Naruto: Hollow Minded

“Is your homework done yet?” Sumi tutted, as she carried a basket of clothes inside.

“Yes Sumi-san.” Amaya spoke softly, placing the stack of papers back into her bag.

“Good. Now come fold the laundry, I have to begin cleaning.”

“Yes Sumi-san.” She spoke with a bow, quickly getting up from the table.

Konohamaru begged to go to the Ninja Academy so much that eventually he was allowed to have his own personal mentor, a guy named Ebisu. He was a good teacher, well spoken and good at his job, but that meant Konohamaru stayed out until sunset. Asuma was a Jonin, he had work to do and was rarely ever home because of this, spending what little time he had preparing for his next mission. Sarutobi was the Hokage, constantly busy since he had an entire village to run. But Amaya wasn’t home alone, no. Sumi was there.

When other people were around Sumi pretended to at least tolerate her, but other times she wasn’t so lucky. 

“You know I actually had to work hard so I could work and live here, and while all you had to do was show up in order to earn your keep you’re gonna have to do work.”

“Yes Sumi-san. I’ll work, I promise!”

“Good. Go do the laundry while I cook.” 

Amaya’s tiny form lifted the massive laundry basket, it was taller than she was, and heavier than her too. She carried it to the laundry room, diligently sorting the laundry as she pulled the load that Sumi had done from the wash. Grabbing the wet clothes she carried the massive and even heavier basket outside, using a step-stool to clip the clothes onto the line. 

It was a monotonous process of stepping up, clipping clothes, stepping down, moving the stool, and stepping back up. The stool was old, and Amaya wasn’t really paying attention to her footing. She tripped, the stool breaking as she face-planted into the dirt. 

Quickly she got up, looking at the now muddy shirt in her hands, eyes widening as she began to tremble.

“Nononono! Sumi’s gonna be so mad at me! She just washed this- Oh no… oh nonononono!” She muttered, looking around frantically.

Without hesitation she ran back into the laundry room, the load in the laundry too far in to add a new item, but not close enough to being done for her to be able to just wait. Quickly she went over to the sink, grabbing a bottle of detergent as she poured it onto the dirty shirt. She tried her best to rub it in with her hands, but it wasn’t working as well as she had hoped. Frantic she was looking for some sort of brush- and then she saw it. Her toothbrush.

Without hesitation she grabbed it, rinsing it out before scrubbing the detergent into the mud on the shirt, her hands irritated and red as she scrubbed into it. When she was sure she worked the detergent into the stains she quickly rinsed her hands, wiping her hands on her shirt as she ran back outside.

She grabbed a shirt from the basket before sparing a glance between where she stood and the clothes line.

How in the hell am I gonna reach that!?

Even fully stretching her arm out she was a good half meter from her fingertips even brushing the line. Looking down at the broken stool a lightbulb went off, and she managed to drag it over. Setting it under the clothes line she had it flipped upside down, balancing on two of the legs that hadn’t been broken as she carefully clipped the shirt to the line.

She continued on, wobbling with every shift of her feet. By the time she was done her legs were sore from trying to balance, and her hands were bleeding and chapped from having scrubbed and washed the shirt she had gotten muddy.

Walking back inside she tried to keep from opening any more wounds on her hand, wincing with pain as he moved her fingers. 

“What took you so long! The laundry should’ve taken thirty minutes max!”

“S-sorry, it took a while to keep moving the stool around.”

“No excuses! You need to get faster at it. Now come over here and help me with dinner.”

“But-”

“No but’s! Get over here right now.”

As she walked over and rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands Sumi saw the blood dripping from them, quickly grabbing her wrist.

“Your hands are filthy.” She hissed.

“T-the detergent… it-”

“You better not have bled on any of the clothes. Now go bandage up so you can chop the vegetables.” 

“Yes Sumi-san.”

She knew where the med-kit was by heart, opening the hall closet as she pulled the cream coloured box out and began to wrap her hands. She learned from watching the nurses at school do it from when she had tripped and fell during a run. She had to practice it on her own later, but she had gotten the hang of it rather quickly.

Quickly she ran back into the kitchen, chopping up the vegetables just as she was taught to by Sumi. Not too long after Sumi tutted, rolling her eyes before walking out of the kitchen.

“Continue cooking dinner Amaya, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Wh- b-but Sumi-san!”

“Have you already forgotten how to use the stove, you useless child.” She huffed, about to march back into the kitchen.

“N-no Sumi-san! I-I just wanted to… to ask what you’re making so I know what to do…”

“Hmph. I’m making Vegetable Soba with dumplings. Now let me get back to my work!”

“Yes Sumi-san.”

It had started off slow at first, helping with prep, chopping vegetables, stirring the pot, making sauces. Just like a frog in a pot, she had slowly become accustomed to cooking dinner all alone. Kicking the small stool in the kitchen around as she moved from place to place.

She was frying vegetables when there was a knock at the door. She turned, no real clue what to do when Sumi finally reappeared, opening the door with a smile on her face.

“Oh Mikoto-san, and little Sasuke-kun! What brings you two here?” She spoke, opening the door to let the both of them inside.

