Paranoia || Naruto Uzumaki ||

Paranoia || Naruto Uzumaki || Chapter 12

           By the time Naruto arrived home, Melanie had already cleared off his coffee table of old take-out boxes. He inwardly cringed. He had meant to clean before leaving to stay at Melanie’s but it had sounded so boring at the time. He found Melanie in the kitchen, cleaning out even more take-out boxes from his sink and fridge.

           “If I knew you were going to clean for me, I would have insisted we stayed here,” Naruto teased as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

           “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” Melanie said sarcastically but Naruto could tell she was smiling. “I could even wear a maid’s costume.”

           “Kinky, I like it!” He snickered as Melanie smacked his arm. “Where’s dinner?”

           “In the microwave, the only clean place I could find.”

           Naruto nodded, not surprised. He never used his microwave or stove for that matter. He was a horrible cook and found the task to be tedious. Why cook when he could just stop at Ichiraku's for some ramen?

           He pulled the bag out of the microwave, opening it to find sandwiches, sodas and piece of chocolate cake from Space Jam. By the time Melanie had finished dragging the bulging trash bag to the front door, Naruto had dinner set up on his coffee table. She sat next to him on the couch grabbing the plate with her sandwich. They ate in a comfortable silence until Melanie let out a sigh.

           “What’s wrong?”  Naruto asked. He had inhaled his sandwich and was waiting eagerly for Melanie to finish so he could eat the cake.

           She set down her sandwich. “I was just thinking about Kabuto’s dinner invitation.”

           “What about it?” Naruto asked, hoping she decided not to go.

           “Do you trust me?”

           “Of course I do,” Naruto said instinctively. 

           “No, seriously, do you trust me?” Melanie said putting an emphasis on trust. Naruto could see her twisting the ring on her middle finger, something she did when she was worried. He grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze.

           “I’ve trusted you from the moment I saw you with your broken chain.”

           “That doesn’t make sense.”

           “I’m just saying that I’ve always trusted you.”

           Melanie frowned, clearly not satisfied with his answer. “Yeah but do you trust me?” She asked again.

           Naruto took a deep breath before speaking, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking or where this is coming from.”

           Melanie fell silent but unlike before the silence between them was tense. At last she spoke, “Why did you willingly agree to go to dinner with Kabuto?”

           “Because if that’s what you want to do, then I’d be willing to go,” Naruto said patiently. He felt like he was getting whiplash from her sudden changes in topics.

           “But you hate him.”

           “I do.” Naruto didn’t deny it.

           Melanie fell silent again but Naruto was starting to put the pieces together. “Did Kabuto happen to mention who was going to his dinner?”