Naruto had it explained to him, and it took thrice for it to sink. He wasn't anywhere he'd ever know, especially if he had stayed on his own world. Instead, whatever that rift-thingy-hole was opened sucked him into this new world. He studied over the maps the nice old woman gave him. The doctor had excused himself about an hour, convinced that Naruto was just some messed up kid. In a way, it did take some type of craziness to willingly walk into a pit of vipers.
"Kid, try to speak again." Maria encouraged while watching his mouth open.
His throat burns, only broken words coming out, unable to be discerned. Frowning at his own inability to speak, he figured that the Nine Tails was still healing him. Earlier, about three hours ago, he had the worst pain his life as the furball reset every single rib. It felt like invisible hands reaching, wrenching them into place.
She frowns at him, sighing, "With the rest of your body healing that you should've had some type of progress."
Naruto merely frowns, writing down on a piece of paper, 'Bad?'
"Well like Renard said yesterday, you're lucky that you didn't need a stoma. It's a little hole in your throat, helps you breathe. Anyway, back on track, Renard told me that while your windpipe is naturally getting better it seems your vocal cords are absolutely devastated." She read through his chart, having swiped it from the man.
She sighs and gives the boy a knowing smile, "You're also suffering still from inner body bruising around your organs. The chances of you getting out this week are low, plus you can't have solid foods just yet since you're being monitored."
This, Maria woman, granny more like it. She had been the one to find him in the snow. The very fact that she was able to get him here and remain alive meant that he had succeeded. The Akatsuki, in all of their hubris, had been shown that even Naruto Uzumaki wasn't above it all. Deep in his heart, somewhere in the darkness, the lie of justice sounded nice.
He just didn't want to kill anyone innocent, but the fact of the matter was, Sasuke had been right. Not until you've lost everything, seen it taken from you, did you really know what type of person you'd turn into. Turning into what amounted to be a human bomb, big enough to wipe a village from the face of the planet, that made him worse than Sasuke.
The mere fact that he, and The Nine Tails came to an accord over hatred, made him sink to Sasuke's level. The power, by God the power felt amazing despite having been on death's door. It was strong enough to make him live through a partial extraction, after already nearly starving himself a week. It was potent enough to allow him three minutes, more than enough time, to track the real Pain down. Naruto wasn't a fool.
Lifeless eyes, piercings, and never speaking save for the one? They were stringless puppets, nothing more than body doubles, finding the real one was a matter of time. Pride undid Pain, that sorry bastard wouldn't had missed this. Capturing The Nine Tailed Fox had been an Akatsuki operation since the day he was born, and he was there to see it to an end…just not the end Naruto imagined Pain wanting.
Still, his thoughts drifted to Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the rest of his friends. They must all think he's gone, dead forever, perhaps in this death he could be the hero for a change? Not the demon fox, not the menace to Konoha, but just Naruto Uzumaki the hero. Come to think of it, it's all he ever wanted, was just that acknowledgement!
"Sorry pervy sage, I guess you don't get to see me become Hokage, after all. I hope you know that what I did was to protect you as well, I'm so tired of seeing people I love suffer…even you Sasuke, maybe you can find the peace you wanted from severing our bonds." Naruto thought to himself, curling up a little with his knees to his chest.
All of these thoughts, pouring down consciousness like water under a bridge. It didn't matter anymore, nothing did, he won at the cost of going back on every core belief he held. Some people, no matter how tragic the situation, were unredeemable. Nothing more than rabid dogs, foaming at the mouth, the blonde that day just so happened to be the euthanasia.
Maria notes how the blonde just shut down on her. Sitting there curled up on the medical bed in the clinic. Whatever the kid had been through, it had been some seriously messed up life events. Scars, heavy callouses on his hands, and feet. This child wasn't just some random street urchin, not a farm boy either.
She looked into those cerulean blue eyes. Beneath the freight, anxiety, and confusing stood the look of someone who had seen the absolute worst of humanity. They called it back in her days as a Huntress, the 'thousand-yard stare,' simply because someone lost in their thoughts would just stare out into nothingness. Detached emotionally, not mentally as some would think, but having all other emotions expended trying to reason with apathy.
"Kid," the old woman called his attention, "are you okay?"
He tries to speak once more, but just settles with nodding his head. Pointing at his throat, he draws an X with his finger. Maria understood him, sitting next to him on the bed. The woman was short, probably due to her age, and those funky goggles added some creep factor. It was wrong of him think like that because she had helped him. Those fake little eyes blinked every so often, and he points toward them.
