𝐀 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐎𝐟 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒐 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 ✔️

47

It hadn't been more than just one week after Asuma's death, that Naruto had completed the training he was doing, and Tenzo finally came home at night, that he noticed how quiet his house was and grew worried.

He walked up the stairs in his house, the wood creaking under his feet as he did so, and walked towards her bedroom door. He placed his hand in the crease between her sliding doors and peeked his head in. Maki turned around at the sound of her door sliding open, and sent her guardian a small smile.

"Hey, Mr. Tenzo."

"Hey," He smiled and walked in. He noticed his little girl was writing on her desk and assumed it was a letter, so he asked her for clarification. She only quickly closed the letters, tucked them away and nodded.

"Yeah, they're letters," She smiled. "Important ones for people I care about."

"I see," He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it up and down in a soothing motion. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've raised you since you were a small child, Maki," A frown tugged at his lips. "I can tell when you're not feeling well."

Maki turned away from his disappointed gaze and stared at her dimly lit desk. He watched as her eyebrows drew together and eyes swirled with a sadness that should never have been in her eyes, but unfortunately had been there for as long as he'd known her. He was surprised when his little girl quickly rose out of her chair, turned around and wrapped her hands around his back, attaching herself to him in a hug.

He was so surprised, that it took him a few seconds to actually wrap his arms around her waist and bring her even closer. She wasn't shaking, which he was surprised about, but something was definitely bothering her.

"I never really thanked you, you know."

He smiled and brought up his left hand to press against her head, placing her head against his shoulder. She was too tall for him to place her against his chest, and he mentally cried at how quickly his little girl was. He wondered what kind of woman she would grow up to be.

A small and soft laugh left his mouth as he wondered why she would thank him. Maki pouted but only hugged him tighter. "What are you thanking me for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She muttered against his shoulder, and he noticed her hold loosening so he tightened his own. "Thanks for taking care of me all this time."

And then she promptly fainted. 

Thankfully, she was just tired. Tenzo felt bad, if he'd been home more often then Maki would have been taken care of better. He should have stayed with her after Asumas passing, it didn't affect him nearly as much as it did her. After all, she knew the man much more personally than he did. Maybe not as much as Shikamaru but she was still close to him.

Unfortunately, he was too busy helping Naruto with his training. But he'd promised Maki he wouldn't tell Naruto, so here he stood, holding the boy he'd been training for the past few weeks as he'd used his new move against the two Akatsuki members.

"Hey, Cap?" Naruto muttered tiredly and Tenzo sent him a smile. "Is Maki okay? I mean, I can practically feel a little bit of how she's feeling."

Naruto lifted his hand and placed it on his belly, where his sealing mark remained. "Since I found out she had a Kurama too, she's been sending me little pieces of chakra once in a while. But the chakra she sends is really sad and too small-"