Chapter 3
‘I’m so booooored!’ That’s all Nihan could think as he watched Mizuki, explain The Third Ninja War. Nihan let out a sigh as he pulled up the corner of his history book. Hidden underneath the bulky book was a small pocket notebook. Nihan suppressed a chuckle, this notebook held every idea he had with his and Naruto's pranks, from a simple messing with labels in stores so you bought expired milk as the owner tossed out fresh milk to their bombastic stink bomb paint barrage.
“NIHAN!!!” Being so engrossed in his own thoughts, Nihan had failed to notice Mizuki had apparently been calling his name. “Stop sleeping or daydreaming! When you’re in my class you listen, understood?”
Nihan could only shrug in response, he did his best to suppress a laugh when Mizuki growled at his response.
‘He’s still salty at how Old man Hiruzen treated him when he caught me heheheheh’
“Well then how about you answer this question? During The Third Great Ninja War, what key operation dealt a major blow to the Stone Village?” Mizuki asked, his tone made it clear. He expected Nihan to screw up the answer
“The Kanabi Bridge destruction” Nihan let out a yawn as he saw Mizuki's face morph quickly into shock.
“O-ok-okay then, good job….” Mizuki bit his lip as he suppressed a groan. “Well since you’re listening, next time I call your name, you answer,” Mizuki clearly miffed at losing the chance to mock Nihan, turned back to the bored, and continued with the history lesson.
Once again Nihan tuned out his teacher and glanced back at his notebook, he let out a sigh as he pocketed it for later.
‘Idiot ruined my train of thought’
Over the next couple of hours, Niahn passively listened to Mizuki's history lesson, the boy would sigh when the young teacher kept asking him questions. Thankfully lunch soon rolled around, Niahan let out a sigh as he stretched his arms in the air. Looking around the class the usual groups had formed up and started talking about the next lesson. A kid in a light green shirt passed Nihan's desk, he only heard him mumble something about training. Before Nihan could relax, however, he heard what sounded like a hoard of banshees scream, the ninja in training groaned when he heard that.
“Oh great…” Niahn growled, the venom in his voice obvious. “Naruto class is out doing Taijustsu today…” Forcing himself up, Nihan walked over to the open window, and lo and behold he was right. Iruka sensei had Naruto class out doing Taijutsu today and the apparent class heartthrob had just been called up to fight Naruto. Nihan cringed as he heard the girls cheer for Saskue to beat Naruto, Nihan decided he was going to have a little fun, quickly he pulled himself onto the window frame and took a seat. Once comfortable, he took in a deep breath and bellowed.
“KICK THAT PRICK’S ASS BABY BROTHER!!!”
Naruto was surprised when he heard the out of nowhere cheers of encouragement. Like the rest of the class, he looked up and spotted Nihan sitting in a classroom window frame. Naruto could hear a lot of his class groan at his elder brother's appearance, especially the girls.
“Great what’s he doing here?”
“Can’t he just leave us alone?”
“If he messes with my Saskue I’ll kill him”
“What a drag”
“What’s with that annoying fool”
Naruto grinned and shot his big brother a thumbs up, which he reciprocated. Iruku walked by Naruto and looked up at Nihan as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Niahn for the last time, stop interrupting my class and for the love of Kami will you stop sitting on the window frame, you can fall!”
“Hey, I was having a decent morning till your band of useless harpies spoiled my mood!” Niahn shouted as he started to swing back and forth on the window frame and pointed at the girls of Naruto's class, whose reaction was instant as a cold chill passed through the class as all the girls glared harshly at Nihan.
“Nihan that isn’t nice!” Iruku shouted back to the older Uzumaki, Naruto then saw Sakura and Ino run up to Irukua and pointed at Niahn.
“Who are you calling useless demon brat!” Ino screamed.
“Yeah! Sasuke could so kick your ass!” Sakura shouted back, only for Nihan to bellow in laughter at her declaration. This made a visible tick form on Saskura slightly larger than average forehead. “What’s so funny, heck I bet I could kick your butt too!”
