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Drifting Off in Thoughts of You

Chapter Twelve- Family Reunion

The sun rose quickly as Natsumi turned the doorknob.

"Natsumi?" A quiet voice called out from behind her. Natsumi turned around and smiled meekly.

"Okaa-San… Did I wake you?"

Arisu shook her head and looked at her curiously.

"Where are you going?"

Natsumi smiled and took out a kunai knife from a small pouch wrapped around her thigh. She twirled it between her fingers as her smile grew.

"To train," she said quickly.

"To train…?"

Natsumi held the kunai knife tightly and clenched her fingers so they wrapped around it. She held her fist out to her mother and grinned.

"Nee-Chan's not the only one who's going to protect her loved ones."

Arisu smiled and nodded. Natsumi walked out the door happily and closed it behind her. Arisu looked up at the ceiling.

"I wish you could see how our daughters have grown up…"

She shook her head and walked into the kitchen, preparing her breakfast.

"Old Man, we're almost there!" Kiyoshi said happily as he skipped forward.

Hiroshi looked at him as if he was one of the stupidest people from Konoha.

"Kiyoshi… Normally children would call their father 'O-tou-San,' but you…"

"Nah, Old Man sounds much better!" he said, grinning at Hiroshi. Hiroshi sighed.

"This is all because of that Naruto-Kun, isn't it…?"

Kiyoshi continued to grin.

"Hey- you love him as much as I do! He's your buddy too," Kiyoshi replied. Hiroshi sighed again.

"Who wouldn't love that crazy boy?" he said, defeated.

-Memory-

Kiyoshi stood up shakily, glaring at the ground.

"Kiyoshi… still training?"

Kiyoshi looked at Naruto dumbly.

"Shut up!"

After a moment of silence, Naruto and Kiyoshi burst out laughing. Sasuke crossed his arms and shook his head, watching the two laugh. Kiyoshi walked over to Sasuke and messed up his hair.

"Sweet, Sasuke-Chan…How are you?"

Sasuke growled and glared at Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi grinned and ran away, waving to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Cheer up, princess Sasuke! Later, Naruto!"

-End Memory-

Kiyoshi chuckled and slapped his father on the back. Hiroshi fell forward and growled quietly.

"Let's go, Old Man! Hurry it up!" He said, skipping away from his father. Hiroshi sighed yet again and followed after Kiyoshi.

'He's twenty-three…yet he acts as if he's three…What a strange boy…'

Natsumi wiped the sweat off her forehead and smiled.

"Well, that felt great! Now, two hundred push-ups!" She said with determination, before getting onto the ground.

"One…Two…Three…"

Ai sat up and looked around the room. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before getting out of bed.

"Temari-Chan…?" she called, as she walked out of the room.

"In here!"

Ai walked into the kitchen to see Temari eating at the table.

"No missions today, Temari-Chan?"

"Nope, I finally get a break."

Ai smiled and nodded as she helped herself to some breakfast.

Kiyoshi came to a halt and stretched. His father walked up to him, holding his bag tightly while smiling.

"Welcome home, Son…"

Kiyoshi grinned as his father messed up his hair.

"First stop… To see my sweet love…"

Kiyoshi looked up at his father curiously.

"Old man…"

"You know the truth… They don't…" Hiroshi replied, still smiling.

Kiyoshi nodded and smiled as they continued walking.

Natsumi grinned and walked inside.

"Okaa-San-!"

"Eat something, Natsumi… You've been training all morning…"

Natsumi continued grinning and nodded as she sat down at the table.

'That's the best I've ever felt…'

Natsumi and Arisu raised their heads as they heard knocking on the door. Natsumi stood up quickly.

"I'll get it, Okaa-San, you can finish eating," she said as she walked to the door.

Natsumi turned the doorknob and raised her eyebrow to see two men grinning at her. Her eyes ran over their blood red hair and grinning faces.

"Okaa-San… Get some weapons…" Natsumi said quickly.

"No, no, no! We're not enemies!" the older man said quickly, putting his hands up defensively.

'They look familiar…' Natsumi thought, backing away from them.

"Imouto-Chan, you look so cute!"

Natsumi's eyes widened as she looked at the younger man strangely.

"Okaa-San-!"

Arisu walked up to Natsumi, not looking at the strangers standing in the doorway.

"Natsumi, what's-…?"

Arisu's voice trailed off, as her mouth hung slightly open.

"H- Hiroshi…?"

The older man smiled warmly.

"Arisu… How are you?"

Arisu's eyes rolled as she fell back.

"O- Okaa-San!" Kiyoshi yelled out. Natsumi froze and looked at the younger man, confused.

"What did you call her…?"

Hiroshi walked inside and picked up Arisu without difficulty. He grinned happily as he walked up to her room.

"H- Hey! You can't come in here without-!"

"You look different," Kiyoshi began. "Is…Ai here?"

"How do you know-…?"

"Because she's my Imouto-Chan, too!" Kiyoshi said, chuckling as he followed his father. Natsumi stood rooted to her spot, confused.

"Hey-! Don't hurt my Okaa-San!" Natsumi shouted as she shut the door and ran up the stairs.

Arisu stirred slightly as her eyes fluttered open.

"Okaa-San, are you okay?" Natsumi asked worriedly.

