~Chapter 3: The Scratched Mosquito Bite Gets the Disease~

"-ruto. Naruto. Hey, it's time to get up," someone was gently shaking his shoulder.

"Mmn," he grumbled burrowing his face into his pillow.

"Come on. You're going to be late for class," the shaking became more insistent.

"Dun wanna," he mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.

"Naruto," the person above him sighed. They let go of his shoulder.

Suddenly the covers were gone. Naruto groaned and curled into a ball.

"If you don't get up now, you don't get breakfast."

Naruto didn't move.

An annoyed sigh and then: "Fine. If that's how you want to play it."

Then there were arms looped underneath him and he was being carried.

"Ah! Hey!" Naruto struggled in the person's arms.

"I gave you a chance to get up the nice way and you didn't. This is your punishment."

Naruto twisted himself to look up at his assailant, "You're so mean, Maru-bachan!" As if to punctuate his displeasure, he kicked her a couple times. Maru just grunted and dropped him into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Since when am I your aunt?" Maru asked, moving over to the stove to put food into bowls.

"You're not! You're an old lady!"

"Oba doesn't mean old, it means middle-aged," Maru placed a bowl of rice and some miso soup in front of him, "Which I'm not. Yet. Obā means old. If you're going to insult me, do it right."

"Same thing!" Naruto said as he stuck out his tongue.

Maru ignored him and muttered a quiet "itadakimasu" before digging in. Naruto remembered just enough of his manners to do the same.

"Morning!" Chi chirped as he padded into the room. Maru didn't respond. Naruto just grumbled into his soup.

"Boy, what chipper responses!" Chi exclaimed, sitting down at the table. Maru had already set out some food for him. He dug right in.

"Bullseye here didn't want to get up," Maru said, daintily sipping her soup as if she hadn't just insulted someone.

"She pulled my covers off and dragged me out of bed!" Naruto shouted, hoping that Chi would empathize with his mistreatment.

Chi, however, just laughed, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Maru shrugged, "He was going to miss breakfast. He's going to miss class, too, if he doesn't hurry."

"Yeah, whatever," Naruto muttered through a mouthful of rice, "It's not like anyone'll miss me."

"Friends or no friends, if you fail the academy, you fail to become a ninja," Maru replied.

Naruto groaned but didn't argue. No doubt Maru would think of a counterpoint anyway.

"Aw, c'mon Naruto!" Chi broke in, "It won't be so bad. Besides, I can give you a ride."

That cheered Naruto up immediately, "Really?!"

"Yes, but you have to finish your breakfast so we can get going."

That was the only encouragement Naruto needed. He wolfed down his food. The speed of his consumption made him choke. Between coughs, he managed to thank Maru for the food. Then he grabbed on to Chi's fur and began dragging him to the door.

"Ouch! Slow it down there, kiddo! The academy isn't going anywhere," Chi exclaimed.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Maru asked resting her chin in her hand.

Naruto looked back at her, "Uh, no?"

Maru stood from the table with a sigh. She grabbed a couple things from the counter and walked over to him.

"Lunch. Goggles," she placed each object in his hands as she said it.

"You made me lunch?" Naruto looked up at her, not sure how to feel about the gesture.

"I doubt the people at the orphanage would have. It's probably why you're such a shrimp," he could have been mistaken, but Naruto could have sworn there was a smirk on her face.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "Wait. How can you even tell that I'm short?"

"Like this!" Maru leaned down and ruffled his hair.

"Grr, get off!" Naruto exclaimed, swatting her hands away.

"Heh, enough messing around," Maru said, "Get going you two."

"Yeah, Chi, let's go!" Naruto cheered as he grabbed the poor ferret by the fur once again.

"Ow ow ow ow. Okay! Okay. Just hop on," Chi said, beleaguered.

Naruto did as he was told and the two of them took off towards the academy.

Naruto felt so smug when he arrived at the academy. All of the other kids were staring at him in awe, no doubt impressed by his awesome new friend.

"Whoa, what is he riding on?"

"Is that a ninken?"

"No, stupid, ninken are dogs!"

Naruto soaked in the attention even as Chi skidded to a stop.

"Alright! This is where I leave you," Chi said, sitting down so that Naruto to get off more easily.

"You'll pick me up, too, right?" Naruto asked, holding onto Chi's fur.

"Of course, now get in there before you're late!"

Naruto threw his arms around Chi's neck, "Ok!" Then he ran into the building.

