The Demon They Once Feared. {BOOK 2}

|12| Happy Rain.

"I'm going to take a walk," She informed with the rare loving voice. She knew he was upset about what happened, so she trod on steady ground with the tone of voice she used. "I'll see you at home for dinner, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya." Was Naruto's oddly calm reply. And with another smile, she turned on her heels and walked the opposite direction. The black fabric of her dress fluttering softly behind her. During the ceremony, the sky had turned to a grey colour, signalling that rain was clearly going to fall.

How cliche.

And slowly, little droplets of water started falling to the ground. It wasn't that intense but rain was definitely falling.

Her face remained blank, a strange feeling in her chest. She didn't know what it was, but it wasn't the usual feeling she had. Although, when she thought of the so-called normal feeling, she wondered what it actually was. It wasn't happiness, she knew how it felt to be happy, sad and all the common feelings. Yet, now, in this moment in time, she didn't know what to feel, did she even feel anything?

She tilted her head to the side noticing a figure sitting on the damp grass. The man's knees were pulled to his chest, with his arms resting on them, staring off into the distance. His brown hair was clearly wet, along with the rest of his clothes, yet somehow his hair still managed to spike up looking like a pineapple.

It was raining, so it wasn't clear, but Mina could somehow see that there were dried tear streaks. She walked to him and crouched in front of him, making sure she didn't fall down the hill. Shikamaru didn't say anything and silently watched her smile softly.

"Hey," She finally whispered, only getting a blink in response. "How are you?" She questioned after another short moment of silence. Instantly she felt stupid, of cause he would feel terrible when someone close to them suddenly disappears. But she wanted to know how he felt.

He didn't respond to her, instead, he closed his eyes and turned away, in attempts to hide his face. But the tears that slid down his face were noticed by the Uzumaki, she lifted her hand and wiped them away.

"It's painful, isn't it?" She mumbled, "right here." She poked her chest where her heart was located. "Losing someone is painful, especially when that someone is close to you." She moved her hand to his shoulder, a grin stretching out on her face, "It's alright to cry, ya know. It just shows we have emotions and we're human." Her large grin fell into a soft smile, watching the boy in front of her not say anything in response. "It's a pain in the neck if you ask me." She muttered, deadpanning slightly. She stretched out her other hand and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer. "But it's alright," She said, wrapping her slim but sturdy arms around his shoulders as his head rested just below her neck. There she felt his warm tears soaking into her black dress, contrasting to the cold rainwater. "They'll live on, Asuma and Hideki, in our mind and heart, so it's alright. Everything's alright."

".....Troublesome." Mina heard his muffled voice and felt the rumble it gave of as he spoke, only then realising what she was doing. But she didn't pull away, her arms tightening slightly as the heat rose to her cheeks. Violet eyes widened in shock when she unexpectedly felt his own arms snake around her waist.

But the longer they sat in the suttle rain, embracing each other, comforting each other for the loss they had felt, something felt off. In the depths of Shikamaru's heart, a feeling of disorder settled. Was it the words Mina just said? Something did feel off about the words she spoke, but it did have the effect of making him feel better. Shaking off the feeling, the brown-haired boy appreciated the warmth Mina's body was giving off.

Cold. Those deep violet eyes, stared forward, confused, yet it didn't quite show through her eyes. They were blank, radiating no warmth, no happiness, no life... just nothing. They were cold, her gaze was ice cold. And as she hugged the boy in her arms, feeling his warmth, she realised just how cold she was. Her physical body was warm, yes, her soul and spirit were cold, even her mind.

She closed her eyes, somewhat enjoying the warmth, but as soon as she did. Those images appeared. Stained in red, nothing really clear, dark images, shadows, but the thing was clear, the bloody red. Those violet eyes opened again. Only this time it was out of fear. The warmth she felt disappeared, along with the images.

Her breath hitched, realising what was happening. The boy in front of her eyes faded into nothingness. Confusion flashing in her eyes when he disappeared. Why did he just disappear? "Because you will always be alone." The unspoken question was answered anyway.

"Mina," Her name being called brought her out of her daze. She blinked those violet eyes, being brought back to reality.

"Hm?" She responded, pulling away from the hug, still in a daze.

The boy sighed, pulling away fully and standing up. "I better get going." Was all he said before he walked off into the direction of his some.

"I'll see you later!" She called after him, standing up herself and waving. "OH! MAKE SURE TO PUNCH HIS TEETH SO FAR DOWN HIS THROAT, THAT HE'LL BE EATING SH** FOR THE REST OF HIS SHORT LIFE!" She yelled, laughing at the lazy thumbs up she got from him.

~~~

The burning sensation was somewhat pleasant as she took another sip of the alcohol. Her violet eyes were glazed over as she stared at the wet weather outside. The rain had increased in intensity, tainting the window with beautiful raindrops that slid down the clear glass at times. But she wasn't looking through the glass.

Her head tilted to the side, watching the village out of the small balcony their apartment had, not caring if she got soaked in rainwater. A strange feeling in her chest. She recognised it and didn't question it, instead, she embraced it and let the emotion show on her face.

Her lips twitched up.

The cool drops of precipitation were pleasant in this way. The way that she wasn't trapped in a dark room, with the tortures dip sound that occurred every other second. But this way, where she could clearly see the rain, hear the multiple drops, it was entertaining.

She was happy, for some odd reason.

But the empty feeling still remained.

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Barry-The-Berry~

01/01/18 <-- That's gonna take some time to get used to, 2018.