BLOND HAIR
CHAPTER 38: YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING.
Naruto woke up early in the morning. He had promised to help Sakura with her training. Sasuke told him that he will be coming but a little late. When he reached the training ground, Sakura was already there, warming up. Naruto waved and she waved back. After warming up, they started training.
Sasuke came an hour later. Sakura was already exhausted and they were taking a break. So, Naruto asked Sasuke to spar with him. Sasuke wanted to turn down his offer but he decided maybe he needed to let his stress out. So, they started fighting.
Naruto realized that Sasuke was distracted even during the fight. That gave Naruto a lot of openings to attack him. Sasuke's move was reckless and obvious. At one point, Naruto attacked him head on and Sasuke failed to dodge. Naruto's attack hit him on the shoulder and he was thrown away to a tree. "Sasuke-kun!," Sakura gasped and ran towards him. Naruto also ran to aid him.
Sasuke hit the tree and collapsed under the tree. He was still conscious but he couldn't move his shoulder. "Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?," Sakura asked as she knelt by his side. Sasuke tried to move his shoulder and grunted. "Sasuke? You ok?," Naruto asked him with a concern face. Sasuke didn't reply. "I think he dislocated his shoulder…," Sakura guessed. "Then, we better take him to the hospital now!," Naruto announced as he helped Sasuke to get up. The three of them headed to the hospital.
Aoi was looking through the medicine supply when a nurse called her. "Aoi-sama! We have a patient who had dislocated his shoulder. Can you treat him?," she informed her. "Dislocated shoulder? I'll see what I can do…," she replied as she followed the nurse. When she entered the treatment room, she was surprised. "Naruto?Sasuke? Sakura?," she exclaimed. Sakura nodded at her while Naruto looked away. Sasuke was sitting on the bed, grimacing with pain. "Sasuke, you dislocated your shoulder?," she questioned as she approached him. "I think he dislocated it. We don't know for sure…," Sakura replied.
Aoi nodded. She took a scissors. "I'm going have to cut your shirt. There's no way you can open it by yourself with your injured shoulder…." Sasuke nodded and Aoi started cutting the shirt. "Hm…," she hummed to herself, thinking as she toke a look at the shoulder. She stroked his shoulder, putting pressure at certain places. "It's dislocated… We have two ways to treat this; One, fast and painful. Second, slow and comfortable," she explained. "You can choose…," she informed him.
"The fast and painful one; you don't mean you forced the bone back into it's place, do you?," Sakura asked with a worried face. "Yes.. and it hurts like hell. Usually, people faint because of the pain…," she explained. Sakura shuddered. "The slow way, how long will it take?," Naruto asked reluctantly. "Around 3 months. During that period, no heavy work; meaning no mission or training…," she explained. Both Sakura and Naruto nodded.
"I choose the fast one..," Sasuke decided. Sakura and Naruto wanted to object but they knew it would be useless. Aoi looked at Sasuke. "Are you sure? I have to wanr you. The pain is beyond imagination….," she advised. "Then you're advising me to take the second choice?," Sasuke asked back, testing Aoi. Aoi sighed and shook her head. "Even so, you won't change your mind, right?." She smiled. Sasuke nodded. "Tell me when your ready to do it…," Aoi informed him. "Now..," Sasuke muttered. Aoi nodded. "Now, it is…"
"Sakura, Naruto? Can you leave this room for a while?," Aoi requested. Sakura nodded and pulled Naruto out. Ai closed the door when they had exited. She walked to Sasuke and stood in front of him. "Ready?," she asked as she placed her hands on his shoulder. Sasuke nodded. Aoi nodded and with all her might, she twisted his shoulder back into it's place. "Argh!!!!!!"
Naruto and Sakura was pacing outside the room when they heard the short scream of pain. Sakura reached for Naruto's hand and squeezed it tightly when she heard it. They both look at the door of the treatment room.
Sasuke told himself not to scream but when Aoi twisted his shoulder, there was an explosion of pain and the scream just escaped his mouth. The pain was only for a while. Sasuke was panting when Aoi let go of his shoulder. "It's ok now…," she comforted him. Sasuke leaned his head on Aoi's shoulder, his breathing was hard. Aoi stroke his back gently and comforted him. "It's ok now.. It's over…." Sasuke nodded as he gulped down.
