Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ World on Fire ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh, my god! This is heaven!”, Aiko exclaims, as she leans back against the naturally-heated rocks with her hair gathered in a bun atop her head.

 

“You sound like you've never been to a hot spring before”, Sakura states, sitting on the rocks with her feet in the water and a towel pressed to her chest.

 

“I haven't been in one since I was a child”, she weakly grins, staring at the water's surface.

 

“I see…”, she mutters, “So, tell me a little more about yourself”

 

“Huh…?”, she gasps, snapping out of her dazed-stupor, “I'm 16 years old, a Capricorn and I have B-type blood. And you?”

 

“I'm also 16 years old, an Aries and my blood-type is O”

 

“What do you know about Naruto-san?”

 

“He's 15 years old, a Libra and his blood-type is B”, she replies.

 

“How would you know that?”

 

“I'm a Medical-ninja, plus I've seen his medical files”, the pink-haired teen admits.

 

“Medical-ninja, huh…? My mother was a medical-ninja”, she informs, as her eyes resumes staring at the water.

 

“What do you mean was?”

 

“My mother was killed when I was 7 years old…”

 

“I'm sorry to hear that”, Sakura breaths, before climbing into the water and takes a seat beside the teen, “What happened?”

 

She could tell that the scarlet-haired teen was fighting the urge to hug her knees to her chest.

 

“Well, my father is a very important person, so when I was born my parents made the decision that to protect me, my mother would take me into hiding in a village far from the fighting”, she explains, with a weak smile.

 

“So, you never saw your father?”

 

“I saw him during the seven-years for a week every three-months”, she informs, “That is until my father's enemies found us…”, she spat.

 

“How did they find you and your mother?”

 

“I have no clue, but when they came, it was to capture me”, she replies, shaking her head, as she balls her hands into fists, “It was two weeks after my father's Autumn-visit, when they showed up. My mother told me to run for safety while she held them off, but I was too scared to move and they effortlessly caught me…”, she continues, as her whole body begun to tremble, “When that happened, my mother stopped fighting out of fear that I'd get hurt and she was restrained as well, then… then they said that they only needed one hostage as bait to lure my father and that I was the easier one to maintain control over…”, she trails off.

 

“Then what?”, Sakura questions, it evident in her voice that she was completely horrified at the tale of the girl's past.

 

“They… they… they impaled her through the chest…”, she stammers, as tears started to pour down her cheeks, “Right there in front of me…”, she sobs, finally giving into the urge and hugs her legs to her chest, resting her forehead against her knees.

 

“There, there Aiko-san”, she reassures, as she wraps her arm around the crying teen's shoulder.

 

“I'll never forget that bastard's face”, she growls.

 

“Who's…?”

 

“The bastard who stabbed my mother”, she answers, digging her nails into her own arms.

 

`Revenge…?', she mentally questions, “So why do you want to learn Ninjutsu so badly?”

 

“Because, I don't want to lose my father like I lost my mother, I don't want to be as useless as I was that day…”, she sadly states.

 

“I see…”

 

“Well, I've had enough of soaking in the hot-spring, can we go back to your house?”, Aiko hopefully asks, as she climbs out and tightly wraps a towel around her frame before walking towards the storing-lockers and dressing-room area.

 

“Aiko-san…”, Sakura whispers, before following after the crimson-headed teen.

 

 

 

 

 

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-Half Hour Later-

 

 

 

 

 

“Sakura-san, thank you for letting me stay with you”, Aiko says, as she tugs a navy-blue tank-top down over her abdomen and black shorts.

 

“Don't mention it, I'm glad to help”

 

“But I feel like I'm imposing on you”, she admits, as she sits on the floor.

 

“Don't worry about it, I don't mind at all”, she reassures, as she picks up a brush, “It's almost like a slumber-party”, she adds, as she kneels behind her and starts brushing the teen's waist-length hair.

 

“Do you have any other friends beside Naruto-san and Sai-chan?”

 

“Still holding a grudge against Sai, aren't you?”

 

“Not really, but I'll probably be calling him that for another week or two”, she smirks, “So, do you have any other friends?”