This was clearly the breaking point for Nihan as his face turned red and tears started to form in his eyes. His laughing got too much and he fell back into the classroom. Naruto, Iruka, Choji, and Shikamaru cringed at the loud crash. Before Iruka could leave to check on the older boy, they saw Niahn pull himself back up to the window as he stopped laughing.
“Oh please, all you do is cheer on the moody brat. Sure Naruto isn’t the best but he tries harder than you I bet, heck probably harder than most of the girls in your class!” This proved to be the last straw as all but one of the girls started hurling insults at Niahn, Iruka groaned as he tried to calm the girls down, meanwhile, Naruto laughed at the gestures Nihan had started making to rile up the girls more.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Iruka screamed so loud that for a moment, Naruto saw the windows shake. Iruku was pure red, with a vein throbbing very visibly on his forehead. “You girls need to stop reacting to every jab, I don’t care what Nihan says, as future Ninjas you need to learn how to act responsibly and you!” Nihan flinched at the Iruka glare, but before he could rant at the elder boy, Sakura stomped her foot in annoyance.
“But Iruka sensei, all Niahn does is mock us and he’s a no good bully! He keeps stinking up the village and he never has to be yelled at or punished. If I did anything he did my parents would disown me,” Sakura stomped her foot again, as if to emphasize the point and a couple of girls started agreeing with her, soon the complaints were growing until Iruka coughed, silencing the girls again.
"Your parents are responsible for you in some situations even if they didn't do anything and Nihan has those responsible for him but regardless you're also responsible for your own actions as well. If you don’t like him that’s up to you, but don’t waste time in these petty arguments,” Iruka explained, he then heard a snort from behind and saw Nihan clearly holding back a chuckle, now he was mad again.
“I don’t care if the cheers from the girls bothered you, that’s no excuse to insult them and call them useless. Goading them is especially low for you Nihan, now if you want to watch your little brother spar then be quiet or I’ll take you back to see Lord Third, understood?” Iruka asked, only for Niahn to shudder and nod in response, clearly not wanting to risk it.
Iruku let out a sigh as he pitched the bridge of his nose. “Okay then, now with that out the way, we can finally get back to our Taijutsu lesson”
Naruto and Sasuke nodded as they got back into position and after Irukua practically ordered them to after giving a boring history lesson, they made the spar sign. Naruto could hear the cheers for Saskue like always most of the girls cheered him on to win the fight, he took a breathe and looked past Saskue and up to Nihan, still sitting in the window frame, the elder brother shot him a thumbs-up and Naruto felt a wave of confidence pass through him.
‘Time to show Mr Popular, who the real star of the class is’ Naruto thought as he tensed his muscles, waiting for Iruka to give the signal to begin the fight. After what felt like an eternity for the hyperactive knucklehead, Iruka raised his hand and swiftly brought it down.
“Begin!” He called, and on cue Naruto and Saskue charged, Naruto heard a girl cheer on the other boy and in that brief moment, they drew closer. Naruto thought back on his previous Taijutsu lessons as well as what his older brother had shown him. Naruto’s plan was finished at that moment and he executed it….
Only for the energetic blond a moment later, to find himself pinned to the ground, held down by his opponent, he heard his classmates cheer at Saskue's quick victory but Naruto paid little attention to it, his entire attention focused on the cold unfeeling glare Saskue was bearing almost as if he wanted to use it to drill a hole into his skulls, but yet it felt…familiar…
‘That stare….Why does it feel so familiar…’ Naruto thought as a cold sweat ran down his back, and then it clicked for the young boy. ‘It’s the same look Nihan has…whenever the villagers mess with us…such anger….who could he hate this much?’ The sounds of his classmates became more of a background noise as Saskue's cold stare continued to bore into his soul, when to Naruto's surprise, Saskue looked away and spit out a tooth, it was then he saw it, a bruise right on Saskue cheek.
The older boy scoffed as he got off Naruto and walked back to the class, Naruto felt a surge of emotions. Anger and sadness at yet another loss to Saskue, shame that he failed his brother, and yet he felt a surge of pride.