Most days class was dead boring. Really, it still was. However, today everyone was talking about him. And for once it wasn't about what a loser he was or how obnoxious he could be (of course the gossip wasn't about him so much as the ferret he road in on, but toe-may-toe toe-mah-toe). He couldn't wait until people came up to him to ask him about his cool new friend!

As the minutes passed and Iruka-sensei came in to get lessons started, no one tried to talk to Naruto. They kept the same distance as ever. Over the next few hours, he felt his ego deflate a bit.

By the time lunch came around, his attention high had dulled into an annoyed buzz at the back of his head. Didn't anyone want to ask him about the giant ferret he had ridden to school on? Apparently not. He had a sneaking suspicion as to why.

When Iruka-sensei released them to lunch, Naruto couldn't get out of the classroom fast enough. What was the point? It wasn't like anyone was going to try to talk to him about anything.

"U-um!" someone squeaked behind him.

Naruto turned to look back. Standing behind him was a girl with dark blue hair and pale lavender eyes. What was her name? Hina-something?

"Y-you f-f-forgot..." Hina-something was looking down at her shoes, digging at the floorboards with one foot. She held up a bundle of cloth.

It took Naruto's brain a little extra power to actually realize what the girl was implying.

"Oh! My lunch! I forgot I had this," he took the lunch from the blushing young lady, "Thanks a lot!" He gave her a big grin.

Hina-something looked up briefly, and then back down at her feet. Her face was so red, Naruto was afraid that she might faint.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, stepping closer to her.

She quickly took a step back, nodding frantically. Then she wheeled around on one foot and ran back into the classroom.

"That was weird," Naruto mumbled and then he looked down at his lunch and grinned.

He went out into the yard surrounding the academy. That's where all the other kids with lunches ate. Maybe he could sit with them and talk about...whatever it was they talked about. He never really got close enough to hear their conversations.

It didn't take much effort to find a group of kids eating lunch together. The problem turned out to be finding a group that would let him sit with them.

The first group was sitting up against the academy building, trying to throw tomatoes from one of their lunches into another kid's mouth. Most of them bounced off of his face and fell on the ground, but they looked like they were having a good time. Naruto strolled up to them.

"Hey, can I join you guys?" He tried to give him the brightest grin he could muster, showing all the good intent he possibly had.

The kids looked at each other warily, then at Naruto.

"Uhm."

"You see...Uh, we're having this...competition!" one of the kids said.

The other ones picked up on this and rushed to add to the other's excuse.

"Yeah! We're trying to see how many tomatoes each of us can catch!"

"If we added another person, we'd have to start all over again!"

"Yeah..."

There was a silence as Naruto pondered whether or not to argue. He wasn't stupid; he knew they were lying to him. But they were trying to let him down gently. Which is more than he could say for most people.

"Oh, okay," he realized how upset he sounded, so he forced some cheer into his voice, "S-sorry to bother you!"

Naruto rushed away from the group.

The second group wasn't much better. It was a group of girls sitting around and chatting. Whatever it was they were talking about, it made them giggle a lot. Unfortunately, one of them looked up just in time to see him approaching. She whispered something to the other girls. They all glanced at him. As one they stood and walked away.

The third group wasn't a group so much as two people. He recognized them from his class. They often spent a lot of time in detention alongside him. One for being lazy, the other for paying more attention to food than his lessons.

"Hey, Shikamaru, Chouji, can I eat with you guys?" He grinned at them and scratched his head nervously. If they didn't accept, maybe he'd just go back to sitting on his swing.

Shikamaru just glanced up at him and shrugged, not budging from his place sprawled out in the grass. Chouji swallowed whatever he was eating, nodded, and patted the grass beside him.

Naruto's grin went from nervous to happy as he sat down. He'd never done this before. Most people didn't try to talk to him. He also never had a lunch to bring. If he was feeling really hungry, he'd go down to Ichiraku's, but that usually meant missing half of afternoon class. Iruka-sensei always gave him detention for that. Then he'd have to stay at the academy even longer, and he didn't want that.

But it was different today. He had company and he had lunch. Speaking of which...

He undid the cloth that bound the bento box that Maru had put his food in. It wasn't as fancy as he thought it might be. He'd seen some kids with sandwiches cut into the shapes of cats and little hot dogs cut into tiny octopi. Maru's way of preparing a lunch was almost boringly simple. Three onigiri (the kind shaped like balls, not triangles like the packaged kind you could buy in the store). Some sort of chopped vegetable thing (wasn't it called salad?). And some apple slices (ugh, why did it have to be so healthy?).

