"Sister?"
Naruto's voice was muffled against my shoulder, carrying equal parts surprise and panic.
"Why are you here, dattebayo?!"
His body stiffened as he finally noticed my condition.
"You're barefoot!"
His eyes dropped to my legs.
"Your knees are bleeding!"
Then he looked back at my face.
"You..."
Before he could finish, my body trembled violently.
All the fear I had desperately held back during my frantic run finally burst through the fragile wall I had built around my emotions.
I broke down.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face as I buried it deeper against Naruto's shoulder.
I couldn't stop.
No matter how hard I tried...
I couldn't stop.
Naruto froze.
Complete panic spread across his face.
His hands hovered awkwardly in the air as if he had forgotten what they were supposed to do.
Should he hug me?
Should he push me away?
Should he wipe my tears?
He simply didn't know.
Finally, he carefully placed one trembling hand against my back and gently patted me.
He barely used any strength.
It was as though he feared I might break.
Completely helpless, he looked toward Iruka.
His blue eyes silently begged for help.
Teacher...
Please save me...
I don't know what to do...
Standing nearby, Iruka looked equally overwhelmed.
The usually dependable Academy teacher opened his mouth several times before closing it again.
Even he had no idea how to comfort someone crying this desperately.
"...I'm..."
A sob interrupted my words.
"...I'm... s-sorry..."
My fingers tightened around Naruto's jacket.
"I'm so..."
"...so sorry..."
I wasn't apologizing because I had frightened him.
I was apologizing for something much deeper.
I'm sorry...
For never returning your sincere feelings with the same warmth you gave me.
Another wave of tears escaped.
"I'm..."
"...I'm so sorry..."
I'm sorry that I tried to distance myself from you.
I'm sorry that I kept convincing myself it was safer not to become too close.
I'm sorry that fear mattered more to me than your loneliness.
Every sentence shattered beneath uncontrollable sobs.
I wanted to stop crying.
I truly did.
But the tears seemed to have developed a will of their own.
No matter how much I fought them...
They refused to stop.
Naruto became even more frantic.
"Sister!"
"Please don't cry!"
"I'm okay!"
"Really!"
He hurriedly rubbed my back in an awkward circle.
"Look!"
"I'm completely fine!"
"I only scraped my skin!"
"They couldn't beat me at all!"
His cheerful voice was desperately trying to reassure me.
Instead...
I cried even harder.
It wasn't graceful.
It wasn't restrained.
I cried like an ordinary child who had finally reached the limit of what she could bear.
Naruto completely lost his composure.
His face turned bright red.
Thinking as quickly as he could, he suddenly copied the exact tone I always used whenever I comforted him.
Only...
Much faster.
"Sister!"
"Please don't cry!"
"I'm really okay!"
"There wasn't anything dangerous on the back mountain!"
"There were just a few traps!"
"I dodged all of them!"
"My clothes are torn, but look!"
"I'm not hurt!"
He hurriedly stretched both hands in front of me.
"Want to count my fingers?"
"Ten!"
"See?"
"I didn't lose a single one!"
His ridiculous attempt to cheer me up should have made me laugh.
Instead...
My tears flowed even harder.
Naruto's eyes grew wider with panic.
Completely out of options, he desperately looked toward the people behind me.
"Help..."
His gaze silently pleaded.
Just then...
Shikamaru and Choji finally caught up.
Both boys were breathing heavily from running.
The moment they saw the scene before them...
They stopped dead in their tracks.
Choji still held his potato chip bag in one hand.
His mouth slowly formed a perfect "O."
His brain simply refused to process what he was seeing.
Shikamaru stood several steps away.
He instinctively wanted to walk forward.
Then stopped.
His eyes moved between me and Naruto.
Between the girl kneeling on the ground while sobbing uncontrollably...
And the blond boy desperately trying to comfort her despite looking even more frightened than she was.
His lips moved slightly.
Whatever he wanted to say...
He swallowed it back.
Silence settled around everyone.
