The Boy in the Park
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Aniki's lips were rough, but pleasant to the taste, if she had to say it. They tasted slightly of the coffee drank before, and as she analysed their taste she found herself finally realizing the situation.
She was kissing her Aniki.
He was kissing her.
This…she stumbled back with a 'kyah' sound and turned extremely red, as she nearly tumbled on the ground had Shinku not held her.
"Ah…" she meekly whispered, bringing her right hand to her lips. "It was my first kiss," she muttered, looking downcast.
"I-I'm sorry!" Shinku spluttered out, earning a sharp 'sh!' from the Hyuga next to him.
"No, no," she shook her head warily. "It was a mistake," she whispered. She had to act mature. She clenched her right hand tightly. "I just wanted my first time to be special…but…"
"Sh!" another Hyuga hissed.
"Oh, enough is enough," Shinku muttered, standing up and grabbing Nazuma-san's hand. "Let's get out of here."
The moment they stepped outside and headed towards the park, Naruko kept her head low and her hand clenched tightly around her Aniki's own. He was bringing her around as he did when she was young —albeit, of course, this was Nazuma being brought around and not Naruko. His look filled with concern, he settled her down on a nearby bench.
"Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Tea?" he asked her slowly.
"Shinku-san, I'm not angry at you," she whispered then, bringing her eyes up to meet the hurt look in her brother's face. Why did he have to take it personally? It wasn't his fault. It was hers for going along with such a stupid bet with Tsunade, and it was hers anyway for keeping up the lie.
"Still, I'll get you something. It's still too early for dinner, and ending the date like this would just feel wrong…please let me apologize somehow?"
As he pleaded her, she found herself uncomfortable. She knew what she could say to cut everything out in a single, clean snap…but if she said that, then her Aniki would probably be devastated. She couldn't just leave and end it like that. She had to end it in a friendly but not overly so tone.
"Then…cold tea?"
"I'll be back immediately," and with that, he dashed off towards the machines at the corner of the park. She sighed as she extended her legs for a moment, before dropping her back against the bench. It was the same bench where she had seen her Aniki for the first time.
A bitter smile etched on her lips.
She still remembered that time.
It was the first day she had gone to the park, and she had played a lot with everyone else. The boring boy on the bench hadn't even interested her until later, when everyone else had left and he had still been there, like her.
Well, she had no parents who'd come to take her, and the orphanage didn't much care if you returned at six or at seven, as long as you were in at eight for the curfew. He had been there, reading. She had decided to nag at him on a whim, and had ended up reading.
The next day, the kids had pushed her out of their games, ignored her, or called her a monster.
She hadn't known why they had become so mean, but when she had neared the boy on the bench, he hadn't said a bad word and had been concerned for her. She had latched on to him like a vine, and he had never stopped being there.
"Ehi, cutie," a fake-thug-actually-Hyuga-Branch-Member said with a fake-sneer, "You want to go somewhere with me?"
The other fake-thug sneered too, keeping an eye out with his sunglasses still on his face.
"No thanks," she replied curtly, "I'm waiting for my friend."
"Is your friend as cute as you?"
"My boy-friend," she added then, heat rising to her cheeks as she looked sideways. She meant it as a 'male' friend of course, not as an actual boyfriend. Damn it, why did she have to think about it!?
"Aw, come on, drop that loser and get out with a real macho," the first thug said showing his right arm and flexing his muscles. "You know I'm a Jounin, hot-shot?"
"Who taught you to flirt, your mother?"
"My MOM IS THE BEST MOM EVER!" the man actually shrieked back in tears. "DON'T YOU DARE OFFEND MY MOMMY!"
"Now, now, you made him cry! Are you happy about this?" the second thug said, patting the back of the first crying Hyuga. "You're a heartless bitch! Come on Frankie, let's get you out of here. We'll find someone else to flirt with…"
"Sniffle, but she insulted my mom!"
"Now, now," the second thug said smoothly, "Everything's going to be fine…"
They began to leave just as Shinku arrived back with his breath short and in a hurry, sweating slightly as he held two cans of cold tea in his hands.
"Is everything all right?" he whispered to her, as he began to hand over the cold tea to Nazuma, who took it with both hands while showing a perplexed gaze.
"I don't know actually…"
"Hey you," five more thugs appeared a moment later, "That bitch over there offended Frankie's mom. That's something you don't do, you understand bro?" they circled around them as Shinku froze in shock.
"So how about you leave the bitch here and—"
"I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding," Shinku said, walking closer to the thug in question —yet another sunglass wearing fake-Yakuza Hyuga. "We can solve this without using violence."
