You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

32. The oath of pain

'The only remedy for love is to love more'

-Henry David Thoreau
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~The Next Day~

I walked towards the village gates where we were suppose to meet up at for the start of the mission. I know I was early and no one would be there yet, but I just wanted to sit there and listen to the wind blow steadily through the trees and the wind chimes tingle their soft little tunes like angels.

I arrived at the gates and took a seat by a nearby Willow tree as I listened to the many different sounds. I have to admit it was rather cold out here but, alas, I forgot to quickly grab my coat. I exhaled silently and wrapped my arms around myself as a source of heat.

"You cold?"

I jumped at the sound of another voice and turned my head to see Sasuke. How long had he been standing there watching me? He's so quiet.

"A little" I admitted shyly "I'll be ok though. T-Thank you for asking."

A small but cold breeze swept through the air and I shivered. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"Pathetic" he muttered sitting next to me.

He then shoved something in my hand and stared ahead at nothing. Surprised, I looked down to see a steaming cup of hot chocolate in my hand, causing me to blush. Sasuke sighed then raised his own cup of hot chocolate I hadn't noticed and sipped it. I sipped mine; it still did taste good and creamy like last time.

"I'll pay you back for this" I said.
"
Do you not know what the definition of a gift is" Sasuke said, slightly annoyed.

"I know what the definition is."

"So shut up and drink the hot chocolate" he said simply staring ahead at nothing once again.

I shut up and drank the hot chocolate.

*****

"Everyone ready to go?" Kakashi Sensei asked.

One hour and thirty minutes later the others had arrived and we were all ready to go.

"OH YEAH!" Naruto exclaimed, letting out a small amount of all his pent up energy.

"I'll take that as a yes" Kakashi Sensei muttered walking off.

The five of us, Tazuna included, followed him as we began our very first C-rank mission.

"This is going to be awesome!" Naruto said smiling widely "after this I'm going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

(A/N: I'm dedicating that last sentence to My_Sonder who says that all the time ^.^)

I couldn't help but grin at Naruto's enthusiasm. He's just so excited for this mission. As we continued walking we passed a small puddle that I stared at for a long time.

Why....why is that puddle there?

It hasn't rained in the last couple of weeks and all the rain would have soaked into the earth by now. I slowly but sneakily went over to Kakashi Sensei and stood by him. He looked over at me.

"Sensei" I said quietly "there's a puddle over there."

"I know" he whispered "you have strong senses if you noticed Ruka. Go by your teammates and keep your guard up but leave your Kunai in your pouch. Don't make it look suspicious."