#i don't even know what to call this. oneshot? drabble? chapter? i have no clue

[naomihatake]

Piece of peace

Summary: first meeting between Female!OC and Naruto at Cherry Blossom Festival. 1700 words

TW: fluff, mentions of death and hospitals, brief description of a wound, discrimination, mention of orphans

A/N: I don't know if I will continue this with little chapters, but I really wish to. I never written so much in English all in one sitting. Initially, I wrote this for another purpose, not to post it here, but lately I realized that sharing bits of my thoughts on here is freeing. So, here we go.

Excuse any grammar mistakes or misspellings. I'm open for opinions and constructive criticism!

She got rid of the sweaty ANBU uniform she's been stuck in for the entire mission, hissing at the dark material of her clothes that got glued to a wound because of the blood. With no mercy, she dragged the grey flak jacket off even as dull pain ran through her body, only to throw the black turtleneck into the washing machine.

The only reason why she took her time in treating her wound was because she hated the smell of the hospital, place in which other comrades of hers were now stuck. One of those comrades was Kakashi, the captain of the team, who once again overused his Sharingan. She healed herself until nothing was life threatening anymore and she wrapped bandages around the wound.

Outside the window people were chattering and kids were giggling. There was more fuss than usual and the reason for that was the Cherry Blossom Festival. She was lucky enough to get back into the village so soon, only after three days of a mission that could've left her without limbs.

While she dragged some comfortable and large on her, she got out of the apartment, looking like a mere civilian. The only thing that distinguished her from the people was the small black bag wrapped around her thigh, where she held some kunai and shuriken. She never got out of the apartment without those, a habit since becoming a shinobi.

Ruffling her dark short hair, she looked around, trying her best to ignore the worries regarding the mission she just finished. Her turquoise eyes were carefully analyzing her surroundings, but her walk was slow and steady, as if she took her time relaxing — an almost failed attempt.

A young woman, a kunoichi of only 21 years old, trying her best to act like a civilian for a night, even as the dark circles under her eyes were getting more visible with each sleepless night.

As she was walking, approaching the centre of the village, where the festival was held, her eyes fell on a small boy with hair as the sun. She blinked, remembering for a brief moment the appearance of the Fourth Hokage, who's been resting in the ground for six years. It was his kid.

She stopped in her tracks, meters away from him, figuring out what he was doing. Her eyebrows pulled together into a frown when she saw the man from the stand get angry at the boy for looking at his masks for too long. He shoved the mask out of the boy's hands while shouting loudly.

"You're scaring my clients!"

With a few quick steps, she got there in seconds, holding back from glaring at the man much taller than her.

"Give me this one and the kitsune mask," her voice gave away the anger boiling steadily in her veins. The way she stared into the man's eyes didn't help the startled reaction and the cuss words that left his lips.

She gave him the money and took both masks, handing the blond boy the one he initially chose. A soft smile painted her face, genuine kindness dancing in her eyes.

"Here, little one. It's for you."

Initially, the boy looked at her with wide eyes, as if not believing what he heard or saw. He was hesitant, probably expecting to be spitted on. When his hands finally took the mask from her hands, he smiled so brightly her heart melted.

There were enough orphans left after Kyuubi's attack. There were many people who were mourning their friends and family and they were blaming the little child standing in front of her in that moment. Everyone threw such ugly glances towards him it made her want to puke. As if it was his fault. As if he controlled the beast locked inside of him when he barely got born.

"Thank you, Nee-chan," the boy smiled up at her.

She arched her eyebrow for a second at the casual language, but she didn't mind it it.

"What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" the child grinned.

Naruto. Right. That was his name, she thought.

"Then, Naruto, let's wear the masks together, alright?"

Why let him wear that mask on his own when she could wear one as well? Obviously, she always wears one, she got so used to it she felt more protected when her face was covered. She understood only half of the reasons why her anbu captain kept on wearing that damn mask over the lower half of his face.

Probably the reason why the kid stayed beside her for the night was the fact that he wasn't being shown kindness a lot of the time. She didn't mean to make him cling to her, but his presence was grounding. She hasn't talked with someone out of her anbu teammates in a month. It became almost suffocating, the way she forgot how to socualize, the way gruesome missions blurred her days.