Despite it having a large amount of stuff that was actually good for him, Naruto liked his lunch. He dug into it happily.

Chouji leaned over and surprised him by asking, "Whatchu got?"

"Uh," Naruto had to remind himself that someone was actually talking to him and that it was polite to reply, "Onigiri."

"Cool. My mom packed me Tonkatsu," He held up a slice of breaded pork, "Wanna try some?"

Naruto nodded and took a piece out of Chouji's bento.

Feeling the need to return the charity, Naruto offered one of his onigiri.

"Oh! Thanks," Chouji smiled happily at him.

They chewed each other's food in silence for a few minutes. Of course, Naruto couldn't stay quiet for very long.

"What did your mom pack you, Shikamaru?" he asked through a mouthful of apple.

Chouji held up another bento that had been sitting by his leg, "Yakisoba." Then, he picked up a noodle from the box slurped it into his mouth with one long pull.

"You're eating his lunch?" Naruto asked looking from Chouji to Shikamaru.

"Yeah, he'd rather watch the clouds," Chouji replied as he polished off the last of his own bento, "But if he comes home with a full bento, his mom gets mad at him. So he lets me eat it."

"Oh...Can I have some too?" Naruto asked, eyeing the food.

Choji nodded and put the bento between them.

After class ended, Chouji, Naruto, and Shikamaru settled into the grass outside to wait for their respective guardians.

"It looks like, a rabbit...holding a shuriken," Naruto said, staring up at the clouds.

"Mmm, I think it's more like a hamster with a really big knot on its head," Chouji replied, tilting his head in an attempt to get a better perspective.

"You guys are both so dense," Shikamaru interjected, "It's clearly a bean holding a flag."

"No way!" Naruto shouted, "It's a butt farting!"

He and Chouji giggled as any little boy would when saying something "dirty", while Shikamaru smirked begrudgingly.

A shadow fell over them.

"What's this I hear about butts?" It was Chi!

"Chi!" Naruto shot up from the ground and wrapped the poor ferret in a chokehold hug.

"Guh! It's nice...to...see you too, Naruto," Chi gurgled, "But could you...maybe give me...a little...air?

"Oh!" Naruto released him, "Sorry."

While Chi caught his breath, Naruto looked back at his friends. Shikamaru had an eyebrow raised, waiting expectantly for an answer. Chouji was staring at the giant weasel before him with wide eyes. Naruto felt the flame of smugness that had nearly been extinguished that morning roar back to life.

"Guys, this is Chi. He's a ninja ferret!" Naruto grinned proudly.

"Was," Chi coughed, "I was a ninja. I'm still a ferret, though."

"Whoa!" Chouji breathed, standing from the ground, "Can I pet you?"

"Uh, sure. Why not?" Chi said, leaning down to allow the small boy easier access to his head.

"Your fur is so soft!" Chouji exclaimed as he rubbed behind Chi's ear.

"Why thank you!" Chi grinned at Chouji, "A little lower. Left. Okay, right there! Ah."

Naruto joined in the petting. Chi dropped down onto his side in ecstasy.

"Hey, Shikamaru, come and pet him!" Chouji called.

Shikamaru didn't do that. Instead, he slowly circled around the ferret and the two six-year-olds lavishing attention upon him. How does one process seeing a giant animal, when one has never seen one?

"Chi?" A gruff voice spoke above them.

All four boys looked up to see who had spoken.

"Well if it isn't Shikaku Nara!" Chi beamed, pulling himself off of the ground, and taking Naruto and Choji with him. The two boys grunted as they let go of his fur and fell to the ground.

"I thought that was you," Shikaku said, a small smirk tugging at the edge of his mouth.

"Of course it's me! How many talking ferrets are there in Konoha?" Chi chuckled, shaking out his fur, "How've you been?"

"Oh, fine. Raising this one," Shikaku rested his hands on Shikamaru's shoulders. The boy gave him a bland look.

"Geez, he looks like a tiny version of you," Chi exclaimed.

"Really? I think he looks more like his mother."

"Not with that ponytail!" Chi chuckled.

The conversation was interrupted by a very bored Naruto groaning, "Ugh! Adults are so boring!"

