Chapter 7: Getting Along
A/N: Hi there! This chapter goes along with the chapter 'I'm not her, ok?' from the main story. Let's see how things happened after Mikomi talked to Cloud.
Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I had writers block!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Usagi Talking"
Enjoy!
/
Mikomi sat in the bar the next morning.
It was the day after she had that little talk with Cloud.
The blond talked to her a little at dinner after she talked to him, but it wasn't much.
She thought that he would be more open after she told him that she was nothing like Aerith.
"These things take some time" Usagi said.
Mikomi just sighed.
The fox did have a point.
Tifa came into the bar with lunch in hand.
"You're awfully quiet" she said as she handed Mikomi a sandwich.
Mikomi gave her a small smile as she took the food.
"It's a little too early for me" she said.
"Plus, it feels weird without everyone here"
Tifa had to admit that things were quiet at the bar.
Everyone was out doing something today, which just left, Mikomi, Cloud and Tifa at the bar.
Barret had taken Denzel and Marlene to the park for the day, so the kids weren't around.
"I'm sure everyone will be over for dinner today" the martial artist said.
"I'm making Swiss steak"
Over the week, Mikomi had talked with her about things that they liked.
Since they both liked Swiss steak so much, Tifa decided to make it tonight.
Mikomi grinned at that.
"I look forward to it"
Tifa grinned.
"That's good"
After Mikomi finished her lunch, she took her plate.
"I'll be working in the back, so if you need me, just give me a call"
Mikomi nodded.
"Then I'll keep an eye on things here"
With that, Tifa headed towards the kitchen.
/
When the martial artist left, Mikomi sighed.
Since there was nothing to do, she was bored.
"These are one of the times I wish I had a mission" she thought.
She pulled out a picture from the back of her pocket and looked at it.
It was the photo that she took with her dad and their teammates.
She always smiled when she looked at it.
Since Minato was so protective of her, he refused to let anyone be her sensei but him. He claimed that since he was the Hokage, that he knew all that there was to be a ninja.
Everyone was grinning in the picture.
Minato wore his trade mark grin as he had his hands on Kakashi and Obito's heads.
The two boys stood near the end while Mikomi stood in the middle.
This was the last time they were seen as a team before all hell broke loose.
A week after the picture was taken; they had that mission to destroy the bridge near the border so the earth ninja couldn't get through.
They were able to succeed, but they lost Obito in the process.
That was the first time Mikomi had ever lost someone who was dear to her.
He was her first real friend from when she came to the village and became Minato and Kushina's daughter.
She felt so guilty for his death, but she figured that Kakashi felt even worse.
He felt that it was his fault that Obito died when it should have been him.
She never blamed him for what happened and she was sure her dad felt the same way.
As she looked at her father's face, she frowned slightly.
While Kakashi felt it was his fault that Obito died, she felt it was her fault that her dad died.
When the nine tailed fox attacked the village, he did what any Hokage would do and fought with the beast.
If she knew what would happen after he sealed the fox and Usagi inside her and Naruto, she would have told him not to do it.
If she had been stronger, then her dad would still be here.
Sure, she was only 6 at the time, but back then, the village expected a lot from children her age.
"It doesn't matter what age you are. A ninja is still a ninja, and they have to protect their village"
She twirled the photo between her fingers and a lazy manner.
She was so bored; she didn't know what to do.
She figured Usagi would be able to talk to her.
"Hey, Usagi. Talk to me"
The only response she got was Usagi snoring, which told her that she wasn't up.
She sweat dropped at that.
"Stupid" she mumbled to her inner beast.
"Who's stupid?"
Mikomi jumped when she heard Cloud.
She didn't realize that he had come down for the day.
As she tried to keep herself from falling off her seat, she accidentally let go of her photo.
She panicked when it flutter to the bar table and landed next to Cloud.
The blond picked it up and looked at it.
He didn't say anything as he looked at the figures, which made Mikomi slightly uneasy.
