The One That Survived [Naruto Fanfic]

The One That Survived [Naruto Fanfic] Chapter 22

~Chapter 22~

-Hokori’s POV-

Naruto had returned a week ago with Jiraiya and Tsunade in tow. Tsunade had healed Kakashi and Sasuke since the latter had been a dumbass and tried to follow them and got stuck in the Tsukiyomi by Itachi-chan.

Right now, I was laying on my bed, thinking about how different it was gonna be. Tsunade-baka was once one of my gambling partners. That was until I figured out how bad she was at it.

We did have a round of sake when she came back though. Her assistant Shizune went completely haywire because of it too.

Now I was just waiting for a bird to come pecking at my window telling me I had a mission. The attack from the Sand and Sound had greatly decreased our ninja population. Meaning I’d have a lot more missions to attend to.

The Spoon had already been sent out and he was still recovering. Guy, Kurenai and Asuma were either training their teams or out on a mission so I was bored. Tsunade was busy with paperwork (she was probably sleeping actually) and was being nagged by Shizune.

Anybody else I would consider hanging out with was busy as well. Then again, there was Naruto….he was probably over at Ichiraku’s at this time…..

Alright, Naruto it is.

I quickly got up, dressing in my usual attire and slinging on my Hinome clan cloak. I locked the door on my way out and started hopping along the rooftops before I jumped down to the street in front of Ichiraku’s.

As predicted, Naruto was in there chowing down on his eighteenth bowl of ramen. I raised an eyebrow. That boy usually has ten….he must have been training or something.

“Hey Naruto.” I said, walking in and sitting beside him. His eyes widened and he looked over at me.

“Hochori-shenshei!” He mumbled, a bunch of noodles in his mouth making him look like a chipmunk.

“Yo.” I stated, giving him a peace sign. I turned to the chef, nodding.

“Miso, please.” He nodded, quickly turning to make it.

“How ya been, Naruto?” I asked. He shrugged, slurping done some more noodles.

“Good. Where’s Kakashi-sensei, by the way?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Mission. I’ll probably be sent out on one soon as well.”

I nodded to the chef and smiled as he handed me my ramen. I quickly broke my chopsticks and began eating as Naruto looked at me with a weird expression on his face.

“Hokori-sensei, how are you?” I blinked, looking over at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“What?”

“Whenever we went to get a mission from the old man, you always seemed like a granddaughter to him, believe it. So, how are you feeling?”

I stared at him for a moment in surprise. I didn’t think he ever noticed that. Who knew Naruto would ever pay attention to that?

I sighed, staring down at my ramen and shifting the noodles absentmindedly. “I don’t know, Foxy. Things are hard. I’ve seen a lot of death in my days so I’ve developed a….strange coping method. I just put it to the back of my mind and try not to think about it. I will say that my drinking has gone up exponentially.” We both got a sad chuckle out of that last sentence.

Like when Itachi-chan left, yeah? My mind felt the need to add. I quickly shoved that thought away.

“But,” I continued, “We can’t focus on death. We’ve got to live and protect those still living. So, I just try focusing on them.” I shrugged as he nodded.