About 5 minutes after he scream, Aoi came out from the room. "How's he? We heard the scream….," Sakura rushed to Aoi as soon as she saw her. Aoi smiled. "He's fine.. He's resting now.. you can take a look but he's sleeping..," she in formed Sakura. Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She thanked Aoi and went into the room. There were only Aoi and Naruto, facing each other at the corridor.
"About last night…," Naruto started. Aoi smiled. "I understand. You were shocked…" Naruto nodded. "Take your time..," Aoi told him as she walked away. "Oka-chan!," Naruto called and Aoi stopped dead at her track. Slowly, she turned around. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "What did you say?," she asked with disbelief.
Naruto looked away, embarrassed. "I called you, Oka-chan…," he muttered. Aoi's face lighten up. She ran towards Naruto and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered, crying as she said that. Naruto nodded and hugged her back. "I always wanted a mother. And now god had gave me one. Only an idiot would reject this gift…"
From the door that was slightly opened, Sakura watched the mother and son. She had tears in her eyes. She wiped it and smiled. She was happy for her friend. She turned and looked at Sasuke who was sleeping. She sighed and muttered. "I hope you can be as happy as him, Sasuke…" Little did she know that Sasuke was happy; he had found himself someone he could turn to if anything bad happened.
Aoi hugged Naruto for a while before she released him. She straighten herself and wiped the tears on her face. "So, I guess from now, we'll have a mother-son relationship," she told him. Naturo nodded. "Yeah.. But how?," he asked , puzzled. Aoi thought for a while.
"Well.. We can start by having dinner together… If you want, you can sleep at my… our house. You still remember the room you slept in before?," Aoi asked. Naruto still remember. He was unconscious in the forest so Aoi had taken him back to her house. "We, me and your father made that room for you…," Aoi explained with a sad expression. Naruto didn't know why but he hated to see Aoi's sad face.
"Then, I'll come by for dinner tonight!," Naruto announced. Aoi looked at him surprised but she smiled. Aoi nodded. "I'll make something special..," she replied. Naruto nodded, grinning.
Sakura came out from the room. Naruto walked to her. "How's Sasuke?," he inquired. Sakura shook her head with a smile. "He's resting…. I guess he'll be just fine..," she informed him. Naruto nodded. "I still have some things to finish, so I'll be on my way…," Aoi informed them. "See you tonight!," Aoi chirped and waved before she walked to the medical supply room.
Aoi and Naruto spent the night talking about lots of things. They talked and laughed a lot. After the dinner, Naruto told Aoi that he was heading home. Aoi nodded. "Are you practicing with your team tomorrow?," she asked. Naruto shook his head. "I was supposed to spar with Sasuke but now he's injured and all…," he replied. "You can spar with me!," Aoi suggested. Naruto grinned. "Really? Then, I'll see you tomorrow at the training ground!." Aoi nodded and they waved goodbye to each other. Aoi walked into the kitchen and took a bag that was placed on the table. She walked outside the house. She had someone she wanted to meet.
When Sasuke woke up from sleep, he saw a dark room. Slowly, he sat up and looked around. The room was quite big and there was a window at his left side. He sighed. Suddenly he felt a pain. But not a physical pain. It was from his heart. 'What do you expect? Wake up and find her next to your bed?,' he scolded himself. After a while, he heard footsteps and the door opened slowly. A hand reached through the door and switched on the light.
Sasuke looked away from the light. He was adjusted to the darkness that the light was blinding him. "Oh, sorry about that," a voice apologized. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and squinted to look at the owner of the voice. When he could see clearly, he saw Aoi walked towards him, smiling.
"I thought you might wake up and feel hungry so I brought you dinner..," she explained as she placed a bag on the table by his bed and started taking out food from the bag. Sasuke was so shocked to her there. He was more shocked when he saw the food she brought. But after a while, he smiled with bliss.
Aoi placed the food she had prepared in front of him. Sasuke looked at the food. Then, he looked at Aoi. Aoi was confused. "What's wrong? You don't like it?," she asked with concern. Sasuke nodded and pointed to his shoulder that was bandaged. "Oh! I forgot! Sorry!." Aoi took the container and hold the spoon. "I'll help you with that!," she announced. She scooped some of the rice with the spoon and brought it close to Sasuke's face. Sasuke looked at Aoi skeptically. "What? Don't worry! No one's watching!," she convinced him. Sasuke looked at her and the rice. Finally, he opened his mouth.
