Chapter 52: Light of the Fireflies Arc - Up the Tree of Truth

I DID IT. I. FINALLY. FREAKING. DID. IT.

Goodbye, 8th grade! Hello, freshman year!

I finally graduated from middle school! Goodness...and I still feel quite young, as in sixth grade young... XD

The only bad thing was that during my promotion ceremony, I accidentally went the wrong way when we left our seats because I wanted to chase the confetti and collect as much as possible. Idiotic it may sound, but hey, I can't resist those things. X3

Now I can finally rest and get back to writing fanfiction and roleplaying as usual...the reason why I haven't posted much on here was due to how exhausted preparation for promotion was. I didn't even expect it to come this fast, so my mind is still slightly dizzy.

Plus, I've been obsessed with Hetalia quite recently. I mean, I binged every single episode within the course of a week, and even bought some parts were probably not appropriate for my age, it was flipping hilarious! Now, you may get a few references...no, I don't mean the "vital regions" one...

Anyway, let's continue! Here is Naoki's long-awaited chapter...yeah, he needed some personality, so there we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Save for the OCs and storyline, of course.


Naoki's POV

I immediately slammed the door to my sister's room shut as soon as I had seen it happen.

No way, my mind breathed as I sprinted as far away as I could from there. What...what did I just see? Did he really just...no, he couldn't have.

Sprinting down the stairs, my heart raced as my feet pounded against the ground, almost as if my very emotions were fueling me at that very moment. A scowl of surprise and anger spread across my face, though I was slightly glad that nobody noticed me when I came downstairs.

Actually, scratch that. My brother did a double take and stared at me curiously, his gaze clouded with worry.

"Nii-chan?" he asked, approaching me slowly. "What happened? Did one of your favorite characters die again?"

I shook my head, hiding my clenched fist from his sight. Silently, I thanked the heavens that it was Yukio instead of Kagami that I was talking to, since I got along better with him. Both of us loved watching stuff on the television, though Yukio was only into simple things such as Star Wars, Fairy Tail, and occasionally Naruto. However, unlike me, he was not on Shippuden, so he only knew up to the point where Sasuke had left the village.

His favorite character was definitely Naruto, by far. However, I admired Sasuke and Itachi instead, since I found Naruto to be a little annoying at times. In addition, I was interested in the Sharingan and the Uchiha Clan altogether, but even though Itachi had been living at my house for a while, I had decided against talking to him. The man had killed his clan against his own will, but according to Nagato, they had not started capturing the tailed beasts at all.

And for that, I had decided to keep away for the time being. However, that did not stop me from being concerned about the other members, specifically Deidara.

During the badminton game, just before the gold necklace had been smashed, Kagami had whispered in my ear for me to back or and let my sister and Deidara take center stage. And although I was interested in witnessing my sister give the cocky bomber a beating, it had been at that particular moment that I had realized it.

I didn't know if it was the way they challenged each other with verbal insults or seemed to move in sync, but it was too obvious that Deidara and Kaiya liked each other. And did that make me happy? Heck no.

Sure, I had not cried as much when my parents had been killed in the accident. I still had cried, but sometimes, I was unsure if I was shedding more tears for my parents or my older sister...my one and only older sister.

Kaiya had always meant the world to me, and I did not mean it in a weird way. She was my sister after all, but even though I had always been paranoid that she would end up becoming one of those argumentative older siblings that taunted their juniors, she had never ended up like that. No matter what happened, she had always been kind and caring to me, and always convinced me to follow my wishes and dreams.

Plus, she was one of the smartest people that I had ever known. She could do almost anything...not perfectly, but she had proved many times that if she had the motivation to do something, then she could do just that. I had lived by her lectures for the longest time, and seeing her smile usually brought a smile to my face. In other words, she was like my version of Kagami, before my little sister had come. The light of my life.

That wasn't the only reason why I loved Kaiya. I could name a whole lot more, but those were kind of the nitty-gritty. Anyway, back to my conversation with my little brother, which I had known from the start wasn't going to go well.

