24 Rolling in deep (2/2)

POOF!

Naruto scoffed as he made another clone, said copy cutting off his creator before he could speak, ”I know what you're about to say, and how about we skip it and I just go do what I was created for?”

The Shadow Clone didn't wait for an answer from the original, instead Hiraishining to Jessica's apartment in a slick yellow flash.

”Sage, I'm an asshole.”

-x-

”Jesus Christ!”

That was the first thing that the Naruto clone processed before ducking down to avoid the coffee cup that went flying where his head had once been.

Bringing his arms up in a defensive gesture, the clone shouted, ”Hey, hey! What's the big deal?!”

Jessica huffed as she flung her hair out of her face, ignoring the other Naruto in the room who was looking at the situation with a large, amused smile, ”You don't just appear in someone's home like that! One second you're not there, then you just…are! It's creepy as shit, you fucker!”

”Sorry!” He apologized, now glaring at his brother clone, ”What're you smirking at?”

”It's just fun to see her yelling at someone else for a change.” The other clone admitted.

Jessica and the second clone both gave him a deadpan, ”You're the same person.” Jessica drawled.

”Still.” The clone insisted with a shrug.

Sighing, the newer clone said, ”The boss wanted me to tell you to pop.”

The older of the two raised an eyebrow, ”He had to send you to tell me that?”

”He knows that Jessica wanted to talk to me afterwards.”

”Why didn't he just come himself?” Jessica asked.

The Shadow Clone shrugged, ”He's got his hands full.”

”Of course he does.” She muttered, folding her arms under her chest.

The older copy gave the patented Naruto smile as he said, ”Well, it's bee-” Only to cut off by a right hook from Jessica, quickly exploding in a cloud of smoke from the force of the punch.

The remaining Naruto clone raised an eyebrow, nodding appraisingly, ”Wow, that was a reinforced clone. It's pretty impressive that you busted him with just a punch.”

Jessica shook her hand, a red mark now running along her knuckles, ”It felt like I was punching a wall, before I could punch through 'em.”

As she said that, a massive wave of memories came flooding in, the clone stumbling from the sudden intake, ”Wow.” He muttered as he steadied himself.

”What was that?” The private investigator asked.

The clone groaned a bit as a head ache began to pound along his skull, ”Too many memories at once. I don't usually let clones last that long.”

Jessica nodded along, ”So, you know what we found out then? About that client?”

He shrugged, ”It's there, but I think for right now it'd be better if you just told me about it. It'll help the memories settle quicker.”

”Fine.” She relented with a slight roll of her eyes. Walking over to her desk she pulled out a folder from one of the drawers. Flipping it open she began, ”The clients name, you might remember, is Gloria Cartwright. Her husband, Jason, went missing several days ago. Mr. Cartwright worked as an on-call consultant for Confederated Global Investments. The last time Mrs. Cartwright saw her husband was when he left for work the morning he disappeared. According to Mrs. Cartwright, he's never without his phone due to the nature of his position, as he's on call 24/7. So, when he didn't come home later in the night, she called to see what was keeping him, only to get no answer. That being an immediate red flag for her, the client called several more times in worry, with still no answer. She later called the police to look into it, but they said unless she had a legitimate reason for filing a Missing Persons, there was nothing they could do.”

”Sounds reasonable.” The shadow clone observed.

”That's why I didn't want to take the job.” Jessica admitted, guilt free, ”Most of the time in a case like this the spouse is off fucking some dude.”

”So what did she say when you went to talk to her?”

”Naruto and I,” Stopping herself, she sighed, ”I'm going to call the clone I was with Naruto, for simplicity's sake. God this is a mind fuck of a conversation.”

”Yup.” The clone chirped happily.

”Naruto and I showed up at her house and she told us about how she'd remembered that she'd installed a GPS tracker in her husband's car, without her husband knowing, of course.”

”Why?”

”Back when she did it she thought he was cheating on her, so she put that tracker in his car to see where he went when he said he was out on business. Turned out she was just being paranoid. Anyway, we used the tracker and saw that his car was parked in a McDonald's parking lot in Manhattan and that it had been parked there since three in the morning. So, Naruto and I drove up to take a look. Pulling into the parking lot we saw that the driver's side window had been smashed in, the door was ajar, blood and glass was on the ground next to the car, and tire marks could be seen exiting the parking lot.”

”Well shit.”

