Chapter XXVIII

A Walk Under the Sun

An hour was enough for Naruto to get better and recover from his emotions; with infinite patience, I gave him all the time he needed. After all, it was entirely my fault. When it was time to go out, I forbade myself to hold out my hand to him. I reassured him many times that everything would be fine and that we would come back here, together, at dusk. Visibly calmer, Naruto clung to my arm. Of course, I had to remind him to hide his tail—something the teenager did … not without disgruntled complaints, though.

Sighing in spite of myself, we walked out into the bright sunshine.

The blond froze for a few moments to block the light rays with his arm. Nevertheless, he didn't hesitate to follow me when I started walking again. The light assaults his retinas and puts him in obvious discomfort, but he manages to bear it. This causes him to stick closer to me, snatching sighs from me. The more time passes, the more his half-closed eyes open; though his gaze is locked to the ground, avoiding the blue sky similar to his irises, Naruto is able to adapt.

Of course, I refrain from venturing into busy areas … well, as much as possible since avoiding human presence is impossible; especially because Konohagakure is experiencing its usual afternoon bustle. The others agitate the feral teenager. I don't need to look at him since his fingers tense and dig into my skin. His deep blue eyes scan the surroundings, watching with anguish what is happening, forcing me to slow down in spite of myself. The only thing I can do is try to calm him down with reassuring words… Surprised, but not surprised, that doesn't dispel his growing stress. At times, I have to stop in order to tell him with exasperation to hide his ebony tail which expresses his moods in an unconscious way. Fortunately, in addition to a sulky pout and a grunt, the blond doesn't grumble and obeys.

If it wasn't that I had to watch him, I would have immersed myself in my favourite book as I usually do. Despite our atypical appearance, not to mention the long coat he wears on his back on this hot summer day, besides a brief look, no one really pays attention to us.

"Kakashi! Naruto!"

This much too familiar voice… I confirm that it's that of Might Guy when I turn my head. As always, he wears his ridiculous attire in a retina-aggressive green that contrasts with his charisma and exhausting positivity. He comes to meet us, but he must know about Naruto since he approaches with caution. In response, the teenager hides behind me without letting go of my arm before emitting growls in warning, further accentuating the feral features of his face. He never takes his eyes off him, not to mention that he's gradually ruffling his blond hair.

"Easy, Naruto. He's a friend," I softly say, reducing the intensity of his loud complaints.

Guy stops a metre from us.

"It's been ages since we've seen each other, dear rival," he greets me with his beaming, blinding smile.

"I was particularly busy, as you must already know…"

He nods before looking at my pissed off student.

"And you, Naruto. How are you doing?"

Naruto lets out a high-pitched hiss as he bares his fangs. I notice his tail trying to wrap itself around our legs to create a barrier between us and the man with the exhilarating presence. Frowning, I give him a stern look before pointing at said tail in question, emitting a grumble myself to capture his attention. Displeased, the blond reluctantly obeys and slowly tucks his tail back under the coat, jerking his head the other way.

"Don't take it personally, but he doesn't like you … or anyone else for that matter," I explain, making sure the tail is out of sight. "Not to mention that he's completely mute."

"I know," he says, taking a serious face, looking away from the extra limb he was curiously watching. "Godaime explained to my team what is going on and that this amnesiac Naruto wasn't very comfortable with strangers."

"Indeed," I sigh, glancing at the grumpy boy. "Naruto is exhausting me…"

"Does he remember anything?"

I shake my head.

"He's not ready. He fiercely avoids remembering anything. We can only wait for him to be."

A silence.

"Not that I don't want to talk to you, but your presence agitates Naruto and I have to stop by his place."

"It was good to see you, Kakashi," he says, placing a friendly hand on my shoulder. "We were seriously starting to worry about you! Seeing you in good shape warms the heart!"

I would like to be in good shape as Guy seems to believe; exhaustion is my daily life with my chakra-hungry teenager. At least the presence of my amnesiac student saves me from having to submit to another one of his wacky rivalry contests which tires me just as much… Or perhaps he's referring to my condition before we find Naruto? Or both? I cannot say.

I just greet him with a nod. However, Guy doesn't have time to take two steps that he falls to the ground face first. Puzzled, I blink my eye a few times before noticing what's at issue. The ebony tail unwinds from one of its victim's ankles and gently finds its place under the coat. Naruto smirks at him, as if enjoying embarrassing or hurting him. When his irises cross mine, he immediately regains his seriousness then avoids all eye contact with me; at that, a bead of sweat slides down his temple.

He did it on purpose.

He knows I'm upset.

Because he's holding his breath.

Annoyed, I bluntly pinch his cheeks to force him to look at me.

"What did I just tell you?!" I grumble in a low voice. "You keep this damn tail where no one can see it, got it?!"

After a breath, I let go; my fingers have marked his skin with a redness that doesn't persist. Naruto runs a hand over his aching face before clinging to my arm again. At the end of my patience, I was abrupt … but the teenager forgives me. At first glance, he didn't like that Guy touched me; it's the only explanation that I can find that justifies his action. However, this gratuitous and venomous malice worries me. That sort of thing isn't part of his personality at all.

I turn my attention back to Guy who has already gotten up and is dusting himself off a bit.