Because I knew well that Yukio supported the idea of my sister and Deidara as a potential couple. And I didn't.

"No," I confirmed. "I wasn't watching a show, otouto. But still...I saw something that...probably just didn't happen...ugh…"

Before I could respond, Yukio was already at my side, trying to hold me up as if I was an unstable monument that was about to topple. "Speak slowly, nii-chan! Can you tell me what you thought you saw?"

And since I didn't want to lie, I didn't hesitate in telling him the truth.

"Deidara...kissed...onee-chan—"

"Really?" he exclaimed so loudly that I had to slap my hand over his mouth to avoid attracting unwanted attention. "That's awesome, isn't it? I can't believe that I wasn't up there to see that! You're so lucky, nii-chan!"

I shook my head in disgust, though I had expected this reaction to come from my little brother. "No, Yukio-chan. It isn't awesome, or anywhere near that. Be glad that you weren't up there with me."

Yukio shot me a confused glance. "Why not? Have you still not caught onto the fact that Deidara and Kaiya like each other, but are too immature or something to admit it? Practically everybody that lives underneath this entire roof is aware of it, save for them!"

My eyes narrowed at him angrily. "Onee-chan is not immature. She's the most mature out of everybody here, including me and Itachi."

"We're all entitled to our own opinions," snarked Yukio. "Didn't onee-chan say that at one point? But anyway, tell me what in the name of Alfalfa happened up there! Please! Why did he kiss her?"

"It wasn't a kiss on the lips," I corrected him, then sighed when I saw his face fall in disappointment. "But still, a kiss on the cheek is just as nasty, especially if it was done without her knowing. I don't know why he did that, though. I think that he was simply nuts."

"What's so bad about it?" questioned Yukio curiously. "It's not like she'll even know unless one of us tells her about it, which I surely won't. But if you think about it, Deidara must care a lot for onee-chan if he did something like that without getting drunk. Do you have a problem with that or something, nii-chan?"

I nodded, sighing about how Yukio had already taken Deidara's side. "Look, I thought the Akatsuki were pretty cool when I first started watching Naruto: Shippuden. But that was when they were merely fictional characters causing chaos on a television screen. Originally, when we found out that our kittens were indeed the Akatsuki, I was somewhat excited before remembering that they were dangerous S-rank criminals. Now, I don't feel comfortable around them at all, which is why I've barely spoken to them."

"So what's wrong with Deidara?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Is it because he blows stuff up?"

"Sort of," I mumbled, "but he hasn't blown anything up in a long time, thank Kami. It's more about how stupid he actually is when it comes to social stuff and communication, though he is more perceptive in battle. But truthfully, he's even cockier and argumentative than the show depicts him to be."

Yukio seemed to receive the message. "Well, I guess you're kind of right, if you put it that way. But that's something that he can't help, no? His personality is just set that way by default, based on how he loves explosives and everything awesome! Come on, why wouldn't he have such an explosive personality like that, nii-chan?"

"True," I deadpanned. "However, I feel like it's deeply affected onee-chan's attitude ever since they became friends...if there isn't anything more than that. She used to be so cheerful, polite, and kind, even after the car accident. Kaiya-chan was always trying her best to stay positive and keep everybody around her positive as well, wasn't she? Now look at her! She argues with that guy on a daily basis over the most childish things!"

My brother still didn't seem convinced after that, shrugging it off. "So? Everybody argues. And remember that time at the mall where onee-chan threatened to castrate him? You defended Deidara then, so why aren't you on his side right now?"

"I was never on his side," I grumbled. "Her threat just terrified me and took me by surprise, since it had been a while since I had heard her snap like that or give a threat of physical harm. Plus, he wasn't in love with her back then at all...I was convinced that he wouldn't even think that way after that incident."

"Geez…" he retorted, "you should really stop being against Deidara's relationship with onee-chan! Do you really think that he could help those feelings that came to him on their own? Same goes for her, who must be conflicted after thinking about who her heart beats for: Daichi or Deidara! Why don't you go think about that, instead of complaining about it?"

