Naru: Misty Eyes (A Naruto Fanfic) [Complete]

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Reason to Dread?

After getting both congratulated and berated by her friends and sensei, Naru found that the rest of the preliminaries past quickly. Sakura, after thoroughly chastising her for making them worry, took care of Naru's shoulder for her. Naru simply didn't trust others to use medical ninjutsu on her. Well, maybe Temari... Sakura was her teammate though, so she was the one who, as Sakura put it, "had to patch the lovable idiot up."

Just like before, there was a month between this and the next round of the chunin exam, the final round. Naru found herself thinking about it with excitement. She was finally realizing just how much she would miss everything after this was over. She wanted to enjoy what was left of her time living in Konoha.

The last fight ended while Naru was thinking to herself, and she might've continued standing there all night if Gaara hadn't started pulling her along with a small chuckle. "C'mon, Naru. Your parents are waiting for us. They're probably worried enough without us taking longer than expected to get back."

"Right," Naru said with a nod. "I'm coming." She trailed behind, noticing how Gaara's grip was warm around her wrist. She slipped her arm back just enough so that their hands were linked, just like they'd done so often when they were little. Well, even right up until she'd left Suna. It was comfortable, familiar. Safe.

"... You know, Naru, I was worried when you hit the ground like that. I haven't seen you take a hit that hard since your last spar with Tsuki-san." Naru realized that Gaara had been talking for a while.

"I'm fine, Gaara. Besides, I have to be able to take a hit." She used to take worse than this, even if it had been a long time. "That's how being a shinobi typically works." As if she could ever be a real one. "And not everyone has overprotective sand, you know." She said the last part teasingly, smiling forward at him.

Gaara stopped walking, and Naru stopped as well. She felt him turn, pulling her forward, and the next thing she knew, he was hugging her, face buried in her hair as his grip tightened. Her smile fell. He'd been more worried than she thought. "Please be more careful, Naru. I-I don't want to lose you. Please..."

Naru felt her lips tremble as she made a small sobbing sound, clutching the fabric of Gaara's shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She was so focused on showing her parents, on showing everyone, that she was strong. How could she have forgotten? She didn't need to be strong all the time. She had friends and family who cared about her, who worried for her and wanted her to come home safe and sound. "I'm so, so, so, sor--"

"Shhh. It's fine, Naru. It's alright." Gaara immediately comforted her, and it made her feel both better and worse. Who was she to deserve such an amazing best friend? She was just someone who worried others, a risk, a potential downfall, a weakness, a-- "Let's make a deal right now. No matter what other people think, I'm just Gaara, and you're just Naru. No expectations, just us as we are. Just Gaara and Naru. Ok?"

"Alright," Naru said, slowly calming down as she recalled their deal from so many years ago. She felt ridiculous, overreacting left and right like a total emotional wreck, but Gaara didn't seem to mind. "Deal."

"Good. Now, seriously, let's go before Kohaku-san tracks us down."

Naru laughed but nodded.

~*~

"Kohaku-san? Ryuu-san?" Gaara knocked on the door to their hotel room. Naru couldn't hear anything inside the room, not from her parents or from Eito.

"Mom? Dad? We're here!" The sense of unease from before was back and even stronger. Naru took a deep breath, feeling shaky. "Maybe they went out?"

"Looking for us, probably," Gaara agreed.

A door down the hall opened, and Karasu spoke up. "There you two are. Kankuro and Temari got back almost fifteen minutes ago. Anyways, what are you two waiting for? Come over here!"

Naru and Gaara walked towards Karasu's room, sitting down on the floor next to Tsuki, Kankuro, and Temari. "Where are my mom, dad, and Eito?"

"Kohaku and Ryuu went out to get something to eat for everyone. They took Eito with them. Tea?"

Naru let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Thank goodness. "No thank you, Karasu-san."

"Temari tells me you used tessen in your fight, Naru," Tsuki said. "I'm glad you were able to put them to use."

"Yes, thank you very much, Tsuki-san. They--"

Someone knocked on the door, and Karasu opened it. Ryuu's voice said, "We've got the food. How does everyone feel about onigiri?"

"Dad!" Naru stood up, moving towards the door.

"Hey, kiddo! Your mom and I were hoping to get the food before you guys got back, but I guess we took longer than we thought. How did it go?"

"Well..." Naru trailed off before she grinned. "I'm gonna be in the finals!"

"Congratulations, Naru," Kohaku ruffled her hair, and Naru giggled, feeling Eito grab hold of a strand. Then he pulled it. "Ouch! Eito!"

Everyone relaxed after that, and Naru felt her unease dissipating. It didn't go away completely, but it was so close to being gone that she took no notice of it, chalking up the remainder to apprehension for her next fight.