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

Chapter Twenty-Five: Now What?

By the end of the finals, it was more than just Neji and Naru in a tie. Temari almost lost her fight to Shikamaru, would have if he hadn't quit out of nowhere, but she refused to accept that. Being him, Shikamaru agreed to call it a draw instead because it would be too much of "a drag" to argue. Sasuke and Gaara nearly beat each other to death before Hayate forced the match to an end, claiming both had made killing strikes at the same time so both, on a real battlefield, would now be dead. Naru was glad they weren't. Kankuro, for all his talk beforehand, took one look at his opponent and forfeited. Shino took the easy win. Naru had snickered at that, knowing exactly why Kankuro didn't want to fight the bug-wielding shinobi.

And that was that. The chunin exams were over, and all the foreign nin would be leaving in a day or two. Naru was sad, but she knew she would see her Suna family again in four months' time. It suddenly didn't seem so long.

In the end, the Rookies, Team Gai, all the Suna nin, and most of the teams' senseis went to get ramen and then, as promised to Neji, dango. As soon as Kohaku had finished threatening Neji if he ever tried to hurt Naru for anything (except the last piece of dango), she immediately began praising his excellent taste in food.

Gaara laughed and leaned over to whisper to Naru. "He keeps looking at you all panicked, like you could or would save him from Kohaku-san, only to realize you can't see him and then look back at his teammates, who appear to be ignoring his plight."

Naru giggled. "Aw, poor Neji. Still, imagine if he didn't like dango." She shivered. "Mom would have no mercy."

"I've fared alright," Gaara said. Naru laughed. Kohaku had tried for years to get Gaara to like dango, finally admitting defeat when he said he'd like dango when she liked spicy foods. Now she just tolerated that Gaara was 'one of those people' who simply didn't eat 'the most amazing food in the world.' Naru worried about her mom sometimes.

"Uh huh. You've been my best friend since forever. She kinda has to like you," Naru teased him, focusing back on the conversation at hand. "Besides, you've never sparred with me in a death match. Not like this, anyways."

"That's fair," Gaara agreed. "I could never want to kill you."

"That's not what you said when I put dango in your ramen," Naru hummed, smiling.

She could hear the frown in Gaara's voice when he said, "I thought we agreed never to speak of that. It was a violation of my ramen, something I certainly never expected from you."

"Aw, it'll be ok," Naru said, laughing again. Everyone else started splitting off and heading home, calling good night to each other as they walked away. Naru held in a yawn, suddenly realizing how drained she was from the day's events. "Hey, Gaara, let's have a sleepover."

"Sure, Naru," Gaara said, all thoughts of dango in ramen banished. He took her hand and started walking towards their hotel, the other Suna members already heading that way too, talking quietly in their own little groups. "Kankuro and Temari will probably crash it though."

"That's ok. I want to hang out with them too."

An arm was slung across her shoulders. "I knew you liked us!"

"Of course, Temari. I never said I didn't," Naru shook her head, smiling anyways. Her friends were so silly sometimes.

"Yeah, yeah. You just like Gaara more," Kankuro added. He must've dropped back to walk with them. She was sure he'd been talking to Baki just a minute ago. Suddenly, Kankuro's voice took on a teasing tone. "More than friends maybe?"

Naru felt her face burning as she scowled. "Shut up, Kitty. Or should I tell Sakura you've got a crush on her?"

"I do not!"

"She doesn't know that." Naru's scowl turned into a mischievous grin. "Ya know, I bet I could still catch up to her before she got to her house..."

"I hate you."

"I'm sure you do, Kitty."

"Oh, this is going to be a long night," Temari sighed, Gaara voicing his agreement.

Naru, back in a good mood, shrugged. "I suppose. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it lasted a while... You guys are leaving tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Gaara said, squeezing her hand lightly. "But you'll see us again soon enough."

They walked the rest of the way to the room in relative silence, pausing to say good night to Naru's parents and Karasu and Tsuki. When they got into the room, the four of them ended up in the living area, sitting by the window. It was open, and Naru could feel the slight breeze brushing against her bangs.

"So now what?" Kankuro finally asked, breaking the silence.

Naru chuckled, causing Gaara to freeze. He knew that laugh all too well. "Now? Now we have..." Naru stood up and picked up the small cushion she'd been sitting on, throwing it at where she figured Kankuro's face was. "A PILLOW FIGHT!"

She was on the ground in the next instant, a cushion on her face. She could hear others already flying through the air as well. Darn. She was sure she should've made it longer without getting hit. Oh, well. That was half the fun.

Naru slowly sat up. Not sure which of the three she was aiming for, she threw the cushion back into the fray as hard as she could. It hit someone. Hard.

"NARU!"

Ah. So it hit Gaara. Naru just laughed, scrambling for more cushions or anything else that she could use.

It was a long night, but it was one that she needed.