‘I hit Saskue….and I even hurt him! Yeah, how many guys can say that!’ Dusting himself off now, Naruto shot a thumbs up to Nihan, who was quick to shoot a thumbs up back and smiled at his brother.
Iruka smiled at this, while the pair were a handful, he was glad they at least had each other, something he knew he wished he had a few years ago after the nine-tails attack.
Naruto was on top of the world, his loss from the other week was still weighing on him, he’d lost to Saskue…again. But he managed to hurt the Uchiha, something that no one in his class had done. But the true reason for his good mood, it was October 10ty and it was his 8th birthday and he was excited, no school today and he was excited to see what Nihan was getting for him.
The only issue though was that Nihan had asked for some privacy while he got Naruto his gift, so to pass the time, the birthday boy had decided to walk by the river, with the seasons changing, Naruto figured he be the only one in the area, but to his surprise, down the hill on one of the small docks was Saskue. The lone Uchiha was looking out at the water as he mindlessly skipped stones, each skipping farther than the last. Naruto watched his classmate for a minute and didn’t notice the villagers approach till they started passing him and he heard their conversation.
“ I still can’t believe what happened to his clan, it sounds so horrible,” a woman in a green jacket said in a hushed tone
“I know, imagine being the only survivor of such a prestigious clan,” the other woman, who was wearing a pink dress, replied also in a hushed tone.
“I heard it was the boy’s own brother, apparently he had gone insane or power-hungry and slaughtered the clan as a way to test himself,” the woman in the green jacket explained, now the woman in the pink dress looked back at Sasuke, ignoring Naruto completely.
“I heard the only reason that boy is alive is because his brother, I think it was Itachi. Seeing him as too weak or pathetic to kill, makes you think, is that psycho just waiting to finish his job or has he forgotten completely?” The woman in green gasped, and the two continued their conversation as they continued to walk down the river path.
Naruto stood there in shock, he had heard something big had happened a few months ago but no adult would tell him, not even Irukua or the old man. When he looked back to Saskue, the lone Uchiha stopped his stone-throwing and looked up the hill and spotted Naruto, feeling hopeful or maybe sorry, the eight-year-old couldn’t tell. He waved at Saskue, only for his classmate to seemingly scoff and get back to his activity, Naruto huffed at the dismissal and stormed off, releasing his mood had been ruined.
“Screw this, I’m going to Ichiraku.”
The atmosphere of the bar truly fit the mood of this dreadful day. Just about all the patriots in the establishment hearts were filled with a mix of emotions, loss, grief, guilt, rage, and sorrow. One man, possibly a nurse with how he had held himself through the day ordered another drink. Another patriot, this time an older woman, only signs of her age being the grey in her hair signaled the bartender for a refill.
“Eight years….” A man in the corner of the bar moaned as he downed his sake before he covered his eyes, clearly trying to not show the tears welling up.
“We know… they say it gets easier with time…but that’s a lie,” the older woman with the grey hair said from the bar. “It just…gets harder to remember the good times.”
The sound of glass shattering echoed through the bar, everyone turned to see a woman, hell barely a woman, crying openly at her table. “I saw that damn demon crush my home! I lost my parents that night!” Sorrow turned to rage, she flipped her table. The bartender watched as this all unfolded, usually he would have thrown the girl out after the glass, but he kept to himself.
‘Let them mourn…. They’ll pay for the damages…like every year…’ The bartender thought to himself, he had gotten used to this after the first couple of years. He hadn’t lost anyone the night the Nine Tails attacked the village gratefully but he knew these people had and his little bar was their safe haven for the day.
Soon another customer signaled for a refill, the man sighed as he downed his drink, he was pale and his eyes showed he hadn’t slept in a while. “What I don’t get is how that monster got into the village, you think someone noticed a giant fox charging into the village,”
“I heard someone summoned it,”
“I heard it tunneled under the village,”
“One guy I know said it fell from the sky,”
“It doesn’t matter how it got in the village!” The young girl from earlier cried, the veins in her forehead throbbing, clearly her growing rage and the alcohol weren’t a pleasant combo for her. “The thing that matters is it got into the village, our home, and destroyed all of us! Be by killing our friends, family, hell our trust in this damn village, I ju-” Before she could scream more, a couple of other customers, moved her to a more isolated part of the bar and let her vent in silence, the tears came flooding back quick and she broke back down into tears.
