Pretty Maelstrom
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Disney's Lilo & Stitch
Content Warning: Blood. There's mention of it from Sakura, while she was reattaching Naruto's arm.
-Chapter Start-
"I don't think I'll get as much done tomorrow without you Nani, but I understand," Naruto said from his usual chair in the library. With the gorgeous local sitting across the table from him, looking even more radiant than usual. Almost like she was more relaxed, allowing her natural beauty to shine even brighter.
"Sorry I'm only telling you about this now," the woman apologized. "With everything that's been happening, I completely forgot about this meeting until last night."
"Don't worry," the blond insisted. "It's only for one day, so if I find anything tomorrow, it can wait an extra day."
"I was actually thinking you might want to take a day off yourself," Nani mentioned. "You spend so much time at the library I'm surprised you don't see random words when you blink."
"Ugh," Naruto grimaced. "Maybe I will take a break if that can happen."
"I'm only kidding," the local laughed. "But you should take a day off every once in a while. Sakura would probably enjoy having you around for the day."
"I don't know about that," the blond replied, rubbing the back of his head with his visible arm. "Sakura's never liked spending time with me."
"I can't believe that," Nani breathed out. "With how fondley she talks about you, I thought she'd love spending time with you."
"I think she likes talking with you more," Naruto admitted. "Everytime you visit she acts like she's back home talking with Ino."
"Those must have been some interesting conversations," the beauty chuckled to herself. Desperately trying to fight down a blush at the memories of the conversation she had the night before, and what it led to when she got back home.
"I wouldn't really know," Naruto shrugged. "Sakura and Ino have always been straightforward, so they probably talked about whatever was on their minds at the time."
"I wonder what was on Sakura's mind last night," Nani pondered, although she found herself smirking at her friend's confused expression. "Try talking with her, she needs a friend right now."
"Alright," he agreed, "but I'm not sure how much I can do."
"You'd be surprised at how nice it can be to have someone listen to your problems."
The blond gave a half smile, as he looked down at his left arm. His hand clenched tightly. "It took me awhile, but I learned to listen to people. Unfortunately it was never their words I heard." The blond clenched his fist even tighter.
"How do you listen to someone without hearing them?" Nani questioned.
"Through their fists," Naruto declared. "When two people fight with everything they have, it's really easy for them to understand each other."
Nani leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms under her breasts, as she thought back to her childhood. All the times she would get into an argument with her parents, or an even a younger Lilo. There was a lot of yelling, but in the end they would make up. Never holding anything against each other.
"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten," the dark haired woman spoke out loud with a smile.
Naruto hummed in confusion at the sudden remark.
"My father used to say that every time there was an argument in my family," Nani recalled. "After every fight, my dad would start talking about the importance of family, and sticking together. And I guess we did end up understanding each other better."
"As long as you don't give up on anyone, no matter how much you fight with them, you'll only grow closer," Naruto stated. "Even if you have to part ways with that person, you can still understand why they did what they did." The blond grabbed hold of his still hidden arm, a pained smile upon his lips
Nani couldn't help chuckling at the sincere statement. "For someone who doesn't like reading, you sound like a philosophy teacher."
The surfer girl spent the next several minutes trying to stop her laughter, as Naruto's face twisted into disgusted surprise at the comment.
*break*
"It's so weird to see you sitting down," Sakura groaned out to her teammate, who had taken a seat on the back porch. "Ever since we came to this island, you've been doing nothing but moving around trying to find us away home."
"Hey, I rested for a few days when we first arrived here. At least until I was fully healed," Naruto yelled back. "Besides it was Nani's suggestion that I take a break today, so I don't burn myself out."
"After all the times you tried to get out of bed rest when you were injured, I'm surprised you're actually following her advice," the pinkette lamented. "It almost makes me jealous of her. And no, you still haven't fully healed."
The kunoichi sat beside her friend and pulled his right arm into her view. Taking the newly found free time to look at the damaged skin.
As Sakura worked she noted that the pale hue of her teammate's arm was still an unnatural color from the rest of his usually tan skin. Although if she was being honest, anything was better than the blood covered limb she had hurriedly stitched back on, not too long ago.
The pinkette suppressed a shudder at the memories of the emergency surgery she had performed, on the soft Hawaiian grass. Worrying that she and her teacher had been close to sharing a fear of blood, alongside her new drinking habits. Thankfully she had been able to save the blond's life, despite the amount of blood he had lost.
"It's looking better, but you should still take time to rest," Sakura announced. "Even if you heal abnormally fast, there's no reason for you to ignore common sense."
Naruto sighed as a smile overcame him. Thinking back to all the times Tsunade and Shizune would give him the same lecture. When he tried to pull his arm back, he found himself unable to. The strong grip of the medic held his hand in place, as she continued to study his injury.
"Keeping your arm hidden in your pocket all day isn't good for your blood circulation," she said, adjusting her position so she could place his hand, palm up, in her lap. "A massage will help with that."