 

“I have one friend that I've known since childhood, but for a period of time we were enemies fighting over the affection of a boy”

 

“Really…? Me and Hatsu-chan never had that problem…”

 

“Hatsu-chan? Is that the name of one of your friends?”

 

“Yes, her full name is Hatsuko and she's really more like a bodyguard, but her and her brother are the closest thing to friends that I have…”, she admits, with a weak smile.

 

`Wow, I never realized how horrible it could be growing up during a war…', Sakura mentally gasps, `Aiko-san lost her mother because of it, and right in front of her eyes too'

 

“Is this a picture of you, Naruto-san and Kakashi-san when you were younger?”, Aiko asks, gingerly lifting a framed-photo from the table next time Sakura's bed.

 

“Yeah, that was taken about four-years ago when Naruto and I first became ninjas”

 

“So who's the raven-haired sour-puss?”

 

“That's Sasuke-kun”

 

“When do I get to meet him?”

 

“Uh, he left the village nearly three-years ago to deal with a family matter…”, she hesitantly replies, looking very uncomfortable.

 

“Oh, I see…”, she blinks, as she places the picture back onto the nightstand.

 

“Say Aiko-san…”

 

“Yes, what's on your mind?”

 

“Your hair is so soft and silky…”, she began.

 

“My hair…?”, Aiko mutters, gently grabbing a clump of her red-hair before grinning, “It's my one concoction of soap and herbs that both cleans and conditions hair and skin without taking extra-time to pamper”, she answers, quickly catching onto Sakura's unasked-question, “I could give you the recipe, it comes in unscented and very lightly-scented. Depending on the ingredients…”

 

“Uh… T-thanks…”, she stammers.

 

“I mean, just because we're ninjas doesn't mean we have to stink like a horse's behind”, she rambles, as she writes the ingredients down onto a piece of paper.

 

“That was a little too descriptive, Aiko-san…”

 

“S-sorry… My mouth tends to get ahead of my head…”, she laughs, “Here's the recipe, it's a lightly-scented one that smells like your namesake”

 

“Thank you”, she says, accepting the paper.

 

“Say, Sakura-san?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

 

The teen instantly turns a shade of red that rivaled Aiko's hair-color.

 

“Well, do you?”, she repeats.

 

“N-n-no… But there is someone who I wish was…”, she embarrassedly admits.

 

“I see…”, Aiko laughs.

 

“Well what about you, Aiko?”

 

Her face completely becomes a shade of red darker than her own hair with a slight squeak.

 

“Hmm? Speak up”, she teases.

 

“I don't, but only because I don't really have time to get acquainted with others with my father and I moving around so often…”

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot!”, she gasps, “But if you could, what qualities would you like your boyfriend to have?”

 

“Um… well…”, she stammers, looking completely out of her comfort-zone, “Well, I'd like to meet a guy who is kind, compassionate, gentle, and understanding”

 

“What about appearance?”

 

“I'm not too picky about looks, so long as he isn't ugly”

 

“Wow, you're really keeping your options open”

 

“Kind of have to when you have a life like mine…”, she mutters, failing miserably at hiding her displeasure with her matter of living.

 

“Do you hate your father for causing you to live the way you are?”

 

“No… No I don't”, she shakes her head, “I may get mad at him, but I could never fully hate him, because he's my father. Even though he won't let me learn Ninjutsu…”, she weakly smiles, “But I do hate the man who is after my father's life and the man who stole my mother's…”

 

“I guess I would feel the same way if someone was threatening the lives of my parents or friends”, Sakura admits.

 

“Would that include Naruto-kun?”, she teasingly mocks.

 

“Well of course, he is my friend”

 

“But Sakura, do you like Naruto-kun as a friend-friend or as a friend-friend?”, she questions, with a sly smirk on her face.

 

“Aiko…”, she began, looking a little flustered.

 

“Sakura, Aiko-chan, it's the middle of the night. Go to sleep you two”, an older woman firmly states, from the other side of the bedroom door.

 

“Okay mom!”, Sakura says, reaching for the light-switch, “Good night, Aiko”

 

“Good night, Sakura”, she begrudgedly returns, laying down on the thick-pad rolled-out onto the floor, as Sakura clicks off the lights, `Sakura really does like Naruto a lot. More so than she'd like to admit', she giggles in her mind, as she closes her eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

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