You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

50. The interview

'A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer'

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The next day as I was getting prepared all I could think about was that Naruto kissed me... again.

'Are you sure he doesn't like you?' Kinase asked curiously.

'I'm positive' I replied sighing deeply 'after all I did punch him in the stomach.'

I thought back to how I had panicked and punched Naruto in the stomach after he kissed me. I blushed a deep red and quickly ran a brush through my hair as I slipped my shoes on and left the house, grabbing an apple on the way out. As I made my way towards training ground 44 I thought about that stranger on the roof. He had the match to my necklace. I touched the necklace as the cold metal made my skin tingle. He could have stolen it, but I have a feeling he didn't.

'Kinase' I asked, biting into the apple 'do you know who that was?'

'Can't say I do.'

I sighed deeply, why do I feel like she's lying? She's always lying to me. I bit into the apple again and contiuned walking towards the training grounds. I just need to take my mind off of everything so I can focus. If I'm going to be a Chūnin I need to start looking at things from a better perspective and have more responsibility. Throwing the apple core in a nearby trash can, I arrived at the training grounds sooner then expected.

"Ruka" Sakura said happily hugging me "good to see you! How'd you sleep?"

"F-Fine" I said grinning "thank for asking."

I glanced over at Naruto and noticed he absolutely refused to meet my eyes. I thought as much, I tried to cover up my disappointment by giving Sakura a small smile. It didn't work; Sakura frowned and leaned closer to me, grabbing my arm to pull me closer.

"Yeah" she whispered slowly "all of the boys have been avoiding us. Naruto especially, he hasn't said a word to any of us all day."

I nodded my head in understanding and she sighed deeply before  letting go of me. I knew Sakura was right but I decided to see for myself.

"N-N-Naruto" I said going over to him "good morning."

He stared at me then frowned and walked away. Ok, I bit my lip anxiously and walked over to him, deciding to try again.

"N-Naruto" I said "I was talking to..."

"I don't care!" He snapped angrily "leave me alone!"

He glared at me and I simply stared at him. He's never talked to me like that before. I felt anger and sadness boiling in my chest and I simply nodded.

"Ok" I said my voice calm "if that's how you feel."

With that, I spun on my heel and walked away from him. If he's going to act like that then so be it. I'm not his mother. I walked over to Sakura and engaged in a small conversation with her.

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! LISTEN UP!"

We all turned towards the voice and weren't at all surprised to see Anko. She stood there staring at all of us as she pointed to the gate behind her.

"Who can tell me what that is" she said simply.

"Uh....let me guess" Ino said cockily "a forest."

Everyone chuckled and Anko smirked as she stared at Ino.

"Nice one blondy" she said as Ino glared "but this is a forest know as the forest of death, and you lucky kids will be stuck in there for five days!"