Hello everyone and welcome to my first Naruto fanfiction. For anyone waiting for my other stories I apologize and I will be getting to them quickly. Also this is my first Naruto fanfiction and I'm only half way through the third season of the first Naruto so if I get something wrong please forgive me! For now this is "A brother like mine". I've never used so much Japanese in one of my stories before but don't worry I will be doing translations at the end.
Summary:
Unable to handle how their daughter would be treated Minato Namikaze left her with the only people he knew she'd have a chance with: the Aburame clan. Now becoming a ninja Naruko not only has to deal with the scorn of a village and team mates who don't understand, but an older brother who is around every corner!
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Shibi Aburame walked slowly down the hall of the Hokage, knocking twice when he finally got to the office door. The soft voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi told him to enter. Sarutobi stared out the window with his back to the bug master, looking at the destruction that had befallen the Leaf Village just last night.
"You called for me Hokage-sama?" Shibi asked bowing.
"Hai I did… This was found among Minato's things, a will stating who would get his daughter in the time of his wife and his death. There was a letter for you." Sarutobi turned and handed him a small scroll which Shibi took and began to read.
"Shibi Aburame: I know we only worked on a few key missions together, but in that short time I'd come to trust you as a dear comrade and dare I say a friend. I entrust my only daughter to your care because I know you will be able to look past the demon sealed within her and care for her in a straight forward and reliable manner. Protect her with her life as I have already given mine. Signed the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze"
Shibi rolled up the scroll and looked up at the third Hokage.
"Where is the child? I will take her with me to my compound." Shibi said with almost no emotion. Sarutobi's face tightened.
"You are going to accept her as your own? Any less than that and I will keep her with me."
"She will be raised as my daughter next to my son Shino." Shibi promised. Sarutobi closed his eyes and bent down to pick up a small basket.
"Her name is Naruko." Sarutobi said. Shibi picked up the child and held her close to his chest. She whimpered and nuzzled closer to his chest.
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Shibi walked into his home and looked at his wife Astuko who fed their two week old son.
"What did the Hokage need?" She asked, turning her bright green eyes on him, noticing the bundle right away.
"Meet our new daughter: Naruko." Shibi said, walking over and moving the blanket for Astuko to get a good look. Astuko gave him an annoyed look then looked down at the tiny bundle. She sighed and looked up.
"I suppose it can't be helped." She said, not looking at her husband. Shibi gave her a small smile only meant for her.
"I knew you'd love her." Astuko just gave him a look before giving him her own smile.
6 YEARS LATER…
Naruko age 6 held her older brother's hand and waved around a butterfly toy; making her pigtails bob and dance while she made soft buzzing noises with her lips. They stood behind their mother who was silently regarding the vegetable stand, picking out the freshest pieces and putting them into a bag. A few feet away a group of mothers glared their way, pulling their children closer when Astuko moved, making Shino lead his sister by her hand.
Naruko laughed happily and hugged the butterfly to her chest, used to the glares and whispers that always seemed to follow her. All she had to do was look at her Onii-chan and Okaasan and she knew she was okay. The mothers jolted when Astuko whipped her head to them, her eyes cold and a small buzzing noise coming from her body.
"Is there a problem?" she hissed. They shuffled away quickly with their children in tow and Astuko just tsked her bugs relaxing.
"Cowards, well come along Shino, Naruko; let's go to your favorite playground for a while since you've been so patient."
"Yay! Onii-chan, Onii-chan! Push me on the swings?" She asked, looking at her brother with shining blue eyes.
"Hai Naruko." Shino said. Naruko cheered and ran up the stairs quickly when they got to the playground, stopping and suddenly becoming shy when she noticed some kids were already there.
Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji looked over from the top of the slide when they saw two new kids come onto the playground with their mom. Shino took Naruko's hand and lead her to the swings without giving the three boys a second glance while their mother sat down on a bench away from the other three parents and closest to the swings. She sat and watched with a straight spine as Shino lifted up his sister easily and set her on the swings, going behind her and starting to push.
