Gerimis

It was not so early morning when Naruko woke up. She searched for a clock, a watch, and then she realized there was none around. She had not worn any watch yesterday, and the room was clock-less. As she turned to her side, leaning to one side so she could lift one hand, her skin brushed against soft quilted blanket. She realized that she had been sleeping on a bed.

“Rise and shine!” a muffled shout from behind a door called.  Naruko got up and looked around the bed instead of answering the door right away. She got up and eyed the room. First she looked at the bed, it was a queen sized bed with white wooden frame, nothing fancy about the design. The quilt and covers were plain yellow with little orange dog like shapes on it. She wondered at the choice of design but decided to check the rest of the room before thinking about it further.

There was a frosted glass door in white wooden frames, covering an opening in the wall. She walked closer and saw that there were clothes behind the glass door, so the hole was a closet. She pulled the door open but after a few tries discovered that it was actually a sliding door.

“Are you already up?  Let's have breakfast?” called the voice from outside again.

Naruko thought she would have plenty of time later to check the room and walked to the door, wanting to know who the person outside was. As she walked to the door, she noticed a study table and a chair with a table lamp on it. She surveyed the room, wondering if this was to be her room, it was fully furnished and somehow the decor suited her taste. It was larger than her room at Iruka’s house and it was cozy, but where were her things? Did they bring them here last night? She turned to the door and opened it to seek answers to her questions.

As Naruko opened the door the girl outside looked up to her and smiled. Her skin was brown and her hair was shoulder length in minty green hue, her orange eyes watched Naruko with eagerness. She was almost the same height as Naruko.

“Ah, you just woke up seeing from the bed head,” she said merrily. “Is your head ok? Naruko right?”

“Yes, I'm ok I guess…” Naruko said trying to get a feel of how she was feeling physically and internally.

“Good, now get ready we are having breakfast. You can visit the hospital bay later for treatment.” She then left Naruko hanging at the door room and proceeded to walk down to the other end of the aisle. She turned around to speak, “They brought all your things here from the CHUNIN dorms yesterday morning. See you later and we'll talk further,” the mint haired girl skipped away before disappearing behind a wall.

Naruko couldn't even slip a question at her so she thought she'll ask later at breakfast. She looked at the aisle outside the bedroom. It was narrow and the walls were painted beige and the floors were polished wood. There was another door opposite the room and it had a cute turtle logo on it. She turned to see the door to her room and discovered that it had a fox in manga style on it. She glanced again and realized that the dog shapes on the comforter were actually of foxes. Naruko wondered if they were both referring specifically to something. Then Naruko entered the room and sat down on the bed, though still quite groggy from sleep she tried to remember her previous day.

Yesterday she was sent here accompanied by Temari. The mint haired girl had welcomed her and took her in and told her to have a meal first before resting. But Naruko had lost her appetite and was starting to feel heavy headed. The other girl was all along babbling beside Naruko trying to comfort her, but Naruko’s heavy head made her ignore the girl’s babbling. So still babbling the girl helped Naruko to the room.

“This is your room. I picked the fox motif, my gut instinct told me that it will suit you. But you can change them later, well here’s some medicines you could take. It must have hurt like a b***h right? And Temari said it’s the medicinal one you always take when you're sick, is it? My name’s Fu, hahaha, I hope you could remember it tomorrow. I never eat these kind of pill if I'm sick.”

“Fu!” Naruko blurted after realizing the minty haired girl’s name. So yesterday after they came into the room Fu assisted her in taking the paracetamol, at least that was what Naruko thought it was, the packaging looked like the pills Naruko usually bought from the 24 hours store. So she had popped two of the pills and then Fu forced her to change her shirt and Naruko had reluctantly changed into a plain shirt and then being tucked in to sleep like a little girl. It was a nice feeling actually, it felt like Fu was really worried about her. Then she had closed her eyes and the heaviness seeped into her mind and she slept.

Her stomach rumbled.

