War Torn {A Naturo Fanfic}

Page 4

Chiya smiled and asked teasingly, "What if you knew Hidan?" From what the two told me I really hoped I hadn't known Hidan.

"Really though," Maeko continued after we had stopped laughing. "We should go. Do it for us." She prodded.

I sat there and thought about it in silence. There was so much to consider. I had a job and friends. The girls had training and friends. There was so much to leave behind now, but there was even more missing.

"If we go we can't come back here. It wouldn't matter if we could. We would never be the same." I told them, giving them serious looks. Through all the impossibilities I was willing to go.

"It's worth it to know." Chiya decided. Maeko nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, we'll go in two days on my day off." I decided and we continued eating.

That night Maeko had a nightmare that she didn't understand. She said it was just blood and darkness and screaming. She slept with me on the floor.

The next day when I got home both girls were holding something behind their backs. They were sitting on the floor.

"What do you have there?" I asked them knowingly as I closed the door behind me.

"Just hear us out." Maeko said, at which point I knew this was going to be good.

The two moved and my one weakness sat between them. "Oh no." I groaned and stared at the adorable black puppy. I sat down the bag of food and crouched in front of it. "Hey there little guy." I cooed and petted his head. He certainly wasn't shy at all. He jumped onto my lap, placed his front paws on my shoulders, and licked my face.

"Can we keep him?" Chiya asked hopefully.

I groaned and took the happy puppy's face in my hands. "Where did you find him?" I asked before deciding. The girls looked at each other.

"That old lady on the edge of town had a litter of them. She told us to take him home and ask you if we could have him." Maeko told me.

"You two are nothing but trouble." I told them. "Well, I suppose we can keep him, but he's your responsibility." They tackled me in a hug and the puppy jumped on, wrestling and nipping at us.

The next day was our last day in Kusagakure. We had to say goodbye to our friends like we did every other day, not like we were never going to see them again. We had to go about everything normally. It was quite difficult, but mostly for Chiya. She wasn't built for that kind of thing. She would have to toughen up.

That night we packed light, grabbed Hero, and left. We kept to the trees and remained as silent as possible. There was no speaking until we were two small villages away. We snuck through the outskirts of Konoha and Otogakure for a week before we finally came across Yugakure. We stood at the gates for a long time.

My heart pounded against my ribs and I couldn't catch my breath. My stomach tied itself in knots and my skin prickled.

"Do you remember something?" Maeko asked, breaking the silence. I shivered at the sign of life in such a desolate place.

"No, I just have a really bad feeling about this." I told her and took a cautious step forward. Nothing. We continued in and walked for a while. Everything was destroyed and barren. "It used to be so alive." It wasn't until I said it that I realized it was true and I stopped walking.

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