”Yeah.” Jessica muttered, pulling out her flask from her pocket to take a quick sip. Putting it back in place she said, ”We called the police after that. After we talked with them, we tracked down where Mr. Cartwright had been earlier that day. While the police were focused on finding out what happened in the parking lot, Naruto and I decided to go through his entire GPS history from the beginning to see where he was, what he did, and for how long. First place was a bar, the bar we went to in fact.”

The clone blinked, ”Spooky.”

”Coincidence is more like it.” Jessica said, annoyed at the pointless interruption, ”He was there for about twenty minutes before he drove off to a warehouse in Queens, where the car was parked for nearly three hours. After that he drove to a diner where we assume he ate for twenty minutes before departing for a neighborhood in Harlem. He was there for five hours.”

”Do you know why he was at that warehouse and neighborhood for so long?” The copy asked.

”I was getting to that.” Jessica snipped, ”We did some digging, the warehouse is owned by Confederated Global Investments, well it's owned by a subsidiary within a subsidiary of theirs anyway. So, it's pretty easy to assume that was his 'business call,' if one were to question why he'd go there. So there was nothing really all that fishy about that. The neighborhood on the other hand, well that was a whole other thing.”

The memory of why came to the clone, causing his brow to furrow, ”A family in that neighborhood had been brutally executed that same night, around the time his GPS said he was there.”

”Exactly.” Jessica said with a nod, ”That isn't a coincidence.”

Naruto shook his head, ”So, the theory is that Mr. Cartwright is a murderer?”

”My original thought was that he was a serial killer using his job as an excuse to go out and do whatever it is that he does.” Jessica reasoned, ”But after some digging we found that the family he killed, the husband to be exact, was heavily connected to the New York drug ring.”

”With you concluding that Mr. Cartwright was working for a faction of a New York crime syndicate and had been hired to kill that family.” Naruto continued for her, the memories finally coming together.

”And that his disappearance was related to that hit.” Jessica concluded, ”A hitman getting justice.”

Naruto nodded, ”That is until you got the call from Gloria telling you that Mr. Cartwright had been found, the man killed in some kind of cultic ritual.”

Jessica flipped through the folder, pulling out several pictures she'd taken. They were pictures of another set of pictures from the police department, ”We went to the police, where they told us that Mr. Cartwright's case was similar to several other cases that had begun to spring up around New York in the past two years, him being the twelfth victim in that timeframe.”

Sliding the pictures over to get a closer look, the clone frowned at the pictures that were captured. They were autopsy photos, each and every one of the victims having been burned to the point of being unrecognizable.

”Each of the men found were similar in almost every way. Male, young in age, blonde hair and blue eyes, and physically fit. Autopsies showed that some of the victims had been mutilated post mortem, three horizontal cuts on each cheek.”

The clone felt himself getting nauseas, ”Sage help me.” He muttered, bringing his hand to his lips in thought.

”When the media dubbed these guys the Cult of Maelstrom last year, they left a note on their next victim calling themselves Heavenly Fire.” Jessica informed softly, watching the now pale blonde in front of her carefully, ”Other than that, they haven't given an official statement.”

Swallowing the bile in his throat, the Shadow Clone gagged out, ”Why would they do something like this?”

Jessica shrugged, ”It's hard to tell with these kinds of things. It's impossible to know if they're doing it in honor or to spite you. Either way, they're fascinated by you.”

”But why though?” He asked, ”What have I done to deserve this kind of…I don't even know what to call this.”

Frown in place, Jessica said, ”You're more than just a regular person here, Naruto. If you'd just walk outside and stand around, you'd be swarmed by people wanting to know who and what you are. They don't know whether to call you a man, a messiah, or just a flat-out god. The news, after the Incident, was filled with speculation.” Stepping around the desk so that she was close to the blonde clone, she continued, ”And you wanna know why? Because you do all this crazy shit, like fly and walk on water, turn yourself into a being of fire, and all other kinds of things that should be make believe bull shit. You did all of this and leave it at that. You don't say who you are, what you're doing here. You just show up, do something insane, then disappear. So, of course people are going to make assumptions of what you are and what you represent. And out of all those theories, all of those assumptions, one or two of them is going to be fucking insane. Because that's just how this world works.”

Naruto looked at the woman in awe, ”What should I do then?”

”Just do what I do.” She offered, ”Deal with it when it pops up, then continue your stride.”