"I'm terribly sorry…" I giggle nervously, running a hand through my silver hair.

"It's no problem at all," he laughs with his usual smile. "I must admit that he's very sneaky. He completely erased his presence."

I can only agree with him; he escaped my keen surveillance…

Suddenly Guy takes on a serious tone that sends shivers down my spine.

"Be careful, Kakashi. That thing is very powerful," he warns me about the tail.

I was already aware … but coming from him, for him to tell me with such a gloomy expression, I am by no means calm now; to the point where I feel a cold sweat beading on my temple. Moreover, if I take into account the words of Tenzô and Shikamaru who tried to contain him during his escape, Naruto's brute strength could well surpass that of Sakura, and by far. Such power coming from an element as unpredictable and unstable as him is frightening and leads to great caution. Now that he no longer has the hunger to slow him down or limit his abilities, if he were to lose his temper again, we would be in big trouble.

I have to keep the feral teenager under control.

After this visual exchange, we greet each other with a wave of the hand. I can say that Naruto already feels much better and more comfortable, besides his fear of being outside. I plunge my ebony eye into those of my student's bluish ones to tell him to follow me—something he does when I walk to his apartment.

It will have taken us almost an hour, but I finally have his place of residence in sight. Also noticing this, Naruto stops and stares at the building the same way he did with my frame… However, due to his nocturnal, light-sensitive pupils, he quickly lowers his eyes before roughly rubbing them. I patiently wait for him to finish before walking again.

On the balcony, I notice that Naruto is much less nervous than before—rather, he scans the surroundings with curiosity; the fact of being alone and in the dark must silence his anxieties. Since his abduction, I am the one to whom the keys to his home have been entrusted; besides a window replacement since I had broken the last one, nothing has really changed since that fateful night.

Stepping inside, the musty smell stings my nostrils, like that of dust beginning to accumulate. Fortunately, Naruto had somewhat tidied up and cleaned his residence before the tragedy; otherwise, his apartment would be in a mess given his absent notion of housekeeping which far too often attracts swarming cockroaches. I don't linger any longer in the hallway and head to the teenager's room. At the threshold of the door, it's my turn to freeze in place.

I don't know why, but my heart is heavy. I relive the scene where I had arrived too late, way too late… Then, regrets invade me like weeds proliferating without limits. Without realizing it, I emancipate myself from the sense of sight. I contemplate this collapsed me, curled up in a ball, cursing himself for having been so weak, useless… The image of my pupil in the arms of this man who makes me want to throw up, to let hatred consume me entirely in a devouring fire, a fist on the heart…

I am pulled from my demons when Naruto—now in front of me—tenderly takes me in his arms, hugs me with his ebony tail, all gently. Not expecting this, I remain dumbfounded, forced to hold my breath. He isn't asking for comfort from me, but it's quite the opposite. As I do with him, he seeks to silence the pains that have shaken me with his caring embrace. Since I hardly show my emotions, I wonder how he knew; if he felt it somehow. Nonetheless, his hug is enough to chase away the dark clouds that were hovering over my head, drawing a sincere smile from me.

"I'm fine, Naruto. You don't have to worry," I say, pulling away from him and ruffling his blond mane.

The sapphire-eyed boy smiles at me. From then on, I assign myself to what I came for. I search his room for his clothes. Since Naruto is particularly fond of his classic orange outfit, I'm hardly surprised he has a spare. I stuff my bag with several clothes that I consider relevant. Naruto doesn't have much, no variety, and I don't care. He must also be of this opinion by the way … unless he accepted my clothes because they were mine… I hope I am misled since that annoys me a little. I don't want him to dress like me with my things.

My work done, I turn my attention back to Naruto who is staring intensely out the window; one of his hands strokes his cheek. I notice that he has again placed the frame face down, the one that contains the photo of the once complete Team 7. I note with disappointment that he still doesn't want to remember anything.

"Naruto," I call out to him, showing him the orange and black jacket. "Come and change."

He frowns before approaching me. I let him take the jacket in his hands which he examines with touch, inhales its perfume, all while I take off my long white coat of him. He doesn't seem convinced to me… Nevertheless, the fabric isn't totally foreign to him.

"You don't have to wear it or get rid of my top just yet if you prefer. But I'd like you to at least change your pants," I say, handing him said pants in question. "Mine doesn't fit you at all and slips off your hips, as you already know."

Naruto continues to inspect what he holds in his hands. After a few seconds of hesitation, he finally decides to put it on without zipping it. Then he pulls the bottom off… I miss a heartbeat when the boxer tries to follow… Luckily, aside from a few blond hairs, my ebony eye doesn't see anything else. He then puts on the orange pants.

"They fit you like a glove," I cheerfully exclaim. "It's much more comfortable like that, isn't it?"

Naruto lets out a silent laugh as he sketches a face similar to mine. I translate his smile as a sufficient answer to my question. Although he's unable to communicate with simple words or gestures, his body language still expresses his moods and shares abstract responses. I guess it's up to me to learn how to translate his behaviours and his reactions, tiny as they are. With his brain altered and closer to a beast, the task promises to be difficult.

All in all, I ruffle his blond hair before heading out to Shikamaru's.