I was finally able to go home, and I had never been so relieved to be somewhere. I found everything I had carried to the tower folded up on my dining table with a note.

'I hope this finds you well – Sasuke'

I looked at the note and held it on my chest. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I had to find a way to thank him for saving me and for recovering my papers. I decided to draw him in the same style as the drawings in my books. I began drawing it and spent a good part of the night on it.

I got a call the next day from my agent checking on how I was. She also let me know that two publishing houses were interested in my book, and she's negotiating the best deal. The final decision will come down to me, but she wanted to present me with the best practical options. Now that my dream of publishing in a broader market was looking like a possibility, the thought of fame made me uncomfortable. She wanted me to go to her office the next day to talk about what options she had for me, and if I wanted to add any more to a contract, I would be looking at it.

After my day off, I went back to my teaching. I had managed to get all the papers graded and handed them back to the kids, and I apologized for giving them back late. I was happy to go back to normal. I learned that the tower was safe once again so I could go back. That was good because I felt like I had missed it for a long time. At least that's what I told myself. Deep inside, I knew that I wanted to go there to have a chance to see Sasuke once again. I felt like a schoolchild with a crush.

I took my sketching tools with me once again, trekking towards the tower. One of the guards at the gate told me I must be brave to go back to where I was attacked. I told him if the threat was gone, I really had nothing to be concerned about. I was inspired to draw the kid who stabbed me as I saw him approaching me. I had a Chibi drawing style that I used as a coping mechanism for myself. I would always turn bad situations into funny drawings with captions that I would look back on and laugh at. I would have many of them during my trips and hand them out to kids in different villages. I decided to start a new file of mishaps. One day I would find a use for them.

I was facing the rooftop to get a better view of the first drawing I would do when Sasuke appeared on the roof. He could teleport.

"That's quite an entrance. I had no idea you had a theatrical side to you", I joked

"It's just a portal from my Rinnegan", he said, then showed me what his bangs were covering. "How are you feeling?"

"One hundred percent healed up. Lady Tsunade was able to fix my leg, and I guess someone else fixed up the huge cut on my mid-section while I was out cold. Scar-free", I said as I lifted my shirt to show my skin. "Thank you for saving me. I probably would be dead right now if it wasn't for you".

"You don't need to thank me. You could say it's my job".

"Thank you for getting my stuff back too. The kids in my classes worked so hard on that assignment, and I would have hated to lose those papers. How'd you know where I lived?"

"I got it from Naruto. He told me where to find your place. I hope it wasn't intrusive. I just dropped them off and left. I didn't want to touch anything".

"You were going in for a good deed, so it's fine. So, who was that kid?"

"He was one of Oruchimaru's experiments. There were a lot more clones than just that one, but they were all just misguided kids", he said. He sat down in front of me.

"You aren't meeting Naruto today?"

"No. I was actually hoping you'd be here. I wanted to make sure you were ok".

"That's really nice of you. I actually had something for you. It was the least I could do. It's really cheesy, but it's the first thing I thought of since I don't really know what you liked" I rifled through my sketchbook and pulled out the illustration I did of Sasuke, then handed it over.

"Is that supposed to be me?" he said with a smirk. I noticed he never really smiled. He smirked instead.

"Yeah. You can toss it out if it's too corny", I said as I looked down and blushed.

"Thank you for this. It's nice".

"So, what do you like? Just for my files for the next time I have to thank you for something", I said and pointed to my head.

"I've never really thought about it".

"Hmm…that's interesting. I guess I'll just get you hairspray to keep your bangs in place. I noticed it's never out of place", I said teasingly. "So, how is your family doing? I heard they got caught up in the whole thing too".

"Everyone made it out fine. You took the most damage that day. You wouldn't have been hurt that bad if only I'd gotten there earlier"

"No need to worry about me. It's not like you were at fault for some homicidal kid. Besides, I've taken more damage than that before".

"Does that mean you're a magnet for trouble like that? Do I need to stick around for the next time something happens?"

"I'm not that bad! I did pass my Chunin exam! I did tend to find myself in the wrong places at the wrong times until I learned to observe then approach. You can stick around for the company, though. I'd like to think I'm an entertaining conversationalist".

"I'd be lying if I said you weren't. You're a pretty interesting person".

"Wait! Good interesting or bad interesting. Interesting could just be a nicer way to say I'm weird".

"Good interesting. Not weird"

"Nice to know that. You're a pretty interesting person as well. I'm trying to figure out if you're mysterious or just really shy".

"Let me know once you figure that out".

"That sounds a lot like a challenge. Now I'm going to work on trying to figure you out".

"It might take a while. I've been told I'm hard to figure out. I guess I'm just a private person".

"Well, I've figured out four things so far. Three and a half. 1. you wouldn't mind hairspray as a gift meaning hairspray is the secret behind why your hair is always in place. 2. you have a portal in your eye. Really cool, by the way. 3. You think I'm a good interesting person. I just wanted to repeat that because I love compliments from handsome men. And three and a half or four, You're a superhero. Maybe?" I said, then laughed. "Oooo! And four or five. I'll have to work extra hard to get a full smile out of you!" he smirked again.

"You figured me out".

"Well, that wasn't much of a challenge. I rescind my challenge".

"I don't think you can rescind a challenge".

"Darn! I guess I'll have to hang out with you a lot more. I'd hate to lose this challenge".

"I'll see if I can make that work. I'd hate for you to lose this challenge too".

"I'm an aspiring writer, so just assume I can hang out at any time because I'm trying to avoid writing. Don't tell Iruka-sensei or my agent that. I hope I'm not keeping you from some secret superhero work somewhere. I could talk for ages. Iruka-sensei said I was a storyteller, which was just a polite way of saying I talk too much".

"Your secret is safe with me. I don't mind the conversation. But I should head out. Glad to see you're ok. It was really nice talking to you today".

"It was great talking to you too. Go save some people today!" I said jokingly.

"See you later, Kazue", he smirked again.

"Bye, Sasuke", I said and waved.