The clone gave her an annoyed look, ”That's…not exactly my style.”

Jessica shrugged, ”Your loss then.” Taking another step closer, she said, ”Tell the original that if he wants to drop by, don't just…whatever it is you call that thing you do, it's rude.”

She didn't give the clone time to respond, throwing an upper cut into his abdomen and causing it to combust into a wispy cloud of smoke.

-x-

Naruto blinked as his Shadow Clones memories came flooding in, frowning at the news, ”Heavenly Inferno.” He muttered, rubbing his chin, Naruto scowled as he realized he needed a shave. Then again, he didn't like henging nonstop while on Earth. He pulled of a beard pretty well, maybe it was time to make it a permanent thing.

His train of thought was cut off by the sound of Illyana groaning next to him. In the short time she'd been asleep, he'd decided to heal away her intoxication, his chakra getting rid of the excess alcohol in her system. Enough to keep her from getting sick but stopping there to make sure she'd feel some of the hangover when she woke up. Gotta love the mulligan that is chakra.

Continuing her silent groaning, Illyana made to get up, only to wince when a headache came rushing in. Blinking her eyes open, she spotted Naruto standing a few feet away from her.

”Naruto?” She muttered, looking around she asked, ”What time is it?”

”Nearly four in the afternoon.” Naruto answered.

”Can…can I get a glass of water? And a painkiller?” Illyana murmured.

The ninja nodded, ”Sure.”

As Naruto walked into the kitchen area, Illyana grunted as she slowly sat up in her seat, softly massaging her scalp she asked, ”What…happened exactly? I think I blacked out.”

Naruto voice echoed from the kitchen along with the sound of the faucet running and filling up a glass, ”Oh, you definitely blacked out. When I found you, you had pretty much polished off a bottle of vodka by yourself.”

”Found me?” She asked confusedly.

”You were out in front of the building, swimming.” He answered, coming back into the room with a glass filled with water and a bottle of painkillers.

”There isn't a swimming pool in front of my building.”

”Yup.”

As realization crept in, Illyana finally took stock of what she was wearing. Blushing, she pulled Naruto's jacket tighter around her frame, ”Oh, God.”

Naruto smiled weakly as he handed her the glass, ”Yup.”

Illyana brought the glass up to her lips, hiding the blush that had begun to build, ”I can't believe…were there people there?”

”No.” Naruto lied, deciding to show the girl some pity.

She sighed in relief at that, ”Oh, thank God.”

As she reached for the bottle of pills in his hand, Naruto pulled them back so they were out of her reach, ”No, I think I'm going to hold onto these for a sec.”

”Come on Naruto, please-”

”Why were you drinking yourself to death?” Naruto cut in, his voice in order to make her realize he was serious.

Illyana verbally stopped in her tracks, blinking in surprise at the question before turning her head in what Naruto assumed was shame, ”I don't know.”

”You know I have the ability to know when someone's lying, right?” As she continued to look away he continued, ”But I don't need to turn it on when you're lying that badly. You're officially the second worst liar I know.”

”Who's the first?”

Though he recognized the attempt to change the conversation, Naruto answered anyway, ”A woman named Gamora.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, before Illyana finally gave a heavy sigh. Looking Naruto in the eye, she whispered, ”I think you know why.”

Naruto's eye's softened, ”I want you to tell me.”

Her sigh now agitated, she said, ”It was my first. My first kill. In Wakanda.”

Naruto kept quiet, knowing that the issue was boiling up to the breaking point.

”I…I know that I did the right thing. I mean, he nearly killed you. I keep replaying it in my head, and every time I can't see an alternate route where he didn't have to die and you'd be safe. It's not even the act of it. I thought that that would be the worst part, living with the fact that I had ended a person's existence, that his future was gone. But it doesn't. And that's what scares me.” Illyana was rambling now, the emotions that had built up over the last few days now powering out, ”Why doesn't it bother me, Naruto?” She pleaded, tears cascading down her cheeks.