Tsume looked over lazily at the new comer then at her two kids who seemed as distant as her.
"Oi Kiba come here." Tsume said, motioning her son over. Astuko felt her eyes tighten, so she'd be the first one to tell her child it was time to go.
"Yes Okaasan?" Kiba said running up.
"Why don't you go ask them if they'd like to play? Don't be rude." Tsume said to him. Astuko moved her eyes to look at her in surprise.
"Gomenasai!" Kiba shouted and ran over to the swings grinning "Wanna play with us?"
Shino put his eyebrows together and stopped pushing Naruko when she started wiggling.
"You want to play with us?" She asked with a bright smile.
"Hai!" Kiba said with a light blush covering his grinning face. Kiba thought she was really cute. Naruko grabbed Shino's hand.
"Can my Onii-chan play?" Naruko asked with a serious face, clutching her butterfly tighter.
"Of course! Come on I'll introduce you to Shikamaru and Choji." Kiba said, rushing up the ladder to his friends. Naruko and Shino looked at their Okaasan who just gave them a look.
"Well go on and go play." Astuko said. Naruko grinned and dragged Shino over to the playground. The children ran around, laughing and playing "fortress ninja" until sunset when their parents stood up and slowly called them all to go home. Tsume brought a tired Kiba into her arms and looked over to Astuko.
"We come here every Wednesday to let the children blow off plenty of steam. Join us in conversation next time." She said heading off. Shikaku and Choza nodded to her as well and took their own exhausted children heading home. Astuko nodded back and put Naruko on her shoulders and Shino into her arm, taking the bag onto her other arm.
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Astuko took her time getting home and looked down when the plush butterfly fell to the street. Looking at her children she noticed with a sigh that they were both asleep. As she sent her bugs to retrieve the toy a hand came out and picked it up, offering it to her. Looking up she met the eyes of Fugaku Uchiha.
"Arigatō" she mumbled with a strained smile. Fugaku put the toy in the bag for her, not looking away from her eyes.
"It's no problem; I have my own son their age." He said with his own strained smile.
"The police force must have light work if one of the higher ups has enough time to follow around a mother and her two children." Astuko said her face unchanging.
"We are charged with protecting the peace of the village from any and all things." He said without missing a beat.
"Well then I'll warn you just once, stay away from me and my family or you will have a not so peaceful confrontation with my husband." Astuko said, walking around him and walking into her compound, shutting the gates tight.
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Shibi knelt at the table and ate slowly as Naruko went on and on about their playmates at the park. Even Shino remarked that he had had fun, but Shibi could feel the dark aura around Astuko and made a note to ask her about it when the children were in bed.
"That damned Uchiha family is following us around again." Astuko said as soon as the door to the children's room was shut. Shibi's eyes narrowed dangerously, making his eyebrows knot together.
"That is enough. I'll talk to the Hokage tomorrow and if he is unable to fix the problem then I'll take care of it myself." Shibi said, pulling his wife close. Astuko couldn't help but hear the deadly promise in his voice.
UCHIHA COMPOUND… 11PM…
16 year old Itachi silently shut the door and removed his shoes, not flinching when the lights turned on and his father's angry voice met his ears.
"Where have you been? I spoke to the mission director and he told me you had no mission today." Fugaku snarled. Itachi just stood and looked at his father.
"I was out with a friend. I'm allowed to have friends aren't I? Did you feed Sasuke?" Itachi asked with a sigh. His father had become a bitter and fixated man since the nine-tailed fox attack killed their mother 6 years ago, leaving a 10 year old Itachi to take care of his new born-baby brother.
"Onii-chan!" Sasuke yelled, throwing the door open and hugging his brother's middle tight.
"Sasuke you should be in bed. Did you eat?" Itachi asked, picking him up and putting him on his hip.
"Um… I…" Sasuke mumbled, playing with his brother's shirt. Itachi glared at his father and shoved past him towards the kitchen.
"Can't even feed your own son?" Itachi growled, plopping Sasuke down on a counter and started slamming things around to fix his brother a quick meal before bed.
