The Boy in the Park
Chapter Forty-Five
"NEVER!" Naruko's scream attracted his attention, as he turned to stare at Naruko screaming at the top of her lungs against…Jiraiya.
"Come on brat! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!" the Sannin yelled back. The fact was, they were both yelling from the nearby rooftop of the building directly in front of the academy's window. He supposed that Naruko would start having stalker tendencies…what with her being friends with a stalker to begin with.
Hinata made a polite sneeze as she resumed her work —that was NOT stalking. She was just 'Loving From Afar'…which was completely different from Stalking.
"I'm NOT GOING pervert-sage!" Naruko screamed again. "Now fu—"
He carefully opened the window.
"LANGUAGE!" he chided, only for Naruko to bit her tongue and wince, before sheepishly scratching her head.
He closed the window, and returned to his class.
"As I was saying, history tells us of…"
"You can't say no to this! I'm willing to take you on as an apprentice you brat!"
"I'M. NOT. GOING."
"WHY YOU!"
Shinku's forehead sported a nervous tick mark as he made a nervous smile while his lips twitched. It lasted only a moment, then his students watched their sensei extract from beneath the desk a frying pan and leave through the door.
They all heard a twin set of strong *THUNKS* soon followed by cries of shock.
"Go and yell elsewhere!" he exclaimed to the two ninja in front of him, now both sporting a big bump on their heads and looking downwards. "You're over fifty, Jiraiya-sama! No yelling! And Naruko, I'm teaching right now, no screaming!"
"B-But Aniki…" Naruko whined.
"We'll talk about this later, at home. Now go, the both of you!"
As Shinku exhaled and turned to re-enter his classroom, he could hear Naruko mutter venomously towards Jiraiya.
"You made Aniki mad you pervert!"
"Me? It's you who keeps saying no! It's a once in a life time opportunity!"
"NO!"
Shinku groaned. Thankfully, the rest of the day went by without a hitch.
It was as he left that he suddenly was surrounded by a mob of Naruko. They all wore sunglasses.
She also had tied a piece of string to the right side of all of her clones' ears, and they were mock talking in code words like 'the package is moving' or 'protect the package'.
"Naruko," he exhaled slowly, clenching his fist.
"Yes Aniki?" the closest turned her face to look at him. He grabbed her and proceeded to scrub her head hard with his knuckles, making her whine and flail before all the other clones popped away.
"ANIiikiiiii."
She gingerly touched her head as he simply ruffled it one last time. "Shouldn't you be doing missions?"
"Ah," Naruko sheepishly smiled. "I sent a clone! Kakashi-sensei has us do nothing more than stupid D-ranks now that we're only two…and Sakura's training with Baa-chan to become a Medic-Nin! She wants to become a nurse and…"
Somehow, from that moment Shinku truly believed he would never again receive a wound, or have to go to the hospital. He had the feeling that if he did…he would not be leaving on his own legs.
"What were you discussing with Jiraiya-sama back then?"
"The pervert wants me to go on a trip with him," Naruko scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't wanna."
"I don't want to," he shook his head. "Why not? Didn't you go on one just recently too?"
"Yeah, but this one…he said it might take three years!" Naruko exclaimed, opening her arms wide. "Three years are a lot of time, Aniki! What if something happens to you!?"
He closed his eyes and sighed. Three years were a lot of time. "And what about the next Chuunin exams?"
Naruko grumbled and crossed her arms. "He said I can take them whenever we come back."
"But didn't you want to become a Chuunin?"
"Yeah…" she sighed.
"Still, he'd train you on the trip, right?"
"Uh-Uh, something like that I suppose," she made a frown and looked sideways.
"Naruko? Is something the problem…"
"It's just…he's a pervert, Aniki!" she yelled. "I mean…to get him to teach me…I had to do the Sexy no Jutsu! When we went for Baa-chan, he took my money from Gama-chan! When I had to learn how to use…that chakra, he threw me in a crevice! And those things were only days or weeks! I don't know what he'll do with years!"
He smiled.
He smiled pleasantly and then carefully patted Naruko's head. "Hey, how about you go home for a moment, and then I'll come by in a moment?"
"B-But I have to prote—"
"Naruko," he smiled gently. "You're still too young to hear certain things."
Somehow, Jiraiya began to shudder from his spot in hiding.
Shinku began to walk towards the Hokage tower, holding the most serene smile on his face that he could muster.
It was so serene people screamed or fainted as he passed by, and when his lips twitched, a few even began to run away.
Jiraiya began to sweat bullets as he followed with his sight the man enter the Hokage's tower.
What had the brat told him? And why was he…
Five minutes later, and a terrifying scream of "JIRAIYAAAAAAAAAAA!" came from the Hokage's tower…and from Tsunade's voice.
"They're calling for you," a fellow dressed in black said next to him. "You shouldn't be late for your appointment."
"Listen Joe…can't I go another day?" Jiraiya pouted.
"Now, now," Joe Black remarked. "Off you go."
Head hung low…Jiraiya went.
The Shinigami just watched him leave, and then returned to his Icha-Icha Necrophilia Unleashed.
Jiraiya entered the office of the Godaime expecting to be on the receiving end of a frosty glare from Tsunade. He didn't really expect her to actually fling a fist at him and send him flying outside of the window. He dusted off the dirt from the spot he landed, and then re-entered the tower once more.
Only to receive a frying pan on the face.
