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Doombug: You'll get your answer here :) sorry for not replying

Now on with the story...

Edited by: 4everfictional

On The Verge

With a Family

"...Arata." He finished with a smile. Asuma's brother and my cousin, I had heard a lot about him from a few people. Asuma was always telling that he intended to follow in his brother's footsteps and become a renowned jounin like him. To Genma and Guy, Arata was 'Asuma's cool, kickass bro who had more weird experiences than any fiction novel'. To Biwako, Arata was a capable elder son who never grew up. Even Kurenai looked up to him and she was really hard to impress.

In short, I was indirectly acquainted with the infamous Arata Sarutobi. Looking at his dimpled cheeks, an easy smile and his hands held up in a I-mean-no-harm position, he brought the 'I'm an innocent kid even though you just caught me stealing cookies' look to a whole new level. I decided then that all of them were right.

"I'm Yumeko, your cousin." I told him consciously. After all I had never met the guy and he was the one finding an unknown little girl in his house attacking him as though he was an intruder.

"Don't worry. Father briefed me on what happened when I was on the mission." Arata assured me with a grim face. I was relieved I didn't have to explain anything to him so I just nodded looking down at my bare feet.

"Alright, my newest little sister," Arata exclaimed cheerfully. "Did you have lunch yet?" He had a knowing smile on his face and my face burned in embarrassment. I had eaten lots of chocolate earlier and was planning on making a quick snack before Biwako came home so I wasn't really violating Minato-sensei's rules.

"I'll make something now." I said not really answering his question. He simply chuckled.

"How about we go out to eat?" Arata asked. "It's been a while since I have been here so I want to check out all the new shops."

"Ok." I agreed because he looked really excited. He went to what I assumed was his room, and with me following closely behind him. Everything looked very organized. Like seriously organized. There was even a pile of stinking clothes in the corner- folded. Yes they were neatly folded.

"Do you want me to put it in the laundry bin downstairs?" I asked. He was putting some money inside a wallet and pocketed it with a smile towards me.

"Nah. They need special kind of cleaning up." He explained as we got down the stairs. "Do you need to get anything?"

I walked over to my room with Arata easily keeping up. He paused outside but I told him to come along.

"I'm sorry it's nowhere near as neat as yours." I apologized and I was being honest. Books were occupying the little desk, the manga I was reading earlier was lying on my bed; an orange stuffed rabbit was sitting beside the pillow proudly.

"It's better than Asuma's." Arata responded with a mock shudder. Silently agreeing, I quickly put on my boots and got my purse and told him I was ready. I quickly scribbled a note and put it under the old clock on the shelf in the living room. It was where we put notes whenever we went out if no one else was at home.

We walked out of the compound in relative silence. A few people greeted him and made small talk but he quickly excused himself in such a way that the other person didn't know what he was doing. We stopped at a little cafe that I didn't even know existed. There were glass doors that gave a clear view of the inside and from what I could tell it looked classy. I wanted to go in, but I looked at Arata hesitantly.

"I have not been here yet." Arata exclaimed walking towards a corner table. I walked behind him and sat facing him. A young blond waitress brought over a menu -which was a first in this life since the menus were usually displayed on a board outside. We quickly placed our orders and the waitress left with a bow.

"So tell me about your stuffed rabbit." Arata said leaning back with his hands tucked behind his head. I looked at him in confusion- then remembered Carrot.

"Genma won it at the fair last year before he knew what the prize was." I remembered with a giggle.

"Ooh? Sounds embarrassing. Tell me everything." Arata said with a mischievous grin.

"Well, Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Guy, Anko and I went to the fair a few months ago. We played a lot of games- Asuma was trying to win everything Kurenai wanted and Genma was trying to show Asuma up. Then there was this senbon throwing contest and Asuma couldn't hit a single target, so Genma stepped up. He got all ten perfectly and was given the orange rabbit. Everyone cracked up at Genma's face. It was hilarious- he was so shocked he dropped it. Asuma wouldn't let Kurenai have it and Anko whispered something in his ears that made him go white so I was the last option." I recalled it clearly because Asuma looked like he was choking when I hugged it but still didn't want Kurenai to have it. Anko and I were cackling while Guy vowed to get a bigger animal (which was hot pink) for Genma as he took a turn but thankfully won a silver toy kunai for hitting only three targets.

Arata listened attentively with a huge grin while I told him, while I was out of breath and flushed from trying to hold in my laughter.

