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The soccer ball was almost dead.
Naruto knew this because it made a different sound when it hit the pavement.
A healthy ball went thump, solid and satisfying, the sound carrying cleanly through the empty lot. This one went thump-hiss, its battered sides collapsing slightly beneath his shoe before wheezing back into shape.
Naruto kicked it anyway.
“C'mon,” he muttered, jogging after it. “Don't be a baby.”
The ball rolled toward the chain-link fence and stopped against a rusted support pole.
Naruto grumbled under his breath and jogged after it.
The lot had once belonged to a school, judging by the faded white lines beneath his sneakers, but the building had been abandoned years ago. The windows were boarded up, the playground equipment on the other side of the fence had been swallowed by weeds, and half the asphalt had cracked apart beneath the heat.
It was perfect. Nobody came here. Nobody told him to leave. Nobody asked where his parents were. Nobody asked where he was supposed to be. Naruto liked it that way. He trapped the ball beneath his sneaker and looked down at it.
There was a strip of silver duct tape across one side. Another patch had been made with electrical tape, and the outer layer was worn so thin in places that he could see the ugly gray underneath. It wasn't much, but was his. That made it better than most things.
“Okay,” Naruto announced to the empty lot. “Three goals. Then I'm done.”
There were no goals.
He'd made one from two milk crates he'd found behind a grocery store and another from a couple of broken pieces of lumber. They leaned against each other at an angle that made absolutely no sense, but Naruto had spent almost an hour fixing them, so they counted.
He backed away.
Then he ran.
The ball flew off his foot and slammed into the wooden goal.
“Yes! Did you see that?" Naruto threw both arms into the air. Silence. He grinned anyway. “Yeah. That's what I thought.”
He jogged after the ball. He played like that most afternoons. Sometimes he imagined there was a crowd. Sometimes he imagined there were scouts standing along the fence, whispering to each other about the strange blond kid with the impossible footwork. Sometimes he imagined there was someone sitting in the bleachers. Someone who would clap.
Naruto didn't think about that part for very long.
He had other things to think about. Food, mostly. He hadn't eaten since breakfast. If you could call breakfast the two pieces of toast he'd stolen from the cafeteria before leaving. He'd been gone from the foster home for six days.
Six days was long enough that his legs were starting to ache all the time. Six days was long enough that the blisters on his heels had stopped hurting because they'd turned into hard little patches of skin. Six days was long enough that he had learned which convenience stores left their dumpsters unlocked, which public bathrooms stayed open late, and which bus stations had security guards who actually cared if a kid fell asleep in the corner.
He'd learned other things too. Never sleep somewhere with only one exit. Never let anyone see exactly how much food you have. Never tell strangers your name. Never, ever look frightened. People noticed frightened kids. People noticed lonely kids. People noticed kids who looked like they needed something.
Naruto had spent his entire life being noticed for the wrong reasons. So now he was learning how to become invisible. He kicked the ball again. It bounced once. Twice. Then rolled beneath the edge of a dumpster. Naruto stared at it.
“You've gotta be kidding me.”
He crouched and reached underneath. His fingers brushed the ball. He stretched farther. Nothing.
“Come on.” He flattened himself against the pavement and reached until his shoulder protested. His fingers finally caught the edge. “There!”
Naruto yanked. The ball came flying free. So did a small stone. It struck him directly in the forehead.
“Ow!”
Naruto sat back on his heels, rubbing the spot. He glared at the pebble.
“You did that on purpose.”
The pebble, unsurprisingly, did not apologize. Naruto picked it up. It was smooth and pale gray, no bigger than his thumbnail. He turned it over between his fingers. Then, because there was nobody around to tell him not to, he tucked it into his pocket.
“Lucky rock,” he decided. He stood. His stomach growled. Naruto looked toward the street. The sun was beginning to sink behind the buildings, washing everything in a dirty lavender haze. He should go. The city got less friendly after dark. He knew that.
He also knew he had another hour before the convenience store near the bus station threw out its day-old sandwiches. So he kicked the ball again. One more. Then another. Then another. He refused to count how many times he'd said one more.
Eventually, he collapsed onto the cracked pavement, breathing hard. His chest rose and fell beneath his oversized orange sweatshirt. His clothes were dirty. His knees were scraped. There was a hole in one of his socks. His hair was sticking out in every possible direction. Naruto wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
He looked ridiculous.
