53 My Oath

Ruoxi sent her pair of crystal eyes away from him, despite his willingness to guide the food into her mouth, she still refused to comply and chatted with him. Naruto sighed, he shifted her position and made her sat in the same direction with him, letting the back of her slender neck came into contact with his eyes, his both hand circled her slim waist.

"Then just let me talk, and you listen," her body showed no gesture in response to his speech.

"First of all, I apologize for ruining another shirt," her ears twitched, and her neck stiffened, "and before you worry; I'm fine, no harm's done."

Her tension decreased as her body begun to relax, "When I came back home clad in my ruined shirt, Auntie Wang jumped in fright, she asked me what happened, and I told her, I just got caught in a fight.

The looked in her face became worried and anxious, she told me to be more careful in the future, she feared that one day, I might return not only with my shirt shredded but other else too. I thanked her for the concern and advice, and do you know what she said after?"

The back of her head waved as he caught the glimpse of her cheek. Naruto chuckled, he leaned closer into her back, "She said, that's what she ought to do... because of she, you, and I... are family..."

A shiver on her body sensed through his tights, and the hands that clasped her waist, Naruto closed his eyes, "Ruoxi, do you know? I have no parents."

The shiver stopped, along with the flow of her breath, "no brother, no sister, no uncle, no aunt, no cousin... I have no one..." He inhaled a mouthful of air, "I spend my childhood know nothing about family, and my circumstances led me to view them as a hindrance.

A great emperor, who reigned all over the land, he, who grasped many lives in his hands and many fate in his feet, reduced to a miserable old bone, when his own blood schemed against him, trying to reap the throne he used to sit.

A big businessman, who built his enterprises all over the globe, controlling every trade and sales on the markets, reduced to a mere beggar, when his own kin swallowed and plundered his wealth.

A Leader, who capable to determine a righteous path and leading his people into a bright future, reduced to the lowest criminal, when his own brother stabbed him in the back and stole his follower."

Naruto opened his eyes, a gleam of viciousness reflected on them, "Family was a poison that corrupted our soil, rotting the ground and killing thousands of trees that cultivated above it.

In my eyes, family... mean no shit."

Ruoxi face turned pale, the tone he held full of hate and malevolent, she no longer felt the warm inside it, or a gentle tune his voice used to sing, she bit her lips, held back the urge to turn around and slapped him in the face, waking him from his violent side.

"But then..." Her heated ears caught a change in his tone.

"A giant stupid furball, who hated human the most in his entire life and wanted nothing more than see them all burn, protected me when I'm injured.

A perverted smelly old man, who loved to peep on the public bath and drunk booze until he passed out, taught me the meaning of hope.

A lazy naive maiden, who just laid on the green grassland and fished from the pond every day, showed me the beauty inside humanity.

And two people, who prepared me a surprise in the morning, giving me the best ramen I ever taste in my life, open they arm widely, and say, "welcome to our house..."."

"Ruoxi, tell me... is that family?"

Naruto leaned his head against the back of her neck, smelling her fragrant that resembled a blooming white jasmine, he hugged her waist closely into his stomach. Ruoxi closed her eyes and enjoying his embrace, her heart thumped like a ripple on a calm lake's surface.

"You have a girlfriend..." She said in a small tone.

"I do..."

"She's your true family..."

Ruoxi opened her eyes, a faint smile crept from the corner of her lips, "Do you know how I heard my grandmother passing?"

Naruto wrinkled his brow but said nothing.

"I was in the classroom, listening to the lecturer speech about some economic crisis, at that time, grandmother already admitted to a hospital for a week but the doctors said her condition had been improving. Then my phone rang, the lecturer was known for not taking kindly anyone who disturbed his teaching thus I rejected the call and turned off my phone.

After the class over, I'm about to turn on my phone but my senior said he needed to talk with me in a private and little urgent, thus I quickly followed him and forgot about my phone.

I went home after our talk, and noticed Wang Ma not in the house, after change my clothes and settled my private business, I turned on my phone and shocked at Wang Ma incoming call 30 times, dread rose within my guts, bad feeling lurked inside my hearts, with a tremble fingers, I call Wang Ma back and I heard her sobbing on the other side of the line.

By the time I arrived at the hospital, they... they already covered my grandma in a white sheet, I don't... I don't even get a chance to say my goodbye... or hearing her voice for the last time... or looking at her in the eyes... or... or..."

Shiver played they part on her body, the pair of eyes moistened by a surging tear, "Can you imagine? When you think everything is going to be alright, then suddenly things just turned upside down... she should be fine... she should be fine... but why?"

"Naruto, I know... I know you have your own life, I also know, that our relationship only based on an agreement, one day, it will be over and you will leave, but I want to hope, just a hope, that there's might be something more to it in the end, that maybe you stay forever with me, maybe we... maybe we can be a true couple, but... but... now I know you have a girlfriend and you will come back to her someday, I... I don't want to feel that pain again, to hope something for the better only to have that taken from you."