Thinking too hard always made Naruko hungry, she wondered what time did she sleep yesterday. She was feeling very hungry now, like she had not eaten in a day. Naruko frowned at herself, she remembered yesterday attending a meeting in the morning, the meeting was not long so this meant that she had spent half the day yesterday sleeping. No wonder she was feeling very hungry like she had been fasting, she was indeed fasting.

Yesterday's meeting had unveiled images of her mother and father, but having lived for years without knowing how they looked like, she decided that waiting for another day for explanation wouldn't hurt much more than it did yesterday or now. Of course she was hurt, she had been kept in the dark for her whole life that they were still around, alive or in some other form. She did want to wonder further what remained of them, bodies, remains or something intangible?

Kakashi had kept it a secret, essentially he was lying by keeping the truth from Naruko for months. There was too much things going on, natuko felt like she was about to burst. So instead of letting her anger take over, Naruko decided to focus on herself. She pushed the mix of emotions over her parents and thought about now.

Resolutely making herself ignore angry thoughts about her parents, she toughened herself to think about herself first. There was no way she was going to be paralyzed emotionally over people who had not been present in her life. She will attend this matter later when she face Kakashi for answers.

Keep it together, think of yourself first.

She went to the closet and slid the door open, the closet was bare but there were essential items in there. There were a few yellow and orange towels in varying sizes. A pair of jackets hung in the railings, she guessed that it might be CHUNIN outfit since she was in CHUNIN now, but they told her that she was going to be a Jinchuuriki. Whatever that is.

Then she checked for clothings but there was nothing else for her to wear, but when she looked down she saw her bags at the  foot of the closet. Naruko squatted down to zip them open. She discovered that all her clothes were left in as she had packed. She had brought things she thought were acceptable in a college like jeans and shirt, and left the dresses behind. There would not be any partying in a serious college thing right? She had never gone to any partying anyway so it was not like she was missing anything, but Iruka had given her a few dresses for her to wear for summer and she had left them at Iruka’s home. She wouldn't miss them but they were gifts and maybe she could bring them here later if there was something fancy coming up. Naruko pushed her jackets, which she had placed last in the bag and grabbed for an orange shorts and white shirt near the bottom of the bag. She got up and placed them on the bed and wondered where she was supposed to take a bath. She then turned around and only now noticed a door at the other side of the room. She figured that should be the bathroom and grabbed the towel from the coset and wished that there were toiletries already prepared in the bathroom.

Naruko wondered how she could continue to set her heavy heart aside, it was not easy but she had to fight it and attend to herself now. She will be here for a long time anyway, months or maybe years. Things like this don’t pass in a few days like in the movies. She needed… she wasn't sure what she needed but thinking about unresolved mystery wasn't one of them. With a mixed feelings she opened the mysterious door and sighed in relief when it was indeed the bathroom.

“Naruko-chan, come here have a seat. This is Gaara, Yagura, and Sasuke,” Fu happily told Naruko as the blonde haired girl walked to the dining table.

Naruko checked the whole house. It was two storeys and the house was beige all over and it looked like the kind of house college students live together, fraternity or sorority, like in chick flicks she saw on tv.

“How are you feeling?” Sasuke stood and came over to Naruko. He wasn't smiling but wasn't frowning even. He looked like he was nervous, but Naruko never saw him nervous.

She frowned and looked at him, “So are you going to be my babysitter now?”

“No… I don’t want to start arguing with you, just sit down and eat first,” Sasuke said this time frowning.

“Yes, don’t go to war on an empty stomach my sensei said,” Fu said merrily. Naruko just gave Fu a little smile and sat down beside Sasuke. There were the usual breakfast spread on the table, Naruko glanced at Gaara and noticed that the red haired teen did not look at her at all. Yagura smiled at her and said confidently, “Hi Naruko, I might look small for my age but I am actually older than you.”

“I won’t doubt that,” Naruko said. She had seen plenty orphans with small bodies when they were actually teenagers, because they suffer from growth problems. Some of them were abandoned because of these deformities and health issues. She wasn't about to spout questions at these people. Yagura looked friendly but Gaara looked damn scary.

