Peppermint Stone {Peppermint Book 2}

-28-

Japanese Military Support Base

Naruto

The shower was more than needed. The long day my team and I had along with some of the soldiers... that cold water felt really nice pounding against more sore muscles. I only need to do this for another two days. I can do this... I already survived more than half. I can do this!

I never realized how quiet the base got and how awfully boring it was with no Kazuki cracking some stupid joke or running around playing pranks on us or Hinata checking patients in the medicure alongside a lot of other familiar faces. Mina emotionlessly handing me reports and ignores me whenever I'm trying to make conversation. The drama between Hisao and Hanako...

With us leaving, more soldiers and medics came over for their time here in Eskon so the base isn't empty. It felt empty...since none of my friends (except my team) were really here to make life interesting.

Just two more days. No wait, this day has already ended.

Hell yeah! One more!

My phone started vibrating on the sink counter. Wrapping my towel around my waist, I headed over and picked it up without looking.

"Hello?"

"Help me, Naruto-kun!" Hinata's voice rang in my ears.

My blood ran cold. My brain screamed for me to jump on the helicopter and somehow fly all the way back to Tokyo to save her.

Dammit, is it Nagato?!

"What happened?!" I asked frantically, one of my legs already through my shorts. "Are you okay? Is Hajime okay?! Hinata!"

"Hajime won't take his nap and it's almost noon," she said, her voice strained with tiredness. 

You have no idea how relieved I felt.

"You should never start a phone call out with a very loud 'help me'," I pulled my shirt over my head. "I get way too paranoid."

Especially with Nagato slipping in and out of countries undetected but I didn't tell her that.

"Sorry," my girlfriend said. "Hajime is still a little jet-lagged, I think."

"Don't you start work in about half an hour?" I closed the bathroom door behind me.

"T-that's why I need him to nap!"

"Who's going to be watching him?"

"Sakura, Ino and Mina are," she replied, then I heard the door shut followed by a sharp yell. "But their only requirement for babysitting is that he sleep most of the time."

I sat down on my bed, "At least they're doing it for free."

"Y-yeah right. I'm buying drinks later tonight."

"Hey," I stood up suddenly. "Don't get too drunk and let some random guy at the bar take you, home alright? I'll be home in a day so -"

"Naruto-kun," she giggled cutely through the phone. "I won't let anybody into our house unless you know them, alright?"

"Good," I couldn't help but smile; noticing she said our home in the sentence. "So you've settled in then?"

"Yeah," the doctor sighed heavily. "It took a day or so but Kazuki, Hisao and a few of the soldiers that came back with us helped so the moving ended up being faster than expected."

Who got to go home early anyway? I was too busy worrying about how much I'd miss Hinata that I completely forgot which of my soldiers got to leave. I need to check the roster and see...