Naruto scooted up close to her, sitting down right next to her as he said softly, ”When I was a fourteen, I was on a trip with my master. He had taken me out of the village so that I could learn how to control the power inside of me and not hurt anyone while doing it. In order to make money and test my growing skills while away, the leader of my village would send us missions to complete once a month. On one mission, we'd bent sent to confront a group of enemy ninjas stationed just along our borders who had gotten too close to our side. When we got there, the ninjas we were supposed to kill had been attacked, killed by a missing ninja who had happened to cross paths with them. But…one of them was still alive, but he was barely clinging to life. He was in so much pain.” Catching his breath, Naruto quickly collected himself before continuing, ”My master ordered me to kill him, out of mercy. It was hard, but in the end I forced myself to do it. At first, I couldn't understand why he'd make me do such a thing, but afterwards he told me that it was to both show me how to be merciful and how to be ruthless, and that I needed both to be Hokage. That was my first real kill. Where I'd done it with my bare hands and watched the life leave their eyes.”

”Was it hard?” Illyana asked.

Naruto shook his head, ”Not as much as I thought it would. You always think that it will, that it'll stick with you forever. But it doesn't. You move on, because you have to. That's how we stay sane, I think.” Smiling sadly, he muttered, ”It's when someone you love dies that it sticks to you. Those never go away, ever.”

”Then why do I feel this way?”

”Because you're a good person.” Naruto answered, ”You hold life in high regard, murder disgusts you. But you'll move passed it, because you're strong.”

Tears still spilling, Illyana hiccupped, ”I'm not as strong as you think I am.”

”Then I'll help you.” Naruto insisted, ”If you can't carry the burden, I'll take the leftover weight with a smile on my face. What're friends for?” Opening the bottle of painkillers, he reached out and opened her palm. Spilling a couple pills into her hand he said, ”Take these, you'll feel better.”

”Thank you.” She whispered.

”No problem.” Naruto soothed, running his thumb under her eyes to clear the tears away, ”I got us a new member, by the way.”

Enjoying the change in subject, Illyana asked, ”Who, T'Challa?”

Naruto shook his head, ”No, he straight up refused. It's his sister, Shuri.”

”The one you saved?” Seeing his nod, she asked, ”Why? What does she bring to the table?”

”She's offered to be our quartermaster. That means tech and funding and stuff.” Naruto informed.

”Oh, well we definitely need stuff.” Illyana admitted.

The man smirked, ”That's what I was thinking.”

Illyana smiled along. Having finally calmed down, she said, ”Thank you, Naruto.”

”No problem, Ana.”

Flinching, Illyana forced a smile. The reaction leaving as quick as it came, she said, ”I'm sorry, for earlier.”

Naruto chuckled, ”Just don't do it again, alright? Or if you do, invite me along so that you're not one of those weirdos that drinks alone.”

Naruto began to remove his hand from her face, her tears now cleared, only for her own to shoot up and softly clasp on, keeping his hand in place. Blinking at the gesture, he looked the woman in the eyes, his question visible in his expression.

Illyana, her hand still holding his, fought to keep eye contact, refusing to break away. Leaning in slowly, she didn't stop until their noses were practically touching before hesitating, coming to a stop as she stared her into her reflection coming from Naruto bright blue eyes.

Pulling back, Naruto broke their stare as he pried his hand free. Coughing into his now free hand, Naruto muttered, ”Sorry.”

”No, no.” Illyana replied, ”I shouldn't, I mean…I'm sorry.”

He chuckled again, though it lacked any real humor, ”Well, let's both be sorry and call it even then.”

”Naruto, I-”

Getting up, Naruto cut her off, ”Do you…do you want to-”

”No!” Illyana interrupted, ”Well, I mean…I don't really know.”

Naruto shifted back and forth on his feet awkwardly, ”I just…don't think it would be a good idea.”

”I know.” She agreed immediately.

”Then why-”

”I don't know.” Illyana answering slowly this time, looking up at him, her eyes quivering.

Naruto hummed to himself, ”I don't have the greatest experience with this kinda stuff. I never have been-”

He was cut off as Illyana rushed forward, dipping into him and planting her lips onto his. While the action was forceful, the kiss was soft. Naruto, taken aback, could only stand there as his friend press herself into him. Needing air, his lips parted out of instinct. Mistaking this as a sign that he wanted more, Illyana slipped her tongue in between their lips. Unable to fight it anymore as his eyes began to close, Naruto slowly reached up and grasped her hips, pulling her in even closer.

Pulling apart, the two huffed as they eyed each other up and down. Naruto quickly cut their break short, bringing his lips back onto hers, picking her up before pressing her down on the couch next to them. As their tongues began to wrestle, Naruto pulled off his jacket from her shoulders, leaving her in her bikini. Wanting to reciprocate, Illyana tugged at his shirt, pulling it up and over his head before throwing it away in a random direction. Running her hands up his abdomen, she felt a strange delight at feeling him shiver at her touch.