“Oh well, Sasuke came home to train with his brother and father, and didn’t tell anyone until after that he needed to return a classmate's bag.” She spoke, her hands resting on the shoulders of Sasuke, who had his cheeks puffed out.

“Oh my, Amaya-chan did you forget your bag at school?” Sumi hummed, turning to her with a close eyed smile.

“O-oh! I… I must have…” Amaya spoke softly, turning right back to the cooking food.

“Oh dear Amaya,” Sumi gave a fake sigh, walking over to the kitchen, “I’ll cook, you go thank your friend for bringing back your bag.” She hummed, patting Amaya on the head.

“Mhm.” Amaya nodded, hopping off the stool as she walked over to the living room.

“Here’s your bag back.” Sasuke puffed out his cheek, turning away from her as he violently thrust the bag towards her.

“T-thank you Sasuke-san, I’m sorry for forgetting it.” She bowed, taking the bag before she ran upstairs.

She could hear the laughter from her room as she set the bag down, taking a moment to calm down before she went back downstairs.

“Oh little Sasuke’s just so precious!”

“Mhm, that he is! And Amaya’s so well mannered and polite!” She hummed, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“Well, do you want to stay for a cup of tea?”

“Oh, I would love to- but we still have to go eat dinner.”

“Ah, of course. Go enjoy your dinner Mikoto!”

“You too Sumi.” 

The two left, and Sumi turned to where Amaya hovered at the bottom of the stairs. She raised a brow, and Amaya quickly darted into the kitchen, hopping onto the stool as she took over the cooking. 

Amaya had gone to school early, hoping to catch the sensei alone so she could tell him to stop making Sasuke tutor her, but on her way inside she was stopped by a familiar black haired boy.

“Amaya.” He grabbed her forearm, yanking her towards him.

“C-could you let go of me, I’m just about to tell the sensei you don't need to teach me anymore-”

“Why are your hands bandaged?” 

“W-what?”

“Why are your hands bandaged?” He repeated, a slightly more aggressive tone.

“Oh! W-while cooking I uh… cut my palm and burned the other hand…” She spoke, pulling away from him.

“Liar.” He hissed, grabbing her arm again as he raised her hand.

“Let go of me!” She hissed.

She was trying to squirm away as Sasuke pulled at the end, the bandages unraveling as she pulled away, the white cloth pooling just at her feet as she stood there, stunned.

“G-give it back!” She shouted, instinctively reaching for the bandage.

Her hand was caught by Sasuke, realization hitting her as she winced in pain before trying to squirm away. Sasuke was stunned, his grip firm as he looked at the bright red her hands had turned, dark red pools of blood welling up from cracks in her skin.

“W-what… What happened to you?”

His voice was soft, she had stopped struggling as she looked at him, breathing heavily as she tried to collect her thoughts.

“I-It was all my fault anyways, why does it matter to you!”

“These aren’t regular burns Amaya, what happened.” 

“I tripped while doing laundry and a shirt got muddy so I had to re-wash it. Nothing bad happened, alright!” She shouted, finally pulling away from him.

“Why were you doing the laundry alone?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You could get hurt, like you clearly did. These are chemical wounds from bleach- they look really bad, we should get a nurse to bandage them properly-”

“No way! If we get a nurse then they’re gonna tell Sumi, and Sumi will yell at me for being overly dramatic and causing a fuss over nothing!”

Sasuke’s face scrunched up, brows raised as he took a step back. Amaya’s eyes were wide, her breathing ragged, her body shaking… She was terrified. 

“Sorry… Let me help bandage it back up at least…” He muttered, grabbing the bandages from her as he gestured towards her other hand.

Slowly she began to unwrap the other hand, Sasuke taking the dirty bandages as he threw them away, turning to Amaya he reached out his hand, before pulling it back as he looked at her hands. 

A moment of hesitation and he grabbed her sleeve, pulling her behind him as they made their way to the nurses office, which was unlocked and currently empty.

“N-nobody’s here..?” Amaya questioned, looking around nervously.

“Mhm. They all gossip in the teachers lounge before classes start.” He spoke, opening one of the drawers.

“Oh…” She muttered, looking away.

Sasuke returned to her, a salve in one hand and bandages in the other. They were quiet as he applied the salve, gently bandaging her hands as the silence grew heavy. He stood back up, turning on his heel and going over to the cabinet. He was placing the salve back when she finally got the courage to speak up.

“Where’d you learn to wrap up wounds?”

He paused, quickly putting the bandages away before hastily closing the drawer.

“My mom taught me.” He spoke, arms crossed.

“Well… I need to go tell the sensei that you don’t need to teach me anymore.” She stood up, sliding the door open.

“W-wait! You… You don’t need to tell the sensei anything.” He huffed, crossing his arms.

She turned, brow raised as she looked at him. He wasn’t looking at her, gaze aimed at the floor as he kept his arms crossed. His cheek was puffed out, and he let out a small huff.

“Come train with me and my brother today.” He huffed, taking a glance at her before abruptly turning away.

“O-oh… Sure, I can come over today.” 

She could feel her face turn red, her grip on the door slipping. She turned, walking out the door.

“B-bye Sasuke-san, seeyouinclass!” The words fell out of her mouth, and she rushed out of the door to the classroom.