Honey & Kunai - A Naruto Fanfiction-

Seven: Bad Influences

The next day after the talk with the family, I had yet to be released. Duelo found something during one of my check ups and so I wasn't discharged. Instead he was busy ordering nurses to monitor my vitals while he talked with Jun-jiji and Mim about what was going on in private. A nurse strolled into the room with a small food cart. She set the food on my bed tray and then left. I felt a bright mass of chakra.

'Oh shit. I forgot I was supposed to meet him!'

I stared at the door and wondered when he'd barge in. I raised an eyebrow as the door creaked open slightly.

"H-Hello?" I shook my left arm to make the jingling noise, maybe he'd remember the noise I made when moving. Instantly the door flung open and there stood the hyperactive blonde boy with the orange vest and shorts, in all his loud glory.

"Hey! I got the right room!" A smile crept on my face seeing Uzumaki Naruto only to falter as I noticed his facial expression. He looked mad as he entered the room. I think he noticed something was wrong as I was in the hospital and a bit of concern was revealed through his eyes.

"Hachiko-chan! What happened to ya? I waited for you at the alley every day! After you didn't show up, I started to look for ya to get some answers ya know. At first when you didn't show up, I thought you were like the rest of them and I got angry because... Y-You're my first friend. I didn't want to lose ya." His word's left me speechless, for lack of a better word. I jumped out of the bed and reached forward to hug him, startling him in the process.

'I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything you've had to suffer, everything you will go through… I don't deserve your friendship but I'll do my damn best to make sure you don't suffer too much. I will not abandon you.'

I silently promised and put into that hug everything I had felt in the past few days… All the sadness, all the longing to move on. To me this was a goodbye hug to all those pent up feelings. I think Naruto felt that my hug was more than just a consolation hug as he hugged me too but his feelings, I didn't know what they were. We turned into a crying mess and when we let go, I felt light. He gave me a weak smile with a small blush.

"Why are we crying? This is a reunion ya know." I wiped my tears with my hand and nodded. I shared my meal with him and he talked mostly about what he had been up to and how he had looked for me and never thought about the hospital until he heard some of the nurses talking about that 'the wild mute child was back in the hospital' and decided on a whim to see if that same child was me. His tale was entertaining but at the same time, I felt like enacting some revenge on those gossiping nurses. Maybe Naruto would be willing to set a prank or two loose on my behalf.

The door to the hospital room opened and Naruto jumped off my bed and stood shyly as Jun-jiji, Mim and Duelo entered. Jun-jiji glared at Naruto who glared back only furthering Jun-jiji's scowl. Mim's face was stern as she looked between Naruto and I. Duelo was the only one who had a little smile on his face, even if it was forced.

"Ah I see you have a visitor. Naruto-kun, I didn't know you were friends with Hachiko." Naruto's glare lightened up a bit as he looked at Duelo.

"Y-Yeah." Naruto said with a hard voice and Duelo nodded.

"I need to give her a check up and have a talk with her and her grandparents. How about you come visit tomorrow?" Duelo was being nice to Naruto and that was a relief.

"Alright Duelo-oyaji." I kept myself from having a fit of giggles and I couldn't help but wonder how long they had known each other. Naruto turned to me and gave me a warm smile.

"I'll be back tomorrow and I'll see if I can sneak you in some ramen from Ichiraku's so you don't have to eat this nasty hospital food. I can't become Hokage without my future right-hand woman being unhealthy and all because the hospital food is nasty." I gave him a toothy smile and nodded. He grinned. I earned a hard stern look from Mim and Jun-jiji's glared at Naruto intensified as he left.