Hello all! Right now I can only write with one hand, since my arm is broken, and it hurts like a bitch when I try to move my fingers. Anyhow, since you didn't review on the last chapter, I take it you didn't like it. So, I'll try to make this one longer.

Hope you like it this time!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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'Swinging'

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The room they had taken her (well, us) to was dark, and the door was locked. It was in a small building a few meters away from the main house. There was only one room, which was completely empty. The walls were made of stone, as well as the floor. It was pitch black.

Actually, it kind of looked like a basement.

If only they knew.

I wasn't sure what exactly had happened in that room, except that she suddenly jumped up and began to strangle a girl. She hadn't even heard me when I tried to protest. Maybe she was insane, after all.

But then again, I had had my suspicions.

The question was; how could I use her insanity to my advantage? I had goals, goals I hadn't told her about. In fact, there were quite a few things I hadn't been completely honest about with her. Like my past for example, or my 'memory loss'. But she mustn't know about those things. If she did, she'd never trust me. And if she didn't trust me, she wouldn't do as I told her to.

Oh dear, she was already clawing at the door like some animal, screaming for someone to open. I guess I'd better calm her down.

'Ne, Yuri-chan, don't worry. Your mother isn't here, right? You killed her, remember?' I said.

'Demo nii-chan, they locked the door! They locked it! And the walls just keep coming closer and closer…!'

I didn't know how to response to that, so I changed the subject.

'You think Miyakos lullaby would calm you down?'

She began to cackle madly, a shrill laughter that didn't contain the slightest bit of joy.

'A lullaby? A lullaby!? You really think a lullaby can calm me down!?'

She sank to the floor and curled herself into a ball, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were as wide as they could ever be, and her mad giggling was highly disturbing. More so that she was crying at the same time.

I really sucked at cheering people up, didn't I?

~ OoOoO ~

When I was about to lose it completely (or maybe I already had?) the door was opened. Then I was dragged to Tsubaki's office. She eyed me sternly. The look on her face resembled the one on the nurse at the hospital. And I thought I couldn't feel any lower.

"As you know I can't kick you out since this is an orphanage. But you are not allowed to strangle other girls." She said icily.

I shivered and looked at the floor with much more interest than I thought was normal.

"Why don't you take a walk around town?" It was not a question. It was an order.

"W-Well, I'd like to apologise to …" I began, but Tsubaki brushed me off.

"No. She has been through enough." she said sternly. "Take a walk."

I sighed. Apparently I didn't fit in here. I turned around and walked out the door. As I made my way through the corridors to the entrance I found that most girls were whispering about something, but as soon as I got close they became silent and looked away. Some looked frightened, others looked contemptuous. Touki didn't have to tell me to ignore them twice.

It felt wonderful to be outdoors. I guess I've never really liked being trapped inside. Nature never ceased to surprise me. There were so many different ways it could appear. One day the rain seemed to never stop falling, the next the sun shined like crazy. It was always changing.

I wondered aimlessly around the village that somehow had become my home. No one seemed to notice me. The black yukata made me blend in well in the crowd. Unfortunately, this made a lot of people run into me.

So, I walked away from the big roads to the smaller ones were not many people were walking around. I soon came to a place that was filled with children my age. They all did the same movements at the same time. An adult was standing in front of them, showing them the moves. It looked like they were kicking and punching thin air. At first, it looked like they all did it the same way, but after a while I noticed some differences in their movements. One boy, my eyes were drawn to him immediately; his clothes were so bright and orange. His movements were clumsy and unbalanced, not as smooth as the adult's were.

And one girl with deep purple hair (the same hue as my highlights!), her moves seemed to be restrained and unsecure.

But one boy actually moved as good and secure as the adult; but he didn't seem that proud of it, he was scowling with a look of hatred on his face. How strange, I thought.

'They are practising a kata.' Touki explained.

'I know.' I answered before I could stop myself, and I realised that I actually did know what it was. But how could I possibly know that?

'Hm.' was all Touki said.

