The Boy in the Park

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kurenai sighed, holding a cup of tea in her hands.

"The day the Kyuubi attacked should be the starting point," Kurenai said calmly. Naruko tensed, but kept her gaze on the red-eyed woman. "That is the day I lost my father, or…to be more precise, the day my brother and I lost our father."

"Y-Your brother?" Naruko said feebly. Her eyes wide in shock.

She nodded. "I was fifteen at the time, a Chuunin. My brother was seven. When the Kyuubi was defeated, there was so much destruction and death there wasn't even the time to grieve the dead. Our house was destroyed among the first too, so there wasn't anything I could do. He ended up in the orphanage, and I began doing missions."

"How did he end up with the Haruno?" Naruko asked softly.

"Mebuki Haruno was a friend of our mother. She couldn't keep us both, so I just asked her eventually to take my brother in. You have to understand: Konoha was in dire straits after the attack, and I recall spending nearly an entire year out on missions without a moment of breath," Kurenai winced. "I think he probably thought I abandoned him."

"Duh!" Naruko exclaimed. "You could have visited!"

"At first I did," Kurenai remarked. "But…you know how in the academy, you start at five?" she said softly. "You don't start using chakra until you're older, so if you can become a shinobi or not…you don't know until then," she shook her head. "When he told me he'd never be a shinobi…I was glad."

"You bitch!" Naruko was on her feet, fists clenched. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Kurenai's eyes sharpened. "I had done a long string of missions, one worse than the other," she replied bitterly. "I didn't think much of what I said. He took it the wrong way."

Naruko was floored. "But…but why did you leave him there, with the Haruno? Sakura's mother wanted him to be a shinobi!"

"Sakura," Kizashi said gently, "You know how much we work, right?"

Sakura feebly nodded.

"Well, when Mebuki took in your brother, I thought it would be good practice for when we would have our own. When Yuhi-san asked us to keep him, because she couldn't…well, I just thought you'd like having an older brother."

Mebuki grimaced. "Should have known the deal was rotten."

"Mebuki!" Kizashi chided his wife. "It wasn't a deal. It was a favour."

"So," Naruko said numbly. "You first asked them to keep him, and then were glad when he couldn't become a shinobi?"

Kurenai fidgeted. "It's…more complicated than that."

"No, it isn't," Naruko replied, clenching her fists. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? He's your brother, and you just abandoned him! To people who then didn't want him anymore!"

"It was still better than the orphanage," Kurenai feebly retorted.

"THE HELL IT IS! I know what it means, to be judged for something you had no power to decide for! Aniki…Aniki probably just wanted you to take him back home, and you didn't." Naruko's eyes narrowed to fissures against the woman.

Sakura stared wide-eyed from her mother to her father, swallowing nervously.

"S-So…Onii-sama…isn't my Onii-sama?"

"I'm sure he still is," Kizashi said calmly. "I think it matters what you want him to be, not what blood ties you."

Sakura slowly stood up and wobbled back upstairs, ignoring the dinner —completely untouched.

Naruko angrily left the woman's house. How dared she call herself Aniki's sister, when she hadn't been there for him at all? She was angry, and as she reached for her Aniki's apartment, she knocked furiously on the door. She was going to prank the woman so hard she'd be itching from spots previously unknown! Still, if she hadn't broken his arm…then who had!?

Nobody answered her, so she carefully entered her own apartment and then passed through the hole in the wall. She could see the slumped form of her Aniki asleep and…

Oh no, that bitch just didn't.

She clenched her teeth and was about to scream to the top of her lungs, when she decided against it. She looked at the situation at hand and then smiled. Sure, it was going to be embarrassing…

But oh so worth it.

He woke up with a thrumming headache. His broken arm didn't hurt him particularly, but there was something slightly heavy atop it that made it uncomfortable. His throat was parched.

He remembered going to drink with the copy-cat ninja. He remembered exchanging words, then Anko appearing out of nowhere —had he been already drunk by then?

He knew they had talked but…he couldn't remember what about, and then…then she had offered to bring him home and Kakashi had made a thumb-up gesture and had left shuddering something about 'green spandex' rubbing off him.

