SICK || A Naruto FanFiction

6. Questions

DAY 1

Kakashi regarded Ken Mitarashi carefully. He watched her every move, every labored breath she took, every tremor of her hands.

Ken sighed, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to magically get rid of the dark bags under them. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, like the others. But their reasons were much more different than they realized. While Naruto and Sasuke were up, plagued by the excitement of becoming a shinobi, Ken has tiredly thrashed around in her bed, desperately trying to rid of the blood.

Naruto glanced to his side worriedly, biting his lip as Ken coughed loudly. "Sorry.." she muttered, her cheeks reddening as the team's attention turned to her.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but Kakashi stopped him and shook his head. "We're almost there, Sasuke. It does no good to be impatient." Kakashi smiled placidly.

Sasuke nodded and focused his gaze on the ground ahead of them. It didn't matter that he wasn't going to complain about the wait, and both Sasuke and Kakashi knew that.

The team was walking at a slow pace, weaving their way through the crowd to reach the Hokage's tower.

But, to put it simply, it was awkward.

"So," Naruto said aloud, breaking the silence. "Ken, how are your plants?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was a pathetic attempt to lift the mood, but he had to admit it worked.

Ken smiled slightly, her eyes glittering. "Good. I, uh, got some new ones."

Naruto's eyes flashed with untold sadness, something that caught Kakashi off guard.

"Were they peace lilies?" Came his quiet whisper,  and although his voice was soft, everyone heard it clearly.

Ken stuffed her hands in her pockets, shifting her attention to the random bug crawling on the floor.

Naruto didn't need to hear the word 'yes' to know her answer.

::

"Welcome, Team 7!" The Third Hokage boomed, his eyes alight with a bright fire.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." Kakashi smiled, though it didn't really reach his eyes.

The Hokage didn't seem to notice. He was busy shuffling some papers together, searching the lists scattered along the table.

"Right! For your first mission, you will be cleaning Miss Raiko's front yard. There's a bit of insect infestation, so you'll have to deal with that too."

Naruto's expectant face dropped, his smile quickly morphing into a frown. "Cleaning yards? You've gotta be kidding me, dattebayo!"

Even the twitch of emotion from Sasuke was a telltale sign he was disappointed.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but these are jobs the citizens need done. And you all are fresh from the academy, not qualified for something higher level." Despite the Hokage's sympathetic face, Naruto was still severely annoyed.

"Someone's gotta do it." Ken sighed.

The Hokage nodded in agreement, peering down at Naruto.

Conflicted, Naruto fiddled with his hands, until he realized his team had left without him. He yelped and ran to the doorway where Ken was waiting.

"And Ken?" At the sound of the Hokage's voice, Ken turned to face him.

"Take care. And be careful." He smiled kindly. Ken flushed in embarrassment, clutching her friend's wrist tightly.