Soon the bar fell back into almost complete silence, the only sounds being the noise from the active street outside and the young girl’s sobbing in the corner. Just when the bartender thought that would be it for the day, a flash of yellow hair passed by the door, this caught everyone's attention and soon the atmosphere changed.
To pure rage.
“That monster…” The medic growled as he watched the boy pass by, memories of the hospital after the attack flared in his mind, the same ones that haunted his nightmares.
“Why’s he allowed in the village?” The woman with greying hair venomously spat out. She remembered how she had to protect her granddaughter while the beast went rampant, the entire time forced to look at the bodies of her son and his wife.
“I heard the hokage pays for everything he wants…” The man in the corner growled as he stared into his drink, briefly seeing his family store go up in flame in the alcohol.
“Why…” The young woman from earlier broke free from her sorrow and ran to the door, she watched the boy walk down the street with a pep in his step, the sight made her blood boil. She turned back into the bar and pulled herself onto the counter. “Why should we sit here, wallowing in our sorrows, all the while that monster in child form is allowed to walk our streets, attend our schools, and never has to face any consequence?”
The girl’s outburst only seemed to get the customers to moan as they tried to get back to their drinks. Not taking this, the girl stomped hard on the counter to get their attention again. “We should teach that monster a lesson! Show them no matter the lie they use, they’ll be caught and justice will strike them, whether that be from the Hokage and his Anbu or the people like us!” This time the girl’s speech got everyone in the bar to start to agree with her points, the bartender didn’t know if this was genuine or if the alcohol had caused something in their brain simply to stop caring.
Before he could stop anyone, the girl was able to round up a few of the customers and they marched outside and headed in the same direction the boy had gone only a few minutes ago.
To Nihan’s surprise, the shopping district was unusually melancholy today. Most of the people seemed to be keeping to themselves, even when he passed by a shop he and Naruto recently vandalized, the shopkeeper paid him no mind. It made Nihan feel uneasy, the eight-year-old choked it up to people just having an off day, or maybe it was something in the water. Either way, he took advantage of the lack of attention and strolled through the various shops, looking for the perfect gift for Naruto. But after an hour, he came up with nothing. Fortune smiled upon him when he bumped into Shikimaru and the always-hungry Choji.
“Hey Nihan, what you doing here?” Choji asked as he was practically inhaling a bag of crisps.
“Oh hey, I’m figuring out what to get for Naruto’s birthday, any suggestions?” Nihan asked with a small smile, while none of the three outwardly said they were friends, after the supply closet incident, Nihan had apparently formed a small respect with the younger boys.
“You serious… You waited until now to get Naruto a present?” Shikimaru moaned in annoyance as he let out a yawn. “Only an idiot waits till the last minute to get a gift, then again buying a gift is such a drag already…”
Nihan let out a snort at Shikimaru’s comments and folded his arms across his chest.
“You try shopping for a little brother who only loves ramen and becoming the hokage.”
Nihan’s reply only made Shikimaru groan more. “Then why not buy him ramen or something related to being a ninja?” Not to his surprise, Nihan only gave the Nara heir a blank stare as the gears seemingly turned in his head. Before he got an answer, however, the elder boy bolted down the street with a swift “I would have thought of that!”
Shikamaru let out a sign as the Uzumaki made his way to wherever. ‘Think I’ll go cloud spotting,’ He thought to himself as he walked to his favorite spot.
Nihan ran through the shopping district, mentally kicking himself for this major screw-up. ‘I can’t believe it, weeks of nothing and Shikamaru comes up with the answer in a few seconds, this is so unfair.’
For a good solid half an hour, Nihan checked all the stores in the shopping district to find something ninja-based for Naruto but he came up with nothing. But as he reached the end of the shopping district, the sign on a shop got his attention. The weathered sign read Ninja tools roll roll roll.