"It's good to see that nothing has changed here." Arata said nostalgically. The waitress who introduced herself as Rei brought in our order and left as quickly as she came but not before giving Arata a wink.

"Do you go out on really long missions a lot?" I asked curiously as I started eating the food. It was quite delicious but I didn't pay it much attention, as I wanted to know more about Arata.

"Yes. That's the kind of missions I specialize in." He replied after finishing his bite.

I understood he couldn't say anything more. Anything above D- Rank were classified to civilians. B and C ranks could be disclosed to the same rank and superior rank ninja. All A and S rank missions were classified to everyone except the teams taking them and the Hokage. The captains of T&I or infiltration and espionage were brought in on the details if their expertise was required.

"What else do you want to eat?" Arata asked after we finally finished the food, in silence.

"Ice cream!" I answered promptly not bothering to conceal the tiny squeal.

"Excellent!" Arata chuckled. He quickly paid the waitress a huge smile and exited the cafe. I trailed behind him walking along the familiar streets.

There were a lot of shinobi in the main streets, one group was laughing inside the Shinobi mess while another was waiting near the jonin standby. Many waved at Arata who waved back with a grin or nod as we walked. It was a contrast to the quiet cafe we had just exited. The weird thing was he was firmly holding my hand as though I was a little kid out of the house for the first time.

We reached the ice- cream shop after five minutes. It was simply called 'Ice Cream' as it was the only shop in Konoha that mixed milk and ice rather than just sell flavored ice around a stick, which was quite common here.

"Ah Arata, back from another long mission?" Asked the elderly shop owner asked as we stepped into the shop. The shop owners, Jiro and Mariko, were an elderly couple that had visited a lot of places around the world before settling down in Konoha and opening this shop. Anko, Kurenai and I visited the shop often while at the academy after our Kunoichi classes twice a week.

"The usual, Jiro-jiji." Arata huffed mockingly drawing a chuckle from 'Jiro-jiji'.

"With your elder brother only today, Yumeko?" Mariko asked with a teasing look towards her husband who huffed in fake annoyance. It looked like he still remembered Genma, Guy and Asuma's last disastrous visit. "Your usual orders?" Mariko confirmed before heading inside.

One of the reasons why it was only the girls of our group visited this place was because one time Guy and Genma had stupidly made a bet on who could stuff most ice inside their shirts and somehow Asuma had gotten involved… They had entered the no-customer's area and within a few minutes the entire month's worth of ice was gone by the time Jiro arrived inside the storeroom where the freezer was kept. Needless to say, they were not very welcome after the incident. No one knew the entire story except the trio and this had happened before I met them. They weren't allowed inside the shop together without supervision. It was a joke to us all including Jiro and Mariko but apparently the boys were very scared of Jiro. What the usually kind man did no one knows... Except the four in present on the scene of crime.

"Your cherry cream." Mariko placed it in front of me. "Arata's 'Welcome Home' special." She placed the huge treat in front of him. It had a little of every flavor the shop sold. Arata happily dug in ignoring my raised eyebrow.

"Arata is our most faithful customer." Jiro explained to me at my questioning look. "Since he is out of the village for long periods he gets this special to make up for the long wait."

"It started the first few times he would come here after every mission and ask for every flavor. So we made up this special just for him." Mariko clarified with a doting smile towards Arata. We talked for a few more minutes, the three of them doing most of the talking while I listened to all sorts of stories about Arata's past visits to the shop.

"We better get going." Arata said after he had paid for our stuff. We said our goodbyes before heading out. Again, Arata lightly held my hand and stated swinging it forward and backward. Whenever I looked at him with raised eyebrow he would just smirk. I had a feeling I was missing something funny here.

"Why are you doing that?" I asked very curious now.

"You should ask Asuma when he comes home." Arata replied with a chuckle. He continued swinging it all the way home humming under his breath. I was definitely going to ask Asuma as soon as I saw him. I hated not knowing things.

Luckily Asuma was already home.

"Aniki!" Asuma barreled towards Arata, who caught Asuma and lifted him up in a headlock.

"How was your mission? Are you alright? When did you get home?" Asuma fired questions in rapid succession. "Wait how long are you staying? We should all go out tomorrow and have fun. I'll invite everyone for dinner..."

"Asuma calm down. I'll tell you everything as usual. Of course the whole gang will be invited." Arata answered just as happy. "Now, I hear you are a genin so tell me everything about it you two. What did I miss?"