"How would you understand what's going on?" I hissed, beginning to walk the other way. "People don't just change like that in a flash! Realistically, an S-rank criminal would never become soft at all! What if he is actually trying to play around with her feelings or something? What if he hurts onee-chan even more? Have you ever even read romance novels or fallen in love?"

"Neither have you!" he argued back. "I may have never fallen in love, being only eleven and a half years old, but Kagami-chan and Kisame taught me about the wonders of romance novels! And even though it's a little confusing, I do know one thing about romance: it involves taking the feelings of both sides into consideration, not just your own! How do you think Deidara and onee-chan are feeling right now? Sure, you may be fourteen and older than me, but try to understand other people a little bit better than that!"

And with that, he stormed off towards Kisame, who he immediately began a conversation with. Deciding that it was probably going to be about my sister and Deidara's relationship again, I refused to stick around to hear it and ran up the stairs.

Maybe Yukio has a point, my mind nagged me, but I quickly denied it. No matter what, I was determined to keep my older sister happy, in a way of gratitude for taking care of me for all fourteen years of my life, through the good times and the bad.

I still remembered the day when she had taught me how to walk when I was still a baby, though the memory of it was very faint, like all childhood memories. But the way she had taught me had remained clear in my mind like diamonds, and it was definitely the moment I had first viewed my sister as my great guardian.

Okay, maybe it wasn't normal for a baby boy to learn how to walk using water bottles instead of having their parents hold their hands. Actually, they had tried it once, but it hadn't gone so well, since my feet had been quite unsteady.

However, even though my sister had been five years old at the time, she had known how to remember past methods. Later on, she told me that using water bottles as walking sticks as what our parents had tried before.

The water bottle method was not a popular trick in the nonexistent book, but it was a pretty sharp tool. It was almost exactly what I had already mentioned before: using two empty bottles as extra legs in order to steadily hoist myself up. At first, it had been rather frustrating because the bottles would sometimes get crushed, but over time, I had become a real expert at using them. Eventually, when my sister removed them from my arsenal, I was upright and walking like a normal kid.

Alright, I had still crawled from time to time. But that wasn't the point.

Kaiya was pretty much my savior in a way that wasn't weird. And long ago, I had decided that the only way to repay her for taking care of me and teaching me all of the bare basics in life was to ensure that she stayed happy and positive.

Around her original crush, Daichi Himura, that could happen easily. But with a criminal from a different world who was portrayed as a playboy in certain fanfictions that I may or may not have had the misfortune to stumble upon online? No way!

Okay, maybe it was a little out of the ordinary for boys like me to be into that stuff. Not anime and manga, as a lot of boys my age liked those, but forum and fanon things, like that. Not as many male otakus seemed to exist as those that were female, but there was nothing wrong with me being one, as far as I was concerned.

The only thing was that I was simply afraid of showing off my interests to others my age because I wasn't sure of what they would think. That was the common reason why I preferred to be antisocial and grumpy all the time: because that was just me. And Kaiya had taught me to be open and honest all the time, like my parents had hoped for me to be. They didn't want to force me to be that way all of the time, but I had still ended up like that.

Perhaps it was a thing for members of my family to live how their name suggested them to. Kaiya always forgave those that angered her, even if it took a long time, just like the meaning of her name. Yukio had always been a really happy child, even before he developed a liking for the ideology of teenage delinquency. Kagami's was already too obvious: how she was able to reflect feelings from herself to others and vice versa, like a mirror.

Lastly, there was me, the bluntly honest and introverted boy. Naoki, the tree of truth.

I had never truly understood which part of my personality represented the "tree" aspect of my name, since my family could have easily named me something that simply meant "truth", like Naoyuki or anything that had the word Nao in it. Perhaps they had been looking at a tree when they had been deciding on my name?

Only problem? I had never been too fond of the outdoors, let alone trees. The only things that anybody could say that I was fond of were anime, manga, video games, and the television. Basically, stuff that a teenager would like.

