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I made it to the training grounds early in hopes of catching Barbara off guard. But as usual she had beaten me to it, sitting on the grass, unperturbed.
"Urgh, how do you do it?" I groaned and fell beside her.
"There are C-rank genjutsu seals all over the place. Even if they were to recognise them, they won't be able to break it." She replied, ignoring my previous statement.
"Are you sure? C-rank is kinda low."
She gave me a small smile. "Of course they are. But they wouldn't know that."
At my confused expression she smirked. "Lets just say the seals have been customized into a different language."
I blinked. That was actually smart of her. They'd probably think its a high class jutsu and spend the rest of the day trying to decode it instead of muttering 'kai'.
Huh
"So, are we sparing or what?" The words came freely as the unknown weight of being watched lifted.
"No, today we're going to talk."
I shifted into a sitting position. "Well, if that's the case..."
I told her about the my training, about Nagato and I being semi-rivals and about Yahiko and Konan. Then Tsunade and my summonings.
I spoke about the beavers and what I'd learned about Energy Holders. Then about my experience in Prinid Void.
"...speaking of which Methuselah guy said you came before me. Does that mean you have a devil fruit too?"
Barbara shrugged. "Does it matter?"
I could almost feel my jaw drop. "Of course it does! Do you even know what this means. We're basically OOP now!"
"It wouldn't matter if you don't know how to use it. You said you have the ope ope no mi? Its basically useless in your hands since you don't have any medical knowledge. Methuselah didn't give us a boost, he gave us a liability."
This time my jaw did drop. Oh how I hated it. I hated how she was right. The old man had basically dropped a dead weight on our shoulders.
At that moment, I missed the feel of swimming.
A groan escaped my lips and I hit the ground in frustration. This was just too much.
"What do we do now Barb?"
"What we always do, train."
I huffed and crossed my arms, then uncrossed them. "So how was your three years? Did you manage to find your guy."
I did not notice the way her muscles stiffened, mind still sulking about the devil fruit.
"Yeah..."
"Seriously? Who was it?"
"Someone."
I felt like ripping her hair off. "Really Barb? Why do you always like to keep me in suspense?"
She shrugged.
"Come on Barb, just tell me. Who was it?"
"Lu."
"Do I know him?"
"Lucy-"
"Is he strong? Is he one of the main characters? Is he a villain? *gasps* Does he die?-"
"-RIN!"
I stopped in shock. The five years that we'd lived in Naruto, Barbara had never called me by that name. Never. Not even in front of others.
She sighed at my silence, rubbing her temples as if she'd scolded a child but now had to prevent her from crying.
I wasn't about to cry. Totally wasn't about to.
It was then I noticed her stiff posture and slight irritative mood. Although she still had her lazy, carefree aura, it was faint. I didn't want to say anything, but the words fell off before I could reign them in.
"Something happened, didn't it?"
Another sigh, her hand fell from her face and she got up. "Just drop it Lu."
"Okay."
One thing I should have told you about Barbara was that underneath that lazy attitude was a mystery well she alone knew about.
Anytime something happened she would quietly go there and drop it in. And it will never be brought back up again.
Barbara had been in the orphanage long before any one. Back then she was unapproachable...cold.
It was I who broke into that surface and crawled my way up into her heart. That's the only reason why I knew of that secret place.
"How do you cope with being an orphan?" I asked one time when we were alone in our room.
"My mystery well." She replied, eyes not leaving her book.
"Mystery well?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
Silence
"Do you know the story of the mystery well?"
"No." I pipped up, happy to hear a response that was not a phrase or word.
"I see."
Depression clouds loomed over my head as I sulked. It seemed I still had a long way to go before being accepted.
"It is believed that everybody has one, the mystery well."
I glanced at her, but Barb's gaze never left her book.
"As we grow, our minds become overfilled with memories. You know what happens when a computer is overloaded?"
I shook my head.
"It breaks down and malfunctions."
"Oh." I didn't want to malfunction. I thought then.
"That's where the mystery well comes in. It takes all the unnecessary memories and frees up space in our minds."
"Oh." I was glad then.
"It also serves as a double use. Whenever I experience something I don't want to remember, I gather the memory and drop it down the mystery well."
"Doesn't it ever fill up?"
"No, that's why its a mystery."
"Oh."
"So if the memory goes down the well, you feel better?"
"No"
"Then why use it then?"
Silence
"Your grief will never fully go away. But its easier to forget it. Forget the memory, forget the pain."
"Oh"
That night, I poured all memories down my mystery well, but the pain came back the next day. When I asked her she said.
"That's what happens the first time. The well will pop them up into your face, asking if you really want them there."
"So, if I keep pushing them down they'll never come back again?"
"Yes."
I realised then, that the reason why she'd never cried when she saw a family, or was reminded by the priest that we came into this world with parents was that she'd pushed her memories down so deep the well had probably gotten her response.
She hadn't dealt with the fact that she was an orphan.
She'd simply forgotten.
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A glimpse into the mind of our favourite best friend Barb! What do you think? I myself was surprised when my mind started forming all these words. I think I cried for her at some point.
Unto more happier news, we'll be meeting the Uchiha's next chap. Formally this time.