The two of them fell silent as she began to run her chakra coated fingers against her patient's skin. Watching intently as the pale flesh moved and reacted everytime she applied pressure. Showing the life and strength that lay within the damaged limb.
Yet, despite how well the arm was healing, the medic found herself instead focusing on what was wrong. Tiny imperfections that were only visible through her years of study. Acting as constant reminders of how weak she was.
After the fight with Kaguya, she had been so tired that she could hardly stay awake. Only able to watch as her two teammates began to fight each other. So by the time she and Naruto arrived on the island, the young pinkette was so drained, emotionally and physically, that she had barely been able to reattach her friend's arm before she had passed out. She didn't even have time to wipe the blood off her, or seal away the other arm that had traveled with her and Naruto.
"Um, Sakura?" The girl heard called out to her. Breaking her from her thoughts, and realizing that she had stopped her massage. Yet was still holding her teammate's hand against her lap.
"Sorry," she said with a blush, releasing her grip, so the blond could retrieve his arm. "Have you tried molding chakra recently?"
"Yeah! and I didn't have to strain myself at all," he replied, flexing fingers while trying to hide the crimson on his cheeks. "I could probably create a shadow clone now."
"If you think you can that's fine, but don't hurt yourself. Your chakra network needs time to rest after all those fights, and there are no Hyuugas here, who can actually see how healed you are."
"I promise to take it slow," Naruto assured. "When I find a way back, I'll probably need to be at my best. So there's no reason to rush things and hurt myself."
"Hopefully you'll find something soon," the woman said as she stood from the patio. "If you're not going to the library today, why don't you try taking a nap outside. The sunlight will help your arm, just take your shirt off first."
"I'll think about it," Naruto called over his shoulder, as he continued to sit. "Hey Sakura, do you want to go for a walk later tonight?"
The girl stopped, confused by the sudden invitation. "Is there any reason you want me to come?"
Her friend nervously scratched at the back of his head, "Not really, I just thought it would be nice to go see the sights and talk."
The medic stared at him. "Sure," she eventually answered.
"Great," the blond cheered. "We can head out after dinner."
"Sounds good," Sakura said, watching as her friend smiled at her. Before returning his attention to his arm.
"When did you become such a smooth talker, that you can take me on a moonlit stroll?" the medic whispered to herself, low enough that Naruto wouldn't hear her. Although she had to hide the smile on her face.
Moving farther into the house, the girl intended on getting a drink while her mood was high. And while the sight of the many sake bottles was comforting, she hesitated as her dark thoughts returned.
Stored in the back of the cupboard, behind the bottles, were an abundance of sealing scrolls. Many had once contained the alcohol she craved, while others had kept Naruto's life savings, that they now lived on. But one always stood out to her.
In a dark corner, was a dark green scroll. Sealed close after the duo had arrived. It was a standard scroll that all of the medic corps of Konoha carried. Made to keep leftover body parts after a field operation.
In this case, the scroll was used to keep the loose arm of her second teammate, who had not arrived on the island with her and Naruto. She didn't know where Sasuke was, not seeing him when she found herself on the cool Hawaiian grass. Only the arm he had lost.
Shaking her head, Sakura grabbed the nearest, full looking, bottle and slammed the cabinet closed. Eager to try and forget about the events from only a couple weeks ago. Especially if she was going to spend time with Naruto tonight. Her blond friend didn't need to shoulder her burdens as well.
-Chapter End-
Well this chapter took longer than I thought it would. I originally wanted this to be out before Christmas, so I could make a "Mele Kalikimaka" reference. It's a Hawaiian-ization of Merry Christmas. Obviously that didn't happen.
Moving on: Sakura's (non)fear of blood. I didn't plan to need a content warning for this chapter, but while I was writing I noticed how much I had Sakura focus on Naruto's bloody arm. Since this is an M-rated story I figured I might as well do something interesting with it. This won't play a major role, but I do plan to bring it back later.
The scrolls in the liquor cabinet. I probably won't be able to fit this in anywhere else, so the scrolls are there, because that's a simple place, where they could be stored. I imagine Naruto would unseal all the alcohol, and throw the scrolls behind the bottles. While Sakura is, currently, too much of a wreck to care about organizing them.
I've mentioned in previous notes that I don't have any plans to go past the first movie. So this story will end at the same place as the movie. Part of this is because of how much there is beyond the first movie, but I'm also not sure how much I would actually use if this story continued.
My primary goal with this story is the relationship Naruto has with Nani (also Lilo and Stitch). I have fond memories of the series, but I don't know as much about the sequel movies. But I do know that Nani's role is reduced in the series. Meaning there would be less of a chance to write romance between our two leads.
I'm going to stop writing about this here, before I start rambling. Bottom line: I have no intent to continue into the series, even if this story is categorized under Lilo & Stitch: the Series. For whatever reason the movie category does not allow for characters in the summary.
Finally: next chapter we get to meet Jumba and Stitch. Even though we still won't be into the movies main timeline yet.
Thank you to everyone who left a review with feedback on the last chapter, I really appreciate it. I hope you all enjoyed this one, and are looking forward to the next. Take care.