Forever Mine

Chapter 32

[Anbu Building]

Naruto stood outside his friend-in-law's office feeling hesitant to open to door. He almost wished someone would tell him he wasn't allowed in the building just so he could leave.

It was no secret the way Kai had been acting for the past couple of months. Everyone was aware. Naruto wasn't sure if walking into his office would give him a front-row seat of his unhinged state or if he'd be professional considering he was at work.

Taking a deep breath, there was only one way to find out. He twisted the doorknob, however, before he was able to push it open, someone pulled it from the other side.

Light brown eyes and pale pink hair met his gaze shortly after.

"N—Naruto Uzumaki, sir." the flustered girl who he'd almost bumped into stammered. "It's a p—pleasure," she bowed.

"Come on, there's no need for that." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, secretly liking the admiration. "Straighten up."

Doing as told, the girl quickly fixed her hair, which was a bit disheveled, before patting down her clothes and adjusting her glasses. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think I'd be seeing you here of all places," she smiled as though she was a big fan. "I always wondered if I would ever get the chance to meet you someday. I hoped I would be considering you're close friends with Sasuke as well as Lady Saku—"

"That's enough, Yumi. Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Yumi's spine straightened at the stern voice coming from inside the office. Her blush spread further on her face before glancing back. "Yes, captain. I'm sorry."

As she bowed once again for the Uzumaki, he noticed her pale pink hair reminded him a bit of his cherry-blossomed-haired teammate. He didn't doubt both Sasuke and Kai noticed it at some point, too.

"Something you need?" Kai asked once Naruto had closed the door behind him.

He stood on his side of his desk while his eyes were set on the papers in front of him, his palms resting on the desk's surface. Occasionally, he would pick one up and set it somewhere different before scanning the next page.

"Yeah," Naruto walked closer to the desk. "I wanted to let you know I'm leaving on my mission tomorrow and was wondering if you wanted to send a message to—"

"Sakura?" Kai's gaze rapidly flew up to his. "You're going to see Sakura? You know where she is?" he straightened up from his slight bent-over stance, his voice shamelessly desperate.

"Uh, no. I'm not going to see Sakura." Naruto stated awkwardly. "Didn't you get Kakashi's letter? I'm going to see if Sasuke is good to come home soon or if he's going to stay longer. I wanted to know if you wanted to send him a message since he's one of your subordinates."

"Oh," Kai visibly relaxed. "No. Sasuke's skilled. I'm sure he's doing fine," he then proceeded with the work he was doing on his desk.

"Yeah... Well, that was all, so—"

"Okay," Kai interrupted without lifting his head. "If you don't mind, I'd appreciate you bringing me a report on how he's doing when you back."

"Sure," Naruto nodded and then was left standing in uncomfortable silence while Kai continued doing his work unfazed.

Seeing nothing else to say, he began walking toward the door, only to be stopped by his conscience before being able to even twist the door knob.

Naruto turned to face the anbu once again and then opened his mouth hesitantly, unsure of what to say. "Hey, man... Are you doing alright?"