He smiled.
“Pretty good,” he told himself. The words sounded strange in the empty lot. He looked toward the boarded-up school. For one second, he wondered what it would be like if somebody were waiting for him there.
Not a foster parent. Not a social worker. Not someone who wanted to know why he hadn't done his chores or why he'd broken something or why he couldn't just behave. Just somebody waiting.
Somebody who would say, There you are.
Naruto's smile faltered.
He kicked at a loose piece of gravel.
“Stupid.”
He stood and grabbed his soccer ball. The pavement was cooling beneath his sneakers. Night was coming. Naruto slung the ball beneath his arm and started toward the street. Nobody called his name. Nobody noticed him leaving. For a twelve-year-old, Naruto was getting very good at disappearing.
Naruto made it three blocks before someone called out behind him.
“Hey, brat.”
He kept walking. His soccer ball was tucked beneath one arm, and his other hand was shoved deep into the pocket of his sweatshirt, fingers curled around the smooth little pebble he'd found beneath the dumpster. He didn't turn around.
“Hey!”
The voice came closer. Naruto's shoulders tightened. There were three of them. Older. Sixteen, maybe seventeen. Old enough that Naruto immediately knew better than to try anything stupid. Unfortunately, knowing better had never stopped him before.
One of them jogged around him and stepped backward into his path.
Naruto stopped.
The boy looked him up and down.
“What've you got there?”
“Nothing.” Naruto tried to walk around him. The boy moved with him.
“Didn't look like nothing.”
Naruto stared at him. Then at the two others approaching from behind. He knew this game. They wanted something. His ball, probably. Maybe his shoes. Maybe the few coins he'd managed to collect that week. Maybe they just wanted to see if they could make him cry.
Naruto tightened his grip around the soccer ball.
“Move.”
The boy laughed.
“You got a mouth on you.”
“Yeah.” Naruto's eyes narrowed. “Move it.”
The other two laughed. One of them reached out and flicked Naruto's forehead. Naruto slapped his hand away.
“Don't touch me.”
“Oh, look at that.” The boy grinned. “He's got claws.”
Naruto could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. He hated this. He hated the way his stomach twisted. He hated the sudden awareness of how alone the street was. The sun had almost disappeared now, leaving the sky bruised lavender and violet above the rooftops. The streetlights had begun flickering on one by one.
Nobody was watching. Nobody was coming. Naruto had learned that lesson already. So he did what he always did. He smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was sharp and crooked and far too big for his face.
“Three against one?” he said. “That's pretty pathetic.”
The tallest boy's grin disappeared.
“What'd you say?”
“You heard me.” Naruto tossed the soccer ball into the air. Caught it. “Or are you guys scared of a twelve-year-old?”
The first punch came fast. Naruto ducked. He'd expected that one. He hadn't expected the second. It caught him across the cheek hard enough to knock him sideways. His soccer ball hit the pavement. Naruto stumbled.
"That's it?”
The boy stared at him. Naruto spat onto the sidewalk. A tiny streak of red stained the concrete. His cheek was already beginning to throb. He smiled wider.
“C'mon.”
He was faster than them. That was the only advantage he had. Naruto ducked beneath one arm, drove his shoulder into another boy's stomach, and grabbed his soccer ball as it rolled away. Someone caught the back of his sweatshirt.
Naruto twisted.
“Let go!” The fabric tightened against his throat.
He kicked backward.
The boy swore.
Naruto tore free and ran. He made it six steps. A hand caught his shoulder.
Naruto spun and swung blindly. His fist connected with someone's nose.
There was a startled yelp. Then Naruto was on the pavement. His knee struck first.
Then his palms. Then something hard clipped the side of his mouth. Pain exploded across his face. For a second, he couldn't breathe. The soccer ball rolled away. One of the boys kicked it.
“Hey!” Naruto scrambled toward it.
Another kick sent it farther.
“Give it back.”
“Come get it.”
Naruto lunged. Someone shoved him down again. His teeth clicked together. He tasted blood. He lifted his head. The three boys stood over him. As Naruto smiled, blood slipped between his teeth.
“I'm gonna—”
A voice like a thunderclap split the street.
“HEY!”
Everyone froze.
A shop door slammed open.
