Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Four

Rising from his position in the uncomfortable chair he'd been seated in most of the early morning, Naruto stretched the stiffness from his sore muscles, earning a few audible cracks, before turning his gaze to the window in the small room. Seeing the sun now high in the sky and illuminating the room in a bright golden light, Naruto estimated it to be around noon; the trio having spent the early morning either unconscious or in discussion about various details regarding the Verrocchio family.

Turning his gaze back to the now silent twins Naruto thought back the the last hour of their discussions, but more specifically what he'd viewed of the twins behavior. It was obvious that they were closer than any pair of siblings probably should be, but he really couldn't fault them, knowing that whatever tragedy their lives had been in before he had met the duo, must have broken their psyche and made the duo latch onto one another for stability, most likely causing the sibling bond between the pair to become blurred and evolve into the intimacy and closeness it was now.

Other than the incestuous relationship the pair shared, Naruto took keen note of how the pair reacted around him. It didn't take much to see that Hansel clearly held no trust for him, and most likely only agreed to team up with him do to the love he held for his sister and their disposition at the moment, which he could honestly understand and didn't fault him for. Yet still, while he found Hansel's reaction logical, he was a bit confused to the lack of a negative reaction from the other sibling, Gretel. She showed no outward hatred or loathing for him even though he'd held her precious brother at gun point not but a few hours ago. Even though Naruto knew he'd forced her to acknowledge the mortality they both faced, that should have sparked hatred in her towards himself, not trust. Deciding that it was of no consequence, and probably just her repressing the emotions caused by the helplessness she no doubt felt, Naruto decided to break the quiet the room was currently bathed in.

"Hey," he began, catching their attention as the duo turned their eyes to him, "Since it's about midday and we've all been stuffed up inside this room, I was wondering if you'd both be interested in heading out to get something to eat with me?" he questioned casually.

"W-what?" Hansel stuttered out, confusion very evident in the way he spoke, his eyes ever so slightly narrowed.

"You know, food?" Naruto jokingly clarified, "I'm pretty sure you both could use something to eat, but if you'd rather stay here I could always just go eat alone." Naruto offered teasingly.

"You mean you're just gonna' treat us like we didn't try to kill you, and actually take us out to eat?" Hansel questioned incredulously, showing no acknowledgment to being teased.

"Yup." came Naruto's simple reply.

"But aren't we your prisoners or something? I mean I get that we are going to be killing together but how can you be so care free around us? We were just trying to kill you this morning mister!" Hansel blurted out, having grown annoyed at not being able to figure out a basic personality for their blonde captor and colleague. One moment he was calm and collected, the next he could seem to be more like them and a bit dark, then apparently go into a comfortable and carefree nature if his offer was anything to go by. He was too confusing!

"What's with you mister, why are you so odd?"

Turning to fully face the duo Naruto crossed his arms in front of himself, "First things first. One, I already told you my name, so no more of this mister crap. And two, I don't know why you'd assume that you were my prisoners when I made it clear we'd be working together. That means a basic level of trust should be shown. On both sides." Naruto finished, raising a single finger with each point.

Hansel stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "So, you really just want us to eat together?" he asked after a moment.

Uncrossing his arms, Naruto placed his hands in the pockets of his coat, taking note when Hansel's eyes narrowed a bit, no doubt assuming he'd been reaching for a weapon. "That's the idea, it'd give us all a chance to get to know each other a bit better," Naruto offered, "Besides, there's a small restaurant near here I've been meaning to try since I came to this Kami forsaken city," turning to look at Gretel Naruto asked once more, "So do the two of you want to get something to eat with me?"

Unsure of what to do Hansel looked to his sister, trying to gauge what her response would be. He was still confused by the trust this man showed them, and was curious to why his sister didn't seem wary of him. The unanswered question of what had been going on before his return to consciousness still wracking his mind. For as long as he could remember the two of them had always been surviving together, never once hesitating to kill so they could live. That's how it always was. They had slain countless others to prolong and extend their own lives, and over the many years they had done so, had learned quickly that the two of them could only trust each other. It simply didn't make sense for his sister to let her guard down so much around a stranger, that only hours ago they had been trying to murder.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed his sister immediately slip off the bed, taking note how she never let go of his hand as she stood up, before she turned to him with a smile on her face.

"Come on fratele meu, I'm hungry too." Gretel said, tugging on his arm as she tried to pull him off the bed.

Keeping a wary eye on his captor turned associate, Hansel inclined his head forwards in a nod, "Alright fine, I guess I'll eat with you... but where would we go? It'd be a problem if any of Verrocchio's men see us with you."

Shaking his head slightly, Naruto spoke, "I wouldn't worry too much about that, the part of the city we're currently in is considered neutral territory. Though, I've noticed it's primarily occupied by the forces of Hotel Moscow; very few of Verrocchio's men actually seem to hang around here." He explained.

With a semi-reluctant nod Hansel let himself be pulled up from the bed by his sibling.

Stepping away from the window Naruto began walking towards the door, only to pause when he spotted Hansel and Gretel walking towards the table with their guns on it. "Your gonna have to leave those here." he spoke with a slight shake of his head, only to have Hansel turn to him with a small glare.

"Why? I thought you just said that trust needed to be shown, from both sides." Hansel growled out adding emphasis on the word both.

"Look, it's not that I don't trust you, it's the simple fact that we're just heading down the street and I don't want to be seen with two fully armed teens. It'd draw too much attention to us, even in neutral territory." Naruto countered in mild annoyance.

"No you look, me and my sister need our weapons, we've never gone anywhere without them and I don't want to now!" Hansel hissed, "Either we get to bring our weapons or we aren't going!"

Letting out a heavy sigh Naruto made to retort, only to be beaten by the up till now silent Gretel as she grabbed her brother's arm and gave a light tug, drawing his attention.

"Come one fratele meu... Let's just go eat, I'm sure we'll be fine." she spoke quietly, a look of silent pleading on her face.

Naruto watched in unconcealed curiosity as Hansel's anger seemed to melt away and his muscles eased of their tenseness. The boy turned to look directly at Naruto as his face turned stoney once more. A moment passed as the boy seemed to be at war with himself if the slight movements his face made were of any indication before he finally spoke, "If we go with you, you have to promise that you won't try to harm me or my sister, and that you won't let anyone else harm me or my sister, okay?" he relented before looking down towards the floor, yet still keeping his head raised enough to view Naruto.

"Alright, I promise... on the very reason I'm in this disgusting city." Naruto said, his face becoming softer as he spoke.

Hansel looked up suddenly when he'd heard the tone of voice. It carried so much pain... He wasn't sure how it was possible to convey such raw emotion through so few words, but he was now starting to feel guilty over not trusting him... Not that a few words were going to change his view of this man, but he'd at least give him a shot.

"A-alright... fine," cursing silently to himself for his stutter, Hansel shook his head gently before squeezing his sister's hand that was still grasped in his. Gazing up at her he was mildly surprised to see her looking at him in... pride? "Let's go."

Silently nodding, Naruto simply opened the door before holding it open for the twins as they quickly crept out from the tiny room.

And with that they were on their way.

Chapter End

Alright so its a lot shorter than usual, but I'm extremely tired so I don't really care too much. Anyways, as always please point out any flaws you notice and I'll fix them.