Six years ago
Shuniku had never felt as terrible as she did now.
She has, of course, felt much worse before. But not in a physical way.
Every step she took was painful.
Her leg throbbed in pain whenever she put the slightest bit of pressure on it. And the ever growing sharp discomfort in her abdomen made it hard for her to breath.
(And the cramps! She didn't think she ever had cramps like that in her legs before.)
It only felt that bad because she was on her feet, she told herself, if she rested she wouldn't feel a thing.
Which was only half the truth.
It was true that she had not felt a thing, when she was still in the hospital, loaded on pain medication and the will to get back home. But she also had indeed felt a thing, the three times she was resting on benches or against random walls as she took breaks on her walk home.
The only ever break she had taken on her way home before, was to get ice cream or ramen. She had also never been out of breath or that sweaty on a simple walk before.
It was pathetic.
She also might be running a fever by now.
The medic had told her to stay and that her injuries, while mostly healed up, would benefit from another round of healing and at least another two days of rest.
But the medic didn't have a six year old waiting for them at home. Shuniku did. Which meant she didn't have the luxury to sleep all day in a hospital.
So naturally, she had told the medic to keep their advice to themselves.
Then she dismissed herself by jumping out of the window, which might not have been the greatest idea. She might have cracked her freshly healed leg a little and the beforementioned medic had to (irritatedly) mend it back together.
Then the medic pressed a bottle of painkillers into her hand and asked her to take it slow. It sounded more like a warning, than advice this time.
Shuniku had listened. She took it slow. Frustratingly slow.
It had taken her over an hour to get to her apartment building and now she was dreading the stairs. Her fingers clasped around the small bottle, twitching to take another dose of painkillers, but she wasn't supposed to take them until at least another three hours.
Your Uzumaki genes could probably handle them without consequences, she thought weakly. Then, they should also be able to handle the pain.
Bracing herself, she grabbed the handle of the staircase with one hand (because she was too proud to hold on to it with both of them) and dragged herself up step by step, careful to only put her weight on her good leg.
She had to take another break after 10 steps. It was the same with the rest of the seven storys.
Yeah, definitely pathetic.
By the time she reached her floor, Shuniku was panting, sweaty and embarrassed. Feeling defeated, she also succumbed to the realization that she would have to take a somewhat longer break before she made her way to get her nephew from whomever the Third had left him with in her absence.
She just hoped the old man had the decency to leave her a message with Naruto's whereabouts. If she had to climb up the stairs to the Hokage tower she would probably cry.
As Shuniku leaned against the wall to her right, she very, very slowly draggedher way to her apartment door. Her only motivation, being the lumpy couch in her living room.
Just as she reached the wooden door to her apartment, she shakily searched her pockets for her keys, only to realize that she didn't have them.
How dumb can you be?
Feeling a hot mixture of disappointment and anger at herself and the world, she slumped down next to the door, leaning her head back against the cool wall, feeling like a deflated balloon.
A wave of exhaustion came over her and the tears in her throat started to burn. She closed her eyes.
Sitting there, locked out of her home and barely containing herself, she felt like a child. She wanted an adult to take care of things.
Naruto was probably crying too, right now, she reminded herself harshly.
She needed to get it together. She's the adult.
You'll rest for a bit, she thought to herself, and then you will break that fucking door open.
After all, who needs functioning doors in a village full of ninjas? Not her for sure.
So she closed her eyes and took deep breaths…
…
"... When is Nee-chan coming home?" Naruto's muffled voice startled her out of her daze.
She blinked the rest of sleep away. (She was so not sleeping just now!)
The kid is home.
Shuniku must have been more exhausted than she thought, if she hadn't noticed his chakra so close by. (Since it's glowing as bright and good as ever.)
She blamed the drugs for her apparent brain fog (and sleepiness).
What startled her more however, was who Naruto was with. She would have expected Gai, maybe Genma, but not her.
"I told you to stop annoying me," Anko said, her tone more than annoyed.
How in hell did that happen? Shuniku shuffled closer to the door, pressing her ear against the wood to eavesdrop more easily.
"You're supposed to play with me," Naruto said, sounding like a smartass.
"We are playing," Anko said dissmisively.
"That's not playing, that's child work," Naruto argued. "You're the worst babysitter ever." Shuniku wondered what the hell Anko was making him do, hoping it wouldn't require him to need therapy after that.
"Child labour," Anko corrected him. "And what do you know about good babysitters?"
"Gai always plays with me and that's the way to do it, he said so himself." Shuniku chuckled at her nephew's admiration of Gai's babysitting skills, considering the man had also gotten the boy's leg broken last summer. It had been an accident of course. Gai still couldn't forgive himself.
Shuniku hears a muffled sound what she believes to be Anko snorting. "Gai's not the norm in any way, that argument hardly counts. So just shut up."
