Growing Pains

Chapter 22

Groaning softly, Araile opened one eye. This wasn't the forest...and this was most certainly NOT Takumi's grave. She felt comfortable...too comfortable to be in the forest. Opening her other eye, she blinked as she took in the features of her own bedroom. Shifting, she felt bed sheets underneath her body.

When did she get back home? Wasn't she just in the forest with Shinrai? Her muscles protested silently as she gingerly sat up and put a hand to her forehead. Rubbing an eye with her fist, she slowly untangled herself from her blanket and walked slowly into the bathroom.

Araile turned on the shower, and waited for the hot water to arrive. Her mind still felt numb; her heart as heavy as her eyelids. Finally, the water temperature was to her liking, and she stepped into the shower after getting undressed. Closing her eyes, she let the warm water cascade down her hair and shoulders. It felt good on her sore muscles. Opening her eyes, Araile blinked in surprise when she noticed large amounts of dirty water going down the drain.

'How dirty was I?' she thought, wincing slightly as she took some shampoo and scrubbed it into her hair.

Her sheets and clothes would definitely have to be washed. Maybe even washed a couple times over.

Next up was cleaning every inch of her skin. Her skin prickled from being scrubbed with the soap over and over again, but she wanted to feel clean. When Araile was clean to her own satisfaction, she turned off the shower and stepped out.

The cool air hit her like a brick wall and she let out a small yelp, quickly grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her body, shivering slightly.

"Where's that brush?" Araile murmured as she searched the counter for her hairbrush.

Smiling, she located the brush and set to work at brushing her wet hair. Grumbles arose from her lips when the brush caught on a few knots. When she was finally finished, she quickly scampered back to her bedroom to get changed. After putting on a long purple shirt and black shorts, she grabbed a smaller towel that was on her dresser and proceeded to wring out her wet locks.

Footsteps on the floor caused her to look up, and a small smile crossed her lips when she saw a sleepy-looking Shinrai walk in her room.

"Did you stay the entire night?" Araile asked quietly as Shinrai flopped down on her bed.

Shinrai yawned and nodded, leaning back against her pillow as she continued to towel dry her hair.

"Are you feeling better?" Shinrai asked, staring intently at her face.

"A little, but inside here still hurts," she said, and placed a hand on her chest.

Shinrai nodded slowly and sat up. Satisfied that her hair was dry enough, Araile threw the damp towel at Shinrai, giggling when it hit him in the face.

"Hey!" he yelped when the towel hit him.

"Come on! I want to go out and see everyone!" she chirped as she walked out of her room.

Smiling slightly, Shinrai placed the towel on her bed and followed her. He was glad she was feeling better. The past month was hard on the poor boy. Araile was knee-deep in sorrow, and didn't speak or eat or sleep. Every day, Shinrai's worry for her increased when she didn't return from Takumi's resting place.

Now, it seemed like she was starting to come around.

Taking a deep breath, Araile opened the front door to see the extent of the damage to her precious village. There was a lot of damage, but not as bad as she had thought. Buildings began to take on their original shape, and shops began to re-open. Closing the door behind Shinrai, she took his hand in hers and walked down the steps that led to the main road.

Smiling slightly, she saw how the villagers were helping with everything. Tail twitching, she brought Shinrai to a shop that sold bread and pastries. Her stomach suddenly demanded food, and she took out some money. Thankfully Araile had enough to buy a dozen dumplings, and she walked to a small clearing close to a park.

Patting the ground beside her for Shinrai as she sat down, she opened the box and inhaled the heavenly aroma of food. Soon, both teens were too busy to talk as they continued to polish off the dumplings. As the last bite was taken, she sighed in happiness as her stomach digested the food.

"That was so good," she sighed as her mind entered dumpling heaven.

Shinrai burped slightly, blushing from embarrassment. Araile laughed and tucked a stray strand of hair away from her face.

"Come on! Let's go on the swings!" she shouted as she shot up from her spot and raced across the grass to the swing set.

She loved the swing set ever since Kakashi brought her to this park when she was little. The feeling of getting up high on the swing was exhilarating and at times she swore that if she let go, she would fly over Konoha and keep on going. Giggling, she jumped on an empty swing and began to pump her legs back and forth, gaining speed and height.

Shinrai laughed and joined her, and soon the two teens were neck-in-neck for who could swing higher.