An old woman stood beneath the yellow glow of the storefront, one hand braced against the doorframe and the other gripping what appeared to be a wooden broom.
She was tiny.
She was also furious.
“What in God's name do you boys think you're doing?”
The teenagers immediately started backing up.
“He started it,” one said.
“I don't care if he stabbed you with a kitchen knife,” the woman snapped. “Get away from that child.”
“He's not—”
“GO.” She slammed the broom against the pavement. The sound echoed down the street. “Before I call the police and tell them exactly what you've been doing out here.”
That did it. The boys scattered. One muttered something under his breath as he passed. The old woman raised the broom.
“Did you say something?”
“No, ma'am.”
“That's what I thought.”
They disappeared around the corner. Silence settled over the street. Naruto remained on the pavement. His chest heaved. His palms stung. His lip hurt. He slowly pushed himself upright.
The woman stared at him. Naruto stared back.
“Come here.”
Naruto immediately scrambled backward.
“No.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“I wasn't going to hurt you.”
“Don't need anything.”
“I can see that.”
She looked him over. Dirty clothes. Scraped knees. Bruised cheek. Blood on his mouth. One shoe half untied. She looked at the soccer ball lying several feet away.
Then back at him.
“How old are you?” Naruto said nothing. She sighed again. “Fine. Don't tell me.”
She disappeared into the shop. Naruto grabbed his ball. He should leave. He knew he should.
Every instinct he'd developed in his life screamed at him to run before she decided she wanted something in return. He took one step backward. Then the woman reappeared. She tossed something at him.
Naruto nearly dropped the soccer ball trying to catch it. A wrapped sandwich landed in his hands. He stared at it.
The woman pointed her broom toward the sidewalk.
“Eat.”
Naruto looked up.
“What?”
“Eat.”
“I can't—”
“You can.” She folded her arms. “You're standing there bleeding on my sidewalk. I'm not letting you faint in front of my store. Bad for business.”
Naruto looked down at the sandwich. Ham. Cheese. Bread. Real food. His stomach growled so loudly that the woman actually smiled.
“Thought so.”
Naruto swallowed.
“How much?”
The woman frowned.
“For the sandwich?”
He nodded.
“Nothing.”
His fingers tightened around the wrapper.
“Why?”
She stared at him for a moment.
“Because you're ten.”
Naruto's expression hardened.
“I'm not.”
“You're not what?”
“ten.”
“You look ten.”
“I'm not.”
“Fine. You're nine.”
“I'm not nine either!”
“Eight? Bit big for an eight year old.” Naruto scowled. The woman smiled. “Good. Still got some fight in you.”
Naruto looked away. The sandwich was warm. He could smell the bread through the wrapper.
“Eat it,” she said again, quieter this time. “Then get out of here before those boys come back.”
Naruto hesitated. Then he tore the wrapper open. He took one bite. His eyes immediately watered. He looked down so she wouldn't see. It wasn't even anything special. Just a sandwich.
But his stomach hurt from hunger, and suddenly he was chewing too quickly, swallowing before he'd finished.
“Slow down,” the woman said.
Naruto stopped.
She wasn't angry.
She just looked tired.
“I'm not going to take it away.”
Naruto swallowed.
“Okay.”
He took another bite.
The woman leaned against the doorway.
“What is your name?”
Naruto stared at the pavement. For a moment, he considered lying. Then he remembered the sandwich.
“Naruto.”
She nodded.
“Well, Naruto, finish your food somewhere those idiots can't find you.”
Naruto nodded. He tucked the last half of the sandwich carefully into his sweatshirt pocket. The woman noticed. She didn't comment. Instead, she pointed down the street.
“Go.”
Naruto picked up his soccer ball.
He took a few steps.
Then stopped.
He looked back.
The old woman was already sweeping the sidewalk.
“Thank you,” he said.
She waved him off.
“Go on.”
Naruto started walking. The sky above him had gone completely lavender now, fading slowly into deep blue. He touched the pebble in his pocket. Then the sandwich. Then the soccer ball tucked beneath his arm. Three little things. Three things that belonged to him.
For the first time that evening, Naruto didn't feel quite so invisible.
Naruto kept walking until the shop disappeared behind him. He didn't stop until he was three streets over. The sandwich was still warm against his stomach.
