Narukarin (For One Night)

Chapter 1:Kusagakure

The sun began to hide behind some mountains to the west, while the sky was already in a spectacular gradient, from the lightest yellow, passing through the orange twilight until reaching red, and consequently the cold colors that reigned in the eastern portion and below and farther away from the sunset. The black clouds contrasted like penumbrous patches in that twilight of reddish and purple tones of summer, which accompanied the darkening of the forest itself at that time.

The old narrow dirt road was treacherous and surrounded by tall trees that cast countless shadows. Dressed in a black and orange kimono, wearing a sheathed katana of just over a meter in length, carried in the left area of the suit, he followed that winding path. On my back, the coat of arms of the Uzumaki clan. On my shoulder, a small bundle with which I carried some personal things, attached to a wooden stick. Every step I took, in my worn rice-fiber sandals, echoed muffled across the damp earth of the last rain.

A few more minutes and you would be in the small village of Kusagakure. It was a simple place that didn't even appear on some of the most conservative and simple maps. He walked with slow, easy steps, following the gentle slopes, dodging the small potholes in the road. I was in no hurry. She wore no headband or peculiar accessories: just a necklace given by my mother, my beloved and deceased mother. Also, I walked afraid: mercenaries of the region could not know that the war had ended and stop attacking me. I didn't want to be taken by surprise, especially in a region I didn't know.

A few minutes passed and I was finally in the small village, being welcomed by the very few and faded buildings (most of them in wood) and by simple people who struggled to make life return to normal (Everyone there knew it would be impossible to return to the status quo ). Then I remembered the reason for the fear stamped on the face of every citizen in simple robes, and it didn't take much effort: just look around, several houses being rebuilt while bloodstains are cleaned (sometimes it was necessary to sandthe wood or the wall). Tumbled fences were rebuilt, doors replaced, new glass for the windows... Kusagakure lived up to its name: like strands of grass, it tried to grow after the violence of the war of recent years.

Some of Kusagakure's streets crossed small areas of forest. It was not uncommon to see clumps of trees amid blocks of houses, separating regions from the village itself. It made the air cleaner (then I didn't know if it was really because of that or because death was no longer hanging over the region).

A few steps ahead and I was in front of a simple two-story house, surrounded by some trees (I could see a few more houses beyond them, and even behind them, the palisades that delimited the village). The wooden facade was faded, like most of the other residences, but the fact that there were two windows (whose glass was dirty and broken) over the entrance indicated that there was more than one room. Tired, he had walked all day and wanted somewhere to spend the night. The next morning, he would continue to Konohagakure. I went up the little old wooden stairs and knocked on the door:

May I help...? a female voice echoes as she partially opens the door, with a small, high pitched creak.

"Hello, I-..." I scratched my head a little awkwardly "...sorry to bother you, but I need a place to spend the night." Do you know of any?

The figure on the other side of the door studied with her red orbs :my blond hair and my deep blues: not quite as tall (perhaps as tall as she was), simple countenance. She was surprised by the simple black and orange jumpsuit: they were not so common colors to see in a jumpsuit, even less so in that region:

"I have an extra room. You can stay if you want," the girl finally told me, adjusting her glasses.

Thanks. Excuse me. 'I finally entered the residence.

In fact, the simplicity on the outside was reflected on the inside: the few pieces of furniture carried the marks of time, as well as the walls, bringing old details, but revealing the quality of the construction. The floor, though darkened and lacking care in places, was well maintained.

Don't fix the mess, please asked the mysterious red-haired woman, who walked ahead of me in a lavender silk kimono (I soon recognized the source of the piece, noticing how her hair covered almost half of her back). "I've been trying to renovate this joint for months."

'Nothing like that. It's very pretty, for me'- I commented trying to encourage her, but soon I felt her suspicious look.

The dining room was small and had the same details as the entrance, but it was cozy and comfortable. The red cotton pillows fit well on the guest's knees :

"Can I offer you something, sir...?" she asked me a little fearfully.

"Naruto," I replied with a serene smile on my face. "My name is Naruto. And you?

- Karin.

"Thanks for letting me stay," I said, not without looking around the room a little more. "I promise that tomorrow morning I won't be here to bother you."

- "All right. My house is not a pension, but you can stay".

The redhead got up and said she would make us some tea, asking me to make myself comfortable, even though she didn't fully trust me. That was seen in her face. In fact, maybe she didn't trust anyone. War changes people, both those who fight it and those who have nothing to do with it. While she was making the tea, I actually relaxed a little, taking off my sandals and leaning against the couch. I sighed deeply as if taking a weight off my back. for some reason i felt good there. From where I was standing, I could see a piece of her lavender kimono (which, honestly, showed her thick thighs a little against her thin waist). The serious look behind the glasses, focused on the tea on the fire... I don't know what I felt at that moment. It was a pasty and unfamiliar feeling to me. Maybe it was because I was in a peculiar situation as a guest, but something told me it was more than that: it was as if I knew her from somewhere else:

"It was delicious," I said over the tea, handing Karin the cup at her request. Her face was flushed and her eyes were fixed on me. "Hey, is everything okay?

"Y-yes, y-es," she replied strangely, getting up and going straight to the kitchen to leave the cup and saucer in the sink. Maybe she would wash later, maybe something was bothering her.

Strange.

I suddenly yawned for a long time. I found myself tired from the day-long journey: walking around the world was exhausting, and my body demanded an immediate rest. As soon as Karin returned to the living room, I asked her for a room, and then she asked me to accompany her upstairs (we had to climb the stairs whose steps creaked), where a hallway culminated in two doors, one on the right., another, to the left. More to the corner, a bathroom for the entire floor.

We walked to a space between them.

"Your room is this one." Karin opens the door on the right, marked by decades of wear and tear. The room, in turn, was relatively large, had a window facing the street, and its bed seemed to me to be quite sturdy, despite being old. On the left, on the wall with the other room, a built-in closet (or something similar). I was already sleepy, so I would take a shower and fall into bed, if the owner of the place would allow it.

With the towel Karin got me, I was able to take a hot shower something very different from the waters of the rivers I had bathed in during the war, sleeping outside. Anything that brought me some comfort was a thousand times better than the cool grass at dawn.

It didn't take me long. A few minutes at most. I left together with some of the steam, with a towel wrapped around my body at waist level. In the bedroom, I had found a piece of pyjamas, it was just dressing and sleeping. My eyes were already heavy and my entire body was sore in some muscles. I really needed to rest. I was so exhausted that I barely noticed Karin opening the door before I crossed the entire hallway to my room.

We bumped into each other, and we both felt ourselves blushing. She was still wearing her lavender kimono, but now with nothing tying it, revealing a little more of her body (which increasingly consolidated itself as "sculptural" in my head). We ended up looking away, faces completely red. She ran into the bathroom, and I ran into the bedroom, not before giving her one last look at her flustered legs. That's when I noticed the red hair tossed a little to the side, revealing something embroidered on the back of the lavender kimono jacket, something had completely hidden before. Now, I knew it was a circle, like a clan crest or something. My eyebrow arched, I was intrigued for a few seconds by that, but soon Karin's body outlined against the lavender silk and sleep spoke louder.