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"What happened to goodbye?"

― Sarah Dessen

Chapter XXIV: Out of nowhere

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Neru caught her reflection in the grimy, streaked bar's window. It stared back at her with shallow cheekbones and dark sunken hollow eyes. Her arm wrapped itself around her stomach as if to make sure that her rip cage wasn't showing through her shirt, but then she remembered that she was no longer like that. She was healthy, had muscles and fat now. Her sharingan made her remember things way too vividly.

"Got something to say, brat?" Tsunade inched closer. "You need to speak louder. I can't hear you." Tsunade could hear her just fine by the look of her grin growing on her face.

Neru's left eye twitched.

"Look at what you've done." She said, more to Naruto than to Tsunade, as she gestured toward the broken plates on the floor. Moving her mouth was somehow painful. It wasn't like that a second ago. She felt as though her lips were dry and cracked. It was only when she licked her lower lips that she realized that she wasn't dehydrated. The tearing feeling caused her to grimace.

"It's just food." Naruto had the guts to say, rather nonchalant. "So what? Who cares about that when she talks shit about our Hokage and the Fourth?!"

She gawked at Naruto.

"Okay, kids! Chop chop! Time's up!" Jiraiya threw his arms up theatrically. "That's not how we ask someone for a favour! We are here for the Uchiha brat and your sensei, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto pouted, rolling his eyes. She crossed her arms, stubbornly.

"Why does it have to be me? Jiraiya, I am not the only medic in the whole wide world! There must be someone else out there."

"It's not anyone who can cure them. There is something wrong with their brains. We don't know how to deal with something like that. You are the best that we have, Tsunade."

"Still, you really think I would do anything just because you ask nicely?" Tsunade huffed and took a huge gulp of sake from the bottle like water. Wiping her lips with her hand, she chuckled. "You know I don't do donations."

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune whispered with disapproval.

Naruto, his face solemn, slammed his hands down on the table once again rattling it. "Two lives are on the line here! You have to do something!"

"Name your price." Neru said sternly. "I can pay you a lot."

"Who says that money was an issue here?" Tsunade laughed.

"Says the old hag with the unhealthy gambling habits and huge debts!" Naruto snapped and pointed childishly at her with his index finger. "Ah ha!"

"Excuse me! I'm still young, don't call me old hag!" Tsunade practically screeched, leaning forward on the table.

"Fifty years old! You are ancient!"

"Outside. Now. Pipsqueak!"

Her eyes flickered to her left. The perverted old man heaved a heavy sigh.

"She might as well say public humiliation."

Neru followed them outside, keeping her gaze upward. She might actually cry if she looked below at the wasted food on the floor. As she exited the bar, the cold night blew in her face and some of the crows sitting on the dead tree trunk let out ugly hoarse cries. She stood between Jiraiya and Shizune, while Naruto and Tsunade had some sort of showdown in the middle of the narrow road bordered by rows of small apartments and businesses.

"I've been one of the three legendary ninjas. I don't even have to be serious to fight this little boy." Tsunade boasted. "One finger should be enough."

"Shut up." Naruto said, all fired up.

He attacked her head on. Tsunade side-stepped without flinching and ducked down to avoid this time a kunai.

"Stop fooling around!" Naruto winced as Tsunade flicked the kunai out of his hand. She flicked his forehead and Naruto glided back as if slammed with a hammer.

Neru couldn't really concentrate on what was going on to be honest.

Naruto and Tsunade were simply loud. They were attracting a lot of attention from bystanders. A married couple up there on their balcony were watching them while drinking tea. Four curious customers came out of the bar they had just went in to look at the show. The townspeople all seemed to be comfortable like they were used to shinobis messing things up. Or maybe nobody cared when it was a Monday. Or both.

Even without turning her head, she could tell that someone was intensely staring at them. Their footsteps suddenly just stopped. After a few minutes of no movement, she looked over her shoulder.

I know you, she thought as she squinted her eyes.

"Karin?" She mumbled.

Karin's eyes were glassy, looking past her.

Should I pretend that I didn't see her? Or do I have to say hi?

Awkwardly, Neru gave a small wave. No reaction. Embarrassed, she quickly put her hands in her pocket.

Karin only snapped out of her daze when a boy came toward her and grabbed her by the wrist. There was a hint of anxiety on her face. He dragged her up the stairs, following wordlessly by another boy.

It must be her teammates. They are from the Village Hidden in the Grass, which is not far from here. It shares the border with Konoha in the North-East.

The only adult, a man with black hair and a dark brown-grey kimono, was waiting for them on the posh, she remarked. Must be their sensei…

He opened his mouth to say something unintelligible.

They entered an inn and she didn't see them again.

"Kusagakure's shinobis, huh." Jiraiya looked at her from the corner of his eye.

She nodded. "Jiraiya-sama, you travel a lot, right?"

He scratched his temple, looking over at the place they had been one last time before his eyes returned to the fight. "Yeah. What do you want to know?"

"What do you think of Kusagakure?"