He'd eaten the first half while walking, carefully taking smaller bites this time because the old woman had told him to slow down. The second half remained tucked into his sweatshirt pocket, wrapped tightly in paper, saved for later.
He turned down an alley he'd discovered two nights ago and followed it until the pavement gave way to cracked concrete. At the end of the alley stood an old building with boarded windows and a rusted fire escape. It had probably been an apartment building once.
Now the front door hung crookedly from one hinge. Naruto slipped inside. The air smelled like dust, rain, and old wood.
“Home sweet home,” he muttered. His voice echoed. Naruto kicked the door shut behind him. This place was better than most. There was a roof. Mostly. There was an old couch on the first floor that smelled terrible but was still softer than concrete, and there was a staircase that led to the second floor where the rooms were mostly empty.
Naruto had claimed the one at the end of the hallway.
It had a window. The glass was broken, but he'd stuffed an old piece of cardboard over most of the opening. When the wind blew hard enough, it rattled.
He liked that, though.
It made the place sound occupied.
Naruto started up the stairs. Then stopped. There was a sound. Small. A sniffle. Naruto frowned. He looked down the hallway. Nothing. He waited. Another sniffle.
“Hello?”
Silence. Naruto's hand tightened around his soccer ball. He took one careful step forward. Then another. The sound came from the apartment at the end of the hall. Naruto pushed the door open. A little boy was sitting on the floor. Naruto froze. The kid couldn't have been older than six.
He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room with his back against an overturned cardboard box. His clothes were clean. Not fancy, exactly, but clean. His little sneakers still had white soles. His brown hair was brushed neatly enough that someone had obviously done it that morning.
He looked completely wrong in the building.
Like somebody had dropped him there by accident. The boy looked up. Their eyes met. Neither spoke. Naruto looked behind him. Then back at the kid.
“Where's your mom?”
“She went away.” The boy sniffled.
“When?” Naruto frowned.
The boy shrugged.
“She said I had to stay here.”
Naruto stared at him.
“And?”
“She didn't come back.”
Naruto's stomach dropped. He didn't like that. Not one bit.
“Well,” he said, shifting the soccer ball beneath his arm, “she'll probably come back.”
The boy nodded. Naruto backed toward the door.
“Okay. Good.”
He turned.
“Naruto?”
He stopped. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder.
“How do you know my name?”
The boy pointed.
Naruto's name was written in black marker across the side of the soccer ball.
“Oh.”
He'd forgotten.
“What's yours?”
The boy hesitated.
“Yuki.”
Naruto blinked.
“That's a weird name.”
Yuki's face fell.
Naruto immediately regretted it.
“Not bad weird,” he added quickly. “Just... weird.”
Yuki sniffled again. Naruto sighed. He looked at the door. Then at the boy. Then at the door again.
“Ugh.”
Yuki watched him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Naruto dropped his soccer ball onto the floor.
“I've got somewhere to sleep.”
Yuki's eyes widened.
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I come?”
“No.”
The answer came automatically. Yuki's face fell again. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck.
“I mean...” He looked around the abandoned apartment. It was dark. Cold. There wasn't a single adult anywhere in sight. Naruto grumbled under his breath.
“Seriously?”
Yuki didn't answer.
Naruto crouched in front of him.
“Your mom said she'd come back?”
Yuki nodded.
“When?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No.”
“Did she say when?”
“No.”
Naruto stared at him. Yuki's eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Naruto looked away. He knew that look. He knew exactly what it meant. He'd worn it himself. He hated it.
“Okay,” Naruto muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He stood.
“Come on.”
Yuki blinked.
“Where?”
“My place.” Yuki scrambled to his feet. Naruto immediately held up a finger. “But you have to be quiet.”
Yuki nodded solemnly.
“And don't touch my stuff.”
Another nod.
“And don't eat my food.”
Yuki's face fell. Naruto sighed.
“Unless I say you can.”
Yuki nodded again.
“Okay.”
“You're weird.” Naruto stared at him.
Yuki smiled.
“So are you.”
Naruto's mouth dropped open.
“Hey!”
For the first time, Yuki giggled. Naruto tried very hard not to smile. He failed. They made it halfway down the hallway before Naruto stopped. Yuki had dirt on his cheek. Naruto frowned.
“You're filthy.”
“No, I'm not.” Yuki looked horrified.