"Oh, good job Naruto, let's make the person who saved your bacon uncomfortable dattebayo!" He mentally chastised himself, but then watched her smile. "Huh?"
"Oh, this kiddo, these are my prosthetic eyes." Maria told him while moving them around a little, "I lost my eyes in a fight a long time ago."
Naruto frowns at that answer but grew angry with inability to communicate. He grunted while reaching his pen, and notepaper. He started to write, turning the page over for her to see.
'did you win?'
"Ha, did I win? Kid, I may have lived, but I lost my eyes and had to retire. I was cut in my prime," Maria lamented before smiling. "In way though, I guess it's a good thing. I can see the world much more clearly now, more than before."
She walked over to the door, closing it, "I have a feeling that you're not exactly lying to me."
Naruto straightened up on the bed, looking on as she got a glass of water. She took some sips out of the glass, licking her lips to get them wet. Dry winter air obviously doing a number on her. Popping her back, she stretches to get her shoulders loosened up.
"Renard is a simple man, never experienced the weirdness of the world. I understand that life is not so cut and dry. The mere fact that you are surviving something that you should've died from ten times over is the tip of the iceberg. That chest wound, near where your right lung would be, that wasn't recent." She spoke with calmness, alleviating Naruto a little who relaxed in the bed.
Seeing no reason to lie, he simply nods, rubbing the scar. She looked at the door, making sure no one was near it, and leaned up to it. Making sure no one could enter.
"My old butt is getting tired, boy. You say you aren't from any of the lands we know, but maybe you're lying to me to protect someone. All I know is, just like with me, there's something unique to you that people hunted you for." She continued while still leaning up against the door, "Have I hit the head on the nail so far?"
Naruto bit his lip before once again nodding his head. The old woman sighed, walking over to the sink. Grabbing another glass. She made sure to have ADA scan over it to make sure it was clean. When it came back all clear, she then started to run cold tap water into the vessel.
"Tell me something, child, what will you do from here?" She inquired while filling up another glass. "If you are someone being hunted, and no longer home, it wouldn't be wise to sit around in one place."
Naruto looks down, sighing, and nodding his head. Maria walked over to him, handing him another glass. She watches him drink it slowly this time, much slower than before. Stopping for a minute, setting the glass on his lap while stilling balancing it with his left hand. He stares at charts on the on wall, his charts, and photos of his x-rays that the doctor had printed out to show him.
Broken would've been the polite way of describing the way he initially came in. The correct answer was that he should've died, even with The Nine Tails, so what had saved him? Turns, Maria noted his confusion, placing a hand on his shoulder. She knew that look, that very same look was hers without the eyes nearly twenty years ago.
"You expected to die, but didn't, so now you don't know what to do with yourself." She empathized with him, seeing a small tear go down his eye. "You're still here and has to be for a reason."
Naruto nudged his head side-to-side, finishing his water. Maria frowned at him, sitting on his observation bed. the old woman made sure not to sit on his feet. The blonde looked at her, giving a small but sad riddled smile. He mouthed the words, 'thank you,' before handing the glass to her. She nods, sitting there before watching as Renard walked back in.
"Okay, well, once again I still couldn't get any type of transport for him. Knowing what he's been through, and what he's claiming, it could be some adverse form of psychotic coping. I recommend he stay with me, until I get him help." Renard suggested while looking at him.
Naruto looks toward Maria, shaking his head. The old woman smiled, and then looked toward the doctor.
"Sorry, Renard, but it seems like the boy is waiving any more medical treatment. It's his rights to do so," The old woman told him before getting up. "Please be a dear and give this boy some chance at fresh air."
"I know it's his right to leave against medical advice, but I highly do not indorse this action. For all we know he could still have internal injuries that may pop up," the doctor argued before getting his scanner out. "If you're leaving, please let just do one last scan on your."
Naruto shrugs, standing apart, in a T pose stance so the doctor could get a full view. The scanner went over his stomach, showing no more true suspect injuries save internal bruising. His legs were almost fully healed, splotches of bruising in the tissue, but what concerned him the most was the kid's throat. It wasn't healing as well, which meant there was a chance that he could remain mute.
Sighing, Renard tries one last time, "I could get him surgery for his throat…but…I doubt it would change much."
"It's up to him," Maria offered up before looking towards him. "What's your answer?"
