The Boy in the Park
Chapter Four
"I'm going to become a ninja!" Naruko boasted regularly, "And then I'll be a Hokage, so everyone will recognize me!" she added always without missing a beat. He just flipped through another page of his book, and watched her scamper around the park convincing children to play with her.
She was anything but one who surrenders. Even when someone said no to her, she insisted up to the point where the other kids ended up complying and played with her —until their parents came to take the relative child away. She would always huff then, stalk a bit around and then move to the bench, where she'd sit next to him.
He'd then pick a book from inside his jacket and hand it over to the girl.
Every now and then, she'd ask for the meaning of a word, and he would give it to her.
That tranquillity and repetitive lifestyle could not last, but then again, he wasn't worried about continuing it during the winter —he didn't consider this a summer escapade, and homework was something he had always done with ease during the winter times.
The way people gazed at him as he walked down the street was somewhat starting to worry him, but it probably just was him jumping at shadows. The normalcy of the day —him reading and Naruko sitting with her legs dangling next to her— came to a halt when the girl exclaimed, now at the age of six and half.
"Hey! You know, I found a nice place to eat! They sell Ramen! Have you ever had Ramen? It's really good!" she seemed to look sideways for a moment, and then turned to gaze at him once more. "Want to go eat some?"
He looked at the time. He could theoretically consider it an afternoon snack. He had money in his wallet, and he had begun to dub the puppy eyes of Naruko as some sort of strange mind-controlling technique that worked on him.
"All right," he sighed closing his book.
"Yes!" Naruko laughed as she fist-pumped in the air, making a small dance, "You're the best, Aniki!"
"I'm not offering," he remarked dryly. Her shoulders dropped down visibly.
"Damn."
"Language," he chided her.
"Not even a bowl?" Naruko pleaded him with bright eyes, her hands clasped together in prayer and a look that could probably convince a murderer to repent.
"One, if it costs little," he said. His allowance had been zero since he had entered middle school.
Immediately relieved, Naruko jumped ahead of him and began to excitedly start to dictate the wonders of ramen. "It's warm broth that seems like soup and the noodles are like, you know, they taste like the soup and so it's like eating and drinking soup and it's warm, so…" as she blabbered on, he absent-mindedly nodded. They passed through a couple of familiar streets, until in the end they reached the stall in question.
Ichiraku Ramen.
He had never been there before, which made him slightly uncomfortable. He needed his habits: they were the reason he was still sane and alive in this world of lunatics that spouted words like 'soccer' and 'sports'. Calmly, he schooled his feature and entered the stall, moving aside the flap and sitting down on the stool while making a stiff nod to the owner. Next to him, Naruko took a seat with a happy and bright smile.
"Ojii-san!" she exclaimed out loud making him nearly jump on his seat from her chirpiness. "A bowl of Miso for me!"
He blinked as he looked back at the menu standing on the chalkboard sign behind the counter. Miso was the cheapest they had. He actually was thankful for that.
"I'll have the same," he replied.
The 'Ojii-san' just smiled and gave a hearty chuckle, before moving to prepare the food. There was a moment of embarrassing silence, which soon died anyway because with Naruko silence simply couldn't survive.
"So, Aniki! I went to the academy yesterday!" he raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, before taking out from his pocket his usual book. "And you know? There's this mass of idiots! They always yell about 'Sasuke-kun' or something! Just because he's an Uchiwa or…"
"I think you mean Uchiha," he replied calmly. "The police clan, you know? The one with the fan symbol?"
"Yeah, them! And he struts around like some sort of sore duck!" she grumbled. "And they forced me to sit next to him too! Argh! I hate him!" she mumbled.
"You can't change seats?" he asked.
"No," she muttered. "Iruka-sensei doesn't like me much," she shook her head and smiled. "But I showed them! I got a can of paint and I placed it above the door, so when he entered it fell on his head and he was orange! It was awesome 'ttebayo!"
"Naruko," he said hesitantly, "Are you sure he doesn't like you because you prank him?"
"Nah," she firmly replied, "He always looks at me: they all do! It's really strange cuz, you know…"
"Because," he corrected her.
"Because," Naruko rolled her eyes, "Because nearly everyone does and…"
She bit her lip. "Do you know why they do it, Aniki? You're like, smart and you know things!"
He shook his head. "No," he said. "I'm sorry." He didn't know. He knew, but technically, he wasn't supposed to know. He had been barely seven when the Kyuubi had attacked. They didn't think he'd remember the name of the girl that 'trapped' the nine tails. In truth, he actually hadn't until she had finally told him her name and after that…well, he had always been a coward at heart: it would be a greater effort to try and distance himself from her than not.
"Uff," Naruko huffed and pouted, before her mood rose again. "Never mind then! I'll ask Hokage-Jiji then!"
"Hokage-Jiji?" he said incredulously. "Naruko…no, I don't want to know," he added then, settling his nose back on his book. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him —that much, he had already claimed as truth.
"Yeah, the old man! He comes by and visits me!" here she seemed to frown, "Right! You don't know where I live, Aniki!"
His eyebrows raised both at the same time.
"Well, I don't…"
"I'll show you after we eat!" she happily chirped, just as the steaming bowls of Miso ramen dropped in front of them. He unclasped his chopstick and exhaled once, before saying calmly.
"Itadakimasu."
Somehow, he missed the slightly shining gaze of Naruko as he said that, who then smiled even brighter than before as she dug in on her own ramen.
Teuchi just watched in silence from behind his counter. He didn't know what to make of it, but then again if the Hokage hadn't intervened, then the boy was probably 'safe'.
That was the first time Naruko Uzumaki and the Boy from the park shared a meal, but it wouldn't be the last.