Finally, as the birds settled down from circling around his head, Tsunade grabbed him by the neck of the shirt.
"What's this I hear about you harassing Naruko!? You damn pervert! She's your god-daughter! And stealing her money!?"
"It was a loan, Tsunade-chan!" he said in his defence. "She was going around with way too much money!"
"And you threw her down a cliff!"
"There was the need of a do or die situation to get the Kyuubi out!"
"And she had to transform into an adult version for you to teach her!"
"I was just yanking her chain, really!"
There was a moment of silence as the Godaime growled at him, before turning to look at Shinku. "Unfortunately, this idiot is still needed by Konoha's forces…" Tsunade exhaled. "And Naruko needs to leave with him."
He clenched his fists for a moment, before distending them.
"It's…It has something to do with Orochimaru?"
"No, worse," Jiraiya grimaced, returning serious. "Akatsuki…it's an organization of mercenary that wants to capture the Bijuu to extract them…and that, that kills the host, kid."
"Naruko has to be on the move, so that they can't try and capture her before. The attack done recently, by the two S-rank ninjas? They were working for that organization," Tsunade added. "And Jiraiya has a spy network to maintain…even between his debaucheries. He'll made a trip around the elemental countries with the brat…keep the heat off their tails."
"Why not tell her that?" Shinku said. "And why do you have to act like a pervert in front of her like that? She's a girl, you know?"
"Life's too serious to take it seriously," Jiraiya remarked. "And she's just a kid. Can't tell her that now, can I?"
"But when she needs to be a soldier you just tell her that and she obeys, isn't that right?" he snarled back. "You can't have both. Either she's a kid or she isn't. And it's her life we're talking about! Damn it! If it's for her safety that she leaves…I understand, but I want reassurances! I'm not letting her in the hands of a 'perverted-sage who spends more time in inns with whores than training me!' are we clear on that!?"
"Hey! I'm talking with my contacts when I'm with whores!"
"THEN TELL HER THAT FOR KAMI'S SAKE!" Shinku yelled back at him. "I don't know why you think she's stupid or something, but she isn't!"
"Now, I never said she was…"
"No? Then what does this sound like? I'm not telling her because 'nope'? It doesn't work that way with me, at all! You want to take her on a three years trip? I want to be sure she's going to be fine no matter what!" he was breathing raggedly by that point, but he still ploughed on. "She wants to take the Chuunin exams with her team and her sensei, what are you going to do about that?"
"That's…That's impossible. I mean, we'll be keeping out of shinobi villages to avoid her being recognized and…"
"Will she be able to write home?"
"No! Letters might be tracked and…"
"And there you have it," Shinku exhaled. "She will fight you every step of the way. Every. Single. Step. Unless you tell her, and even then, she'll have to be convinced."
"The brat's anything short of a mule when it comes to being a hardhead," Tsunade remarked then. "Frankly, the only way she'll be amenable is if you tell her that, boy."
He ground his teeth. "I have a condition then."
"Oh? Let's hear it," Tsunade commented.
"You tell her the names of her parents and who they were."
"W-What!? No way!" Jiraiya crossed his arms. "That's an S-rank secret right there! You can't know that and the brat can't know that!"
"And why should I tell her?" Tsunade asked instead. "There are…reasons, they were kept away from her."
"I know that," he deadpanned. "But if she has to spend three years in the company of a pervert, at least the pervert can come up with tales of her parents' time in Konoha," he narrowed his eyes on Jiraiya. "You are hailed as the teacher of the Yondaime after all, aren't you?"
"Damn it," Jiraiya hung his head. "Is this your idea of revenge?"
"I call it poetic retribution," Shinku snarled back. "You said it yourself: she'll have three years of literally no contact with anyone. She'll have her peers pass her by and become Chuunin before her, she'll basically be devoid of any and all chances of getting on with her life because she needs protection…the least you can do is give her anything she can count forward to every day."
Shinku crossed his arms over his chest, as he heard the long drawled sigh coming from the Godaime.
"All right," Tsunade acquiesced. "But you'll be the one telling her that. And you must stress the importance of keeping it a secret."
He grimaced, but nodded.
"I just have one last thing to say, Hokage-sama…" he said then, as he turned to stare at Jiraiya. "When she returns, pray to whatever Kami you believe in she has nothing but praise for your conduct…or I will find you, I will find out where you live and I will personally castrate you with a butter knife and a spoon."
Jiraiya swallowed.
"Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, yes, extremely clear!" Jiraiya spoke in a high-pitched voice.
The boy's face was like that of Woody…
Yamato sneezed.
…when he was pissed off. It was majestic to watch.
"Good!"
And with a final huff, Shinku walked out of the room.
"So," Tsunade said then, a venomous smile on her face. "You brought Naruko to a whorehouse?"
"Ah…" Jiraiya began to sweat heavily.
Elsewhere, Joe Black flipped a page. "Not yet," he muttered, shaking his head as the soul returned to its body.
And in the middle of it all…
Shinku scratched the back of his head.
How the hell was he going to tell Naruko about her parents?
Author's notes
First off, a whole-hearted thank you once more to Zelga Lim Li who drew Shinku!
Yep, that's my first fanart *ever* received. Now next on the list is world domination. (Joking). To see the pic, you'll better click on the link of her account name, and then go to her deviant-art through that. (Really, straight-linking doesn't work at all)
That said…this is a slight diversion from canon.
On the 'Anime' tropes…we could say this is the Protective Older Brother Mode.