Kaze No Kokoro (Naruto fanfic)

Rain

Midori awoke the next morning feeling exhausted and empty. The birds outside were just begging for a kunai through the head and the sounds of the village waking were giving her a headache.

She didn't want them to be happy, nothing should be happy. She closed the windows in a desperate attempt to drown out the noise. Noticing now that the Hokage had assigned her a babysitter, a bloody babysitter. So NOW they decided to treat her like a child.

She clicked her tongue and went to the bathroom, deciding to wash off the cold sweat she was drenched in and change into something more comfortable. Not bothering to try to adjust the temperature correctly she stood under the scalding water. The pain of it actually feeling like a relief. Atleast something was matching up with the pain in her heart.

But after a few seconds that too faded, her initial anger was gone and it had been the only thing she had had left, her face now void of all emotion. Although it wasn't a mask this time.

Once she was done showering she decided to change into one of Kakashi's t-shirts and some shorts. The scent of him comforted her slightly, making her feel less alone. She inhaled it once more, rain on a summers day, she missed him. Why did the sun keep shining?

She walked to the couch and just laid there staring at the ceiling. She was waiting for something, someone to come and shake her from this trance-like state. "Kashi-nii, please come home soon."

The ninja outside kept watching her until noon, when he was relieved and sent to report to the Hokage. Once there he did just that. "Midori's awake, although she seems upset she hasn't done anything out of the ordinary. She hasn't eaten and has been laying on the couch staring at the ceiling for the past couple of hours."

The Hokage dismissed him after that and thought 'Hasn't been eating, well she is likely used to not eating very often but it won't do to just let her weaken. It might be best if we get her to eat soon. It's not likely she can cook herself and it's even more unlikely that she'll go outside for food any time soon. Does she have anyone else she's comfortable with? Or did I really send away her salvation. Perhaps Iruka knows." With that he sent the ninja posted at the door to fetch the chuunin.

Once he arrived Iruka bowed, asking the Hokage what he needed from him. "Did Midori get along with anyone else?" The teacher was surprised, Midori wasn't the most social of kids and she was only in his class for two days. He thought long and hard, had she ever given any sign of interacting with anyone else?

"Ah!" Iruka exclaimed, apparently remembering something. The Hokage waited patiently for him to elaborate. "The day they were assigned into teams she waved in greeting to Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru. I believe she might have met them outside of school."

The Hokage thought for a moment 'Was a wave really enough, was it enpugh of a thing to her that it meant she accepted them.' It was his only chance so he thanked Iruka before dismissing him. 'Choji, Shikamaru and Kiba, huh. Which would be best? Choji was likely to eat the food himself if she didn't eat immediately so he was out. Shikamaru had a calm demeanor that wouldn't pressure her, but he'd also likely give up if she didn't want to eat. Kiba, hmm, Kiba might work, Midori has an affinity to animals and he's lively enough that he might not even notice her lack of will to eat, instead insisting heavily with a smile.'

The Hokage didn't no if happy go lucky was the best thing for Midori to be around right now but he didn't have a lot of options. So he called for Kiba and his team leader Kurenai. They arrived and he quickly got to the point.

"Midori has had a difficult couple of day and she's not eating. Kiba I want you to visit her and get her to eat something, the easier the food the better. Maybe bring some instant ramen aswell. She can't cook so if you show her how to make something easy she might start eating on her own after today. Kurenai will accompany you to fetch everything you need however you will be visiting Midori alone."