Caterpillar

Forever

Semi-darkness, a dark sky, purple-tinted vegetation and a withering jungle, on a dying planet. It was a desolate scenery, reeking of death. But for a particular man and woman, it was as if they were in the middle of a walk in a park. With their hands linked together and a pair of silly grins on their faces, the two of them could not take their eyes off each other.

The man in question was of an average height and his haggard and bloodied appearance made him look rather pitiful. In contrast, the woman holding his hand looked very different. Though her white clothes were also stained by blood and dirt, one could tell from a glance that she was royalty. She looked like a warrior princess. They were none other than Naruto and Wonder Woman.

Unlike other times, instead of sitting in his usual place on Naruto's shoulder, this time around Kyuubi was curled up on Wonder Woman's shoulder, basking in the comforting aura that she was unconsciously emitting due to goddess Artemis' blessing.

"I have to take a shower. Urgently. My whole body feels sticky and itchy." he said.

"You have a shower in your ship?" Diana asked curiously.

"I even have a bathtub." Naruto said and chuckled. "My ship is basically my home. Seeing as I spend most of my days on the ship, I equipped it with everything I need to live decently. I also have a fully equipped kitchen - tho it's not big. A bedroom and a decent living room too."

"I didn't get the chance to see the inside but your ship didn't strike me as being that big. It's like what? About 150 feet long?" Diana said.

"If you exclude the space occupied by the engine room and the control room, the remaining space is enough to fit in a small apartment. It's more than enough for a guy and a fox to live in."

Wonder Woman turned her head to the side and let out a silent but long yawn.

"Ah, I'm beat." she said.

"Sorry." Naruto muttered.

When he had called her earlier that day, she had been sleeping. Not only that he had disturbed her sleep, but he had also made her worry and she flew to half a galaxy away because she was afraid for his safety. But Diana smiled at him and lightly squeezed his hand.

"It was nothing. As long as you are alright, that's all that matters."

She stopped her walk and came in front of him.

"You are alright, yes?"

She remembered that when she got out of the Javelin, Naruto took her in his arms and he did not want to let her go for a long time.

"I-,"

Naruto started but he did not continue speaking. Because of his happiness at seeing Diana and having her in her arms, he had momentarily been distracted from what he had been through but now that a bit of time passed, he was reminded of it.

"Let's not talk about depressing stuff now." he said and gave her a smile.

She brought her hand up to his face and gently caressed her scarred cheeks.

"I don't want to push you. But just so you know, whenever you feel like wanting to talk about it, I'll always be here for you."

He closed his eyes and leaned into her caress.

"Thank you." he said and took her hand into his.

The rest of the walk was quiet, the two of them only exchanging looks and smiles.

⁂

"Um, Naruto?" Wonder Woman called him out in a hesitating voice.

"Yes?"