"Rude! We're having a conversation, Naruto," Chi scolded, not that Naruto cared.

"I'd rather watch Maru-bachan cook," Naruto pouted, burying his face in Chi's fur.

"How is Maru?" Shikaku asked, ignoring the interruption.

"Oh, you know, she's Maru," Chi replied, looking back at the six-year-old clinging to his fur, "Kind of grumpy, kind of nice, and very reclusive."

"She's been teaching me how to throw kunai!" Naruto interjected, proudly.

"Has she, now?" Shikaku asked, stony-faced. Naruto felt the sudden urge to hide behind Chi, but thought better of it. This old man wasn't scary! Or, that's what he told himself, at least.

"She has," Chi responded before Naruto could interrupt again, "And Naruto is a very good student."

Naruto grinned at the adults, his ego happy at being stroked. Shikamaru snorted but did not deign an interjection.

"Wait...How do you know Maru-bachan?" Naruto asked, half hiding behind Chi.

"She and I worked together a lot during the war," Shikaku said, "That and she was married to my brother."

"Eh?!" Naruto crowed, staring at Shikaku with wide eyes, his earlier intimidation forgotten.

"It's been a while," Shikaku muttered, "Well, we'd better be going. Come on Shikamaru. Chouji, I'm taking you home today." Chouji nodded and followed behind the two Naras.

"Maru was married?!" Naruto shouted, this time at Chi.

"Yeah, he shouldn'tve told you that," Chi sighed, "C'mon, hop on."

Naruto climbed onto Chi's back, but he didn't want to let the subject go.

"Who'd want to marry her?" He grumbled.

"Hey, that's not very nice," Chi returned.

"Chi?" Shikaku called, just as the ferret was getting ready to take off.

"Yeah?" Chi shouted back.

"Tell Maru that our offer still stands."

Chi paused and stared at Shikaku. The ferret's face was the most serious he'd ever seen it.

"Thank you, Shikaku, I'll tell her."

Shikaku nodded and turned to walk away again.

Chi was quiet for the entire ride home. He felt kind of bad for leaving Naruto out to dry like this. He did deserve answers to his questions, after all. However, Maru's life was a bit of an advanced subject for a child so young. Things like this needed some time to digest. Quiet reflection didn't really seem to be Naruto's thing, at least not right now.

He wondered how Maru would take this. No doubt Naruto would ask her about this the next time he saw her. Chi briefly considered taking him to the orphanage to avoid the confrontation. But he soon realized that he'd just be placing Naruto into the middle of another confrontation; after all, he hadn't been back there in over a day. It wouldn't surprise him if he'd get another punishment-one even worse than doing dishes. Besides, there was a chance that Maru would actually get something out of talking to the six-year-old instead. Lord knows she wouldn't listen to Chi. They'd known each other far too long for her to listen to him.

But it couldn't hurt to try to lean Naruto's reaction into a more...diplomatic one.

"Hey, Naruto," Chi said, interrupting the stream of questions flowing from the boy's mouth.

"Huh?"

"When we get to the house, be careful how you ask Maru-chan about her past. She gets kind of...touchy when it's brought up," in reality 'touchy' wasn't quite the right word, but he couldn't think of a better one.

"Eh? Why?" he asked.

"Well...You know how I told you that Maru is kind of an unhappy person?"

"Yeah."

"Unhappy people usually don't like talking about the thing that makes them unhappy."

"Her husband makes her unhappy?"

"Not the person who was her husband, but what happened to him, yes," Chi knew what question was coming next.

"What happened to him?"

Chi sighed, he didn't want to be having this conversation. Maru should be telling him this.

"Look, Naruto. Stay on Maru-chan's good side and I promise you that your questions will be answered," it was the best answer that he could give and he prayed to the powers that be that the explanation would suffice.

Would that it could.

They arrived at the house just after the sun had disappeared over the city walls, casting shadows far across Konoha. The air was becoming cool, telling Chi that it would soon be autumn. He liked autumn. There were so many trees in Konoha and they all changed around the same time. For a few weeks, the entire village was golden. The air smelled of earth and was so wonderfully crisp. Nature's final hurrah before the emptiness of winter.

The idleness of his thoughts gave rise to a deep sadness. When was the last time he'd been able to think like that? Maru had been pretty much the only thing occupying his thoughts for the past...three years? Had it really been that long?

Chi let out a heavy sigh as he came to a stop in front of the door. He used his chakra to deactivate the seal that kept the door locked.