Only my quiet sobbing remained.
Darkness slowly crept into the edges of my vision.
At first...
It was only a faint blur.
Then came a sharp ringing inside my ears.
Everything around me became distant.
Iruka's figure...
Naruto's face...
Even the Academy gate...
All of it gradually dissolved into a hazy blur.
My body suddenly lost its strength.
I felt myself falling.
Instinctively...
My fingers tried to tighten around Naruto's jacket.
But they no longer obeyed me.
They slowly slipped away.
Naruto's voice seemed incredibly far away now.
Separated from me by layers upon layers of water.
"Sister?"
"Sister!"
"What's wrong?!"
"Sister!"
Someone gasped.
Another shouted.
Iruka called my name.
Choji cried out anxiously.
Shikamaru's normally calm voice became unusually urgent.
Then...
A nearly inaudible sound reached my ears.
Someone landed lightly behind me.
Softly.
Without disturbing the air.
The faint scent of fresh soap drifted toward me.
Before I could understand who it was...
A steady arm supported my back.
The world turned black.
When I opened my eyes again...
Night had already fallen.
The hospital room was dimly lit.
Only a small bedside lamp remained on, casting warm yellow light across the bed.
The familiar smell of disinfectant filled the room.
Outside the slightly opened window...
A cool breeze drifted inside.
It carried the scent of wet earth.
It must have rained.
I quietly stared at the thin crack running across the white ceiling.
My thoughts remained sluggish.
Foggy.
It took several long moments before awareness slowly returned.
Pain.
My knees.
The soles of my feet.
The dull ache immediately reminded me what had happened.
Then...
I noticed warmth beside me.
Turning my head slightly...
I saw Naruto.
He had fallen asleep while leaning against the edge of my hospital bed.
His head rested atop his folded arms.
His torn orange jacket was still on.
Someone had removed the leaves tangled in his blond hair.
Only one tiny blade of grass remained stubbornly hidden behind his ear.
His breathing was slow.
Peaceful.
Even asleep...
His eyebrows remained slightly furrowed.
As though he was still worrying about something inside his dream.
The sight made my heart ache.
At that moment...
The hospital door opened quietly.
Iruka stepped inside carrying a small paper bag.
When he saw that I was awake...
He visibly relaxed.
"You're awake."
He walked over and placed the paper bag on the bedside table.
Inside were sandwiches.
And a bottle of warm milk.
"The doctor examined you."
His voice remained deliberately quiet so he wouldn't wake Naruto.
"You fainted because you hadn't eaten all day."
"Combined with low blood sugar..."
"...and severe emotional shock."
He glanced toward my bandaged legs.
"The wounds on your knees and feet have also been treated."
"...Thank you."
My own voice startled me.
It sounded unbelievably hoarse.
Iruka smiled gently.
"No need."
He pulled another chair over and quietly sat beside the bed.
Looking at Naruto asleep against the mattress...
His expression softened.
"Shikamaru and Choji already went home."
He chuckled lightly.
"Shikamaru said Mrs. Yoshino will come visit you tomorrow."
The moment I heard that...
Cold sweat covered my back.
Tomorrow?
Aunt Yoshino?
Please...
Shikamaru...
Don't tell her everything...
I'll definitely get lectured...
"Um..."
I lowered my head awkwardly.
"Thank you so much for today."
"And..."
"I'm sorry you had to stay at the hospital so late."
"...And thank you for taking care of Naruto."
Iruka suddenly became quiet.
For several seconds...
He simply looked at me.
His eyes reflected the dim bedside light.
"...You don't remember me."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Hm?"
I blinked.
"What did you say?"
He quickly looked away.
"...Nothing."
Then he smiled faintly.
"I just meant..."
"This wasn't a big deal."
He glanced toward Naruto again.
"Besides..."
"Even if he's an idiot..."
"He's still my precious student."
A warm smile unconsciously appeared on my face.
"...Thank you."
"When I recover..."
"I'll come properly thank you."
