„open arms"

Hanako comes in the office of her master with a sorrowful look on her face. Tsunade already guessed what it was looking at the swollen eyes of her pupil.

"It's alright, tell me everything."

Hanako would cry some more but it was like her eyes can no longer produce tears. She feels numb all over compared to the pain she felt on her chest earlier. She sits down in front of the Slug Princess.

"It was someone very close to our family. My parents allowed him to stay in our clan since he had no family left.", Hanako starts to tell her dear master the tragic fall of her clan, "He grew up with us. He acted like my big brother. Eventually, he got the title "doctor" since he took care my family and the rest of our clan. He specializes with herbs which he learned from our library."

"Everything was perfect. Our clan was stable, and that was enough. We don't ask for power, or world domination. We just want to take care of our culture and heritage.", Hanako's face displayed such a deadly glare that no one would ever expect would come from her. The rage in her eyes burns a hole into the Hokage's table where she stared at.

"That was until one night, he offered tea to the whole town. Claiming that it was another drink that he learned about the books from the library. I was training extra hours that night because my father scolded me for not trying so hard earlier that day.", Hanako sighs deeply, "He poisoned my whole clan. He staged it as if it was a normal night in where he helps up gain energy and live longer. After that, he told me that our clan was too powerful to be alive."

"I figured that he didn't just read about medicines at the library. He also read documents about my family, the lineage of the Shinozaki."

"Where is he now?", Tsunade finally spoke up.

"I killed him. After that, I buried every single one of my clan and took the necklace that my father gave me before leaving home.", Hanako finishes and mets out a deep breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. The female Hokage processes all of this and feels sorry for the last of the Shinozaki clan.

"Thank you for telling me. This makes a lot of sense because even the most powerful criminals couldn't track your clan down. And even if they did, they wouldn't stand a single chance against your ninjas.", Tsunade explains, "It's a shame that someone you trust betrays you that deeply. Although, here in Konoha, I doubt that you'll experience something like that. You are going to live your life here happily in which you don't have to hide yourself from anyone!", Hanako can feel the tears filling up her eyes.

"Understood?"

"Yes, thank you, master.", the Shinozaki once again lifts her head with tears streaming down, only this time, she was smiling.

—

Hanako roams around Konoha only to end up at Naruto's apartment.

I can't believe I still went here.

She opened the blonde knucklehead's door with the spare key that he gave her. She looks around and saw the usual messy apartment that the boy had.

Damn, I guess no one really took care of him to show him how to properly clean his house.

They would always hang out at her apartment so Hanako didn't really get to see the condition of his apartment. She would only hear Sakura complaining about it or teasing him about it.

Hanako gets all of her cleaning supplies and starts tidying up the apartment. She notices a lot of instant ramen on his cupboard, and when she opens his fridge, it was almost empty.

"Did he seriously buy me groceries but he didn't bother to buy for himself?", she sighs, "Unbelievable."

Expectedly, she ran to the nearest market before it closes for the night and shops the usual necessities for a living person.

"I don't know where he gets all his strength by just eating instant ramen. I should probably cook more for the both of us.", she says as she walks back to the apartment.

Hanako throws away all the garbage on the floor and arranged his ramen cupboard nicely. Then, she places all the groceries she bought for the blonde. She replaces the old milk carton which was expired for days with a new one. After what felt like hours, she finally finished cleaning.

So much for distracting myself from the fact that I know what I did to the killer of my family.

Hanako takes a quick shower and leaves a cute note at his ramen cupboard.

'Eat well Naruto-kun! ( ＾∀＾)'

She inhales and exhales as she sat down on a chair and spreads out her arms.

That was tiring.

She stares at the food she prepared, getting more lost in her thoughts.

Naruto-kun cares a lot about his friends. Would he still look at me the same knowing that I killed without hesitation?

Eventually, the Shinozaki falls asleep from exhaustion.

—

𝖆𝖓 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗

"Eh?", the blonde lets out as he walks in his apartment.

It was clean. It hasn't been clean for a long time and for some reason, it was.

What happened her—

His thoughts came into halt when his eyes landed on a sleeping figure found on his dining table. He smiles widely at the sight.

"Hanako-chan."

He looks around and grabs the little note that his friend left him at his ramen cupboard and looks at it adoringly before placing it back.

Naruto quietly carries the girl, careful that he doesn't wake her up, and lets her sleep peacefully at his bed.

"Oi stop tickling", Hanako mumbles in her sleep. The blonde chuckles at her.

She would always talk when she's asleep.

He stares at her as he tucks loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Yes, she didn't keep her promise of preparing a big feast for him when he comes back. Deep down, the Uzumaki doesn't care as long as she's the one waiting for his return, it's more than enough.

"Thank you, Hanako-chan."