Naruko was about to reach for a plate when Sasuke placed a plate of toast on her table.

“You want tea or juice?” Fu asked,

“Juice,” Naruko said. Sasuke handed her a cup of juice which she took silently.

She really did not want to argue with anyone right now but something was seething inside her upon seeing Sasuke. So Naruko concentrated all her efforts on herself and ate all the food she was being served out of courtesy. Fu babbled on and mentioned about one member missing and how that person would be happy to meet Naruko. Naruko did not bother to ask about who that missing member of the house was but she made a mental note to ask Fu when she felt better later.

All through breakfast, Naruko was glad that she was mostly left alone to herself. Fu had talked about mundane stuff with Sasuke, nothing at all touching on Naruko or her parents. Yagura had interjected when something regarding some martial arts or something came up. After breakfast Naruko felt a little guilty for being snobbish and had apologized to Fu while they were alone in the kitchen, settling the dishes.

“It’s mine and Killer B’s turn to do the dishes this week, but he’s not here so I asked for your help. You looked tense, so I thought this might help you relax. So what do you want for dinner, I thought maybe you might have lunch with Sasuke since he’s here?”

“I am sorry Fu.”

“Oh you remember my name, no worries. We were all like that initially, all broken initially, but over times we all settled down. This place is nicer than any place I have ever been to. I am not saying that what you face is easy, but it gets easier, over time.”

“Over time,” Naruko repeated sadly.

“Yes, over time. I have been here not very long but I have been in a facility much worse than here, so I guess beggars can’t be choosers? Ok that’s a poor attempt at making you feel ok but I am new at this girly friendship thing. You see the boys there, they don't really talk when it comes to emotionally stuff. Heck, Gaara barely talks to me, he has his own ways of communication though.

Naruko placed the last of the plates she had wiped dry onto the cabinet shelf and turned to Fu. Fu had been nothing but nice so she had to make an effort too. “Well, count me in as your girlfriend. I'll be here for a year at least looking at things, we can do a lot of girly stuff later.”

“That sounds nice, we'll do things at your own pace. There's a lot of stuff going on in the beginning, but we are all here to support you along the way.”

Fu twisted the faucet close and grabbed the cloth from Naruko’s hand to wipe dry the last of the dish. “Well we are all done now, why don't you go and see what's up with Sasuke out there, you barely said a word to him. Sorry for intruding but i think he has something he wants to discuss with you.”

Naruko did not argue with Fu for ordering her around, maybe growing up with a lot of motherly and authority figures around made her automatically follow their orders. She sighed and went out, meeting Sasuke this morning was not what she had expected at all. It was now late morning and it maybe be noon actually. She didn't see any clock at all. She briefly wondered what he wanted but decided that if CHUNIN wanted something from her  they would have fetched her earlier and not let her relax around like now.

She returned to the dining table and found that the boys have disappeared from the dining hall, the dining table was clean and clear from any items. She left for the other part of the room, which shared the same area with the dining table but was a few feet away. It appeared like a normal living room consisting of a large LCD TV and two sets of sofas. The furnitures were of vibrant colours, one set in red and the other blue while the low tv table was white. She liked the minimalist grass in little vases, placed along the windows, which was opened to let in the sunshine. She wondered if Sasuke was outside, what does he want with her? Instead of hesitating she walked out of the house and saw that Sasuke had planted himself on a wooden bench outside. He was watching Yagura and Gaara doing some exercises on the grasses.

She wanted to be angry with Sasuke, but she found that the hatred was inappropriate. There was no anger when she looked at him this time. She glanced at Sasuke, he had not turned around and  was unaware that Naruko was behind him. He wore casual clothing today, a plain blue long sleeved shirt and jeans.