"You should go home and get some rest."
"I'll be fine."
Iruka hesitated.
He clearly wanted to object.
Before he could...
Naruto stirred.
His eyelashes fluttered.
A second later...
His sleepy blue eyes slowly opened.
Seeing Naruto awake, Iruka sighed.
"I should leave."
He walked toward the door.
Halfway there...
He suddenly stopped.
Looking back at me...
His lips parted.
As though he wanted to say something important.
After several seconds...
He only smiled.
"Eat while it's still warm."
Then he quietly closed the door.
Click.
The room fell silent once more.
Naruto slowly rubbed his sleepy eyes.
Then immediately looked toward me.
"...Sister..."
"I'm—"
"Naruto."
"I'm sorry."
We spoke simultaneously.
Before he could continue...
I interrupted him.
His eyes widened.
"What?"
"Why are you apologizing?!"
"It was my fault!"
I gently shook my head.
"Naruto."
My voice was soft.
"It's my fault."
"I've been so focused on my own work..."
"...that I forgot about your feelings."
I slowly told him everything.
How I had buried myself inside writing.
How every time he visited...
I barely looked up from my desk.
How I convinced myself everything was fine.
As I spoke...
Another painful realization surfaced.
Naruto wasn't stupid.
Far from it.
He might be slow in many things.
But...
He was frighteningly sensitive to other people's feelings.
During this past month...
What had he been thinking?
Had he believed I disliked him now?
Had he wondered whether he had done something wrong?
Had he quietly chosen to stop visiting...
Simply because he didn't want to become a burden?
The thought alone hurt.
Naruto quietly listened.
Then scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"...Sister keeps apologizing..."
His voice carried genuine confusion.
"What did you even do wrong?"
He looked directly into my eyes.
"I've been watching."
"You work really hard."
"You sit at your desk all day."
"You weren't ignoring me."
"And..."
His smile slowly returned.
"Even though you never eat snacks..."
"Every single time I visited..."
"...the living room always had my favorite snacks waiting."
He scratched the back of his head.
"So..."
"I knew..."
"You remembered."
Tears blurred my vision again.
"...But you were still lonely."
I whispered.
"Even when I was right beside you."
Naruto shook his head vigorously.
"No!"
"You didn't do anything wrong!"
His voice became louder.
"You were the first person who ever acknowledged me!"
"The first person who cooked for me!"
"The first one who listened to everything I wanted to say!"
"The first one who played with me!"
"The first one who never got annoyed no matter how much I talked!"
One by one...
He began listing every memory we had shared.
Every meal.
Every conversation.
Every small act of kindness.
Every ordinary day.
He remembered all of it.
Far more clearly than I did.
My chest tightened painfully.
"...Naruto."
I smiled weakly.
"Can I tell you a story?"
He blinked.
Although confused by the sudden change of topic...
He immediately nodded.
Then sat quietly.
Just like every other time I had told him a bedtime story.
I looked out toward the dark night beyond the hospital window.
Then quietly began.
"'To me,' the Fox said to the Little Prince..."
"'You are nothing more than a little boy like a hundred thousand other little boys.'"
"'And I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.'"
Naruto listened without blinking.
"'But if you tame me...'"
"'Then we shall need one another.'"
"'To me, you will become unique in all the world.'"
"'To you... I shall become unique in all the world.'"
The quiet hospital room seemed to disappear.
Only the gentle rhythm of the story remained.
"'Little by little...'"
"'The Little Prince tamed the Fox.'"
"'And when the day finally came for the Little Prince to leave...'"
I paused.
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
Though my eyes were already wet once more.
"'...the Fox cried.'"
Naruto lowered his head.
"...Because..."
"...they had become important to each other?"
I looked at him silently.
The moonlight shining through the hospital window illuminated his innocent face.
For the first time...
I realized that perhaps...
Without noticing...
The Fox had already been tamed.
And so had I.
The story was never about the Little Prince.
It had quietly become our story.
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