Once Nihan opened the door, he was overwhelmed, the walls were covered in different weapons, from greatswords, shurikens, kunai, and samurai swords to even a sword that seemed to be a mix between between a whip and a samurai sword. The man at the counter let out a yawn, it was obvious he hadn’t noticed Nihan as he approached the counter. He had a plain look to him, the only feature that stood out was his brown hair with a few noticeable buried ends of his hair.
“Hey!” Nihan shouted, to his amusement, the man behind the counter let out a cry and fell off his chair, after a moment of laughter, the clerk pulled himself back up.
“Haha, very fun”, the man groaned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “What can I do for you?” he asked, letting out a yawn.
“I’m looking for something for my little brother” Nihan response only seemed to make the man confused.
“And how old is this brother, if I may ask?” He asked as he looked at Nihan.
“He turns eight today, why’s that important?” Nihan asked with a harsh tone, the clerk let out a chuckle.
“Well….because I can’t exactly sell to kids and from the lack of a headband,” the clerk leaned over the counter and flicked Nihan’s head to emphasize the point. Nihan smacked the hand away and glared at the man.
“So what? Not like we don’t already use them at school, heck were taught how to use them!” Nihan argued back as the man let out a yawn as he stretched his arms over his head.
“You’re right but I can’t sell weapons to kids, know your parents kill me with my own merchandise,” the clerk elaborated as he ducked under the counter, and from what Nihan could hear, he was looking for something. Nihan balled up his fist and kicked the counter.
“We don’t have parents, it’s just me and my little brother!” Nihan cried as a spark of rage ignited something within him, he hated the reminders they didn’t have parents. Either due to his kick or response, the counter shook a bit as the clerk cursed under his breath. He soon appeared with a box in one hand while his other hand was rubbing the top of his brown-haired head.
“Jeez…ok I’m sorry but I still got to follow the rules, otherwise I’m pretty sure the Hokage will shut me down,” the clerk explained as he set down the box and returned to his stool. Nihan let out a groan as the clerk was now focused on the box he had pulled out. After a few minutes of standing around, Nihan let out a groan and made his way to the door.
‘Forget this! I’ll just get him a stupid amount of ramen!’ Nihan growled as he reached the door but just as his fingertips touched the door handle, the clerk whistled.
“Hey! I thought you wanted a present for your little brother!?” Just as Nihan, turned to face the man, he saw the clerk spinning what looked to be a kunai with his index finger, more confused at this development, Nihan hesitantly walked to the counter. Once back at the counter, the clerk stopped his display and turned the box around, inside were several kunai, all the standard kunai Nihan had used in class, the only difference being the handle wrap on all of them had a different color, he grabbed the one with the orange handle.
“I thought you said you couldn’t sell me one?” Nihan asked as he glared at the clerk, who had started to giggle.
“Well… technically I can’t but there’s an exception, go ahead and touch the edge of the blade?” Against his better judgment, Nihan etched his closer and closer to the edge of the blade, before he touched it he looked back to the clerk who just smiled. Taking a breath, Nihan's finger touched the blade, only to discover.
“It…blunt?” Niahn let out, the clerk started to clap slowly, and Nihan snorted at the obvious mocking.
“Congratulations… Now while true, I can’t sell you weapons due to you still being a kid. I can sell you blunt kunai, people tend to use them for decoration or training to help kids get used to using a kunai without the risk of losing something,” the clerk explained as Nihan tested the kunai with a few swings and to his surprise, it felt just like the ones they used at the academy.
“So I can buy it?” the clerk tapped his cheek, seemingly considering it before he gave Nihan the thumbs up.
“Sure, just don’t go running around like a maniac with it, and how about this, special offer two for one and birthday special,” the man turned the box around and pulled out another kunai, this one having red fabric wrapped around the handle and handed it to Nihan.
“What’s the birthday special?” Nihan asked as he examined the second kuani, this one also being blunt.
“All small decorations are free, provided the birthday boy doesn’t act like a moron with it.”
