A/N: I want to point out I started this, story earlier in the Fall than I did with my other crossover: Arashi Uzumaki of the Blue Plague, but still no where in the beginning, so if you want to know what happened in Blue Plague series before the point I used, you got to read the actual books. Just don't let kids read it.
I'm also censoring curse words as it's too many used in more than just saying usual ways that I can't ignore them all. At least with censoring I'm not going against my usual way of avoiding curse wordsof the Blue Plague series Tomas W. Watson, whose wife is Tina Watson. I should also tell you Watson always based a character after himself in his books, and in the Blue Plague series that's Bruce.
Finally, I don't own the Blue Plague series or the Naruto series or it's characters. But I do know the wife of the writer of the Blue Plague series Tomas W. Watson, whose wife is Tina Watson. I should also tell you Watson always based a character after himself in his books, and in the Blue Plague series that's Bruce.
if you see letters with '-' that's me sensoring curse words in case none of you realized that.
If you haven't read it yet, read this first:
Blue Plague's Nine-Tail Fox's Son: The Fall
Bruce Finally Realizes Stephanie's Feelings
Naruto got up as usual the next morning for his workout. He smelled rain coming and he knew there will be complains today. Naruto wonder if Bruce will continue training or not. Everyone else started getting up before the sun so the ninja squad wasn't too surprise to see people at the center. Shock was that Bruce Debbie Stephanie Angela and the kids weren't at the table.
Mike looked p- off when Naruto took his seat and Naruto laughed silently. He was among those who heard Mike scream but he was the first to arrive after Nancy left to yell at Bruce and saw Mike leave the toilet turned on the shower and did a handstand to cool off his balls. Naruto had no clue what exactly happened but it was funny watching Mike. It wasn't until later Naruto found out about the Icy-Hot.
Finally Bruce and the rest of his family showed up. Mike growled at Bruce when he walked by. Bruce raised his eyebrows at Mike. "Something wrong, brother?" he asked, smiling broadly.
"Dude, that was not even cool or funny by any standard," Mike answered, wanting to throw something at Bruce.
Bruce sat down as he replied, "You thought it was funny when Debbie neutered me last night. You knew payback was coming."
"Payback yeah, not boiling my nuts!" Mike yelled, causing a silence to fall over the center.
"I wanted to make sure you didn't laugh at me again when I was getting a reaming from a five-foot-tall woman. You could have spoken up for me," Bruce informed Mike.
"Bruce, I'm not saying that some form of payback wasn't called for," Mike said, then yelled. "I tried to dunk my nuts in the toilet for God's sake!" Several smirks could be seen around the table and the room. Mike glared at everyone then started yelling again, "I did a f- handstand in the shower to try and save my balls! I've never done a f- handstand in my life! Naruto, your kids and mine came running into my room with weapons loaded to save me. What did they find? Me, in a f- shower doing a handstand, trying to blow on my balls and get them closer to the water. That just wrong, man. Matt laughed so hard at me he peed on himself."
"Actually I was there when you gave up on the toilet," Naruto said chuckling earning a glare from Mike.
Bruce was trying not to laugh as he replied, "Well, you did learn how to do a handstand."
"Mother f-, I would've levitated if I could have. I was in a handstand for twenty minutes. You know why I wasn't in one longer? Well let me tell you, when you are upside down trying to blow out the acid someone put on your balls you hyperventilate and your arms give out. You drop like a brick, but do you pass out? H- no! Your balls are trying to pull up inside your body but your body won't let them in, because they are covered in acid. I say my naked a- down in the bottom of the shower, plugging up the drain and letting water run out on the bathroom floor and I did not give a d-, as long as my nuts were in cold water. That is how I sat for over an hour!" Mike finished screaming.
Bruce couldn't look at Mike anymore because his mind was going into overload providing him mental pictures of Mike's plight. Looking at the table, Bruce said, "Okay, I might have gone too far."
Mike screamed, "Might have gone too far! Bruce, at the end of the hour I couldn't find my balls. I thought they went down the drain when Nancy made me unstop it. You know what, I didn't even care, they could go and hurt somewhere else!"
Nancy just laid her head down on the table putting her arms over her head as her body shook with laughter.
Mike looked at Nancy then back to Bruce. "Dude, you need your man card taken away after that," Mike said in a normal voice.
Bruce jumped up. "Brother, you've gone too far with that!"
"Dude, you cooked my nuts!" Mike exclaimed.
