The Angel's Ambivalence [Naruto]

The Secret Message

"Don't remind me," I groaned, and he lapsed into silence, leading us to wherever the hell we were going.

~*~

"So this is where you were," I said, entering the Cipher Corps building. I spotted Mitchell and Kylie sitting at a table in a room filled with books that all contained different codes.

"Sorry we didn't tell you," Kylie apologized, "We didn't want to wake you. You looked like you had a long night."

Naruto snorted, and I shot him a look. Kylie raised an eyebrow at the gesture, but I was focused on Naruto.

"What?" He asked.

"Are you really going to keep doing this?" I asked him, tilting my head.

"You keep acting like you don't care," He pointed out. "Why can't I do the same?"

My emerald eyes bore into his blue ones, and we stared at each other for the longest time.

"Um... Okay?" Kylie said, confused.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, the code. What're we supposed to be deciphering?"

"This," Shikamaru said, sliding the picture of the small toad's back onto the table so Naruto and I could view it. "Lady Hokage and Kakashi-sensei had no idea of what it could mean. You were both Lord Jiraiya's students, so I figured you'd be able to tell more about it."

"It's just a bunch of numbers," Naruto said flatly, not even glancing at the picture.

"You haven't even looked at it," I said, scowling at him. "How do you expect to figure out what it means?"

"Maybe I don't want to know what it means, Minxie," He said.

"Well, you should, Naruto," I said.

"And you're gonna make me?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow. The whole time, we were stepping closer to each other, and now, we were directly in front of each other, staring at each other intently.

"Guys!" Mitchell shouted. "We're supposed to be deciphering a code, which we can't do if you two keep building up your sexual tension!"

"I'm not sure if we can decipher it," Naruto said. "Minxie isn't one to look into what someone means. She doesn't even bother."

"Can't you just let that go for two seconds?" I snapped, glaring at him.

"Why should I?" He shot back.

"Okay!" Shikamaru interrupted, "What the hell is going on with you two?"

"I told her that I'm in love with her," Naruto answered, his eyes never leaving mine.

Their reactions were priceless. I, on the other hand, wanted to crawl into a hole and never emerge again.

"And now things are just really awkward," Naruto finished.

I didn't know what to do anymore. I looked away from Naruto, unable to bear the look he was giving me.

"... Yeah," I said quietly. "And now the awkward silence is only making it more awkward, so..." I brought the picture to the center of the table. "We should get started with figuring out this code."

"She's right," Kylie said, trying to make the awkwardity more comfortable. "We should get to work."

"I'll start checking to see if this code corresponds with any of the ones in Konoha," I said quickly, walking towards the book shelf on the other side of the large room. Kylie, as expected, followed me.

"What... What happened last night?" She asked.

"He told me the truth," I replied. "And now he's being an ass."