The blonde shinobi thinks for a minute, taking a deep breath before pointing with a thumbs down. Renard rolls his eyes, and leaves to go sign the paperwork. Naruto's gown flapped around a little bit from the wind of the door shutting. The old woman looked at him, smiling before speaking.
"ADA, can you give me measurements?" She commanded her AI assistant, the program running her prothesis beginning to measure Naruto over. "Thank you dear."
He was confused at who she was talking to, but then she pointed at her weird eye goggles. He nods, still bewildered before watching as Renard came in with the legal documentation. Naruto didn't much care for that, signing where he needed to sign to leave. Naruto was about to step out of the observation room when Maria put her hand up to stop him. He was bewildered for a moment, and then she just chuckles at him.
"So, do you want the whole town to see your buttocks?" She inquired which made Naruto realize that he was still in a hospital gown.
Renard sighs, looking at her, "I can hold him for a half hour."
"That's all the time I need, you stay here now. I'll be back." She told the young teenager before exiting the room.
Naruto watches as the door close, then looking to Renard. He bowed his head in respect, walking over to a chair before sitting in it. Sighing, the man took a deep breath, sitting into the chair next to his. The older man took a cigarette out, lit it with a lighter, and then took a drag off it. Blowing the smoke away from the kid, he then looks at him.
"Listen to me and listen well. I've never seen someone with your injuries make it out alive. So, I'll trust old Maria on this one. Just, please don't get yourself into any trouble. Those nanites in your body should be finishing up, if not already. I also don't recommend eating solid foods for at least two days. Since you've been on painkillers, you might as well be crapping out bricks." The doctor explained to him before taking another drag off his cigarette.
The blonde just stared off into space for a moment, thinking to himself. He got up, walking over to a table, and grabbed a pen with notepaper. He began to write down some words onto it. Intending to get information about what surgery he would've been talking about.
'You said I had a surgical option earlier, what were the odds?' Naruto wrote down, inquiring with curiosity.
"Thirty percent, and that's with limit capability. The other percentage is total vocal loss with a stoma, and since you're a rare case that still has their airway intact…best not to bite the bullet I suppose." Renard answered him before thinking to himself, "You seem like an honest kid…listen, I know some good therapists. If you choose to leave, perhaps you can get a scroll and call one of them for a meeting."
Naruto looked confused, mouthing the word, "therapist?"
"Does this kid really not know what a therapist is?" Thought Renard who just stared at him blankly, "You know doctors who…help with your mind?"
The boy's mouth contorted to an 'Oh' expression before shaking his head. Pinching his nose while taking a drag, the doctor blew the smoke away from the child. Taking a deep breath, he simply patted the young teen's shoulder. Truly either this kid was damaged, running, or was telling the truth. For some reason, somewhere in his heart, he knew it was truly the latter of this.
Renard got up, taking steps toward the door, "Maria should be back soon with clothing. Let me see if there's something I can't give you to at least help you out in some way."
Naruto sat in the room alone as the man exited. Taking a deep breath, focusing, he found himself drifting.
"Nine Tails…"
The dripping of water made him open his eyes. He was inside his mindscape. The pipelines representing his chakra network were somewhat still in disrepair, but slowly they were healing. His body was being healed first it seemed, which meant that he was at a much-diminished state at the moment.
Walking along the wet flooring, seeing more pipes that were bent and broken. Red pipes were even broke, which was only relegated to The Nine Tail's chakra. Which meant that he was also in some ways injured somehow. Eventually he turns a corner, coming across the giant cage. The seal paper on the cage was partially ripped, the bars bent, no longer sturdy as before.
He could sense something else here but couldn't pinpoint it.
"Yo furball!"
The giant fox stood still, barely opening one of its giant eyes, "Let me rest…brat."
"Listen," Naruto implored him while walking closer. "We're not in the elemental nations anymore, hell I don't even know how to explain it we're not exactly in ou-…"
"We're not exactly on our world anymore. I know, just because I'm sealed in you doesn't mean I can't sense things." The Nine Tails interjected, interrupting him, "What do you want?"
Naruto sat down in front of the gate, "I just want to know why you aren't healing my throat?"
"Sometimes, brat, some things can't be healed if they don't exist anymore. When you threw up my raw chakra out of your mouth, it burned eighty percent of your vocal cords away. At best, you can grunt…maybe scream." The Nine Tails answered which made Naruto look down, "We weren't even supposed to have lived…take a victory."
"Is there anyway we can go home?" The young shinobi inquired.
"No, this isn't me tricking you, we're genuinely stuck here." The Nine Tails answered truthfully, raising its head. "I suppose it's poetic."