"Okay Mike, I went too far and I apologize to you and your balls. You want me to come down there and blow on them for you, because I will," Bruce said, walking toward Mike.
"Dude, you stay the h- away from my balls! You don't get to look at them or touch them!" Mike said, sliding his chair away from Bruce.
Bruce wrapped his arms around Mike and rubbed his back. "Don't be like that way, you're my bareback cowboy!"
Mike tried to push Bruce away. "Get the h- away from me! My balls are pulling up into my throat. They know you are near and trying to hide."
Bruce put his leg behind Mike's leg, taking him to the floor, "Come here, Twinkie man, let me rub your balls and tell them I'm sorry," Bruce said, then Mike flipped Bruce off of him and tried to put Bruce in a headlock.
"You play with your own balls. You tried to kill mine," Mike said. Everyone in the Center gathered around to watch the two wrestle each other as they laughed at the dialog shot back and forth.
Bruce slipped out of the headlock, trying to put Mike in an arm bar. "Come on, let me rub them. I'll be gentle." Bruce was struggling to get loose while holding back the laughter.
"Gentle? My nut sack is peeling!" Mike cried out and Bruce couldn't help it anymore. Tears rolled down his face as he laughed. Mike seized his chance and spun around, putting Bruce in a full nelson then wrapped his legs around Bruce's waist.
"Tell my nuts you're sorry!" Mike demanded.
Bruce tried to get air into his lungs to comply with Mike's request, but was having trouble, he was laughing to hard. After Bruce took a breath he yelled, "Mike's balls, I'm sorry for hurting you!"
"They don't believe you. Say it like you mean it!" Mike yelled, trying not to laugh.
Bruce yelled out, "Oh Mike's big hairy balls with the peeling nut sack! I'm sorry for hurting you. I wanted to pet you and make you feel better, but Mike has taken away my visitation rights!"
Mike released Bruce, not able to hold on any longer. Mike rolled around on the floor laughing with Bruce. Everyone in the center was laughing at the two. When Bruce could breathe again, he looked up at the table and saw Steve was the first person he saw.
"Steve, come here and help us up," Bruce said. Steve walked over and helped Mike up. Then he walked over to Bruce with his hands over his crotch.
"Dad, my balls are scare of you and won't let me help you," Steve said, sending everyone into another round of laughter.
Naruto noticed that Sai had his drawing pad out and was working on something. Naruto walked over and looked and saw it was another abstract art but it was an abstract version of Bruce and Mike wrestling. "Nice. Be sure to hang that up." Naruto said.
Bruce pulled himself up and staggered to the table to sit down. When the laughter died down again, everyone went back to their chairs to attempt to finish breakfast. Bruce looked around the table and went over the class assignments for the day.
After he finished, Debbie said, "Bruce, it smells like it's going to rain today. Do you want us to move inside to continue or just postpone until tomorrow?"
Bruce looked at her, all signs of laughter gone from his face. "None of the above. No training is postponed unless we get severe lightning or a tornado," Bruce replied.
"Bruce, it's fifty degrees out there now. It only reached seventy-five degrees yesterday. For the rest of the country that's great weather, but here that's freezing. We could be asking for trouble getting people sick," Debbie pointed out.
Bruce nodded his head to Debbie and stood up. "Everyone, listen up!" he yelled out and the Center became silent. "If it rains we train! If it snows we train! Our enemies will be out in it and they could attack us in bad weather. Everyone here, young and old, boy or girl, will learn to ignore the weather, hunger exhaustion and fear." Bruce looked around to make sure he had everyone's attention.
"Conner, you will take over my classes from now on. I will be moving from group to group to teach each of you. Do what I say, I will never push you until you die no matter how much you think you will. Your body might tell you that but ignore it and dow what is required. THere will be no lunch today," Bruce said, receiving a lot of groans.
"See you counted on something. Don't ever count on getting food or rest. When you get either, cherish them as it could be your last. If you don't want to learn how to fight then leave, we don't need you. Everyone here has to trust each member in this clan. That is who you trust and count on, your teammates. When they falter, give them courage and the will to move on. In one month, each of you will become bad a-. By three months each of you will be warriors. Do what I do and do what I say and you will become the master of your destiny. With your team, you will be unstoppable," Bruce said, his voice echoing across the Center.
