Suigetsu liked to play with Naruto, but I always made sure never to leave the two of them alone, as Suigetsu has a weakness for beauty.
"I can't believe you used to complain so much about him! He's so cute!" he began to repeatedly ask me as he spent more time with Naruto. I was beginning to think that bringing him home with me was a bad idea.
"Don't worry Sasuke, I'm true to you." He laughed one day when while playing with the blondie I glared at the hand that was too comfortably settled on the small shoulder. I scoffed at him and turned my glare away, still making sure that they were still near my range of sight. "Are you brother's girlfriend?" Naruto smiled innocently at Suigetsu, who luckily didn't even know the first thing about sign language, as I almost fell off my chair. "Yes-s Naruto, I promise I'll come back tomorrow." Suigetsu hugged Naruto and I quickly stood up to separate them. Naruto frowned in confusion which I guess was aimed at the water-addict's answer, but I could feel the skin on his arms begin to rise. He still didn't feel comfortable being touched by someone other than Itachi or me, but I could tell that he was making an effort to let Suigetsu in, even if he felt obligated to, and even if I didn't like it that much.
Naruto smiled up at me then, his blue eyes twinkling visibly under the mid-afternoon sun that was half-hidden behind a patch of clouds. "Brother has an ugly girlfriend." He grinned widely and his small shoulders shook in laughter. I purse my lips and shoot him a small glare. "He is not my girlfriend." I answer back with my hands. I didn't want Suigetsu to hear me. And truthfully he wasn't, we were just friends with benefits, and around Naruto I always made sure not to let Suigetsu get too touchy feely with me, which wasn't really a problem since Naruto called everyone's attention when he was around. He was like the sun, and I knew that someday he would shine just as bright.
"Iruka is coming today right?" Naruto asks me from the windowsill, his small nose scrunching up in dislike. "Shouldn't you call him by his last name?" He shakes his head and jumps down to sit next to me. "His classes are boring." I roll my eyes. Iruka Umino was Naruto's homeschool teacher that Itachi had called to instruct him in everything a normal 7 year old should be learning, and his experience with sign language was helping the small blondie learn signs quicker, though he really disliked anything other than English and Arts and Crafts. "You should be happy that he has so much patience with you" I turn back to the book I was reading but I could feel that he was staring at me with confused eyes. He was learning quicker, but that didn't mean that he was having less trouble understanding me. A few minutes pass and I continue to pretend that I am reading my book as Naruto rocks himself back and forth next to me on the couch, his mouth forming little spit bubbles that popped the moment he tried to open his mouth wider. He tires of this quickly though, and turns to rocking side to side, his legs kicking aimlessly in the air as he stares at the small letters from my book. I turn the page aimlessly, continuing to watch him as he begins to stare at me now, his lips mouthing my name, his small stomach contracting as he tries to make some noise emerge from his vocal cords, his brows furrowing as he fails to produce even the smallest peep. Something inside of me was really hoping that this time he would be able to at least make out the "Sah" he was trying so hard to voice out, yet I still felt my heartbreak when he couldn't, because I knew that even if Itachi said that it wouldn't be long before Naruto could speak again, he will never recover from whatever it is that happened to him…and he will never speak again.
Iruka left before dinner, but I could still hear him talking to Itachi in the living room as I ate with Naruto in the dining room. He wasn't complaining, even though Naruto had once again driven him to the brink of madness with his childish way of misunderstanding the simplest of tasks and making fun of anything Iruka tried to tell him. I knew Iruka was beginning to get the same feeling towards the small kid that Itachi and I had grown over the few months that he has spent with us. Even if he drove us mad at times, he was still the cutest thing and the anger would dissipate in a few minutes.
I look over at him and couldn't help the small smirk that spreads across my face. He still had a lot to learn about manners and learning to aim the spoon full of food at his mouth and not everywhere around it. His favorite food was still the cup of instant noodles, Maruchan being his favorite brand, but Tanaka was determined to get him to eat something other than that sodium bomb that somehow got in the house, and tried making new dishes every night, in some sort of attempt to get him to leave that habit. Naruto smiles as he notices that I was observing him, and automatically grabs a napkin. I guess he read the impression on my face well enough.
"If you don't like the food, tell Mr. Tanaka to make you a cup of noodles." Itachi laughs from the doorway as he sees the same scene I was watching. "Don't spoil him, you know those things are bad for him." I quickly reproach as Naruto almost jumped off his seat. I raise my eyebrow at the blue eyes that are pleading at me. I was supposed to be the one that took care of him and helped him recover, and if I can help it, he will never again eat that cup of death again.
"I want to go to school." I stopped washing his back and turned him to face me. Itachi was watching us from the bathtub and merely faked being distracted with the steam that rose from the warm water. "You have to learn English first."
"But I know!"
"Not completely." His lips purse and he crosses his arms over his bare chest. Itachi had told me a while back that it was natural for Naruto to want to be around other kids his age, though I didn't take him seriously at the time. I played with him, helped him with his homework and spent as much time as I could with him. I was enough…Well, I had been enough.
"No." I repeat. Obviously it wasn't my decision, but Naruto knew that if I said no, even if Itachi said otherwise, it meant no. It was my bed he slept in afterall…and I'm just not ready to let him out into the world yet.
As he crawls into bed next to me, I see a small glint of the same sadness I saw when he first arrived. Naruto hadn't forgotten what happened, and that actually hurt me in some way. I knew that he wouldn't be okay after just a few months away, but for some reason I had forgotten. Forgotten that he was hurt, that he was once covered in scars that even though had disappeared he still felt with the same intensity as the first time they were made. "You're a strong little guy." I whisper against his hair as he cuddles closer to me. He winces at me, trying to make out my face in the dark, and shrugs, his lips forming a small pout. He didn't understand, and I don't think he will any time soon. He just lives his life as best as he can, being happy with a frog pillow and a cup of noodles a day.
Sorry that I was so late in publishing this one. It took me a while before I had some free time to write and then my USB flash memory caught HIV and died on me (jk about the HIV thing I know it´s a touchy subject x.x) so now that I finally bought another I was able to move the document from my computer to one that has internet connection and well, here I am :D Hope you enjoy it ^-^.