I followed Naruto down the empty streets. It was brisk outside and the sun, as bright as it was, felt as if it could never warm my freezing soul.
"Here! Do you see where they've put her?" He yelled out of nowhere pointing to a huge stone building that looked like it belonged in a lonely city instead of the peaceful serenity of Khonoha, the outside gray with melancholy.
"What is it?" I whisper, he appeared beside me now, almost too swift to believe, even for a ninja.
"Look again." He murmured.
I looked around the building. Bars covered the windows and below the first row of windows sat a sign written in tainted black letters. It hurt my eyes to read this word as my mind tried to comprehend exactly where my friend was contained.
"Here." Was all Naruto whispered.
"…Naruto…"
"Yes, a mental asylum. Cat…. I want you to see the truth." He looked into my eyes and took my hands in his.
I jerked my hands away quickly before he could pull me into the asylum. "I don't want to go. I don't want to see her…anymore."
He turned towards me and stroked my cheek. "Whenever you're ready." He said as he lowered his hand and slowly started to walk away.
I stood for a while, in awe, starring at the eerie building. As painful as it was to admit, I wasn't strong enough to deal with the new situation surrounding Allison. Turning, I finally realized that Naruto was some feet away, and getting father with each second. "Where are you going Naruto?" I called, running to catch up with him.
"No where." He stopped and kissed me gently. "Promise me you wont get into trouble while I'm gone."
I smiled softly. "I wont promise you that until you tell me where you're going 'cause I'm coming with you."
He laughed gently.
"What? Is it bad that I come with you?" I whispered.
He laughed again and finally answered, "Yes."
"…. Why…"
He looked at me deeply and kissed me as if he would never see me again.
My hands traveled his upper body and as we both pulled away I bit my lip, still pondering his logic. "Why is it bad if I go with you?"
His cheeks burned bright red. "Because Cat." He sighed "Because, baby, you'll be too much of a distraction for me."
"But I…" I smiled and tried to hide my face buried in his strong chest for a while. "I want to help." A muffled whisper escaped from my lips.
"You really want to help me, Cat?" He sighed pulling me away from his chest so that he could look at me, smiling as he seemed to give in.
"Yes."
He rubbed his chin for a few seconds. "I want you to keep a very watchful eye on Sasuke for me while I'm gone, okay, can you do that?"
"Uchi….Uchiha…" My lips whispered his name slowly.
"No matter how grave the circumstances are, don't take your eyes off of him okay Cat? I believe in you baby."
"I'm not strong enough…" I whispered.
"Cat…"
I shrugged, accepting my challenge. "If you think I'm capable of not screwing up, keeping my eyes on Uchiha...then who am I to question your judgement?"
"It's harder than a lot of B ranked missions, keeping an eye on Sasuke that is. He moves around and sometimes he…"
I waited for him to finish his sentence but he never did. "He…what?"
"Concentration is all I can tell you, beautiful." Was all he said and then he kissed me and disappeared with the wind.
"Concentration?" I whispered to myself touching my lips, trying to savor the kiss. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I slowly walked back home when I recognized Hinata whispering something to her self as she stood in front of the Ramen shop.
I approached her and attempted to tap her shoulder. "Lovely to see you cat." She said in her whispery voice, without even turning around to see whom it was behind her.
"How'd you—"
"—Vibrations. We each carry out our own rhythmic vibrations and when our feet hit the earth, it creates a unique sound different from each individual, of course very sensitive to human ears, but with the proper concentration it can be heard." She said smiling.
I nodded, wondering if this is what Naruto meant by 'concentration' while pondering what I would say when she asked 'Where's Naruto?' it was a bad Idea trying to converse with her when he was gone like this out of nowhere. Would he want me to tell everyone where he went or was I supposed to remain quiet?
"Where's Naruto?" She asked quietly, in her whispery voice.
'Dammit!' "Umm…. Oh, he went somewhere and wouldn't tell me anything."
"Hmm…he probably didn't want you to follow so that you wont get hurt…. I hope he's okay…. maybe I should…"
I saw Sasuke out the corner of my eyes and began to speak quickly. "He said he wouldn't need any assistance but if a couple of hours pass and he's not back then I definitely think you should follow him but for now, maybe you should let him be alone for a while, though it's completely up to you, okay bye now."
I ran down the streets to follow Sasuke, but just like Naruto said, he disappeared instantly. There were only two ways he could've gone because if he jumped the building, I would've seen him immediately. "Left? Right? Come on Cat…" I whispered to myself. "I shouldn't have to guess," I sighed, "A ninja should just know…"
I looked more closely at my surroundings to see if I could find something, anything, to lead me in the right direction. Suddenly, I noticed a small piece of paper. I picked it up and read it. It had an address on it written in sloppy cursive and smudged pencil stains. I looked closer as my eyes widened, this wasn't just any address, this was Naruto's address.
At that point, my legs turned around and bolted me down the roads and to his house. They seemed to have a mind of their own, and finally they came to a stop. I carried myself up the front steps and turned the doorknob, expecting the door to be locked, but it was already open. I felt shivers run down my spine but finally I just burst through the door. All was silent and so I closed the door behind me and made my way to the kitchen. I frantically searched through the utensil drawers to find what I was looking for and finally I did, a sharpened knife, just incase.