"I had the strangest dream… There were two men and-…"

Arisu's eyes widened as she stared at Kiyoshi and Hiroshi.

"Don't faint again!" Hiroshi said quickly. Arisu's eyes rolled again as she fainted. Hiroshi sighed as Kiyoshi grinned. Kiyoshi started laughing at his father's glaring face. Natsumi looked at them intently.

"What exactly are you doing here? And how do you know Okaa-San…? Why did you call me Imouto-Chan?"

Kiyoshi quickly stopped laughing. He smiled sadly as his father did the same.

"She… really doesn't remember…" Kiyoshi said quietly.

"I thought everyone was lying… When they said you didn't remember us…" Hiroshi added while looking at Natsumi as a pained look etched its way onto his face.

"We'll wait until Arisu wakes up… Before we start explaining…"

Arisu's eyes opened quickly as she shot up in bed. She looked around the room and her eyes settled on Hiroshi.

"Hiroshi…?" Her eyes became watery. She crawled out of bed quickly and wrapped her arms around him as a single tear ran down her face. Natsumi sat, confused. Hiroshi embraced her tightly and buried his nose in the crook of her neck.

"I've missed you so much…" Hiroshi whispered.

"Okaa-San… What the Hell is going on…?" Natsumi asked, standing shakily. Arisu hesitated before letting go of Hiroshi.

"I knew he wasn't telling the truth…I knew it…" Arisu said quietly as another tear ran down her face.

Natsumi began getting impatient.

"Okaa-San…" Natsumi called again. Arisu turned around and looked at Natsumi. Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to smile. Tears began running down her face quicker.

"Okaa-San…"

Natsumi and Arisu turned their heads to see Kiyoshi smiling.

"Kiyoshi…"

Kiyoshi's small smile quickly turned into a grin. Arisu gave him a small kiss on the forehead and hugged him tightly.

"My little boy…. All grown up…"

'Her little boy…?' Natsumi shook her head.

"Okaa-San, what's going on?"

"Natsumi… This is your brother… And your father…"

Natsumi looked at Arisu as if she was crazy.

"Okaa-San… What the Hell are you talking about?"

Ai stood up from her seat and sneezed. Temari raised her eyebrow and looked at Ai curiously.

"Looks like someone's got a cold…" Temari said with a small smile. Ai smiled faintly.

"Yes… I'm sorry about that… And about yesterday, I didn't mean to cause any trouble… I was gone for so long…" Ai replied quietly, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry about it; you should get some rest… I'll do the dishes," Temari said, standing up while continuing to smile.

"But, Temari-San…"

Temari's smile faltered slightly.

'Temari…San?'

Ai quickly looked away.

"I don't mind… I'll do the dishes… You go on a lot of missions, you should be resting," Ai said as she picked up the dishes. Temari stayed quiet.

"Temari-…San…?"

Temari shook her head and smiled.

"Okay, but make sure you get some rest too…" She said as she walked into her room.

Ai did the dishes quickly and walked into her room.

Natsumi sat silently on the bed. Hiroshi and Kiyoshi looked at her curiously.

"So… What you're trying to say is that… O-tou-San… isn't my father, but you're my father… And you're my brother… And I forgot about you two? I'm sorry, but that's not possible…"

Hiroshi sighed and looked down as he shook his head.

"I mean… How the hell would I forget about you two…?" Natsumi shut her eyes and shook her head. "Not possible," she repeated.

"Nori…" Arisu began. Natsumi's eyes opened as she raised her eyebrow. Arisu turned away from Natsumi and looked down sadly.

"He… forced you to forget…"

"How…?"

"Don't you remember…? He always hurt Ai… He said that if you didn't forget, he would kill her… And… The beatings became like a routine… Pretty soon, you forgot…"

Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed as he began muttering.

"Stupid, shitty bastard… I knew he was a fucking-…"

"Kiyoshi…" Hiroshi said warningly. Kiyoshi shut his mouth quickly with his eyes still narrowed.

'Stupid, shitty, fucking…' he continued in his head.

Natsumi looked away with a pained look on her face.

"We're aware that Nori passed on… But you haven't told us where Ai is," Hiroshi said quickly.

"Nee-Chan… Won't be with us for a while… It's complicated…." Natsumi replied quietly. Kiyoshi looked up quickly.

"Where is she? Is she alright?"

"She's… Staying with Temari-Chan at the moment…" Natsumi added.

Kiyoshi stood up quickly.

"See you later! Bye!" He shouted as he ran out the room. Hiroshi sighed and shook his head.

"Natsumi… You look just like your mother…" He said with a smile.

Natsumi smiled faintly.

Kiyoshi skipped to Temari's house, somehow knowing where to find it. He raised his hand and pounded on the door.
Ai walked out of her room and rubbed her ears.

'So loud…'

She inhaled and exhaled deeply. Temari ran out of her room.

"What's going on?"

Ai turned the doorknob quickly and Temari poked her head out from behind Ai.

"Eh… What the Hell are you doing here…?"

Ai stood frozen to her spot.

"O- Onii-…San…?"

Temari looked at her strangely.

"What…?"

Ai's eyes rolled as she fell down.

"Imouto-Chan-... Oh… Not again…" he said as he sunk to his knees.

'Just like Okaa-San…' he thought with a smile.

I'm sorry for the late update! Please forgive me! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review please!