"Before any ask, yes, even with training you can still get killed, but you will take a lot with you before you go. That level of training doesn't exist. Me and my family will train with you. Any one of my family could put on a Ranger tab right now. After you are trained, some of you will be moved to permanent jobs but you will always stay trained. If you don't use the training, you will forget it. Only time I want to see one of you disobeying orders is if one of your teammates his hurt and/or dying because of the exemption rule: Those of you who abandon a teammate in trouble are worse than those who disobey orders."
Naruto stood up. "Bruce I want to say something. For those of you who been doing well in stealth training class, this weather is more than important for the lesson. When it rains, stealth will be harder to maintain. Yes, rain will wash out any sense of smell, but it can also become your worse enemy with leaving tracks on wet grounds. As I told many of you before, part of stealth is to cover your own tracks unless you're in a rush and can't take the time to do so."
Bruce nodded. "You heard Naruto. Now everyone out, let's go!" Bruce yelled.
He looked at Debbie, expecting to get a p- off look but saw a smile on her face. Seein Bruce's surprise expression, Debbie said, "I was wondering when you were going to quit pussy footing around and trained these people." Bruce smiled at Devvie and waited on her to stand up and walk with him outside.
The rain started started at dawn and continued for two days. Bruce would move from group to group, making the entire group drop down and do pushups and sit ups then crawl around in the mud. The only groups that did not catch total h- were the ten through fourteen year olds, but they were still caught a lot; and Sakura's herb class which they ended up canceling after one day and split her class among other classes as there was not much to teach since the herbs can take care of themselves in the rain. Hardest hit group was Naruto's stealth class which Sakura had assisted with after being relieved of herb class but not from Bruce. Naruto's class quickly learned not to anger Sakura after she punched the ground causing it to crack even with the mud softening it. Around 1000, Bruce found a group huddled under a tree trying to get out of the rain.
Bruce ran up to them and made them low crawl a hundred yards, and they had to yell they were tough. That evening, the clan gathered at the patio waiting on Bruce to tell them they could eat. Bruce walked to the front of the crowd.
Bruce yelled just to be heard over the rain, "When you go inside, do not go to the food line. Stay with your team and move to a table, stand behind the chair and wait for my orders. Now move!"
Bruce followed the last ones in, then moved to the front of the room. "Listen up. Those of you with guns will clean them before you eat. YOur guns are your primary attack and you will treat them as such. You are the weapon, the gun is just an extension. Those of you without weapons will help those with weapons get them cleaned. That includes those of you part of the ninja squad. I want you to be able to help maintain a clean gun even if you don't plan to fire one. You can't eat unless your team is ready. We live together or die together. Now when I say, I want everyone to strip down to their underwear. Those not wearing any will find shorts at the back of the Center." Bruce heard several gasps. He pointed to a young man up front
"Why did I say to get down to the underwear?" Bruce asked him. The young man just stuttered. Bruce yelled to the back of the hall, Danny, why did I say strip to underwear?"
Danny yelled back, "Outside our clothes offer us some protection but in here with no rain falling on us they are just drawing away our body heat."
Bruce nodded his head and pointed to Naruto. "What's another reason we are all going to underwear?" he asked her.
"You told us to and we're all teammates," Naruto replied.
"Very good," Bruce said walking back and forth along the front. Most of the people in the hall were shivering. You are not cold, it's only in your mind. Picture a fire burning in your body and push its warmth out," Bruce said and heard movement behind him.
Bruce turned around to see who'd snuck out but saw the cooking ladies coming out of the kitchen, pulling off their shirts. Then they started taking off their boots. Millie looked at Bruce as she was untying her boots. "What? We can't be waitin' for you to tell us to strip, we hafta feed this army," Millie told Bruce then said, "We're part of this clan too. We don't follow the exemption rule because unless we are needed to fight we are the exemption rule. Each of us would've been out there runnin' around in the rain but someone has ta get food ready. When they get trained, someone is takin our place so we can learn too. Until then the least we can do is undress like the rest of you."
"You got that right, Millie," Bruce said, smiling.
"You may be takin that back seein' me run around in my bloomers," Millie said kickin off her boots.
"You, Millie? SOme parts of my body haven't seen the light outside of a bathroom in thirty years," Lynn said, taking off her pants and gathering her clothes up.
"What the h- are you two talking about? I see some sexy hot mamas in front of me. Lynn, I've seen you run around naked before and that was hot," Bruce said, making both women look at him like he was on drugs. Then Bruce winked at them, blowing them a kiss.
Lynn laughed. "Keep on, Bruce, and I'm gonna wrestle Debbie for ya."
