Silent laughter

Fixing the cracks

*Time skip week or so

'I will fulfill my dream' I thought as I went downstairs. I took a quick glance at the fridge remembering that there was BBQ in there, but I quickly snapped out of it as I sat at the kitchen table with a pencil and a piece of paper. I started to doodle random little drawings that varied from blob monsters to me being Hokage.

'There is nothing for me to do' I thought as I slumped back in the chair. I heard a knock on the door which startled me. I sat there for a moment before I started to sneak towards the stairs, but as I got up out of the chair it fell over crashing to the ground

"Naruto?" I heard Lady Tsunade say through the door. I cursed at myself as I tried to make my way up the stairs.

"Naruto I need to talk to you," she said. I finally made it to the stairs before I could feel her agitation.

"Naruto you can open this door, or I can break it down" Tsunade cursed. I let out a big sigh as I waddled to the door opening it slowly letting the morning light in.

"Yes Lady Hokage what can I do for you" I grumbled. She had a bit of a hurt expression on her face for a split second, but she quickly covered it up with a smile.

"May I come in Naruto?" She asked. I mumbled opening the door to allow her in. She walked into the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs glancing at my drawings.

"How have you been feeling Naruto," She asked pulling out a piece of paper.

"Fine, I guess" I grumbled as I stood near the window on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Have you-" She began to ask, but I cut her off

"Put the act away what do you want" I hissed not bothering to look at her. The smile on her face quickly faded and was replaced with a scowl.

"The Jonin that have been keeping watch over you have reported continuous hostility and have seen self-harm," She said

"What the hell does that have to do with you" I grumbled slumping against the wall trying to sink into it to avoid this conversation. Tsunade stood up and walked over to the fridge. She opened it up and pulled out one of the many dishes of leftovers Kakashi has left over the past few days.

"Why aren't you eating," She asked as she opens the container and began to eat the content of it.

"Not hungry," I said

"Naruto, look at me" Tsunade growled. I shifted my gaze from the window to her. She stared back at me looking me up and down. the scowl turned to a frown and it seemed she was on the verge of tears. She quickly threw up her guard as she replaced her frown with a smile.

"Well if you haven't eaten anything today why don't we go get some ramen" She offered.

"No thanks," I said as I got up off the wall and walked towards the stairs. Tsunade rushed up to me and grabbed my wrist.

"That wasn't really a choice," She said pulling me out of the house and off my property. I tried to teleport away but there was some kind of barrier around each of my marks.

'Damn it' I thought as I dragged my feet and followed her through the bustling streets. I threw the hood up over my head as we passed by team ten I slouched over as I followed Tsunade up to a familiar ramen stand

"Lady Hokage" Teuchi exclaimed as we walked up.

"Hi Teuchi," Tsunade said as she took a seat. I took my hood off as I sat down

"Hi" I grumbled as I lied my head in my crossed arms on the table

"Hey, there sunshine who woke you up this morning" He sarcastically said. I didn't bother to answer the question knowing that it was a rhetorical question.

"Two orders of miso ramen I think," Tsunade said. Teuchi got straight to work as he and Tsunade engaged in small talk. I zoned out for a moment but was brought to my senses as I heard them say my name.

"Yeah Naruto is on a small vacation right now," Tsunade said

"Good he needed one," Teuchi said as he pulled the noodles out of the cooking broth, He put the noodles in a bowl and filled it to the brim with BBQ and other assortments of toping. He placed one bowl in front of Tsunade and the other he tried to put in front of me. I pushed it away saying that I wasn't hungry. He pulled the bowl away gritting his teeth

"Oh so just because you are grouchy you won't eat my food right!" He yelled as he slammed his fist on the counter in front of me "I would never have expected this from you Naruto, you of all people know how much I put into every bowl of ramen and you just reject me like that!" He yelled again. I jumped up and grabbed the bowl from his hands placing it in front of me. I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and clasped my hands together

"Thank you for the food," I said frantically hoping that He wouldn't make more of a fuss over this than necessary. He smirked as he stepped back

"It's ok Naruto I understand what it's like to have an off day," He said. I broke apart my chopsticks and looked down at the bowl. I took a big gulp before I picked up a piece of pork. I put it in my mouth, and like normal it was amazing, but I couldn't show that I was liking it. I slowly ate noodle by noodle until I was halfway done. I pushed it in front of me asking for a container to take it with me.

"Not hungry Naruto," Ayame said as she walked through the back door with a sack of flour. She tripped as she was talking to me so I quickly jumped over the counter to catch her and the bag. I caught her with one hand and with the other I tried to catch the bag. The bag slipped making the entire stale fill with flour in a large cloud. Everyone started coughing as we waved our hands trying to clear the cloud of fog that blocked our line of vision. I apologized for the flour and jumped back over the counter. There was a little more small talk before Tsunade took me home. She said her goodbyes as I went to bed. As I lied in bed I recalled the day. In the cloud of smoke, I crouched down trying to get below everyone's vision. I weaved a few hand signs making a shadow clone and transforming my real self into a large pot. It was now around midnight. I released the jutsu and snuck out of the ramen stand

'I told you Tsunade I will protect them' I thought as my real self ran off into the woods away from everyone