Heading up the stairs and making sure to steer clear of my sister's room for the time being, I headed straight to my room, which happened to be right next to hers. Okay, so maybe I couldn't truly steer clear of it, but I backed myself against the wall behind it and tiptoed silently across before rushing inside my room and slamming the door.

Thank Kami that my room was empty and Akatsuki-free at the moment, otherwise I would have been very ticked off and annoyed.

Yawning slightly, remembering that the night had already fallen a while ago, I reached for the remote on my bed, preparing to turn on a good old show of Fairy Tail. Suddenly, my hand froze, then slowly reached for the object that laid beside it: my phone.

Oddly enough, even though I had wanted it, I had barely used it. Maybe it was because I had barely anybody to call, along with the fact that I preferred to use the television or chat with my family. The only other person whose contact I had besides my sister was my only friend at school, Hideki Himura. Hey, I wanted to choose my friends carefully, and since his brother was — or perhaps had been — best friends with my sister, I never truly minded. Besides, we both were otakus, and he was the only other male otaku that I knew. Although Kaiya had assumed that it was only natural for me to get along with the brother of her best friend, I had been rather reluctant at first.

But strangely enough, Hideki and I shared a lot of the same interests, even though we didn't talk anywhere other than school or the occasional playdate or phone call. He accepted me for who I was, and for that, I respected him, even though he was a little bit younger than me.

Remembering that nobody was in the room, I quickly reached underneath my bed to grab the thing that I had hidden under there for five months in fear that one of the Akatsuki members would find it. Feeling my fingers curl around something soft, I fished it out immediately, letting it land on the bed with a plop.

"So you're still here," I mumbled to absolutely nobody as I let the plush doll sit up straight by adjusting its position. "At least you didn't come out of the screen, you infamous duck-hat."

Yes, it was a Sasuke doll that I had secretly won at an anime convention that I somehow had the nerve to attend. It hadn't been the best experience, trying to perform an impersonation of all twelve of the Konoha Squad members, excluding Sai, while a ton of surprised girls had been watching me. I had probably been like, Hey ladies, have you never seen a male otaku before?

Maybe that was why I didn't like female otakus at all: because they had always seemed extremely obsessed with any male character that looked the least bit adorable or beautiful and the idea of yaoi, or two male anime characters being involved in romantic relationships with each other.

I wasn't homophobic or anything, but it completely creeped me out. Especially because I was a boy, and sometimes, the anime boys that they talked about were my age, too. Hideki did not mind yaoi as much, but that was since he was an avid fan of a show called Hetalia. I had only started watching it a year ago, but he had already rewatched the show over seventy times in the last two years.

So...yeah. I didn't get picked on for liking that stuff except at anime conventions, where some girls would taunt me for being a male otaku. But other than that, I had always been afraid to tell anybody about why I was so antisocial and grumpy all of the time, since I wasn't sure how they were going to react.

Anyway, I quickly clicked my phone on, then dialed Hideki's number as fast as I could, almost like a dance pad from DDR. No, I did not like DDR itself, mainly because I couldn't dance, but I did like the music. Once again, so what?

As soon as I had hit the call button, I placed my phone against my ear and frantically waited for him to pick up...big mistake. Even though we had known each other since kindergarten, I had already forgotten how loud the boy was, especially after he had received anime fuel.

"Oi, oi, Bruder!" he answered in a horrible German accent. "Wie geht's?"

"Gut, danke," I responded, trying to recall how to say, Good, thank you in German. "Yeah, I'm doing well, but there's no need to refer to me as your brother...or speak like Doitsu!"

"You can just call him Ludwig or Germany," he laughed on the other line. "So, what's up? Have you finally finished watching Hetalia?"

I shook my head, even though I knew that he couldn't see me at all. Ever since he had first watched the show, he had been completely obsessed with it and could spout quotes from almost every single character, even the minor ones. Unless he was impersonating Japan, he didn't use proper honorifics anymore. "Not yet, but I'm on the fourth season. Anyway, is your brother home? I need to speak to him about...private matters."

Luckily, he seemed to take it well. "Yes, I'll get him for you, but make sure to finish Hetalia at least once before the school year ends! Oi, fratello! You've-a got a call!"

