The Boy in the Park
Chapter Forty-Nine
Naruko opened her eyes to an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. She groaned as her nose twitched, before she stumbled down from her bed and crashed face first on the floor.
She grumbled and yawned, scratching her side as she looked around for a moment. Right. This was her house now. She lived in it together with Aniki. Her nose twitched again.
There was a good smell coming from outside her room. She trudged down in her frog pyjama, emitting small yawns as she rubbed her eyes. She opened the door where the good smell was coming from, and she blinked once.
There were pancakes on the table. There were eggs. There was a pot of coffee —something Jiraiya had prohibited her from drinking after that one time with her overexcitedly tearing down half a mountain after taking five sips of it— and a jug of milk.
Mostly however, there was a dishevelled and tired looking creature known to her mind as 'Her Aniki' stumbling through the motions of preparing breakfast and a Bento.
He looked like a housewife...
She couldn't help but remember one of Jiraiya's bits of work she had to type-edit, which had a naked apron scene.
She coughed and looked elsewhere, swallowing her spit in the meantime and nearly choking on it.
Aniki was Aniki.
And he'd never look at her as anything else than his Imouto…she knew that.
Didn't mean it didn't hurt.
"Oh?" Shinku said, turning his gaze towards her. "Good morning! Slept well?"
"Yep!" Naruko exclaimed with a forced smile. Maybe she hadn't slept well, but then again she was a ninja…sleeping comfortably was probably so strange she hadn't closed her eyes once —at least, that was Shinku's thought.
Silence settled in the kitchen, as Shinku hummed pleasantly to himself while cooking.
"Neh, Aniki?" Naruko asked suddenly, carefully having crept to his side. "Can I help?"
"Sure," he shrugged, "Chop the lettuce."
Naruko whined. "I hate lettuce!"
"It's good for you," he retorted. "Vegetables are your friends," he added with a knowing nod.
"They're sucky friends," Naruko muttered.
"Oh come on, what did you eat while on the trip, cup ramen?"
Naruko didn't answer.
"Naruko?"
Naruko began to sweat and whistle.
"Naruko…"
"Ramen has vegetables!" she blurted out.
"NARUKO!" Shinku exclaimed with a huff, "it's vegetables for you, young miss! Hundreds of kilos of them! We'll start with—"
"Aniki, since when have you become this fussy?" Naruko squirmed as she looked at him perplexed.
"A single man leaving alone and having to fend off with a spoon and a frying pan a few woman like myself naturally learns some tricks…" and then his eyes darkened, "And being regularly brought to train with the Green Spandex Duo…do you think I didn't learn anything? I'd let you taste one of their vitamin-filled horrendous milkshakes…just to give you a taste of the hell I went through in these three years…"
He gasped for air. "If I think…no, it's too traumatizing to even recall…they even forced a spandex suit on me once!"
"No!" Naruko exclaimed in shock and grief. "On my Aniki!? How could they! Those monsters!"
"Indeed," Shinku nodded gravely. "I felt so violated…" he sniffled, before grabbing the wooden spoon and smacking the back of Naruko's hand —who was aiming for a piece of omelette.
"There are pancakes on the table, no eating lunch for breakfast."
Naruko groaned. "But Anikiiii…"
"What are you, five years old?" Shinku rolled his eyes.
"Uff…spoil me?" Naruko blinked fluttering her eyelids as she moved closer.
"Nope," he grumbled back, giving her a flick on the forehead. "Sit down if you don't want to cooperate in the cooking."
"Stingy," she smiled then and turned her face sideways with a mischievous grin.
Shinku returned to his omelette, which now was missing five pieces.
"Naruko," he groaned. "Come on!"
"What?" she said with the 'fakest' innocent voice ever to be mastered.
"Naruko…"
Breakfast was, overall, a happy affair. There was grumbling, chuckling, giggling and whatnot. Heads were bonked with wooden spoons just as much as hands, and pancakes flew around or were devoured at the same time.
In the end, Naruko actually didn't want to go meet her team.
"Come on now," Shinku said pushing her gently out of the door, having already handed over her bento. "It's not like I won't be here when you come back."
Naruko pouted. She puffed her cheeks and then began to walk out, only to quickly spin around and kiss him on the cheek before cheekily grinning.
"See ya later Aniki!" then, she jumped off to the nearby rooftop and from there began to dash towards the training grounds.
"Yeah, later you little rascal," he rolled his eyes as he watched her go, before returning to the house. He stretched and then nodded to himself.
He had a welcome home party to prepare for after all.
Anko looked at the last corner of the last room of the last level of the T&I department.
Ibiki closed his eyes as he heard the scrubbing come to a halt.
He swore he could hear the breathing of everyone else in the department still at the same time. It was done.
Anko had served her punishment.
"Now, Anko…" Ibiki began. "I know you might feel…frustrated."
"Three years without, make Anko's reason blackout," Anko smiled brightly as she said that chirpily, before walking out of the department whistling a tune.
Ibiki swallowed nervously.
"What have I done," he murmured as he brought a hand to his face. A fellow Anbu nearby gently patted the scarred man on the shoulder.
"Sir, you couldn't know."
"I have condemned us all…" Ibiki muttered.
"Well, nobody can die from too much of 'that', right?" another Anbu said then.
"You don't know Anko, son," an older Anbu replied. "Oh…you don't know her at all…"
"Betting pool's open!" a younger Anbu screamed then with a scroll in hand. "Make your bet! Who'll be satisfied first!? Who'll die first!? Come on! Five ryo is the starting betting pool!"
Shinku shuddered as he felt a cold breeze on his neck. He could swear he had closed the window five minutes before.
Sakura touched her teacup –that she had actually stolen from her Onii-sama's own cupboard after he had drank from it— and watched it crack.
The next moment she was already booking out and running towards her beloved Onii-sama's house.
He was in danger, clearly!
She hoped to arrive in the aftermath of course. Sperm samples were easier to take when the guy in question didn't fight back.
Then again, Aniki wasn't fighting back…
He was just shy.
Really shy.
There was a knock at the door as Shinku went to open it.
The person on the other side…
Struck.
Author's notes
…
Rot your teeth with this fluff!