"You shut up, I'll tell Nee-chan!" She was not only raising a snitch, but a rude one too. Was he always rude like that or did Anko bring out the worst in him?
Anko laughed. "Go tell your Nee-chan, but then I'll tell her how much of a brat you are, you little snitch."
After that it was silent for a moment. Shuniku imagined Naruto to be sulking in his room by now but then Anko chirped happily, "Now, go and get me a drink, brat."
"Go get it yourself," Naruto said, but not with as much of a mean spirit as before.
"It's part of the game, you have to do it."
"That's not a game." The kid argued.
"Of course it's a game, why wouldn't it be?"
"It's not fun."
"It's fun for me."
After that Shuniku heard Naruto lament some more, sounding as dramatic as can be, but apparently he brought Anko her requested drink anyway, because Anko thanked him as cheerful as she has ever been around the kid.
"You're welcome," Naruto said, clearly still sulking, warming Shuniku's heart. He's the sweetest little boy, she thought.
Then he added, "Old bat." Or not.
"Mind your fucking language." Anko said, but not unkindly. "You can call me Lady Anko."
Naruto whined again, "When will Nee-chan be home?"
Anko moaned annoyed, "Why would she want to come back to such a whiny and annoying brat? God, you're annoying."
"I'm not!""
That's when Shuniku decided to get both Naruto and Anko out of their misery.
She hastily dried all remnants of tears on her sleeves and knocked on the door, not bothering to get up from the cold concrete floor.
"That's Nee-chan!" Naruto cheered.
"Like she would knock?" Anko pointed out, but Shuniku heard steps hurrying towards the door.
A moment later the door was pulled open and her six-year-old smacked right into her. She hugged him back just as tightly, trying not to wince from the pain caused by what felt like him drilling his little pointy knee into her bad leg.
"Finally," the boy said dramatically, his voice muffled by her hair, before he pulled back and in a wild show of affection that could only come from a six year old, he literally kicked her in the stomach as he gave her an even tighter bear hug.
She couldn't keep herself from hissing in pain, as she tried to shift Naruto's weight from her hurt leg and repeated, "Careful, careful, careful."
"Oi, little idiot, she's hurt, you're making her cry soon," Anko said airily, startling Naruto out of his embrace.
He quickly scrambled off of Shuniku, looking at her with big blue eyes.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry," Shuniku reassured him, brushing gently over his hair. "Just a bit more delicate than usual."
Anko snorted and both Shuniku and Naruto glowered at her.
When Naruto turned back to Shuniku, he gently smoothed down her messy sweaty hair, warming her heart.
Then he asked, "Why are you on the floor?"
"No reason," she said, not sounding very convincing. "Will you help me up?"
He gave her his hands and Shuniku wasn't so sure if she actually could have stood up without his help. As she was standing more or less stable Naruto asked, "Is it because you're old?"
Shuniku almost lost her balance as Anko started cackling.
Shuniku tried to shut her up with her stares, which was not working. Then she said to Naruto as he was leading her towards the couch by her hand, "Just for the record, Anko is older than me."
Anko flipped her the bird, still cackling.
Inside the apartment Anko was sprawled on the couch, slurping sugary juice from a pouch, looking bored as she was facing the ceiling. Shuniku felt inclined to tell her that if she let a small kid like Naruto open the door on his own, to at least watch the door, but figuring Anko wouldn't care anyway, she didn't say anything.
Anko sat up, making space for Shuniku to sit on the couch beside her and drawled inbetween slurps, "You sure took your sweet time."
Shuniku sat down beside her. "Thanks for looking after him, that really means a lot to me."
And it did. It really did. Especially coming from Anko, since she normally wouldn't even watch him while Shuniku was in the bathroom.
Meanwhile Naruto let go of her hand, climbed onto the armrest and flung his arms around Shuniku's neck so he was squished between her and the back of the couch. He took turns between jumping up her back and giving her his tightest bear hugs. Anko watched the spectacle with disgust.
"It better does, because this was probably the worst day of my life."
Shuniku would have been taken aback by that level of rudeness, if she wasn't used to it coming from Anko. Instead she asked deadpan, "Do you want me to pay you then? To make up for the inconvenience?"
Anko scoffed, "You wouldn't be able to pay up for that, so don't bother."
Anko surely had a weird way to show that she cared.
"So, you're fit now?" Anko asked and just then Naruto jumped on Shuniku's wounded thigh, making her hiss in pain again. "Because you look like shit."
Ignoring Anko's comment, Shuniku held up Naruto a bit, so his weight wouldn't be on her injured thigh. Then she softly chided, "Please don't jump on that leg, Honey, it still hurts a little."
"Sorry," the boy said, sliding down the couch. Then he quickly kissed said leg and asked, "Is it better now?"
"Yes, good job," Shuniku smiled at him, ruffling his hair. He was indeed the sweetest boy, not even Anko's bad influence could ruin him.
