Lost in the Whirlwind (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 17

The girl had grown. Her shoulder length brown hair grew a lot darker too, its color almost rivaling black. Her dark brown eyes glinted with unhidden curiosity as she stood by the side of the living room table. They flickered from the board to her mom's eyes, watching them as her mom's eyes shone with mild satisfaction and excitement.

"What is that?" She asked the adult, her finger pointing at the square.

"This is chess." Her mother answered, her voice happy now that there was someone interested. "Come sit here, Julie. I'll teach you."

Julie. Julie.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I jumped from the spot I was taking a nap, rising from the kitchen table. I frowned. Who would be visiting my apartment on a Saturday morning? Shisui occasionally came, but knocking wasn't in his vocabulary book. I took wary steps towards the door and slowly drew the door open.

"Hello, Naka-chan." Hiruzen said from the outside.

I blinked, bringing up my right arm to wipe from my eyes. Surely I wasn't dreaming? A Hokage in front of my apartment? It's been a couple of months and I didn't hear a thing from the Hokage. He was always busy whenever I tried visiting and the secretary always chased me away.

He looked amused at my surprise. "Well, child, are you going to invite me in?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, opening the door wider. "Please, come in."

The old man casually took his seat in the living room, letting the wooden chair creak tortuously when he put his weight on it. I slowly took the seat opposite to his across the table.

"Pardon my rudeness, hokage-sama, but what are you doing here?" I asked. I was in the middle of sticking a leaf on my forehead exercise. Well, I was trying to stick a leaf on my forehead before I unceremoniously slept on the kitchen table.

Unlike what Shisui had said, it took me more than a month to find the spiritual energy. Two hours of meditation every day and an hour of reading, it took a total of two months. Shisui was ecstatic when he found out I was able to connect with the spiritual energy and proceeded to teach me how to control it, hence the leaf exercise.

Hokage smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes appearing. "Wake Naruto up, we're going for a walk."

It took me fifteen minutes to wake the reluctant blonde up and for the both of us to get dressed. The two of us wore similar grey shirts and black shorts that were bought a year ago when we first moved. When we exited the bathroom, the Hokage was patiently waiting. He tilted his head towards Naruto with a small smile.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto shyly waved. "Good morning, Hokage-ojii."

Hiruzen's eyes softened. "You may call me Ojii-chan, if you want." He offered Naruto.

Naruto immediately brightened beamed from his place beside me. I could practically hear his thoughts. I get to call the Hokage Ojii-chan? That's so cool, dattebayo!

"Where are we going today?" I asked Hiruzen.

"First, we're going shopping." He said as he stood up and headed for the door.

Naruto quickly followed after the Hokage outside the apartment and I hesitantly trailed after them. What was the Hokage up to? I couldn't contact him for months and now we're going shopping?

The three of us walked into a crowded street with many civilians and shinobi alike. I had familiarized myself with the streets in the village this past year when I was left wandering alone and, most of the time, lost. But despite that, I quietly wondered why the Hokage decided to walk in crowded streets instead of the more convenient and quiet one. People made way for the Hokage and he calmly greeted them back. Hiruzen brought us to a shop.