"Daddy, I want to grow up speedy quick."
Daddy lifts an eyebrow, and I really don't know how he does it, because whenever I try, both my eyebrows go up and it is really annoying and hard and- oh. Silly me! I must be rambling on, like how Mommy does. At least, that's what Daddy says.
"Why, Iso? Isn't seven old enough for you?" Daddy asks back, and I suddenly remember- it goes BANG in my head, I think- my birthday! Anyway, I'm turning seven tomorrow, which is so far from now!
I frown really big.
"But Daddy! You can't be seven when you fall in love and your Prince Charming sweeps you off your feet!" I explain to him. Ah, Daddy just spilled his coffee. Ew, it's all thick and gooey and gross and stuff. It smells bad, too.
"What?" he whispers really really quietly. He didn't hear me? I wasn't loud enough? Then he says, "Fall in love and sweep you off your feet?"
Daddy is breathing hard now. He has sweat on his forehead. I try to get a towel from the kitchen counter to clean up the coffee, but I'm too short. Daddy gets it for me. He looks like he is about to go 'Whoosh' and fall down.
"Daddy, are you okie dokie?" I ask in my best concerned voice. I learned it from Mommy.
He is mumbling something really low and I can't hear anything except for: "Growing up" and "Little girl" and "Prince Charming?"
I giggle and nod.
"Of course, Daddy! Every girl wants one! Mommy told me so. It's in all the fairy tales and they all live happily ever after too!"
He closes his eyes and breathes in. I do the same. The coffee still smells funky.
"Iso, those are stories. Your Mom told you, didn't she?"
I shake my head fast.
"They're all real," I say mat-ter-a-fat-lady, "'cos all of them are famous." I pause, then say, "and they get happily ever afters."
Daddy leans down and frowns. Then he leans in and I do the same because he only does that when he tells me a secret. He only tells me secrets, not Shio, not even Mommy. I think. Shio is my older brother and two years older than me. He is very mean to me but he is my brother, so Daddy and Mommy says I HAVE to love him.
"Yeah, but their lives don't just stop there, you know?" he whispers mysteriously, "they only say they get happily ever afters to cover up the after parts."
I scrunch up my nose because I'm confused.
"Who are 'they'?" I want to know really badly.
"No one knows, but they hide the truth. You know Cinderella?" He waits for me to say yes, but I nod instead. So no one will know we are telling secrets, because Shio has very good hearing.
"Her husband lost the kingdom and all their money because he has a gambling problem," he says, and I gasp in shock. How dare he tell such lies! Daddies should not tell lies!
"And Snow White? Her prince is actually her long-lost brother."
"No! No!" I yell loudly. I don't want to hear about Beauty and the Beast, or the other ones. I don't want the truth. I don't want a prince anymore. They all sound so bad now. "No! No!" I hiccup a lot and run off.
--
The next day, Iso's birthday, Ino could not understand why her daughter insisted they donate everything related to fairy tales or burn them.
She also could not comprehend why Shikamaru was smirking triumphantly and so eager to help.
Because I can type with my fingers on the keyboard, my dear readers.
Naruto and characters not mine, but Shio and Iso are. Enjoy!