“Yes, you are.”
“No.”
“Yeah.”
Naruto pointed at his own face.
“Look.”
Yuki wiped his cheek.
Naruto snorted.
“Other side.”
Yuki wiped the wrong side.
Naruto groaned.
“Never mind.”
At the bottom of the stairs sat an old plastic bucket. It was half-full of rainwater. Naruto had been saving it. He had planned to use it tomorrow. He stared at the bucket. Then at Yuki. Then at himself.
His knees were black with dirt. His hands were grimy. There was dried blood at the corner of his mouth.
He sighed.
“Guess we're washing up.”
Yuki's eyes widened.
“With that?”
“It's water.”
“It looks dirty.”
Naruto squinted at it.
“It could be cleaner.” He crouched beside the bucket. It didn't smell bad, eat least. Just like rain. “Whatever.”
He dipped his hands into the cold water and scrubbed his face.
Yuki copied him.
Soon they were both crouched on the floor, splashing water onto their faces and wiping grime from their arms.
Naruto found an old rag and handed it over.
“Here.”
Yuki scrubbed his cheeks.
Naruto wiped at his own hair.
The water turned gray.
“Gross,” Yuki whispered.
“Yeah.” Naruto looked into the bucket. "At least we're cleaner. Better than before.”
“You're bleeding.” Yuki looked at him.
Naruto touched his lip.
“Oh.”
He wiped the blood away. A faint scarlet smear appeared across his fingers. He stared at it. Then wiped his hand against his sweatshirt.
“It's nothing.”
Yuki frowned.
“Does it hurt?”
Naruto shrugged.
“Not really.”
It did. But that wasn't important. Outside, the sky had darkened. Through the broken window, Naruto could see the moon beginning to rise. It was pale and enormous above the rooftops. Yuki noticed it too.
“Look.”
Naruto followed his gaze.
“Yeah.”
“Do you think you could live there?”
Naruto glanced at him.
“Where?”
“The moon.”
Naruto laughed.
“You can't live on the moon.”
“Why not?”
“Because there's no air.”
Yuki considered this.
“Oh.”
They sat quietly for a moment.
Then Yuki asked, “Would you live there if you could?”
Naruto looked back through the window. The moon hung above the city, far enough away that nobody could touch it. Far enough away that nobody could find you.
He shrugged.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Naruto picked up a little pebble from the floor and rolled it between his fingers.
“Because nobody could tell you where you're supposed to be.”
Yuki was quiet.
Naruto glanced at him.
Then added, “I'd rather live on the moon.”
Yuki smiled.
“I'd go with you.”
Naruto snorted.
“You'd freeze.”
“So would you.”
“Yeah, but I'd have a jacket.”
Yuki giggled. Naruto smiled.
Then he noticed the soccer ball sitting in the corner.
He stood.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“I'm gonna teach you something.”
They went downstairs. The old building's courtyard was cracked and overgrown, but there was enough space to move. Naruto placed the ball in front of Yuki.
“Kick it.”
Yuki stared at it.
“How?”
“With your foot.”
“I know that.”
“Then do it.”
Yuki drew his leg back. He kicked. The ball rolled approximately three feet. Yuki looked disappointed. Naruto laughed.
“Wow.”
“What?”
“That was terrible.”
Yuki frowned.
“Show me.”
Naruto stepped beside him.
“You don't kick with your toes.”
He nudged Yuki's foot into position.
“Use the side.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah.” Naruto stepped back. “Now kick.”
Yuki swung. The ball rolled across the courtyard. Not far. But farther. Yuki's face lit up.
“I did it!”
Naruto grinned.
“Yeah.”
Yuki ran after it. Naruto watched him. For a moment, the old building didn't feel quite as empty. There were two sets of footsteps instead of one. Two voices. Two shadows stretching beneath the moonlight. Naruto shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets.
His fingers closed around the little pebble. He looked up at the moon. Maybe he didn't need to live there. Maybe, for tonight, this was enough.
Then Yuki shouted from across the courtyard.
“Naruto! Look!”
Naruto turned. The boy was standing beside the battered soccer ball, smiling proudly. Naruto smiled back.
“Yeah!” His voice carried into the empty night. “Nice kick!”
By the time they went back upstairs, it was late enough that the city had gone quiet.
