The First Part Last ~Naruto Fan-fic~

Chapter 11

It was quiet around the table, except for the sounds of Naruto and Sasuke gobbling food like animals. They both shoved bites in, bairly leaving room to chew. "I want somemore!" Both said. A glare was exchanged before they doubled over and puked their guts out.

"Don't eat so much if your just gonna puke it up!" Sakura yelled.

"I have to eat to get stronger." Sasuke wiped his mouth off.

"And I have to eat more than him." Naruto said.

Sakura was steaming, but held herself back from yelling and instead just grumbled out, "I wish Minari was here, she'd set you guys straight." At the mention of his best friend, Naruto looked down in worry and concern.

"I hope she's okay. She looked really mad."

"Hm. I don't care if she's gone all night, doesn't concern me in the least." Sasuke said.

"It's your fault she was mad though!" Naruto slammed his hands down on the table. Sakura looked over to Sasuke.

"Naruto's right. Can't you at least try to get along with Minari?" But he just turnned his head away.

Naruto grew more and more frustrated as looked at his teammate. How could he be so passive about this? How could he say things like he didn't care about her at all? "You're weak!" Sasuke sharply turnned his head to Naruto, as did everyone else, in shock. "You wanna know why Minari is stronger than you?! Because she isn't a jerk! Strength doesn't just come from your arms or your legs, it also comes from your heart! And she has both strength of body and of heart! You don't care about people, you only care about yourself! So Minari will always be stronger than you!"

"How in the heck is she strong of heart?! She nearly went homicidal maniac on me today!"

"Theres no nearly about that..." Sakura deadpanned.

Naruto looked down at the table, a picture perfect image of the moonlight haired girl formed in his mind. Every day he looked forward to seeing her and that wide smile. He looked forward to hearing her laugh, sometimes even hearing her scold him for doing something wrong, because it meant she cared about him. "Minari is kind. She's beautiful and cares about everyone, even people she doesn't particularly like. I've never heard her talk bad about someone behind their back, and no matter what, she's sure to help someone when they need it. She was the first person to ever approtch me with a want to be my friend. Minari is my friend. I would do anything for her. Even die."

Sasuke thought back to something Minari had told him earlier after their fight. You don't know what it's like to care for someone so deeply you would die for them! He didn't understand the concept. WHy would you ever willingly give up your life for another? It would their own damn fault for getting into a situation where they would die, so why pay for their mistakes? Why die?

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The sun filtered into the room from the large window, waking Haku and making him squint. And he had been having sucha nice dream too. Minari groaned in her sleep as he slipped out of the bed. Haku had almost forgotten what a light sleeper she was, and very slowly and gently got up, as to not wake the 'princess'. The sight of her exposed arms was frightening to the older boy, seeing her memories on every last inch of them. And he knew it wasn't just her arms that were etched with the stories of her travels and training. A five year old girl, leaving home to travel the five nations and train in every sence of the word.

Haku could only imagine the torture she had gone through. Even though they found each other when she was six and he nine... It was a tough start for them both. But maybe thats why they got along the way they did. Because they were alike in the sence of experiance. And also maybe because no matter where Minari went, she always came back to the water nation, happy to be... home.