Earlier, she had been angry at him especially with the memories of yesterday’s event. She realized his true purpose of befriending her was all for a mission and it all felt like a lie. She wondered if he even saw her as a friend at all. Sasuke had then told her about CHUNIN, asked her to come and join them. She had asked for a tour of the building and a consultation of its programs, but since she was here that tour was now insignificant.

Naruko figured that Sasuke was as much a ‘slave’ to CHUNIN like she was of the welfare system. She was an orphan subjected to the care of guardians, shunted from house to house until she was able to find a home with Chiyo. Though she had never ended with irresponsible guardians, being transferred here and there made her crave for something permanent, even Chiyo’s house was never a permanent thing and Chiyo had it drummed into her. Turning sixteen and then being told that she would live with Iruka was expected. Luckily Iruka had been a friend, someone who let her experience independent life even for a short moment.

She needed to settle things with Sasuke, turning whatever between them into a real friendship or something. Then a memory flashed past her and Naruko cringed at the kiss she had forced on Iruka and knew she did not want to be that sudden and awkward. Continuing her careful stride towards Sasuke, she called out, “Hey.”

Sasuke quickly turned around and relief lit his face.“Have a seat,” he said.

Naruko gave him a smile and a frown. She was not sure what they were supposed to say in situations like this.

“They are giving you a day off today to settle down with Fu and the others,” Sasuke started.

Well that was better for Sasuke to start, she was not sure what she would have said anyway. Naruko sat down and Sasuke turned his body towards her direction. She glanced at the surrounding and discovered that the garden looked like some sort of a Japanese garden, tranquil and spacious, it helped rest her nervous heart. She turned to him and kept her fingers intertwined to avoid fidgeting.

“How is Kakashi doing?” she asked. Really the well being of a significant older person was always something to worry about. Even if Kakashi was lying all this time.

“He’s recuperating, he knew very well of the consequences when he showed his eyes to you.”

“Can I visit him later?”

“Yes. How are you?”

Naruko looked away and decided to be truthful, she turned to Sasuke again. Eyeing those dark eyes with confidence she  told him, “Better. I hope he will be too.”

Sasuke nodded. Then he placed his hands awkwardly on his thighs and Naruko eyed those hands. “You have a whole free day today, what do you want to do?”

“Why am I here just like this. Aren’t there any official registration procedure, forms to sign or anyone I should meet for a crash course in strange things and surprise, your parents are here trauma therapy?” Naruko found the itch in her heart to say something snide to him. Maybe to hint of her displeasure and to ruffle his feathers.

He just smiled and sighed. He knew she was just being angry.

“They are Jinchuuriki, have Fu told you anything about them?” he tried changing the topic.

“No, I was not feeling well yesterday. I hadn't asked them anything yet.”

“What can I do for you to help ease your transition here?”

“What is CHUNIN? Is it really like what you told me in the train Sasuke?”

Sasuke looked at her and grinned, his name on her lips was a pleasure to hear. He started explaining,  “Yes, but it is more than that. It is a military facility where people like me are trained in martial arts, in espionage and survivals.”

“So you are a child soldier?” Naruko’s eyes widened at her own realization that Sasuke was much more than the stylish and stoic personality he portrayed.

“I see myself as a contributing to society. The methods might annoy some people but CHUNIN had been nothing but good for me.”

“Really?” Naruko frowned and looked away. Gaara and Yagura were now sitting cross legged on the grass with eyes closed, they were apparently in deep meditation.

“So, what am I here for then?” she queried.

“They wanted to make you a Jinchuuriki, seal a tailed beast into you. But right now they only have a small amount of the tailed beast chakra, and they hoped that you could help them find the rest of the chakra.”

“Will it be dangerous?”

“They told me it would not because the chakra was weak. Dr.Shizune will consult you on this matter tomorrow.”

Naruko nodded and stayed silent. She had many questions popping in her mind right now and was sure that Sasuke would entertain each one of them. But right now she wanted something personal from him.

They stayed silent, watching the blue sky which was clear.

Naruko could feel Sasuke’s piercing gaze even when she wasn't looking.