Even though they had their talk last night, he still wasn't really talking to her.
He looked up from the photo and looked at her.
"Is this your dad?" he asked.
Mikomi nodded slowly.
"It was" she said quietly.
"But not anymore"
Cloud remembered that she said her dad died when she was young.
He sat on one of the stools that was next to her and handed her photo back.
"Then are the two boys in the picture your teammates?"
Mikomi nodded.
"Yep. I was the youngest one in the group. Kakashi and Obito were a few years older than me when I joined their team"
She showed who was who and told Cloud a little about them.
"Kakashi is currently my younger brother's sensei. He's really good at what he does and he's a skilled ninja. Everyone wants to be like him"
"What about Obito?"
He didn't know why he was asking her all of these things, but he figured he had to converse with her somehow.
Since he didn't bother to know anything about her, then this could be a start.
He had to be nice to her somehow.
Mikomi gave him a weak smile.
"He died during one of the ninja wars. We were fighting with the earth village at the time. Our mission was supposed to destroy the bridge that connected the two villages together. While that was happening, I got abducted by a few earth ninjas and Kakashi and Obito came to save me. There was a big fight, and Obito died from it"
A tear ran down her face.
"He died because he was trying to save me" she said.
"If I had just been more alterative, if I hadn't been abducted…then maybe he would have still been alive"
Cloud didn't say anything as he heard all of this.
He never realized until now how similar she was to him.
He had lost his best friend, Zack because he was trying to protect him.
She must have felt the same way as he did when he lost his closest comrade.
The feeling of losing someone so dear…the realization that you were the one who caused it…it was unbearable.
No amount of physical pain could compare to that kind of feeling.
Mikomi quickly wiped away her tears.
"Sorry about that" she said.
"A ninja isn't supposed to show their emotions. And I promised Obito that I wouldn't cry"
She gave him a weak smile.
"Even though I feel like it's my fault that he's dead, I promised him that I wouldn't be sad and that I would live my life to the fullest. If he couldn't live his life, then I decided to live it for him."
That struck Cloud's heart.
He had made a similar promise to Zack before he died.
He swore that he would live out both their lives, but in the end, he could only seclude himself from everyone else and mourn for the loss of his friend.
Mikomi seemed to notice his reaction and frowned.
"Uh…did I say something wrong?"
Cloud shook his head.
"No" he said quietly.
"What you said reminded me of a promise I couldn't keep to a friend"
Mikomi tilted her head.
"Oh?"
Cloud looked at her for a moment.
Now that he looked at her, he could see all the pain and conflict she had faced over the years.
He would think that it would wither her spirit, but instead, it just made her stronger and more vibrant.
Something that he never could be.
He looked away and rests his head on his hands.
"I had a best friend back when I work with Shin-Ra" he began.
"His name was Zack Fair, and he was part of the SOULDIER unit"
He slowly began his tale about his best friend, Zack and about how he gave his life to save his.
It was painful to talk about, but he figured it was painful for her to talk about her best friend's death.
Mikomi listened to Cloud's story vigorously.
She never said anything, but Cloud could tell that she was listening from the way that she was looking at him.
She was amazed that he would share something so personal to her of all people.
She felt that this was a big step for him to trust her and see her as a friend.
She had tears running down her face when he finished his story.
She had no idea he had suffered so much.
It was no wonder he was to distant towards everyone, including herself.
"I'm so sorry" she said.
"Why are you sorry?" Cloud asked.
"It's not like you were the one who killed him"
Mikomi bit her lip.
"I know but…I just feel so bad. No one should live through that"
"You did" Cloud pointed out.
"I'm a ninja. Stuff like that happens on a normal basis from where I'm from"
Cloud didn't say anything to that.
"It doesn't matter" he said quietly.
"He's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it"
"Of course there is" Mikomi said.
Cloud looked at her strangely.
Mikomi just patted him on the arm.
"Said that you were going to live out both your lives, right?" she asked.