Sasuke went back to sleep after the dinner. Aoi watched him as he drifted to sleep. When she was sure he had fallen asleep, she stood up. Gently, she stroke his hair and kissed him on the forehead. "Good night, Sasuke," she whispered and turned around to leave. When Aoi was out of the room, Sasuke opened his eyes. He smiled. He rubbed his forehead where Aoi had kissed him and closed his eyes, still smiling.
The next morning, Naruto arrived after Aoi had arrived. Aoi told him to warm up first. Naruto nodded and started warming up. While warming up, he noticed a picnic basket under the tree. "What's that?," he asked Aoi as he stretched his hand. Aoi turned to look. "Oh, I thought we cab have lunch here so I brought some food," she explained. Naruto grinned. "You know me too well…," he told her, laughing. Aoi smiled back. After Naruto finished warming up, they spared for almost 4 hours. After sparring, Aoi aske Naruto a few things about the way he fought.
"You always attack your opponent directly, I noticed," she waited for Naruto's reply. "Really? I only know how to fight that way. Though I do make tricks sometimes," he grinned. Aoi smiled. "So, I've heard… You always use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…." Naruto nodded. "You know… You can fight better if you increased your speed," she suggested. Naruto was puzzled. "Like Fuzzy Eyebrow?," he blurted. Aoi laughed. "You mean Rock Lee? Yes…," she laughed when she heard Naruto called Lee that way. "He wears weight. Would that help with my speed?," Naruto asked. Aoi nodded. "Yes, but you have to wear it all the time, especially during training..," she informed him. Naruto thought about what Aoi said. Aoi waited. Before Naruto could answer, his stomach answered for him. Aoi laughed when she heard Naruto's stomach; growling for food. "Let's have lunch ok?." Naruto nodded with excitement.
Naruto and Aoi was having their lunch under the tree. Aoi had spread out a mat and they ate their lunch on it. Even during lunch, Naruto kept asking about ways to improve himself. Aoi answered his question patiently; noticing that Naruto wasn't keen about complicated explanation. After lunch, they decided to take a walk around town. Whenever they went, people are always looking and them and whispering. Naruto lowered his head, remembering about his childhood.
But before he could remembered any of the negative images, he felt Aoi was holding his hand and she was pulling him to one of the store. "What the?," he murmured to himself. Aoi ignored him and went straight into the crowd. "Good afternoon everyone!," she greeted the crowd. They nodded their head to her and replied, "Good morning Aoi-sama!." Aoi was smiling widely. "I just want to share good new with you people. I just found out that Naruto here, is MY SON!," she emphasized the word 'my son'. Most of the people in the crowd gasped, not believing what she said. Aoi nodded and waved goodbye.
Naruto was as red as a ripe tomato. "What was that?," he asked Aoi. Aoi smiled. "I felt like I want to announce to the whole world about you being my son," she replied cheerfully. Her hand was still holding Naruto. Naruto said nothing. He was embarrassed with what Aoi had done but deep inside, he was proud and touched. "The whole world? You only told a crowd of people….," he muttered. Aoi stopped walking and leaned towards him, smiling. "My son, rumors and gossip spread like wild fire here in Konoha. Believe me when I said the whole town had already know by now!," she explained.
They continued walking. Naruto realized what Aoi said was right as they walked through the town. He could heard whispers such as 'her son' 'Aoi's son' 'the Fourth and her son' 'Naruto's mother'. For the first time in his life, he smiled when he heard people whispered about him.
Starting that day, Naruto spent the days like any ordinary mother and son would. Aoi cooked him delicious dinner and fatten him up. She nursed him when he came back from training or mission, bruising and injured all over the place. They spent the weekends going for a picnic or practice together and sometimes they would just walk and talk. It was a great time for both Naruto and Aoi.
Aoi had a good relationship with Naruto but not Naruto alone. She had established a relationship with Sasuke that was puzzling for others. Aoi thought of Sasuke as her own son. Every night, they have dinner together. Aoi, Naruto and Sasuke. But after dinner, Sasuke would returned to his house while Naruto stayed with her. Naruto and Sasuke were like brothers and their company really brightened her life. Slowly, she began to forget about the sadness and anger she felt before. At the moment, she was just enjoying the bliss God had gifted her. But she had a dreadful feeling the bliss was temporary…