“What?” Naruko turned to Sasuke.

“I was assigned to persuade you to join CHUNIN, it was a mission. I was told to persuade you, and to do that i decided to befriend you.”

Naruko tensed. She slowly ran his words through her mind. She went back to her own thoughts that Sasuke was like a slave to CHUNIN. She could imagine him being tasked to persuade her, and he would do anything to fulfil that mission.

“But now I want to be your friend for real. If what we did back then was what they call friendship, maybe we can do it better this time?” he looked away and then sighed.

Naruko was surprised, she had never seen Sasuke looking unsure before and this expression of his surprised her.

“Do you really want to be my friend?” Naruko asked again. She was actually surprised at his request. She was sure that he was about to say something like, we are comrades in a mission or something.

“Yes and if you don’t want to I will understand,” Sasuke looked at her and smiled glumly.

Naruko frowned at him and blinked hard.

Sasuke then explained earnestly, “I never had friends from outside CHUNIN, and I actually enjoyed myself going to Iwa with you, Sai and Ino. It was a mission and I had to hold myself back but underneath it all I really enjoyed it. It was fun.”

Naruko stifled a smile, so Sasuke had actually enjoyed the trip despite looking bored and  jaded half the time. She maintained her silence as he spoke again.

“You can say no if you want, I'll understand.” Sasuke said as he stood and about to leave her.

She laughed and grabbed for his shirt, “Sit down Sasuke. Don’t start being coy with me, is this the real you?”

Naruko’s heart did a dance. Everything didn't seem like a looming nightmare for now. She blushed as she let go of his hand. “I'll be your friend.”

Sasuke smirked at her answer and sat down again.

They looked at each other and smiled.

“Are Sai and Ino really engaged? They did not act it out, did they?”

“No, they were being themselves but they were aware that it was my mission to persuade you at the time.”

Naruko noticed a lost thread on her pants and brushed it away while muttering under her breath, “Persuade, more like kidnapping…” before she said louder this time, “So they are for real?”

She knew Sasuke heard her mutterings as he rolled his eyes and then told her, “Yes they are in love and getting married one day.”

“So, Ino and Sai are CHUNIN?”

“Yes they are. Ino is emancipated, so she's a civilian. Sai is with us.”

“And I am not CHUNIN but a Jinchuuriki?”

“You are a prospective Jinchuuriki and tomorrow you will get to know more about that.”

“Looks like I’ll be here a lot longer than I thought.”

Sasuke stood and paced around before looking back at Naruko, “You want a tour around CHUNIN, I can bring you around to the common areas.”

“Is it ok?”

Sasuke thought about something and then said, “I will need to bring you to security first to get your details into the system and clearance.”

“Does everything in here run backwards?” Naruko asked out loud. She had meant to say it in her mind, “Oops, I just blurted that out did I? I mean you brought me here, spooked me and then register me.”

“Don’t ask more questions. Get yourself ready and we can get around CHUNIN asap if you change now.”

Naruko glanced at her shirt and smiled. She nodded and got inside. She looked at the living room and told herself, I’m living here now.

She ran upstairs and did not come upon Fu and wondered where the girl was but decided that she’d leave a note or maybe notify Yagura and Gaara if they were out of their meditation. She got into her room and told herself, maybe my room now. She got to the closet and searched her bag for her jeans and jacket. She tied her hair into a ponytail and after dressing up ran back down to Sasuke.

Sasuke was relieved that Naruko was not as angry as he anticipated. He wanted to bang his head over his sudden insecurity. He had wanted to friend her for real this time and she had obliged him. He was still trying to believe how everything had turned around better than he expected.

Weeks ago when Sasuke was missioned to befriend Naruko, he did not see himself caring for her at all. After yesterday's meeting ending in Kakashi hurt, and Naruko very angry he had wondered to himself whether he should approach Naruko at all today and in the end relented. But it was not at all his own conclusion, he had Chouji to thank to.