"Maru! We're home," He called into the house.

When he received no answer, he relied on his nose to locate her. She was out back raking the zen garden. Naruto hopped off of Chi's back and ran to the edge of the porch.

"You were married!" Naruto shouted.

Chi could have strangled the little idiot! What part of "unhappy people don't like talking about what makes them unhappy" didn't he understand?

Maru remained calm. Which didn't ease Chi's nerves at all.

"Oh? And who told you that?" She asked. Anyone else would have interpreted her tone as simply curious. Chi knew better.

"Shikamaru's dad!"

Maru was silent, most likely waiting for Chi to supply more of an answer.

"We ran into Shikaku Nara," at the name, Maru paused in her work ever-so-slightly. Only Chi would have been able to pick it up.

"And he told you that I was married," Maru replied. It wasn't a question, but it wasn't really an answer either.

"Yeah. To his brother," Naruto replied. He said it slowly and Chi wondered if maybe he was actually starting to catch onto Maru's reluctance to talk about this.

"Well, that is something," Maru said.

"Is it true?" He asked.

"Do you think it's true?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking you!"

"Hmm, that's too bad for you, then. I don't plan on answering."

Naruto growled in frustration and thrust an accusatory finger out at her, "What is with you! Why don't you want to talk about anything?"

"Oh, well," Maru sneered, hoisting the rake up onto her shoulders, "Maybe it's because it's none of your business. Maybe you're too young to understand. Maybe I just want to be angry and miserable alone."

Chi wanted to get in the middle of this, to stop both of these morons from saying something they'd regret, but he was frozen in place.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't be so miserable if you actually talked about your problems!"

"You know something about that, do you? A six-year-old? You don't know anything."

"W-well at least I know more than you! At least I tell people when I'm hurting! At-at least I have people to tell things to! You're so mean that you make other people sad and they have to run away."

Naruto's words hung in the air. Chi could tell that Maru was holding back something, though what that something was he couldn't tell.

"You know, that really is suprising," Maru said.

"Maru!" Chi cried, the comment having snapped him out of his funk. This was bad. He hadn't expected things to escalate like this.

There was a beat of silence before Naruto's eyes welled up with tears. Chi's heart went out to the kid. Here he thought he had friends who wouldn't judge him based on something he couldn't control. And then Maru had to open her big dumb mouth.

"I hate you!" He shouted, and took off into the house.

"Naruto!" Chi shouted, watching the boy run off, "Come on! She didn't mean it!"

But the boy wasn't listening. Chi turned back to Maru, ready to give her a piece of his mind. Unfortunately, she was already gone. Great, now he had two children to chase after.

He decided to find Naruto first. He wasn't very well acquainted with the area and was more likely to get lost. He also didn't have the advantage of over 25 years of shinobi training, like a certain asshole he knew.

After a lot of shouting and panicking, Chi found Naruto curled up in the dead end of an alleyway, using his shirt as a tissue.

When the shadow of the weasel fell over him, Naruto flinched and tried to press himself into the wall.

"Go away," he hiccuped.

"Naruto, I'm not here to yell at you," Chi said, planting himself in the middle of the alleyway. He didn't want to get too close, lest he spook the boy, but he also didn't want to let him run away before Chi apologized on behalf of his partner.

"Maru didn't mean any of what she just said," he explained quietly, "You just...hit a nerve."

"Sh-she said that it was surprising that I had anyone who cared about me!" Naruto sobbed, snot dripping out of his nose. He used his collar to wipe it off.

"Oh, Naruto," he sighed tiredly, "When people feel like they're cornered, they'll say anything to make themselves feel like they have control."

"L-like how I called her mean and told her she made people run away?" Naruto sniffed, finally meeting his eyes. They were swollen and red and Chi silently cursed himself for not stopping the fight.

"Yes, like that," Chi replied, stepping closer.

"I-I don't really think that..." Naruto sniffled, as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"I know. I bet Maru knows, too," Chi sighed, stepping a little bit closer, "She just didn't know how to respond."

"She's like a little kid," Naru said. The thought seemed to amuse him a little bit. That was good. Amusement was good.

"All adults can be little kids, sometimes," Chi replied, fully closing the gap. He wrapped his body around Naruto. Thankfully the boy accepted the affection by nuzzling into Chi's fur.