"What the hell do you mean poetic, furball?" Naruto breathed while looking at him, "I've lost everything."
"Yet," He raised his head up, "We've been transported to a new world…a new beginning."
"What if I don't want a new beginning…what if I just want my friends back…" the blonde said dejectedly before huddling into himself. "I meant what I said before we did that little synch up thing, we both deserved better."
For once The Nine Tails too a deep breath, was that pity Naruto felt? The blonde watched as he took moment before speaking.
"Sometimes, brat, life isn't fair. If you had been there, do you honestly believe that Hatake would've let them take you in trade? The moment they walked into that village, coming after you, he was a dead man walking. The cherry blossom girl, as much I found her annoying, would've died for you too…accept that as a token of their love, and move on." The Nine Tails advised him, only to watch Naruto launch himself up.
He screams at him, hot tears spilling from his eyes, "What the fuck do you know about love?!"
"You hated me since day one, I don't give a damn about us working together and bonding over anger. You keep my friends' names out of your damn mouth!" Naruto raged while looking right at him, sobbing a little bit at each word.
"Brat…"
"You are going to sit there and tell me, surviving the impossible, there's no way for me to honor them! There's no way for me to lay them to rest, there's no way for me go back home?! Did you know that this would happen?!" Naruto questioned accusingly, pointing a finger at the giant kitsune.
"No, I didn't know you spoiled brat! Your absolute little shit stain of a miserable life is nothing but a fleeting minute of my own! Forgive me if I don't sound sympathetic, but I too have lost people that I cared for! You humans, touting that we Tailed Beast can never understand love, the gall! Do you want to know why I can't bring us back, it's because I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!" The Nine Tails screamed out before roaring at Naruto, blasting toward the entrance of the room.
The gates rattled but stayed intact surprisingly. Naruto stood up, breathing hard, "What do you mean you're not strong enough?!"
"My Tailed Beast Bomb only worked because of the statue already containing four other Tailed Beasts. When it detonated, it detonated their chakra with my own! The Statue itself was a power conduit, multiplying their power already, so imagine what it did when we blew it up? It tore space and time asunder! It ripped a little new hole in the fabric. Essentially, we created a blackhole!" The Nine Tails screamed out, answering the blonde's question with rage pouring from him.
"What the hell is a blackhole?!" The teen screamed out, confused at what he was saying.
"Let me put it in layman's terms, we tore the fabric of the universe a very temporary new asshole!" The giant fox shouted at him, "Of all my vessels, you are by far the bravest but the dumbest!"
Groaning in frustration, Naruto threw his hands exasperated before laying on the water covered floor. He just stared up at space for a minute, looking at the pipes, noting that his chakra network may have come back online prior to falling out of that space…yet he still didn't feel at one hundred percent. Seeing all of the damage inside of him more or less confirmed it.
"Nine Tails," Naruto called out before turning to him. "I'm sorry…I'm…"
"In pain, feeling hopeless, that everything you worked for didn't matter?"
"Yeah, pretty much all of that," he admitted before biting his lip. "About that love part…how do you know about it?"
"Even I had a creator once, his name was Hagoromo Otsutsuki. He was the Sage Of Six Paths. You see, brat, long before the time shinobi. There was a time before humans could use chakra, you had inside of you, but you couldn't wield it. It was during this time, that all Tailed Beasts were merged into one, The Ten Tails. You probably don't care to hear more," The giant fox waived while looking off to the side.
"Question!"
Kurama told Naruto before taking a deep breath and turning back, "Yes?"
"Technically, wouldn't it be the Forty-Five Tails?" Naruto questioned.
Kurama looks at him, then thought about his answer, "You think that adding all the tails of each beast together…would make it have forty-five tails?
"Well duh, that's just basic math furball."
"Oh, my creator, of all the people, Otsutsuki Gods damn you for being this stupid." The Nine Tails bemoaned before sighing, "Can't blame anyone other than myself, after all I asked for a dumber vessel, and I was granted one…a little too much."
"Well, I'm not the one throwing out made up things, like blackholes." Naruto pointed matter-of-factly, only for the Nine Tails to scream at him.
"THEY'RE NOT MADE-UP THINGS!"
A pregnant pause emanated between the two, with The Nine Tails regaining his composure before focusing. "I'm Sorry, that was rude of me…you can continue the story…I want to hear it, I'm just saying if you're adding all The Tailed Beasts together…" Naruto stopped before sighing, "Never mind it was stupid."