"You can take her," Bruce told Lynn.
Millie walked over to Bruce and kissed him on the cheek. "That's why everyone follows ya, baby. You can be hard but say somethin' to make us feel better. All I have ta say is you better be glad I'm not a little younger," she said then headed back to the kitchen.
"What the h- does age have to do with it?" Bruce asked as the oldest cook, a woman in her late eighties, came over to him.
"You made this old woman feel good again," she said, grabbing Bruce's hand and kissing it. Bruce reached around, hugging her then kissing her. When Bruce let go, she shuffled to the kitchen cackling.
Bruce turned around and saw everyone looking at him and smiling. "I never said smile, you're on my time," he said. The smiles dropped off everyone's face and they snapped their eyes forward.
"When your teams' weapons are clean you can eat. Now strip," Bruce said, walking toward his table. Bruce couldn't wait to get out of his cold, wetm s- but couldn't show it. JHe might be the king of the boys but he hadn't felt his toes in the last hour.
Stopping at his spot at the table, he dropped his gear to the floor then leaned toward Debbie and whispered. "Get Nancy and Danny, then all of you inspect the weapons before letting anyone to eat. Tell the girls to ignore the cold; they will be watch. Each of you have will have to lead by example. Now tell them quietly. I will clean yours and Danny's weapons."
Debbie nodded her head as she moved to each one, whispered, and then the four moved off. Debbie stood at the front of the line as the other three moved around the room like drill sergeants. Looking at Debbie walking around in panties and a sports bra, Bruce thought he'd never had hot instructors like that.
The ninja squad was spread out among the groups so they can each take part in cleaning. Naruto was at the head table working on the guns he was familiar with, which mostly were M-4s and P90s. Each group had ten to twelve people in it in most groups half were armed. The ten to fourteen-year-old group also had armed members: the five kids Bruce and Mike had brought out of the school, since they'd been checked off on weapons, and Konohamaru Moegi and Udon. It was also the largest group at nineteen. The others were just sitting at the table shivering and trying to help the five clean their weapons. Bruce stripped and cleaned baby SCAR in record time then stood up and walked to the kids table.
"What are you doing?" Bruce asked.
"We're cleaning our weapons, Mr. Bruce," Marty jumped up to tell him. Bruce looked at him approvingly. WHen they'd found Marty, he was a very chubby boy, but now he was lean with good muscle definition.
"Well, how's it coming?" Bruce asked. The kids could strip and clean the weapons, but they were slow. Several in the group were weaving back and forth in their seats clearly wanting to go lie down.
"We will do it, sir, it just may take us a while, Marty admitted.
"Konohamaru!" Bruce hollered causing Konohamaru to jump up. "Naruto told me you can create shadow clones as well. Is that correct?"
"Yes sir! Naruto taught me the jutsu himself," Konohamaru said.
"I want you to create shadow clones and help those struggling. That way their memories would go to you when disperse and you can use it to help your team clean their weapons yourself. Bruce said.
"Ah sir, I can only make one shadow clone," Konohamaru admitted.
"Then create a clone and get to it!" Bruce said. "One shadow clone is better than nothing!"
"Yes sir!" Konohamaru created a shadow clone and it started getting to work.
"This is my team and I would like to eat sometime tonight. I know you know how to clean them. Now weapons on the table and sit up straight. Watch my hands," Bruce said, moving to the first weapon. They had given the kids civilian versions of the M-4 from the checkpoint.
Bruce's hand flew over the weapon; he stripped it down then dried the gun off. Bruce cleaned it then reassembled the gun and moved on to the next one. THe kids tried to follow his hands but they moved to fast. When Bruce had the second M-4 reassembled, Jake walked over to help. When Bruce looked at him Jake just said, 'This is my team also." Together they had the group done in ten minutes.
"Those with weapons to the front of the team, let Debbie inspect your weapon. If they'd good you can eat. Once you have finished eating you are off duty. I would advise you get some sleep," Bruce said, heading back to his table.
The kids filed through as Debbie checked the weapons. Bruce could tell by Debbie's face that even if their weapons had been caked in mud she would let them through. Bruce sat down and finished his weapons and was about to start cleaning Debbie's to find hers was gone leaving only Danny's He looked and saw Naruto was cleaning one of Debbie's guns that he was familiar with and had the remaining weapons."
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Bruce asked.