Great, I thought, snickering to myself. He's moved onto Feliciano Vargas, the star of the show. Let's just hope that his brother doesn't start acting like Lovino next...but then again, I can't imagine him eating tomatoes and performing rapid-fire cursing...

But of course, I enjoyed hearing him speak in that fashion. It told me that he was still an avid otaku that I could speak with anytime I felt the need to vent out my feelings about a certain character.

I heard the phone switch hands, and ten seconds later, Daichi's polite voice came through the line.

"Hey there, Naoki-san!" he greeted, using proper honorifics in stark contrast to his younger brother. "Did you need help with something? How's Kaiya-chan been doing?"

"She's been doing well," I half-lied, pleased that he had asked that. "And don't worry, if you need to tell me something about her, she's been asleep for over an hour, so she won't hear. I guess you could say that I need help with something."

"Good," he answered, "because...well, there's something that I want to tell you that she doesn't need to hear...yet."

My eyes instantly lit up at that statement, sensing what he was insinuating. "Go ahead and tell me. I won't tell a soul, not even onee-chan."

But then again, my mind rebuked me, I'm a terrible secret keeper. Unless this is what I think it is…

He took a deep breath, before whispering it through the phone and into my ear.

"For a while," he began, sounding somewhat bashful, "I've...liked Kaiya-chan."

I could have squealed right there like the otaku I was, even though this wasn't an anime. But even though I wasn't a big fan of ships and pairings, I definitely liked the idea of Daichi and my older sister liking each other.

"Cool," I said calmly, regaining my senses. "What are you going to do, then?"

"Listen," he begged, and I could have sworn that I heard him stammer slightly on the line. "A while ago, I asked Kaiya-chan if we could go on a picnic or walk in the park together, just like the old times. Although I wasn't lying about it being like old times, it's not really supposed to be as friends. It's supposed to be a date, but please don't tell her that."

I could feel my smile widening at that very moment. "I won't, because that's for you to do. However, I am already aware about your conversation in the library, since onee-chan informed me about what you discussed that day. Actually, that was the reason why I called you in the first place: to set something like that up with you."

"Wait, what?" he stammered. "W-why would you do something like that? I've thought of you and Yukio-san as protective older brothers for a while…"

"That's true," I said with a grimace as I thought of the boy who had almost tried to steal my sister's first kiss a while ago. "But I think that you're reliable enough for onee-chan, so you have my permission. Other than us, you're one of the only people who cared for and supported her after...you-know-what happened last year."

Of course, it was a very tough subject to speak of or even think about. Immediately after mentioning it, I felt the atmosphere around me darken slightly.

"Thank you," Daichi responded about a minute later, after our conversation had been blanketed in silence. "So, when do you think is a good day?"

"What about Sunday the 14th?" I suggested, calculating the dates in my head. "I believe that it's a three-day weekend for us, and the weather should be quite fair as well. Plus, Kagami-chan should be out of the hospital by then."

"What do you mean?" he panicked, and I mentally facepalmed as I realized that we had never had the chance to inform Daichi about what had happened the day before. "Kagami-chan was hospitalized? What happened?"

"She rode her bicycle off of a small cliff because she was going so fast," I half-lied again, making sure that I left the details about her running away out, "and broke one arm and one leg. I don't remember which ones she broke, but I had to carry her to the hospital and—" I trailed off, realizing how hard it was to say the rest. Daichi, too, had heard enough.

"Oh my Lord!" he cried, no longer stammering. "Is she alright now?"

I nodded. "The doctors are treating her carefully, so she'll be fine. Right now, we're planning a homecoming party, or a belated birthday party for when she's released."

Daichi let out a sigh. "Thank goodness. But then...is Kaiya-chan is feeling alright? For another family member to get sent to the emergency room...did it traumatize her?"

"Onee-chan handled it well," I answered truthfully. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about, since she's all good."

He let out another sigh of relief. "I see. So, Sunday the 14th?"

"Perfect," I answered, a grin spreading on my face.