She slowed her pace down just so he didn't have to rush, looking down at him from time to time. Chattering about nothings with the blonde kid felt good, almost freeing, and she guessed it must've felt pleasant for him too. He was probably alone too much of the time, discriminated, pushed away by everyone.

She knew that the mask he wore made it easier for people to ignore him and she knew he was well aware of it, even if only on a subconscious level. Such a young soul, already experiencing too much. It reminded her own her own childhood, the childhoods of her friends, people were already adults, junins.

"Do you want to watch the fireworks together?" she asked him, taking her mask off only to let him see her smile. She'd give him as many smiles as she can, the same way she smiled at any kid, at any animal, at each one of her friends.

"Can we?" Naruto's happiness seemed so fragile, even as his eyes sparkled with hope.

"Of course we can. Come here," she chuckled, picking him up, sitting him on her shoulders.

But she wasn't a tall individual either, so she raised on her tip toes between the tall men that stayed in her view. The fireworks didn't start yet, there were just two "dragons" — men distinguished as such — dancing around in a circle, but she could only hear the specific music.

"Don't get scared, alright? I'll find a better view."

She formed the tiger sigil with her hands and she used Shunshin to teleport on the rooftop of a house, where the view was much better. She heard Naruto's surprised voice at what she did and she could only chuckle at his reaction at such a lame jutsu. It's a D-rank jutsu.

She sat down and put him down as well. Her legs were parted, her feet planted on the rooftop, her elbows resting on her knees as she looked up at the sky. Fireworks were so beautifully painting the sky, the loud sounds muffled by the happy voice of the child by her side. It pulled a smile on her lips as she left the mask next to her.

"They're so beautiful!"

"They are," she admitted in a faint voice.

"At the next festival I'll do that jutsu on my own, dattebayo!" Naruto turned his head towards her, his mask down.

"Really?" she challenged him with a playful smile. "I can't wait to see that, then."

"You're a shinobi, right? What's your name, Nee-chan?"

"Naomi. Asahi Naomi, and, yes, I am a shinobi."

She didn't mention her role in ANBU, since it was forbidden.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" He suddenly got up on his feet.

The place stable, since they were on a rooftop, so he almost tripped, but she quickly steadied him, her hands carefully gripping at his shoulders.

"I wonder, can I?" she tilted her head. "Maybe. Depends on how quick you learn."

"I'm a fast learner!" he bubbled with happiness at her response.

She let out a light laugh at his attitude, shaking her head, strands of brown hair falling over her cheeks.

"We'll see that later, Naruto."

She watched him pout at her and turn his back again when another round of fireworks started. She stared at them as she got locked in her own thoughts, wondering if she should give in to such a request.

She was a busy shinobi, she was walking on the edge of death with every mission. All anbu missions are S-ranked and it's for a reason. So many comrades die in missions and it's maddening. She's still wondering how she's alive, how she manages to smiles at anyone except herself. She can never muster the energy to smile at herself in the mirror.

Should she teach him? It's a big commitment. He's been denied of help and kindness for so long, it makes sense he clung to her after that small gesture. A meaningless things for everyone but him. For him it probably meant more than she could ever understand.

She blinked as she looked at the ruffled blonde hair in front of her. She let out a small sigh.

"I will. I'll teach you how to handle shuriken first, kunai, then we can jump to jutsu."

She had no clue how hard it was for the little boy to understand some basic information, but the moment he actually got it, he was good at it. The moment he understood how his chakra worked, which would happen only with exercise, he'd be so good at it she was surprised. He learned slowly and so fast at the same time, which was a weird way to explain it.

But it brought her some normalcy. She didn't have to think of deaths and missions when she came back to Konoha and he'd run into her randomly. There were months in which she didn't even time to stay for a day in Konoha, but the smile on his lips when he finally saw her felt unreal.

Such a sweet soul was waiting for her to come back alive from missions, even if he had no clue what could happen. He didn't know how her mask looked and she was happy that way. He didn't know the danger she was put through, but he had enough to deal with. She'd do anything to lift something off his tiny shoulders.