"Cleaning Debbie's weapons," Naruto said. "You said we have to help clean our teammate's weapons and you were helping the kids. I would clean Danny's but her weapons look nothing like the rest of the family's weapons and I have no idea where to start, so I decided to clean Debbie's instead to get started so it be done faster."
Bruce decided to let it slide as Naruto not only had a point but made a smart decision working on the guns he know to get the weapons clean faster.
Bruce looked at the first adult group heading toward Debbie. Bruce smiled as Debbie dropped the group and made them do pushups after inspecting the weapons. As the group headed back to the table, Bruce got started cleaning Danny's weapons.
"By the way Bruce, I know we need these people trained to fight, but once we have enough trained fighters, I think you should start a class on weapon cleaning for any future clan members that didn't know how to take a gun apart before coming here," Naruto said as he noticed the adults doing push ups.
"I'll bring it up in the next meeting," Bruce said, which with Bruce meant he approves but wants to see what the other leaders has to say.
Mike stood up after finishing his, Nancy's and Mary's weapons. "I'm going to help them," Mike said, heading to the closest table and joining Matt. Bruce nodded as he finished Danny's weapons. Walking over to Buffy, he checked her three weapons and each was spotless.
"Buffy, Danny has taught you very well," Bruce said.
"Don't forget you taught me too, Daddy," Buffy replied.
"You clean just like Danny does. The opposite of me, but thank you. Will you go help those that are having trouble?" Bruce asked her.
Buffy stood up in her chair, hugged Bruce, then headed to the groups. It unnerved several as the little blonde-headed girl grabbed their gun and took it apart, but they took any help they could. Bruce walked over to Naruto to find Debbie's was already spotless.
"Nice work, Naruto," Bruce said. "I take it you been secretly using shadow clones to practice working with guns?"
"Yep!" Naruto said. "David let me work on his guns when I was his roommate."
"Good. Why don't you go help the rest of the ninja squad then," Bruce said.
"Planning on it after I'm done with my pistol," Naruto said.
Bruce nodded as he walked over to Angela to help her.
"I can do this, Bruce," Angela said, not wanting help.
"Angela, I want to eat tonight so stand up please," Bruce told her. Angela stood up but she didn't like it.
Bruce sat down in her chair. "Sit on my lap," he told her. Not understanding, Angela sat down. "Put your hands on the back of mine," Bruce said.
"You can't see the gun, Bruce," Angela said.
"It doesn't matter, Little Foot," Bruce said as his hands move over the gun, taking it apart and cleaning it by touch. When Bruce was finished Angela got out of his lap.
"So that's how you do it so fast," Angela said and Bruce just nodded.
Bruce moved over to Stephanie. SHe had her M-4 broken down and was cleaning it. Bruce asked her to stand up and sit in his lap, but unlike Angela, Stephanie didn't learn anything new. She was just in a dream state sitting in Bruce's lap. When Bruce asked her to get up, she did so reluctantly and moving the first time, Bruce noticed that Stephanie took a long time to stop touching him. Needless to say this made Bruce a little nervous.
Bruce smiled at her, kissing her on the top of her head. Then Bruce grabbed Debbie's and Danny's weapons to take them to get inspected and get some plates for them.
"Millie! Bruce is heading to the line!" Naruto hollered.
Millie yelled across the Center, "Bruce, you come up here to this line and I'll get my wooden spoon." In midstride, Bruce spun around and headed back to the table, laying the weapons back down, glaring at Naruto who just finished putting his pistol back together and got up to help his friends.
Millie and Lynn brought plates over and sat them down.
"Stop go glarin' at Naruto like that. I don't need him to see what you were tryin' to do. You can't be pullin' one over on me that easy," Millie said. Bruce just looked down at the table, afraid to look at her in case she'd brought that d- spoon. Bruce started formulating a plan to steal the d- thing. And burn it. When Millie left, Bruce looked up to see everyone eating and the family heading back to the table.
Millie and Lynn were bringing more plates and glasses of tea. Wen they reached the table, Bruce asked MIllie, "Where are the little kids? They were in here earlier today?"
"Susan, Pam, and one of the older ladies moved 'em to the house this afternoon and continued school'n over there. I didn't think they needed to be here when you finally got this army in here," Millie told Bruce.
"That's good, Millie," Bruce said, missing the twins and PJ. He looked up at her. I want you to tell Jim to get the three stooges in here and clean this place top to bottom every night after supper. I want that to be put on the work list for them every day. When I come in the morning, I want to be able to eat off this concrete floor. You are to check them off every day and you will carry a radio from now on. If they don't do the job right, call me. Next if they eat any food that isn't for them, you're to break a broom handle over their head."