"I should be mad at you, brat, for that comment. However, if it wasn't for the fact that you are so stubbornly ignorant, I'd think you'd intentionally insult me. Anyway, we were once all merged into one giant monster known as The Ten Tails." Kurama got back to where he left off, taking a deep breath.
He then tells his tale, maintaining eye contact with Naruto. Slowly, the room shifted to a wide-open landscape, and in the distance, Naruto saw a giant monster with one eye that looked eerily familiar to the sharingan. The Nine Tails noticed it as well, smirking. "You're not too far off…the sharingan is indeed a placeholder in humans for that thing's bloodline."
"One God came from the heavens to save humanity from this monster. He stood tall in face of sheer destruction incarnate. Because as one, we had no personality of our own, no free will. We served only the whims of destruction. Humanity's darkest emotions collated and mixed together. The results of slaughter, rage, genocide, and hatred. The world only gives back what you put into it, and humans put in all of their hate…thusly a being of true hatred was born." The Nine Tails explained while the image showed the beast sweeping countries aside.
Naruto's eyes widened when he saw one country, with floating cities, suddenly brought down onto the world like falling meteorites. Another, a country in the middle of the ocean, swept by giant tidal waves the size of mountains. Was this…a time before even Shinobi truly?
"For once, you humans tried to fight together, but it never mattered. One day, you collectively cried out for a savior. My creator, Hagoromo Otsutsuki answered that call. He descended from the moon, stopping the beast from its latest attacks, if hadn't surely humanity would've gone extinct." The images switched to what the giant fox said, showing Naruto the falling star from the moon.
A single man stood, bright red hair, wielding a staff. A white robe flowed over him, and there he stood tall against the beast upon a hillside. A bright flash of light filled the room as the beast found itself locked around chains of chakra, coming from the ground itself. Naruto watched as the God absorbed the giant monster, a seal pattern forming across his body.
"Wait a minute," the young teen realized while looking at him. "Doesn't that mean he'd be the first Jinchuuriki?"
"Okay, now you're catching on." The Nine Tails complimented, which felt awkward for him to do so. "Yes, that would mean that he would be the very first Jinchuuriki."
"Cool…" Naruto breathed while walking around him, "What are those horns on his head?"
"Why do you have whisker marks?" The Tailed Beast questioned in return.
Naruto bit his cheek on that, crossing his arms childishly, "Good point furball…"
"He grew old, having been a mortal God, and with his life nearing its end he formed us…The Tailed Beast. Each and everyone one of us held a piece of The Ten Tail's soul. With its power being cut down multiples between each beast. As The Nine Tails, I have the most percentage, and yes…to an extent it's little bit of rage." The kitsune stated while looking at Naruto, showing him images of the younger Tailed Beasts to gauge their reactions.
He expected questions, he expected confusion, even jokes. Instead, he saw the blonde standing in the center, looking at every one of his siblings' younger forms. The Nine Tailed Fox forgot to stop the image, showing him and his siblings crying over their creator's speech to them. His back was turned to the Nine Tailed Fox.
"What is it brat, no jokes?"
Naruto turns back around, showing tears flowing down his eyes. Especially as he got a look at a certain young Kitsune, who was sobbing as his creator faded away. Screaming even, and then it hit the giant fox as the blonde reached out to his younger self. His hand passes through the hologram, and he just stood there looking up at him.
"I'm sorry…" Naruto bowed and kowtowed in front of him.
The Nine Tail's eyes widened tremendously at the earnest in the apology. Never has this energetic, brash, knuckleheaded buffoon bowed before anyone. So, flabbergasted was he that he failed to notice that the landscape changed to show a slightly older version The Nine Tails once again. He was standing tall as a two-story house, with a brown-haired man standing next to him.
That same man bared a striking resemblance to one of the children of his creator.
"Ashura…"
Naruto stood up at the name, looking around, "What? Who is Ashura?!"
The images stopped, with The Nine Tails growling, "Nobody…we're done here for now."
"Wow, hold on, I thought we were bonding here dattebayo! What did I do, I'm sorry that I said something out of turn earlier, I just…"
"Never thought that we could have loved ones, foolish brat, you suffer the loss of a few…we suffer seeing entire cultures fall. Good men, women, and children…slaughtered all because you corrupted the gifts bestowed to you…" The Nine Tailed Fox growls and interrupted him, "There can never be understanding between the guardians of a world…and it's filthy parasites."