"And it'll be a picnic and stroll in the park, until the sun sets, and maybe a movie somewhere in between?"

"Sounds good."

"If I um...confess, then you're fine with it, right?"

"Completely."

"You know," he laughed, "this almost sounds like we're plotting a crime. You know, how we're casually planning every little detail of the picnic like this? It reminds me a lot of the detective movies that Kaiya-chan and I always used to watch together."

I forced myself to chuckle along. "Then invite her to see a detective movie, then. Ever since we've adopted Kagami, she hasn't really seen one, unless Star Wars counts. I think that she'll love it, since she's always been quite fond of nostalgic things."

"Thanks!" he responded, and I heard him write it down on something through the line. "Well, I'll be sure to tell her when we see each other in school in a couple of days. Good night, Naoki-san!"

"Good night, Daichi," I said, preparing to hang up. "Tell Hideki that I said so as well, and to always be a faithful otaku."

After all, the only people that I had ever really trusted with my secret obsession were my family and Daichi's. Well, I wouldn't say that it was an obsession, but it was somewhere near that. Let's just say that it was large enough for me to have a Sasuke doll sitting on the edge of my bed.

Placing the phone back on the desk, I flopped onto my bed and yawned lazily. Although I had originally planned to watch some drama or a movie before bedtime, I allowed sleep to defeat me for once, remembering that school was quickly approaching.

Then, remembering the Akatsuki's presence in my house, I quickly shoved the Sasuke doll back underneath my bed in fear that Deidara would catch me. I wasn't too concerned about Sasori finding it, but that just meant that I just wasn't as concerned. Deidara, on the other hand…

Nah, I thought, pulling the covers over me, don't think about it. If you think about it too hard, then it'll be blasting out of your mouth, next thing that you know. He doesn't need to know what happens to him…

Let me explain: I knew what would happen to Deidara after he had engaged in a fight with Sasuke. Needless to say, it did not end well...for the former, at least. But that was pretty much all that I had read up to before the anime and manga had suddenly gone on hiatus.

Emptying the thought out of my head, I let my head fall against my pillow. I sighed blissfully, the feeling quite reminiscent to falling against a field of flowers.

Don't ask me why I had even compared it to such a thing. Perhaps I just had an affinity to nature, due to my name...not that I really interacted with it all of the time. I very much preferred the indoors, for obvious reasons.

That aside, I let drowsiness take me, and slowly but surely, I found myself eventually sinking into oblivion.

The next morning, I woke up normally, oddly enough. But then again, I had grown used to Kagami or Tobi pouncing on me and rudely waking me up nearly every day, so waking up normally was quite a strange feeling, to be honest.

I sighed softly, an image of my little sister's laughter flashing through my mind. It was almost like a mini movie of some sort, but made with real memories instead of animated scenes. Even though it had only been a week since then, the house, as I had found, was rather silent without the Hyperactive Duo around and causing mischief. Hidan still swore, though it wasn't as much. Most of the time, it was either towards Kakuzu or my little brother. Yukio didn't retaliate physically as often as he used to, but if the Jashinist drove him to the edge, then he would still kick him there. Yeah, let's leave it at that.

Stretching, I heaved myself off of the bed, deciding to go and check on Kaiya first. Stepping carefully and quietly around Sasori and Deidara — even though I knew the former was awake — I padded out of the room, tiptoeing towards the room next to mine. Swiftly, I opened the door, curious if she was already up.

Sure enough, there she was, sitting on her bed and brushing her hair. Konan and Nagato were still asleep, though Konan stirred a little. I shot the blue-haired lady a long look before turning my attention to Kaiya. To my surprise, my sister spoke first.

"Naoki-chan," she began, a serious tone in her voice, "I've made my decision."

"About what?" I responded, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

She set down her brush, tucking her stray hair strands behind her ears as she gave me a solemn look. "I'm going to start applying for jobs."

I blinked. "Say what?"

"I said, I'm going to start applying for jobs," she repeated, sighing heavily. "Look, I don't want to do it either, but after paying the price for the airfare to the Charcoal Mountains, I realized that we're going to run low on money if none of us start working. Although we don't have many bills, we used to rely on our parents for paying them. I've had to pay them every month, and now that they are no longer with us, we have to do something."

