Onee-chan #2 : 12 reviews! That's 68 all together, unless is lying to me again...
Out : You like counting reviews, don't you?
Chapter 7 - Cats, Cars, and Beatings
"Nii-san! Nii-san!" a childish voice broke through unconsciousness and called forth the beast that is... "Naruto! Wake up!"
Blue eyes blinked open sleepily. Yawning silently and sitting up, Naruto looked at the excitable boy next to him.
"It's my birthday!" Konohamaru cheered, bouncing up and down next to Naruto's bed.
The tired blonde looked out the window before flopping back down onto his nice, warm, inviting pillows.
"Naruto..." A disgruntled voice. "Get up..." he almost begged.
Naruto raised his right hand and pointed out the window, where light barely showed.
"I know it's early. But today's my birthday, how can I sleep?" Konohamaru stated like it was a simple thing. "So. Can I come to your school today?"
Naruto shot up in bed, sending Konohamaru to the floor. He looked around quickly, as if just waking up. The blonde turned to the brunette as said younger boy got up from the floor.
"What? What'd I say?" he asked innocently. Naruto shook his head and sighed as he got out of bed.
Naruto ushered for the other boy to follow him before shuffling out into the hallway in his pjs. They were a light baby blue, with a freaky hat that seemed to be eating his head. Konohamaru laughed whenever he saw it sticking out of Naruto's dresser, but the blonde boy didn't care. He'd had it as long as he could remember...
Naruto knocked on a door, and the sound seemed to echo on forever in the still quiet of early morning...
"What?..." a sleepy voice droned as the door opened.
"Ack! What an ugly sight! First thing in morning on my birthday too..." Konohamaru grumbled. The woman grumbled back.
"Shut up or I'll whack you over the head." the woman threatened, raising her fist.
"Oh! Sorry Mrs. Haruno! I didn't recognize you! You look like an old hag!"
BAM!
"Ow!" the brunette boy yelped, holding his head. "Don't hit the birthday boy!"
Naruto inwardly sighed, glad that he didn't have the ability to call her old. It had saved his head...The blonde woman, somehow mother of Sakura and Ino, hated being called old. She sighed.
"What do you want anyhow?"
"I wanna know if I can go to Naruto's school today. Since it's my birthday and all..." Konohamaru was suddenly sheepish...or something.
"What?" she glanced at Naruto, who seemed to have fallen asleep standing up. "Sure."
"Yes!" he cheered, making Naruto jump from his sleep.
"But." Konohamaru froze. "You can't cause any trouble for everyone. And..."
"And what?" he asked cautiously.
"Take Naruto back to bed. Or he won't be able to even go to school today!" she cocked her head back and began laughing a laugh that made her seem like a creepy madman...woman.
"Yes ma'am!" Konohamaru took Naruto by the hand and began to lead the half asleep boy back to his room. "This way Naruto. Back to bed so you'll be ready to take me to school today!"
Naruto let out breath in response. Tsunade, the blonde woman, almost thought he had tried to speak before suddenly getting a headache and going back into her room.
"Sleep..." she grumbled as the door closed.
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Konohamaru and Naruto went to school the next day, only to receive a lot of weird looks from all of Naruto's classmates. The young brunette was in awe at the school. All the art decorating the halls, the music rooms, the classrooms, and...Naruto's special room.
Nothing really happened, Konohamaru stayed to his conditions and didn't cause any trouble except maybe for Naruto...He wanted to go into Naruto's art room, but neither Naruto, nor anyone else for that matter, would let him in.
"Nii-san! That's so mean!" he had yelled.
Naruto took him to watch Sakura play piano, and Konohamaru looked like he'd fallen in love. Naruto almost laughed. Almost.
Since Naruto couldn't go into his special room and paint today, Sakura took them to see where Ino worked.
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Jingle...
"Hey Ino! You here?" Sakura called around the shop.
It was a sports shop. Sports gear hung on all the walls, sat on the shelves and the counter, and was displayed in the window. A few racks of sports magazines were near the door and near the back counter. A door was placed in the back wall, opposite the front door. Through this slightly open door one could see what most would guess to be a kitchen or something. It was a snack room before you got to the storage room.
"Yea! I'm here! Who wants to-" the blonde walked into view through the door and froze. "Naruto! Konohamaru! Sakura! You came to visit the shop?" she asked.
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A dark haired teen walked along the sidewalk towards his house. His headset sat around his shoulders, no music playing. His hands were in his pockets and he had taken his skates off for being around the house.
'If I can go fast enough...Maybe I can outrun my problems...Maybe I can outrun him...'
He paused at a sound. Black eyes darted back and forth, but he didn't hear anything. Something brushed his leg and he looked down, the noise sounding again from near his leg.
Meow!
A small white kitten, covered in dirt and looking about to die was lightly brushing against his ankle. It was so small that he bet he could hold it in the palms of his hands. Sasuke bent down to pet it.
