The Boy in the Park
Chapter Twenty-One
It was Friday. Naruko and her team were supposed to have returned two days earlier. They hadn't. He was worried.
It didn't matter that it was just a C-rank, or that generally there was nothing to fear about them. Even Iruka had actually explained to him that C-ranks were just boring, over-glorified missions. Nothing more than patrolling or long-term things and with little to no risk for contact with enemies.
He was supposed to be relieved.
He wasn't.
He was nervous, because he not only felt watched, but he also felt followed. It was as if someone was looking at him in every single moment of his life, and that was making him mad with fear.
He took a deep breath in the middle of the road and calmed down. Really, he was just being paranoid. It wasn't as if a shinobi would just randomly drop down from the sky and put a black bag over his head to kidnap him a moment later…which had happened, but it wasn't supposed to happen ever again.
He returned home with his groceries in hand, unlocking the door and stumbling in. He dropped the plastic bags on the table, and then exhaled softly. Everything was fine; it wasn't as if he was being followed.
He closed the door a moment later, and then began to put the food in the fridge.
"Everything's fine, you're just being paranoid," he muttered to himself. "Just paranoid…really."
There was a knock at the door. He nearly jolted for the knife nearby, but calmed himself. Really, what if it was the owner asking for the rent? He went to open the door, and suddenly life was fine again.
Naruko entered running, and as he closed the door behind him and turned to speak, she was already opening the cupboards.
"Aniki!" Naruko yelled in her usual and familiar voice, "You didn't eat your ramen even once!"
"Ramen is an unhealthy habit, Naruko," he remarked slowly moving towards the back of the girl in question. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
He asked her as he began to chop down the vegetables for dinner.
"Uh? What about, Aniki!?" the girl fidgeted nervously. Was there a blush on her face?
"Come on," he winked at her. "I know you want to say it."
"I…I can?" she asked softly.
"Try, you're the courageous one, aren't you?"
Naruko was about to speak, when she suddenly clapped her hands together. "I need to do this properly then!"
She dashed out of the room, closing the door loudly and then furiously knocking on the other side of it. He sighed and smiled as he went to open the door, where Naruko stood now bashfully looking downwards.
"A…Aniki, I'm back home!"
"Welcome back," he smiled and then gestured for her to enter. She answered by hugging him around his waist. The hug was tight and filled with…with something else. "Naruko? Was your mission all right?"
"Yeah," she muffled out with her face still pushing against his stomach. "It was fine, Aniki…"
She detached herself slightly, to look at him with her bright cerulean eyes. "You know, you're one of my precious persons right?"
He blinked. "Of course I know that, Naruko…is everything really…"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded, swiping away something from her eyes. "Just…you know, I'll become really strong so…so I'll protect you and…"
He got down on one knee. "Naruko?" he asked worriedly, "What happened during your mission?"
"T…There was this boy…" she choked out, "he…he had a precious person to protect but…but he was also our enemy and…and he…he died because…" her face turned pale as she dashed for the bathroom. He heard her retch and quickly stood up, before closing the door of the house and running to hold the girl's hair out of the way.
Grimacing, Naruko pulled herself out from hugging the toilet and muttered, tears streaking down her face. "I…I should have stopped him, he was just there…he was wounded and I…I fought him and it looked…like he had killed Sasuke so I…I was angry and I thought…what if it's Aniki there and…and…" she was sobbing uncontrollably after that, her face red and filled with tears.
"Oh hush," he whispered soothingly, tightly hugging the girl back and pressing her face against his shoulder. "Worrywart, I'm not going anywhere, how many times must I repeat it? I'm not going to die in a battle…I'm a civilian," he added. "It's not…it's not like someone will attack Konoha eventually."
Orochimaru sneezed.
"And really, what are the odds they'll wipe out Konoha from the maps?"
Nagato sneezed.
"I mean, it…it was a bad thing, but it's not like all your C-rank missions will be like this in the future."
Many people sneezed.
"And you want to become Hokage, no? You'll have to do many missions for that and you can't worry about little old me when out there," he chuckled, ruffling her hair. "You're better now?" he whispered.
"Uh-uh," Naruko mumbled. She gripped tightly on his clothes and then muttered. "You promise?"
"I think I already did once," he remarked. "Didn't I?"
"Yeah, but you promise you won't die, right? You're one of my precious persons, I can't…I can't lose you."
He gently headbutted her, she winced and made a 'ouch' noise.