Then the kid ran off to the kitchen and Anko looked even more grossed out.
Shuniku leaned back and put her legs up on the coffee table in front of her, carelessly kicking off crayons and candy wrappers as she made herself more comfortable. She hoped Anko ate the majority of the eroded candy, or else the kid probably wouldn't let her sleep tonight.
"Was he good?"
"A total brat," Anko said without thinking about it, "I've never been more annoyed in my life. He asked when you would be back, like every five minutes. And he always needs to have the last word and when I threatened to whoop his ass he only got more annoying-"
"You hit him?!" Shuniku interrupted her.
"No, I threatened him, can't you listen?" Anko defended herself. "You really should keep an eye on his attitude." Shuniku would definitely not take parenting tips from Anko of all people. "But apart from that he was okay, I guess."
"Aaw, you're fond of him," Shuniku chirped.
Anko didn't say anything which meant it was true.
"Does that mean you'd be up to babysit him again?" Shuniku teased.
"Hell no," Anko barked.
Naruto, who had just come back into the living room with another juice pouch, yelled, "Nooo!"
"Nobody asked you, you little brat." Anko put her leg up on the coffee table as well, so as to block Naruto's path. Annoyed, he intended to crawl under it, but she just pushed him away with her other foot.
Offended, he walked around the other side of the coffee table and said, "She's the worst babysitter!" He gave Shuniku the juice and climbed onto the couch, sitting between Shuniku and the arm rest, as far away from Anko as possible.
Shuniku wanted to scold him for being rude, but then Anko poked his cheek with her toe, and Naruto slapped her foot away in disgust. Anko laughed.
"Whatever, I think I gotta go" Anko stood up and stretched herself. "I fed him and took him out for a walk. You need anything else?"
Shuniku should probably be annoyed by Anko talking about her nephew as if he was a dog, but she knew this was the closest to affection that any kid would get from her. She was just glad Anko didn't call him an "it".
"I'm not a dog," the kid grumbled beside her, clearly offended for both of them. Shuniku wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer.
Turning to Anko she said, "No, and thanks again."
Anko waved her off and disappeared through the door without as much as a goodbye.
As soon as Anko was gone, Naruto turned into a chatterbox, telling Shuniku about everything she had missed during the three days she was knocked in and out of consciousness in the hospital.
He told her about how Gai had taken him out to the playground and training field, where he had let him throw real kunais and shuriken at straw dolls. How he cut himself and Gai took him to get stitches and this time Gai had cried only a little.
How Genma had let him eat all the candy he wanted, which he wasn't supposed to tell Shuniku. She asked if the Lord Hokage came for a visit, but he didn't. Only Gai, Genma and Anko … And one of the masked men, who liked to follow him sometimes, but Gai scared him off.
Inbetween his ramblings he took the untouched juice from her, put the straw in it and told her to drink it, because the vitamins would make her feel better. She was too tired to explain to him that juice contained mostly sugar and very few vitamins, so she drank it without a fuss and instead asked who had told him that, so she could punch said person in the throat at a later day.
Naruto must have noticed how heavy her eyelids became, because eventually he told her, "You can sleep in my bed, if you want."
"And where will you sleep?" She asked amused, but touched by his care.
"On the couch," he said, like she was stupid.
"No, that's my couch." To prove her point she laid down the lentgh of it.
Naruto crawled over her legs that trapped him, careful not to sit on them and hopped down the couch, to put a pillow under her head. Then he got the blanket from his room and clumsily draped it over her, tucking her in.
Sometimes Naruto was so sweet, she wanted to cry.
She held out an arm to him, which he took as an invitation to climb under the blanket with as well, cuddling up to her.
Shuniku was almost asleep when Naruto whispered, "Please don't stay away so long again."
That was all it took for her heart to break.
"I really can't stand Anko for that long."
Shuniku laughed despite the pain in her stomach and her heavy heart. She brushed the hair out of his forehead and pressed a kiss to it. "I'll try."
"Will I have to live with her or Gai, if you die?" he asked, surprising her.
Taken aback she said, "I won't die." Then with more conviction, "Not ever."
"But you almost died," he said, big blue eyes looking into hers.
"I didn't." Lie. "Who said that?"
He looked at her for a moment.
"Nobody," he whispered, "That's how I know. Because they didn't tell me anything at all and they said I can't visit you."
She pulled him into a hug, so he didn't see her cry. "I'll never leave you."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She could promise him, but she couldn't give a guarantee.
She had thought about it in the hospital already, but now there was no doubt that she could not stay in Anbu for a moment longer. Not when she knew how very lonely Naruto would be without her. Not when she knew that the only reason Naruto wasn't put in the orphanage, was because of Gai's persisting nature. Not when she knew that the Third didn't bother to check on him personally.
It didn't matter what she and the Third had agreed on so many years ago, she would quit. He couldn't force her.
He could, a voice in the back of her mind told her, he would.