"Why'd you walk up to me? Aren't I scary to you?" he asked, motioning to his dark apparel. The cat purred as he scratched behind it's ears.
Sasuke looked around before picking the cat up slowly and swiftly running into his house to feed it.
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"So, why aren't you guys at the school?" Ino asked as they sat in the snack room after she 'closed' the shop.
"Konohamaru came today, remember? Naruto insisted we show him around." Sakura half-lied. Naruto had silently asked her to find a way to keep Konohamaru away from his room.
"And how was the school, eh short-stuff?" the 19-year old girl smiled at the brunette.
"It was amazing!" he exclaimed. "The art and stuff on the walls was so intricate, I'd think that they were all made by Nii-san!" he jumped up.
Naruto looked away from the younger boy. (they were all by him...heh heh)
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The kitten, now drinking milk, was also being softly pet by Sasuke Uchiha, the dark loner.
A shadow came up behind him in the dark kitchen. None of the lights were on because he didn't want to attract attention to himself or the cat.
"Sasuke. What is that thing?" a voice asked, making Sasuke jump.
He stood and faced his older brother, shielding the cat from him.
"It's a cat. She was hungry..." Sasuke said shortly, his last sentence trailing off.
Itachi Uchiha's eyes were bright red it seemdedas he grabbed his little brother by the neck, tossing him into the counter. Sasuke let out a grunt of pain, but stayed standing. The kitten hissed at Itachi, who kicked it.
Sasuke growled and attacked Itachi, who backhanded him and then kicked him in the gut. The younger boy fell to the ground as his brother proceeded to beat him once again.
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"The lunch was bad though. I'm glad me and Naruto-nii had homemade lunches." Konohamaru continued. "Who makes them anyway?"
"Kaa-san." they said.
"Wha? Tsunade-baa makes the lunches?" he jumped up in surprise, falling on the floor.
"Yes. She's a great cook. How do you think any of us survive if she's not the one cooking?" Sakura asked with a smile.
"I don't know...Maybe you guys hire someone." he offered. Ino shook her head and Sakura answered.
"The only person 'hired' at the orphanage is Naruto. He takes care of everyone while we're away, cooks, cleans, anything to help. And we don't have to pay him. We're not rich people Konohamaru." she gave him a piercing look before Ino gasped.
"Look at the time!" she stood up. "We've gotta get home!" she ran to the storage door. "Bye boss! I'll see you tomorrow!" An affirmative yell came back and they all went to leave.
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The younger of the two fell to the floor in a heap, the cat bit the older one and got kicked again, landing near the younger boy. The older sibling smirked.
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Naruto held the inside of the car door tightly, staring out of the window. After a few minutes of staring at him, Konohamaru whispered to Sakura in the front passenger's seat.
"Why's he do that?" he asked, motioning with his head to Naruto. Sakura sighed.
"He had a bad experiencewith cars when he was real young." she whispered back.
"Did he get hit by a car?" he asked. Sakura shook her head before noticing that Naruto was opening the car door!
"Naruto stop! Ino stop the car!" she yelled, causing Ino to hit the brakes and stop suddenly just as Naruto stumbled out of the door. "Naruto come ba-" she paused, seeing what he was running up to. "Who's that?"
The two girls in the car got out and hurried over to where Naruto was sitting next to a body. Konohamaru was told to stay in the car.
It was a boy with black hair, a deep dark blue shirt and black jeans on. His headphones lay broken near him. A small white kitten was next to him too.
"Who is this? What happened to him?" Sakura asked. Ino gasped.
"I know this guy!" she said. "His name's Sasuke and he comes to the shop every Tuesday." she informed them. Sakura gave her a weird look. "What?"
"Are you stalking him?" she asked.
"No!...Only when he comes to the shop." she blushed a bit before they noticed Naruto's ragged breathing.
He was staring at Sasuke, who was bleeding, and his head hurt. He held it tight, trying to block out the pain as he felt he was dying. Screaming entered his mind and the honk of a horn so close it was deafening. Tears fell from his eyes, pained tears. His heart felt tight and painful and the thought of dying right there sounded like a good prospect...Just like it had 11 years ago.
A hand was placed gingerly on his shoulder and he gasped, turning to look at the pink haired girl as everything he'd been feeling and hearing suddenly stopped.
"He'll be ok Naruto...You're not 4 years old anymore. And he's not your parents." she said softly, sadly, before pulling him into a warm embrace. Naruto and Sakura sat there for a minute before Sakura let him go. "Now we need to get him and his little buddy back to the house, ok?" she felt like he was 4 again and she was the 'responsible' 7 year old.
Naruto nodded numbly and they proceeded to carefully move the two.
Chapter 8 - The Silent Treatment
His eyes widened slightly in realization at where he must be if that girl was here...
He put a hand to his throat.
He wasn't a mute!
'Aniki...Aniki please!' his own voice joined them. 'Aniki why?'
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Thought the extra spaces between scenes would help since the scene changes almost constantly this chapter. -wink- Bye!
