Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

50. AKA How Have I Written 50 Chapters With No Plan?

Because of mine and Sasuke's injuries, Tsunami keeps us in her home for a further week. Kakashi tried to convince her to let us leave, but gave up after she threatened to ram a pitchfork up some... Pretty private places, and turn him into a scarecrow for their neighbours field. It certainly did the trick. Kakashi hasn't come within grabbing distance of her since. All of the pitchforks within a 2 mile radius have also mysteriously disappeared, the only clue notes left saying they will be returned by the end of the week.

"I don't see why Tsunami had to stick us in the same room..." I grumble to Sasuke who lies on the other side of the room, wrapped tightly in bandages from his neck downwards. He hasn't been allowed to move in 2 days.

"Stop whining." Sasuke snaps. He's probably scowling.

"Tsunami said you had, what, like a hundred stab wounds? How is that even possible? You're barely taller than Naruto."

"Shut up." He snarls, and I do, for as long as possible, but something's been bugging me since that fight at the bridge...

"Sakura said you died." I say after what could only have been about 2 minutes of silence.

"So what?"

"What... What was it like for you?"

"You sound like an idiot."

"I'm trying to come to terms with something highly upsetting, cut me some slack."

"... There was a river. Some old hag wanted me to stack stones." He says grudgingly, and I sit bolt upright in my bed, eyes wide. He saw the same thing! Still, I clear my throat and try to at least pretend I have some degree of composure.

"And did you?" I ask.

"No." He says it like it's so obvious. I settle back onto my futon. Damn, so he can't tell me anything about what knocked down the tower.

"I did." I tell him.

"What?"

"The old lady. After she took my clothes, she told me to stack stones, so I did."

"I didn't say anything about her taking my clothes." Sasuke turns his head towards me, face twisted in a frown.

"I know. I'm just telling you what happened to me." I shrug, which is not easy to do horizontal.

"She took them with her across the river, didn't she?" He asks after a short pause.

"Yup."

"... So you went through the same thing." He murmurs, almost to himself.

"Looks like it."

"That doesn't make us the same." Sasuke reminds me, and I frown. How is he still this rude?

"I never said it did."

"Hn."

"What the heck was that?" I laugh, sitting up again to look at him properly, all anger forgotten.

"What?"

"That noise you made!" I gasp, "like-like- hn." I imitate him as best I can, dropping my voice low in between fits of giggles.

"It's just a sound."

"Hn!" I copy it again, cackling now as I topple back down onto my futon, almost crying with laughter.

"Shut up."

"Hn!" I squeak.

"You're so annoying." He huffs.

"Hn!"

"Such an idiot."

"Is everything alright in here?" Tsunami pokes her head around the door. We must be quite a sight.

"Can I stay in another room."

"It's easier for me if you're both in here. Maya, quiet down! You're going to pull your stitches!" She snaps, and I slowly hiccup to a stop. Once we're both apparently calm, she leaves to go back downstairs.

"It was not funny enough for that reaction."

"Ahh, yeah, I guess not. These last few weeks have just been really serious. I haven't laughed like that in ages."

"You're an idiot."

"And you're way too serious." I grin at him. He rolls his eyes and turns to look back up at the ceiling. 

In the silence that follows, my mind turns back to home, and the light mood that I had found myself in turns heavy. Even if I manage to persuade Kakashi to take me out to where he found me, there's no guarantee that the portal will even be there still. So the question is; what do I do then? I could search for another portal, but I have no idea how large this world is, or how long that would take, or if there is another one. Damn it all! If only I had crawled back the way I came instead of following some stranger with a porno! If I had just gone home right away, none of this would have happened! 

"Nn..." Tears well up in my eyes and a lump forms in my throat. Jesus christ, now I've gone and done it. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to even out my breaths, but it's too late. I've started crying now and I'm not going to stop until I've exhausted myself. So I roll until my back faces Sasuke, bite the pillow, and let go. 

My chest aches with every held-back sob, and my muscles are so tense they shiver. I curl tighter and tighter into myself, until my face presses into my knees and my arms come up to cover my head. I don't want to be here any more. I want to go home. 

A/N: Well, Maya's suffering again. Thanks to everyone who's given their input on the whole romance thing, I still don't know who it's going to be, but I'm going to try out a few different routes. 

Ta-ta~