"So…I'm a parasite…"
Naruto stood there rubbing his arm, "I don't think I'm a parasite, but…if we're done here, I'll be going."
"Wait…" Naruto stopped walking as he lowered his head, "If you ever need my power…you need to accept the fact that you're no better than me."
"Perhaps we're not so different after all, but I think I'm going to choose to keep moving forward. Maybe one day, hopefully soon…I can do something about that hatred inside you." Naruto replied before giving a sad smile and disappearing out of the area.
The giant kitsune sat there, feeling Naruto leave the subconscious world. He reformed the image of standing next to the one he called Ashura, looking at it through the cage. Placing his head against the bars, tears welling in his eyes.
"Why did they turn against us, all those years ago…Ashura…"
Naruto opens his eyes, having laid his head down. Slowly, he got up, looking over at a pile of clothes next to him in a chair. There were three sets of pants, shirts, underwear, and even a backpack with a coat. He reached down, picking up one of the long-sleeved shirts. It held a pattern with trees on the back of it, and on the front of it was some type of musician group screaming into a standing device.
"Weird," he thinks to himself before looking at the pure orange one. "That's more like it!"
He takes the gown off, getting the shirt on. Discovering that it was a size too big for him, slightly baggy. It didn't matter, so he got some boxers on, and then chose the black cargo pants with red stripe along the pants legging. Bouncing on one foot to stretch his legs, and interchanging, he saw that there were some boots laying under a chair with orange socks.
Quickly putting them on, the blonde took the rest of the clothing, and packed it. Looking over the seat next to where he had been sitting, a book laid there. A Basic Guide To Sign Language For The Impaired, by Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck.
Looking at himself in the mirror, the blonde felt like a person again. His stomach growls a little bit, making him groan from hunger. Walking toward the door, he opened it to see Maria sitting a in a seat asleep. Naruto walked over to her, tapping on her shoulder. She woke up, her eyes turning on, and looked him up and down.
"Like them?" She inquired while watching rub the back of his head.
He gave her a thumbs up, tucking the book under his arm. She nods and gets up. They both wave at Renard as they exit the building. His stomach audibly growling, drawing her attention. The old woman chuckled, pulling a device out that she pulled apart to reveal a screen. On it was a money, with several zeroes behind a number. She noted that he was staring, turning to him.
She laughs, "It's rude to stare over someone's shoulder, boy."
He nods, trying to say sorry but failing, so he turned to the book, pulling it out from under his arm. The blonde found what he was looking for, contorting his fingers to make the hand sign for apologizing. The old reaper nods her head, surprising by doing the response hand sign.
"Sign language is hard to get down kiddo, but you'll manage. The next question I have to ask you…are you hungry?"
Broken Moon!
"The beginning is always today."
Mary Shelley
She regretted those words, of course the kid was hungry. Watching him down a whole chicken was surprising, two was shocking, but now as he got ready to eat a whole chicken pot pie the older woman found herself worried. Having a decent amount in the bank was great and all, but he was eating his way toward a couple hundred lien dinner bill.
Could she blame him? Not exactly, poor thing must've been starved for days. His eyes, general appearance, and mood began going on the up and up as he ate. She tried to recommend liquid food, but the blonde had been starving. Finishing the pot pie within minutes, letting out a burp that made the whole crowd look at them.
She rolls her eyes, watching make the sign for apology, "Yeah, I bet you are. Heh, so kid what are you going to do after this?"
He shrugs and then thought about it, reading into his book. He found the word he was looking for, walk, and made the gesture for it. Maria pursed her lips, and then smiled while seeing him rubbing his stomach. It was slightly bulged out from all the food, a groan escaping him. The liquid diet advice she tried to give him wasn't because he was sick.
In a few hours he'd experience the living hell that was pain medication related constipation.
However, until then Maria asks him a simple question, "Would you walk with me?"
The blonde thought about it, pensively staring at himself in a glass. Maria watches him becoming conflicted, "You don't owe me anything…doing the right thing just makes common sense." She comforted him, placing a hand on top of his.
His fingers were warm, much like his palm, "you can choose to go your own way if you want."
Naruto shook his head, smiling before pointing at her. He gestured for walking, then flipped over a page for the gesture that read 'just for a little while,' and did the gesture. The old woman nods in response, letting go of his hand before seeing the check come in.
"Well, while we're walking, you're carrying my pack…that's how you can pay me back for the bill!" She declared before watching nod.
Chapter Two: A New Beginning...end.