Another Chance to be a Hero || BNHA X NARUTO

Lingering

It's coming...

☆~~~~~~☆

Unlike with Tsunade sama, Hanako did not immediately cry or run towards the newcomer.

Instead, not being aware of her body's movements, Hanako walked very slowly.

She seemed to tip toe on the grass as she pushed past her classmates.

Her lip was trembling, and her breathing grew fragile. It was like falling, when your adrenaline races and there was no control over your speed as you brace to meet the end.

Only when Hanako's eyes finally landed on the newcomer did tears start to well up.

Her hands were shaking and so were her legs, but still she ran.

Hanako ran over to hug her old friend, with tears spilling all over her cheeks.

" Kakashi sensei!" She exclaimed within her tears.

She felt Kakashi sensei's warm hand ruffle her hair.

" Hey, Kiddo," he greeted, and Hanako could feel the smile that was hidden behind his signature mask.

☆~~~~~~☆

That day in Konohagakure, a little girl who went by the name Hanako stumbled through the forest.

She was hungry and tired, but most of all, she was scared.

Her memory seemed to have a block for a long time. The last thing she could remember was Chiaki dying, and then she was running.

How did she even travel this far? Or had she even traveled far at all?

A burning sensation was on her cheek.

"Oh?.... What's this?"

Hanako looked up. A few feet in front of her was a man with silver hair. Half of his face was covered in a blue face mask.

Hanako trembled. The man felt so scary. He was an adult. Was he going to hurt her?

The man frowned and crouched down to pat Hanako on the head.

At the warm touch, which Hanako craved for a long time in vain from her parents, she burst into tears, suddenly sure that things would be alright.

...

...

"Kakashi...really? You're going to take care of that?"

" I'm taking care of a little girl," the man replied patiently.

Hanako swung her legs back and forth as she sat on a high chair, waiting for the man to come back for her.

When he did, he ruffled her hair, and said, "Hey kiddo, ready to go?"

Hanako nodded. Chiaki was dead. Her light was gone. But the man's hand was warm. It wasn't cold like her clan or the dead.

2 YEARS LATER

" I don't know about this..." Hanako was saying.

She was playing with a kid around her age when the kid suggested to climb up to the roof.

Hanako, who never really got the safety talk, warily agreed.

However, eyeing the kid's shaky movements as he crawled across the roof, Hanako was getting second thoughts.