Nawaki sat by the river, just listening to the water flow. It soothed him and relaxed him, but it also made him focus.
Nawaki wasn't stupid. He might not be as smart as Hisa book-wise or jutsu-wise, but he was extremely mature for a seven year old boy. He had been furious at Hisa, but sitting by the river helped calm him down. He was able to focus on what was really making his blood boil.
He was mad at Hisa. That much he knew. The way she had just callously dismissed killing those people had made him want to lash out. But he knew deep down that she did care. He just hoped Oki would be able to help her, otherwise he would find it very hard to forgive her.
A more cool and focused part of Nawaki was trying to work out what he was really mad about. Hisa had been a jerk, but the explosion had been an accident. As he sat here in the peace and quiet, he was able to understand why he felt so mad at her.
It was the whole idea of the children dying. He had heard the screams, and although Oki had tried her best to stop him, he had managed to see one mangled body. It had sickened him and confused him. Shinobi were supposed to protect their village and the people of the villages, so why were the villages killing their own shinobi? He understood that the Chunin Exams existed to find the strongest of the shinobi, but why did so much weak shinobi have to die in the process? Nawaki felt like he had been cheated. He had become a shinobi because his dream was to protect his friends. But this didn't feel like he was trying to protect his friends, it felt like he was trying to kill them. In Nawaki's mind, it was utterly wrong.
He felt someone sit down next to him, and it brought him out of his thoughts. He turned, expecting to see Oki, and was completely surprised to see it was Hisa next to him.
"What do you want?" he said shortly.
Hisa looked different to Nawaki. She wasn't smirking at him, or sneering at him or even being indifferent to him. She just looked confused, and she looked at Nawaki like he had the answers.
"I came to apologize." she said quietly.
Nawaki snorted. She would have to do better than that.
"Did Oki put you up to this?" he sneered.
She didn't sneer back, she just shook her head.
"No." she said simply. "I could tell she wanted me to, but it was my decision."
"That's very good of you." he snapped.
Part of him wondered why he was acting so harshly. It was mainly anger. Anger he hadn't quite found the right place to store, so for now he was projecting it at Hisa. It made him feel good to see her so upset. She should be. He stood up and turned to walk away. But a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Nawaki, please." she whispered.
Hisa had displayed many different emotions, but this was the first time Nawaki had seen her look desperate. Sighing, he sat back down. She took a deep breath, and began to talk.
"I'm sorry Nawaki, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I blew the minefield up, and I'm sorry that I killed all those people." her voice cracked slightly. "Most of all, I'm sorry that you had to experience it all. Believe me when I say I would never wish that on anybody. I'm just… really, really sorry."
She opened her mouth to say something else, but in the end, she just closed it and looked at Nawaki.
Nawaki thought it over. Her apology was genuine, that much he knew. It would take some time to get over the screams, but his anger had faded. He was ready to forgive her. He smiled at her.
"Don't worry about it anymore." he said cheerfully. "Let's just focus on surviving ok?"
She smiled back at him, then she held out her hand hesitantly.
"Are we good now?" she asked.
He grabbed her hand and curled her fingers in gently until it became a fist. Then he bumped his own fist against hers.
"Yes." he said. "We're good. As long as you remember to fistbump, not shake hands."
She grinned.
"Let's go back to the camp and pack up. It's almost morning time."
Nawaki blinked and looked around. He hadn't noticed how much time had passed.
"You're right, let's go." he said. "I need to thank Oki for doing whatever she did to make you see sense."
"Don't thank her." Hisa grumbled. "She slapped me across the face."
Nawaki tried to hide his laughter.
"Did it work?"
Hisa shrugged.
"In the end it did. I still wouldn't recommend her as a therapist to anyone."
"Therapist?"
"Long story."
They filled their water bottles with fresh water from the river, then they made their way back to the camp. Oki was lying under the tree, fast asleep. Hisa seemed to enjoy splashing her awake with the water. Oki on the other hand, was not amused.
"Why exactly did you feel the need to do that?" she grumbled.
Hisa shrugged, trying to hide the grin on her face. Nawaki couldn't help laughing.
"Let's go." he said quickly, before Oki got the chance to murder Hisa. They packed their bags and set off.
They had long since left the scorched land that Hisa had created. They were back to the grassy land that was filled with mines. This time though, they used stones to detonate the mines. It was slow going, but they managed to walk a few miles by the time the sun set. Nawaki had actually enjoyed the day. He was able to chat naturally with both Oki and Hisa, which was a first.
The sky was getting darker now, which made it harder to see the ground in front of them. Not for the first time, Nawaki wished he could use his sharingan. Navigating the field would be so much easier if he could see all the mines.
They kept walking for another few minutes. The ground in front of them got steeper and slipperier. Nawaki noticed that the ground ahead seemed to just disappear. As he got closer, he realised it was a gorge. Luckily, there was a bridge going across it, although it didn't look very steady. He went to step on it, but Hisa blocked his path.
"Be careful." she whispered "It could be a trap."
He nodded. "What should we do?"
"I'll go first." Hisa decided. "If there's anything wrong with the bridge I can use my Rinnegan to push myself to safety."
It seemed to be the best course of action, so Nawaki agreed. Slowly, Hisa inched he way across the bridge. It creaked a lot, and once or twice Nawaki thought it would break, but Hisa made it to the other side.
"Oki, you go next." he said.
She seemed to be thinking about something.
"Hisa, do you think you could pull me over with your Rinnegan?" she asked
Hisa thought about it.
"I think so. Most of my chakra is restored so I should be able to."
"Try not to blow everything up this time." Nawaki muttered quietly.
She rolled her eyes at him, before stretching out her hands.
"Universal Pull!"
Oki went flying across the bridge. Unfortunately, Hisa wasn't quick enough to catch her, and they both ended up falling onto the ground.
"You're next Nawaki." Oki called.
Nawaki laughed.
"I think I'll take my chances with the bridge."
He slowly put one foot out and tested the wood. The sun had fully disappeared, which made it hard to see where he could walk. Once he found the wood to be sturdy, he took another step. He repeated this pattern until he was halfway across the bridge.
Then everything went wrong.
He took another step. For a few seconds nothing happened, but then he heard the wood creak under his feet. He panicked as he realised what was about to happen. The wood snapped in two, and both his feet fell into the gorge. He managed to grab onto the bridge with his right hand, but the rest of him was left dangling in mid-air. He heard Oki scream, and Hisa yell, but he couldn't focus on what they were saying. All his energy was focused on holding onto the bridge. His arms looked small, but they were strong. He knew he could hang here for at least an hour if he had to.
Unfortunately, the bridge was not as strong. With another snap, the wood he had been holding onto broke away from the bridge, and Nawaki dropped into the gorge. The last thing he remembered was his teammates screaming his name.
Then everything went black.
!
Hinata burst into Naruto's office.
"What's wrong? The council is suddenly panicking but they won't tell me why. What's happened?"
Naruto threw on his Hokage cape. He looked extremely annoyed.
"Apparently there's an intruder in the Chunin Exams. The council knew about this for hours but they only decided to tell me ten minutes ago! I'm just getting ready to leave now."
Hinata smiled.
"I hope you know that I'm coming with you?"
His face softened and he leant down to kiss her.
"Do you really think I would leave you behind?"
She smiled, trying to ignore the distracting, bubbly warmth coming from her stomach. Sometimes, Naruto could be absolutely charming.
"Let's go and show this idiot not to mess with the Hokage."
Naruto smiled.
"I couldn't agree more."