Nihan looked at the man suspiciously, outside old man Teuchi, no one had given anything away to Nihan.
“What’s the catch?” He asked after a minute of glaring at the clerk, who just shrugged at the question.
“I’m in a good mood,” he explained. “My little girl is doing great at the academy and is saying she wants to be a weapon master rather than a ninja, rather make weapons and find lost historic weapons than be another ninja.” the man beamed as he whipped away a single tear. Nihan still looked at the man like he wasn’t buying it, at this the clerk sighed. “Fine kid if you won’t accept it then about this, when you become a ninja, you have to use my weapons for a year and we’ll just call us even, sound fair?” He held his hand out expectedly for Nihan, and after a few moments, he shook it reluctantly.
After making his deal with the weapon store clerk, Nihan made his way back down the shopping district as he mindlessly spun the red-handled kunai on his index finger, he groaned when he dropped it for the third time and having had enough, pocketed it with the other.
‘Damn, how did he make it look so easy?’ Nihan thought to himself, he was still surprised at the atmosphere in the shopping district, he could feel the sorrow and regret, and it threw him off a bit. ‘Who cares, not my concern if they're sad, so what. Still, that clerk was nice, not as good as old man Teuchi or old man Hiruzen, but not an ass like those stupid girls or other clerks.’
As Nihan thought about what to get himself at Ichiraku Ramen for dinner, as he promised Naruto they get dinner there tonight. He heard shouting from an alleyway, and his cautious nature flared as he slowly made his way to the entrance to the alley. Leaning his head to see further in without being spotted, he saw a group of people shouting as one person, a girl maybe ten years older than Nihan on top of something, as she was beating it. As an older woman moved to the side, maybe to get a shot or to get a better view, Nihan saw what the girl was attacking through the gap and his breath left him in that instant.
The girl was on top of a bloody, beaten, and crying Naruto, from his position, Nihan could see his little brother had a swollen eye, and a cut on his cheek, and trying to use his arms to protect his face from further injuries. The girl didn’t seem to care as she had moved on to attack the little boy’s stomach region as she screamed she destroy the demon as the others in the crowd cheered her on.
Nihan’s heart was racing, it felt like it was about to burst through his chest. His breathing became erratic as he saw the girl attack his brother, his only family and no one was stopping her. Suddenly the sorrow and fear were burned away as burning rage filled Nihan’s entire body, he clenched his fist so hard his hands turned white from the loss of blood circulation as one thought filled Nihan’s head.
BREAK THEM!!!!
Niahn let out a roar as he charged down the alleyway and right towards the crowd, the last thing he remembered was him jumping as high as he could and a man, who looked to be a doctor or nurse, hearing the battle cray and turn to see Nihan in the air as he came down onto the crowd like a predator had found easy prey.
Bodies were scattered through the alleyway, many of them were suffering from broken bones, scratches, and general blunt-force trauma. Nihan couldn’t explain where this strength had come from but it didn’t matter to him, Nihan ignored the pained groans of his brother’s would-be attackers. He couldn’t explain it but when he saw his brother getting attacked, his instincts took over. He propped Naruto up on a nearby wall, He was bruised, beaten, and bleeding. Nihan was lost in what to do, he had no idea how to handle these kinds of injuries, when he tried to lift Naruto, the younger brother let out a cry of pain that shook Nihan to the core. He was panicking, he needed help but he couldn’t think who help him, he looked over and saw the nurse as he was holding a broken arm and wept, Nihan couldn’t trust the hospital if one of their nurses did this, then it struck him.
Ichiraku Ramen.
Using all his strength and will, Nihan lifted Naruto onto his back, ignoring his baby brother’s cry of pain, once he was secured on his back, Nihan bolted out of the alleyway, making sure to kick Naruro’s attackers on his way out, especially the young girl was was crying as she held her broken arm and felt the pain from her shattered knee.
Nihan was still questioning his increase of strength but he pushed the thought out of his head as he made his way down the street, ducking and weaving through the gaps between everyone as he made his way to the one safe haven in all of Konuha.
Tuechi was worried, he looked at the clock hanging on the nearby wall.