"I just... I just can't... it will be better if we didn't know each other in the first place, just a stranger who accidentally live under one roof..."

She held her mouth in a sob, pearl-like tears trailed on her cheek down to her chin, "I just feel that it might be better that way..."

Naruto sighed, his nose nudged her neck, "So the problem is that you fear that I might leave you alone one day for my girlfriends?" She nodded.

Surprisingly, a chuckle came out from his mouth, "You're really silly." If not for her drowned in her sadness, she might already refute his word.

"Do you remember, a week ago when I uh... took care four guests at our house? Then we sort of had this misunderstanding?" She hung her head while wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"I went to my girlfriend's place and spend the night there, in the morning, she gave me the advice to see things more carefully before making any assumption, heh, she actually helping me cleared up my misunderstanding."

Ruoxi startled and turned her face to look at him, "She did?"

"Mmhmm."

"But why?" Ruoxi frowned, then glared at him, "did you told her about our circumstances?!"

"No, no! Of course not, as far as I can tell, she only knew our marriage is legit," his eyes glanced upward, "though I'm not sure if she already figured it out by herself, she pretty smart after all."

Ruoxi eyes twitched, her inside somehow felt uncomfortable when heard Naruto complimented another woman, then her eyebrows jumped, "Wait if you tell her that our marriage is real, why she still agreed to be your girlfriend? Isn't that mean she agreed to become your mistress?"

"That she was," Naruto chuckled, "she's one hell of a weird woman." Naruto shifted his thigh and made her leaned her back more, his stuck his chin on her shoulder and his cheek almost grazed her ruddy one, she set her eyes to her front, reducing the chance of their cheek to clash.

Their eyes gazed at Lin Kun who remained lifeless on his bed, "She said, she didn't need my heart...

So long I acknowledged her existence, spared a bit portion of my smile for her, shared a glimpse of my warm to her, she contented."

Ruoxi eyes widened, at first she thought this girlfriend quite a weird woman and told to be truth, gave her kind of low impression, since in her mind, women who willing to be a mistress either be a gold digger or a vixen, but now, Ruoxi impression of her rose to a high degree because no mere woman accepted only so much and already felt contentment.

"How can you managed to attract such a woman heart?" She twitched her lips.

Naruto sighed before a faint smile approached his lips, "I don't know... she still a mystery to me up until now," then he grinned and hugged her tighter, "maybe she just silly like you."

Ruoxi snorted, despite the flush on her skin, "I'm not silly!"

"Then you thought she's silly?"

"I..." Ruoxi choked on her own words, her face drowned in deep redness, she gave him her pair of frosty glare, "you are really, a... worst... jerk... ever!"

Laughter sang in his mouth, then he gazed at her eyes, "my point is, you think a woman like her will let me leaving you behind, much less in a broken heart state?"

Ruoxi frowned then shook her head afterward, if she is in her position, and assuming her behavior based on her action told by him, she would rather stay as a mistress than let other woman suffered because of her. Human might selfish but they still have the heart to feel other's pain. She understood the feeling of being left alone, struggling from the storm of problems that whirled you around, smashing your body anywhere it can, leaving you in a battered state that you no longer able to stand on your own.

She glanced at Naruto, observing his goofy grin resembled a sun tearing army of gloomy clouds after commenced their siege upon the land of earth with their bullets of water. She brought her hand and caressed his tanned skin, she remembered when she wanted to end her suffering and jumped from a high two stories building only for him to come and shield the impact with his own body.

Naruto grasped her hand and squeezed it lightly, "Do your problem solve now?"

She nodded, but Naruto noticed a trace of hesitation lingered in her eyes, he chuckled, "Alright how about this..." He shifted her position and now they in face to face situation including their body, Ruoxi heart beat like they prepared to burst through her chest, their position copied a pair of couple who engaged in an intimate activity.

Naruto looked at her shy gesture and somehow kindled his arousal, he shook his head and tried dispersing such a thought, his eyes in a gentle manner stared at hers.

Naruto finger ignited with a small flame, in Ruoxi astounded eyes he drew a circle in the air and several words after it. That mark came in a blue color and its texture blazed akin to a fire, the moment Naruto finished, the mark trembled in the air before it split into two half-circle, one moved forward and attached itself into Ruoxi's back palm, another went into him.

"I swear you an oath..."

"In the gloomy night or cheerful day, in the hard times or tender moments, in a glaring sun or freezing snow, in a gentle grass or stormy sea," he grasped her hand.

"Lin Ruoxi... "

"Till my existence no longer you deem to be needed, or you have found me not deserve to be around anymore, I shall never let you feel alone," he raised her hand and kissed the flaming mark on the back of her palm.

The burning feeling slowly resided until it finally disappeared, but in her eyes, the mark entered her skin instead.

"If I break my oath..." Naruto squinted his eyes, "let be death embraced me soon."