Cloud slowly nodded.
"Well, then what are you waiting for? Life isn't going to wait for you to do stuff"
She grinned slightly.
"I know I don't have any right to tell you how you should live your life. But from what you told me about Zack, I would think that he would want you to be anything but gloomy. If it were me, I would be mad that the person I sacrificed my life for was living their life by being down and excluding themselves from everyone"
She rubbed her head as she laughed nervously.
"I'm not saying do anything crazy like sky-diving, but do something other than being gloomy and hiding from everyone"
She sweat dropped when she realized she said too much.
"Eh…sorry about that" she said.
"I tend to speak my mind a bit and get carried away"
Cloud shook his head.
She did have a point.
He knew that if Zack were still around, he would be pissed that Cloud was just living his life by staying away from his friends.
"No, you're right" he said.
When he looked at her, he wasn't wearing his usual emotionless expression.
His eyes held a sincere look as he stared at her.
He never realized this girl who he found about a week ago would make him realize that the way that he was living wasn't right.
Now that he thought about it, he really didn't treat Mikomi nicely since she came here.
She had done nothing to him, but he gave her the cold shoulder.
He couldn't blame it by saying she looked a lot like Aerith.
He knew now that she was the polar opposite from her.
When while Aerith was more girly, Mikomi acted more like a tom boy.
He felt like crap.
"I owe you an apology" he said.
Mikomi looked confused.
"For what?"
"For treating you like crap when you first came here. You didn't deserve that. So, I want to say I'm sorry"
Mikomi just chuckled as she waved him off.
"Since you're talking to me, I forgive you" she said.
"Although, I never blamed you. I'm sure if I found some random person from a different world, I would be a little freaked out as well. You don't have to apologize, but I accept it"
The side of Cloud's mouth twitched slightly to show that he was smiling.
That was the only way he showed he was happy.
Mikomi placed her head in her hand.
"You don't talk much, do you?" she said.
Cloud shrugged.
"I'm not a talkative person" he replied.
"That's not good" Mikomi said.
"I'm used to chatterboxes, thanks to my brother. Anyone who's quiet just makes me uneasy"
Cloud raised an eyebrow at her.
"You would rather be around someone like Yuffie?"
Mikomi grinned.
"Think of it this way" she said.
"She's a lot calmer than my younger brother, Naruto"
Cloud highly doubted that.
There was no way that there was someone out there who was way hyper than Yuffie.
"I highly doubt that" he said.
Mikomi gave him a playful pout.
"Oh please. You don't know half of the stuff that my brother does. I swear, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten arrested for some of the things that he's done"
Cloud looked at her skeptically.
"What could he have done that is so bad"
Mikomi tapped her face.
"Well…."
/
Tifa came from the back of the bar with dinner in hand.
"Guys, dinner's ready" she said.
"I hope you guys are hun-"
She stopped when she saw Cloud and Mikomi.
Her eyes nearly bugged out when she saw that they were actually talking with each other.
Well, it was mostly Mikomi talking, but Cloud would say a few things.
A smile graced her face as she saw this.
She was glad that Cloud was finally accepting Mikomi and treating her nicely.
Mikomi smiled when she saw Tifa.
"Hey, Tifa. Do you need help?"
Tifa shook her head.
"No, I got everything" she said.
She smiled brightly at them.
"I'm glad to see that you two are getting along now"
Mikomi giggled as she wrapped her arm around Cloud's shoulder.
"Yep! We're buddies now!"
Cloud just gently shoved her away, but he wore a small grin on his face.
Tifa was surprised by this.
Cloud never smiled.
She looked at Mikomi in amazement.
"This girl is something else" she thought.
For the remainder of the night, the three of them conversed and talked with each other.
As Cloud looked at Mikomi, he never realized how deeply he would be tied into her life until much later on.
/
A/N: So that's how Cloud and Mikomi became better friends. Hope it wasn't too bad.
Please review and tell me what you think.
Ja ne