Fire and Ice ~ Naruto Fanfiction ~ Book One

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: The Cotton Field Angel

As I was staring up at the sky from my spot on the lake, letting the water climb up my clothes and soak me completely, someone approached and spoke out. "Rin, you'll catch a cold lake that, even with your Ice Release. Trust me." It was Haku.

I lifted my head up to see that I was right and it was indeed my brunette teammate. I brought up my hand in a still wave. "Hi Haku, what brings you here?" I asked him, laying back down to float aimlessly on the water. "I thought you went to restock your medical supplies."

"I already finished that two hours ago, I came to look for you after I went to buy some new towels." He answered and I felt myself being pulled back to shore and gently placed back on land. "It's a good thing I did too, look at you; you're drenched like a cat that was caught in the rain." He wrapped a fluffy towel around me and secured it a tightly around my body.

I thanked him as he sat down beside me, letting me rest against him. "I still couldn't find aunt Suki... I feel like I wasted my chakra on that jutsu now..." I sighed in disappointed.

Haku brought up his hand and gently patted my head, smoothing down my hair. "We'll find Suki-san, and you not finding her just means we have less areas we need to search; it wasn't a waste of chakra." He reassured me. "You did well and you've been improving, don't mind the small details. I know we'll find your aunts."

He stood up and lifted me up from the ground, the shopping bags hanging off of his left arm. "Now let's get back and get you to bed." He was holding me bridal style. For some odd reason my heart was racing at a rapid paste.

Even though I had lost the preliminary round, I decided to stay back in Konoha. My team and sensei went back to Suna and I got permission to stay. I wanted to watch the final round fights, but also I wanted to be there to cheer for Ga-kun. He wasn't really... loved to say the least back home, he still isn't, and all because be was a jinchūriki. People see him as the monster sealed within him; I see him as a hero.

No one is ever really born a 'monster' is what I believe. People only become monsters because that's all they were ever allowed to be, people can only turn other people onto monsters. The way we as people work really never ceases to amaze me how hypocritical and cruel we could be towards another one of our kind just because of differences. Are those we call 'monsters' really the monsters? I think it's the other way around.

I was walking around Konoha aimlessly when I suddenly bumped into someone. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I apologised and looked up to see if was the very red panda I was thinking of. "Ga-kun! Hi!" I smiled up at him. Why is everyone so damn tall even though we're the same age?!

He just stared down at me and kept walking. "Hey, wait!" I chased after him. "Where are you going?" I asked him curiously. I know I'm probably being a pest, but something in me just couldn't leave him on his own.

He didn't stop walking, but his eyes shifted down to look at me from the corner of his vision. "Why are you following me?" He questioned me back, ignoring my earlier question.

I shrugged. "I have nothing else to do, besides we're friends." I grinned. "And I feel like being with my friend."

This time he stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. His expression blank, but I could see th shock in his eyes. I brushed off his reaction and clasped my hand around his wrist. "Com'on, I know a place we can go to."