The Demon They Once Feared. {BOOK 2}

|17|Surprise!

Mina winced slightly at the volume of Chiyumi's voice but nonetheless grinned. "Hey~" Mina responded, hugging Chiyumi back when the female threw herself at Mina. "What brings you to me?"

"I just said that I have something to show you!" Chiyumi grinned, pulling out of the hug and started to drag Mina down the road.

"Hey, Chiyumi?" The Uzumaki called, forcing Chiyumi to stop running down the dusty road, "I really appreciate that you helped me get back to a healthy state." Mina said, smiling a closed eye smile at the brown haired teen.

"It was no problem! I'm just glad you asked for our help since that kind of situation is quite hard to deal with." Chiyumi smiled at Mina, once again tugging at her wrist, dragging Mina to the place she promised to show. "Seriously Mina, your not in this alone. You have a lot of friends that will help you!"

Mina's violet eyes widened in that moment, staring blankly at Chiyumi -who had stopped walking- as the words processed in her mind. Her heart, one that seemed to be made of glass, that had multiple cracks and scratches in it, seemed to be slowly repairing. It felt as if her heart was about to burst from all the emotions Mina was feeling in that moment, good emotions. And for the first time in a long time, she truly felt happy.

"SURPRISE!" Chiyumi exclaimed, letting go of Mina's hand to showcase what she wanted to show Mina.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY~!" Multiple voices shouted out, surprising Mina. She stared blankly at the people standing in the clearing of the forest. Lanterns hung from the trees around the populated area, lighting up the night with a warm glow. Tables full of food placed around the clearing, with more lanterns hanging around. Mina's surprised violet eyes scanned the people in the beautiful area.

All had grins, happy expressions on their faces. Though, there were some that didn't seem to care. Shikamaru was staring at the young teen, with a bored expression, yawning every now and then. Mina laughed, he must think this is a waste of time.

"I know it's a little late," Tsunade spoke up, cheeks flushed and eyes on the droopy side, "But I managed to find some time to throw you guys a party." At the words the Hokage spoke, Mina looked over to Shizune, who seemed to be very stressed at the moment, trying to grab the bottle of sake away from the drunken blonde.

A large, very large, genuine smile spread across Mina's whiskered face. These are friends. It felt as if all weight was lifted off from Mina's being, somehow freeing her from the feeling of being alone. "LET THE PARTY BEGIN!"

~~~~

"It seems we haven't spoken in a while, Mina." At the sound of the sudden voice, Mina quickly hid the white glass bottle behind her back and pretended like she wasn't doing anything.

"Iruka-Sensei!" Mina exclaimed, laughing nervously, feeling a bead of sweat roll down the side of her cheek. "I-it's been a while, ya know, good to see you!" Mina noticed Iruka raising a curious eyebrow, appearing to be more on the sceptical side. But the expression fell as soon as Iruka noticed Mina's flushed cheeks, a lopsided grin on her face, and there was also the fact that Mina couldn't really stand straight. "But, why are you here~?"

"I came to congratulate you," he said awkwardly, scratching his cheek with his index finger. "And to apologise." At the more serious statement, Mina fell silent and was suddenly able to stand still. The grin dropped from her face and fell into a small pout.

"What for?" She questioned, walking to the bench that was nearby and sat down, Iruka following her actions.

"I was a terrible teacher and I realised a couple of years ago that how I was treating you and Naruto wasn't right," He sighed, looking away in shame.