After the meeting yesterday, he had waited for the medics to come and bring Kakashi-sensei to the hospital wing. Afterwards, since he did not receive any orders he had returned to his room and stayed there for further orders but surprisingly there was nothing coming. He had spent half an hour meditating trying to focus on his mission to be Naruko’s companion all along this mission. But problem is he no longer viewed Naruko as a mission, he had wanted to console her, to ask her what he could do to her. But he had no idea how to approach her.

He couldn't confide in any of his CHUUNIN peers since it would mean them knowing about how he felt towards Naruko. They were supposed to be just teammates in a mission, right? His presence was merely to facilitate Naruko’ s transition into a Jinchuuriki, he was to beside her because of work. But Sasuke did not just want to be like that. 1230 came soon and Sasuke found Kiba at his door inviting him to lunch.

When he entered the cafeteria, Chouji quickly pulled him into the kitchen. The CHUNIN cook wanted Sasuke to come to try a new banana fritter recipe he had infused with soldier pill ingredient.

“Delicious isn't it? I've found a way to make the traditional untasteful soldier pill into a dessert. Now you can indulge and then fight.”

Sasuke had smiled at Chouji’s enthusiasm. “What do you want to learn to cook next?”

Sasuke stopped chewing on his second fritter and was reminded of Naruko. “A healthy ramen recipe?”

“Ah, I like that. Ramen is just carbohydrate in soup, i'll get to creating a tasty recipe for you. What kind of soup?”

“Seafood.”

“Ok.”

Out of the blue Sasuke confided in Chouji, “Is it ok to restart a friendship with someone?” It was vaguely asked and he hoped Chouji wouldn't care for him to elaborate.

“Restarting a friendship? Hmmm that’s a new thing to think about.” The nutritionist and cook munched on his banana fritter and wiped his hand on a napkin. They were in the tiny office in the kitchen which was air conditioned and not as hot as the cooking part of the kitchen, this was where Chouji and his crew did their management and affairs. Managing food for teenagers must be a heavy duty as Sasuke realized that they do eat a lot compared to adults, growing bodies Chouji had said.

They both actually knew that there was no such thing as friendships in CHUNIN, they were all bound together as a unit and that was something which isn't as fickle as a friendship. The only thing which will break CHUNINs apart was desertion of duty and being killed in the line of duty. Even emancipation from CHUUNIN at a certain age was never a barrier to their comradeship.

Chouji took off his chef's hat and scratched his chin, “I guess you could break up a friendship… maybe friends could break apart too, not just lost a connection or something. Maybe in the future when the time arrives and the two of you are in a better place, then maybe you can restart your friendship again if both parties are ok with it. Some people don't forgive easily so it all really depends on people. Like food, not everyone eats cucumber, but some do eat the japanese cucumber saying it's not as bad as the ‘normal’ cucumber. To me cucumbers are all the same.”

Sasuke did not know how to respond to Chouji’s example of cucumber but he got the gist of the cook's word. He was comforted by the fact that friendship do break apart too. It was normal for things to break apart, and even if they resumed it was up to them now.

The next morning he had shown up at the Jinchuuriki quarters early morning and was welcomed with a beaming Fu who quickly shuffled him to the dining table half full of breakfast spread. He swallowed all his doubts and decided to go with the flow with this bunch of Jinchuurikis. He rarely ever mixed around with non CHUUNIN and when it comes to work, he was always equipped with scripts and directions from his superiors, so this chance to mix with this varied mix was something he was actually nervous about. There was no one there to tell him how to act or what to do.

Sasuke was a soldier. He looked cool outside, even deadly serious at times. But inside he was also a teenage boy who had doubts and was still learning about this world. He was thankful that he did not have to do much, Fu was doing all the talking for him with Killer B too busy eating to drop a rhyme or two. His heart began beating hurriedly when Fu got up from her chair and announced that she was going to see if Naruko was awake. He did not know how she would react upon seeing him and hoped for the best. And he did not have to worry much Naruko was not angry at him after all.