2 Chapter 2

I was on edge. Nerves tensed to the point I instinctively reached out to my chakra to check what these shinobi were capable of. After that, I would at least know what waited behind the safe doors of the only home I had.

It was worse than I ever could've imagined. The one behind the door and trying to talk with me had an almost electrified, charged aura, dark with hues of deep melancholia hidden within. There was the feeling of deep guilt, like the person committed heinous crimes he couldn't forgive himself for committing, all the while also the known colors of duty painted his aura. Here was a soldier, used to orders and following them, maybe harboring doubts and questions, but fulfilling these orders nevertheless. But I also noticed the little lighter spots, small bits of recovery and laughter and friendliness, jokes and mischievous nature.

Still, this man was dangerous. And the sinking feeling in my guts only worsened, deepened, settled and nestled into my stomach when I quickly checked the other shinobis, one worse than the other. One of them seemed dark, almost the same as the first one, but with more rage hidden behind all the sadness and melancholy, another one was all gentleness and brute force at the same time and the last…

The last was the worst. Dark matter, dark intentions, all enveloped by dark energy. A gasp escaped your mouth and this time, I was astonished and I would've been scared if it was the first time I experienced this. I experienced a lot of darkness in my life, but almost never to this extent. It was almost never this old, this gruesome, this terrible. The small spark of human energy inside this ball of negativity didn't count.

These people were definitely dangerous and I would be damned to accept them in my humble abode for any amount of time.

"Go away." I hissed through my teeth, eyes hidden behind your hands.

The voice sounded genuinely confused. "Excuse me?"

"Go away. Go and never return. This hut and garden are mine, mine alone and you're not wanted here!"

The longest I had spoken in a long time. My voice sounded even strange and foreign to me, like the voice of a long-forgotten childhood friend. The words felt too big for my mouth, clumsy and clunky, more falling from your lips than actually pronounced.

A cough rippled at my throat, before I hissed again, words louder and louder echoing through the silent room and overwhelming the soft crackling of the fireplace. "Go away. You're not wanted here. Go and never come back."

"Can you at least tell us what Naruto can do to treat his hands?" The voice sounded sincere, but you were too caged in your disbelief to really fall for it.

If I showed them any sign of weakness, they would latch upon this weakness and suck me dry without a second thought.

"No!" I shouted. "Go away! Never come back! Leave me alone!"

A heavy sigh echoed through the door. "Alright. We're leaving. And we're sorry for intruding, it wasn't our intention to disturb you."

Quietly, I shook my head. I would only believe them if they would truly leave. And even then, it could be just a clever maneuver to make me think I am safe before running me over. Never believe anyone, a lecture my grandma told my mother before she told me.

There was a reason why I lived in the woods, after all. Well, a lot of reasons. It was easier, it was simpler, it was silent… And I was alone. It was for the best.

While the voice went silent, I reached out again to feel if they were really leaving. The group of three souls really walked away, but the last one, the one who had stood at my door didn't. He stood still in front of your door and seemed to wait with bated breath, almost like a shadow.

Rage build inside of your stomach. How dare he lie! How dare he!

"Hey!" Abruptly, you turned around and hit the door with all the strength you had. "Fuck off! Leave!"

"Okay, okay." And this time, the tortured soldier really left. You could feel his aura fading with the distance put in between you and him, joined the other three auras and left together with them.

Thank god. Thank god I'm alone again.

Cautiously, I scrambled to my feet. Again, just to be sure, I checked the clearing. No, this time, they were truly gone. With a weary sigh, I leaned my forehead against the colder wood of the door and closed my eyes. All thoughts and plans of taking a little walk through the surrounding wood were washed away.

I needed to make sure they didn't do anything to my herbs, didn't trample over them like the last time some strangers came in and assumed the hut was empty and abandoned. I grimaced at the memory of returning to the garden and seeing the work of a few years almost completely destroyed by the carelessness of some dumb idiots.

Needless to say, I didn't go collecting new herbs for my garden that day. Instead, I checked my garden up and down for any kind of damage. But there wasn't even a footprint where it shouldn't be, all of them neatly laid onto the almost invisible paths in between the neat rows. And still, I searched the grass meticulously and used my gift to listen to the nature.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

I hope they never come back, I thought to myself, sweating heavily and incredibly thirsty when you stepped back into my house in the late afternoon, because if they do, I have no idea what to do anymore. I don't want to attack them, considering I would lose for certain against all four together but atleast I'd take a few with me. Separating them would be an issue, not knowing their abilities. And this dark aura… I shuddered alone at the memory.

Never again. No, they shouldn't come back, not with the way I chased them away. They have no further business here and if the girl manages to get that stick out of her ass, then the hands of that kiddo should be fine. And if not, the next village also knows how to treat the fire vine properly.

Still, the slight premonition that this wouldn't be the last of those shinobi I would see clung to my mind for the rest of the day, all the way to the bath in a nearby river. Naked and the clothes neatly folded in the grass, I stretched out on the riverbed and sighed when the cold water washed away the sweat of labor and heavy worries of being found by strange ninjas.

Unluckily, even though I hoped to be left alone for another three months, I had the dim feeling my life would be a lot more stressful than it had been and my gut feeling never betrayed me.