Apparently the training session was over, since the children scattered. I had nothing better to do, so I decided to follow the ones that were going to the playground (I heard them say that to each other). No one had had yet noticed me. But I didn't mind, not really. A part of me wanted to be a part of their group, laugh with them, go to the playground with them and not just following.

But another part of me was scared, so very, very scared. I didn't know how to act. What was the right thing to say? What if I began to stutter again? Would they tease me for it? Not to mention, what would happen if I went out of control again, just because some of them might behave like oka-san? These children seemed to be taught how to fight.

Suddenly, going to the playground didn't seem that tempting anymore. But then I saw a weird kind of bench hanging in ropes from a tree, right across the yard where the children had been practising. I smiled a little at the strange item and went to sit on it. But then why was it so unsteady? I tried to shift to a little more comfortable position, but then I suddenly lost balance and fell on my butt with a surprised cry. I cursed under my breath about idiotic benches, using a vocabulary that made Touki cheer. I was glad that no one had seen me.

At least, that's what I thought at first. But then I heard a highly amused laughter right behind me. I turned beet red and turned around. It was the boy in bright orange clothes, but how could I not have noticed him?

"HAH! Sorry but you just looked ridiculous dattebayo!" He said in between choked laughter. "Here, let me help you up. I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" His smile was so big that it almost didn't fit in his face, and his voice was incredibly loud. It was the first smile that was directed at me I had ever seen since I came to this place. It gave me the courage to talk.

"A-arigato. I'm Fuyuno Yuri… That weird bench was so unsteady, I just fell and…"

His barking laughter interrupted me. The sound sent a wave of coldness through me. Miyako-nee-chan used to laugh like that… I quickly hid what I felt.

"Bench?! That's a swing dattebayo!" he grinned.

"A swing? What does it do?" I asked. He stared at me as if I had two noses.

"Well, uh, it's for playing, it's fun and… you swing on it, I guess." He said and shrugged.

"I don't think it's very fun…" I grumbled. "It threw me off."

"Well, that's because you didn't do it right 'ttebayo."

"Oh… well, how am I supposed to do it?" I asked uncertainly. "It's so wobbly…"

"Nah, don't worry! Just grab the ropes reeeaally tight and you'll be fine!"

I sat down on the swing again and grabbed the ropes, sitting perfectly still so tat I wouldn't fall off again.

"Ok! I'll just give you some speed then!" he said cheerfully.

And before I got the chance to protest, he had given me a hard push in the back and the swing was moving. The feeling was incredible, like flying. Each time I went back to Naruto, he gave me a hard push in the back that made me fly even higher. I felt this wonderful, bubbling feeling in my stomach, it was ticklish and big and needed to come out. Before I knew it, I was laughing. It felt wonderful. How long had it been? I had forgotten how good it felt.

"I told you it was fun!" Naruto said/yelled.

~ OoOoO ~

I was on my way back to the camellia now. Even though it wasn't exactly something I looked forward to, I walked with a skip in my steps. Playing with Naruto had been fun. After playing with the swing, Naruto taught me how to play 'ninja'. It seemed like mix between tag and hide and seek (which was my favourite game, by the way), but better. One was the hunter-nin and the other was the villain. I got to be the villain, and my role was to steal super-secret scroll and run away with it and the hunter-nin was supposed to capture the villain and retrieve the scroll (which was actually just a stick with a leaf around it). It really was fun. And Naruto asked me if we could play tomorrow!

'Ne, nii-chan, it seems like I have a friend now.' I thought happily.

'Yes, so it would seem.' Touki said. The smile was evident in his voice. 'Did you like the ninja game? I did.'

'Yeah, but you shouldn't have taken over my legs and made me run that fast. Naruto almost couldn't catch up! It's really rude you know.'

'Sorry, just couldn't stop myself, you know…' he said sheepishly.

'It's alright, don't worry.' I smiled.

I had friend.

I had a friend.

I had a friend.

Just tasting the words was wonderful. No matter how many glares the girls at the camellia threw at me, it didn't affect me. I had a friend now. And it felt great.

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Hello all! yes, i know it's not that long, but my arm is still broken, so it's going reeeaaallly slow. Thanks to all who reads and reviews!!!!!!!! (HINT, HINT!!)

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