Chapter 52 - N

They have got the meds for Andrea's influenza. That and more things that are important for her health that she painfully needs. And for that, Naruto owes them, perhaps not to some of the men that look dubious, but to this town in general.

The doctor is nice enough to them, not to mention how Naruto always stays a couple of meters away from her reach, even when it's really weird to see him nervous at her presence. What can he say? He respects doctors but also has had enough experience with them to be wary and fearful of them. She reassures them, but it doesn't do much to calm him. He's still worried in a way he knows would only stop once he sees his friend standing in front of him in one piece.

Though that'll probably take a while. The doctor only allowed Michonne inside the room as his nervous hovering would not help.

"Will she be alright, Naruto?"

Glancing down at the girl sitting next to him, Naruto gives a bright smile, placing his arm across her shoulders and squeezing lightly. "Of course, she will, Clem, believe it!" he says, feeling slightly guilty because he's learned he shouldn't make these kinds of promises; war has taught him that sometimes they can cause more pain than the truth.

However, he also knows when someone needs to hear it. And Clem needs it.

She nods and when the guard set to watch them tells them that he can lead them to a free room to rest, they refuse, choosing to wait for their friends.

He doesn't seem very happy but doesn't press the issue and the silence again falls. At least his hearing is pretty good, so it doesn't matter if he has to stay outside, he still can hear everything going on around him. It was quiet the first couple of hours, but after Merle got inside, things got a bit chatty. The doors are open so he doesn't have to eavesdrop anymore. Naruto still stays outside, mostly because the conversation seems to be between Merle and Andrea. However, when there's a spike of hostility coming from Michonne, Naruto steps in, ignoring the men standing close to the door.

"I plucked you and your mute friend here out of the dirt, blondie." Merle continues saying, glancing at him briefly once he decides to stand close to Andrea. Clementine is glaring alongside Michonne. "You're lucky your whiskered friend here was interesting enough to not let you out there to die, too. I saved your asses, so how about a thank you?"

"You had a gun on us," Michonne hisses at the same time Naruto says 'thank you', loud enough for even the governor, who is just walking inside, to hear.

Naruto gives them a slight bow. "Thanks for using your resources to help my friend." He stands up. "I understand you not wanting to give us our weapons, but you also took our other stuff. We had clothes and other supplies inside those bags."

"You're different from Uchiha," the governor murmurs with a small smirk. "And don't worry, kid. We'll give it to you on your way to the front gates."

Michonne takes a couple of steps forward. "Good. Show us the way."

"I thought your friend wanted to meet the Uchiha boy. Or are you going to just leave?"

"We'll wait outside," Michonne says, glancing at Naruto over her shoulder. "We don't like being kept under guard."

"Under ward? You're being taken care of."

"You've kept us locked inside this building. Always someone armed close," Andrea points out.

"I'm sorry, I am, but we're only doing this to protect our people. When don't know you or your intentions, perhaps once we do, we can trust each other. Just understand: You're not prisoners here, you're guests," he says, his gaze staying in Naruto's form for a second longer.

Naruto arches a dubious eyebrow. "So we can leave whenever we want?"

"Of course. But we don't open the gates past dusk; draws too much attention."

What a coincidence, dusk just passed.

The governor wants them to stay. He doesn't outright offer it or even show it with his mannerisms, but to Naruto is clear nonetheless. He doesn't know if it's because of his relationship with Sasuke though.

It probably isn't the only reason, or that's what he thinks as Merle's conversation with Andrea finishes and the governor comes. The governor is also doing it for the information Andrea possesses about Merle's brother.

"If you know Sasuke, then you know I can jump those gates. Why shouldn't we just leave and wait outside?"

"You could," he says with a light shrug before he nods in Andrea's direction. "But I would suggest staying the night. Your friend could use a solid night's sleep. She wouldn't last another day in her condition; she's still weak. So let me lead you to your rooms for the night; tomorrow we can continue talking over breakfast. You can meet Uchiha and then if you want to leave, we'll return your weapons. Extra ammo, food for the road, some meds. Keys to a vehicle, if you want one."

There's a silent conversation going between them as they think over their options, mostly consisting of meaningful looks (and glares in Michonne's case). In the end, Andrea is the one that nods in acceptance and asks, "Rooms?"

"One for you; the other is for Naruto." He looks back at her with a raised eyebrow as he motions them to follow him. "Or would you prefer to share a room?"

"We'll share rooms," Michonne immediately intercedes, cutting any question that the governor wants to inquire with her sharp tone.

"It's okay. You would want to stay together when being in a new place," he says, stepping out of the building, giving them the sight of a dark, lonely road, though Naruto can sense the emotions of a good amount of people around him. "Wellcome to Woodbury."

-

They go outside. There's a small silence as they walk, the others looking curiously around them, while Naruto tries to count how many people there are. It'd have been a nice walk, only made uncomfortable by Michonne's constant scowling. She wants to demand her sword again so Naruto decides to make small talk because while most of the time Michonne's pretty level-headed, there are times she gets as worse as him, especially whenever she feels inside an uncomfortable situation.

"So what does Sasuke do here?"

"He teaches," the governor replies easily, glancing back at him when he realizes he's stopped walking. "He helps some of our members with their physical training."

Naruto's face feels like he just licked some lemon. "And nobody's died?"

"None so far."

Well, that's surprising. Sasuke's teachers have been Kakashi and Orochimaru. Kakashi was a lazy bum with a streak for cruel, sadistic training. Orochimaru was probably worse because if he's learned something from his time with Jiraya is that powerful people tend to take stuff in a whole new painful way. He remembers sitting, a large rock hanging on top of him only tied by a rope he was supposed to hold while sleeping. It was supposed to improve his reflexes while he was resting. And it kind of worked. Though now he gets kind of ballistic if he's woken up by some kind of stone.

"So he doesn't make them do impossible stuff like running with giant rocks tied on their backs or do pull-up bars while a fire is burning below or stay in weird poses with the help of pointy things?"

The governor gives him a weird look. "Should he?"

"No, no." He shakes his head, trying to erase thoughts of training as he continues walking. "He doesn't come late and gives lame excuses to this training thing or reads porn in public either, right?"

"Do I want to ask?" Clementine says, clearly having beaten up the governor in asking first.

"Our teacher was an ass. I just wanted to know if he emulated his teaching habits," he says smiling at her as if that answers all. He looks back at the governor. "So you told me Sasuke was going to return tomorrow, right?"

They're entering another building, this one empty. "... Yes, I'm sure. It usually doesn't take him longer than a day to make these small trips."

Naruto nods, not sensing a lie.

"Do you know where he goes?"

The governor smiles. "To get supplies, I assume; he doesn't like to accept things from us that he can't get himself. That friend of yours is too paranoid for his good."

And isn't it sad how Naruto kind of approves it? He sighs. "Yeah, I get it. Paranoia kind of goes in our line of work. "

Stopping in front of a door, the governor turns around to look at him better. "And what kind of work might you be talking about?"

"A deadly one."

Giving one last grin to the governor as he steps inside the room with his friends, Naruto chirps a friendly "Good night!" before closing the door.

When he can't feel any people within earshot, he turns around to face the others, a serious expression settled on his face.

"What did you get?" Michonne asks, everyone in the room knowing about his ability to sense emotions and intentions.

Naruto just smiles.

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