Runa had to duck under Inoichi's arms before she even reached the doorway because he was a lot faster than she was expecting. He moved with utter silence. But then...he was just standing on the ceiling. What- She shot into the hall, righting herself as she went and counted herself lucky to have dodged at all. Pumping her legs, Runa began to run like there was a horde of abnormal titans on her. She skidded around the corner, sliding to reduce the chance she'd fall over and then righted herself again.

There by a reception desk which had no nurse, sat two boys her own age. One of them she recognized. He stood up, evident concern filtering across his face as she came sprinting into view. Runa stopped, eyes flicking over the other boy. She didn't know him. He could be dangerous as an unfamiliar variable in an already precarious situation. He had thick black hair pulled back in a ponytail so spiky it looked like pineapple leaves. Pineapple. That was a good birthday. If only the farming districts hadn't-

The boy who Runa had rescued was stepping closer. "Are you alright?" He spoke just as softly as Inoichi had and for a moment, Runa was somewhere else, with a different person asking her.

"I asked if you were alright. Your name is Runa right?" Greta asked, holding out her hand to Runa."I lost my parents too, but it's alright. We can be each other's family." A strangled sort of yelp left Runa's lips as her tightly held self control snapped like so many rubber bands giving up. It was the boy again, but he had that same vibe to him that Greta had. The kind, determined spirit he projected...They could've been the same person if not for obvious physical differences.

"No." Runa choked, feeling the tears she hadn't let herself cry yet begin to flood down her cheeks. She turned her head and looked down, still concerned about being weak in a world that would literally eat her alive if it could. "I'm not alright."

The arms that engulfed her shocked the breath out of her not because of the strength in the hug, but because of the unexpected warmth and kindness. "Then this is where you need to be. The hospital can help." The boy murmured into her shoulder, squeezing tight like his life depended on not letting go of her. Runa made eye contact with the second one, her eyes drifting to his pineapple hair after a moment. Pineapple. She thought again of the sweet fruit she had tasted only twice in her life.

He blinked his dark eyes back at her. "Naruto is right. You were severely dehydrated and on the brink of serious damage relating to the malnutrition when they brought you in. Those things might have been treated already, but you still a deeply exhausted person. Let them do their work, alright? After all, it's not like you can go home."

There was a sudden violent twisting in her belly at the expression and Runa felt horror at the realization that could've been an option the whole time; then guilt at being horrified. "I don't want to go home." She whispered. "It is cowardly, but I don't want to if I don't have to."

Naruto released her, looking at someone behind her. "I think she's going to let you do it now."

Runa turned to face Inoichi, apprehension bubbling under the surface. "Is it going to hurt?" She sat in the chair Naruto had been in, legs shaking from the excitement of the past ten minutes. "Is this brain surgery?"

Inoichi looked briefly saddened by her expectations of more cruelty. "No. More-what did you call it? Science fiction. It will be painless unless you fight back. So, against everything else your mind is telling you, try to relax Ms. Stadler." He pressed a couple fingers to her forehead and Runa closed her eyes. She slipped into a warm state that felt like being half-asleep in a tub of bathwater. She was aware of the fact she could not move and that she still sat in the chair, but she did in fact feel no pain. Just an odd shuffling in her head, like someone flipping through a stack of paper.

When Inoichi withdrew his hand with a shocked gasp, Jiraiya looked up with interest from where he leaned against the front desk. His voice had a quiver. "How long was I in there?"

"A couple minutes." Jiraiya said, on alert from this reaction.

His eyes glimmered with tears that wanted to be shed and weren't when he held Runa's gaze. "You-" Then he also hugged her, crouching on one knee to do so. "This-"

"You're a parent, aren't you?" She asked quietly, feeling like that pain on his face was familiar.

"I can only keep doing my job the best I can and hope it's enough to protect my daughter from the things you've seen. That she'll never know such terror or pain or suffering." Inoichi squeezed harder. "And as a parent, I have to give you this hug because no one else has and that is heart breaking." Runa took the affection without a word, missing this in her life. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

x

Runa was in the hospital for another two days before she was told by a nurse she could leave now, and that she had someone in the lobby waiting to take her home. "I don't have a h-" Runa dropped it as the busy woman had already moved on. After gathering what was left of herself, Runa went back to the room she had previously escaped from.