Not silent, exactly. Cars whispered along the distant road, a dog barked twice somewhere nearby, and the pipes inside the old building groaned whenever the wind shifted. Every so often something scratched inside the walls.
But the streets outside had emptied, and Naruto liked it better that way.
He and Yuki had ended up on the old couch, the one that smelled like damp fabric and something Naruto had decided very firmly not to investigate. Yuki was curled against one armrest while Naruto sat at the other end with his knees pulled to his chest. The soccer ball rested on the floor between them.
Neither of them had said much for several minutes before Yuki sniffled.
Naruto glanced over. “Still crying?”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“You're making the crying noise.”
“I am not.”
Yuki wiped his nose with his sleeve.
Naruto made a face. “Gross.”
“You do it too.”
“Yeah, but I'm allowed.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm older.”
“By how much?”
“Like... a lot.”
“How old are you?”
“Twelve.”
Yuki stared at him. “You're only twelve?”
Naruto's face scrunched up. “What do you mean, only twelve?”
“I thought you were bigger.”
“Well, I am tall.”
“You're not.”
“I am.”
Yuki looked him up and down.
“You're dirty.”
Naruto stared at him. “That's not the same thing.”
Yuki giggled, and Naruto tried to look annoyed. He didn't quite manage it.
Then Yuki's smile faded.
“Do you think my mom is coming back?”
Naruto went still. There it was again, the question he'd been avoiding. He looked down at his hands.
“I don't know.”
Yuki's lower lip trembled.
Naruto immediately regretted answering honestly. “Hey.”
Yuki looked at him.
“She might.”
“You said she probably would.”
“Yeah.”
“Then why don't you know?”
Naruto scratched the side of his cheek. “Because grown-ups are weird.”
Yuki waited.
Naruto sighed. “Sometimes they say they're going somewhere and then they take forever.”
“How long is forever?”
Naruto considered this very seriously. “Like... three days.”
Yuki's eyes widened. “Three days?”
“Maybe four.”
“That sounds bad.”
“Yeah.”
Naruto shifted against the couch.
“But maybe she's just lost.”
Yuki looked confused. “How do you lose a house?”
Naruto paused.
“...You'd be surprised.”
Yuki snorted.
Naruto smiled. “Anyway, your mom knows where you are.”
“How?”
“She told you to stay here, right?”
Yuki nodded.
“Then she knows where to find you.”
It wasn't necessarily true. Naruto knew that. But he didn't want Yuki to know it, because he wanted to ensure the kid made it through tonight without being afraid.
Yuki curled into himself again.
Naruto watched him for a minute before asking, “Want to hear a story?”
Yuki looked up. “Like a real story?”
“No. I don't know any real stories.”
“Oh.”
“The best kind are the ones I make up.”
“What kind?”
“The kind with dragons.”
Yuki smiled. “Okay.”
Naruto thought.
He was terrible at this. He knew soccer. He knew how to find food. He knew how to sleep with one eye open, how to endure being yelled at, and how to disappear when somebody decided they didn't want him around.
Stories weren't really his thing.
But Yuki was watching him expectantly, so Naruto cleared his throat.
“Once upon a time, there was a very powerful prince who lived in a giant castle.”
“How giant?”
“Really giant.”
“Bigger than this building?”
“Obviously.”
“How many rooms?”
Naruto frowned. “A thousand.”
“That is too many.”
“It's a magic castle.”
“Oh. Well then I guess it can have a lot..”
Naruto nodded solemnly. “Exactly.”
He settled deeper into the couch.
“And the prince had a dragon.”
“What color?”
“Orange.”
“Dragons aren't orange.”
“This one was.”
“What was his name?”
Naruto thought for a second.
“...Bob.”
Yuki burst out laughing.
“Bob?”
“Yeah.”
“That's a stupid dragon name.”
“Bob was a stupid dragon.”
Yuki laughed harder.
Naruto smiled.
“Anyway, one day Bob ate the prince's entire dinner.”
“Why?”
“Because he was hungry.”
“Dragons eat people.”
“Not Bob.”
“Why not?”
“Because Bob was nice.”
Yuki yawned.
Naruto noticed but kept going.
“So the prince decided he needed to teach Bob how to cook.”
“Dragons can't cook.”
“Bob could.”
“What did he make?”
“Soup.”
“What kind?”