"That's terrible, onee-chan!" I exclaimed, horrified at the thought of losing our house. "What are you planning on applying for?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think I'm old enough to apply for any major jobs yet, and if I did, it might take to long for them to even read my application and get to the job interview. My only option right now is to stick to part-time jobs or volunteer work. There's a restaurant chain nearby that I plan on applying for, and if you guys want, you can help me work there as well."

"Maybe," I mumbled, already getting pictures of myself being subjected to cleaning the dishes. "It depends on what company you apply for, though. I don't want to work for a company that plans on tormenting or overworking us."

"Don't worry," she smiled, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I think you'll like the one that I picked out first, since it has a decent salary and kind staff members. Plus, anybody can volunteer there, as long as they are willing to commit a couple of hours every now and then. However, volunteers don't get paid as much as the waiters and waitresses do. I may not do well on the first day if I get in, but being a waitress simply relies on memory, time management, and tone. You're just old enough to be one, if you want."

"They accept workers that are fourteen?" I gasped, then suddenly realized which one she was talking about. "Wait, are you talking about Hoshi no Sushi?"

She nodded. "Although you may be slightly forgetful when it comes to schoolwork, I know that you have a sharp memory. I've seen you study entire quotes from Star Wars and all of the other shows that you watch, so I believe that you can do it if you want to."

"Are you sure?" I asked, doubt laced in my voice. "I mean, how long are you planning to look? And what are you going to do with the Akatsuki? They'll throw the house into chaos!"

"I think that they'll be fine at home," Kaiya answered, though she did not sound completely sure. "They've been doing that for months now, so unless somebody hands them a weapon, everything should be alright. Plus, by the time I start working, Kagami and Tobi should be out of the hospital. I'm pretty sure that they'll have to spend more time controlling those two than causing other problems."

I chuckled, and so did she, to my relief. Even if it sounded quite silly, I had always loved hearing my sister and family laugh. Okay, maybe I complained about this kind of stuff a couple of times, but if it meant that my older sister could let out a bout of mirth, then I was somewhat fine with it.

"Anyway," she continued, "you should prepare for school tomorrow. I don't want to go back either, but it's for only five more months, alright? I believe in you, otouto. You can do this.

A smile spread across my lips as I looked at her. "Thank you, onee-chan."

Suddenly, her smile faded, replaced by a concerned expression. "Um...Naoki-chan, just to make sure, did you get any homework over the break? I didn't get any, but knowing your Algebra teacher, she probably pulled something on you…"

It took me about five seconds for my brain to register what she had just told me. By then, my eyes had already widened, slowly recalling the memory of my Algebra teacher's words as she wrote down the name of an assignment on exponential functions on the board…

"Nooooooooooo!"


A/N: I hope I did alright on personality buildup for Naoki. I've always meant for him to be the only otaku in the family, but not a major one either. Still, I've met some male otakus recently, so I thought that Naoki would represent them a little bit. Plus, I didn't want him to be a flat character anymore.

I, however, did not exactly intend for him to hate Deidara and Kaiya's relationship. It just came to mind, since it just didn't seem realistic if the relationship went without any enemies or threats...to me, at least. Also, if you want to know the meanings behind my OCs' names, then I have it on my profile. Feel free to view it, or simply search up the meanings online. I'll just say, however, that Naoki can mean both "tree of truth" and "straight tree".

And yes, before you're wondering, all four of the siblings are straight. I don't intend on bringing Team Taka/Hebi in until maybe the sequel, so the Sasuke doll was not foreshadowing anything. Naoki simply admires Sasuke, like Yukio how admires teenagers.

Question: Now that I have introduced their personalities a bit better to you guys, who is your favorite Hoshiyume sibling? And if you can, I would love for you to tell me why.

Thank you all for reading. It means more to me than you can ever imagine. And if you really enjoyed reading this, please leave a review to let me know. Bye-bye!

— Tenshi —