When Winter Ends || Modern Naruto Love Story

15

A week passed already since Mayumi made a sudden arrival at Konoha High, appearing outside of Naruto's classroom. And he admits that it has been the most enjoyable to experience in his school life, now that Mayumi is enrolled.

It didn't stop Naruto from seeing her. It became a daily routine to wait for her in front of their school every morning, and wait for her whenever she leaves class. It was like Naruto vowed himself to never be apart from her, always keeping his distance close to her.

As those days passed, it turned out that they were inseparable and everybody knew that.

"Come on! I wanna show you something," Naruto led her through the frozen park. Her hand is in his as they walked through the lit side walk with lamp post shining on them. Curling her other hand against her chest, Mayumi kept her fingers warm, brushing them softly against her lips.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Naruto looked back at her and smiled. "Don't worry about it. You'll see once you get there."

It wasn't long until they reached further in the park and caught themselves standing in front a frozen lake. Its water turned into a blanket of solid ice. It was a pretty sight how the floor light surrounding the lake made it look like an ice rink.

Mayumi noticed Naruto kneeling down as he threw his large duffle bag on the ground, unzipping and rummaging through what looked like clothes and sports gear. Until she saw him pulling out a pair of shoes with blades underneath them.

"Hockey shoes? Are we skating on here?" she asked out of curiosity and he simply nodded. "Yep! But these are mine," he said as he put them on the side and dig in his bag again, pulling out another pair but smaller and skinnier. "These are for you to wear."

"Oh. Thank you," she takes them, watching the blonde slipping on his own pair. "I didn't know you like to ice skate."

"Not really. I just borrowed these from my dad," he told her while pulling on the laces of his skates. "And that one you're holding, I stole it from Sakura."

"You did what?" Her mouth was gaping at the explanation, but her expression fell when she heard him laughing at her. Naruto stood up, now wearing the skates on his feet. "I'm just kidding, Mayu! They were my mom's."

Blowing out a sigh, Mayumi felt relieved. She would believe it if it were true that he stole it from her.

She watched him kneeling down again, but this time Naruto knelt by her feet, holding one of Mayumi's skates in his hand. Baffled by his signal, she saw him loosening the lace. "Here," he offered.

Naruto helped her in her skates, tying knots on them and pulling them tight around her ankles. Once the two were done putting their shoes on, Mayumi wobbled, losing her balance from the skinny blade under her feet. Then she unknowingly leaned on the blonde by grabbing his arm. Naruto was surprised. "I-I'm sorry!"

"Don't be. I got you," he replied gently and smiled at her. Mayumi blushed nervously at her actions, feeling Naruto hook his arm for her to hold as they were suddenly glided through the lake.

It felt like they were about to fall in the beginning but they gotten used of the smoothness under their feet, scooting themselves in the middle of the lake. Mayumi struggled, but eventually she got the hang of it from holding onto Naruto's arm to holding his hand. Then she let go of him as he watches her skate freely over the frozen lake.

Naruto laughed at the sight of her enjoying herself, scooting up to her pace and raced her around the ice with a wide smile on his face. Mayumi panted as she skated away from as if they were playing chase. But when her foot caught a chunk of frozen snow on the lake, it caused her to tip over and stumble to catch herself. But luckily she felt an arm surrounding her back and caught her.