"We all like to talk a big game, but we're all scared little kids on the inside. We've just learned how to hide it," Chi said.

Naruto looked up at him, "That's stupid. Why would they hide it?"

"It can be seen as a weakness, sometimes. And sometimes people will use that perceived weakness against us. Other times it just feels like a weakness, and we want to cover it up. Some people just hide it because they don't know what else to do. Or maybe it's a combination of all of that," Chi spoke quietly.

There was a stretch of silence and then:

"Well, I'm not gonna be like that."

Chi chuckled through his nose, "I hope not, kiddo. It's not a very fun way to be.

Chi arrived back home about a half hour later. He had had to drop Naruto off at the orphanage, much to the boy's chagrin. Chi had to promise a great many times that he would take Naruto to school again tomorrow and that he would pick him up again afterward. Now he had to deal with Maru.

Unfortunately, he didn't think it would turn out as well as it had with Naruto.

"Maru?" He called. She was definitely in the house. He could smell her scent trail. It was nice and fresh.

He followed the trail to the bathroom door. There was a slight scent of iron in the air, but it wasn't fresh anymore.

"Maru? Do you want anything to eat?"

No answer.

"Come on, Maru. I know you're in there. Please just come out and talk to me."

Silence.

"I'm not even mad anymore. I just want to talk.

He heard some shuffling behind the door, but it didn't open.

"Maru-" The door swung open suddenly, surprising Chi.

Maru stood before him, still as a statue.

"Maru?" Chi asked hesitantly.

"Did Naruto get home okay?" Her voice was quiet, so quiet that it sounded far away.

"Yeah. I'll be taking him to school tomorrow, too."

"There's some rice left over from the onigiri. You can put that and some vegetables with teriyaki sauce in his lunch tomorrow morning." And then she just walked away, towards her bedroom.

"Do...do you want to talk about what happened?" Chi asked, following her into her room.

It was a fairly sparse place. All it had was a bed, a bookshelf, and a map of the elemental countries hanging on the wall. It made Chi feel a bit depressed just looking at it. No wonder Maru was such a downer. Of course, she couldn't see, so maybe it just didn't matter.

Maru let out a heavy breath, "Not really."

Well, that wasn't helpful. Time for a change in strategy.

"Do you want to cuddle?"

Maru didn't move from the edge of her bed. It had been worth a shot, at least. Chi sighed and turned to leave the room. If Maru needed space, then she needed space. Forcing the issue would do no good for either of them.

Just as his front paw left the doorway, Maru called out to him.

"Yes! Yes, I want to cuddle."

Chi turned back and smiled at her. It had been ages since the last time they'd cuddled-not since she was a kid, really.

Chi hopped up on the bed and pushed his back against the wall. Maru climbed in next to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur. Chi wrapped his front paws around her back and rested his head on top of her own.

"It's been ages since we last did this," he remarked, listening to her breathing.

"I haven't needed to do this in ages," she replied.

"Well, you have, but you never give into the urge to."

Her sigh ruffled his fur, "I'm sorry, Chi. I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay. I'm a tough ball of fur," he replied jokingly.

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't apologize. I know I haven't been the best person to be around for...for a while now."

Chi just let her continue speaking.

"I didn't mean it, you know. I just...Naruto is just so good at pushing all of my buttons. One minute I've got a clear idea of what I'm going to say, the next he's nudged me into an argument."

"Or into teaching how to throw kunai."

Maru exhaled through her nose in such a way that it might have been a laugh, "That too. He reminds me so much of his mother it hurts."

"Is that why you were so harsh?"

"Maybe?" she sighed, "I don't know anymore, Chi. I've been like this for so long...I don't think I'm even in control of my emotions anymore."

"Yelling at Naruto isn't going to help that."

Another sigh, "I know. I don't know why I even said that. He's obnoxious, sometimes, but that doesn't justify what I said to him. Everyone's a little obnoxious from time to time. Especially little kids. I can't believe I said that it was surprising that he had people who cared about him."

"If it helps, he knows you didn't mean it," Chi supplied.

"It doesn't, but thanks anyway."

They lapsed into silence after that. Eventually, Chi fell asleep. In the back of his mind, he hoped Maru would, too.

A/N: Howdy y'all! Wasn't that a fun chapter! Naruto made some friends, ate lunch, got in a fight with his new friend, accidentally uncovered some severe emotional issues...It's just fantastic. I hope you enjoyed!

Edited: 1/8/19