"Listen here, civilian," the Yakuza pushed his index straight against Shinku's shoulder, making him wince from the pressure applied. "This is a shinobi matter, and it's a mom-issue, so get the hell out of here."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Shinku replied. "I'm sure it was a misun—"
The next moment, the Hyuga found himself face first on the ground as Nazuma stood growling on top of his back, holding his arm behind him and threatening out.
"Go. Away."
There was a 'crack', a yelp, and in the end, a brawl broke out.
"Remember! No Russi-ahem, no Juken!" a group of dark thugs in the alley nearby said, before charging in. They didn't know why they had to fight the girl one at the time while circling her and menacingly jump from one leg to the other, but they obeyed the script laid forth by their own Oyabun…so cinematic battle they would fight!
"Yah! Ha! Oh! Yeahy!"
"What the hell?" Nazuma exclaimed as one of the thugs began to move his arms around strangely. "I…I don't even want to know what that was."
"Nazuma-san," Shinku whispered, "What did you do?"
"Nothing! Some guys tried to flirt with me and I said no, because I was waiting for you and now…there's this…and…" she was on the verge of tears, "This date is horrible…"
There, she had said it.
Aniki didn't do much more than wince, but she knew she had just killed him inside. Still, it was the right thing to do, wasn't it?
"Can we leave with a Shunshin or something?"
She blinked, then grabbed him and disappeared in a flicker.
The thugs frowned.
"What does the script say?" one whispered to another.
"It says that she should have fought and brawled to show her 'not-lady' side, so that she'd be seen as another hoodlum by Aniki-san," another thug remarked, taking out a parchment. "Are we missing something?"
"Are you sure it said 'No Russian' on that bit?"
"It's 'No Byakugan', imbecile! What the hell is 'Russian' to begin with!?"
"So, we lost them? Wonderful…who's going to report it to the boss?"
To that question, none of the thugs dared to answer.
Meanwhile, Naruko would have kicked herself in the head. She had gone to the only place she automatically associated with safety, and that meant…
They were in front of Aniki's house.
Aniki was many things.
He was many things…but he was not stupid.
"How do you know where I live, Nazuma-san?"
"Teachers share their addresses and contact information," she deadpanned back.
And she wasn't stupid either.
Shinku sighed in relief, before shaking his head slowly. "Really…would you like to come in for tea?"
Her eyes widened as she realized she was missing her cold can of tea —she had left it behind at the park! Damn those fake-thugs! She'd have a few choice words with Hinata afterwards, oh if she would!
"Will it be only tea?" she asked then, her eyes narrowed and accusatory.
"O-Of course!" Shinku sputtered, "My sister should be coming back home soon too, if you'd like we could have dinner…after the disaster we just went through, I feel like I need to be forgiven for it."
"And what if I couldn't care less and wanted to leave? Uh?"
No, no, she wasn't supposed to be saying it with that tone. Now her Aniki looked even more hurt than before.
"I…I swear I'll make it up to you, Nazuma-san. Really! I'm sure there will be nothing strange…" he opened the door of his house.
"ONII-SAMA! I WANT YOUR SPERM!"
And promptly froze as Sakura stood there with a glass jar in one hand and a sexy nurse outfit on.
"Forget it," Nazuma sneered. "This date was frankly the most horrible I ever went to, and you're nothing more than a pervert," she turned, giving her back to him. "Don't you dare talk to me ever again."
Then she left. She didn't know why she had said that. She didn't know why she had been angry at that. She had just wanted to spend some time talking to Aniki as a normal person, not as Naruko or with Sakura or Hinata acting up like that. Yet she hadn't managed to.
She had been stopped, harassed, and constantly forced into…into…she was in tears as she dropped her henge in a dark alley, before changing out of her 'date' clothes with the prepared rucksack she had hidden on a nearby rooftop.
When she next descended and came walking in, she smiled. Sure, her heart was bleeding and she was pretty sure her Aniki would be devastated, but eventually he'd be fine and…
The sound of a slap froze her on her tracks.
"Leave. Don't you ever show yourself in front of me again, Sakura. I don't want to see you ever again."
Then there was the slam of the front door.
Sakura stood trembling outside, her right cheek swollen and her eyes wide and teary.
Naruko swallowed.
She had always wondered why her Aniki had never been angry. She had never seen him angry.
She had never known him angry.
She had never, ever, believed he could get angry —even though she had tried.
So now…
Now he was angry.
Sakura dashed away in tears, leaving her at the front door. She couldn't help it, really.
She…
She turned around and left for the ramen shop. She'd give her Aniki a few hours to calm down, and then she'd come back.
By then everything would be back to normal, yeah…
A couple of hours, only a couple of hours…
Then everything would be fine again.
Dattebayo.
Author's notes
Did I manage a 'sad' Dattebayo now?
Of course the punch-line (slap-line) was Sakura…well, she succeeded.