"It's like everywhere else; Big threes, giant bamboos, lots and lots of big mushrooms and rivers."

He knew that wasn't what she asked.

"Kid, don't look at me like that." Jiraiya said, voice dropping low in a tone of seriousness that she wasn't used to from him. "I've been there a few times, but it wasn't great times, war time. Back in the days, it was invaded by Iwagakure and served as a front between us and Iwa. They don't welcome outsiders. But-"

She dragged herself closer.

"Kusagakure's women are so beautiful you won't believe your eyes!" Jiraiya suddenly did a complete 180, his serious demeanour turning silly. "Soft curves in all the right places!"

He got a stink eye in return from Shizune.

"I almost mistake you for a decent adult there." Neru said, caustic.

Jiraiya gasped melodramatically and brought a hand to his heart. "I took you under my wings. I am an inspiration, a role model! There is nothing indecent…" He paused in deep thought. "Forget about that part. But I'm definitely a mature adult." He wriggled his eyebrows. "If you know what I mean."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." She nodded sagely and that was when Naruto used his Rasengan, stealing back their attention.

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Neru let her eyes close in a way that appear peaceful, but in reality she was slowly dying inside, melting in the radiant heat of summer. She avoided at all costs leaning on a wall or touching something with her bare hands like she had germaphobia. Even the kids in the nearby playground were calm and silent as if it was too hot to move and talk at the same time.

Though Naruto has far less trouble than us ordinary folks.

He had gone somewhere at the ass-crack of dawn. Tsunade and Naruto had made a bet. If he could master the Rasengan in one week, the cursed necklace was all his. Was that even a price? Cursed necklace. Its name said it all.

She must have missed something. He couldn't just get the goddamn thing for decoration. She didn't see Jiraiya anywhere either. He must be helping Naruto in every way he could like a fairy godmother.

"It's so hoooooottttt …" She mumbled under her breath, uselessly fanning herself with a hand.

The bells chimed. The old man at the counter pushed his small round glasses up on his nose. Entering the tiny convenience store, the customer simply moved in a straight line without hesitation.

"Oh, what a surprise to see you here!"

"Hi." Neru said, blinking. She pretended that she didn't know that Karin was a chakra sensor-type, so she must have known that she was here. She turned back to look down into the fridge as the cold air blew on her face. Karin was still there, stealing glances at her. After a long while of stealing glances, the girl let out an attention calling cough. Trying to be polite, Neru offered an eye-smile. "Yes?"

"You need to be careful..." Karin said, shifting her glance around the room.

Her eye-smile waved.

"You have to be careful…of that boy you are with."

She turned her head so fast she might have whiplash. "What."

Is she messing with me? She did the same thing last time too. I still don't know what to make of that!

Poof! This kid just appeared out of nowhere. She acted like a mother as though she was one minute from scolding her from talking to strangers.

"What." Neru repeated like a broken record. "Naruto…?"

"His chakra is dark, so dark like…" Karin looked disturbed. "…like the bottom of a well. Everything about him feels wrong. It's black…and…and boiling all inside! He's evil!"

"He's nowhere near evil. You just need to know him better, Karin-chan."

"A person's chakra is the embodiment of the soul. He's hiding his claws and pretending to be a nice, harmless person!"

But it's not his. It's the Nine tail fox.

"I see...Thanks for telling me, but he's really not like that. I'll be off then."

"You don't …understand…" Karin said in a small voice.

Before she left, Neru glanced back at Karin who was caught watching her go. Karin flushed scarlet from the tips of her ears to the bottom of her neck and dunked her head.

She cast her eye toward the blue of the sky in vain hopes of making sense of it all.

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Naruto was lying on the ground, scratches and bruises covering all his body. His hands were badly burned by chakra. Neru crouched down and tapped the side of his head. His hair was stuck up at different angles like he had been tugging on it for hours in frustration.

"Crazy-hime." He opened one eye.

"Don't call me that." She scolded. The nickname was quite condescending. Did he mean the she was the princess of crazies or a crazy person with hime as an honorific?

In both cases, it sucked.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting up sluggishly as the sun blared on him.

"Making sure you don't kill yourself."

"I can take care of myself just fine!" He huffed. "I have been living alone all my life!"

"And you still believe you are doing a good job?"

Naruto grimaced. "Are you still mad? I already said that I was sorry!"

Yeah, she was still bitter about wasting food.

"No no…" She plopped down beside him and ripped out a handful of the soil and grass. "So, did you get better with the Rasengan?"

He scratched his head. "Not really, but I'm halfway there. I need to try harder until…" He stopped in mid-sentence. "Hey, who's behind you?"

Neru followed his line of sight.

Karin was standing not so far nor so close, hiding behind a tree. Her red hair stood out like a stop sign. Karin was staring at Naruto with something akin to distrust and irritation.

"That's Karin-chan. I met her at the Chunin Exams. Her team didn't get through the second round, that's why you didn't recognize her."

She didn't believe that it would change anything if Karin's team even when to the finals. Naruto'd forgotten about her even though they did exchange a few words.