"Oh h- yeah!" Millie said, trotting toward the door. Reaching it, she threw it open and yelled, "Jim, gets in here now." Bruce was pretty certain they heard her in New York.
Bruce started eating and saw Debbie looking at him. "We don't have time to babysit them, and Millie does. I don't want them to think of any ideas."
"Compare to s- detail, they might welcome cleaning this place given time," Naruto told Bruce. "Well, B-boy and and Dumber might. I'm pretty sure Carla is at the stage where she can come back to humanity."
"I'm not talking to you right now," Bruce responded still mad about Naruto giving him away to Millie. But he did noted that Naruto didn't call Carla by B-. Although he's the only one who can give that permission Bruce trust Naruto's judgment. "I'll let Millie know to make sure Mitch and the trooper is punished."
Bruce yelled across the Center that when they were finished eating they were off duty. Roll call was at 0500 in the Center. WHen the family finished, they headed to the house. Naruto and Sai went to their assign room that was once part of the dining room as did Yamato, Konohamaru and Udon who all three share one room as Yamato being the guardian, Sakura and Temari shared another with Moegi. Although it was originally just meant for two in each room, Bruce had Paul set two rooms for three of the six each since Konohamaru Udon and Moegi were considered kids. Only reason Sai and Naruto didn't get a third roommate was as Naruto told them, not many people can stand Sai's lack of personality.
Bruce asked Stephanie and Angela to check on the kids and that he and Debbie would follow shortly. Bruce told them he wanted to make sure the stooges did not cause any problems. They nodded and left, both too worn out form the day to argue. When they walked out only Debbie and Bruce were left in the Center. Bruce looked at Debbie and said , "Okay, I think you're right. Stephanie's in love with me."
The shocked expression on Debbie's face would have been no different if Bruce would have told her he was really Elvis. When she regained the power of speech, she asked, "What finally made you see?"
"When I was showing her how to clean her gun fast. She wasn't paying attention and when I asked her to get up she did it real slow, like she just wanted to touch me," Bruce admitted, a little concern.
"Over four years and it took the end of the civilization for you to finally see that," Debbie said, laughing.
"I really don't think it's funny Debbie," Bruce told her.
"Yes it is baby, you're the only one here that hasn't seen it," Debbie replied, giggling.
"Well, what're we going to do about this?" Bruce asked.
Debbie stopped laughing when she saw a look of uncertainty, panic and a little fear on Bruce's face. Debbie reached and held Bruce's hand, asking, "What are you talking about 'do about this'?"
"Hello in there," Bruce said, looking at Debbie, "she's sleeping in our bed. Stephanie has even taken a shower with me and saw me naked."
Disbelief hit Debbie and she fell back in her chair, letting Bruce's hand go. "Modesty, from you?" Debbie said, not believing she was using modesty with Bruce in the same reference. Shaking her head to get her brain working again, she said, "Bruce, you walked around butt naked without giving it a second thought. H-, a few years ago at the nurses' convention in Las Vegas you stripped naked on the dance floor if memory serves me correctly."
"That was different. I was drunk and those women weren't in love with me," Bruce said, defending himself.
"Bruce you made over four hundred dollars stripping on a f- dance floor. There were over three hundred women there and ninety percent of them would have jumped your a- in a heartbeat. I told you I had to threaten to kill several people that night," Debbie told Bruce in a serious tone.
"Did that embarrassed you?" Bruce asked out of curiosity.
"Embarrassed me? I thought it was funny as h-. If you remember correctly, I was the first one yelling to take it off. You're mine. I don't mind showing you off. Especially since you don't have a shy bone in your body," Debbie said then continued. "The only time it has embarrassed me was when we came home to visit my parents that first year we were married. You come out of the hallway bathroom drying your head off, butt naked, meeting my mother in the hallway. I thought my mom was going to die on the spot."
"I told you I was sorry about that. I was still used to showering in the barracks," Bruce reminded Debbie.
"I know that, baby. So what's the problem here then?" Debbie asked.
"Stephanie loves me," Bruce said as if that explained it all.
"And?" Debbie asked, wanting more.
:There's no 'and'," Bruce replied, not understanding this void of reaction.
"So, you want to throw Stephanie out because she loves you?" Debbie specified.
