Nebula's Echo (a Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 31

Ceiren POV

We were all sitting silently, eating dinner at Sasuke's house. The dining room was spacious, classic wooden design and a homey, yet cold feeling to it. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by the tidiness, but you should have seen Naruto's face; it was he'd never even known that such cleanliness was physically possible.

Ah, Naruto my sweet puff...

I must say though, Kakashi can't cook. Neither can Naruto. Or Sasuke (at least not on a higher-than-basic level). So, me and Sakura had to take care of the food. Even though I don't need to eat anymore and don't even enjoy food as much as when I was human, I still retained some of my cooking skills, and could make a really decent spaghetti bolognese considering the ingredients I had at my disposal. I'm really satisfied, and by the looks of it, my teammates are too.

The soft side of chopsticks being put down made me look up. Kakashi had finished eating, placed his chopsticks (yes we ate spaghetti bolognese with chopsticks quiet people) down with a crisp sound. Then he looked up at us, his visible eye serious. I noticed the rest of my team straightening in their seats.

Kakashi cleared his throat gently before addressing us.

"So, as you guys know, we have a bit of a situation on our hands..."

Naruto boobed his head in agreement, Sakura and Sasuke have Kakashi a solemn look. I was going to speak up, but Sakura beat me to it.

"Let's just leave Naruto out of it?"

I flinched at that. Looking at Naruto's hurt eyes, my heart bled.

Sakura, why?! Can't you understand that he needs some emotional and moral support? The child is starved for affection!

Just as I opened my mouth, Naruto stood from his seat, his head lowered so his bangs covered his eyes, and walked out. I gave Sakura a harsh look and she responded with hurt, confusion and guilt.

She knows she said something wrong but doesn't know what was so bad about it...

I just sighed, shaking my head slightly as Sakura's insensitivity.

Well, she'll get better at it. In canon, she and Naruto were actually pretty close friends.

I looked back at my team and continued what I was going to say.

"No. Also, this isn't going to be a problem."

The other three people at the table turned to look at me, their eyes questioning. I sighed softly before continuing, letting my gaze switch over my sensei and two teammates in equal measure.

"Because I'll be leaving."

It was silent for a while, and I could see the shock, curiosity and alarm on each of their respective faces. Kakashi was the first to recover from his stupor to respond to me.