Then he didn't remember anything else until he had woken up. His eyes slightly open, he realized there was a naked body next to him. Anko probably slept naked —he suspected that much— and since he was still half-dressed he doubted anything had happened.

There was another 'body' however, whose head was resting on his cast and drooling on it.

"Ramen…no more Aniki…too much…" Naruko moaned as she snickered in her sleep. "More ramen…s'okay…"

He blinked. It was too early for this. He slowly nudged Naruko to the side and then stood up. Anko instinctively scuttled closer to the other form in the bed, and he actually held back a snicker at the sight of the woman hugging Naruko between her breasts while grumbling.

And Naruko's muttering of 'Mochi' made him nearly start chuckling.

Nearly, because he had a massive headache and frankly, he didn't actually 'want' to be there when they both woke up.

He began to cook breakfast, deciding to be the proper gentleman and offer it to both the 'walking disasters' he apparently had signed for in his life. Life went on anyway, so there was no need to keep on grieving over the past.

"Ehi," Anko muttered as she slowly cracked an eye open. "Why is the brat biting my tits?"

"I think she's hungry," he replied as if discussing an animal's feeding habits. "Sometimes she bites on my clothes too when she's asleep…you just don't have clothes."

Anko smiled sweetly, which sort of meant 'I'm going to murder someone'. "How endearing. You mind if I wake her up gently?"

"Define gently?" he said back while returning to the pans.

"Kunai through the—"

"That's not gentle," he quipped.

Naruko groaned as she slowly opened her eyes for a moment. She blinked. Why was her mouth attached to a Mochi? No, the mocha was…maybe a bun? Was it a meat bun? She opened her eyes more, the meat bun was attached to…her eyes travelled upwards and then…

"AH!" she jumped back, falling on the ground and sputtering. "YOU! ARGH! GAH!" she passed her hands on her tongue repeatedly.

"Aw," Anko said fluttering her eyelids, "I didn't know you batted for the other team, brat."

"I don't!" Naruko screamed back at her. "YOU OLD HAG! W-What are you doing here!?"

"Eating breakfast," she deadpanned. "So are you, apparently."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Y-You! Why are you in Aniki's bed!?"

"I carried him back home," Anko smiled. "He was slightly…drunk, so I tucked him in! And then I thought: what ugly pillows he has, maybe he'll need something…" she cupped her breasts, "softer."

The fact he wasn't even blushing as he watched a naked Anko try to one-up Naruko spoke a long deal. He was going to consider it all a massive hallucination until the time came when his brain would jumpstart. He needed more tea in his system before he even began to think straight —let alone deal with the mess.

Anko's clothes weren't that far out, so as the Jounin took a shower and then dressed with a cheesy smirk, Naruko huffed and looked towards him.

"Neh, Aniki?"

"Yes?" he asked, using his right hand to move the pan to the centre of the table.

"Who broke your arm?" she asked.

"Again?" he grumbled. "I said I slipped and—"

"His mother," Anko said with a light smirk. "He told me everything last night," the woman's smile was positively feral. "He really can't hold his liquor."

He paled.

Naruko's eyes widened for a moment, before they settled into the usual glint that announced death and devastation to soon follow.

Anko's own were pretty much the same and, standing one in front of the other sitting at the same table, he couldn't help but think they both had quite a bit of similarities…especially in the way they both grinned at one another.

"It's…it's nothing, really," he said slowly. "It's water under the bridge."

"Of course Aniki," Naruko said with a quick nod.

"Yes, lover-boy, of course," Anko retorted.

"Neh, saggy tits?" Naruko said, looking at Anko who sported a nervous tick mark.

"What is it, brat?"

"I had this idea with tampons and chili peppers that…"

He shuddered and exhaled. Really…were they ever going to learn?

Mebuki Haruno felt suddenly cold —extremely so— as she walked down the street. Not only did she feel watched, but she could swear she had been going through the same street at least thrice.

She felt as if the shinigami himself was lurking just around the corner, ready to strike at her. She swallowed nervously…it couldn't be, right? Now, if the blond haired man dressed in black stopped going in her same direction and whistling at the same time, everything would be better.

Joe Black whistled as he followed Mebuki Haruno...

It was good to be the Shinigami.