Let's get this show on the road!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It had been a couple of months since Rei, Teepo and Naruto had met and began living together. Naruto and Rei became father and mother figures(1) for Teepo and he quickly accepted their rules, lax as they may be. He grew to love them like parents too, even going so far as to call them 'mom and dad' to their delight. They all quickly learned several things about eachother, like Rei loved nature, Naruto loved the freedom he now had, and Teepo would eat anything that he thought was food. They learned the last thing when they had to nurse him back to health after he ate some poisoness mushrooms. The thing that was most apparent though was between Naruto and Rei. They spent every second they could together. Whether it was doing dishes finding food, or making meals they hardly ever went anywhere without the other. They even kept shareing the same bed, even after Naruto made another one for Teepo, after he started saying his back was hurting. They quickly found out that he preffered a soft bed as apposed to the firm one he was sleeping on.
At the moment they were looking for food of any kind in the woods. It had been a hard year for everyone in the area, both them and the residents of the nearby village of Mcneil. They didn't want to have to do it, but they resorted to stealing for the sake of survival. They took no pleasure in it but they took only what they needed to survive. That fact aside the villagers didn't really like the fact that their things were being stolen.
At the moment Naruto and Rei were crouched behind some bushes waiting for a boar to wander by. They didn't move muscle, they wouldn't chance any noise, oppertunities like this one were rare. The boar was right in front of them when suddenly a loud crash suddenly sounded. The boar almost ran off but a well thrown knife from Naruto quickly killed it. They both sighed in relief but then looked over towards the noise and saw something that shocked them. A little, blue haired boy was about to be eaten by two curs!
Naruto and Rei each quickly threw one of their knives at the curs and managed to lodge them in the back their skulls. Naruto and Rei walked over to pick up their knives and take a look at the kid.
Naruto had gone to get the boar and collect his knife while Rei took a look at the kid. She looked up when he walked over to her, "Well he isn't hurt but he's way too young to be out here on his own. His mother will probably be along for him soon. If not someone from the village will come by and take him with them." Normally she would take the kid with her back home to rest but they were already barely getting by and they couldn't have a guest at a time like this.
Naruto nodded his head, "You're right, we can't afford to have another mouth to feed. It's hard enough as it is. Besides, who in their right mind would leave their kid in the woods?"
They both got up and began to walk away, Naruto carrying the boar. They would have continued but they suddenly heard, "M-Mommy...D-Daddy?" It didn't sound like he was scared or wondering where his parents were. It sounded like he thought they were his parents.
They turned around, looked at eachother, and at the same time, gave an exaggerated sigh. Rei walked over and picked the kid up and now all three were headed back to their house.
On the way back Naruto was talking to rei, "We need to find a way to get more food if we have to feed this kid too."
Rei, who was walking with the kid on her back with her tail wrapped around him for safety, answered, "I know. The year has been hard for everyone because of that damn monster stealing crops from the village. We'll have to think of something, but for now we'll cook the boar and have a nice hot meal tonight."
Naruto, after wipeing his mouth at the thought of eating roasted boar, prepaired by Rei no less (dude loves her cooking), told her something that bothered him, "But what is a little kid doing in the middle of the woods without even a strip of clotheing?"
Rei thought for a moment, "That's a good question. Maybe we can ask him when he wakes up."
They made their way back to the house and wondered what they were going to do about beds the enitre way there. They had shared a bed with the same idea they came up with the day they met Teepo but what would they do now?
The second they walked in the front door they saw Teepo waiting by the stove. He suddenly jumped up and asked loudly, "Mom, Dad, did you get any food?" He suddenly saw the boar his 'father' (you get the idea) was carrying. "All right, boar tonight!" He suddenly did a very strange victory dance that Naruto and Rei couldn't help but grin at.
Teepo suddenly noticed the kid on Rei's back, "Is he alright?"
Rei began making her way to the stairs while answering him, "We don't know. He looks alright but we can't tell until he wakes up. Lets get him upstairs and into your spare pajamas."
Teepo would have normally protested but because he had a spare he was fine with it.
When Rei had gotten the kid in bed she walked downstairs and saw Naruto cleaning the blood off the boar. She walked over to one of the cupboard and got out a butcher knife and, after Naruto had finished cleaning the boar, began chopping it into portions. By the time everything was cut up, cooked and seasoned, it was fairly late.
They were about to eat when they suddenly heard the creak of floorboards upstairs. They all got up and headed to the second floor and when they got there they saw the little kid out of bed and walking around, trying to figure out where he was. When he saw the family(2) at the top of the stairs he immediatly tensed but relaxed when he saw them put their hands up in the universal 'we mean you no harm' position.
They stood in uncomfortable silence until Naruto broke the silence, "Are you hurt at all?"
The kid, after searching himself over, replied, "No, I think I'm alright.(3)"
Rei looked releived for a moment but quickly went onto other things, "Do you know why you were in the forest? Without a strip of clotheing at that?"
The kid looked like he was trying to remember something, "No, I don't remember anything. All I remember is my name, Ryu."
Naruto looked at Ryu in sympathy. He didn't know anything but his name. He had a horrible past but he wouldn't want to completly forget about it. He and Rei had a silent conversation, something that they did on occasion. It drove Teepo crazy trying to figure out how they did it, it was funny how he would try every time to figure out what they were talking about.
Rei and Naruto suddenly grinned at the same time. Naruto turned to Ryu, "Would you like to stay here until you remember your past or someone you know finds you?"
Ryu looked suprised but, after a second of considering it, nodded his head.
Naruto couldn't stop the grin on his face. Their little family just gained a new addition.