"No, just get her to sleep somewhere else. Maybe Sakura will room with her. They seem to get along." Bruce said. "The kids have told us they are couples now; your plan worked."
"That will be a big NO!" Debbie snapped.
Startled, Bruce just looked at Debbie then said, "Debbie, this is really freaking me out. I'm telling you a woman who's sleeping in our bed loves me more than a friend and you aren't freaking out."
"Bruce, I have known since the first time I saw Stephanie she loved you. H-, everyone in this house knew it," Debbie said.
"Knowing that, how could you let her sleep in our bed?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, like what have I got to be scared of? Are you going to leave me for her?" Debbie asked, waving her hand in the air. Bruce tilted his head, looking at Debbie like she was stupid. Debbie asked, "Well?"
Bruce took a deep breath before replying, "Debbie, you really think I could leave you? I really don't think I could function without you."
Debbie smiled, grabbing Bruce's hand again, "I know that baby. Bruce, don't get mad when I say this. You love me so much you don't notice how other women act towards you. Girls do see that better than boys."
"No they don't. I've seen guys hitting on you since we've been together. You are so fine it's not funny," Bruce informed Debbie.
"Thank you, baby," Debbie said, smiling, then asked, "So what is the problem with Stephanie?"
"It just feels weird," Bruce admitted.
"Bruce, what if I told you Stephanie is happy just being near you. Stephanie may be thirty and smarter than everyone here put together but socially she's a teenager. I've talked to her and know her better than you do and her childhood sucked. Sure, her parents were rich, but she grew up alone and being as smart and pretty as she is didn't help. At the private schools she went to, Stephanie was ostracized because of that. So she lost herself in study. You, the 'mighty Bruce' were the first person to that treated her like a normal person, just to talk to her and be a friend. Not because she was pretty or smart, just because she was a person. Then you taught her stuff she didn't think girls were supposed to know like shooting guns, hunting, fishing and stuff." Bruce stared at Debbie as she continued, "I'm not going to lie, Bruce, the first time I saw her I wanted to get rid of her. I even told Stephanie that when she finally told me she was in love with you."
Bruce slid his chair back from the table. "She told you?"
"Yes, she told me. Then she said she was going to leave the farm, knowing she would die out there or worse." Debbie answered then continued. "She wanted me to know because she felt I would be mad at her. Stephanie almost died when I told her that I already knew. THat's when I told her if she tried to leave I would beat her a-."
"So you then told her she could sleep in our bed," Bruce asked, not believing what he was hearing.
"More or less," Debbie replied.
"Why was I not informed?" Bruce asked, feeling like a pawn on a chess board.
"Well to be honest. I reckoned you'd never figure out that Stephanie was in love with you," Debbie said.
"Thanks," Bruce replied dryly.
"Baby, I didn't mean to be ugly. Stephanie is just happy being close to you," Debbie replied.
Bruce looked at Debbie with a flat expression. "What if she wants sex?"
"It takes two to tangle," Debbie said.
"Exactly, and this tango boy already has has a partner," Bruce replied in a sassy voice.
Debbie laughed. "Bruce you are one of the few men who believe in monogamy. But I do remember a time when you asked me something."
"We aren't talking about that time. I got popped, remember. And b-, Mike does also," Bruce shot off.
"He does now. MIke had an affair the second year they were married," Debbie told Bruce. He just looked at Debbie in abject horror.
"He never told me. I'm going to kick a-. How could he do that to Nancy?" Bruce said, standing up.
"Well, she was having one at the same time. Mike told her and Nancy told him. They put it behind them and moved on," Debbie said, grabbing Bruce's arm and pulling him back to his chair.
Bruce just shook his head as Debbie brought him back to topic. "Back to Stephanie. That first night you had your arm around her in your sleep when she woke up. Stephanie told me she had dreamed about that for years and I could see it made her happy. Bruce, I have your heart so I'm not worried; why are you? SHe just wants to be a part of both our lives. I thought Stephanie would find someone like you, but then this virus screwed that up. Unless you have a twin, you are the only way Stephanie can have a little happiness. I'm willing to share a little bit of you with her. Can't you?"
Bruce narrowed his eyes, looking at Debbie. "Who are you and where is my wife?"
Debbie laughed, answering. "Right here." Then she became serious, "Bruce, I'm going to tell you something. Right before Stephanie left for Atlanta she had a one-night stand with some a- she met at a bar. Stephanie did it just to see if it would make her forget about you; which it didn't."
"So?" Bruce said.