"You were with that damn monster again weren't you?" Fugaku shouted, following them into the kitchen. Itachi started feeding Sasuke a sandwich and turned to glare at his father.
"Kisame is not a monster. He is a well-respected ninja in the land of water and I won't let you smear him." Itachi ground out to keep from shouting in front of Sasuke who finally finished the last bite of the sandwich.
"He is almost twice your age and a man!"
"That's enough." Itachi said with a defeated sigh, picking up Sasuke with a smile "Bed time" Sasuke looked at him and their father with frightened eyes and just nodded.
"This is far from over Itachi!" Fugaku shouted as Itachi left, shutting the door softly behind him.
"How come Otousan doesn't like Kisame-kun?" Sasuke asked in a small voice as Itachi pulled his night shirt over his head.
"He just misses Okaasan." Itachi said, laying Sasuke down in his bed and tucking him in.
"Can I say goodnight to the baby?" Sasuke asked. Itachi looked around fast and not sensing his father nearby he slowly pulled up his shirt showing a very slight bump. Sasuke leaned his head up and kissed his belly.
"Good night… suki dayo." Sasuke mumbled sleepily, laying back. Itachi pulled his shirt down and put his hand over his stomach with a long sigh.
"Goodnight Sasuke. Suki dayo" Itachi said and climbed into the bed next to his brother's, falling into a fitful sleep.
THE NEXT DAY… NOON…
Itachi and Sasuke laughed as Kisame crouched in front of them and made funny faces. Sasuke laughed so hard he dropped his ice cream onto Kisame's cloud covered robes and sucked his breath in in fear. Kisame just laughed and stood up, removing the robe, tossing it lazily over his arm showing an all-black outfit underneath.
"It's alright squirt. I have eight more at home!" he cheered. Sasuke smiled happily and got off the bench taking Itachi's hand.
"Where are we going now Onii-chan?"
"We have to see Kisame to the gate." Itachi said sadly. Sasuke teared up and hugged the big fish man's leg tight.
"But I don't want Kisame-kun to go! He was only here for a week!" Sasuke cried.
"It's alright squirt. I'll be back in less than a month." Kisame said patting his head. Sasuke's lip just quivered as he looked up at him. They started walking towards the village gates and Kisame took Itachi's hand.
"Is everything alright?" he asked at Itachi's down trodden face.
"My father's hate for you knows no bounds. He has no less than four people following us this very minute." Itachi said, holding his hand tighter as the gate came into view, showing Kisame's comrades already there and waiting for him.
"Ho ho then let's give them something to report." Kisame said, suddenly turning and pulling Itachi close by his hips. Itachi blushed but smiled up at him.
"Baka…" Kisame kissed him deeply, cupping the back of his head lovingly.
"I'll see you in three weeks." Kisame whispered when they finally pulled away. Kisame kneeled down to Sasuke and wrapped his stained robe around his shoulders.
"Take good care of your Onii-chan for me. I'll be back." He shouldered his pack and left the village with his two comrades. Sasuke sniffled tearfully and used the robe to wipe his face.
"Onii-chan why can't Kisame-kun live with us all the time? It's not fair!" Sasuke cried.
"Because he's not from here, he has to go back to his home and do missions so he can get money to come back." Itachi said, rubbing his hair back "It will be ok though I promise."
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Shibi stormed into the Konoha Police force headquarters and for the first time in a long time his blood boiled. His fist met Fugaku's nose sending the unsuspecting man over his desk.
"Stop following my family or next time I do worse… much worse." Shibi shoved his fists in his pockets and turned.
"Do you think you can protect that demon forever? Sooner or later she'll turn on you as most wild things do." Fugaku said, using the desk to stand up.
"One thing you and the others need to learn about my daughter is that she herself isn't the nine-tailed fox but its prison." Shibi ignored the rest of the police force as he walked calmly out of the headquarters and headed for his home. He looked up at the sun and saw a rainbow around it. A chill ran through his heart.
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Itachi took off his shoes and tossed them away before helping Sasuke out of his.
