"Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home."-Bill Cosby
"Sasuke-kun's not here."
The simple words echoed a thousand times again. Feet pounded through the halls as Sakura raced ahead, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to fight away the fearful images replaying in gory resolution across her mind. 'Sasuke-kun where are you?'
Naruto watched her run, bewildered and wounded as she raced away never glancing back as she searched for the Uchiha. Blue eyes turned to the girl lying on the ground and he jumped into the room, pulling Emiko after him before shutting the door and flicking on a flashlight.
'Okay, supplies. Maybe there are some bandages or something…' Light beamed through the shadows, fighting away the darkness as it jumped from place to place, scanning the scenery for what he was looking for.
"Naruto…what are you doing?" A raspy voice sounded from the ground and he spun in place, shinning the strong light into his friend's place. Out of instinct a hand shielded her face from the rays, grimacing as she tried to gaze past the light to the blonde.
"Naruto damn it move that light somewhere else!" Emiko groaned before the calm welcome of darkness surrounded her again.
"Sorry." Replied Naruto as he pointed the light in another direction. "Do you know if we have any bandages?" He questioned after a few moments of calm silence. Emiko paused, her arms shaking violently as she pushed herself into sitting up.
"I don't know. I don't think so." Emiko finally responded, her voice hoarse as she grimaced, feeling the familiar aches spreading through her body. Abrupt sounds of fibers shredding replied and Emiko's ear perked.
"Naruto! What are you doing!" The sound stopped.
"Ripping my shirt for bandages for your neck." His response was spoken as though it was a daily routine.
"Naruto my shirt's already ripped," her fingers grazed over the two shreds of her shirt. It had been cut through the middle resulting in two halves of the back of her shirt almost like a jacket put on in reverse.
"You'd have to take that off though." Naruto muttered, apparently nervous about the situation close to being created between them. Emiko's face flushed before she nodded; only remembering the darkness seconds later.
"I can take your shirt or jacket." Emiko offered, hoping the uneasy feeling brewing in her mind would ease away. Laughter broke from her as she felt the cloth land on her head, blocking her view as it rested on her face. Light disappeared allowing a brief sense of privacy as Emiko slowly edged her shirt off.
Minutes later she returned the favor and managed a weak toss of her shirt in Naruto's general direction.
"You missed." He laughed before the noises of a shirt being torn to pieces returned, filling the gap of silence. Blinking, Emiko focused into the darkness, her mind whirling with questions, confusion and a dull metronome of pain. 'He was mad not too long ago…' Emiko thought.
"Where's Sakura?" Emiko lifted her head to stare into the darkness. There was a pause in the noises, faint shuffling taking its place.
"She ran off…Sasuke's missing." Naruto's response was subdued, his former cheer running from the hurt in the sentence. Emiko's stomach dropped, her eyes falling back to stare at the ground. Worry plagued her now but she knew better than to voice it when Naruto was there, apparently hurt by Sakura's actions and already angered by the Uchiha's popularity and good fortune.
"Naruto you can run after her." Emiko suggested, honestly supporting the idea. 'I would follow her but…' Thoughts drifted to her physical condition. 'Not to mention that I'm an insane nut.' Her stomach grumbled at the reference and the brunette smiled faintly.
'Cheese and crackers...and sushi…oh and rice balls…oh some shrimp sounds good…and rice…and some leeks…oh hell I'm starving.' Emiko groaned, missing the simple taste of food, the aroma of the kitchen. 'The warmth of not being almost killed,' she added sarcastically before she felt a series of events.
First her stomach continued to fester in its starving state, begging for the taste of ramen. As she was busy trying to ignore the sounds Naruto began to tie a bandage over her neck, causing a few hisses of pain and stumbling before he doused her in light and continued to fasten her neck with a necklace of bandages.
After that Naruto tossed a can of food and a water bottle at her, forgetting the light blinding her as they hit her in the stomach, causing a new series of pain to spread routinely through her body before she fell onto her back. It was just about as stupid a move as the wound on her back instantly lit alive with pain causing her to grimace and growl at the new restrictions on movement.
"Naruto," Emiko spoke through his constant apologies, raising herself slowly back into the sitting position. "You want to follow her, don't you?" His hand dropped to his side, the flashlight resting its beam on the ground to weakly illuminate the room. Shadows sharpened everywhere and Emiko sighed, her head still pounding with weakened fervor.
"No!" Naruto lied blatantly and Emiko raised a brow to express her disbelief. "Yeah well you want to follow Sasuke-teme too!"
"What does that have to do with this?" Emiko said, exasperated as she caught his blue eyes. Anger flickered through them, frustration. Straining she kept her expression calm, focusing on trying to understand what was happening. Just as it came, the anger disappeared to be replaced with resignation as he sighed heavily.
"I know you like him. Everyone does." Naruto spoke, his voice edging closer to anger. Beneath the words it seemed like a silhouette of jealous and admiration lingered silently. 'Is he jealous? It sounds like he looks up to him too though,' Emiko realized as her eyes softened on his figure. Forcing her legs beneath her Emiko stood and gradually made her way towards him, ignoring the look of confusion and brotherly worry as his eyes snapped to hers.
Without a word she reached forward, grabbing his jacket and pulling him into a hug. "Naruto nothing's going to happen. You're still like my brother." She muttered, hoping it would be the words he needed to hear. She shifted on her feet, her eyes closing against the nausea from her movement, and she held onto him like a sister would to her brother.
The moment ticked away and Emiko pulled back, studying his face for a sign of the boy she'd known for so long.
"Let's go!" Naruto beamed, punching his fist into the air so fast Emiko tripped backwards and fell painfully to the ground.
"Ow! Naruto-baka!"
"Oops…"
A/n: Seriously people I want ideas for the interview thingy. :) Any amount of questions or ideas! No limit! Please! I would beg but I can't do that well...if I tried you'd probably end up smacking me with a frying pan or something... -shyshi