There was the pineapple boy and someone who had to be his father, given the strong resemblance and age difference. "I'm Shikaku Nara and this is my son, Shikamaru. You met him already. We're going to house you, for now at least."

"Ah but my gear- It's just that I feel naked without it. Defenseless, especially in comparison to..." She trailed off in reference to all the amazing techniques she'd seen the last couple days that appeared closer to magic that anything else.

Shikaku rubbed the back of his neck with a tired sigh. "At home in your new room. My wife has probably already polished it all five times. Are you ready?" He asked again.

Runa sighed. "Whenever you are, sir." They walked her through town, giving her a tour and pointing out all the landmark spots. Runa took careful note of the way everyone was looking at her. She glanced down at her military get up. The blood had been cleaned and the tears sewn up, but she still stuck out like a sore thumb.

"My wife has set aside a budget to get you some clothes and basic supplies. She thought you might want to give input on that." Runa was about to speak when someone grabbed her from behind, squeezing her. She reacted in an instant, locating a wrist and pulling them hard as she bent in half; yanking them over her shoulder and throwing them on the ground. Runa kept going, moving on top of the attacker and pulling his arm up and behind him for an arm bar.

"Ow ow ow!" Naruto was squealing and squirming. Runa had a flash of a thought that perhaps she hadn't been getting kidnapped but instead being given a hug. She let go of Naruto and got off of, turning around and away from him. Runa could feel the hot embarrassment in her cheeks and a little shame with it. Naruto saved me from the hell that used to be my life. From the action I took that almost resulted in the end of my life. He's been nothing but warm to me. I hurt him, just now.

There was movement as Shikaku came into view from the right, bringing himself down to eye level with Runa. "It's alright, Runa." He held up his hands to show her they were empty. "I think you've just had a mild panic attack, and there's nothing wrong with that. A lot of full grown adults in this village might do the same if unexpectedly touched from behind. Naruto is fine. He's already getting up."

"Got grabbed in Trost once, when I was visiting before the wall got breached." Runa muttered, moving her head so she was looking at the ground instead of Shikaku. "They would've done not so nice things to me, I'm sure. But then I met my best friend."

"Greta Hoffmann, right?"

Runa snapped her gaze up to meet Shikaku's, suddenly shocked. "Inoichi gave me a full report on what he saw since we'll be hosting you and our families are close." He paused. "Don't worry, only a few key individuals have been told. Anyhow, Greta sounds like she was a wonderful person. Would she want to see you like this?"

Runa glanced at Naruto, who reminded her so strongly of her friend, and then shook her head. "No, she wouldn't. She'd tell me to move on with my life already and start smiling again."

"Then let's go." Runa looked at Naruto once more who gave her a thumbs up and fell in with Shikamaru. Her eyes rested briefly on his spiky ponytail again and she felt for the first time since she'd lost her parents a burst of desire.

"Do you have a fruit stall in this village? We haven't had much since the agricultural districts fell." They showed her to the nearest one and her eyes fell on it, relief filling her at the fact they seemed to have all the same food. "This one. I mean...Please? They're my favorite and it's...been so long." She held in her hands a large pineapple. Shikamaru flicked a coin right into the vendor's hand before his dad could get his own coin purse out. Runa fought back the blush that wanted to rise in her cheeks and instead thanked him.

"I'd like to eat this now, but as I recall they're rather messy to serve up." She narrowed her eyes at the pineapple like it was a perplexing puzzle. Naruto pointed out a table and she sat down at it, accepting the odd knife she was handed as she deftly began to skin the fruit, making it into neat slices as she left out the core. She handed chunks out as she went, giving herself pieces here and there. Happy birthday, sweetling. Her mother whispered in her ears. I love you all the way to those stars up there. Runa was about halfway down the pineapple at this time, and she didn't slow.

The next piece brought tears to her eyes as she realized that she really would seem to be safe now. Runa had actually, truly escaped. A laugh rose unbidden to her lips and then a sob as she put down the knife and the fruit, letting herself at last feel all the emotion that came from the weight of her trauma being mostly lifted off her. "Whoa! Runa, are you alright?" Naruto was startled.

"Fantastic." She said, meeting his eyes with sincerity. "I'd like to go to the house now. I am...tired."