Disclaimer- I own nothing
My Brother, My Friend. . .
Hunter Bradley, crimson thunder ninja and adopted brother to Blake Bradley navy thunder ninja, sat on a crimson towel on the beach watching his brother learn to surf with Tori, the blue wind ninja. He smirked when he realized Tori was not exactly being very helpful, she was too busy laughing at Blake as he took yet another dive, face first into the water. The laughter on Tori's face didn't last though, neither did the sound of her delighted laughter…it quickly changed into shrieks of protest as Blake sat up in the water, wiped away the drips on his face- all the time watching Tori- and suddenly lunged for her, bringing her down in a smooth move. Then he was tickling her and ducking her head under the water, taking her with him. When the water drew back and they emerged both of them were soaked, but seemed to happy to notice.
Hunter sighed. It was one of relief. All his life he'd been looking after his brother; well, at least after they'd met and become brothers, but then again for Hunter, life had started when he had met Blake. It was interesting, he mused, because they hadn't liked each other one bit, and they had been two very different cups of tea. Still were when it came down to it, but then again, they put aside their differences when it came to working as a team, and Blake and Hunter were very good when it came to team work.
He remembered how angry he had felt with Blake when he saw the dark haired boy walk into what Hunter had started considering his home. And part of that anger was because Hunter had felt threatened. He hadn't really known what security in life was all about until he had met his adopted parents. After spending years of fending for himself and believing that no body loved him, having his adopted parents care for him as if he was a special jewel had been difficult and unbelievably good for him. And then Blake had walked through the door. His parents had told him he was going to have a brother, but being very young he simply assumed his adopted mother meant her very own son. So when Blake had walked through that door with his fight face on, Hunter had had a shock to say the least. He hadn't realized when both he and Blake were his mother's very own sons, just in a different way.
He remembered telling his parents that Blake was trouble, and that he kept pulling fights in school and he even swore that he saw the dark skinned boy lift something out of a store one day, but apart from refusing to listen to the accusations his parents would always say 'he's adjusting Hunter. Give him time.' That was it. No reprimand, no beating, nothing. The first night Hunter and Blake spent together in their room with the bunk beds, they had a fight. Both boys sported a black and blue eye each when they came to the breakfast table. Hunter mumbled good morning. Blake never said a word. 'Strong and silent type' Tori had called them when they were battling against the winds, and that Blake had been. But their parents had looked at each other, looked at them, forbidden fighting in the house and then told them to get ready for school. So Blake and Hunter, Hunter to be able to give back at least something that his adopted parents had given him, and Blake out of respect for the people who had chosen to put up with his ways, always carried their fights outside the house, no matter what time of day or what the fight was about.
And Hunter never trusted him. He ever even recognized Blake as his brother. Until one day at school when Hunter had been wrongly accused by the teacher of cheating- as he had the same answers as another boy, Chad- Blake had found out through school gossip, walked into Hunter's class and said very flatly that Hunter hadn't been the one to do it. A sniveling Chad followed to say he had been the one to copy off Hunter in the first place. Hunter had been shocked at Blake's actions but had taken a little while to get around it enough to thank Blake. When he found his brother- he admitted it grudgingly enough- the 10 year old was getting ready to run away from home. 12 year old Hunter slammed shut the door and locked it, telling Blake nobody was going anywhere until he was told why.
It all came out then, the whole truth. Blake had been trouble, because that was all he knew to life. He had been brought up with people who were too drunk to care for him, and he was left digging through trash cans for a meal. Eventually he'd learnt if he wanted to survive he'd have to do it with someone else's money, and so the history of thieving had begun. As for why he had decided to up and leave, he had come to love his adopted parents and Hunter wasn't too bad an elder brother as well. He didn't want to hurt them as he knew he inevitably would. He had to leave before he would- not could- destroy any more lives. Hunter sat down with his brother, put an arm around his shoulder and grinned at him, "You're lame if you think you are going to bring me down…bro! Stay around and we'll see if you are as tough as you claim to be. Leave and I'll just know you're a coward." The look of Blake's face had Hunter changing his tactics, "Listen Blake. I didn't trust you at the beginning because I was afraid you were going to replace me in the eyes of my parents, but as far as they are concerned there's room enough for both of us. And I like having a brother. Especially one who's going to get me out of trouble. We can make this work, you and I. It would kill our parents if you left now. They did a great thing by taking us on; let's return that favour to them by being the best we can be."
Later brothers Hunter and Blake, the light haired dark brooding one, and the dark haired take-it-easy guy had moved to the Thunder ninja academy with their parents. Afterwards their parents had died, leaving the two brothers to be their for each other. They would never have to go through life as they once did, that their parents had promised them, and Hunter and Blake had been turned into such individuals that they would always protect the other from having to do so. "We'll always be brothers, no matter what. We just got to remember that." Blake had told Hunter when they had their first spat in years after becoming rangers. And Hunter did remember. He always would.
An older, wiser Hunter now snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Blake and Tori finally leave the water and approach him.
"Hey." He said raising his head in greeting.
"Hey Hunter." Tori grinned, her eyes shinning as she settled down on her blue towel.
"Bro." Blake said also smiling as he sat next to Tori.
"You too having fun out there? As if it wasn't obvious…" Hunter grinned, and his grin was even wider when he saw Tori blush and look down and Blake throw him a death glare. Hunter threw his hands up and stood, talking his stuff with him. "Okay, okay, I know where I'm not wanted."
"Where are you going?" Tori asked.
"Ninja ops I guess. Check what the others are up to. Give you guys some lone time, besides you're flirting back and forth…that's getting a little old to the rest of us. Tori you like Blake, and I know coz the others told me…that would be Dustin by the way if you're wondering which one of us you need to pounce on. Besides I've seen it in the way you look at lil bro here, so don't bother denying it. Not to worry anyway, Blake likes you hell of a lot too. Trust me, I would know, I'm the one who has to listen day in and day out to 'Tori's so great at this….Tori's so great at that'. Now I'd better get out of here because unlike you, little brother will have no guilty conscience as he beats me to pulp out here! Bye!" Hunter took off running before Blake could suit his words with action and grinned. He wanted Blake happy, and he hadn't seen Blake as happy as he was when he was with Tori, in a long time, and he had given the two just what they needed, a solid shove in the right direction. He stopped running when he was a certain distance away and turned back to look. He grinned again. There was Blake trying his best to explain away what Hunter had just said. Tori was smiling shyly. 'Oh just get it over with', Hunter though. As if he had somehow heard his brother, Blake suddenly shrugged and said something, all the while moving closer to Tori. The blonde haired, blue eyed pretty surfer was still smiling, a good sign Hunter noted. And then…they leaned in for a kiss. Score! Hunter whooped in his mind. Blake moved slowly away and turned his head then to spot Hunter. He slowly shook his head in disbelief, and Hunter imagined he rolled his eyes at him, before he re focused his attention on Tori. "You go bro!" Hunter said to himself and grinning, walked away.