Gone [Naruto fanfic]

#13

Tenten walked up to the bed and held out her hand, "Nice to meet you Zaara!" she smiled.

Zaara took it, and then her face contorted with pain.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

My sister clutched her throbbing hand. I could see all the curses going through her head.

"Yeah, it's just....bird bones you see. I'm fine now."

"I am pleased to meet you as well!" Lee said.

My sister's shoulders relaxed, and her tension began to fade as she grew familiar with her surroundings.

"So since I'm obviously not going to die...is it alright if we go home now?" I asked Tsunade hesitantly.

"Ugh, fine. Just don't cause any trouble." She made a shooing motion with her hand.

******

We walked out of the hospital, parting ways with Lee, Tenten and Neji. Kakashi-sensei hung around though, waiting for the other three to leave.

"Please don't do that again." Kakashi sighed.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Nearly die and then come back."

"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best." I smiled at him and laughed.

Kakashi-sensei laughed awkwardly.

"Did you really think I was going to die?" I asked him after the laughing finished.

"Yes." Kakashi said bluntly.

There was an awkward silence.

"Thank you, by the way, for taking me to the hospital." I said quietly.

Usually, I am very sensitive when it comes to contact with the opposite gender, and I made it clear to Kakashi-sensei, but seeing that it was an emergency and he didn't have much choice, I forgave him.

Kakashi-sensei snapped back, "Oh, of course!"

"Bye then!" I waved as me and Zaara began to walk away.

Kakashi-sensei waved back, pretending to mask the lingering concern in his eye.

Zaara and I walked in silence, mostly because she was trying to take everything in and couldn't decide which one of her million questions she should ask first. We walked through the streets, passing vendors and restaurants. I waved to some of the shop-keepers, who waved back but stared curiously at my sister.

"Hey, are you hungry?" I asked as we neared Ichiraku's.

"I haven't eaten since last night, so duh I'm hungry!"

"I know just the place!"

Lifting the cloth squares, we sat down in Ichiraku Ramen.

"Hello Amira-san! Who's this with you?" Teuchi-san greeted us, Ayame standing a little behind him and looking at Zaara with interest.

"This is my sister," I gestured to her, "Zaara. She just got here, so she's pretty new to everything. And we're both really hungry!"

"Nice to meet you Zaara-san! So what would you like?"

Twenty minutes later, two empty bowls sat on the counter in front of us.

"That was sooo goooood!" Zaara said.

"Thank you Teuchi-san, thank you Ayame! I think we'll be going now." I stacked up the bowls and handed them to Ayame, then searched around in my pocket for money. Handing it to Teuchi, me and Zaara exited the shop.