"Aniki! What was that for!?"
"There! This suits you better," he chuckled as he stood up. "No moping in here, Naruko! Come on, dinner won't cook itself alone!"
"Ah! We can go and eat Ramen to celebrate!" she exclaimed following him.
"I was already chopping the vegetables," he complained with a sigh, "But if you prefer—"
"Yeah! I'm the awesome kunoichi who returned from her mission! I get to choose where we eat!"
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow with a smile forming on his lips. "And when do I get to choose where we eat?"
"Whenever you offer the meal, Aniki!" she stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as he finished placing the chopped vegetables in a bag —he'd have them for lunch the next day then.
"Why you! Fine! Then Ichiraku's dinner is on you!" he rebuffed her crossing his arms, "And only one cup of ramen!"
"What!? NO!" Naruko shrieked in mock-despair, grabbing tightly on his leg. "Please not only one! Please!"
"Ah-ha!" he laughed, completely forgetting about his worries as he left the apartment, Naruko in tow being dragged as she held on to his leg.
At Ichiraku, he discovered there was also Ayame doing the night shift this time —probably because Saturday was a school-free day for her?
"Oh! Haruno-san," she stressed out his surname as if it was an insult, making him frown. "Is your girlfriend coming?"
Why was she smiling sweetly now? He swallowed nervously as Naruko dropped on the seat next to him with a perplexed face.
"Eh? Ayame-neechan, what are you talking about? Aniki has a girlfriend!?"
Her scream soon met with a shriek coming from Sakura's house direction, where the pink-haired girl had felt the chill she associated with a wench coming close to her brother…too close for her tastes.
"Well…I don't know about that," he sheepishly admitted. "I mean, we went on a date once and I can't remember what happened afterwards…I'm going on another one this Saturday, you think I should bring her a gift for the second time we meet?"
"Yes," Ayame smiled sweetly, "Strychnine."
He sweatdropped as he nervously chuckled.
"Isn't that excessive, Ayame?"
"Ah! My little girl likes to joke," Teuchi said with a brighter smile than ever, now that he didn't have to worry about the boy being a 'boyfriend' risk.
"Welcome back from your mission, Naruko! This is on the house!" as he said that and dropped the bowl of ramen in front of the girl, he saw her still frozen in shock looking towards her Aniki.
"Aniki?" she said softly a moment later.
"Yes?"
"Why don't we go on a date too?"
He sprayed the water he had been drinking out of his mouth and on the counter, as he swiped away the liquid from his lips. "W-What!?" he sputtered.
"I mean…isn't a date something you do between two persons who like each other? Like, when a boy and a girl want to have fun together, they go on a date?"
"Ehm…that's not actually what a date means, Naruko," he replied carefully. "A date is…when a man and a woman go together and see if they have things in common or things they like with one another, and then if they enjoyed their time spent together it keeps up until they end up marrying."
Better the 'romantic' viewpoint for the girl, really.
"Ah!" she clapped her hands together. "Then Aniki, why don't we get married!?"
Ayame choked, Teuchi nearly drowned face first in one of the ramen pots.
He coughed and nervously laughed. "Naruko…that's…that's not how it works. You're too young, and there's the age difference to consider."
"But…but people who marry like each other very much, right?"
"Well…yes, but it's more of a 'love' than a 'like' and loving someone is…more than liking someone."
"Oh! Then I love you, Aniki! Really, I love you very much!" the fact was she was smiling and saying it like it was normal, thus…he exhaled.
"No, Naruko…Love is…love is saying you want to spend the rest of your life with that person, it's…it's saying you can't live for more than a few days apart from him, that he's always in your thoughts and…and well, it's usually something that comes naturally before you try to make babies."
"Ah…" she seemed to mull it over.
"Neh, Aniki?"
"Yes, Naruko?"
"How do you make babies?"
Calmly, he stood. He looked at Ayame with a piercing glare and then said. "She's all yours."
He dashed out leaving behind a cloud of smoke, best than any ninja could possibly fathom to create.
They actually heard him scream even halfway through the village.
Naruko blinked, and then looked at Ayame.
"So, Ayame-Neechan…where do babies come from?"
Ayame blinked. Then she turned to Teuchi.
"Dad? Where do babies come from?"
And Teuchi sweated bullets as he mentally cursed.
"CURSE YOU HARUNO-SAN! CURSE YOUUUUUUU!"