Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 61: Dependency and Independence

Little by little, I regain hope.

Naruto will get rid of his attachment disorder towards me and will be able to do without me for longer and longer each day. He could be alone with Shikamaru, while being relatively calm. However, his fear of losing me still persists.

Shikamaru walks us back. I ignore the hateful glares thrown at me without the slightest embarrassment. To avoid making my student aggressive, I'm as impassive as possible, and it works. He doesn't ruffle any hair and remains firmly clinging to my arm, determined not to let go.

We agree that Shikamaru come tomorrow, in the afternoon, when Naruto is awake. I've given up on imposing my daily routine on him for the moment. As long as I can leave my apartment in broad daylight, I won't push it any further.

Naruto will refuse to board on his own, that's understood.

Once home, the sapphire-eyed boy starts yawning, but he continues to hold my arm instead of taking off his sandals.

"Naruto, let go of me. We arrived. You can go to bed."

Instead of complying, he just stares at me. Mechanically, I try to get my arm out of his hands... However, his fingers cling to my clothes, even when I suddenly brandish my limb upwards, pushing him to place himself on the tips of his toes.

"Naruto! I'm not gonna leave! So you let me go!" I grumble.

Naruto pouts before making a noise complaint. What does that mean? Is it because I left him alone that he refuses to leave me?

Annoyed, I wave my arm up and down. After a few shakes, his hands finally let go and Naruto hastily takes off his sandals. I stare at him, imitating him, but not without glaring at him out of the corner of my eye. He doesn't move and looks at me in a funny way, wagging his tail impatiently.

His sudden, weird behaviour is getting on my nerves. Usually, he wouldn't hesitate for a second to sleep and curl up in a ball. Obviously, he has an idea in mind...

I barely have time to be barefoot when Naruto roughly grabs my wrist, forcing me to follow him, to my room where he's taking me. In doing so, I almost lost my balance. With a sudden movement, I escape from his vice of flesh, and my skin is scratched in the process.

"You don't expect me to come to bed with you after sleeping all night?!" I snap, irritated.

I step back from him... But his tail curls and twists itself around my leg in the blink of an eye. Taken aback by his prehensile and powerful limb, I fall heavily on my back, expelling the air from my now empty lungs. I see the blond grabbing my ankles to pull me against my will into my room. Flabbergasted, I can't react; I can only stare at him as I'm dragged to my bed.

Naruto lets go of me and climbs on all fours in my bunk. He sits down while observing me with his big, blue eyes. However, my shin is still trapped by his tail. When I look to get rid of it by moving my leg, the latter tightens its grip as I try to free myself from it. I use my hands to unroll it, but I can't even slip my fingers underneath to have any grip.

I'm being held hostage by Naruto.

He wants me to lie down with him.

To the point of not giving me a choice.

"What the?!" I shout, trying hard to grab that damn tail stuck to my skin. "You're gonna let me go, yes?! If you wanna sleep, it's without me!"

To my dismay, Naruto hoists me agonizingly slowly into the bed. My pulse accelerates, including my breathing. I cling to the underside of the bed, and resist him with all my strength. I ignore the wild footprints that threaten to drive splinters into my fingers at any moment.