"Bruce, that was her first and only time to have sex," Debbie replied.
Bruce jumped back out of his chair. "Holy s-!"
"Exactly baby, so can't we give her a little bit of happiness?" Debbie said with a pleading look.
"So all along you were doing this because you felt sorry for her and not so the kids would tell us?" Bruce asked.
"Kind of, but I have other reasons," Debbie replied.
"Well what are they?" Bruce asked.
Debbie dropped the smile off her face. "My reasons," she replied in a flat voice.
Bruce held up his hands in surrender upon seeing the wrath of Debbie near. "Okay."
Debbie apologized, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry baby, but I think you can only handle so much at one time. I will tell you the other reasons some other time. Okay?" Inside Debbie was smiling.
Bruce sat back down. "I can live with that because I'm now in sensory overload."
"That's okay baby, I will always be with you," Debbie said, patting his hand.
Bruce looked at Debbie, asking, "Is Angela in love with me too?"
Smiling, Debbie replied. "Not yet." Bruce just wanted to run and hide. Seeing Bruce's reaction, she continued. "Bruce, Angela has always loved you as a friend, but losing Alex has made her scared. When Angela found out Alex was gone, she grabbed Cade and ran to our room. There was no one there, Bruce. SHe went there because she felt with her baby there, in our room. She knows we'll protect her and Cade at all costs. I never asked her to stay, but be d- if anyone is asking her to leave."
"Well, let's see if we can slowly get her in the barracks and maybe find someone to fix her up with before it happens," Bruce offered.
Debbie stood up with a p- off expression. "Bruce, I'm going to act like you never said that. She's accepting the loss and hasn't cried herself to sleep in days. Granted, Naruto had help in that by talking to Cade for her, but I think Naruto already has interest in someone else, so no we can't hook her up with him even if they were closer in age. Angela will leave when she wants to. If she asks you to strip and run barking at the moon, then I better see a white a- running around in the dark and hear you barking. If you hurt either of those girls' feelings, let's just say you will see my wrath and it won't be pretty."
Bruce lowered his head in defeat. "Okay, whatever you say, baby."
Debbie walked over to Bruce and rubbed his shaved head. "Thank you baby. Does it really bother you that much?"
"It's weird, but no, it doesn't bother me that much. It's just with those other women in the bed I can't get lovin," Bruce told her.
Debbie lifted his face up to look at her. "Bruce, you've brought four kids into this family, three of which are still in our bed."
"Yeah, but I could lock them in the closet. That's kind of hard with Angela and Stephanie, they know how to open a door," Bruce replied.
"Come on, stud muffin, let's get some sleep," Debbie said turning to get her wet clothes off the floor.
Bruce grabbed her, pulling her in his lap. "We're alone now."
Debbie kissed Bruce then told him, "Bruce, how can you think about sex now? I'm freezing."
"Three things first. I always think about getting some lovin' from you. Second, you're in bra and panties now. Third, I know you're cold," Bruce said, looking at Debbie's chest.
Debbie playfully slapped his arm and kissed him saying, "Bad boy," as she got out of his lap. Turning around, she said, "Bruce, I have mud in the crack of my a- because you wanted to go G.I. Joe today. I'm filthy."
Angela, Stephanie, the twins, PJ and Cade were all asleep in the bed. Debbie and Bruce laid their wet clothes on the floor and headed to the bathroom. They jumped in the shower, washing the day away. As they were drying off, Debbie grabbed Bruce and pulled him down to kiss him. Finally Bruce got him some lovin'.
Meanwhile Naruto was lying in the top bunk of his and Sai's room. He don't know why Sai wanted a bunk bed in the room when Paul said he could separate the bunk bed into separate beds for them, but Sai insisted he read somewhere that one important thing about roommates was learning how to share space and he thought since bunk beds share one area of a room it would help. Naruto didn't even know how they were going to settle the top bunk issue, but Sai insisted Naruto have the top bunk since it was Naruto's idea for the two to be roommates.
The room walls were bare compare to David's room minus the abstract art drawing version of Bruce and Mike wrestling, but Naruto got a feeling it won't take long for Sai to fill it with other art work. Naruto didn't mind as that was something about Sai he did like. Sai was a talented artist like Kuroda. Heck, even Kuroda praised Sai's work. For now though that lone drawing be it for now. Naruto soon fall into peaceful sleep, unaware that he would be seeing more of his friends and there will be more paintings involving all of them in this blue infested apocalyptic world.