Running his hand up and down her leg, Naruto pulled back for a moment, the two breathing excessively due to lack of air.

Catching her breath, Illyana mumbled, ”We…should stop, right?”

”Probably.” Naruto shrugged.

The two seemed to think it over for a moment before continuing their previous action, only this time Naruto had placed his other hand along her waste, the hand slowly crawling up as their lips dance together.

-x-

”Should I go to him now?” Asked a feminine voice.

After some thought, a deep voice throttled out, ”No, not yet. We can give him a little more time, we still have three years before she arrives after all.”

”But wouldn't it be better to get it over with? It would be a weight lifted from your shoulders. Don't you want that, before you pass over?” The woman asked.

”My sins will stick with me no matter what, in life or death, my child.” The elder answered.

”If you say so.” She retorted weakly.

The second voice paused in thought, ”Patience child, we will contact him soon enough.”

”Of course, my king.”

-x-

Naruto stirred, awaking to find himself in his mindscape. More specifically, the darkened corner of the seal harboring the presence of the mistress of death, or Freyja as she preferred. Spotting the small campfire sitting in the middle of an otherwise endless darkness, Naruto walked towards the light at a calm pace, taking his time to reach the homely campfire.

Spotting the woman sitting down in the same spot he'd left her, Naruto slowly sat down across from her, getting comfortable as he stared through the fire at the enchantingly beautiful woman.

”Hello, beloved.” She called out softly, smiling at the man she claimed to love, ”You've been productive.”

”Is that a joke, Freyja?” Naruto muttered.

”Not at all.” Giving a teasing smile, Freyja asked, ”It looked like you were enjoying yourself though.”

Naruto sighed, ”That…was a mistake.”

Freyja tiled her head in curiosity, gathering her thoughts she asked, ”Why?”

”It just, it just was.” Naruto stuttered, ”I can't explain why, it just didn't feel right to me.”

”Do you really not care for Illyana?” She asked, though the question seemed rhetorical.

Naruto shook his head, ”No, I do. She's important to me.”

Freyja smiled, ”Then why are you feeling this way?”

Scratching his head, he shook his head, ”You tell me.” He said jokingly.

”Okay.” Freyja conceded much to Naruto's surprise. Getting up, she practically glided over to him. Resting her hand atop his head, she ran her fingers along his hair, ”Your entire life, you've never really been able to let people go. Positive or negative, if someone left an impression, it stayed with you. That's how your friendships were made. But, it's also been a major source of heart ache. Sasuke being the best example. Even after the bond between you was broken, you refused to let go.”

”What're you saying?” Naruto breathed out, looking up at her as he tried to ignore the soothing feeling she gave him.

”I'm saying that a part of you still hasn't let go of what you and Natasha had. Even though you've severed it, that lonely child who grew up with no one to love refuses to let go of the one woman who's ever trulyloved you.” Freyja explained, ”But you need to realize that the feelings you have for Illyana could become something just as genuine. You need to let go, so that you can have that kind of love again. Do you understand?”

At that, the two stayed in strange but comfortable silence, one in thought the other out of curtesy. Clearing his throat, Naruto asked, ”Why are you telling me this stuff? Don't you, you know, love me? Shouldn't you be upset that I feel this way?”

Freyja gave a small laugh, ”I'm doing this because I love you. For the first time in my existence, I have the opportunity to put someone else's needs above my own. It's a liberating feeling.”

”You've never loved anyone else before?” Asked a curious Naruto.

”Not before you.” She admitted, Naruto seeing a flicker of he recognized as sadness in her eyes.

Naruto frowned, ”I'm sorry.”

Freyja looked at Naruto in confusion, ”Why are you sorry?”

”Because…you had to have been lonely, and I know how that feels. And well, I'm sorry that you've lived like that until now.” He offered.

His words caused Freyja to look away, ”You don't need to apologize.”

”Still.” Naruto muttered. After some thought, he said, ”I can't promise that I'll ever feel the same way you do.”

Freyja frowned softly, ”I know.”

”But I can promise to be your friend.”

Surprised, the embodiment of death looked towards the man she loved, looking him in the eye for confirmation. Her frown morphing into a small, but truly happy smile, she whispered, ”I can except that, for now.”

