A small sound of thunder roared in the distance. Naruto looked up at the gray clouds that covered the sky, just in time to have a few drops of rain to fall on to his face. He sighed a bit. He was out in the forest training by himself and now the rain ruined it. He began to walk back when it began to pour. He tried using the trees for shelter but the rain still drenched him. As jumped from the trees, he stopped on a lower branch, seeing something black in a tree in the distance. Taking a closer look, he discovered it was the girl from the hospital, Amaya.
Naruto saw she was no longer in her hospital clothes. She was in normal clothes. She wore a pair of sandals with fishnet stockings that went up to her mid-calf. She wore a pair of dark purple pants. They started out tight around her calf and got baggy around her knees. She also had a dark blue sash around her waist. She wore a fishnet top with a purple tank top. She had dark blue fingerless gloves and around her neck was her headband. She held an umbrella that covered her face with its shadow.
“Hey!” Naruto called up to her. Amaya did not react at all. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” yelled Naruto. Still, she did not move or say a thing. Naruto jump to the branch she sat on. “Are you okay? What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Just go away.” Amaya whispered. The umbrella hid her face from him.
“Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?” asked Naruto.
“I said go away.” Amaya repeated.
“Hey, you’re going to get sick if you stay out in the rain like this.” Naruto told her.
Amaya did not say a thing.
“Hey, did you hear me?” Naruto reached his hand out to shake her.
Amaya turned around, quickly. “Don’t touch me!” she yelled, slapping his hand away.
Naruto was surprised to see the look on her face. She had watery eyes and looked like she had been crying. “What? You’re crying? Why?” asked Naruto.
“Just leave me alone. It’s none of your business.” Amaya looked away again, adjusting her umbrella so it blocked her body from his view, all he saw was her legs that hung off the branch. They sat in silence for a long time, the rain still pounding at its hardest. Amaya lifted her umbrella and saw Naruto was still there. “Why haven’t you left yet?” she asked. There was no anger in her voice. There wasn’t really any emotion in her voice, as if she was in a daze.
“I’m not going to leave you out here alone. It’s raining!” Naruto told her.
“But why do you care?” asked Amaya.
Naruto thought about it for a bit “I’m not really sure but you seem like you shouldn’t be out here. Why are you out here?” he asked.
Amaya did not reply.
“I answered some of your questions. Therefore, you should answer mine. It’s fair.” Naruto crossed his arms in annoyances.
“I’m going home.” Amaya whispered.
“Home?” Naruto blinked. “You mean, to the Rain Village?”
Amaya nodded her head. “Yes.”
“Why?” Naruto asked.
“Because I don’t want to die here.” Amaya whispered.
“But, you don’t have to die. I’m sure the hospital will find you a cure.”
“Your optimize… I hate it.”
“But it’s true!”
“No! No it’s not!”
Naruto was shocked by her yelling. “How do you know?”
“Because….” whispered Amaya.
“Because why?” asked Naruto.
“It’s none of your business! Okay?” snapped Amaya.
They sat in silence again.
“What’s at the Rain Village for you?” asked Naruto.
“Nothing….” Amaya whispered.
“Then why go back?” Naruto tilted his head.
Amaya was silent for a while. “Naruto, do you have a goal?” she asked.
“A goal?” Naruto tilted his head.
“You know? Like a dream you want to achieve?” Amaya explained.
“I’m going to be the greatest Hokage ever!” yelled Naruto. “Then people will stop looking down on me! Believe it!”
Amaya was silent again. “That’s a nice goal.” She finally whispered.
“Do you have any goals?” asked Naruto.
“Just one.” Amaya sighed. “To you it might be stupid and simple. However, to me… I don’t know. Important to me, I guess.”
“What is it?” Naruto titled his head.
“To impress my parents.”
“Huh?” Naruto blinked.
“Like I said, it’s stupid.” Amaya whispered.
“I don’t get what you mean.” Naruto titled his head.
“You know how parents tell kids to do their best but no matter what they’ll still love them. My best was never good enough for my parents.” Amaya was staring at the ground as Naruto stared at her. “My parents always told me it wasn’t good enough, that I could do better, or they’d just not care.”
*Flashback*
A young child, about 6, ran up to her mother. “Look, mommy! Look at what I drew!” The young girl held a picture up of a flower she drew. It was scribbled with crayon. “What is that suppose to be?” asked the mother. “A flower. Don’t you like it?” smiled the young girl. The mother turned her back to the girl. “It’s horrible. Doesn’t even look like a flower.” The girl lowered the picture and watched her mother walk away.
“Everything. My work, my test, even the way I dressed and ate. I was the top of my class at the academy. When the other parents congratulated their kids for becoming ninjas. My parents didn’t even care. It was nothing special to them. I trained so hard. Up before the sun and trained all day until I could barely walk. Not once did I hear them say how well I was doing.”
*Flashback*
“Mother! Father!” A 12-year-old girl ran to her parents, with a small limp. She had a paper and a headband. “Look! I’m a ninja now!” Her father grabbed the paper. It was a grading of her performance exam.
Knowledge 10/10
Strength 10/10
Defense 10/10
Form 9/10
Total 39/40
“You lost a point on form,” her father snorted. “Yeah, but I still got the most points then anyone else in my class and my form was off by a little because of the fall I had the other day, I twisted my ankle! But my sensei was very impressed!” the girl yelled out, the happiness in her face slowly slipping away. “Don’t make excuses for yourself. Such a shameful performance,” her father yelled. “You disgrace us,” add her mother.
Amaya lifted a hand to her eyes and wiped away tears with the back of it. “I never knew that my goal would be my downfall.”
Naruto blinked “What?”
“I disobeyed the rules and snuck off on a dangerous mission. I listened into some ninjas talking about missing-nin. From what they were saying, he didn’t sound tough at all. I though if I could find him and bring him to the village, my parents might be proud me.” Amaya’s voice was getting raspy, as if she was holding back her tears. She buried her face into her hand. “No one told me that the guy was a master at making poison. I lost miserably to him and I challenge him just in time for him to test his new poison. He told me that once the poison got into my blood stream, it would eat my chakra away and because it was now in my lungs, it will make sure I remembered that it was stealing my chakra and slowly killing me…”
*Flashback*
Amaya and a dark clothed man with his face over stood in the middle of a forest. Amaya looked exhausted and on her last bit of energy. The man grabbed her by her hair and blew some powder into her face. It made her gasp and gag as it entered both her nostrils and mouth. It stung and almost felt like acid. She blacked out.
“And now I’m going to die. Just because I need to impress my parents. Because of my stupid actions. I will never be the person my parents wanted me to be. Or I will never be a great ninja. Or even live a normal life!” sobbed Amaya. Naruto stared at her, not sure what to say.
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