"Go take a nap so tonight we can go to the fire festival." Itachi said.
"You aren't taking him anywhere!" Fugaku shouted, startling both of them.
"Father what is the problem now?" Itachi said with an impassive face. Fugaku threw down some files making them scatter all over the entrance. Some photos and medical files flew around them. Itachi felt his breath catch when he noticed some early ultrasound photos and his hand flew to his stomach.
"I know you are having that monster's baby! I won't have that in my house or around my son so you can get rid of the little parasite or you can leave!" Fugaku spit in his face.
"Fine we're leaving now." Itachi growled out, taking Sasuke's hand. Fugaku snatched Sasuke's other hand and ripped the cloud robe from him, tossing it back to Itachi. Sasuke looked between them with wide frightened eyes.
"He is still my son and he will stay here, away from the likes of you!"
"You don't know the first thing about taking care of him! I bottle fed him at 2 in the morning and changed every single diaper while maintaining my missions and keeping this so called honorable clan on top while you drank away your money and almost sank our name!"
Itachi caught the punch that headed towards his face and head butted Fugaku sending him back; he grabbed Sasuke and rushed out of the door shoeless.
"This isn't over you bastard!" Fugaku roared after them.
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Shino held Naruko's hand as they walked calmly back home from the fire festival. Their mother had given them a small amount of money, told them to stick together, and a strict order that they be back no later than an hour after sundown. The sun had just set and the streetlights had just flickered on when Shino told his sister it was time to head back. She agreed with him and they left the crowded festival together, clutching the prizes and food they had won or bought.
Shino felt fear strike his heart and stopped, unable to move. Naruko started shaking and whimpering, holding his hand tighter. Eight grown men surrounded them, their Sharingans glowing in the moonlight. Bags hit the floor scattering their contents around them.
Astuko looked up as a single beetle flew in through the window while she did the dishes and froze, lifting up her hand to let it land on her finger.
"No… no, no, no… SHINO! NARUKO!" dishes shattered and windows busted open as a swarm of anger and hatred flew from the Aburame compound in the form of every man, woman, and bug who belonged to the Aburame name.
Astuko kneeled down and held Shino close, clutching him tight and letting out a relieved sob when she noticed that he was still breathing.
"Shino… I'm so sorry…" Astuko sobbed.
"Okaasan… they took Naruko… I wasn't… I wasn't strong enough…" Shino's hand still gripped at air, looking for his sister's hand.
"It's alright… We'll get her back… and make every single bastard who was involved pay with their lives." Loud buzzing filled the air as the Aburame clan took off towards the Uchiha compound.
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Naruko sobbed and pulled at her bindings as men around her chanted and drew signs. Her bindings had been ripped out of her head letting her long hair flow around her like a halo and she had been changed into a plain white dress.
"Please let me go! I want my Okasan and my Onii-chan!" she wailed. A man stood over her and held up a massive knife.
"Not until we get that demon." A dark voice said and the knife came crashing down.
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Shibi stopped and watched in horror as suddenly a massive power exploded from the Uchiha compound making the entire village shake. He got his bearings and ran faster, stopping in front of the gates in shock. The entire compound was on fire and bodies littered the ground, torn up and bloody as if a pack of dogs had gone through and got ahold of them.
"Naruko!" Shibi shouted and ran into the flames without care. He held up his hand as a hot burst flew out of a building almost knocking him over. When he was able to open his eyes again Naruko stood there, flames coming out of her body and reaching to engulf everything.
"Naruko…" Shibi said softly. A massive knife was through the middle of her chest.
"Chichi… my heart hurts…" Naruko whispered almost sounding dead.
"It's ok… your chichi and haha are going to get you fixed up ok…?" Shibi said softly, walking slowly towards his adoptive daughter. The flames parted to let him through and finally stopped coming out of her. Shibi felt his stone heart breaking when he saw that tears were running down her face and her shoulders shook with her sobs.
"Chichi… I did something bad… I killed them… I killed them all… even when they begged me not too…" Naruko sobbed.