"HEY!" Naruto shouted suddenly, making Karin hit her head on the tree trunk. "Ouch."

"HEY! YOU!"

Karin peaked out, rubbing her forehead with a sour face.

"Yeah, you!" Naruto pointed at Karin. "Why are you hiding? Come out now!"

"No way!" Karin shouted back, childishly.

"I've spotted you! You can't hide anymore!" Naruto looked terribly smug.

Neru signed, pulling out an orange popsicle from her plastic bag. "Karin-chan, do you want one?"

Karin brightened up at her words. Neru gestured her to come closer. Karin glanced at Naruto and then gave her a small nod, approaching with such caution that one would think she was approaching a feral cat.

"Do you have one for me too?" Naruto asked with a pout. Karin scowled at him before she huffed and turned her head to the side.

"You two have to share it." Neru said, uncomfortably. She had only bought one popsicle because she had not considered another person. She'd wanted to share it with Naruto like that father and son pair, but she thought that this might be a good way for Karin to know him better. She teared the plastic cover off and carefully broke the popsicle in half.

"Naruto-san." She handed one half to him and he accepted it eagerly. She didn't know if he really liked the orange flavour or he just liked orange things.

She looked down at Karin as she felt the firm yet, gentle tug on the back of her shirt. "I don't want to share it with him." Karin almost whispered. "I want to share it with you."

"I'm not really hungry right now." She lied. At least, there were still sweets in her bag. "Here."

Karin frowned, but silently accepted it without complain.

Inwardly, she signed in relief.

"After this, I really need to train. I can't afford to waste anymore time if I want to win the bet!" Naruto complained just to complain. "I'm going to prove the old hag that she was wrong, y'all can kiss my ass!" Naruto cachinnated in such an ugly way that she laughed too. His baseless confidence always got to her.

"Considering you got your ass handed to you?" She hummed. "Yeah right."

With the slightest crease on her forehead, Karin laughed in a restrained, self-conscious way, looking between the two. Empathetic, Neru explained to her. "He made a bet with this woman-"

"-aka scariest ancient old hag." Naruto corrected. "Maybe she's lying about her age, maybe she's a hundred and two?"

Ignoring him, she continued. "That if he can master this difficult move in 7 days, she will give him her pendant. If not, well she's going to take all his money."

"Ahhh my cute froggy!" Naruto sniffed, looking up at the sky. "I will get you back! I promise!"

Neru stifled the urges to laugh again.

Karin looked more confused. "Why is she taking money from a kid? Does she really need it that much?"

"Er, she does…but it's more because it was the only thing Naruto have at that time."

"I don't even want her stupid necklace!"

"That stupid necklace cost a fortune!"

"I don't care. I just want to make her eat her words! It wasn't a silly joke! Because it's my dream-"

"Don't say it." She groaned, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. "Do you have to say that every single time you met someone new?"

He raised his chin and leaped to his feet. "Because it's my dream to become Hokage! I won't take my words back…that is my ninja way! I am Uzumaki Naruto!" Neru shook her head, mouthing 'Hokage this, hokage that'.

He pointed decisively at Karin, his face breaking into a toothy grin. She looked back at him with wide eyes. "Remember that! One day, I'm going to be Hokage, Dattebayo!"

Naruto looked at Karin as though expecting an answer.

Karin hid her face in her hands and said nothing.

Silence had fallen between them, heavy and unpleasant. Naruto met Neru's eyes, so she began to clap to fill in the silence. Clap Clap Clap was all they could hear, along with the chirping of the birds and crickets.

He nudged her. "It can't be that bad..."

Naruto had the decency to look embarrassed.

Neru could feel Karin pressed against her side. She stole backward glances at her and could see the tension in her posture, in the way her shoulders were wired with nerves and anxiety.

She felt apprehensive when Naruto got closer to Karin, reaching out with his hand. Karin slapped his hand away. Very hard. "Don't touch me."

Neru noted some nasty bite marks on Karin's arm as she glanced down.

Did she bite herself? No, those are too big. It looked like it had broken her skin. One, two, three, four, five, six-

Rolling down her sleeves, Karin scrambled back to her feet. She leaned forward, hissing in the boy's stunned face. "You make me sick."

Naruto stared at Karin a little longer, struck by the stinging words. His mouth hung open as she ran pass him and ducked deeper into the forest.

"You were too close to her! Stay here! I'll go after her! Please don't take it personally! It's your chakra! She's reacting to the nine-tail fox!"

Neru stepped on orange crushed ice in a hurry. Sticky liquid splashed on her sandals and feet. She saw a flicker of sadness and hurt cross his gaze before she took off at a sprint down the path. Not a moment to lose.

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AN: Thank you so, so much for sticking with me. I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts! It's helpful and I'm way too happy, more than I'm supposed to, when you guys do. I'll be careful with grammar and words that you have pointed out. And I'll spice up the story!

If anyone is wondering, I won't abandon this fic anytime soon. This story is always in the back of my mind.

Because you guys have waited for way too long, you deserve another chapter with this one.

Cheers,

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