heard him mumble a thank you, or maybe not mumble, but I had already started to drift into sleep.

…

When I woke up the next morning, my head was against the side of the bench. Naruto was asleep still, his arms hung lazily around its back. I remembered that I hadn't woken up by my own means and reached for my vibrating phone to receive a text from Sasuke.

'Sasuke: I hope you've squeezed the coke from your sham-wow. We need to work on the project. Are you awake?'

I thought about responding 'no', but I looked at the white numbers against the black background on my phone and realized it was 11AM. At first, I was offended that Sasuke thought I wouldn't be awake, but then I remembered that I wasn't.

I replied with a 'yes', and I didn't have time to set my head down against the wooden sides of the bench again before my phone buzzed with 'omw' as a reply.

If Sasuke's house is only 15 minutes from mine, then I need to leave. Like now.

"Naruto," I shook him lightly as he raised his eyelids only enough to where he could peer through them.

"Yeah?"

"I need to get home. Mom demands I do my homework," I shook my phone in my hand. It didn't seem at all realistic, my mom reminding me to do homework at 11AM on a Saturday. First of all, I'm not even sure why she would be awake, or why she would think I wasn't going to do it later in the day. Or why I was even lying in the first place. But for some reason, Naruto believed me.

"I—um—I could drive you—" he sounded hesitant, but I wasn't sure whether or not that was because he was tired or didn't want to leave his dad. Either way, I refused.

"I'll just go check the bus schedule, it's no big deal," I reassured him, walking back to Minato's room with him before returning to the nurse's station to ask for a bus schedule. An older woman handed one to me with a smile plastered on her face.

"Thanks," I mumbled, unconsciously walking out the door with it. I scanned down the document until I found 'Cobblestone Hospital', and then discovered that the next one didn't arrive for another 30 minutes. I cursed under my breath.

Glancing up at the clock, and reviewing the path in my head, I made a rash decision. I could have called Sasuke, and told him to pick me up here, but that'd led to too many questions I'm not sure I'm legally allowed to answer; I had to be classified as a 'close family friend' just to hear them. I could've gotten Naruto to drive me, but I didn't want him to leave his dad's hospital room.

So I started sprinting.

REALLY boring chapter. Sorry. Mostly characterization. This was actually quite a long one, despite the lack of plot. This does tie in though. AAANDD...I'm excited because I know where this story is going now.

You should be excited too; because it's exciting.

Sorry for the lack of Sasuke. Don't worry. He'll be back real soon.

Review because you like peanuts. Or cheese. Or cheesy peanuts. Or just random foods in general.