The Boy in the Park
Chapter 24
His life returned normal for the most part. He still had the feeling of being watched, but now it was far less intense. One night, he decided it was time to face the bull by the horns.
He stood in wait in the room, his eyes locked to the 'hole' that connected his apartment to Naruko's. He was going to catch the girl on the act and have a long talk with her. He had no doubts the girl went either during the morning or during the night —she could be quiet whenever she wanted to.
Therefore, he waited for the night, and then for the cover of the hole to silently move aside as the girl crept in a step at the time. He looked for an instant at her general tense frame and sighed, startling the girl who actually looked at him with wide eyes.
"Naruko."
"A-Aniki?" she hazarded. "D-Did I wake you up?"
She looked around like a frightened deer.
"Your Chuunin exam is tomorrow isn't it?" he asked then, gesturing for her to come closer as he stood and turned on the lights of the kitchen.
"H-How do you know?"
"I know many things," he said with a sort of old sensei-like tone he had taken from a film. "Now sit, I'll have the ramen prepared."
"W-Won't that scary lady be angry at you?" Naruko asked softly.
"Why?" he replied.
"S-She said nothing?"
"About what?" he pressed on, perplexed.
"You and I…I mean, what of Hinata trying to drench her and…and everything else and," she babbled for a moment, as his face turned more and more confused.
"Naruko, calm down," he said moving quickly and holding her shoulders with his hands to calm the young girl down, getting down on one knee in front of her. "Take a deep breath, and tell me what the problem is. Why have you been avoiding me until now?"
"I…I couldn't, I mean…what if the scary lady didn't like you hanging with me or me hanging with you and…well, I didn't want to ruin your chances and," her voice was softly trailing off as she grew more agitated with every passing breath. "I didn't want to be a burden…"
He blinked once, then realization dawned and he exhaled slowly.
"Naruko?"
"Y-yes?"
"You're a stupid worrywart," he nodded sagely, before firmly head locking the girl and proceeding to turn her scalp red with a triple-deluxe drill method. Naruko actually fought like the devil possessed and screamed cries of 'affront'.
"Anikiiiiii!" she whined.
"Naruko!" he retorted with a huff letting the girl go. "There's a difference between being a burden and stalking someone! It's rude to interrupt dates, but it's not rude to be friends with someone who has a girlfriend, and it certainly doesn't make you a burden!"
"B-But the scary lady had breasts!" Naruko whined. "I don't!" she cupped her chest. "I mean…maybe they're growing?"
He sweat dropped. "What do breasts have to do with this?"
"Sakura said it had to be breasts," Naruko replied. "She said that as long as a woman has breasts, a man will fall for her."
"That's not all there is in love relationships, Naruko," he deadpanned. "Beauty can only go so far…"
"Yeah," Naruko rolled her eyes. "Right."
"No, really."
"Keep saying that, Aniki."
"Did you spend all the time with Sakura recently?"
"Duh! We're going to the Chuunin exams tomorrow, Aniki! We trained! We even met some creepy dudes from Sand and that Konohamaru brat worsened things with them and…" she blinked. "Oh right! I have a follower now, Aniki! He calls me One-san too!"
She seemed oddly pleased by that.
"Please don't start a Yakuza, Naruko," he said calmly. "Konoha would not survive." The water began to boil and he stood up to grab a cup of instant ramen, before plopping it down in front of a pouting Naruko and pouring the hot water inside.
"Aniki!" Naruko pouted, before opening the chopsticks and starting to blow on the steaming ramen. "How're things going with the scary lady?" she asked between bites.
"Swallow before talking," he chided her, grabbing a napkin and cleaning a smudge on her cheek —something which extremely annoyed Naruko every time he did it, but that he did anyway.
"So?"
"She wasn't looking for a serious relationship, so I suggested we remained as friends," he replied carefully. "I haven't been seeing her for a while now."
Albeit he did occasionally receive glares in the streets from a few shinobi he never met before.
"AH! I told ya Aniki!" Naruko exclaimed with a triumphant gaze. "She was just using you!"
He shook his head. "No," he sighed. "She just wasn't interested in anything serious, there's a difference."
Naruko pouted, "Why? Love is beautiful, right?"
He actually felt his heart melt at such a cheesy line…before he cleared his throat.
"Yes, but some simply have reasons they don't value it. They can be good reasons or bad reasons…"
"What is a good reason to not love, Aniki?" Naruko frowned.
"Well, if your previous love hurt you, then it's difficult to trust again," he said slowly. The girl blinked.
"That's stupid! If you don't love then how can you find someone better to forget about the one that hurt you?"
He looked at Naruko as if the girl had grown a second head.
"Naruko?"
"Yeah, Aniki?"
"Did you just have a great idea?"
Naruko's face planted itself against the table as she sweat-dropped.
"Anikiiiii," Naruko whined, her cheeks red. "I always have great ideas! I'm great 'ttebayo!"
"Yes, of course," he chuckled. He ruffled her hair gently. "You're my great Imouto, right?"
She 'thunked' her head against the side of his chest and sighed, the ramen cup empty. She began to purr as he kept on scratching her gently as if she were a cat. Naruko fell asleep within mere minutes, a happy and content smile on her face.
He actually began to think about buying a ball of yarn and seeing if Naruko instinctively would play with it while being patted on the head.
The mental image of moe-ness was so strong, he had to take a deep calming breath to steady his heart. He slowly lifted the lithe body of the girl up, and dropped her on his bed once more before sighing.
Well, he was back to the sofa, but he did feel more light spirited now that everything was back to normal.
How long, he wondered, would this peace last?