Naruto looked around the room. “Stone soup.”
Yuki frowned.
“You can't eat rocks.”
“Bob didn't know that.”
Yuki giggled.
“He put rocks in the soup?”
“Yep.”
“And then?”
“He ate it.”
“That sounds disgusting.”
“It was.”
Yuki yawned again, his eyes beginning to droop.
Naruto's voice softened. “Then the prince told Bob that maybe he should stop eating rocks.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Bob was an idiot.”
Yuki laughed sleepily.
“And eventually the prince realized something.”
“What?”
“That Bob didn't really need to learn how to cook. He just needed somebody to sit with him while he ate.”
Yuki's breathing had begun to slow.
Naruto looked at him.
“Then the prince and Bob ate soup together every night.”
Yuki's eyes closed.
“And they lived happily ever after?”
Naruto smiled. “Yeah.”
“Even if the prince was lonely?”
Naruto's smile faltered.
“Yeah.”
“Even then?”
“Especially then.”
Yuki was quiet.
Naruto waited another minute before carefully shifting off the couch.
His body protested immediately. His cheek throbbed, his lip had swollen, his knees were sore, and every time he swallowed he could feel the tender place inside his mouth where his teeth had cut him.
He ignored it. He'd dealt with worse.He'd endure worse. That was what you did.
You endured.
Naruto crossed the room toward an old mirror hanging crookedly on the wall. Most of the glass was cracked, but he stood in front of it anyway.
For a moment, he barely recognized himself.
His blond hair was a mess, his cheek had gone purple beneath the dirt, and there were scrapes along his jaw and forehead. His lip was split.
Naruto opened his mouth.
His teeth were stained scarlet.
He stared at them.
“Whoa.”
He touched his lip carefully and winced.
“Ow.”
Leaning closer to the mirror, he took in the rest of himself. His sweatshirt was filthy, his face was bruised, and dried blood clung around his mouth. He looked like something that had crawled out of a gutter.
Filth.
Naruto smiled at his reflection.
The expression looked strange with the blood. A little crooked, a little wild. He smiled wider, watching the scarlet on his teeth.
For some reason, he laughed quietly.
He'd been beaten up. He'd almost lost his soccer ball. He'd eaten half a sandwich and saved the other half for tomorrow. He'd found a six-year-old boy abandoned in an empty building.
And somehow...
Naruto felt good.
Not happy, exactly, but fulfilled in a way he couldn't remember ever feeling before. Something inside him had finally clicked into place.
For once, someone needed him.
For once, he hadn't been useless.
He'd made Yuki laugh. He'd taught him how to kick a soccer ball. He'd washed the dirt from his face. He'd told him a stupid story about an orange dragon named Bob.
Naruto stared at himself before wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve.
“Pretty good,” he whispered.
He turned back toward the couch.
The cushions shifted.
Naruto froze.
Yuki was awake, his eyes barely open.
“Naruto?”
“Yeah?”
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere.”
Naruto took a step toward the couch.
Yuki sat up, immediately looking worried.
“Don't go.”
“I'm not.”
“You were.”
“I was just looking in the mirror.”
“Don't leave.”
Naruto's throat tightened.
“I wasn't going to.”
Yuki reached for him, little fingers catching the sleeve of Naruto's sweatshirt before tightening around the fabric.
He tugged.
“Naruto.”
“Yeah?”
“Stay.”
Naruto looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever asked him to stay before.
People had told him to stay out of trouble, stay in his room, stay quiet, stay where they could see him. But nobody had ever looked at him like his leaving would actually matter.
Naruto slowly sat back down.
“Okay.” Yuki relaxed immediately, though his fingers remained wrapped around Naruto's sleeve. Naruto looked at them, then at the boy. “I'm staying.”
Yuki nodded sleepily.
“Promise?”
Naruto swallowed.
“Promise.”
Yuki's eyes closed again, and within seconds his breathing had settled into an even rhythm.
Naruto leaned back into the disgusting couch.
His cheek still hurt. His lip still tasted like blood, and his whole body ached, but his fingers curled loosely around the little pebble in his pocket. He looked toward the broken window. The moon was still there. Naruto smiled. Maybe being needed wasn't so bad. Maybe being seen wasn't so bad either. He just wasn't sure yet what happened when someone finally noticed you were there.