[Naruto's apartment]
The first rays of the morning sun filtered through the curtains.
Naruto stirred on his mattress before slowly opening his eyes.
For a brief moment, he simply stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.
Then the memories of yesterday came rushing back.
The training ground.
The playground.
Running.
The little girl with pale lavender eyes.
...and then... nothing?
Naruto blinked and pushed himself upright.
"...Ow."
Every muscle in his body protested the movement.
"I guess... I really did overdo it." Naruto said to himself as he attempted to get up.
"That you did." A soft cool voice said.
Naruto turned his head to the source and saw Cat at the window, staring at him, the mask did not allow him to know for sure but he had a feeling she was amused.
"So...umm... how did i get home?" Naruto asked a bit unsure.
"I saw you napping on the training ground without a care in the world." Cat started.
"I wasn't asleep!" Naruto protested immediately. "I was just... training, then I got tired... and... things happened."
"Mm-hmm." Cat nodded.
"Right right, anyways I saw you there sleeping blissfully and decided it was better for you to sleep at your own place. I mean you just got it, would be a shame if you didnt use it." Cat said.
"So... umm... you carried me?" Naruto asked still a bit confused about this whole situation.
"I did." Cat replied
"...Thanks... you didnt have to you know." Naruto looked away, absentmindedly fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt.
Somehow, that simple answer only made him more unsure of what to say.
"I know." Cat said, and let the statement sit in the air.
Naruto now somehow even more confused on how to deal with the situation started fidgeting even more.
Watching Naruto fidget around, unable to respond to the situation for a few more seconds. Cat finally hopped off the window.
"Come lets eat breakfast." Cat said as she started walking to the kitchen.
"R-right... lets do that." Naruto said as he slowly got of his bed and dragged his sore body to the kitchen.
Naruto followed Cat into the kitchen where she moved around the prepping the ingredients.
"Here, wash these." Cat said as she handed Naruto some vegetables.
Naruto took them to the sink and started washing them.
As he was washing them, he glanced at Cat. He saw her prepping the rest of the ingredients for the breakfast.
"What are we having for breakfast?" Naruto asked.
"Eggs, miso soup and some rice." Cat replied.
"Thats... That sounds nice." Naruto said after a bit as he finished washing the vegetables.
"Put them here." Cat said motioning to a large plate.
Naruto watched as she inspected the vegetables.
"Wash this a bit more, is still has some dirt." Cat said as she handed him a carrot.
"Ah... right sorry about that." Naruto said as he quickly washed the dirt and handed the vegetable back to her.
Cat took the vegetable back wordlessly and started cooking.
Naruto watched the process intently almost like he didnt want to miss anything.
After a while she added the vegetables in a pot and started stirring.
"Why are you looking at it so intently?" Cat asked not looking up from the pot.
"No reason... I want to be able to do this on my own." Naruto replied.
"Why?"
"I want to be independent. And it isnt like you will make me breakfast everyday right?" Naruto replied.
"Thats right. Watch closely, dont miss anything." Cat replied after a beat of silence.
Naruto nodded as he watched her make the rest of the breakfast.
Once the breakfast was made, Naruto quickly made the table for himself and cat as they sat down to eat.
Both of them sat at the table, Cat moved her mask a bit so that she could still eat and the rest of her face was covered.
For a while, there was only the sound of them eating.
"The food is really good. Thanks for showing me." Naruto said sincerely.
"Thats fine." Cat replied and she kept eating.
"Ah- is it fine for me to see your mouth." Naruto asked suddenly.
Cat for her part just wordlessly looked at him.
"I mean you had to move your mask to eat. And... umm.. i saw your mouth. Is that fine? Will that get you in trouble?" Naruto asked his voice sounding a bit frantic at the end.
"Thats fine Naruto, although Anbu have to wear masks to hide their identity, it is fine. And no i will not get into any trouble Naruto." Cat replied in the same cool voice she always had but Naruto could see the smallest hint of an amused smile on her face.
"T-then thats fine." Naruto replied now looking exclusively at the bowl of rice in front of him.
"So yesterday was eventful." Cat started.
The chopsticks in Naruto's hand froze.
"The training must have been hard. You collapsed on the training ground." Cat continued.
"Yeah training was difficult." Naruto said.
"When training your physical body, it is important to not overdo it. Suddenly doing too much exercise can put too much strain on your body. You are feeling that right now." Cat explained.
Naruto nodded quietly.
"How is your shoulder?" Cat asked.
"There is no particular pain... I guess. I just feel pain... well everywhere. Because of the training I guess." Naruto said as he rolled his shoulder.
"Thats nice. I mean I was worried since it might have hurt when you punched that kid." Cat said.
"It was fine only my fingers and knuckles hurt a bit... Wait a minute you saw that!?" Naruto almost choked on the food on the food in his mouth.
"Have some water Naruto." Cat said as she handed him a glass of water.
"So... why did you do it?" Cat said as Naruto cleared his throat with the water.
"... I don't know, didn't really think about why." Naruto replied, his voice carrying a hint of confusion..
"Were you not scared?" Cat asked after a moment.
"A bit... I think, I don't know. There wasn't enough time to be scared." Naruto replied in the same confused manner.
"Why didn't you walk away? I mean, you didn't have to fight. Nobody would have blamed you." Cat probed gently.
That got Naruto to pause for a second, his brow furrowed as he stared down at his bowl, thinking carefully about her question.
"You are right I could have, maybe that would have been simpler." Naruto said as he picked up a piece of food with some chopsticks.
"Looking back, I know it was a mess, but I am glad I didn't walk away." Naruto said as he continued eating.
"I see." Cat replied as she continued eating as well.
They fell into a silence as they continued eating, and the only sound that came from the kitchen was of chopsticks clinking and people chewing.