The two shared a smile as a bright light filled the area, swallowing Naruto whole.

-x-

Slowly, Naruto's eyes creaked open as he felt something next to him pressing hard into his shoulder. Lifting his head up slowly, he took a quick look around Illyana's bedroom, her sheets half hazardly thrown over them. Shifting slowly, he looked over to see Illyana resting her head on his shoulder, her mouth open as she breathed softly. Smiling down at her, Naruto decided to keep still as much as possible, allowing her to sleep obliviously as he gazed at her unblemished features.

”What are you doing, Naruto?”

Naruto fought back the sigh from escaping his lips, ”I'm just…going with it.” He thought.

Kurama scowled, ”Is that really the smartest thing to do?”

”I don't know.”

”You're supposed to work with her, aren't you? What happens when this falls apart?” The Biju asked.

It was Naruto's turn to scowl, ”What makes you automatically think something like that? Why can't this just happen?”

”I'm just looking out for you, partner.”

Without thinking, Naruto spoke aloud, ”I'm tired of being alone.”

As Illyana stirred from the volume of his voice, Kurama muttered, ”You never are.”

Her eyes pealing open, Illyana yawned as she looked up. Seeming noticing she was practically laying on top of someone, Naruto felt her jolt slightly as she looked over at him. Several emotions swept across her face that Naruto immediately recognized. Surprise, recognition, and then regret.

”Hey.” He said weakly.

”H-Hey.” She said back, forcing herself up and off of him so with her hands as support, ”What time is it?”

Looking over at the alarm clock stationed on her nightstand next to him, Naruto read, ”Seven in the morning.”

”It's morning?” When he nodded along, she muttered, ”Jesus.”

The two sat there, Illyana pulling up the blanket thrown around them to cover herself. Trying to fight off the uncomfortableness of their silence, Naruto asked, ”Did you…like it? I mean, you know.” Only to flinch at the stupid question.

”Yeah, I did.”

”Oh.” Naruto muttered awkwardly, ”Good.”

Illyana squirmed, ”This was a mistake, right?”

Glancing over at her, Naruto shrugged, ”I don't really know, to be honest.”

”Yeah.” She said slowly.

”What do you think?” He offered.

”I'm still trying to process that it happened, I think.” She chuckled quietly.

Naruto laughed along, ”I know what you mean.

Their laughter contagious, Illyana said, ”We are so stupid.”

”I mean, what were we thinking?” Naruto continued light heartedly.

”That's the problem, I don't think we were.” She finished, using her hand to move her hair out of her face.

The laughter subsiding, a new silence came, this own more comfortable.

Leaning forward, Naruto scratched his bed ridden hair, ”Can I tell you something?”

”Sure.” Illyana answered, curious.

”I know that this was probably stupid. I know that we have a really cool thing going, and if you don't want to complicate it I understand. I just keep getting in my own head, trying to think up a reason for why this is wrong and stupid and why it just shouldn't happen. But no matter how many reasons I think of, I still don't really care. You know?” Pausing, Naruto said, ”When I was a kid, I would throw around the label 'precious person' to anyone who didn't outright hate me. But after coming here, it got really hard to call anyone that. It still is.”

Illyana sat there, listening to the blonde as he spoke his mind.

Looking her in the eye, he finished his thought, ”But, I can with you.”

Soaking in his words, Illyana placed her hand on his, ”You're important to me too.”

As Naruto began to smile, he was cut off by a soft, ”But.”

”But?”

Taking a shaky breath in as she squeezed his hand tighter, she continued, ”But, I can't be the kind of person you want me to be. You're smart, and handsome, and brave, and sweet. But, you're also broken. Every time you look at me, I don't feel like you're looking at me. I feel like I'm a reflection or something, of somebody you knew. You do it without even meaning to. I know that you're going to look to me to fix you, and I know that I can't do that. I'm not capable of filling this hole you have.”

Naruto looked down, a feeling he'd grown to understand came up from his stomach and into his throat, rejection. Nodding he said, ”Okay.”

As though trying to comfort him, her hand squeezed even tighter around his. And, strangely, it worked. If only a little, ”That doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend, or your partner.”

Smiling sadly, Naruto chuckled, ”I meant what I said about you being precious to me. That kinda thing doesn't go away, so I'm told.”

”I'm sorry.”

”Me too.”