And so we did. Interrupting each other over every little thing until Biwako called us out for dinner. Surprisingly even the Hokage was home early. I still had trouble knowing what to call him on the rare occasions he was home.

"I was done with today's paperwork." Was all he said when we arrived at the table. I was still somewhat shy around him. Even though I have been staying here and was very close to his-our family, I rarely saw him home.

"So I hear you need lessons in senbon throwing, Asuma." Arata teased his brother. Asuma's eyes widened and looked at me. 'Carrot' I mouthed sheepishly with a blush. We all ended up chatting as we ate. Biwako didn't even scold us for it once tonight.

All too soon (or late, depending on how you looked at it), Biwako ordered us all to go to bed… Ok maybe just Asuma and I, same difference.

"Why was Arata swinging my hand while we walked?" I finally asked Asuma now that we were out of sight. Asuma looked at me with a confused expression. I swung his hand back and forth to clear things up.

"Oh he used to do that to me when I was young but I told him that he should only do that to a girl and I was his brother and not a sister." Asuma let out a grin. "I guess that was his way of showing that he accepted you as a little sister." I actually found that to be sweet, in a weird way. I beamed nonetheless. Not having any siblings, I found it touching that these two so easily considered me a little sister, and I genuinely liked having them as brothers.

We said goodnight to each other before quickly scrambling to our separate rooms as soon as we saw a shadow and heard a sharp throat clearing.

All in all it was a very eventful day-off.

The next morning I woke with excitement. I was going to get to know my chakra nature. I quickly got dressed and headed towards the entrance hall. Arata was sipping tea leisurely while Biwako prepared breakfast. Asuma came in and sat down in his pajamas, as today was his day off. I finished off my food quickly even though I knew I was still very early. Arata and Biwako exchanged a glance that I ignored.

"Anything special today?" Biwako asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to find out my chakra nature today." I replied.

"Just you?" Arata mused.

"Kakashi and Obito already know theirs."

"We already did that yesterday. Mine is fire." Asuma stated.

"Most of our clansmen are." Biwako stated. "I suppose you could be either earth or fire. Most Mazuka are earth while ours is fire."

"There has been a very few water or lightning in both clans." Arata wondered aloud.

"I'm heading out." I said heading to the door.

"Don't forget to invite your team over." Asuma called out.

I reached the clearing clearly early. I paced quickly thinking about everything I had learned yesterday. I was now supposed to invite Obito, Kakashi and Minato-sensei to dinner two days from today. Apparently it was a tradition, every time Arata was home, to host a get together at the Hokage Mansion. Minato and Arata had been colleagues and knew each other well along with Kushina. Now, Asuma's team and our friends were invited as well.

It was considered a makeshift birthday party for Arata, who was often on long-term missions and wasn't here for the actual date, instead it was celebrated whenever he was home. This was also because he was the beloved first son of the hokage, the village tended to reach all sorts of conclusions (the most popular being he was sent to all hidden villages so that he could kill their kage before the hokage was targetted by them and Arata was the only loyal one to do so where he was caught and brutally murdered. Another popular theory was that he was exiled from Konoha for trying to steal the Hokage's hat.) so it was going to be a grand affair.

I was lost in thoughts when Kakashi arrived in his stiff noiseless way. I smiled in greeting and got a nod in return. Within minutes Minato-sensei and Obito reached the clearing.

"Good morning team. Today we are all going to use the chakra paper to know our nature to get an idea of what happens." Minato- sensei started. He handed each one of us a three square inch paper holding the last one himself between his fingers.

"Pour a little bit of chakra like this," He demonstrated, the paper neatly cut in half with a jag in the middle, "The wind cuts the paper." He showed both pieces to all of us. "Obito you start." His, of course, turned to ash as expected, but it was still amazing to watch. Kakashi's crinkled within a second. Finally it was my turn. I half expected it to crumble to dust since the Mazuka were mostly earth users but it was wet.

'Water' I thought in awe. I happily looked at Minato-sensei who smiled a little in return.

"Alright now that you know your chakra nature, you'll be learning jutsu shortly." Minato-sensei began, to which Obito and I cheered loudly. "For now, pair up to spar."

AN: Arata is going to be a big part of this story... To clear up, he is supposed to be Konohamaru's dad!

The next chapter will be the party and some action.

Review :)