‘Nihan and Naruti should have been here an hour ago, it’s not like I heard them messing with the shopping district so they couldn’t be held up by anyone’ Tuechi thought as he stirred a pot of ramen he had specially prepared for Naruto. He checked a s second pot he had set aside for Nihan, the first pot was filled with Miso ramen with extra pork and fish cakes, meanwhile the second pot was filled with a special spicy ramen curry. Tuechi was left to his thoughts as he stirred the pots until he heard footsteps fast approaching, a smile spread across his face in anticipation, and he turned expecting to see the two Uzumakis with big grins on their faces.
Only to be met with an exhausted and beaten Nihan as he carried on his back a bloodied and beaten Naruto, before Nihan could say a thing, he collapsed in the entranceway. Tuechi, forgetting the ramen, leaped over the counter and shouted for his daughter. As soon as she entered the main restaurant area, she screamed at the sight of the Uzumakis. Taking control of the situation, Tuechi told his daughter to grab their first aid kit as he pulled the boys into the restaurant and closed the shutters behind him. He refused to let the villagers distract him from helping the two orphans.
He propped the boys against the wall as Ayame ran up with the first aid kit. To his surprise, Naruto’s injuries seemed to be surface level but he could tell they were painful, he was careful as he banged the young blonde up, cursing under his breath. He had heard what the other adults said about the young boy. Part of his job was to listen to the gossip and with the amount of things he had heard about Nihan and Naruto could fill a book, maybe two. He didn’t care if what they said about Naruto was true, he was a kid whose only family was his brother, who was only ten months older than him. Tuechi heart felt tight, Nihan had to raise not only himself but also his little brother, it’s why he wasn’t surprised he was so reactive and protective. In the same situation, he’s sure most people would be the same.
Once Tuechi was happy with his work on patching up Naruto, he moved on to the older brother, he found Nihan was covered in bruises, some turning a different color. He grabbed what he needed from the first-aid kit and got to work.
“Don’t worry kids, you're safe.”
Nihan felt himself pulled from his dreams, he could smell something truly delicious. He heard someone talking but it felt like he was underwater, the words distorted and unclear. It took what felt like an eternity to open his eyes. He flinched as pain flared through his left leg, his right arm, and his chest. Looking at said appendages he was surprised to see he had been bandaged, when he heard the voices again he turned to see old man Tuechi with his famous old man smile as he served another bowl of ramen but as he placed the freshly made ramen on the counter their eyes met and he smiled.
“Well, look who decided to wake up!”
Once the words left Tuechi’s mouth, the sound of a bowl shattering echoed through the small restaurant, Nihan looked up to see Naruto sitting on the stool, his eyes as big as dinner plates.
“How are you up….and eating, while…I’m just waking up?” Nihan asked wheezing as he tried to pull himself up. Only to be thrown back to the ground as Naruto tackled him to the ground as he started bawling his eyes out as he held on tight to his brother. Nihan returned the hug as Tuechi and his daughter Ayame sat next to the crying Naruto.
After getting a crying Naruto to let go of his brother, Tueechi sat the two onto their usual stools and got the rundown of what had happened. Naruto explained he was on his way to meet up with Nihan but when he passed an alleyway he was pulled in by someone and before he knew what was going on, a mob of people started attacking him. Then Nihan gave his side of the story, how when he passed the likely the same alleyway Naruto was pulled into, he saw the mob attacking Naruto and how he went into a rage and charged at the adults.
Teuchi smiled as he ruffled the ravenette hair. “Good job kid, will teach those bastards not to mess with you,”
“Dad! Don’t swear in front of the customers!” Ayame grabbed her father’s ear, the boys laughed as the teenager brought her father to tears in a few seconds. “It’s bad for business to show such a crass attitude in front of the customer base.”
As the father and daughter discussed what not to do in front of the customers, Nihan reached into his pocket and slid the orange-handled Kunai to his brother. The birthday boy’s eyes lit up like a star as he held the blunt kunai and started to practice with the blade, Nihan enjoyed this sight.
“Happy birthday Naruto.”