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

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Year Already

Naru's remaining time in Konoha passed swiftly. Of all of them, Shikamaru was the only one to make it to chunin, but no one begrudged him that. He'd shown just how far ahead he could think even in the middle of battle, with Temari no less, so Naru figured he'd earned it. Not even Sasuke complained... too much.

The day before her time was up, all of her friends met up to throw a party for her. It was a birthday and going away party rolled into one. Her team had organized it, much to Naru's surprise. She thought Kakashi would be too lazy to get any party-planning done. Sakura probably handled most of it anyway.

By the end of the party, Naru was still grinning broadly, but there was a sadness to it as well. Even though Konoha and Suna were allies, she almost certainly wouldn't be around these guys again for a long time. Perhaps she'd convince her parents to start coming to Konoha for any vacations they took.

"--aru... Naru!" a voice shook Naru from her musing.

Turning her head towards the person speaking, Naru said, "Yes, Sakura?"

"Ino and Hinata and Tenten and I thought it would be fun to have a sleepover tonight, since you're leaving tomorrow. If you wanted to, I mean," Sakura added the last part hastily, and Naru smiled even wider.

"Of course! That sounds like a lot of fun!" Naru stood up from where she'd been sitting. She turned to where the rest of her friends and their senseis were gathered, talking with one another. "Hey, guys, I'm gonna head out now. Sakura invited me to a sleepover!"

Lee gave her a hug, making some exclamation or another about the youthfulness of sleepovers, and Gai was in the background making similar exclamations. Naru laughed a little at their enthusiasm.

"I'm gonna miss you, runt," Kiba said, having apparently decided on that for her nickname instead of 'blind little girl'. He ruffled her hair, laughing as Naru tried to swat his hand away with a slight pout on her face.

Shino, Shikamaru, and Choji gave her quiet goodbyes, and Naru, much to the silent protest of two of them, hugged them, promising to visit at some point and making them promise to visit if they were ever near Suna.

Neji bade her farewell in his usual, reserved manner, but Naru heard a hint more emotion in his voice than normal. It made her smile. Slowly but surely, he'd been getting closer to his teammates and the other nin. Eventually, Naru hoped he'd really connect with everyone. He'd be quite cute with Tenten, not that she would say anything to him about it. Yet.

"Finally leaving, huh, dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naru nodded her head. She was finally getting along with him, even if they still argued fairly frequently, and now she couldn't help wondering if they'd go right back to not getting along at all once she left. "I suppose I'll miss you."

Naru's head shot up in Sasuke's direction. She recovered quickly and smiled. "Aw, teme~! You know you will." She hugged him, surprised when he didn't immediately push her away. "I'll miss you too."

The other teams' senseis gave her quick goodbyes, telling her to take care. They didn't know her as well as their students did, so the farewells were brief and relatively emotionless. Soon it was just Naru and the other girls. And Kakashi.

"I assume you'll stop by in the morning to pick up your things," Kakashi said. If she didn't know better, Naru would think he was entirely disinterested in the conversation. As it was, she knew him well enough after this past year to hear the caring undertone to his words.

"Of course. Don't go throwing them out, got it?" Naru smiled, teasing him. "And don't worry; I turned off the alarm."

"Oh, thank Kami!" Kakashi exclaimed. Naru could imagine him practically fist-pumping. He calmed down quickly enough, ruffling her hair much like Kiba had, to her annoyance. "See you tomorrow then." With that, he was gone.

~*~

Naru spent the rest of the night laughing and talking with the other girls. She confirmed for herself that Tenten definitely had a crush on Neji, and Hinata surprised her by admitting to having a crush on Shino. Of course, none of them would leave her alone either. They were all convinced that she had a crush on Gaara. They were equally convinced, though, that Gaara liked her. Naru was convinced they were all crazy. Probably... Maybe... Hopefully.

~*~

The next morning, Naru left Sakura's house, walking back to Kakashi's apartment to grab her things. Someone was supposed to be coming from Suna by mid-morning, so she wanted to be ready by then.

After getting her things together and making breakfast for herself and Kakashi, who insisted that he would do the dishes, Naru walked towards the Academy and sat on the swing out front of it. She liked thinking there. It was comfortable, and no one bothered her there.

Today, she was wondering who was coming to get her. She wondered if it would be Kohaku, like it had been all those years ago. Maybe not, though, because she would be taking care of Eito. Still...

Footsteps sounded quietly, bringing Naru out of her thoughts. She focused a moment, searching for the person's chakra signature. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise. She knew that chakra, quite well in fact, but she'd never expected them to be the one to come and get her.

Naru turned around on the swing to face them, a small smile on her face.