„One last cut... and ... done." Satisfied, I looked at myself in the lake. Naruto, who was sitting close beside me and had actually helped me a little, looked at my noticeably shrunken hair with an enthusiastic grin. „Now you have hair almost as short as mine," he laughed. Again, I leaned forward and looked at the result. My hair now went just barely over my ears and was sticking out on all sides because of all the curls. For never having done anything like this before, however, I was very pleased. „I never thought it would turn out this good, believe it." Satisfied, Naruto eyed my work. From my point of view, it was almost a work of art.
„Now you look like a real boy. And your locks are really funny. It seriously doesn't occur to anyone that you're a girl." Carefully, the blond mess grabbed my hair. „The ones in my class all have long hair. Seems to be the trend somehow. But I think short is much better. They don't hold you back. And if you wash them, they dry quickly." Optimistically, he glared at me. I laughed. His company really did me good. Two weeks had now passed since we had met in the forest. While we didn't meet every day, I still saw Naruto at least three times a week.
Two days ago, when I had once again taken some of Daichi's fruit, I had almost collided with him. It had been really close. Just so, I had been able to avoid. Head over heels I had then run away. Had not looked back, for fear of bumping into someone again. The next day he had told me that he had met the intangible. I had almost choked on my spit. The blond had really raved about it. Although I had tried to dissuade him from his assumption, but as I knew him, he had once again not heard. I sighed. Typical Naruto. But despite his high-spirited and thoughtless nature, I liked him very much. And that was also based on each other, as he had often shown me in the last few days. Last week he had brought me a portion of rice, which we had eaten together with some rabbit meat. It had been a long time since I had last eaten rice because it was not so easy to steal. So, I decided to stay at Daichi's stall.
„Hee Tora. Are you actually listening to me?" I startled. Once again, I had been absent. Naruto's questioning face was facing me. „No. I'm sorry. I've been absent," I said apologizing. Slightly concerned, he looked at me. „You've been that way a lot the last few days. It's okay. You can tell me anything, really now." He grinned crookedly. Naruto had no idea how right he was with his assumption. Nothing was okay. I was plagued by a guilty conscience towards him. Still, he didn't know that I was the intangible. But I was afraid that he would then turn away from me or inform the Hokage. And then, I would be alone again. In the forest or in prison. I would prefer the forest, but in the end, it would be the same. I was tired of this life and needed someone who understood me. Maybe one day I would tell Naruto. Probably right when I knew I could trust him.
I shook my head. „No Naruto. It's all good. I'm just a little tired."
„Okay. We can go to the village tomorrow too, for real now. If you're not feeling well." A smirk crept onto my lips. I didn't know the Uzumaki to be that caring. But I liked this side of him.
„No. It's okay. Let's go." So, we sneaked into the village in the early afternoon. I knew that the guards had a shift change at half past two and so we could pass the gate unnoticed. It was really strange for me to enter the village. Especially visible. When I used my invisibility jutsu, I was confident in everything I did. But now, standing here in the village as visibly as I could, I had to admit, it scared me a little. I felt like a young deer. Attackable and vulnerable. I moved closer and closer to Naruto.
Surprised, he looked at me. „What's wrong with you?" he whispered.
„I'm not used to walking down alleys so openly," I replied just as quietly. „Nothing will happen, I promise. And as soon as we see your dad, you can run and I'll stop him, believe it." I smiled slightly. I doubted that the blond mess would be able to hold my father off for long, but his words of encouragement alone gave me a sense of security. Was that what friendship was all about? I had never really had any friends until now, because of that it was hard for me to describe this feeling.
Always a little diagonally behind Naruto, I walked with him through the village. All at once he froze in his movement. There, perhaps twenty feet away from us, next to one of the stalls, stood Sensei Iruka, looking around searchingly. A suspicion came over me as I looked into Naruto's frozen face.
„Um, is it possible that you still have class now?"
Caught off guard, he jerked around to face me. „Oh, Tora. What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about." A small drop of sweat formed on his forehead as he glanced over at Iruka again. But he had disappeared. Naruto exhaled, but I remained suspicious. Something was fishy here.
„NARUTO!" Whew. I had almost forgotten what kind of voice my former sensei had. Like a bull on the rampage, he ran toward us. Everything in me screamed to run away now. But I could not and would not leave Naruto in abandonment.
Quick-witted, I made the finger signs for the Jutsu of Exchange, grabbed the blond by the hand and dragged him into a side alley. Completely taken by surprise, he let himself be pushed along. A few seconds later I heard a loud swearing.
Sensei Iruka had apparently noticed the illusion. We had to hurry. Running, I let go of Naruto's hand. „Follow me," I hissed, taking to my heels. Because of my job as a thief, I was used to running long distances at a sprint. But how was Naruto doing at that? I glanced back briefly. But the blond followed me without any problems. Relieved, I looked forward again. The alley was almost over and at its end stood none other than Iruka. I uttered a curse, grabbed my friend's hand again and dragged him into a nondescript alley.
„We can't go in there, it's a dead end," Naruto shouted. I shook my head. Even though at first glance it looked like the big wall was blocking the way, there was a small gap between it and the next wall of the house. Just big enough for a child to squeeze through. At the very fastest speed, I ran toward it.
Naruto, who hadn't yet noticed the gap, tried to remove his hand from mine, but I held him relentlessly. „There's a gap there. Come down," I hissed, releasing his fingers to squeeze sideways through it. My short hair was also a help to me. Because otherwise always the long strands had caught in the cracks of the wall. What had been sometimes really annoying.
When we had left the wall behind and ran into a wider alley, Naruto grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into a small alcove. „Listen. I think it's better if we split up from here. I'll meet you at the river tomorrow night. Because if they catch you, they'll take you back to your father. And you don't want that, do you?" I shook my head, unable to get a word out. Right now, my gratitude towards Naruto knew no bounds, wishing for nothing more than to turn invisible and disappear into the safe forest.
„Go on, then. I'll see you around," he said, grinning slightly. „I'll be fine, believe it." I grinned slightly and nodded again. „Fine, but next time we go to the village, please make sure you don't have any classes first." Naruto laughed. „You got it." Then he was gone. I smiled and looked around for possible observers. Seeing no one and feeling safe, I applied my favourite jutsu.
„Jutsu of invisibility."