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“I didn’t get a good look at him. It was just… black. Lots of black.”

Naruto, myself, and Sensei stood in the local hospital about an hour after the incident. Once I lay down and got some water I was totally fine, minus some lightheadedness. Naruto went to find Sensei after he carried me here. Apparently I’m completely fine, so the black figure didn’t actually do anything to me. Which makes the situation even weirder… Why did he bother to make himself known by ramming head-first into me if he was trying to be secretive about his identity?

“Hm…” Sensei scratched at his head and frowned. “I can’t seem to figure this one out. I’ll bring it up at the council and see what the others think. Until then I would suggest you both stay within the city and limit your time in the woods on the way to your house as much as possible. Be sure to report anything you think of or that you see as suspicious.”

And with a couple of pats on the back, he left us to our own devices. Naruto looked determined and frustrated. He pounded his fist into his hand as we left the hospital. “I don’t know who that guy is or what he wants… but I’m gonna kick his ass for hurting you! Believe it! I’ll serve him to you on a silver platter!”

I laughed at his enthusiasm, which seemed to embarrass him. “I appreciate your readiness, but I didn’t get hurt. It’s just all so… confusing.”

He continued as if I hadn’t spoken at all. “I’d rip his head off and… and throw him in the ocean where the sharks can eat him! And I’d do everything I could for you to erase his memory!”

I was starting to worry about him. He was flustered and angry and loud, like usual, and also… emotional? And he wouldn’t look me in the eye. The way he talked made it sound like I had been raped or something. “Naruto-“

“I’d do everything I could for you to make sure you’re safe! I’d do everything I could! I’d do… anything for you!”

We both realized what he’d just said, because I was shocked into silence and he was bright red. I didn’t want to make him any more embarrassed than he already was, so I just kept walking and listened closely. He had no problem continuing- in fact I think talking became a kind of defense mechanism because the words just kept falling out of his mouth, because that’s just how Naruto deals with things. “I’d do anything for you because that’s what you do when you l-l-love someone! And I love you!”

He said the word the second time with more conviction. And then just stopped. We walked quietly with only the bustling of the marketplace around us. After maybe ten seconds without either of us speaking he exploded. “Well say something! Please say something!”

He sounded so angry, but I could tell he was just nervous about what I was thinking and didn’t want to let me see it as a sign of weakness. Did I like Naruto? There was pretty much only one answer to that question. But did I love Naruto? I don’t really know, primarily because I wasn’t too sure what it meant to love someone. But was there any harm in trying to figure it out?

“…Naruto… it flatters me that you feel this way about me. Well, I’m flattered that anybody even… thinks of me in a way like that.” Before his happiness could deflate I kept talking. “And I owe it to tell you that I don’t know if I love you in return, just because that’s something hard for me to conceptualize. But I know for sure that I really, really like you a lot. If you don’t want to get invested with someone who might not love you as much as you love them, I completely understand and won’t think any less of you. If you do, then… I’m ready to enter that kind of relationship.”

He was uncharacteristically silent during my little speech. By the time I finished we stood across the street from one of the local ramen stores. He didn’t even seem to notice. Just stared at the ground, still not meeting my eyes. “You don’t understand. I would marry you even if you couldn’t care less about me,” he whispered. I’ve never heard him whisper before. His eyes were so wide and his hands kept tensing up. “I would kill anyone for you. I’d kill myself for you. And that will never go away. That’s what love is, in my opinion.”

Everyone at school makes fun of him for being an idiot, and loud, and obnoxious, and a horrible ninja. But he knows a lot more than he lets on. So I breathed a deep sigh, contemplated his words, analyzed my emotions, and looked down at his fidgeting hands. “You know what Naruto? If that’s what love is, then I want to try loving you. It might take me a while and I’m sorry in advance for bumps in the road, but if you’re willing to try then so am I.”

Naruto finally looked up at me- but I couldn’t see his eyes for all his smiling. “Thank you so much! I’ve liked you since forever, really! I remember you in a tree on the playground reading a book by yourself, and I wished I could go talk to you. But I didn’t know how to climb trees, and I was afraid of you.”

What a weird turn this conversation has taken. I crossed the street to the stand and took a seat, gesturing to the one beside me. “Let your boyfriend buy you lunch while you explain why in the world you were afraid of me.”

His face flushed red yet again, but he stomped with determination to the seat. We placed our orders and got our food by the time he decided to talk again. I didn’t want to make him too uncomfortable, so I didn’t push him. “I was scared of you because you looked so perfect. Your knee was scraped and you had dirt on your clothes from climbing. And I didn’t know most of the words on the cover of that book, let alone could I read it. And you had long hair and no shoes. I hadn’t ever seen anything so perfect, and I still haven’t.”

He stuffed his face full of noodles and vegetables to keep himself from saying anything more. I was so incredibly surprised by his honesty. He’s never this focused! Usually all he talks about is “stupid Sasuke” and “I love ramen” and “believe it” or about how he’s gonna be a great ninja and rule the world someday. But now he’s really baring his emotions to me. I wonder how long it’s been since he’s done that with someone. It must feel really nice, after holding it all in so long.

We finished eating. I paid for the food and we began walking back to my house. Again the street sounds carried us there while we walked in silence. He fidgeted with his hands again for a moment, then clasped his fingers in mine. I smiled up at him to reassure him and he broke into a grin of his own. “It’s so weird to hear this kind of stuff about me,” I muttered softly. Our hands swung between us while we walked.

“I could tell you every day if you wanted.” He said it so seriously I almost laughed. But instead I stopped him for a second, turned him to face me with those curious neon-blue eyes and that crazy yellow hair. My own eyes flickered to his lips in a subtle hint. I know he caught on because he stopped breathing. I leaned up slightly and he met me halfway, breath shaky and eyes wide open. Our lips locked very softly. His were super chapped, I noticed. Chapped and uncertain. But he wanted to take the lead, like in most aspects of his life, and after a moment of hesitation he slipped his tongue past my lips. I let him, and reveled in the warm feeling at the pit of my stomach. Hands clawed up my back and at my shirt with the intensity, and my mouth was explored with a childlike innocence.

I had to pull back for air. It seems he forgot how to breathe entirely. He just gazed at my face, eyes glancing from my own eyes to my lips to my nose to my hair… “You don’t have to tell me every day,” I whispered, a little out of breath. “Just kiss me when you… feel like saying it.”