Hey, I felt like doing more than one drabble today. A bit of a sequel to 'Fever'.
Disclaimer: ...I seriously give up on trying to convince you people.
He sits with her, smiling and relishing in her laughter. It's been some time since his fever, and now she is letting him come outside, without hovering over him, watching his every move. He once jokingly called her mother, and her eyes clouded up and she looked ready to cry.
" I'm not your mother." She said, and he's never joked with her like that again.
But he does tell her jokes. He tells her about his pranks, about how Iruka-sensei used to always catch him no matter what, and she throws her head back, with her long brown hair tumbling over her shoulders and laughs. It's a pleasant sound, he decides, when it's not mocking or ridiculing.
She takes him to a field today, just a little outside the village. When he asks if they'll get in trouble, she looks at him funny.
" Since when has that ever stopped you, Naruto?"
He likes it when she says his name, her tone all affectionate and kind and loving, and he's never heard anyone say his name like that. It makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and, without thinking, he tells her he'll protect her like she's protecting him.
" Really?" She asks, smiling.
" Yes." He says. " You're very precious to me, so I'm going to protect you."
And her eyes grow bright at that, and the next thing he knows, she crushed him to her arms, and raining kisses down on his whiskered cheek. She just keeps doing this and he sits there silently, enough sense not to interrupt. And when it passes, she pulls back and smiles and him, and drags him off to gather flowers, even though he says it's girly.
And when he presents her with a cluster of violets that he found, she grins a fox smile and puts them in her hair.
" Why do you like violets so much?" He asks, as she pins the last one up.
" They're my favourite flower." She replies and smiles, and he leaves it at that.
Finally, she takes him back home. They walk up to his apartment, and he's almost glowing from her attentions and affections all afternoon. She frowns when he says he's going back to work in the morning, but shrugs it off, knowing it's his duty. As he turns from her to get into his apartment, he hears her say goodbye.
And as the door clicks shut, he hears her add irrelevantly:
" They were my mother's favourite too."
Well, is that a bit of a hint? See, since you can't guess her identity, if oyu can try and guess her name. Good luck!
MoS