Love and the Time Travel Paradox

09:00AM

Her body froze, hyper-aware of the bathroom door as it clicked open and shut.

The fresh and clean smell of soap permeated the air.

She was waiting for the telltale sounds of his footsteps, of anything, that would hint as to what he was doing. When nothing came, she got the impression that he had stayed put in front of the bathroom.

With a deep breath, she turned around.

The first thing her traitorous mind noticed was how different he looked when his red hair wasn't perfectly combed. The usual style she saw on him was always neat, formal, not a single strand out of place. Now it fell over his forehead in soft spikes that she almost felt tempted to touch.

From there, her gaze raked over his appearance.

The way his shoulders and frame filled out the bathrobe she'd lent him. The hint of muscle that showed just beneath the robe fabric.

Nowhere could she find the little boy of over a decade ago. There was no sign of the man she'd befriended over the past couple of weeks. Perhaps most importantly, the man with the bank eyes and the scent of death had seemingly vanished.

Her stare slowly traveled upwards.

Jade met emerald.

Those eyes were different, too.

Who was this man, standing in front of her in her home?

09:02AM

She cleared her throat to break the growing tension in the condo.

With a soft, inviting smile, she pointed to the coffee mugs that she'd set out on the table.

"Breakfast will be ready in just a few more minutes."

After delivering these words, she turned back to the stove. It would be entirely up to him if he wanted to accept this civil, familiar gesture.

His soft baritone murmured a response after the longest of minutes.

"...Thank you."

When she heard the scrape of the chair as he sat down, she admitted to herself that she was glad they could still talk to each other.

09:20AM

"It's delicious, as always."

In between enthusiastic spoonfuls, he'd complimented her dishes.

She smiled sweetly.

"Naturally!"

It had been much too easy to fall back into the routine of cooking for the both of them. As easy as letting her head fall into her pillow at night.

No more pretexts. No more shields. No more excuses.

That was what she'd wanted when she left her apartment to go and find him without the cover of the clouds.

She was all too aware of what had been growing between them at that abandoned playground, during all of those stolen moments together. And she'd wanted to know if it was going anywhere or not. That was her original reason for inviting him to her apartment, before their strange encounter in the playground an hour ago.

In those meetings, they'd never exchanged any concrete details about themselves. They never talked about the happenings of their personal lives, but at the same time they'd shared intimate information such as his aspirations to be an author and her broad knowledge of theoretical human medicine.

She probably sounded trite for thinking it, but their meeting of minds was just so innocent. Just two lonely people who found a friend in each other.

And in less than an hour, they'd both revealed to know some things about the other person. Things that maybe could have stayed hidden from the sunlight instead of complicating everything further. Just like that, the illusion was already cracking at the seams.

Seeing him fresh out of the shower, and now, sitting across the table from her, made it all more real to her.

Jade met emerald.

Their smiles had slowly become less strained as seconds passed.

The last bits of tension were still very much there, but it was covered by a blanket of familiarity and mutual understanding.

Everything had happened so fast, that they'd stumbled and became confused.

But there was no need to rush it.

One step at a time.

09:40AM

She rejected his offer to wash the dishes. It was only fair, as he was the guest that she'd invited into her home.

With firm encouragement, she invited him to have look around.

It was her way of letting him get a closer peek at the woman she was.

"You are planning on taking a trip?"

Of course the first thing he noticed were her travel bags. She had yet to use any storage seals so they sat against the wall next to her ancient television set in plain view.

"I was always thinking about it, but it was only recently I got the motivation to really start packing."

He nodded and began perusing the picture frames she hadn't gotten around to storing away yet this morning.

So she was surprised when he suddenly asked her a follow-up question.

"Where will you go?"

And wasn't that the same thing she'd asked herself a thousand times before going to sleep at night.

"I don't know yet."

When he turned around, she held her breath.

He truly appeared to want to say something to her, but in the end the moment passed and he continued to explore instead. Since she was being honest with herself, she could admit that if he'd asked her to come to Suna with him, she wouldn't have known what to say in response.

10:10AM

His clothes were safely loaded into the dryer.

There was still about half an hour left before he would have his coat and pants back, freshly washed and ready to wear.

"These are all of your medical texts?"

"Not exactly. Some I do own, and others are from the library."

She distractedly watched him touch the tips of his fingers along the hardcover spines. After thinking about all of the possible scenarios where in he would ask her to go with him to his home village, she suddenly found herself with the desire to reconnect with that little boy she'd met years ago.

It was too bad she couldn't find the nerve to simply come out and say it.

What if he didn't remember her?

She didn't want to break the comfortable atmosphere that had settled around them. Especially when not long ago, she'd believed they could never be at ease around each other ever again.

It had to be in a way that wasn't too invasive or weird, but at the same time just obvious enough that would bring the message across.

Emerald eyes alighted on the magic kit she'd found earlier this morning.

And then it came to her.

10:14AM

She lounged on one side of the couch. He on the other.

Once she was absolutely certain that she'd caught part of his attention, she began.

He watched, fascinated, as the stone tumbled up and down the length of her arm of its own volition. No strings. No mechanisms. No chakra.

He gasped when it vanished into thin air, only to reappear a second later, stuck to her forehead and framed by pink locks. As if it was meant to be there.

The kunoichi repeated the mesmerizing motions several more times.

The stone crawled down the side of her face. Weaved in and out of her fingers. Dropped straight down, only to come to a complete halt just before hitting the ground, then snapped straight back up into her waiting palm as if compelled by the unseen force.

And just like that, she was done.

"I haven't done that in a while. But, I still think I've got it."

Her casual tone was at odds with the alertness in her tense shoulders.

Jade eyes widened with shock. Growing wider by the second as the gravity of the event sunk in. His reaction encouraged her.

She met his incredulous, wonder-filled gaze with her own soft and mischievous one.

10:15AM

"So. What do you think... Gaara?"

"..."

"Gaara?"

10:16AM

"...Sakura."

10:17AM

Her name had been spoken like a prayer.

The pink haired female suddenly found herself leaning against the armrest of the couch, with her arms full of clean smelling, trembling red head. His arms were holding her so tightly she was sure he never planned to let go ever again.

She wasn't expecting this kind of reaction, that was for sure.

He whispered brokenly into her shoulder.

"Missed you... so much."

And so the childhood friends had been reunited, truly reunited, at last.

TBC...