"It's ok… I still love you and I always will." Shibi promised. Naruko slowly looked up at him.
"Thank you… chichi…" Shibi caught her as she collapsed and he carried her out of the compound, careful not to jostle her or the knife in her chest around. The flames avoided him and let him pass to get to the medical-nin who were waiting impatiently for his return. Shibi reluctantly handed his daughter over and rushed ahead to meet them and the rest of his family at the hospital.
MORNING…
Itachi stared in shock at the black mess which was now the Uchiha compound; Kisame's robe wrapped around Sasuke and his shoulders and both of them still shoeless. Sasuke was mercifully asleep on his shoulder. Ninjas and investigators alike rushed around, collecting evidence, sparing them only pity-filled glances.
"What… happened…?" Itachi whispered when the Hokage walked up to him.
"It seems a fire broke out and spread through the entire compound. A horrific and terrible accident…" Sarutobi said "You and Sasuke are the only Uchiha left…"
"That… that means Sasuke is mine right? He and I can get a place closer to the academy and no one can take him from me?" Itachi asked holding his little brother closer. Sarutobi watched the emotions rush through Itachi's face.
"That's right." He finally answered. Itachi fell to his knees, jostling Sasuke slightly and waking him up.
"Onii-chan what's wrong?" Sasuke mumbled. Itachi sobbed and gave his brother a teary smile.
"We're free… We're finally free…" Sasuke smiled and hugged his brother tighter, laughing along with him.
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Tsunade rushed through the gates, running as fast as her legs would carry her to the hospital, a piece of paper scrunched up in her hands. She had received an emergency note late last night via monkey king, telling her two young children would die if she didn't get back to the village ASAP. She had traveled the rest of the night as fast as her legs would carry her to the village hidden in the leaves.
When she arrived at the hospital the walls cracked with how forcefully she opened the doors.
"Take me to them." Was all she said to the shocked nurses. They didn't have to be told who she was talking about and rushed to lead her to the two Aburame children. Shino was a quick and easy mind fix, but Tsunade spent six painful, slow going hours removing the cursed knife from Naruko's heart.
Tsunade sat at the edge of the circle with seven other powerful medical-nin as chakra swirled around violently, edging the knife out and healing the damage as they went. She was starting to sweat and become exhausted but they were almost done and she couldn't leave now. To everyone's amazement the demon Kyuubi had so far made no attempt to push at the seal and escape, instead dribbling out his red chakra to help in the healing process.
Shibi stood up lightning fast scaring Astuko and Shino awake when Tsunade finally walked out of the room. She smiled at them.
"It was slow going but she'll be perfectly fine. She might not remember everything that happened but in my opinion that's a good thing… well you can go see her whenever you are ready but take it easy."
"Thank you so much lady Tsunade… our family is forever in your debt." Astuko said. Shibi and Astuko bowed to her making her blush and rub the back of her head.
"Well I wouldn't be human if I just stood back and did nothing." She said. She sighed happily and watched as they rushed to go be with her daughter.
Astuko was barely able to contain her sob when she saw her daughter wrapped up like a mummy and connected to three different machines. They turned in surprised, seeing Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba with their parents holding flowers and other gifts.
"We heard our new friend wasn't feeling good so we brought presents!" Kiba shouted, holding up flowers.
"Th-thank you…" Astuko said with a smile.
"Haha… chichi…" Shino whispered, making Shibi and Astuko look at him.
"I want to be strong… and I want to make Naruko strong…" he said. Shibi gently put his hand on Shino's head, making him look up.
"Don't worry… you will…"
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That was possibly the longest chapter I've ever done in any story ever! Next chapter: ninja graduation and team pickage!
Translations:
Onii-chan= big brother
Okaasan= formal way of saying mother
Hai= yes
Oi= hey
Arigatō= thank you
Otousan= formal way of saying father
Suki dayo= roughly means I love you
Baka= idiot
Chichi= informal way of saying father
Haha= informal way of saying mother
Gomen= I'm sorry or just sorry
