„stay safe"

"I'll get back safely, I promise.", Naruto says to the precious girl in front of him.

The two grew closer and closer. Some say they are inseparable at this point, and it's true. Hanako and Naruto gave something they both lacked. They balance each other like sugar and coffee. Hanako gave Naruto acknowledgement while Naruto gave Hanako comfort, it made them both find happiness in each other. Something they seem to have lost without knowing.

"You better keep that promise, otherwise I'll be rushing to find you so that I could beat you up!", Hanako replies to his statement. They both grin at each other while standing on the doorway of the Shinozaki's apartment.

"Oh, and if you confront Sasuke, flip him off for me.", the girl adds.

"No way, I'm not a cussing machine like you!"

"Why you little—", Hanako hits the blonde with her elbow countless times.

"Itai! Itai! Stop! I take it back!", they both stop and look at each other. They took their time looking at the features of one another.

"Don't be so lonely while I'm gone. This is probably going to be a long and exhausting mission.", Naruto tells the girl with a teasing tone.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll be perfectly fine hanging out with Shikamaru.", Hanako teases back. Naruto pinched the side of her waist, resulting the girl to hold the blonde's wrist to make him stop.

"Alright, alright! It's not true I have a lot of training to do for the next couple of days.", the boy finally relaxes as Hanako says this, "Plus, after you go back from your 'long' and 'exhausting' mission, you'll find me preparing a feast for you.", she smiles at him.

"Sounds good!"

"Oh crap! I'm late, bye Hanako-chan!", Naruto hugs Hanako quickly and ran, leaving the gurl flustered by his actions. The knucklehead stops running and looks back, waving at the girl watching him from afar.

"I'll miss you.", he grins at her while Hanako waves back.

"Stay safe, Naruto-kun."

Team Kakashi and Team 8 were assigned to an important mission involving the infamous Uchiha. Hanako wasn't allowed to go, not that she minded.

It's better that I stay here, Naruto's a big enough bounty to the enemies. I would be a burden.

She thinks to herself, knowing that deep down, she wanted to come so that she could protect her friends when she's needed to.

She sighs in frustration as she closes her apartment door, breathing in and out before starting her day for training.

—

"Ino-chan!", Hanako greets with joy in her voice.

"Hanako! You're finally here!", Ino hugs her tightly.

"Of course, I wasn't going to ditch your invite to free dinner. Especially after training my limbs off with Tsunade-sama.", the blonde teen chuckles at her statement.

"As if!", the young Yamanaka sticks her nose up, "You only showed up because you're feeling lonely without your boyfriend, Na-ru-to.", Ino teases her and she blushes furiously.

"N-no way! It's nothing like that."

Ino smiles at her as she leads the Shinozaki to sit and wait for a while.

"Anything you wanna drink?", Ino asks her.

"I'll have anything, I'm not picky."

"Alright. I'll be right back."

As Ino prepares a drink for the both of them to enjoy, Hanako's mind wanders.

I hope they're doing alright.

"Oi, are you alright?", Ino asks her with a concerned voice as she places the cups down.

"Oh, yeah! I just zoned out a bit.", Ino places her hand on her hip.

"They'll be alright, okay?", Hanako nods in response. Ino comes back to the kitchen but returns shortly after with a kettle.

Hanako watches her every movement. In her vision, it was as if everything that was going on in front of her was playing in a slow motion. The kettle poured something that rang a bell in her mind.

Ino notices the horrified look in her friend's face. Not only that, but Hanako's face became pale as soon as she poured tea in their cups.

"What's wrong Hanako? Are you feeling well?"

"I'm sorry Ino-chan but I'm not feeling so well anymore. Let's reschedule next week alright?"

"No problem, you should rest. You look really pale. I think you had a rough training today."

"Yeah, thanks for the—", Hanako stops and swallows a lump on her throat, "tea."

—

𝖆 𝖋𝖊𝖜 𝖉𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗

"Hya!", she kicks the ground causing it to crack beneath her, letting another dummy fall into it's despair.

"You've gotten a lot stronger. I'm impressed.", Tsunade says to the hardworking teen in front of her.

"I try my best.", Hanako smiles at her master.

Hanako is finally getting the hang of controlling her chakra. Not only that, but her ninjutsu has improved quite well. It's not the best but it's still an improvement compared to her last practices.

Tsunade observed Hanako's movements and discovered that all of her motions are tough and straight to the point. Not that it's a bad trait, it was just odd.

"Excellent, you're dismissed.", Tsuande announces to the girl.

"What— really?! But, it's so early.", Hanako exclaims.

"Congratulations because you are able to learn everything from me when it comes to performing jutsus. You may ask me questions on specific ones that you may learn but there are other masters that are focused on your ability."

"I see, thank you Tsunade-sama!"

—

"Fuck you!", Hanako let's out a roar and slams a few trees with a kick.

"Damn, I really have long legs."

"No! Shut up!", Hanako punches another tree with rage.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut u—", the troubled girl finally breaks down.

I know that I should remember so that I could finally clear up what happened to my clan. But is it selfish to say that I rather not remember anything about that night?