HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL

Thank you all for following me up to this point and I must say that it is an honor to write this fiction. We are nearing the 20 chapter mark.

Another milestone about to be crossed yippee

Disclaimer: I own the effort, OC plots and time used in writing this fiction.

Shring

Naruto placed the demon sword purgatory on his back before turning to face the still shaken Lin Ming and asked.

"Are you okay?"

Lin Ming who was still frozen in fear snapped back to reality. She looked up Naruto with a startled and frightened gaze. She didn't know what to say. She was complete mess.

"You are safe now." Naruto tried to comfort her when he saw the look in her eyes. He knew that she would probably be traumatized by this event but there was nothing he could do about it.

Lin Ming opened and shut her mouth repeatedly with no words coming out. She body still shivered uncontrollably from the near death experience.

However, before she could think of the proper words to say she saw Naruto standing back to his feet and preparing to leave.

"Wait!" Lin Ming shouted when he saw Naruto about to leave her behind.

Naruto stopped mid step and turned his head slightly to look at her from the corner of his eyes with a questioning gaze. "What is it?"

Lin Ming exhaled in relief when she saw Naruto stop but then she but her lips tightly when she heard Naruto's question.

What should she say? That she is afraid of being alone and didn't want him to leave. Wouldn't that be selfish of her to ask considering that he just saved her life? What should she do?

But she really was afraid. The rate that her heart was beating right now was beyond normal. She feel like her heart would explode at any moment from now.

While Lin Ming was having an internal struggle with herself, Elena who had been silent since she arrived at the alleyway finally spoke up.

"Why don't you let her come along? After all she has just undergone a traumatizing experience" Elena suggested while looking at Lin Ming.

Lin Ming's head whipped up so that the others were afraid that her neck would snap to look at the person standing at the entrance of the alley. Someone that she hadn't noticed before because of her situation. But this person someone became her life line.

Come to think of it she kind of looked like the person that entered the restaurant with Naruto this morning.

Naruto frowned at Elena's words. It wasn't that he had a thing against Lin Ming tagging along but wouldn't that be more trouble than it was worth. What if she found out the situation about Elena's family.

'I don't want to be blamed for letting my client information slip again' Naruto shivered nervously when he thought back to one such event when he accidentally let his client information slip.

He could still remember the scolding he got from lady after that. He had even been grounded. One of the worst moments of his life.

"Are you certain about this Elena? What if she finds out?"

Elena?

Lin Ming looked quizzically at the lady standing in front of the alley with the hoody still obscuring her face. The fear in her heart eased up a little when she remembered a fond memory she had with someone bearing that same name.

Is it really her? or just a mere coincidence?

Elena smiled sadly underneath her hood not that they could see it. "It's nothing. Her parents restaurant is not far from here. And we are heading in that direction. Think of it as a stroll"

"If you say so" Naruto shrugged. He turned back to Lin Ming who was still looking at Elena and said. "Alright let's go"

"HAI!" Lin Ming immediately snapped back to her senses and hurriedly stood to her feet only to immediately fall backwards with a shock expression on her face.

"Hey!"

Naruto quickly rushed to her side and caught her before she could hit the ground. He was about to question her when he noticed that she had fallen unconscious.

It was then that he realized he had forgotten that Lin Ming had just survived a close encounter with death. The fear and thought of being so close to death must have been too much for her mind to bear. It was all just hitting her now.

"what happened to her? Is she going to be okay?" Elena asked worriedly, as she approached the two of them.

"Yes. She just fell asleep from the accumulated stress and strain on her consciousness. It's probably for the best that she is unconscious right now"

"Hm" Elena nodded in agreement.

Naruto bent down and gently picked up Lin Ming in a princess carry then with the help of Elena made their way towards the Lin family restaurant.

"What's going to happen to her? Is she also going to start seeing demons too?" Elena with her hood down asked in a low voice. However, Naruto could practically hear the worry in her voice.

Was she worried about Lin Ming going through the same thing that she had gone through or was currently going through?

Naruto sighed and said. "I can't say for certain. But we can only hope otherwise."

That was all he could say. But if he was to go by experience then Lin Ming was definitely going to end up the same as Elena. He didn't know whether to consider them fortunate or not.

"For her sake I hope it doesn't even remember any of this" Kurama's voice echoed in Naruto's head and he couldn't help but agree.

Elena opened her mouth to say something but slowly shut it word as she couldn't find any words to say. Just as Naruto said they could only hope for the best.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Lin's restaurant. Naruto gently placed Lin Ming down on the ground and rested her back against the wall before knocking on the back door of the restaurant.

They waited until they heard footsteps behind the door before quickly walking away.

They could hear Lin Ming's parents worried shouts as they left the restaurant vicinity.

"She's safe now. We should hurry back before your parents start looking for you"

"Right"

…….

"You are back!" Beatrice exclaimed as soon as they stepped into the house. She grabbed Elena in a tight hug refusing to let go. "I was so worried"

"Mom, stop! It's not like I ran away" Elena complained as she tried to wiggle herself free from her mother surprisingly tight embrace.

"Can you blame your mother? It's the first time you have left the house in months and you took so long to return. We were all worried" Whitney said as he walked up from behind his wife.

"I'm sorry about that. We got sidetracked and didn't realize that it was already late" Naruto scratched the back of his head while laughing nervously.

"They probably thought that you ran away with their daughter, how hilarious, hahahahah!"

'Zip it Kurama!'

The rest of the night was spent with Beatrice and Whitney asking about their day before they all went to bed. Before Naruto knew it a month had gone by.

Naruto spent a whole month acting as Elena's personal bodyguard. They found out that Lin Ming was admitted to an hospital after the night of the incident as she fell into a small coma something that surprised Naruto and Elena since they didn't expected it to be this serious.

They had been so concerned about physical damage that they had underestimated the psychological damage.

During this month Whitney was able to get his position back as city senator and Beatrice restarted her business. Elena also slowly but surely started to come out of her shell and act more like herself. During this period she and Naruto had already toured half of the city.

Whenever Naruto wasn't with Elena he would be out hunting demons for fun. Elena made sure to visit Lin Ming in the hospital from time to time but she does so whenever her parents weren't around. The time he had spent with the Whitney family had been really fun and lively.

But then on one faithful day Naruto received a phone call.

Thank you guys for reading my fiction. I really appreciate it

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Until next time

Ja ne.