He suddenly remembered, DINNER! "Well I'm pretty sure Teepo has some clothes that are to small for him, you can put those on and come on downstairs so we can eat dinner.
They all headed down the stairs, leaving Ryu to get Teepo's old clothes out of the dresser. When he had gotten the clothes on, which consisted of baggy pants, plain white shirt, and, for some reason, shoulder armor.
When Ryu got downstairs Naruto was getting the boar out of the oven(4), Rei was chopping up a few apples she managed to find in a tree, and Teepo was setting the table.
He didn't really know what he was supposed to do but when Naruto saw him standing at the base of the steps he grinned and motioned for him to sit down.
After the table was set and the food was put on the table everyone began digging in. Naruto had cut the meat so that everyone had the same amount, proportionaly anyway. There was still plenty of boar that hadn't been eaten but they could always ask for more.
Everyone was enjoying their meal until Teepo suddenly spoke up, "If no one comes for Ryu and he doesn't remember anything does that mean I get a brother?" He asked, almost too exited at the thought of having a brother.
Naruto and Rei couldn't but laugh when they heard that. Teepo was such a hyperactive pipsqeak. It made it that much easier for Naruto to be the father that Teepo needed.
Rei, after calming down a bit, answered, "That's his choice. He can decide to stay here or go when he's confortable."
Teepo looked at Ryu expectedly, just waiting for an answer.
Ryu, however, hadn't said a word ever since he heard the word 'brother'. It felt so foriegn to him and yet it filled him with a sense of longing and extreame desire. He didn't know why he was so happy to hear this offer. Tears were casscadeing down his face when, after finally finding his voice, he managed to choke out, "Yes, I would love that. Nothing would make me happier." He hoped this wasn't some kind of sick joke because this was very important to him, even though he had no idea why.
Naruto, having finished his food a few minutes before everyone else, picked up the dishes and put them in some water he had gotten beforehand. When he went back into the dining area he saw Rei heading upstairs and Ryu and Teepo talking. As he got closer he began hearing their conversation.
Teepo was telling Ryu about him and Rei, "They're great. They take care of me and teach me so that, when the time comes, I can take care of myself. Dad's teaching me a bunch of exercises to get stronger and faster and Mom's teaching me about a bunch of different plants and animals. They don't try to rush me either, they let me go at my own pace, even if I want to take a break for the day."
Ryu was glad his new parents were so nice but he wondered what they did other than teach Teepo, "What do...mom and dad" he was still getting used to saying those two words. "do besides teach you?"
Teepo thought for a moment, "Well, mom loves exploreing and finding plants and things like that in the woods. Dad and me have made a kind of contest to see who can suprise the other easiest."
Naruto quickly ran up and lifted both boys up into the air for a second before he caught them and put them on his shoulders. He started talking with a grin, "We started supriseing eachother and you are far behind Teepo." Teepo quickly began pouting, drawing a chuckle from Naruto. "Now come on. It's been a long day and my boys need to get some sleep."
Ryu, after hearing this, teared up a little and hugged Naruto's fuzzy head tightly(...there's something I never expected to have to write).
Naruto could only smile softly as this happened. He was glad that there was one less ophan around and that the little kid could have a family.
Teepo watched this and grinned, knowing that now he definately had a brother to play with.
When they got upstairs they saw Rei getting an extra blanket out of a drawer. When she saw Naruto walk up the stairs with Teepo on his left shoulder and Ryu half on his right shoulder and half attatched to his head she couldn't help but laugh. She went up to Naruto and, after shakeing Ryu to get his attention and then get him to loosen his grip, let him down. She looked over at the bed that he'd been in when he woke up. Rei told him "That's your bed Ryu. Tell me if there's anything that can make you more confertable."
Teepo had been let down and, after giving his dad a hug, ran over to his mom and gave her a hug before jumping in bed.
After seeing this Ryu knew exactly what he wanted, "Can I have a hug too?" His voice was full of hesitation, like the smallest mistake on his part would make Rei angry(cautious little guy, isn't he?).
Rei reached down and rapped her arms around Ryu, who followed her lead and rapped his arms around her and squeezed as hard as he could. After a good five minutes Ryu let go and was smileing up at Rei when Naruto suddenly piped up, "What, no hug for daddy?"
When Ryu turned around and found Naruto hunched over with his arms outstretched, prepared to give him a hug, he practically jumped into his arms. Another five minutes later Ryu had let go and was making his way towards his bed with a huge smile on his face.
Everyone got in bed and was about to go to sleep when they heard Naruto say, " I want you two to get a good night sleep. I'm going to be teaching you both how to use a sword tommorow so you better be bright eyed and bushy tailed." After this he grinned at the two and got under the covers with Rei.
Ryu and Teepo both went to sleep with huge grins on their faces, exited about the concept of learning how to use a blade.
All right, so first here's the ages of everyone important so far:
Naruto - 16
Rei - 16
Teepo - 7
Ryu - 5
Another thing is I just saw that the locations for both the apearances of Naruto and Rei are screwed up.
Naruto - type in 'Fastspeedy Rei deviantart' into google, Bing doesn't do it right. You'll see Naruto's Woren body.
Rei -Just like with the other one, type 'BoF 3: Rei girly O-mie deviantart' into google. Fem Rei
(1) Rei and Naruto are in their teenage years at the moment and it's a different world so things are different. They took the responisibility that was given to them.
(2) Naruto, Rei and Teepo for the denser readers, if this isn't you, don't take offence, if this is...work on that
(3) In the game he doesn't really talk but the charectors talk to him and he replies on occasion so he can talk in the fic. Don't like it? WELL TOO DAMN BAD!
(4) It's a stone over. They're still used today in some places...they're also old fashioned pizza ovens.
